Brandjack News

News and commentary around the concept of brandjacking

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  • The branding implications of Andy Murray

    By Quentin Langley

    "It will happen again . . . and you can be sure we will be there when it does. Robinson's Barley Water. Sponsoring Wimbledon since 1935". 

    The date of 1935 is significant, as 1936 was the last time a Brit won the men's singles contest at Wimbledon. Robinson's implicit promise is to maintain their sponsorship at least until it happens again. The promise could lapse tomorrow, when Andy Murray becomes the first Brit to even play in the men's singles final since 1939.

    Of course, an iconic British would not wish to walk away from Wimbledon sponsorship just because the implicit promise lapses, but it may also be that a British win would dramatically increase the price of sponsorship. Could Murray be placing one of the longest running commercial arrangements in sports sponsorship under threat?

     

  • The peculiar “deserve to die” controversy

    By Quentin Langley

    So who, exactly, deserves to die? People with tattoos and people to who like cats were among those highlighted in a bizarre teaser campaign. For a viral campaign it was decidedly odd in that it was promoted by posters – remember those? – and not via social media. The campaign, nonetheless, referred people to a website where it was reassuringly declared that no-one deserves to die. However, we were assued, thousands of people do die due to a deadly disease. This was all accompanied by a clock with a countdown until the time when the particular disease this viral campaign was aimed at would be revealed.

    The campaign certainly stoked controversy, but the charity backed down from the teaser element and revealed itself as Lung Cancer Alliance before the countdown was over.

    Backing down from a deliberately provocative campaign and revealing a teaser element early made the charity seem weak.

    Provocative and controversial campaigns are a common theme in brandjacking – think of the disturbing imagery in Give the Orangutan a Break. It seems as though Lung Cancer Alliance may have pushed people too far with its 'deserve to die' campaign. 

  • Veet gets flashmobbed on Amazon

    By Quentin Langley

    This blogger's first experience with a flashmob was also the last time he got violent with someone. A group of people turned up at Waterloo – London's busiest commuter station – at the height of the rush hour to stand on the concourse wearing Walkmans (remember them?) and jumping up and down. Adding the flashmobbers to the commuters it was physically impossible to make my way through the crowd without pushing people, but I didn't have to push that guy over.

    Brandjack News would not advise either Veet or Amazon to start pushing people in the flashmob that has brandjacked Veet on Amazon. The customer review section is full of people urging people not to use the hair removal cream on their genitals. I would imagine this is perfectly sensible advice, but there are so many of these 'reviews' that we can reasonably assume people have gathered there in such large numbers mostly for the humour value.

    See the 'reviews' here. 

  • I can’t hear you. I can’t hear you

    By Quentin Langley

    Acccording to SkyNews, shares in Barclays Bank have been up to 17% down during the course of today. Other banking shares have been hit. This is all because of a fine against Barclays for market-rigging and suggestions that other banks may have been involved. The Leader of the Opposition has called for criminal prosecutions. While that may be premature, if evidence emerges to justify prosecutions they may indeed follow.

    This blog does not have any particular insight to the LIBOR rate nor the legal situation. There are other specialist blogs which will no doubt comment. Brandjack News comments on crisis management and social media. On this issue, Barclays has (so far) failed pretty badly. Keeping your head down and hoping that the issue will go away seems rather unlikely to succeed, especially if they anticipate that there is more to emerge.

    Barclays has adopted the Argyll and Bute Council approach to crisis management. That didn't exactly work out well.

  • Vatileaks scandal is the “work of Satan”

    By Quentin Langley

    This one isn't covered in the standard laws of crisis management. People will say "be the source of your own story" or "never say 'no comment'" but I have never heard it suggested that you should not blame your woes on Satan and his horde of little demons. Maybe this one should be added to the list.

    The Holy See has been engulfed in a scandal since January, when it emerged that Carlo Maria Vigano – formerly the Pope's administrative number two – had begged not to be transferred to another role as a result of uncovering financial corruption in the Vatican. Since then a great deal more has emerged, including documents featuring the Pope's personal banking details and letters fingering Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's Secretary of State, as being the source of allegations against "an Arrchbishop with a reputation for wanting to clean things up" – presumably the same Vigano.

