Fire Kills!

Whilst doing some work for university this evening I have come across a really powerful ad for Fire Safety.

Being petrified of fire myself, this is a message close to my heart.

It is such a shame this really important campaign is reaching so few people.

So please take the time to share this video with friends and family, and go and show them some support on Facebook & Twitter.

Love Rie xx

Why I Will Always Love Books.

With all things literary moving digital it seems the future will move away from books. But I can't help but love the printed page and the little messages left behind by previous readers. It seems to tell a history that will never be gained by a eBook.

Library books in particular are some of my favourite reads with post-stick notes, pencil scribbles and full on highlighting of pages really enhancing my reading experience.

Here is a book I got out of my university library this week that I really loved.

Black book on bottom right - Mythologies by Roland Barthes (2000)

Little pencil notes of a library book reference, a meeting & a website URL.

Post stick notes found inside the front cover including a shopping list!

There are some book that I will always purchase where I can namely the Charlaine Harris 'True Blood' series and Kelley Armstrong's 'Women of the Otherworld' series - and undoubtedly new. I still hold dear to my heart the printed book.

And I will always be a library dweller reading the notes left by others before anything else.

Despite the above I will not miss carting heavy text books, or running out of reading material whilst on holiday. I may be slow in embracing the digital trend, and will never fully abandon my books I still look forward to the future of reading!

Rie xx

RTS Southern's Social Media Talk - Summary

Last night I went along to a talk about social media and itsinfluence on TV and news broadcasts. Not really knowing what to expect I was pleasantly surprised by a well organised discussion by some interesting speakers.

I particularly enjoyed the participation with the audience and I got some great answers to my questions about how to convert social media sceptics. So I just thought I would do a quick summary post on what I learnt.

Social media is well social, and it is difficult to get technophobes and sceptics to listen to the advantages of this fast moving and valuable tool to businesses. Here are some of the best tips I was given and how they can help individuals and businesses get the most out of social media:

1.   Know what is in it for youMake sure you understand what you niche is and research them online. Twitter has some great advanced search techniques, as well as Google so make use of them to really understand who your target market is, where they are talking and how to engage them. You don’t need to replace traditional marketing techniques, but simply enhance them. Followers on Twitter, likes on Facebook and views on YouTube all mean more traffic to the your website.
   
   
2. Set out your objectives
   Setting up a twitter account is easy, but knowing why you are doing it and who you are going to target is more difficult. Do you want to sell more products? Do you want to build brand awareness? Or just see what other people are saying about your brand? Make sure you know what you are saying, in what tone and to who before you jump in and start randomly posting.
   
   
3. Know your stuff
   Almost anyone can set up and account on these sites, but running them can sometimes be a little more complex. What might work best for Facebook, might not work on Twitter so make sure you are educated on how to make the most out of these sites. If you’re not sure, don’t post. There are a lot of people that are professionals so turn to them for help.
   
   
4.  Don’t be anonymousHaving a good profile on all social networking sites is important. A good profile picture is essential so people can recognise you / your brand easily. A short and snappy bio is also vital to let followers and friends know who you are and what you are about quickly. It will help build your followers and make sure potential followers can find you easily online.
   
   
5.  Be authentic, be the expert, be funnyIts okay getting the followers but keeping them is another matter. It only takes seconds to unlike something on Facebook, or unfollow on Twitter so make sure every message counts. Be true to yourself, personal accounts always get more followers than business style pages. Be the expert in your field, if you cannot write original content RT or post other peoples – just make sure you give the credit where it is due. Most importantly keep the tone light! No one wants serious tweets all the time, so if you find something funny or cute share it!

Want to know more?:

Sue Llewellyn - Social media trainer and Twitter wizz!
RTS Southern - Good Facebook page, better website.
Me - Follower my Twitter to get more related stories by me and other people.

Thanks for reading,

Rie Reviews

The Churned 'Forever' - Yeo Valley Organic Advert

It seems that follow up television adverts are a real trend right now. In my last post I spoke about the new Lynx Effect advert ‘My AngelGirlfriend’ and how much I loved their new humours advert.

Yeo Valley Organic has also got a really good follow up advertisement to their Yeo Valley Rap also played in the advertising break of the X Factor featuring their band The Churned singing ‘Forever’.

