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And the winner is….

Steph King — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:21:53 +0000

At the recent Recruitment Agency Expo we ran a competition to win a remote control helicopter. Thanks to everyone who popped by our stand and entered their details. We have now picked the winner at random and are pleased to announce that Kay Ajayi from Quant IT is the lucky recipient.

We’ll be in touch soon to arrange delivery of your prize, Kay. And to everyone else, thank you once again and if you didn’t manage to see our presentation on building your brand and reputation you can still view it here.

PR, bloody hell….

Ian Hawkings — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:27:38 +0000

The title of this piece paraphrases (kind of) Sir Alex Ferguson’s initial response when asked his thoughts on Man Utd’s miraculous 1999 Champions League final win over Bayern Munich. It’s also a rather weak attempt to segway into a piece on how football generally seems not to get (or care about) PR.

The FA, not to mention UEFA and FIFA, consistently offers cock-up after cock-up when it comes to presenting themselves in a positive light. And Twitter has given the players the perfect platform with which to embarrass themselves on a regular basis. Honestly, the stupidity of some of them never ceases to amaze…

But the biggest football-related PR cock-up in recent memory (of all time?) has to be Liverpool FC’s stance on the Luis Suarez issue.

The fact that they initially stood by him is excusable to a degree (and I do recognise the cultural sensitivities and intricacies of the case). There was, after-all, a decent chance that he would be found innocent. But the stubborn refusal to shift an inch on this stance for days after the guilty verdict was plain ridiculous. And the apology issued by the club and Luis himself (through gritted teeth and anything but unreserved) was pitiful.

If any other company in the world had taken this position, it would be tantamount brand suicide. As it stands, Liverpool’s (previously unblemished) image has been tainted – but Anfield will still be full every weekend.

Football, bloody hell indeed.

Don’t follow leaders

Adrian Barrett — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:31:42 +0000

As Bob Dylan once said in ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ and perhaps he was right (mind you he also said not to wear sandals and I’ve never quite got to the bottom of that – perhaps there was another bit to the line which said ‘with socks’ but it got edited out). Anyway, let’s focus, even of it is the first day back in the office after all the festive fun. The point is that the media always seem to be full of some rent-a-mouth who is apparently an expert on something or other and consequently much better qualified to give their opinion than the rest of us. But what actually qualifies them for this role rather than the sort of self-belief which in some quarters would get you locked up in a nice warm, padded room. As Suzanne Moore quite neatly pointed out in The Guardian before Xmas, much of our willingness to accept this sort of twaddle comes from a desire to ‘sort things out’. A belief that there is an answer to everything. And sometimes, there simply isn’t. Unless it’s about PR, of course, in which case you can rely on us. We’re always right.

Give them what they want

Adrian Barrett — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:05:42 +0000

Monday 14th November saw members of the BlueSky team groping through the early morning gloom to the latest Maki conference – a get together of communications professionals from major universities such as Oxford, Princeton, UC Dublin and New York State and top international journalists. So what did we learn from the experience? That most of the things we tell our clients are right (which was obviously something of a relief….). Ok, smartass, share it with the class then. Rule1 – don’t say anything to a journalist you can’t defend. If your new product or service is ‘unique’ , ‘innovative’ or ‘ground breaking’, then it damn well better be. As the speaker from Germany’s ‘Die Zeit’ put it, “If you use words like that in a press release then I tend to assume you either don’t know what you are talking about or you think I’m an idiot. And I’m not.” Rule 2 – if you don’t have something worthwhile to say then don’t say it. Sending journalists and editors a stream of non-stories is like crying wolf in the old story. And, as the man from the Daily Telegraph said, by the time you do have something interesting to say, they’ve given up listening. Oh, yes – we do love being right.

Blackberry comms leave a bitter taste….

Ian Hawkings — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:37:55 +0000

If ever there is a time for a company’s comms machine to prove it’s worth, it is arguably when something goes wrong. It’s all very well pushing out self-congratulatory messages and engaging anyone who’ll listen whilst everything is ticking along nicely, but when the proverbial hits the fan? That’s when you earn your money…especially in the hyper competitive tech game. How Steve Jobs must have been looking down from his iCloud and laughing at the debacle of the Blackberry outage this week.

