Is social media a flash in the pan?
Is it relevant to your business and should it be at the heart of your marketing strategy?
Or should we get a (second) life and stop the twitter?

As a marketing practitioner, you may feel that you need to be using social media, or simply want to keep abreast of developments in this area. This presentation will explain the explosion of social media; exploring winning case studies, when it goes wrong and outlining implementation strategies you can begin to adopt today.

You will leave inspired and armed with the knowledge to begin applying social media principles to your own business.

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I was talking yesterday with an account manager who during a discussion about market research said that social media metrics would never replace the value gained from facial expressions, body language and the tone of voice of people attending a live focus group.

I’ve planned a few focus group sessions in the past when I was part of the team that re-branded Frisp Crisps and I have to say I remember them as being interesting and generating some useful feedback, particularly that the crisps were considered as being quite ‘foody’ and filling, more than a snack. That fed into the decision that new ‘foody’ such as Buttered Jacket Potato & Mature Cheddar would fit with our customers’ perception of the crisp brand.

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TECH NOTES by Declan Metcalfe. Featured in the The Newcastle Journal and nebusiness.co.uk (view article online)

WHAT’S all the buzz around social media?

The explosion that is social media came about due to the convergence of three forces: people, technology and economics. People wanted to talk, and technology caught up to the extent that it became possible to connect to friends in real time using a multitude of devices. These are made affordable because the infrastructure is now in place making it easily accessible to the vast majority.

The easiest way to think of social media, I believe, is as a conversation that millions of people are having, one that’s growing louder as more and more voices join in. And guess what the topics are: they are talking about you, your brand, your product and your services.
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The North East Digtial Awards celebrate the excellence of the growing digital industry in the North East of England showcasing the best of the region’s digital talent.

We’ve entered the digital supplier – Best Social Media Optomisation Campaign category, so fingers crossed we get something. Anyone can vote in the awards so use you click and support us. (more…)

So, we’re all fired up about social media.
We’ve gotten involved personally, learned a little, played a little and seen the benefits now we want to sell it to our company. It’s important to drop the buzz words, think strategically and get ready to answer questions from doubters and decision makers.

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At Better Brand Agency, we like taking photos. We’re developing quite a library of photos and wanted to start sharing them so we’ve launched our own Flickr Photostream.

Check out our latest photostream updates including our Better Client Work Collection, Better Team Collection, Tees Valley & North East Collection, plus some of our own favourite personal photos.

We’ve also built in a clever little Flickr plugin into the bottom of our website and our facebook page showing our latest photostream updates to share the wealth.

If you would like further information about any of the photos featured in our photostream, please contact the Better team.

Better Brand Agency a brand agency offering brand, graphic design, marketing, social media and social networking, web and digital services based in Tees Valley, North East and North Yorkshire.

We’ve set up our own Better Brand Agency YouTube Channel to share some great industry videos covering brand, creative, design, marketing, social media, web and digital communication.

For more information please visit the Better Brand Agency Channel on YouTube or click on one of the links below to view our playlists and check out our favourite videos.

Better Brand Agency YouTube Playlists -

Brand Communication – Videos and content related to brand communication and branding design.
Graphic Design and Creative – Graphic Design, Design and Creative videos and content.
Marketing Communication – Marketing Communication and Marketing Content and Videos.
Web and Digital – Web Design, Web Development and Digital Industry videos and content.
Social Media and Social Networking – Social Media, Social Marketing and Social Networking industry comments including social media campaigns, social media marketing strategy.
Better Brand Agency – Better Brand Agency videos and content.
North East England – North East England related content and videos
Tees Valley – Tees Valley related content and videos.

Better Brand Agency is a brand agency offering brand, graphic design, marketing, social media and social networking, web and digital services based in Tees Valley, North East and North Yorkshire.

Live in the North East? Love Twitter?

Why not get involved in Twestival, a party in 50+ cities around the world on 12th February 2009. Funds raised go to Charity Water. Newcastle’s Twestival party, for tweeters across the North East, will be in Newcastle. And you’re invited!

On 12 February 2009 cities around the world will be hosting Twestivals which bring together Twitter communities for an evening of fun and to raise money and awareness for charity: water.

Join the Twestival campaign by hosting a Twestival in your city, attending an event, or participating online.

The Twestival is organized 100% by volunteers in cities around the world and 100% of the money raised from these events will go directly to support charity: water projects.

In September 2008, a group of Twitterers based in London UK decided to organise an event where the local Twitter community could socialize offline; meet the faces behind the avatars, enjoy some entertainment, have a few drinks and tie this in with a food drive and fundraising effort for a local homeless charity.

The bulk of the event was organized in under two weeks, via Twitter and utilized the talents and financial support of the local Twittersphere to make this happen.

Around the world similar stories started appearing of local Twitter communities coming together and taking action for a great cause. Twestival was born out of the idea that if cities were able to collaborate on an international scale, but working from a local level, it could have a spectacular impact.

Visit the website at http://twestival.com/ from more information or follow Twestival (http://twitter.com/tynetwestival) and Tynetwestival (http://twitter.com/twestival/) on Twitter.

The progress of digital technology has seen the traditional media of television change dramatically over the last ten years.  Increased convergence of services and technologies is changing the shape of the communications sector and in particular industry revenues.

The decline in advertising revenues coincides with greater availability and use of television-style content online and the growth of digital video recorders (DVRs) that allow users to skip adverts, putting even greater pressure on advertising revenues.  A report by OFCom found that up to 78% of DVR owners regularly used them to skip through adverts.

OFCom also found that online advertising continues to grow and Google have now announced that research undertaken by them has found that ads on its YouTube portal have a greater impact than those on television.

View the full article here avaible on Marketing Magazine website

We get asked by both clients and contacts how social media tools support our business development and increase brand profile. The answer is pretty simple. Through creating individual and agency profiles within some key social media tools we are able to improve the transparency of our business, our experience, our recommendations and possibly most importantly, our personality.

One of the main tools we use is LinkedIn, so what is it?

LinkedIn is an online network of more than 30 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries. When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you. Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals.

So how do you use this to help expand your professional business network?

Take a look at this video, available amongst others, at the Better Brand Agency YouTube Channel…