I really love the way they draw on the conventions of boy bands, and their pop music videos in such a way it’s almost a parody of the whole X Factor concept. The song is even downloadable with an online campaign to beat the X Factor winner-to-be Christmas No. 1!

The television ad prompts us to go and look at the YeoValley Facebook page and sing along to appear in the ad break of the final of the show. The Sing Star style app asks fans to 'Sing in Harmony' to the advert into their webcams to hit the right notes and achieve high scores. You can compare top scores with the rest of the UK and your friends on Facebook in a nice interactive package.

I also love the customization on their YouTube channel with even the the Yeo Valley logo being adapted to mirror/parody the YouTube logo.

Overall this is a really creative integrated marketing campaign that has got people talking!

I am really enjoying the creative approaches being used to grabbing consumer’s attention at the moment particularly with mass consumables. I just dread to think how much this cost for a 2 min advert at peek time!

Rie Reviews xx

Lynx Excite – My Angel Girlfriend Advert (BBH)

When the original Lynx Excite TV advert came out in February this year I fell in love with the movie style drama of it. I found the whole concept of the campaign fun and well executed. I felt the PR stunts and social media presence worked well to create a campaign people wanted to be involved in.

So you can imagine my excitement when I saw the next chapter of this campaign during the commercial break of X Factor (ITV) this Saturday!

This new 61s and shortened 30s adverts tell the humorous tale of what it is really like to date an angel. From wing feathers in sandwiches, to hogging the bathroom blow drying them in the mirror, it uses markers of everyday life both men and women can appeal to.

Whereas Lynx’s previous campaigns are more overtly sexualised (think back to this summer’s campaign for Premature Perspiration with Lucy Pinder) the Excite campaign still appeals to a young male audience but in a classier way. 

The first adverts felt more like a utopian time gone by in a picturesque European town (actually filmed in Croatia) that had been ambushed by angels. This new instalment however propels the concept into the modern day fits in better with the rest of the Lynx campaigns commenting on the nature of modern heterosexual relationships - or how men want them to be!

This has to be my favourite campaign of 2011!

Original full length advert released in Feburary 2011

Top Hat at The Mayflower Southampton - Review

image source

This Tuesday I was lucky enough to go to the opening night of the musical Top Hat at The Mayflower Southampton.

The stage version of the 1930’s moving picture is brought to life by a cast of 45 actors, dancers and musicians. A comedic and whimsical tale of love between Jerry Travers (Tom Chambers - 'Holby City' and winner of 'Strictly Come Dancing') and Dale Tremont (Summer Strallen - 'Hollyoaks') is performed in full Hollywood glamour.

Beautiful costumes and cleverly constructed sets ensured that this light-hearted play enthralled audiences as the couple dance from song to song. The quips and wit of the original is captured perfectly by the show and had me laughing un-ashamedly more than once. The dancing provided by the whole cast was stunning and provided the ballroom charm even if the pieces sometimes felt a little long.

I felt that the first dance by Tom Chambers (and a very strained fake American accent) was a little shaky but the performance soon mellowed into an easy to watch and entertaining musical.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the show and recommend to all lovers of ballroom dancing and musicals alike.

4/5

Thanks for reading,

Love Rie xx

[Top Hat is at The Mayflower until September 24^th before touring around the UK.

For more information and to book tickets: http://bit.ly/nP19VZ

Thanks to Carswell Gould for the opportunity to watch the show]

Reading makes you a better person...

Source

A story published in the Guardian.co.uk today says that those that read fiction have increased empathy.

Participants in a Boston university where given an extract from two of my favourite children's authors - JK Rowling and Stephanie Meyer. They were then tested on a number of scales and results showed that those that read JK Rowling's extract from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone identified themselves with wizards, magic and broomsticks, where those who read Stephanie Meyer's extract from Twilight identified with blood, the undead and fangs!

So for those of you that need more encouragement to read, reading fantasy fiction improves your empathy to what you are reading about - which is a little strange when your are reading about characters that are, well, fictional! However, being more empathetic towards over people can only make you a better person in everyday life, and who doesn't love getting lost in something fantastical!

One of my English Literature teachers in college said he loved reading because it let him understand more about the world he might never get a chance to see, and I couldn't agree more!

