Revolver PR signs Boyd as Head of Social Communications

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:15:07 GMT

Revolver PR has appointed Annie Boyd to the newly-created role of Head of Social Communications.

Formerly Head of Social Media at D8 Digital, Boyd takes on a varied role that will include advising clients on the use of digital communities in public relations strategies and taking on responsibility for various aspects of Revolver's marketing. Previously founder of online dating and events company The Beluga Club, she will be tasked with bringing her experience of using social networks to build businesses to bear on the agency's cross media campaigns.

"As one of the few candidates in Scotland with proven expertise in using social media to promote events, push messages and sell services, Annie was in a class of her own when it came to looking for someone to fill our social communications role. We're delighted to have her on board, and look forward to working with her on client campaigns that deliver results across every channel," said Iain Bruce, Managing Director of Revolver PR.

Founded by former European Entrepreneur of the Year Steve Leach and award-winning journalist Iain S Bruce, Revolver PR has a growing client list that includes the technology transfer institute iSLI and Sir Peter Rigby's SCC - Europe's largest independent technology solutions provider. Scotland's leading Digital PR company has also recently forged partnerships with award-winning online agency Line and the digital signage design house Yuva.

"Revolver PR's brand of digitally-enabled public relations is really starting to make its mark on the industry. In recent months we've seen the company sign its first US client, and given the cost-effectiveness, the impact and the international reach of Digital PR there's clearly tremendous scope for growth both domestically and abroad. When the opportunity to join that kind of team comes along, you grab it," said Boyd.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge of taking clients beyond the hype that surrounds the social media and showing them how it can be used to enhance their press campaigns. Applied effectively it can be a powerful tool for developing relationships, building brands and connecting businesses with consumers."

About Revolver PR
Revolver PR is Scotland's leading digitally-enabled PR consultancy and is geared to deliver results across the print, broadcast & digital media. Combining key press and public relations consultancy skills with leading-edge understanding of Digital PR, internet news distribution, social media, events PR and video marketing, the agency offers a full range of corporate communications services designed to deliver twice the value of traditional PR.

http://revolver-pr.co.uk

Revolver PR champions newsroom approach to online video

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:58:46 GMT

Revolver PR has called upon over-charging film production companies to fundamentally change their approach to producing online video as a Digital PR tool.

The call follows a marked increase in the popularity of online video, with the Association of Online Publishers predicting a 90% growth in online video revenues in 2010 and numerous reports indicating a likely boom for producers of filmed content this year. Yet despite video becoming an increasingly relevant PR tool used to populate multimedia press releases and provide resource hungry broadcasters with stock footage, the vast majority of production companies remain too slow and too expensive to meet the market's demands.

"The commercial video production industry has to adjust its headset and adopt a newsroom approach to film. In the web age there's no time to mess about with story boards, recruit full production crews and spend weeks in post production, because so far as its use as Digital PR collateral goes, video needs to be fast and affordable," said Iain Andrew, Broadcast & Production Director at Revolver PR.

"If traditional film production houses want to capitalise on the growth of online video they've got to embrace the efficiencies of the internet age. They have to re-tune their operations and provide multi-skilled one-man crews capable of shooting news quality footage, editing it for the web and distributing relevant stock footage around the broadcasters' newsrooms in a matter of hours."

Digitally-enabled public relations consultancy Revolver PR has found that with the YouTube generation likely to be put off by videos they perceive to be too corporate or slickly produced, promotional films backed by big budgets do not not necessarily perform well online. The company, which produces filmed collateral for a number of its Digital PR clients, believes that online video is at its most effective when produced in quantity and at a low cost.

"It's a matter of horses for courses. If they're looking for full-scale television adverts or promotional films then naturally the audience expects high quality and solid production values. When it comes to producing content that's going to be viewed online at 72dpi, however, speed and cost-effectiveness are the key criteria. That's something the video industry is going to have to come to terms with if they plan to prosper in the digital era," said Andrew.

Revolver PR urges caution over use of Twitter for Digital PR

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:44:29 GMT

Revolver PR has urged brands to adopt a more informed, moderate approach to the use of social media tools for Digital PR.

With enthusiasm for the social media phenomenon reaching epic proportions, Revolver PR has noticed a growing tendency for organisations keen to initiate online PR strategies to set up accounts on platforms like Twitter without considering the potential implications for their profile. The digitally-enabled public relations consultancy says that while online networking platforms can provide companies with a powerful toolkit for buzz monitoring and promotions, campaigns that use such channels inappropriately are a waste of time and resources.

"Too many PR practitioners seem to be in a panic over social media and are responding by rushing to set up client accounts on Twitter, Facebook and any other service they find vaguely recognisable. These are powerful tools and many of our clients do use them to great effect, but they are not a universal public relations panacea and simply will not work for every company," said Revolver PR Managing Director Iain Bruce.

"If there's a natural home for a corporate Twitter account it's with the client services department, where they need to make themselves immediately and easily available to customers. The case for marcoms involvement is less clear. Quite apart from the obvious potential dangers of getting into live, two-way and very public discussions with members of the public, the fact remains that for many business sectors these networks are simply not the right place to push sales."

