Archive for May, 2009
Just started getting spam comments on my blog…
Posted by johnweet in Social media on May 30, 2009
I’ve had a blog for a while now but have only just started getting spammed. Why is that? Does this mean that my blog is more visible now so should I be pleased? Or is there another reason for it? How do these people choose a blog to target? Is there any way I can block this from happening other than highlighting them as spam when I get them.
Social Media marketing can get you into a mess…..
Posted by johnweet in Public Relations, Social media on May 27, 2009
…. that PR has to dig you out of.
I was having a conversation with Heather Yaxley last night about companies using Social media. We were saying about how there are many companies out there who are purporting to be experts in Social media and who are offering to put together marketing plans that use these new tools for their clients. We were agreeing that for some companies this could prove to be very dangerous territory to enter.
Heather suggested that it is all too easy for marketeers to get their clients into a mess on social media and then they need PR professionals to dig themselves out of it.
Interesting then that I saw a tweet from Sam Shepherd at the Bournemouth daily Echo this morning pointing me to a URL on the Guardian web site about Neals Yard Remedies. Not strictly social media, but relevant to our discussions all the same. The whole point of the page was that people could ask questions of Neals Yard about their ethics and Neals Yard would then respond.
The result, hundreds of tricky questions and no response from Neals Yard, despite being chased by the page moderator who posted as follows:-
“have just had a chat with NYR.
Unfortunately, despite previous assurances that they would be participating in this blog post, I’ve now been told they ‘will not be taking part in the debate’.
So yes, as several people have pointed out, this has become something of ‘You Ask’, rather than a ‘You Ask, They Answer’. I’m still hoping NYR will reconsider.”
Some poor PR person has a lot of work on his hands to restore any sort of credibility to their name now. Neals Yard may just dismiss it and say “it’s only one web site it doesn’t matter” but the power of social media is that this story is now being tweeted and re tweeted and it will grow I am sure.
Debenhams… fail
Posted by johnweet in Public Relations, Whingeing on May 20, 2009
Now I wouldn’t normally use a blog post to criticise a company but I figured that as I had used one to praise EasyJet I was justified in using one to criticise Debenhams, and it is PR related in that they have damaged their reputation by the way that they behave.
Earlier this year we went to Debenhams to purchase wedding outfits for the boys. We got to the checkout and were offered a store card. I hate these tactics and I would normally have said no but they were giving an additional 20% discount, on top of the normal 10, so on purchases totalling over £100 it was worth having. Or so I thought.
I said yes which seemed to take them aback a little. I won’t go into details but it must have taken an hour to complete all the paperwork. Firstly they couldn’t find the forms, then they didn’t know how to fill them out. Fail #1.
All this form filling was going on at the checkout while a queue of people built up behind me, some put their goods down and walked out. Fail #2.
Next job was to register on line, pay the bill and then cancel the card. Now to register on line you need your account number. This would be the number on the front of the card right?… Wrong… this was the number that was printed in one place in faded purple writing on the agreement form. Fail #3.
Now this is a paperless account and all the communications is supposed to be via the web site, or via a premium rate phone line. There was no way I was going to use a premium rate phone line so when I was finally able to get into the account I sent a message through their system asking what I needed to do to cancel my account.
I received a response in my email inbox telling me to log into the account to see the answer to my message. I tried and got rejected “not able to log in at this time” I tried again later the same day, and the next. Still the same message. In the end I had to resort to the premium rate line. After what seemed like hundreds of security questions and having to change my password also I was told the reason I couldn’t get in was because the account had been closed.
So they sent me message telling me to go to the account to collect my response, knowing that they had closed the account and I couldn’t access that message. Is that just the stupidest thing you have ever heard? Fail #4.
If Debenhams want to compete in what is a very tough market at the moment they need to buck up their ideas I think.
WordPress is soooo easy….
Posted by johnweet in Public Relations on May 19, 2009
When I took the plunge yesterday and decided to get myself a WordPress site I never thought it would be so easy. after only a few hours I have the site up and running and all the content loaded. I just need to “prettify” it a bit more and then I’m done.
Easy Jet, Getting it right on Twitter
Posted by johnweet in Social media on May 8, 2009
I flew with Easy Jet for the first time a few weeks ago. I only had hand luggage so thought I would turn up and check in at one of those handy self check in machines that all the other airlines (the ones I tend to use anyway) have. I arrived about an hour before my flight to Basel only to find no self check in machines and a horrendous queue. Feeling quite grumpy I sent the following tweet while in the line.
We had a little bit of email correspondence and I felt that I had aired my grievances and that I had been listened to.
I wouldn’t say I’m a convert to Easy Jet. I’m not a big fan of the scrum that takes place at boarding and also I am far closer to Southampton and Heathrow, so these are certainly my airports of choice. However what I will say is that I will not go to great lengths to avoid them as I have done before.