So what ever your genre of choice, pick up a book today and make yourself more empathetic.

Thanks for reading,

Love Rie Reviews xx

Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/rpYeqA

Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver - Book Review

Deaver launches the James Bond character into the 21^st century with his own unique style. A must have read for any Bond lovers, and thriller readers alike, but don’t be put off if you don’t like cars and guns, there is a lot more besides.

Aesthetically this book is very pleasing to read, the flocked, rubberised cover grips your hands. The cover image resembles a wisp of smoke and the design is repeated at the beginning of every chapter. I have both a standard copy (white/red) and a limited edition signed copied (black/white) which are both equally eye catching on my shelf.

All hard backs are going to be a little weighty and as this was a holiday read this summer, I did feels a paperback would have perhaps been better for travelling with, but the story gripped me from beginning to end and was worth the extra weight!  

The title is also really clever. So much better than the titles such as Octopussy and The Man with the Golden Gun, it has wit and style that really fits in with the narrative.

The narrative is well, Bond like. The formulae of the books were followed well, Bond had a fast car (although not an Aston Martin) and he even got the girl. He’s cheeky, witty and is one step ahead of the enemy no matter how much in trouble he seems. Yet it was Deaver’s personal writing style that made this book, for me, so enjoyable to read.  Red herrings and the rollercoaster ride of revolutions make this a fast paced read, and it will keep you guessing until the end.

The villain is possibly one of the best yet. Routed in modern issues with a flaw that makes your skin crawl, he is the perfect persona of 21^st issues of recycling and corporate responsibility and their darker side.

It was the technical information on the cars and guns that was lost on me. I was laying in bed reading out the names of cars to my boyfriend to describe, as I had no idea what they were, if they were good or not or what they looked like. I understand that they are necessary for the book, but just not for me.

Overall I loved Jeffery Deaver’s take on the James Bond novel, with a fancy cover, good name and great characters. Yet the very Bond-ness of it means I prefer his own creations.

4/5

Thanks for reading,

Love Rie Reviews xx

Holiday Reading

Hi all,

I am off for a well deserved holiday tomorrow, and time-off for me equals reading! So I thought I would let you know what books I am taking away with me.

1. Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver
   I have been reading this one for a few weeks now, and thanks to a busy schedule I haven't managed to progress more than half way. But I am looking forward to getting stuck in and finishing this one.
   
2. Fear the Worst by Linwood Barclay
   I have no idea what this one is going to be like. It was recommended to me by my Mum, so it will keep me busy for a day :P
   
3. The Blue Nowhere by Jeffery Deaver
   One of the last books we have in the house that I haven't read. Again came highly recommended by my Mum as a good read.
   

It is going to be a crime thriller holiday! It is only a week away so all I can hope is this will be enough. But I always seem to find a book store selling English books no matter where I am and will undoubtedly be picking up some more!

Hope you are all having a great summer.

Thanks for reading,

Love Rie xx

My Time at Carswel Gould - Week Three

Now that I have just completed my third and final week at marketing communications agency Carswell Gould, I am here to report how it has all gone!

As I mentioned in my last post, my main task last week was to complete a digital marketing plan to launch the RIBs to the Limit challenge film. I put a lot of effort in creating an easy to read document and it appeared my efforts really paid off. Ed seemed genuinely impressed with how I kept the objectives in mind whilst creating a table of action points to carry the plan through.

This week I have been carrying out the action points I could, whilst talking to the rest of the team about the bits I couldn’t, such as improvements to the website. Firstly I updating the profiles of the RIBS to the Limit accounts on YouTube, Flickr and Facebook to ensure that Carswell Gould’s involvement in the challenge was more widely recognised. Next I added some copy and links on each of the videos currently hosted on YouTube so that people knew a feature length video is being released, Carswell Gould’s involvement and where to go for more information.  As Twitter can only have a 160 character profile, I have written and scheduled a list of tweets for inform current followers about the upcoming release of the challenge film, their presence at the PSP Southampton Boat Show and related topics. Lastly I have left the task of designing and coding an extra case study page to the CG site to Graham and Tom (design) and Rob (web development).

My first tweet apearing on the website's twitter widgit.

To break this task up I have also been given some smaller tasks including: proof reading, looking at a brief for a new client, writing and scheduling different online content for Twitter and Facebook, milk runs and made numerous rounds of tea and coffee!