The whole sorry affair was a seriously unfortunate event for RIM and left many of its users in the lurch. The Blackberry’s main selling point is how good it is for business use (and it is – I love my Blackberry) and for three long days it was as much use for that as the 1998 Nokia 5110 I used in sixth form, and it doesn’t have a camouflage clip on cover to soften the blow….

But the worst part of it was RIM’s appalling communications during those three days. No information at all was forthcoming, users were completely left in the dark. Nothing useful on the website, no messages sent to phones, no apology, no nothing. And all the while the press had a steady stream of negative Blackberry press to feed off..and boy did they feed.

They were always going to be swimming against the tide, but there wasn’t even a hint of an effort from RIM’s comms team to try to keep it at bay, or even reassure customers. The result? A further boost to the Apple/HTC smartphone camp and what I suspect may be the first nail in the coffin of the Blackberry as we know it…. Watch this space.

Come and join us

Adrian Barrett — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:24:49 +0000

As Barbra Streisand says in the song ‘People’, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.” Yeah, right – try telling that to our HR manager. But come on, this is good news for someone. BlueSky is on the look-out for a new team member and it could be you. So what are we looking for? Well of course we want all the usual stuff – great communicator, creative, good juggler of several projects at one time, a driving licence (there is a bus service that passes our office but you’d be better off walking). But the important things are a real interest in writing and the ability to deliver compelling copy in everything from tweets to lengthy articles and an understanding of the commercial use of social media and how to use all the tools and platforms available. After that we’re willing to listen to who you are and what you want. A relatively new graduate wanting that first account exec role. An account exec wanting a move up to account management. An account manager after a sensible, supportive environment and some really stimulating clients. Just drop me an email at Adrian@bluesky-pr.net – let’s talk!

Social media tips: LinkedIn

blueskypr — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:26:40 +0000

Social media can be daunting if you haven’t used it before, but it can be a great tool for recruitment businesses looking to engage with both clients and candidates. We’ll be running our ‘top tips’ for a series of social media platforms. First up: LinkedIn.

Ensure you have an optimized profile. Follow the advice on your profile telling you what to do to get your profile to 100%. This may be adding a photo (people want to know who they are connecting with), adding past positions and your current expertise.

Groups – there are thousands of groups at your disposal. Join as many as 50 relevant groups – this expands your network giving you access to many potential candidates and clients. Make sure you join in discussions; this will not only make you visible but will position you as a thought leader in your given field.

Network – connect with as many past and present colleagues and clients. By expanding your network you will have access to far more individual profiles. Don’t make the mistake of sending invites to people you do not know, they will class this as spam and you will risk having your account suspended.

The Apprentice, Episode two: Who will be the next APPrentice?

blueskypr — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:37:46 +0000

With barely any time to digest the first episode of this year’s Apprentice, Lord Sugar has been quick to fire another shameless wannabe. The latest episode followed the usual pattern of girls against boys in a challenge, But this time it involved an original task in a very current (and thriving) market – digital. The candidates were asked to create a new mobile phone app. And the winners? The team with the most downloads after 24 hours. Lord Sugar reminded them that this was a global challenge and sent them on their way.

Both teams struggled with ideas which allowed for painful viewing. One of the most cringe worthy moments of the series so far was that of Susan trying to explain an idea she had come up with; ‘So – see – if I’m sitting next to you, except you’re next to me. Yeah? Then I get your phone and I text my phone a question. So if I’m sitting next to you and then I text it a question…’ Edna was forced to interject but Susan quickly responded with the usual, ‘YOU’RE NOT LETTING ME EXPLAIN’ whinge. Like most candidates, Susan used what felt like a hundred words in as many minutes to say absolutely nothing and still moaned that no one was listening to her!

In the end, the girls managed to decide on an annoying app – amp app – with even the very concept being annoying. Creating a series of random and strange noises from celebration sounds to animal cries actually achieved worldwide appeal, surprising as it may seem!

The boys also came up with another ridiculous and potentially offensive app – Slangatang. They decided that creating a range of insults and sound bites in regional accents around the UK would lead them to victory in a global market. Once again totally missing the point of the task!

