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Everything is bigger in America

By Flora Haslam

We hear it a lot, from food portion sizes to cars on the road, we’ve come to expect it big in the United States.  Last week, some of us were lucky enough to spend a week in northern California.  A lot of the companies we work with are based in the San Francisco bay area so it’s not that unusual for us to head over that way, but this time it really did seem that everything was on a grand scale... 

We started off with a very warm welcome from our new Finn Partners San Francisco office – along with a fabulous view from their meeting room:

 
Of course no visit to the States is complete without a hire car – I’m sure this is bigger than the ‘saloon’ we booked (note that is Claire in the picture, not a small child):

Despite the size of the car, we did some of our commuting by train – while the service frequency (or infrequency) is a bit of a shock to us Londoners, it’s fair to say that you do not want to be too close to the edge of the platform when one of these comes through at speed.

I’ll spare you the food shots, but this pumpkin weighs 1707 lbs – which possibly explains why it is surrounded by a cordon – yet is still a way off this year’s winner of the local pumpkin weigh off.

And finally, we were in the city when the local baseball team won the World Series – obviously they’re called The Giants!

 

Sci-fi, the hoverboard and the rise of “futuristic“ technology

By Aidan Murphy 

I write futuristic in inverted commas because, apparently, the future is here! This week there has been a lot of buzz around the release of a hoverboard called the Hendo, which has many people dreaming of gliding around like Marty McFly in Back to the Future II. At the extremely reasonable price of $10,000 you can zip around – but only over a specially designed surface, otherwise it won’t work. Also, only 15 minutes at a time please – or the battery will give in and you will hover no longer.

So, the hoverboard isn’t really what you might call a practical purchase and, therefore may not be an immediate commercial success. However, it’s a sign of the rise of ‘technology so novelty it could only appear in sci-fi’. Other examples include driverless cars, which this week took another step forward as Audi claimed the speed record for a self-driving car.

Personally, I find these sci-fi technologies a bit unsettling. I remember watching I, Robot and being very concerned about the safety of Will Smith’s vehicle, and not just because the robots were out to get him. If I currently can’t even trust my smartphone to make phone calls or not turn itself off randomly throughout the day, I’m not sure I would feel comfortable allowing my car to chauffer me around. Fundamentally, I think I’m a bit prejudiced against any technology which made its debut in a sci-fi film, as it just seems a bit fantastical.

Although perhaps I shouldn’t be so wary of these innovations - they may all become a normal part of everyday life. These are really just the most recent examples of technology which has been predicted in science fiction. George Orwell’s 1984 (1948) predicted CCTV and the wall-mounted flat screen TV, Blade Runner (1982) predicted the digital billboard and Siri is disturbingly similar to the HAL 9000 robot from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

Perhaps we should be looking forward to what the future will look like: the skies filled with drones, people having a nap as their car drives them around, and commuters travelling to work on Boris-boards. We should probably start asking what happened to all the other futuristic technology we were promised in films that hasn’t materialised. Apparently the jet pack hasn’t made any progress since it was featured in the Los Angeles Olympics opening ceremony in 1984. When is someone going to sort that out?

Hello Ello, bye bye Facebook?

By Anne-Hélène Lagadeuc-Piet

Ello is a new social network that has been making a lot of noise since its launch in September. However, with a number of already popular social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr, Ello has a lot of competition.  Be that as it may, it also has very high ambitions and one clear goal in sight – to put Facebook in the shade.

Indeed, as soon as you land on the newcomer’s homepage, it reads “Your social network is owned by advertisers”.  Its founder, Paul Budnitz, wanted to put forward an ad-free network that doesn’t sell user data to advertisers, or to any third party for that matter. Facebook is clearly the target here, as we all know it has been involved in a number of controversies over the years, for example when its conditions of use were modified in 2013 to sell names, pictures and content to advertisers.

This is a strong message being put forward by Ello, as it seeks to differentiate itself from Facebook, which only continues to bombard us with targeted ads on our news feed.  Ello also promotes privacy by enabling people to connect without giving their name, just a nickname. This, again, goes against Facebook, which requires you to input your name and surname in order to register. Your date of birth, where you live, study, and work, as well as your mobile phone number, can also be added to your Ello page if you choose to.