The most memorable moment of this week has unfortunately been the London riots. The buzz in the office was replaced with people sharing news of the riots and their spread across England this Tuesday. When rumors started circulating online about problems in Southampton there were some meerkat moments of us all looking out the window as riot vans parked on the high street and sirens went past. Luckily nothing happened, but it was good to see how in touch the local police force was with social media. They channeled reliable news via Twitter that the office and the rest of Hampshire could follow and not the many rumors. And if all else failed we always had guard dog Scamp to look after us!

These last three weeks have gone so quickly, and I am sad to leave the office. However the time has not been wasted, and I have learnt so much about how social media can be used by individuals and businesses. I am taking away a bank of knowledge to help me improve my appearance online, and looking forward to using the skills I have learnt. Areas that I need to improve has also been highlighted, namely by spelling and grammar. When getting my work proof read it was evident that although no one is perfect, my work was needing a lot more corrections than others, and I will be concentrating on improving this in the future.

Thank you so much to the team at Carswell Gould for having me, and thanks to all the people that have come along and read how I have been doing. And most of all, thanks for the chocolates!

Love Rie / Marie Malyon xx

SPELLBOUND!!

You know a book is good when you wake up early in the morning to read more before you go to work.

I am loving Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong. It was on the mat when I got home from Carswell Gould on Friday and I have read it at every opportunity since.

Looking forward to any chance to read the next chapter (fashioning my new skills of reading whilst walking!)

Watch this space for review very shortly.

Thanks for reading,
Rie xx

My time at Carswell Gould – Week Two

I am currently completing a three week placement at Carswell Gould, a marketing communications agency in Southampton. Now I have finished my second week in the office I have come back to tell you how it has all gone!

My first task this week was to present my comparative analysis of the use of social media by other agencies. I was quite nervous about doing my presentation, I have done a lot of similar tasks at university nut nothing really stops you getting nervous about how your research and hard work is going to be received

But...it went really well!

It was kept quite informal and I felt confident in knowing what I was talking about, thanks to the work I had put into each graph and point on the slides. I was expecting a ‘thank you’ and for them all to move on but each member of the team got involved in what I was presenting. A series of action points were made and tasks were shared out to help put these into action. I even got a few well done posts on Twitter which was really self-rewarding.

 To find out about what the GORE-TEX Arctic Challenge is visit: www.ribstothelimit.com

Early in the week my main tasks were to finish off the jobs left over from the week before, especially with RIBs to the Limit: GORE-TEX Arctic Challenge. It was one of the first tasks mentioned to me when I started this placement 2 weeks ago, but I was kept busy with other jobs with shorter deadlines. Focussed mainly on social media, I have uploaded some images on to Facebook as well as organising folders of images to be sent to the sponsors of the challenge.
;

Part of the original task was to create a digital only marketing plan for the launch of a 20 minute film on the challenge, as well as the behind the scenes version to highlight the expanse and success of the integrated marketing campaign run by Ed (who was taking part in the challenge) and the team back in Southampton. I struggled early on with what this really meant and when I finally worked on it independently I found that I didn’t really understand the content of the video or the objectives of my marketing plan. A quick chat with Lisa and a briefing from Ed really helped me to understand the objectives and put the plan right back on track. More than being a piece of written work to sit on a pile they would also like me to follow out the plan in the final week of my placement, which will create a really great complete piece of work I can take back to university and include in my portfolio. The deadline for the plan is the end of today, so watch this space to see how it comes into action online!

My highlight of this week was observing the process of how the team works with a new client. A simple 30 minute meeting of all the staff sat on office chairs in a circle showed the way the CG office worked. Rather than clients being given the knowledge and skills from one person, the whole team is involved in providing creative ideas that fit the brief of the client. Time is taken to really explain to everyone what the target market, objectives and key messages of the campaign are, so to provide the best environment for everyone to get involved. The result was not what I expected – a group all pitching in ideas immediately of crazy PR stunts for the client to put their name to, but a more focused and objective response that I am sure will bring out some fantastic and practical creative solutions to help the client.

