A weekly roundup of talking points, sans effort
Thought for the week
“Google’s unfair conduct threatened to block [US consumer] access to laptops, smartphones, tablets and gaming systems or raise their prices which would have been passed on to consumers — for example an iPad, BlackBerry smartphones are all under threat if this practice continued.” Jon Liebowitz, Director of the Federal Trade Committee, on Google’s use of ‘standards-essential patents’ to force rivals into paying a MMI license fee, after the search giant was exonerated of biasing results in favour of its own products following a U.S. investigation.
Weekly high
Hardly a PR stunt proper, we can only imagine how delighted the eBay bosses where to learn the trading site had been inundated with unwanted, and in many instanced unopened Christmas presents in the wake of December 25th. Cue countless column inches in many of Britain’s best selling newspapers and most read online outlets, which is a success story from our perspective.
Weekly low
Cinemark Aurora will soon re-open its doors after a forced closure following The Dark Knight Rises shootings of last year, in which members of the audience were gunned down during the film. Insensitive, and tantamount to unforgivable, brains in the marketing department decided it best to invite the friends and families of those that lost their lives to the launch event- ‘an evening of remembrance followed by a movie’. Shocking.
Things that might happen next week…
Speculation as to whether we are already falling back into another recession could well mount following the first fall in service sector activity in 24 months, the nominations for this year’s American Academy Awards- AKA The Oscars- will be announced (on Thursday January 10th), meanwhile the behaviour of Italian football fans is likely to fall under scrutiny following the abandonment of a Milan friendly as a result of racist chants.
Dates for your diary
Tuesday 8th January; Britons Protection Pub, Manchester; Social Media Cafe Meetup- The first in 2013’s series of monthly socmedia related meetings, with anyone involved in marketing, public relations, and the creative industries more than welcome to join.
Tuesday 8th January, MMU New Business School, Manchester; 1001 Social Media Marketing Tools You Must Use Before You Die; Despite the rather pained title, attendees at this online-focused seminar will certainly walk away better educated in the world of web promotion.
Wednesday 9th January, Town Hall, Leeds; Bettakultcha; An evening of five-minute stories, each presented by a different person with the aid of (apparently) ‘interesting slides’, along with drinks, music, and even a little comedy to boot.
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!