One of Ello’s main features is that you subscribe on invitation only, either by requesting an invite on the website or waiting for one from your friends. In the first week of its launch, subscription requests reached 40,000 per hour and there was a very long waiting list. For those who couldn’t wait, invitations were on sale on eBay, from 5 to 150 dollars. Incredibly, this was before people even knew what it looked like or what the concept of it was.

As the best way to talk about something is through your own experience, I subscribed to Ello. I was presented with a black page, with a few words encouraging me to sign up, requested an invitation, and – after only a few minutes – I received a message thanking me for joining; the waiting list is clearly no more! To finalise the subscription, I entered my email address and username, and no additional personal data were requested.

The design is very simple – black and white, with no embellishment – and you can publish text, pictures, and connect to people. It has the same functionalities as every other existing social network, apart from the interface, which is less attractive from my point of view. At the moment, I don’t really get the added value, but I’m not really aware of all the possibilities it has to offer because I only have one friend so far! In my opinion, we can’t talk about innovation, given it’s just another social network among others, with no special interest. Moreover, even if it does boast about protecting privacy, once you’re on a social network – whatever it is – you have to be aware that your data will be at a risk.

The question is; will Ello’s free subscription model with no ads really work? With no concrete way of earning money, it’s entirely down to its growing community to keep it alive. A social network needs its members to survive, otherwise it’s questionable whether it’s really a ‘social network’ at all. Ello’s founders have planned to develop a paying option, but will this work considering most social networks are free, and will this not contradict its original business model of being free to subscribe to?

Facebook may not be perfect, but the platform is not dead, particularly since 62 percent of French people have signed up for it, according to a recent survey. At this early stage, it’s difficult to predict if Ello will be a real threat to Facebook, but one thing is for sure, it’s certainly not a revolution in the world of social networks. However, let’s give it a chance and see how it grows in the next few months!

Why joining Finn Partners makes so much sense

By Mike King

It’s a really exciting time at Johnson King; we’ve just become part of Finn Partners, one of the fastest growing and most ambitious PR firms in the world.  Finn Partners has acquired Johnson King to dramatically boost its operations in Europe and this represents a tremendous opportunity for all of us.

Becoming part of Finn Partners means we are now part of a 350 strong international PR firm, giving us access to far greater resources, including a 30 strong digital team, greater international reach and the ability to provide our clients with an expanded range of services. Not to mention access to the expertise and knowledge that comes from being part of such a large and hugely capable team.

Excited as we are about our new found capabilities, any changes are going to be gradual.  We’ll continue to operate as Johnson King, a Finn Partners company, for the next 12 months and all existing client teams will remain completely unchanged.  Our plan is to gradually integrate all the great parts of Finn Partners into our already award winning services.  

In a similar vein, at Johnson King, we’ve always taken pride in having a great working environment with collaborative, friendly, hard working account teams.  Like us, Finn Partners has an ethos that puts its staff at the centre of what it does.  Both firms have won countless ‘Best Place to Work’ awards and our shared values are one of the main reasons we’ve agreed to join forces.

It feels great to be embarking on the next stage of our growth and with Finn Partners we have found a tremendous ally. 

Johnson King’s gone to Iceland

By Claire Ayles

Last week a couple of the team here were lucky enough to travel to Iceland, as part of a press tour to highlight the growing film industry in the country. 

First up there was a tour of some of the locations used in Hollywood movies, including Clint Eastwood’s Flag of Our Fathers.  

This is the continental divide in Iceland, with the Eurasian plate to the left and North America is to the right.  In Clint’s film, this was the Pacific Island of Iwo Jima, site of one of WWII’s fiercest battles.  It’s worth noting that this photo was taken in colour, not black and white.

Alas Clint wasn’t there on the day, but here’s a pic of him in the lava fields, from his days filming there:

Iceland truly is a beautiful country, so it’s not surprising it’s the backdrop to an increasing number of films and TV programmes, including Game of Thrones, but it’s so much more than a pretty face.  