    It is Bertone who has offered the novel defence that Satan is behind the Vatican's crisis, though a valet of the Pope's has been arrested for stealing document from his private office. Perhaps the valet could pleasd not guilty and cite the authority of an archbishop that Satan was actually responsible? This may not work. I don't claim to be an authority on the legal system of the Holy See.

     

  • The lessons of the NeverSeconds blog

    By Quentin Langley

    I was just about to ask the Tweeple for an over/under on the grovelling apology from Argyll and Bute, when it came in. All in all, a fantastic case study for my teaching on how not to handle a crisis. So far, this is what they did wrong.

    1. Failed to anticipate that closing down the blog would generate far more coverage than ignoring it.

    2. Were completely unprepared for national (Telegraph) and international (Drudge) interest in the story. The PR department is virtually uncontactable with no information about it on the website. They fell back on "I can't comment except to say that a statement is going to be issued" line. 

    3. Issued a mind-numbingly awful statement which was all about their staff. Councils don't run schools for the benefit of the staff.

    4. Risibly tried to claim that staff were in fear for their jobs, but also that there had been no complaints other than from the Payne family. These statements cannot both be true.

    5. They actually tried to make school staff appear the victims. School staff were apparently being bullied by a nine-year-old girl.

    6. They seemed to think that the fact that their staff felt upset was a reason to act. Councils are public authorities. Their services are not immune from criticism. They are completely mune from it.

    7. They then disappeared the first statement and replaced it with a new one, saying there is no place for for censorship in Argyll and Bute.

    8. As Twitter went crazy, with internationally known author, Ian Rankin, joining in the party, the council stayed silent. Their tweet with the statement was their first for two days.

    On the whole, this is great teaching material.

  • Argyll and Bute backs down – big surprise

    By Quentin Langley

    New statement from Argyll and Bute Council:

    Statement from Cllr Roddy McCuish, Leader of Argyll & Bute Council

    "There is no place for censorship in this Council and never will be whilst I am leader.   I  have advised senior officers that this Administration intends to clarify the Council's policy position in regard to taking photos in schools. I have therefore requested senior officials to consider immediately withdrawing the ban on pictures from the school dining hall until a report can be considered by Elected Members. This will allow the continuation of the "Neverseconds" blog written by an enterprising and imaginative pupil, Martha Payne which has also raised lots of money for charity. 

     But we all must also accept that there is absolutely no place for the type of inaccurate and abusive attack on our catering and dining hall staff, such as we saw in one newspaper yesterday which considerably inflamed the situation.   That, of course, was not the fault of the blog, but of the paper.

     We need to find a united way forward so I am going to bring together our catering staff, the pupils, councillors and council officials – to ensure that the council continues to provide  healthy, nutrious and attractive school meals.  That  "School Meals Summit" will take place later this summer.

     I will also meet Martha and her father as soon as I can, along with our lead councillor on Education, Michael Breslin to seek her continued engagement, along with lots of other pupils, in helping the council to get this issue right.   By so doing Martha Payne and her friends  will have had a strong and lasting influence not just on school meals, but on the whole of Argyll & Bute."

     

    NOTE FOR EDITORS – This statement supersedes all other council statements on the matter already issued.

     

     

  • Argyll and Bute not answering the question

    By Quentin Langley

    I have had the statement from the council. Naturally, I can't give you a link, because they don't have a media landing page on their website. So, I have pasted the text below. As you will see, it is all about how wonderful their school lunches are. It doesn't address the issue of whether or not it is right for the council to shut down a blog produced by one of its more erudite nine-year-olds. 

    Where is the commitment to transparency? Apparently, other people haven't complained about lunches. So does that mean that minority opinions have to be suppressed? 

    Argyll and Bute Council wholly refutes the unwarranted attacks on its schools catering service which culminated in national press headlines which have led catering staff to fear for their jobs. The Council has directly avoided any criticism of anyone involved in the ‘never seconds’ blog for obvious reasons despite a strongly held view that the information presented in it misrepresented the options and choices available to pupils however this escalation means we had to act to protect staff from the distress and harm it was causing. In particular, the photographic images uploaded appear to only represent a fraction of the choices available to pupils, so a decision has been made by the Council to stop photos being taken in the school canteen.

    There have been discussions between senior council staff and Martha’s father however, despite an acknowledgement that the media coverage has produced these unwarranted attacks, he intimated that he would continue with the blog.