I would love that I am getting used to the 7 day week and early starts, but if anything they are getting harder. However, I am really enjoying my time so far at Carswell Gould and I am eager to start my third and final week as I feel I am leaning so much every day. I even have the company work experience placement, Emma Frost who started this week and is helping me make connections elsewhere.

Thank you all for reading,

Love Rie / Marie Malyon xx

My time at Carswell Gould – Week One

When people ask me what degree I am doing I always reply “Media Communications - it’s like a cross between advertising and journalism” and they often reply “oh right” with no idea what I am talking about. So when presented with the task of finding work experience I sat down and researched, asked friends, family but I was stumped. I was really interested in media communications but no one outside the industry seem to know what this really was. But with the recommendation from my tutor, the perfect place was right under my nose the whole time – Carswell Gould. 

Located in the centre of Southampton it is just minutes away from my university (Southampton Solent). It was the placement I was looking for! As a marketing communications agency, Carswell Gould encapsulates what I am trying to describe what my course is about, and so much more.

So now I have completed my first week in the office, I am excited to report back my first impressions!

Week One:

The beautifully decorated office houses a very friendly team. Warm smiles and handshakes greeted me on my first day and I was thrilled to hear everyone already knew my name (even if it has taken me a lot longer to remember all of theirs!) I couldn’t have been made to feel more welcome.

Top row : Graham, Laura, Gill, Ed and Scamp.
Bottom row: Tom, Lisa and Rob.

The Monday meeting left me with pages of notes about my tasks for the week and a real enthusiasm to get started. I have been given some really exciting tasks both to support the team’s work for clients, and generally help out around the office. Making tea and coffee is a very important job but much to my surprise is the smallest part of my temporary role in the office.  

One of my first tasks was to draft a comparative analysis of the social media used by competitors, and suggest ways Carswell Gould can enhance its social media presence. I jumped into the research and the task was soon upgraded from a report to a presentation for the following week’s Monday meeting. After a quick chat with Ed about my progress, he really helped me focus my research and gave me some good tips for increasing the value of the research I was doing.

But listening in on Gill, Lisa and Laura’s PR meeting on Wednesday morning has been my favorite time so far in the office. I learnt a lot about press releases, selling in stories (which means persuading a publication to run a story and nothing about money exchanged), press parties, mailing lists (and cleansing them) and loads more. I wish now I had made more notes, but really looking forward to the opportunity of learning more about PR.

I am really looking forward to next week now, and am so pleased that I have got this opportunity to pick the brains of experts in the marketing comms industry.

Look out for next week’s update to see how I am getting on!

Thanks for reading,

Love Rie / Marie Malyon xx

Oh Genre!

Hey all :)

I hope you have enjoyed the last few reviews. I have really enjoyed working with Sam and Flo and hope I can get a few more people involved in reviews when I am busy. Sam already has a book waiting for him when he gets home that he has promised me he will review!

So much for my summer off! I have managed to get my self into 3 jobs and reading has been segregated to only train journeys and at bedtime.Thus the slow progress on my very exciting 'to read' pile.

I am currently reading a very different genre than I normally go for... Historical Drama. Science fiction, fantasy, crime drama, a lot of teen vampire flicks are normally what I spend the most of my time reading, but I have really fallen in love with "Queen of Silks" by Vanora Bennett.

I inherited this book from my Dad's late godmother (RIP London Mary) with a selection of other books that she had in her home. She was a passionate reader and we had shared books with her for a number of years. This one however doesn't look like it has ever been read before, but I hope in her final weeks she had lots of other great books to read.

The book was originally published as "Figures of Silk" back in 2008 but I am reading the paper back version printed in 2009. As I have already mentioned I haven't read any historical style novels before so I wasn't expecting the rich content (I wouldn't know if it was accurate!) mixed in with more recognisable themes of ambition, feminism, romance and adultery.

If it doesn't really sound your thing, I wouldn't blame you! I only picked this book up to read first as it was the smallest (mainly because it is a paperback) and would be lightest to read on the train. However I have been drawn into it, and found myself sat at Portsmouth Harbour station, sat on the train, reading speedily to reach the end of the chapter before I have to get off so the train can go back in the other direction!

Look out for the review when I have finished it! I would love for you guys to give a new genre a try as you never know - you might find a real gem!

What genre is your favourite normally? Have you been surprised by a new genre?

Please comment and let me know, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading,

Rie xx