July 22 2010 | posted by Kieran Powell-White | comments [0]

Social not-working?
In graphics: Ups and downs of social networking sites

Facebook has announced that it now has 500m active users, just six years after it was launched. The site has become the poster child of social networking on the web. While some others have seen growth, MySpace, Flickr and Bebo appear to have declined in the past year, according to these figures from Nielsen. Interesting international variations are seen, both in the amount of time Facebook users spend on the site each month and in the competing networks’ popularity in different countries.

To view the online graphic representation just click the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10719042Social networking statistics from the BBC

July 15 2010 | posted by Catherine Towns | comments [0]

GE Lighting used this year’s Light + Building exhibition in Frankfurt as a launch pad for its Facebook page, aiming to leverage interest from the huge noise that’s created around the show.

The PR team was tasked with not only arranging interviews and a press conference for international journalists but we also took our own cameraman along and directed a busy filming schedule of key personnel demonstrating the latest innovations on show.

The footage was used on Facebook (http://bit.ly/GELightFB) as a really engaging way of communicating the product’s key selling points and also used internally at GE Lighting’s own sales conference.

We’ve chosen an out take here of Robert Gray having a bit of fun with the Tetra Contour!

May the force be with you from cib on Vimeo.

July 09 2010 | posted by Louise Holding | comments [0]

For account executives in the PR team here at CIB, strong research skills and information gathering is paramount. Such research can present itself in many forms, whether it be finding out about a potential client’s products for a pitch, looking into the latest Building Regulations to enhance our feature writing capabilities or exploring the latest technological advances that can boost our clients’ coverage levels.  Indeed, in the last week alone, I’ve undertaken two projects where research was key. 

With an upcoming pitch, I took myself off to a local merchant in Staines, to familiarise myself with the store and the type of products it stocks. During my visit I undertook a one-to-one interview with a member of staff, in order to ascertain the types of coverage they currently receive in the local press, in addition to the types of tradesmen that frequent the store.  Such research provided me with a greater understanding of the business and they way in which merchants operate.

The week ended on an entirely different note, but still with research in mind, as I undertook a Web 2.0 audit for each of my clients.  Essentially, Web 2.0 is just a fancy way of measuring any online presence clients have through mediums that include Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, blogs and forums.  The research enabled me to determine how CIB can help all of our clients embrace the social media revolution from their own networking pages to plumbers’, handymen and building forums.  Keeping on top of all the opportunities will enable CIB to plot out new tactics and strategies that should hopefully see an increase in clients’ online presence in the upcoming year. 

So whether it’s getting out and about speaking to those in the industry face-to-face or trawling the Internet - research can keep account executives very busy!

July 06 2010 | posted by Gavin Tadman | comments [0]

The day that the recession was called you could hear the financials within a company tell their poor downtrodden marketers ‘I want accountability, accountability, accountability.’

What we saw then was an interesting factor that started slowly then really took pace. This was the time for e-communications to step up. What was a relatively new technology a few years ago was effectively accelerated by the recession, as cost-effective accountability was seen to be provided.

Immediately we saw advertising spend drop amongst our clients. Most retained a fairly consistent PR spend as this was seen as more tangible. New literature and printed direct mail were almost shelved, as it was seen as an expense too far. Hence the reliance on e-communications, a system that delivers to the desktop, is inexpensive and massively results orientated.

Using fairly basic set-ups we can now give those oppressed marketers something to fight back with, with real time analysis about who’s looking at what from your communication, if it has pushed them to your website and if they have forwarded information to a colleague. Marketing heaven.

In fact, this embracing of new direct communications has eased and accelerated the use of social media within the business community. What would have been the use of Linked In in buoyant times?

We’re all aware that it is the first port of call for anyone on the hunt for a job. As we come back into better times, we’re all networked up, helped by our friends that were out in the wilderness, so now we get alerts about what’s happening out there. We’ve joined groups on the site with like-minded people. Without realising it, we’ve bought respectability to social networking within the business community. So when you’re asked by the board ‘What’s our social media policy’ – you may already have some converts within your own company without them knowing it.

It isn’t therefore a massive leap of faith to consider Facebook and Twitter as extensions of this move to social networking.

Is this a revolution? Certainly. If and when we return to good times, when we have an interactive out-reaching, inclusive social media policy per company, what will be the need to return to old ways of communicating with our audience? For some of us and our clients, we are part way there already.

The tools are there to be used right now and (tell your FD’s), it can cost next to nothing compared to pre-recessionary activities. It’s how we develop them to a construction focussed audience is the most exciting part of the challenge.

July 05 2010 | posted by John Woodberry | comments [0]

CIB’s latest advertising campaign for Forbo is designed to inspire.

Based on the theme of ‘You’re thinking…  We’re thinking…’ the campaign unfolds to answer questions that clearly position Forbo’s integrated flooring systems as the only choice. The series of ads tease out some of the key benefits, so whether it’s a perfect colour you are looking for, a wild pattern, next day delivery or even sustainability issues, Forbo has all the answers, or in this case ‘Knowhow’.
All of the advertisements are half dps format, and some of the magazines have even changed their layout to accomodate the creative.

http://www.cibcommunications.co.uk/images/img/blog/PAPER.jpg