As well as spending time with the Film Commissioner of Iceland (photographed below during an interview at the Blue Lagoon) we also got to tour the studios of RVX (Reykjavik Video Effects), the special effects masterminds behind such films as Gravity, Two Guns and Contraband. Its current film project, Everest, is out in 2015 (we didn’t get a preview, but were told it’s going to be pretty stunning). 

Here’s a great write up on Forbes about the impact of the film industry on the wider Icelandic economy.

 

 

 

How to build a successful brand: Lessons from Super Mario

By Mike Marquiss

It’s pretty incredible for any organisation, let alone a technology company, to reach its 125^th anniversary, which Nintendo did last week. Yes, yes – I know Nintendo didn’t start out as a video games company, but it’s still a remarkable achievement by any account.

Although it’s impossible to ignore the problems facing Nintendo today, it remains one of the best loved brands in the world, with a millions of die-hard fans. There’s plenty to learn from the company’s branding success and, indeed, most tech start ups today could learn a thing or two from Nintendo and Super Mario. Bear with me on this.  

Identify what works for your brand
This is a crucial first step and I think it’s fair to say that Nintendo struck gold with the Mario brand. There’s no earthly reason why jumping, moustachioed plumber brothers should work as a video game concept – but it does. It really, really does. Nintendo recognised this fact almost immediately and to date, Mario has featured in more than 200 video games (in your face, Sonic!)

As a result, it’s almost impossible to think of Nintendo and not this face...

... nor the other way round.

This is nothing short of branding genius. What company in the world wouldn’t want a product that is so intrinsically linked to its brand name, which also sums up pretty much everything the company stands for? In Mario’s case, family friendly and addictive fun.

Don’t be afraid to innovate
Just because Mario has featured in so many games, it doesn’t mean that Nintendo hasn’t kept things fresh either. It’s easy to see how and where Nintendo has made tweaks to its most successful franchise over the years, to create the Mario brand we know today.

In Mario’s case, it all started with Donkey Kong and ‘Jump Man’. Jump Man was renamed Mario and our plumber bestie found a love interest in Princess Peach. When this was in danger of going stale, in comes Mario’s brother, Luigi, who eventually gets his own nemesis in ‘Waluigi’ and starts his own ghost mansion franchise (as bizarre as that sounds). The changes continue... ‘Should we make a colour version of Mario?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Should we make him 3D at some point?’ ‘Probably.’ ‘Should we put Mario and his friends in little go carts now?’ ‘Why the hell not! That sounds absolutely incredible.’

I could go on but you probably get the idea by now. Don’t be afraid to make changes when changes are needed, in order to keep the brand interesting and fresh.

Don’t forget your roots
Making changes is all well and good but even the best loved brands can take this a step too far and end up alienating their fans – just ask Vincent Tan and Cardiff City FC. Nintendo is a great example of a brand that has changed considerably over the years, but maintained its core identity. Apple is another great one for this. Look at any Apple product or marketing content over the Steve Jobs era and, even if it’s dated now, it still unmistakably Apple.  

So there you have it. Some simple tips to help keep your brand fresh for the next 125 years. Easy. 

Map My Every Move

By Claire Ayles

Last weekend I took part in the London Duathlon (like a triathlon, but you swap the swim for an extra run). I’m no Brownlee, so this was never going to be an easy endeavour, but it was one that was made tougher by the event’s ‘no phones’ rule.

On the most basic level, asking me to give up my phone for getting on for two-and-a-half hours is like asking a baby to quit its dummy. But more than that, my phone has become an essential part of my exercise regime as I absolutely rely on an app to tell me how fast (or slow) I’m going and how far I’ve gone. On Sunday, I had to depend on just road markers, my wristwatch and some mental arithmetic, and felt surprisingly lonely without the reassuring tones of the MapMyRun voice talent talking in my ear.

