Big Cat brings a world of fun to Birmingham…

The NEC call on full service agency to promote Europe’s most exciting funfair.

BigCat will be responsible for a full scale publicity campaign including PR, media buying and social media as well as designing and distributing the Funworld event’s branding and promotional material.

Funworld will run for 22 days from 18 December in Hall 5 at Birmingham’s NEC complex and it will be the largest event of its kind in the UK. It is expected to be attended by around 100,000 people over the Christmas period.

 

Funworld, the value for money family attraction, will house around 50 exciting rides and attractions over 25,000 square metres, equivalent to 3 football pitches.

Anthony Tattum, Marketing Director of BigCat says: ‘We have worked with The NEC on several projects over the years and it is always pleasure to be involved with them. Funworld promises to be a huge event and it is our goal to lay strong foundations in order to ensure it becomes an annual event.’

Louise Sambrook, Show Manager of The NEC Group says: ‘We were looking for an agency with strong local contacts and knowledge of the entertainment industry and we feel BigCat excel in both of those areas.’

 

New PR intern: Ben Robinson, starts at Big Cat!

Having completed an English degree at Aberdeen University in June, I was fully aware that I had one more chance to revel in the spoils of what would be my last summer as a student, before I embarked upon what was to be, if not a career, at least something that would fill my pockets in the absence of the all too heavily relied upon student loan. In order to offset the trepidation and prevailing angst, my friends and I avoided the subject of the ‘real world’ at all times and carried on our lackadaisical student lifestyle with vigour, sitting back and watching the last few students slowly dwindle out of Aberdeen. All of a sudden it was my turn to leave!

 Having returned home to live with my parents, the next few months weren’t much fun. Sending off about 50 job applications a day and only getting the response of; ‘Dear Benjamin, thank you for your application, however we feel that you do not have the necessary experience for this position’. Now answer me this, how was I supposed to gain the experience I needed if no one would employ me? Slowly it began to dawn on me that I may have to settle for a job in telesales or knocking on doors. I went for knocking on doors (at least this way I’d be outside and keeping fit!)

 At 15 I never thought I would be sat where I am right now; at a computer in an office in Birmingham city centre writing about myself. In fact, apart from that I am wearing my own choice of casual clothing, I am pretty much the epitome of everything I swore never to become. I was going to be a rock star and/or writer and although these dreams are not yet entirely out of my grasp, they are not yet providing an income. At the uncertain yet still youthful age of 25, I have just been granted an internship at Big Cat Group, a PR, marketing and events company, that luckily for me offers a place where I can gain the experience that was so desperately sought after. It was the opportunity I had been waiting for and after an interview, a blog post and a trial shift here I am. It’s only my second week on the job but I am thoroughly enjoying the work I am doing. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first applied for the position, I envisaged three months of photocopying, making tea and fetching biscuits from the shops. So far it has exceeded my expectations and not a photocopier in sight! Its allowing me to think, create and use some of the ‘skills’ that I learned at university and although I am not getting paid I feel that it is at last giving me some direction and control in my life. Maybe I am ready for the ‘real world’, just maybe…

Big Cat Communication helps Birmingham YMCA build a new future

Birmingham YMCA has recruited 360^o agency Big Cat Group to support them in an ambitious fundraising project. The target £1.5 million to be raised will enable the YMCA to build community facilities that will feature as part of the £13.5 million re-development of the current site on Reservoir Road, Erdington.

BigCat will be project managing aspects of the fundraising activity including implementing a sponsorship strategy and promoting the 18-month fundraising project through an extensive PR campaign.  BigCat were selected to assist the YMCA after the delivery of a successful PR campaign in 2008, where BigCat helped to promote the objectives of the re-development, helping the YMCA to secure the existing £12 million.

The youth and community centre, part of the scheme called The Orchard, will house facilities including a multi-use sports hall, training and meeting rooms and a ‘chill-out’ space for young people.  These facilities have been designed to create a platform for YMCA residents to integrate themselves productively into society, through voluntary activity and paid work at the project.

(Left) Anthony Tattum, Marketing & Communications Director, BigCat. (Right) Alan Fraser, CEO, Birmingham YMCA.

