They say that politics is showbusiness for ugly people, well step forward Lembit Opik. Former beau of both weather girl, Sian Lloyd and one of the Cheeky Girls, has enlisted the services of Bell Pottinger in Liverpool to try and buff his image sufficient to get him elected as Lib Dem President.

Bell Pottinger have plenty of form in moulding the profile of unpopular politicians but why choose the Liverpool office? I guess as a Lib Dem, the head of BP Liverpool, Richard Clein, has a personal relationship with Lembit.

This is definitely part of a trend in our media obsessed world. Disgraced former Lib dem front bencher, Mark Oaten, has been using the services of a former Lib Dem spin doctor to try and repair his public image. There’s nothing wrong in this. I’ve done a fair bit of this kind of work myself and its extremely interesting. No word on whether Lembit is paying Bell Pottinger but Guido has a way of finding these things out:)

The next thing you know, we’ll be seeing fading politicians staging a comeback by appearing on reality shows.

Forget your two litres of water a day. Cancel your colonical irrigation appointment. It’s time for the marketing industry to undergo a detox.

Steve Young, director at Winning Pitch, a business which assists individuals and companies to achieve profitable breakthroughs in revenue performance, has spoken out to put sales and marketing under the cost-cutting spotlight:
“While companies have ‘streamlined’ their factory floors and operations as the credit crunch continues to hit hard, few have dared to put sales and marketing under the same scrutiny – usually for fear of what they might find. However, in the vast majority of sectors, there is a huge amount of waste in marketing, which few companies have even noticed, let alone tried to address.”

With the recent conversations in the blogosphere about the death of PR, perhaps it’s not just this field of marketing that needs to refine the ‘usual way’ of doing things.

“It seems that half of what marketing professionals do is hugely wasteful. For example, a paltry two to three per cent response on a direct mail campaign is seen as successful and a one in twenty conversion rate in telesales is seen as phenomenal. Many advertising campaigns are based on the ‘drip effect’, and, despite an enthusiastic launch, most websites are rarely updated and often under-promoted. To compound the issue, most marketing and salespeople are driven, measured and even incentivised by sales volume – not profit volume.”

Steve goes on to state the seven ways in which most marketing is wasteful:

1. Waiting
This could be waiting for returns from a customer questionnaire or leaflet, waiting for another person to complete some other work, waiting for someone to make a decision or waiting for a call or meeting with a customer.

2. Wasted effort
Too many people make appointments with people who will never buy, spend time checking others’ work, do a mailshot of 500 when they can only follow up 50, retype proposals that you have on file, and many other duplications that could so easily be avoided.

3. Making mistakes
This could be as simple and careless as making spelling errors in a leaflet, or as costly as recruiting a salesman who, it turns out, can’t sell.

4. Poor admin and communications
Jargon puts people off, as does inviting prospects to an event taking place the same evening or not responding to enquiries quickly enough.

5. Inconsistent ways of working
Not having standard ways of doing things can lead to unpredictable timings and performance levels, trial and error and difficulty in training staff.

6. Unnecessary inventory
It’s no use being a jack of all trades – don’t hold an extra wide product range just in case, don’t print an extra thousand copies of a leaflet just in case, and don’t hold on to too many qualified prospects.

7. Untapped human potential
Not taking advantage of an individual’s latent talent or listening to new ideas from staff is a critical mistake for too many businesses.

So how can companies and agencies eliminate these waste by-products of the marketing industry?

“The surprisingly simple answer is to cut all the marketing mumbo-jumbo down to three key processes: finding customers, winning customers and growing customers. It’s then a matter of finding out how each process is performing currently, how it’s being measured, at which steps it goes wrong, where and how improvements can be made, and how to make these improvements a way of life.

“In the vast majority of cases, sales and marketing processes are both ineffective and inefficient. To maximise results, however, the detox exercise is much more than simple cost-cutting. You must be skilled in mapping and re-engineering techniques, and have the people skills to ensure that the team buys into the new approach, owns the new approach and continues to improve the new approach. But when you get it right, you will be stunned by the results.”

I don’t know about you but I’m feeling better already.

