MarCom Professional

I was asked to contribute to a fascinating article in the National Journal, a leading US political magazine, on Friday in response to the initially surprising news that John McCain is actually outspending Barack Obama on Google. Figures released by Nielsen Online show that McCain’s campaign purchased just over 7 million impressions via Google AdWords in June, compared to just over 1 million for Obama.

However, the really interesting stats are for spend on traditional banner advertising, where Obama is trouncing McCain. Obama invested in over 80 million impressions compared to just 16 million for McCain. More...

At Diffusion we naturally believe that Public Relations offers one of the most stimulating, rewarding and intellectually challenging career choices for graduates.  We’ll be opening applications for our 2009 Graduate Programme in December, but due to impressive client growth we have an opportunity for two exceptional graduates to join the Diffusion team this September.

So what are we looking for? Well we’re not ashamed to say our standards are very high - you will need a First or 2:1 degree from a leading University. What’s more important than what you studied is a genuine interest in communication. More...

It’s good to see that the Twitter effect is not stifling the supply of new PR blogs, with my old boss Brendon Craigie embracing this Social Media malarkey with the Weekly World View.

I have to say that I agree with Brendon’s view of the currently non-existent tech PR recession. As he points out the Social Media bubble has proven to be anything but and nimble, hungry and experienced agencies in this space are certainly in a position to make the most of it.

It would of course be naive to assume that there will not be an eventual PR recession. Friends working in IT sales are reporting both small investments as well as £multi-million infrastructure projects being mothballed by clients, especially those in the financial services sector. More...

So I was asked by PR Week on Monday for my views on Gordon Brown’s Ask the PM initiative on YouTube. This was the latest foray into the online world by Downing Street, following its recent embrace of Twitter. My assessment that Ask the PM “smacks of gimmickry and desperation” led the article and there was a clear consensus from other industry commentators, that this project was a typical case of ‘too little, too late’.

I had a couple of interesting conversations on Friday in response to the piece. These boiled down to the argument that as a Social Media evangelist I should have welcomed the initiative, however imperfect, as a step in the right direction. More...

Following a string of recent client wins the Diffusion team is growing! We are looking for talented and ambitious individuals to help drive and implement next-generation communication campaigns built around our media relations, Social Media and Search marketing core. Please see our current vacancies below. We’re always on the look out for the best talent across the industry so if you’d like an informal chat about how we could help grow your career, drop me an email at daljit.bhurji@diffusionpr.com.

You really need a fresh challenge. With over three years as a PR professional you have an address book bulging with media contacts across the digital media, marketing, technology and national press. More...

Word reaches me of two new PR blogs – the first is from the self styled ‘Bad Boy of Tech PR’, Hotwire’s very own digital media wunderkind Tom Malcolm. The intriguingly named ‘Reflections in an Open Window’ promises to “not take itself too seriously” which given the author is just as well.

The second is ‘Pete’s PR Hall of Fame’, from consumer genius Peter Bowles. He has just left the warm bosom of Hotwire and is off to do some very exciting stuff at Red. The PR Hall of Fame has a great focus which is to each day identify the one story which has used/abused the power of PR to get to the top of the media agenda. More...

There are a many things which inspired the launch of Diffusion, but perhaps the most important was reading back in May ’07 a now famous article by Paul Holmes entitled “A Manifesto for the 21st Century Public Relations Firm”. It was a seminal analysis of the opportunities and threats facing the PR industry from consumers empowered by online and Social Media. Above all it was a wake up call and in many ways confirmed what I had been thinking for a while. Diffusion is really the answer to the question the piece finally triggered – ‘What are you going to do about it?’ – so cheers Paul :-)

Almost a year since it was published, it is debatable whether as industry we have really grasped all the manifesto’s core messages. More...

The CIPR have teamed up with the MOBO Awards to offer a Press Officer internship to a final/sandwich year PR student or junior PR available between June/July and October this year. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who would like to get into music/entertainment PR and could lead to a permanent job.

You’ll work directly with Kanya King MBE and the Board of MOBO, who are looking for:

• A genuine knowledge, passion and interest in music of black origin
• The ability to negotiate coverage in the national, music and communications trade media
• Endless ideas, energy and commitment to communicating MOBO’s messages to UK and international audiences
• The desire to put your learning into practice immediately and the confidence to start your career working on a high-profile campaign

The MOBO Awards are for music of black origin – soul/r&b, hiphop, reggae, gospel, jazz – and are screened each year by the BBC and promote More...

How many different PR outfits should you hire in crisis? Well the answer seems to be three if you are Phorm, which according to PR Week has taken on Freuds, Citigate Dewe Rogerson and crisis guru John Stonborough to rescue its business.

For those of you who have missed the wave of negative coverage, Phorm is essentially an ad-serving company which has signed deals with leading ISPs including BT, Virgin and Talk Talk which allows it to track the browsing behaviour of customers and display better targeted ads - with the ISPs collecting a share of the ad revenues.

The current national media storm was triggered by claims from Cambridge academics at the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), that Phorm’s activities are ‘illegal’, as gathering information about site visits without a user’s consent could be considered to be in contravention of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which prevents unlawf More...