A weekly roundup of media news and talking points, sans effort

 

Quote of the week

“While I sympathise with One Direction fans, I hardly think this qualified as compassionate leave.” Employment Law Director Alan Price, of Manchester-based employer advice service Peninsula, commenting on the slew of calls received from bosses asking for advice on giving staff time off to recover from the departure of Zayn Malik from chart topping band One Direction.
 

 Weekly High

Insurance provider Beagle Street caught people’s attention in the capital yesterday after unleashing hundreds of tiny origami beagles, made from £10 notes, onto the streets of London. The stunt apparently took a staggering 120 hours to put together, so full marks for effort and innovative storytelling.

 

Weekly Low

Hashtags can be a great way to turn your brand into a Twitter trend. Or they can massively backfire. Sea World came unstuck this week after launching its #askseaworld campaign, with scores of people taking to the network to deride the company for its alleged mistreatment of animals. Hmmm… did someone say big mistake?

Stories to keep an eye on

Customer experience of UK brands is lagging behind the US equivalent, according to data from Nunwood.

According to a new study, most millennials consider keeping up to date with news to be highly important, but would never pay for it, on any platform.

Johnston Press, one of the UK’s biggest publishers, has launched its first digital-only title, Belfast Vibe, which focuses on trends, lifestyle, entertainment and news aimed at 18-34 year olds.

 

Just in case you missed it

Following on from our blog on Meerkat, Twitter has just launched its own live streaming platform, Periscope. Read all about it here.