For a group of educated and supposedly intelligent candidates, the pitches from both teams were unbearable and inarticulate. Vincent, the self proclaimed charismatic perfectionist was given the responsibility of leading a pitch but stumbled with his words, and eventually froze leaving Jim to jump in and rescue him. The girls did no better with, already dubbed ‘Evil Edna’ presenting the concept at a geek fest but failing to tell the audience what the product was about or where you could download it from.

Nevertheless, recognising that both apps were equally crAPP, it was the ladies who had the edge by being crAPP on a global scale…so score! It was the boys in the firing line once more.

Leon’s handling of the boardroom continued the disastrous events. Having decided to take in Jim and Alex, Jim argued his case and told Leon to take in someone else instead. In an unusual Apprentice moment Leon gave into peer pressure and actually changed his mind (after asking if it was alright with Lord Sugar like a school child!). Instead, he took Glenn in for coming up with the original idea. It was Alex Britez Cabral however, who became the second candidate to hear the infamous ‘Your Fired’. The 28-year-old Estate Manager failed to win over Lord Sugar during the latest challenge as he was unsuccessful in stepping out of the shadows and was accused of being lazy.

If, like me, you are already hooked, next week’s episode will give you your fix with a classic task which will see the business hopefuls have 9 hours to source 10 products for the Savoy Hotel – I can’t wait!

The Apprentice 2011: Episode 1 Recap

blueskypr — Wed, 11 May 2011 13:33:21 +0000

Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit

Lord Sugar’s carnival of corporate caricatures rolled into town last night for a seventh series. This time around, the glittering carrot at the end of the stick is a £250k investment from Lord Sugar and the promise that he’ll be lurking in the shadows as an equal partner to remedy any rookie mistakes, like some Death Star incubator. Lord Sugar is not looking for a silent partner – and he’s in luck. There’s nothing silent about this bunch.

The ego-fest started with the impeccably made up Melody, a sort of terrifying fembot with two settings: shameless self-promotion and compulsive name dropping. “I worked with twelve Nobel Peace Prize winners in over a hundred countries. Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit if there are footprints on the moon.”

After we got over the mind-blowing power of Melody’s insightful metaphor, we were introduced to the rest of the wannabes. Safe to say Melody had set the bar pretty high in the instantly “dislikeable” stakes, but there was still enough useless bile to go around. Vincent informed viewers that he was “not bad looking” within a millisecond of appearing on screen, Helen declared that her personal life means nothing to her and Alex bragged that he “takes cutthroat and ruthless to a completely new level” and that “the only focus for me is myself.” And there I was hoping for an hour-long rendition of Kumbaya.

Incredibly, the contestants managed to hear Lord Sugar’s muffled instructions through the inconvenience of having their heads permanently stuck in their own backsides, and ascertained that the first task would be buying fruit and veg, making a product and selling at a profit – all for £250. The team with the biggest return on Lord Sugar’s investment would win. Simples. Appropriately, the teams were divided into “boys” and “girls”, consolidating the pre-existing playground dynamics – let the pigtail pulling begin!

I was personally taught by the Dalai Lama

No-mates Helen was the first to dive in with suggestions for team name. She proudly presented the names “Galvanised” and “Platinum” with all the pride of a three year old after a particularly successful finger painting session. After Helen’s suggestions were met with smug smirks and upturned noses, Melody trumped her in the awful cliché arena with “Team Venture”, which was voted in. Shot down, Helen. Meanwhile, the boys named themselves “Team Logic” – an eerie foreshadowing of the disaster that was to follow, particularly as the suggestion was met with blank stares and Glenn’s explanation “you know, a logical approach to things”. Thanks for clearing that one up, Glenn.

Next came time to choose a leader. Motor-mouth Melody was the clear front-runner, particularly as she was up against self-confessed loner Helen. Bless her, somehow “I’m experienced with managing large teams” couldn’t quite compete with Melody’s “I manage projects for global organisations across 110 countries”. Melody: 2, Helen: 0. “I was personally taught by Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama” Melody drawled on camera. Perhaps there’s time for that Kumbaya singalong after all? No?

Alpha-idiot, Edward the accountant, charged forward for the challenge of leading the boys’ team, reluctantly contested by Gavin-I’m-not-saying-I-want-to-do-it-but-really-I-do. Despite putting forward this compelling case, Edward was elected leader of the lads and off they went.