It got me thinking just how obsessed I’ve become with using tech to track my every move. For example, I commute to work by bike.  It’s the same distance every day yet I still log each journey so I can assess whether I’m faster or slower than normal.  As sad as it sounds, few things annoy me more than when the GPS fails and the kilometres and calories don’t get added to my lifetime stats. 

Not only does this app store my personal data, it tells me how I rank against other runners and riders on the same routes. This is dangerous information when placed in the palms of a competitive person.   Beating the time of ‘Sophie B, Queen of the Southbound Southwark Bridge Sprint’ was a fixation of mine for at least six months.  Her name still haunts me.

App developers are of course making the most of the addictive qualities of their inventions. Strava (the tracking app of choice for professional cyclists as well as the sport’s millions of fan boys/girls) has such a cult following that it’s launched its own clothing range.  The company’s even become a big data player, providing information about where people ride to help improve cycle infrastructure planning in London and Glasgow.

As a tech fan and a bike fan, I think that’s pretty damn cool.

It’s not just apps; devices are being launched left, right and centre as well. While I could have done with a basic GPS watch on Sunday, the likes of Jawbone, Fitbit and countless others are gradually upping the ante in this market, helping you log every step you take and even how well (or badly) you’re sleeping.  

The emerging generation of smart watches may eventually render all these apps and devices obsolete, but manufacturers will have to sort out the battery life problem first. With the Motorola smart watch battery life described as ‘woeful’ and Apple tight-lipped on how its watch will shape up, there’s a danger that the watch will stop before the runner. And that’s definitely not an option for those of us who specialise in taking a little bit longer to get from A to B.

 

Achtung! More about the German Angst

By Oliver Fischer

It was in 2010 on this very blog that I wrote about the ‘German Angst’ for the first time. Back then, the topic was Germany’s collective irrational reaction to Google Streetview, the strange and hilarious news pieces at the time, and the overall fear of a violation of our collective privacy.

Now, nearly four years later, some things have changed (we’ve finally won the World Cup) and some things haven’t – the German Angst is back with a vengeance. Or rather, it never left. While the Google Streetview outrage felt like a very German peculiarity,  these days such outrage is more common. It’s still mostly about privacy violations, failed data protection and the inability of foreign tech companies to calm the Deutschen Michel’s distrust, but, while the sensitivities of services like Streetview are nearly forgotten (and Google has more pressing problems in Germany) the attention has shifted. Today’s downfall of German society will be brought upon us by everybody’s favourite tools for communicating, coordinating and sharing nude selfies – Instant Messaging Apps.

First of all, when we are talking IM in Germany, we are mostly talking about WhatsApp, and recently about Facebook Messenger. It is known by some in Germany that services like Snapchat exist, but if their German Wikipedia page is an indicator, first and foremost they’re known for being really bad at data protection; something mirrored by the Facebook fan page, which has a staggering 62 fans in Germany compared to 3,243,619 international ones

But back to Facebook and WhatsApp: Mark Zuckerberg’s social networking site isn’t really trusted here in regards to data privacy, which is why the announcement to put its messenger in a separate mobile app is seen as a ruse to spy on everyone, and why there are probably more German articles out there about How to avoid Installing Facebook Messenger than about what the app actually does. So you can imagine how big the outcry was when, earlier this year, Facebook announced it would acquire WhatsApp. German media and (ironically) my own Facebook feed were full of people looking for alternatives, fearing for their privacy and damning the powers that be. Within a day, the Swiss IM app ‘Threema’ doubled its users to 400,000, two months later it reached nearly 3 million angsty Germans. Mind you, all of this wasn’t the result of any update release or news about actual changes – it was just from the acquisition announcement.

