OPEN

Just catching up on my reading today and Stuart Bruce has a brace of stories I’m going to link to/comment on:

• Subway pulls out of Subway pitch: remember the viral video thing they did on YouTube. Seems it may have damaged their cause – certainly they’ve pulled out of the pitch now, according to AdWeek. Fair play to them, I say – it may have back-fired but you have to take some risks to stand out from the crowd in highly competitive situations like this. I refuse to join the sneering. I would probably agree with Mr Bruce’s " a great idea, but woefully executed" assessment.
• The New Statesman carries a story about bloggers for hire, with these five "ways companies can use the internet to target your wallet:

• Use a social networking site The model Christine Dolce
  (aka ForBiddeN, left) launched her career on MySpace, where she also
  promotes a Unilever-owned brand of deodorant. [http://www.myspace.com/ForBiddeN]
• Pay a blogger PayPerPost is one of several services that
  introduces companies to bloggers willing to write nice things about
  their products – for a fee. [http://payperpost.com]
• Mount a counter-attack Dell launched a customer-care blog in response to sites complaining about its products.  [http://www.direct2dell.com]
• Hire a "street team" The PR company M80 recruits
  enthusiasts to promote bands, films and TV programmes in return for
  exclusive downloads, videos and competitions. [http://www.fanboost.com]
• Create a viral e-mail A marketing campaign for the
  Hollywood film Snakes on a Plane offers fans the chance to e-mail a
  personalised message from the Snakes star, Samuel Jackson, to their
  friends. [http://snakesonaplane.varitalk.com]

Sketchy examples, but I’d not come across the payperpost thing…

Lastly, Mr Bruce addresses the suitability of the incredibly bombastic Colin Farrington to be speaking on behalf of the CIPR (the UK’s PR professional body) about social media, something he has a track record for making sneering, sweeping and unhelpful pronouncements on:

Why is Colin Farrington qualified to comment on this on behalf of the
Chartered Institute of Public Relations? It is a professional practice
issue and CIPR’s view on this should be policy driven. Colin is an
administrator. Actually an excellent administrator given the tremendous
strides CIPR has taken under his administration.

Hear, hear.