Spending the whole of August living in New York City, working at one of the world’s most talented agencies – TBWA\Chiat\Day, and still getting paid. Not a bad position to be in. How did it come about? Here’s the deal… 

As part of TBWA\Manchester’s ongoing push to build connections in our worldwide network, I’m out here to live, breath, experience and learn, first hand, how one of our most recognised network agencies works. It also means that we can keep ahead of the trends by making the most of the media and sector insights out here that we can take back and use for our clients. 

So, I’m at the work pod – naturally a Mac given that only geeks have PCs out here. It’s summertime hours and I’m still here, which does make me a bit of a geek but I like the buzz about this place. The agency, located on Madison Avenue, is a similar size to TBWA\Manchester (around 200ish people). There are 2 receptions, 3 floors, and walls that are plastered in Disruption case studies of some of the biggest and best brands you’ll ever come across. From Absolut Vodka, known for campaigns such as the Sex And The City placement through to Mars, whose Skittles campaign swept the floor at Cannes this year, beating Cadbury’s over exploited gorilla. 

There’s also a ‘firsts’ wall, spanning across a global map to reveal achievements of TBWA\ agencies worldwide. From holding the first vertical sprint up a 33 storey building and being the first to use U2 in a commercial through to creating China’s first interactive billboard and being the first to use currency as a medium, it gives you a sense of pride to know that you’re part of something so big and ambitious. 

First impressions? Makes for a pretty cool place to work in, and the fact that it’s 2 blocks from Saks and 2 streets across from New York’s hottest spa – Bliss – helps settle me in even more, despite the credit card looking tired and weary already.

Marketeers looking for a crash course on social media could do much worse than reading over the list of 12 Historical Social Media (Marketing) Moments compiled by Julian Cole of Adspace Pioneers.

He’s asking for other great moments to add to the list. Cue the discussion, disagreement and inevitable project defining the moments that will make this era of marketing memorable.

Still hungry for more? You can download and read 20 free eBooks about social media as noted by Chris Brogan.

Enjoy your homework. I expect it on my desk first thing Monday morning!

Hat tip: The WOMMA Word

We often have discussions within PR agencies about training staff, recruitment and so on. You’re always striving to make your agency, your product, your staff better.

But how much of this stuff can you teach? I’m a big believer in formal training and a lot of informal stuff e.g. mentoring, but there are some uncomfortable truths related to the inner DNA of the successful PR person, the consultant or adviser as opposed to the ‘press release jockey’.

Stuart Bruce did a cracking post, like me sounding a bit old man’ish, but he’s right when he says to work in PR you have to grasp that the basics of getting media coverage for your client rest in your ability to fit what your client does and know about into what the outside world is interested in (the news agenda) with an understanding/relationships with the mediums (media) they use to find out about this stuff.

To do that you’ve got to read papers, watch TV output, check out sites, blogs and forums, way outside of the small number of media that the average person will expose themselves to. Its your job to be interested.

You also need to be interested in that news agenda stuff. You’ve got to expose yourself to it. The news agenda affecting your client might be very specific, so understand that, but you can bet that at some stage it will be influenced by trends in the economy, audience behaviour, government policy etc.

The more somebody has an enriching life outside of the office, the more they are likely to be creative inside the office during that specific hour that’s been set aside for brainstorm on xx client. Stuart B lists things like arts, politics and travel. Whatever it is just be interested and expose yourself to it.

I used to be a radio DJ on various radio stations in the north west. One of the key lessons it teaches you is to constantly think about your audiences. What’s his/her name, where do they work, where do they live, what are they doing right now, how do I join their conversation and get them to allow me into their home, car, office?? To do that you have to go to the kind of bars/places that they go to. You have to live the life, find out what’s going on in your audience’s world. Absorb it and you’ll be able to communicate with them.

They’re talking about you. Right on your doorstep. In front of your restaurant, your bar, your shop. Remember the poor service you gave that guy? Well now everyone who walks past knows about it. They know which bartender pours the best cocktails. They know who to speak to in order to get the best seat. They know that you offer discounts to ’selected’ customers. They know that your bar is better than your neighbours.

How do they know? The writing’s on the wall…but you probably don’t see it yet. You won’t see it until you have an iPhone and an application that I believe will change how we see the world around us. Graffitio is so simple, it’s genius.