Let them eat soup

The boys decided that the best way to sell fruit and veg was to liquidise it, and ended up deciding on tomato soup and orange juice. Meanwhile the girls went for fruit salad and veg pasta. Both teams had did their fair share of negotiating stock prices with bemused and rightfully patronising fruit and veg sellers, and different leadership styles became evident. While others on the boys’ team demonstrated far more organisational skills than Edward’s broken “roll with the punches” record, Edward sniffled his way through managing the task like a usurped best man at a stag do, pausing occasionally to tearfully bark unhelpful suggestions at his production line, resulting in broken orange squeezing machinery. Whoops.

Under what I can only assume was the threat of Melody chopping up her own team members and selling them, the girls actually pulled together quite well overall. They outdid the boys immediately by actually having a plan of action, even if that plan inexplicably involved only investing half of their money.

I don’t fit the mould

So, the girls won. Time for the boys’ team leader, Edward, to face a grilling from the Lord himself – suffice it to say he didn’t fare too well. When asked about his business plan, he answered that he “didn’t want to speculate” on how much he was going to sell. As Lord Sugar cut through the bullshit like a stern headmaster unravelling a “the dog ate my homework” tale, Edward became ever more defensive and his answers increasingly bizarre.

“When I was producing, that was production,” he sniffed. I can see why they called themselves Team Logic. Who needs real answers when there’s mindless tautology to fall back on? But why didn’t Edward use his accountancy skills in the task? “I don’t fit the mould,” he whined. When all else failed, he tried his luck with “I’m the shortest and the youngest!” Cue the violins.
After trying to blame his failure on his original challenger and possibly most competent team member, Gavin, it became clear that Edward was a goner. Guess what, Edward? You’re fired!

Tune in to the Apprentice at 9pm tonight, BBC2

My first three months in PR

blueskypr — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:00:11 +0000

It’s been three months since I took my first nervous steps into the BlueSky office, and I have to say they’ve flown by. As a newcomer to PR, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. My experience with PR was limited, as was my experience in the world of work in general, having graduated the previous year and worked a six month copywriting contract.
With an appealing job description and a stomach full of excited butterflies, I came in as a blank slate, ready to learn from my colleagues and start from the bottom.

So what have I learned in my three months as an Account Executive so far?

1. Being part of a team matters. Spending all day every working day with the same people can become very difficult very quickly if you don’t gel. For the first time, cultural fit has become more than just a buzz word. It’s not about being an army of clones, at BlueSky we couldn’t be more different, but it’s fantastic to work with people whose company I enjoy on a daily basis and who function superbly as a team. When someone leaves, people are genuinely sad to see them go – Sam has just left us and her presence in the office and hard work will really be missed.

2. Jobs can be built for people. BlueSky doesn’t recruit with a fixed job spec in mind. Of course the role requires certain skills, but there’s no hard and fast rule as to which of the many qualities needed are the most vital. We have a great mix here of writers, account handlers and all rounders, a talent pool that definitely works for us.

3. If you don’t know, ask. I can’t pretend to know all the tricks of the trade. The best advice I’ve ever been given is that I have two ears and one mouth – and should use them accordingly. Although I struggle with this at times (I do like a natter) I have kept this in mind the whole time and subsequently have had the privilege of learning from some truly intelligent, experienced and capable people.

4. Agency is definitely for me. It’s hard to know, until you’ve done both, what suits you. Having had an in-house job, I can confidently say that the fast-paced and varied nature of agency work suits me perfectly. No two days are the same and it never gets boring.

In conclusion, it’s been a very happy three months for me. I get to write fun and diverse articles, deal with clients, interact on social media, banter with colleagues and go home every day feeling a sense of achievement that most graduates could only dream of – I consider myself extremely lucky – and I have a team of people to test out my baking creations, for which I’ve been dubbed the “office feeder”.

So a word to this year’s graduates: when you hand in your dissertations in May and start that all-important job search, don’t rule out a small business. A big brand name may have the prestige behind it that impresses all your friends and kick starts your career, but a small business will give you the freedom and flexibility to flourish in a way that’s best for you – and faster.