Irrespective of the particular platform, Revolver PR's approach is to plan Digital PR strategies using a blend of key press and public relations skills. The agency's team are experts in both the traditional press and online media, and ensure that all print and broadcast activity is accompanied by an appropriate multi-platform digital strategy tailored to meet each campaign's individual goals and target audience.

"Digital PR is not about promising prizes to the person who retweets your promotional link the most or commanding junior account executives to beg people to sign up to Facebook fan pages. It's about using tried and tested press techniques, modifying them where necessary, and using a blend of analysis and strategy to promote them across the channels appropriate to their target audience," added Bruce.

Revolver PR and YUVa launch digital signage project

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:39:19 GMT

Revolver PR and digital signage specialists YUVa have announced they are to develop a range of real-time digital products designed to deliver online press and promotional campaigns at street level.

Already underway, the collaboration has begun with the phase one development of a media mapping system that creates visual representations of the news and information landscape for a range of industries. Once completed the technology will be adapted to deliver a raft of real-time media monitoring, promotional and advertising applications to clients in Scotland and the UK.

"There's increasing demand for cross media PR and marketing campaigns that can be deployed on every channel from the online media to outdoor displays and we're delighted to be working with YUVa on a series of applications designed to explore the possibilities on offer," said Iain Bruce, Revolver's Managing Director.

"Out of home advertising is no longer a static medium and as such has enormous potential for public relations consultancies looking to run 21st Century strategies that can make an impact everywhere from your favourite news sites to the High Street. From outdoor displays that encourage consumers to interact with them via social media services to lighting and projection installations that turn city landmarks into highly visible campaign centrepieces, the range of possible options is almost infinite."

Digital signage experts YUVa's system will enable users to publish almost any digital asset while overlaying custom information to a display. Resolution independent graphics automatically mix and match to different screen resolutions while a separate web application manages all media assets, playlists and schedules and distributes content to multiple displays. The core application is extensible via custom quartz compositions that can visualise internet data as realtime 3D graphics or take advantage of numerous bluetooth enabled input devices to create interactive displays.

"Brands are beginning to demand a joined-up approach to corporate communications that sees their core message deployed across every possible channel in an integrated manner. Retailers are currently the primary consumers of the technology, but it is also increasingly being explored by banks, hotels, travel hubs, car dealerships, corporate offices and public sector organisations that need to run dynamic campaigns around events like Glasgow's upcoming Commonwealth games," said YUVa founder Dan Roy.

"Our system will target customers that need an affordable, easy to use solution that will work in the most varied of public environments. These range from dynamic wayfinding signs to digital posters, menus, maps, realtime info-graphics, transport schedules and twitter streams."

YUVa - whose clients have included BBC Scotland, The Lighthouse and the Scottish Symphony Orchestra - will work with Scotland's leading Digital PR agency on delivering a number of proof-of-concept and practical digital signage applications for clients. According to many reports the market for out of home digital advertising is set to grow rapidly over the next few years, with once recent analysis predicting that the global market will enjoy an annual growth rate of over 26.8% between now an 2013.

Revolver PR calls for end to overcharging for Digital PR services

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:11:20 GMT

Revolver PR has criticised the raft of major PR consultancies launching standalone Digital PR divisions for fundamentally misunderstanding the significance of the emerging channel.

Responding to a rash of recent announcements from public relations agencies indicating that they intend to set up separate divisions providing clients with online PR services, Revolver PR believes that many in the industry have failed to understand the challenge presented by the digital media. The digitally-enabled public relations consultancy says that unless the sector is prepared to stop treating Digital PR solely as a sales opportunity, it stands in danger of severely failing its customers.

"What large parts of the industry apparently fail to understand is that rather than being simply another opportunity to sell clients add-on services, Digital PR is in fact a challenge to the entire public relations business: either get to grips with this increasingly important news and information channel or face losing some very disappointed clients," said Revolver PR Managing Director Iain Bruce.

"Too many agencies out there seem to have suddenly woken up to the existence of the online media and responded by rushing to charge clients extra for doing something they should have been on top of all along. Any PR strategy that's worth its salt should feature an approach to digital alongside its print and broadcast campaigns as a matter of course, and charging extra for doing so is frankly taking the mickey."

Revolver PR's approach is to combine key press and public relations skills with leading-edge understanding of Digital PR, online news distribution and video marketing. The agency's team are experts in both the traditional press and online media, and ensure that all print and broadcast activity is accompanied by an appropriate multi-platform digital strategy that greatly increases the reach of their clients’ PR.

"Public Relations consultancy is changing fast. The old school press skills that the industry grew up with are still as valid today as they ever were but they must now be applied across the rapidly evolving world of online media - because news on the web is still news and clients' reputations are just as important to them online as they are offline. These are the facts of digital life, and agencies that fail to recognise them will suffer in the long term," said Bruce.

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