“Attach conversations to the places you go and the things you see! As soon as you open Graffitio, it looks around you for Walls created by other users at restaurants, bars, stores, parks, events, or anywhere else you could imagine.

Read what other people have to say, and leave your own thoughts behind for others to find later. You can even create your own Walls. Graffitio connects you to people who have been there before and those who will follow.”

It’s just one of the many applications now available for the iPhone which make great use of the location-specific data. This isn’t the first time this technology has been talked about but it is the first time I’ve held it in my hand. There is no doubt other similar applications will soon find their way onto other mobile devices but in the meantime, Graffitio has a great opportunity to take the lead in this field.

At the moment the creator, anoopr, admits there are problems:

“Graffitio is still pretty raw. Someone on Twitter said that Release 3 is a solid 1.0, and I agree with that. In it’s current form, it’s not impressive. I’m really flattered that so many of you are so excited about it and see its potential. It’s really inspiring, and why I’m working my ass off to get new features into your hands.”

And, of course, the walls are being abused by ‘vandals’ who just want their make their mark with profanity but you can’t deny the potential.

For years, we’ve been told that location-specific technology will allow advertisers to jump out at us as we walk down the street, screaming out special offers, new products and ‘exclusive’ events. In using Graffitio, I see a very different world. One run by consumers who can share information, practically writing it on the wall of the establishment for all to see, allowing them to make a judgement without walking inside.

Some may see it as a mobile version of trustedplaces. I see it as one of the most powerful consumer tools of the future available today and PRs need to keep a close eye on how this technology develops because all the press coverage you work so hard to achieve just to get someone to walk in the door could be undone with the bad review they read on the doorstep.

I always enjoy reading about trends and insights in the marketing industry. Thankfully Shine Communications have provided me with my latest fix of industry jargon.

Last week they launched a book detailing 100 leading themes and trends that will influence consumers’ lives in 2009 optimistically entitled ‘Embrace the Chaos’.

“Embrace the Chaos analyses how the society will be consuming and interacting over the coming year – from how they’ll order take-away, to how they will be networking with colleagues and friends both on and offline. This guide offers an invaluable glimpse into the future of social consumption and behaviour – keeping marketeers fresh, smart and connected.

Key industry trends to look out for:

· Fear of Falling - a buzzword for the middle-class belief that, in the midst of the general economic recession, a tumble down the wealth ladder could be just around the corner

· Still Ravey After All These Years - identifies a new group of ‘middle youth’ who still behave like teenagers but have more money to spend.

· Authenticity Fatigue - marketing departments will feel the burn of Authenticity Fatigue with consumers’ increasing failure to be impressed by brand histories that are concocted to demonstrate how virtuous, interesting, exotically sourced and ‘real’ the product is.

· Madvertising - brands continue to delve deeper into the concept of Madvertising – elaborate adverts with little or no connection to the brand and product, but a knack for and capturing attention and the imagination of the consumer.

· Lecturn Fever – Gallery owners are seeing a surge of interest in simple talks. A good old-fashioned way to achieve the modern objective of audience-engagement when thinking about events for 2009.

· The Cupholder Principle – the rise in consumers making large, apparently irrational purchasing decisions because of small details – first identified by BMW and Henry Petroski; Professor of Engineering and History at Duke University, but can be applied to computers, mobile phones and home furnishings.

Key consumer trends:

· Consumers will be suffering from Chronic Popularity Anxiety on social networking sites making them resort to making extra profiles with different names so that we can add them as friends on Facebook or MySpace to feel popular.

· Others will be delighting in Windorphins the sense of elation and positive energy released when shoppers win an item in a competitive environment, like eBay

· Many will be agreeing a Cameraphone Watershed with friends to prevent the appearance of compromising pictures on social networking sites!

· Others will be undertaking Shymarking, the ritual of inconspicuous consumption by shopping in Primark and other cheap shops, then either returning to the car to dump those bags, or decanting the goods into more premium branded ones.

· They will be adopting Green Upmanship a very British way to be an eco-warrior where they buy organic food if friends are coming round and showing off our cotton shopping bags, only to go back to old habits the moment they leave. Saving the planet wouldn’t be British without the irritating class-snobbery dimension.

· After the hedonism of the 90’s and 00’s ex-addicts will become Sober Seekers searching for youth culture outside stimulants.

