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You heard it here first. Whether it’s the latest social media trend or headline-grabbing industry data, we’re all about sharing the knowledge.

First things first – one lump or two? However you like your news, we’ll deliver it to you in a digestible format. Keep your eye on our expert speakers at industry events, or flick through our blog for useful hints and tips.

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Our News

Instagram Stories celebrates first birthday

12 months ago, Instagram launched Stories to compete with Snapchat and tap into the growing trend of short-lived content. Users can share video, images, Boomerangs, live broadcasts and videos in reverse on their story which then disappear after 24 hours. You can personalise content by adding stickers, text and augmented reality characters including bunny ears, … Continued
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Content marketing

Copywriting experts offer an ode to the obscurity of the English language

Yesterday was Yorkshire Day, a national celebration of the county which, if you come from there, stands head and shoulders above the rest as the closest anyone can get to God’s kingdom. And if you don’t hail from any of the four Ridings it still stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of … Continued
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Newsletter

Rick's Rambles

Should marketers have nightmares about electric staff?

In 1991 the director James Cameron unleashed his vision of the near-future, and with it the wrath of Skynet, an automated defence system that would think for itself, and quickly learn anything humans could do, machines could do faster, and more devastatingly. Thankfully, for now, Terminator 2: Judgment Day remains a work of dystopian science-fiction. … Continued
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Marketing

Newsletter

4 things we can learn from ecosystem brands

You may have missed it, so let’s start from the beginning. There’s a new buzzword on the streets, one we’re surprised hasn’t surfaced before, which relates to some of the world’s biggest companies, and explains how they have become so successful. Introducing ‘ecosystem brands’, a term that covers Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon- four of … Continued
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Ingenious Ideas

Newsletter

6 employee engagement comms tools you should be using

Let’s face it, with workloads like communications staff in 2017, it’s not a question of who needs, but rather who can afford sick days and holidays. There’s just so much to do, and so little time to do it in, trying to encourage employees to get involved in collective tasks outside their direct remit can … Continued
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Marketing

Newsletter

Everything you wanted to know about nudge theory

They say suggestion is a far more powerful means of getting what you want than demands. It’s a theory that has been proven, time and again, in everything from advertising to politics. Let’s look at it like this- Communism, the only alternative mode of governance to Capitalism for the last 100 years, was all about … Continued
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Our News

A month in the Smoking Gun study

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The Blagger's Blog

Blagger's Blog- Equal pay in the media, SGPR awards, fake news just got serious

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newspapers

PR thoughts: Media silly season? You've got some competition

It’s raining outside the Smoking Gun PR office window today. Amazingly- despite reputations- this is the first dank and dreary day Manchester has seen in quite some time. Whilst temperatures haven’t quite been tropical, they’ve not been too bad, with plenty of sun breaking through the notoriously slate grey clouds of North West England. Although … Continued
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The Blagger's Blog

Blagger's Blog- Dirty Dancing gone bad, SodaStream ad gold, beer for women backlash

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Marketing

Marketing problems: Is the UK industry failing to represent regionality?

Much as writing in dialect is shorthand for ‘desperate attempt to be original’, unless you’re Irvine Welsh, here in Britain we are blessed with some of the strongest regional accents, and identities, the world has ever seen. Take us here in Manchester, for example. The locals, born and bred Mancunians, sound pretty different to those who … Continued
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Social Media

The work ex, the Twitter account, and the incredible results

Southern Rail decided to put a GCSE work experience student in charge of its Twitter account. Amazingly, the gamble paid off.
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The Blagger's Blog

The Blagger's Blog- China China China, Wimbledon, robot reporters, Channel 4

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    Why stop at global stardom and incredible sales? When our clients work with us, they get the silverware to boot. We’re not into tooting our own horns, but the awards we’ve won with our clients are too good to miss…