    The council has had no complaints for the last two years about the quality of school meals other than one from the Payne family received on 6 June and there have been no changes to the service on offer since the introduction of the blog.

    Pupils have a daily choice of two meals from a menu which is designed with pupils, parents and teachers. Our summer menu is about to be launched and includes main course choices like meat or vegetarian lasagne served with carrots and garlic bread or chicken pie with puff pastry, mashed potato and mixed vegetables.

    Pupils can choose from at least two meals every day. They pay £2 for two courses and this could be a starter and a main or a main and a desert. Each meal comes with milk or water. Pupils can have as much salad and bread as they want. Salad, vegetables, fruit, yoghurt and cheese options are available every day. These are standing options and are not a result of any changes in response to the blog site.

    As part of the curriculum for excellence, pupils in all our schools are regularly taught about healthy eating and at lunch breaks staff encourage pupils to make good choices from what is on offer. We use a system called ‘Nutmeg’ to make sure everything is nutritionally balanced. Our staff also get nutrition awareness training so they know how to provide a good healthy meal. There is portion sized guidance which we adhere to and it is matched to the age of the child so they get the right amount of food. Second portions would mean too many calories for pupils.

    In Lochgilphead Primary School we are piloting a new pre-ordering scheme which is designed to encourage class discussion around meal choices and also improves the accuracy of meal choices. The pupils use a touch screen to select their lunch option and the data is downloaded in the kitchen so they know how many portions of each meal are required. As they place their order, the pupils are given a coloured band which relates to their meal choice that day. They wear it during the morning, and at lunchtime they hand it to the catering assistant, who will give them the corresponding meal.

     

    The Council’s focus is now on supporting the school in the education of young people in Argyll and Bute.

     

     

  • Argyll and Bute and the school lunch blog

    By Quentin Langley

    The Telegraph and other media are reporting that Argyll and Bute Council has shut down the blog of nine year old, Martha Payne. According to the blog itself – in which Martha photgraphs and writes about her school lunches – she was called to see the head teacher and banned from photographing school food. When her father complained to the council, it turned out that the head had been acting on instructions from the council in the fist place.

    The blog had raised thousands for a charity, which you are encouraged to visit.The Telegraph today said that she had raised over £2,000. Three hours later it was almost £9,000.

    As part of the council's commitment to transparency, it is not currently commenting on the issue in any way, but promising a statement later on. The press office is silent. The press office doesn't even have its own landing page on the council's website or – as far as I can tell – a direct dial telephone line. Certainly no direct line is mentioned anywhere on the website.

    Accountability in action?

  • Asma al Assad: Vogue’s “rose in the desert”

    By Quentin Langley

    "I think that Vogue is always on the lookout for good-looking first ladies because they're a combination of power and beauty and elegance," or so journalist, Joan Juliet Buck, told NPR. For a magazine devoted to style and fashion, it has some sense. But to equate Asma al Assad with the Duchess of Cambridge or any other glamorous European princess is to miss a key point. They royal houses of Britain, Sweden and Spain don't order the bombing of towns in Sussex, Gotland or Catalonia. Still, as Buck hilariously told the New York Times, Mrs Assad is “extremely thin and very well-dressed, and therefore qualified to be in Vogue.”

    Buck is not the villain here. Over the months after her article was published she became increasingly outspoken in her criticism of the Syrian regime and the way Vogue handled the article. Buck was not the author of the infamous "rose in the desert" headline.

    Criticism online and in the MSM led Vogue to remove the article from its website, though it is still available online at the Syrian government's site. But it was only in response to a feature in the New York Times that Vogue's editor, Anna Wintour, eventually made a statement condemning Mrs Assad. 

    And there remains an unanswered question. Buck claims that the children photographed for Vogue were not the ones she saw at the palace when she conducted the interview. Did the Assads have their children removed for the photoshoot and replaced with better looking ones? Did Vogue know?

    Don't journalists – even those in very specialised publications – have a responsibility to consider the wider context of their work? There is a reason that the Syrian government has been paying an American PR firm $5000 a month to promote Asma al Assad in the western media. That the Assad's are young, highly educated and western – Asma is British and Bashar was educated in London – led too many commentators and leaders to give them the benefit of the doubt for too long. Many people genuinely hoped that Bashar Assad would reform Syria. That hope plainly died years ago. Western media should not be feeding the fantasy today.