A weekly roundup of media news and talking points, sans effort
Thought for the Week
“Immediately find and remove the foreign media report “China’s Secret Offshore Tax Havens??? and related content. Interactive platforms must strictly check [users]. Related images and accusatory comments about leaders and the system [of government] must be deleted without exception,” Instructions issued by the Chinese government for internet providers to block any domain featuring negative stories regarding the country’s monetary behaviour, as published by China Digital Times and The Guardian, which is one of the websites currently being blocked.
Weekly High
Guinness has long had a reputation for quality ads, as such we weren’t surprised to be impressed by its latest effort. Promoting pub conversations over digital engagement in public, the finished product is both memorable and witty.
Weekly Low
With big data comes big responsibility, as OfficeMax learned this week. The U.S. firm, owned by Office Depot, contacted a grieving father on its database with a letter, unfortunately addressed to “Mike Seay, Daughter Killed In Car Crash, or Current Business”. A rather unforgivable oversight, the story has already made it everywhere from Marketing Week to The New Yorker as an example of why personal information-focused marketing may not be good for people (or business).
Stories to keep an eye on…
*Fall of the Argentinian peso, as the currency enters freefall with inflation expected to hit 30%.
*Wales Online receives 3.5million hits for its article, 18 things English people won’t know unless they’ve lived in Wales, created as part of the site’s push to produce more shareable, mobile friendly content.
Just in case you missed it…
Smoking Gun PR has just been nominated for five Golden Hedgehog Awards, including Best Social Media Campaign (The Kennel Club – The Crufts Factor 2013), Best Use of Research (Silentnight Sleep Clinic), Best Consumer PR Campaign (Silentnight Sleep Clinic Part One), Best Media Relations Campaign of the Year (Hexbug: Seeing Is Believing) and Small Agency of the Year. Take a look at the full shortlist here.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