· Enterprising kids will become Sugar Bandits making sizable profits selling sweets and canned fizzy drinks illicitly to their peers at since the in-school vending machine ban.

· They will be eating Super Fast Food, by placing orders and paying for fast food via our mobiles.

· Good Spirits will be top of the wine list as organic and biodynamic booze is now the biggest growth area for independent wine retailers.

· And… some will be suffering from Uglyism, a new kind of prejudice affecting salaries that may see vanity surgery and botox becoming available on the NHS”

Order your free copy of the book from www.shinecom.com.

Hats off to those creative communicators who are using social media to publicise their own skills and build relationships online with potential employers. I found a graduate placement student via Facebook last summer, Stephen Waddington raves about a new recruit via Twitter and I wanted to mention a new creative that’s just been hired by my employer’s sister ad agency, TBWA.

His name is Paul Williams. He constructed a cross outside our head office, which is a disused church and imprinted the details of his blog. It’s a stunt that could’ve gone either way! We could have crucified him (sorry!) but the big cheeses recognised his creative flair and balls, so checked him out. This is how he did it.

I’ve just had a coffee with him. He’s a good guy with a bright future.

Sally Whittle over at journalism and PR blog, Getting Ink, tells it as it is when it comes to receiving junk (i.e. irrelevant or badly targeted) PR material from so-called PR professionals.

But how many companies buying in PR support are aware that the antics of their agencies might be getting their stories - and hence their reputations - blacklisted by journalists?

Asking who and why agencies are talking to on your behalf (and how) is too important a question not to ask.

WPP’s chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell has told everyone in PR that we’re fine. We’re firing on all cylinders. He can’t recall a time when PR has been so strong. Why? We’re recession-proof. We’re annoying the advertising industry. As one over-muscled cartoon character once proclaimed: WE HAVE THE POWER…of editorial publicity.

“Something has changed and the reason for the change is online activity, where personal recommendation and personal communication have become more important. And it’s clearly editorial and it’s clearly not advertising based.”

 We’re good aren’t we? Let’s all go to the pub to celebrate. I’ll get my coat.

Sorry? What was that AdAge? A survey of attendees to your Digital Marketing Conference you say? And they said what??

Where should social media lie? Audience poll: 53% in marketing, 5% say in PR, 9% say customer service and 33% say some new division.

But this was just marketeers right? We’re still great…aren’t we?

Well no. Judging by the comments on Adrants, if PR isn’t playing second fiddle to ‘marketing’, it’s picking up bronze behind a ‘new division’ which is yet to emerge.

How did we fall so far behind? Social media is all about communication as is Public Relations. It was ours for the taking but somehow we’ve let it slip through our fingers. Were we all out to lunch, sipping champagne and smoozing? I doubt it. Maybe we’re too afraid of technology. All that typing could break a nail!

Seriously, I’m worried by the number of PRs who don’t just understand this area but who are too afraid to even experiment. I’m not suggesting they should take a multi-million pound client, stick the CEO in front of a camera, hit record and see the response on YouTube. I mean writing (or commenting on) a blog, listening to podcast, watching a webchat. Even a little twittering wouldn’t go amiss. It seems the furthest most PRs have strayed into social media is with a Facebook profile. It’s a start right?

Based on the the social media conferences we attend with speakers from a variety of backgrounds (bloggers, financial institutes and yes PR agencies), it seems there is a theme running throughout which is that PR (agencies and in-house) should be doing…something. We’re not going to tell you what it is but we will point you in the direction of the web and watch you worry. We can’t give too much away because we want to maintain that competitive edge. But we don’t mind throwing stats at you and watching you have a panic attack safe in the knowledge that you should be doing…something.

So who’s role is it to take ownership of this area? Who in PR is going to help educate the industry? The industry bodies clearly need to step in and provide the much needed training. Actually telling PRs how to do it. Seminars such as the CIPR one hosted by Rob Brown, soon to be MD of Staniforth (Full discolsure: I work for the agency) at Manchester University. Social Media is the future of PR but I’m concerned after looking at the CIPR list of upcoming events for 2008. Just five events based around social media planned for the rest of this year. Is that really enough for PR to take ownership?