✅ Monday briefing: Working class gap, influencer standards, OnlyFans art, poor agency briefs, Instagram desktop, LinkedIn time out, Guild fundraising, and more...
Industry, best and worst practice, research and insight, tools, social media and platforms, and events
This newsletter is crowdsourced each week from my blog and community of practice for people studying and working in marketing, media and PR. It’s a hive mind, newsroom and source of information, help and support.
Industry
👨🏫️ WORKING CLASS GAP: Education and workplace practices are critical to change according to the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre. Socially Mobile aims to address the working class gap of 13,500 practitioners in the UK public relations industry. Source Stephen Waddington.
🤳 INFLUENCER MARKETING STANDARDS: The Influencer Marketing Trade Body launched last week with the goal of professionalising the industry. Launch members include The Fifth Agency, INCA, Ogilvy, Tagger, Takumi, and Whalar. It's already busy engaging with Government on influencer marketing standards. Source Scott Guthrie.
Best and worst practice
💅 BBC MAKEOVER: The BBC has overhauled its 30-year old logo. The three blocks incorporating the letters BBC will be slightly wider apart and feature the corporation's own Reith font. Spotted Alan Morrison.
🤥 MISLEADING AD: Another Brewdog campaign, another ASA complaint. The brewer has been criticised for a campaign that claimed customers could win "solid gold" beer cans. Winners complained after discovering that the cans were in fact gold-plated. Spotted Alan Morrison.
🎨 ONLYFANS ART: Vienna’s tourism board is using an OnlyFans account to display nude art from its museums and galleries. It’s a creative use of the platform. Facebook and TikTok previously blocked accounts and removed photos as images were deemed pornographic. Spotted Stephen Waddington.
Research and insight
🏦 POOR AGENCY BRIEFS: Most marketers think they’re good at writing briefs; most agencies disagree saying they lack focus, clarity and inspiration. A third of budgets are wasted on poor briefs and misdirected work according to a study of agency/client relationships. Spotted Andrew Bruce Smith.
🤔 BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE: A report published by the United Nations sets out the potential of behavioural science to help achieve the Sustainable Development goals. It’s another useful primer for a fast emerging area of practice in public relations. Spotted Karan Chadda.
Tools
🔧 SEO TOOLS: Google Search Console (93%), Screaming Frog (86%) and SEMrush (66%) are the most popular SEO tools according to The State of Technical SEO Report published by Aira and Women in Tech SEO. It examines the relationship between agency and in-house teams and technical SEO tools. Spotted Andrew Bruce Smith.
🖼️ INSTAGRAM DESKTOP: Instagram has finally allowed all users to post directly from a web browser. It makes it easier to upload and manipulate images, and add accessibility information. The platform has also improved its native analytics and reporting. Spotted Leanne Hughes and Alan Morrison.
Social media and platforms
📱 GUILD FUNDRAISING: Guild has raised $2.7million as it seeks to establish itself as an alternative to Linkedin and WhatsApp. The platform enables organisations to run GDPR-compliant communities and groups. Source Michelle Goodall.
💻 LINKEDIN TIME OUT: Andrew Bruce Smith got kicked off LinkedIn for 24 hours this week after looking at seven different profiles in four minutes. LinkedIn assumed he was using automated tools. It's a cautionary reminder that if you use rented land, the Landlord always has the final say. Source Andrew Bruce Smith.
🆕 FCBK REBRAND: Facebook is planning a rebrand and reorganisation. It will position Facebook as a product under a parent company alongside Instagram, Oculus, WhatsApp, and others. Google did the same in 2015 with the creation of Alphabet. Spotted Alan Morrison.
🛒 PAYPAL PINTEREST: Payment service PayPal is in talks to buy image sharing and social media platform Pinterest. The deal would provide PayPal with an ad platform and would enable Pinterest users to monetise their social media following. Spotted Mairi Clark.
Events
🗓️ GREEN CODE: The CMA Green Code sets out guidance for environmental claims in marketing and public relations but does nothing to address the fundamental issues impacting the planet. It’s the subject of a CIPR event at 1pm on Tuesday 26 October.
🗓️ CARBON OFFSETS: The public relations industry has played a significant role in legitimising carbon offsets. You can find out whether that’s brilliant or bullshit at a free PRCA event at 1030am on Wednesday 27 October.
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