So, did the German Angst actually lead to innovation; to change? No, not really. Because that’s the other fascinating part about it: as quickly as everybody started condemning WhatsApp and changing to other services, they just as quickly stopped caring. After April, you didn’t really hear anything about Threema anymore, WhatsApp is as popular as ever and still nobody uses Snapchat. And also if the reporting about a new WhatsApp update this week is anything to go by, the German Angst is alive and well yet again – as you can see in these screenshots:

 

Cold as ice

By Gemma White

What do the following people have in common; Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Netflix founder Reed Hastings, and Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg?  The answer; they were all nominated by Mark Zuckberberg to complete the ice bucket challenge.  If you haven’t heard of it (I would be surprised if you haven’t given its almost impossible to visit Facebook, Twitter or Instagram without a video popping up), it’s the latest viral social media campaign that involves people showering themselves in a bucket of ice cold water for a good cause and nominating friends to go next.  It’s similar to the no-makeup selfies for the Cancer Awareness campaign, but much, much colder.    

There are a few stories floating around of how the ice bucket challenge actually started.  According to the Telegraph, it started in the US, when Boston College baseball player Pete Frates’ promising sporting career was cut short after he developed Motor Neurone Disease (MND), also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”.  He dared several Boston Red Sox players to throw a bucket of ice water over their heads to raise money and awareness for MND, or instead donate to another deserving charity.  When several high-profile celebrities started taking part, soon enough, we were all joining in.  

Irrespective of who actually started the craze, the amount of awareness and money it’s raised for charities is quite staggering.  According to the BBC, before the ice bucket challenge the MND Association would receive an average of £200,000 a week in donations, but from 22^nd to 29^th August, it received £2.7million.  In addition, Macmillan Cancer Support has raised £3million and Water Aid has also seen a spike in donations after people felt it was wasting water.  The list goes on.

For these charities, the increased donations and raised awareness has all been thanks to the power of social media.  Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have all played a pivotal role in encouraging people to take part in the ice bucket challenge and have, ultimately, driven its worldwide success.  After all, if you can get Mark Zuckberberg to take part in your viral social media campaign, that is a pretty good accomplishment. These campaigns will always spark a bit of controversy – as mentioned previously with wasting water – but you cannot deny the great results it’s achieved so far.  I’ve done mine, so those of you who are reading this and are lying low on social media to avoid a nomination, I nominate you!

Same-same but different

By Kasia Murphy 

Last week the CIPR introduced a number of measures to help members navigate the challenges of maternity leave, as it attempts to lessen the amount of women leaving the industry. It has devised a Managing Your Maternity Leave package which includes up to 12 months' payment holiday from CIPR membership; up to 12 months' discretionary CPD credits; 10 bespoke guides to managing maternity leave and returning to work in PR; quarterly keeping in touch emails and access to a private online community.

I’m not a mother, and don’t plan to be one soon or perhaps ever, but I can appreciate and support the move by the CIPR as a professional body to do something practical and essential for an industry that is 67.9 per cent female. As far as I’m concerned more ‘acts’ like this must be done, rather than lip-service to the cause. Of course, gender is only one aspect of the battle against inequality, but it is a particular potent and seemingly relentless one. Indeed, a quick scan of the news and Twitter today and two other stories about gender and the tech sector come up.

The first is a ‘controversial’ advert by underwear company Dear Kate showing a bunch of female CEOs working on their laptops. What do I think about the idea of female tech CEOs modelling underwear? Not a lot. It doesn’t make me feel any more or less empowered. What do I think about the idea of male CEOs modelling underwear? I’m yet to see such an ad.

The second is a female game developer responding to a piece of ‘regular’ abuse she gets online for doing her job and being a woman. She responds in a biting and clever way on Twitter but why should she have to defend her work? Why does this guy ‘Devin’ care about her or about her work? So, forgive me publishers of Hot Tech Today, and whoever else says I should lighten up about being annoyed by a woman being put on a rotating pedestal in front of some 15 million viewers of the Emmy Awards worldwide, but these actions are not ironic, they are just more acts of objectification that creates the conditions for women to be acceptably discriminated against.

To still be discussing how men and women can have an equal career path in the 21^st century – with all the resources, genius, technology and information available at our fingertips – is a sorry state of affairs. If there is any industry where ensuring women can be afforded the luxury of daring to do their part in continuing the human-race, while also having a right to an equal career, then PR is the industry where it should be most straightforward to take place. The pen can be mightier than the sword.