Costs for the Erdington development are estimated to be approximately £13.5 million, of which £12 million has already been secured.  The scheme has been included in Birmingham City Council’s ‘Places of Change’ programme – a national initiative to create places of change for formerly homeless people, and help integrate them back into the community.

Biggest PR war of 2009: Katie Price VS Peter Andre

When I first got wind of the Peter Andre and Katie Price break up I cynically thought that it could quite conceivably have been a PR stunt.  The Andre – Price union has been lived out completely in the lime light with OK exclusives on their wedding and a number of TV series surrounding their everyday life. Their relationship was even conceived on a reality TV show.

The break up of their 3 ½ year marriage has turned into a war, with the battlefield being the national news and TV.  Firstly, Price’s TV interview with Piers Morgan: this was probably the most sensible thing that her PR agency could have suggested. During the interview Price had the chance to portray her side of the story, pull on the heart strings of all watching whilst talking about the ordeal of being dumped.

Andre has been advised to keep quiet and appear to be the bigger man – which has worked. Photos of Price almost naked in a pool with her new boyfriend appeared on tabloids the same day as photos of Andre picking berrys with his children, that’s a point for team Andre PR.

Stories litter the tabloids about Jordan’s infidelities and drunken antics whilst Peter is on the front covers portrayed as the victim who has been left to bring up her children.  The UK’s father of the year seems to be using his positive press coverage as a vehicle to promote his album which is currently destined for a number one spot.

Katie is also planning a come back with a ‘what Katie did next’ programme. She is currently using The Outside Organisation looking after her PR; these guys are exactly what she needs if she ever wants to pull back from all of her recent mistakes. The Outside Organisation also helped Heather Mills after her recent split with Paul McCartney although we all know who came off the better out of those two.

Will the Financial Times change online news?

Millions of people go into work everyday and log onto the online version of their preferred newspaper. They do this because it’s free!

Financial Times editor Lionel Barber has recently said in a Channel 4 news interview that the newspaper industry must charge people for reading newspapers online, and that free content on the web was the biggest mistake the industry has made in the past ten years. Is this the beginning of the fall for the online newspaper?

The FT currently has 117,000 paying web subscribers, which represents 10% of those registered on FT.com. Surely this new approach to online news would result in a huge decline in the online readership.

Lionel wants this future business model to create revenue lost from lack of online advertising which supports the free online content. He also wants other newspapers to do the same. Perhaps this is too little too late?

Many newspapers such as the Guardian, Times Online and many regional newspapers have put time and effort into pushing there online capabilities: creating communities around there newspaper, with thousands of people following them on twitter and interacting with them via blogs and commenting. Will they follow in the footsteps of the FT? Would you pay to read an online newspaper?

The power of twitter…Birmingham Banksy

Twitter is like fire; exciting and can spread fast.  It is rapidly becoming a vital Marketing and PR tool with a lot of companies utilising it to give there brand a voice. Social media is winning the race marketers have been keeping there eye on: social media VS word of mouth. We have some social media none believers in the Big Cat office – here is an example of how wrong you are!!

Our Marketing and Digital Director Anthony Tattum was out and about in Birmingham when he stumbled across what he thought was a Banksy on a wall in the Jewellery Quarter…

Thinking that his followers would find this interesting, Anthony tweeted a Twitpic. This simple act resulted in a wave of retweets across Anthony’s 712 followers.  The next day a picture of the ‘Banksy’ appeared in the two top regional news papers Birmingham Post and Birmingham Mail (no one can accuse the Birmingham Post & Mail journalists of not being on top of their twitter!!)  There was a photographer down on Henrietta Street within a few hours of the first tweet.

Even @banksynews responded to the tweet… Sadly the picture was a fake, but it is useful to demonstrate the power of twitter and the Birmingham online community.  Would things have moved so fast without Twitter? I don’t think so!

If your names not down, you’re not coming in

Important social media tools Twitter, Facebook and WordPress have been the centre of an ever-growing debate about brands online presence, leading to the million dollar question – ‘Should brands be on twitter’?

This question has been talked about cloak and dagger amongst the twittersphere and the marketing community for months now; cropping up on blog posts, tweets and more recently into the media with a feature about it on BBC Radio 4 this week.

One of the major factors in the debate is that brand tweets are lacking the personal touch. I think that is the point: at Big Cat, most of the team tweet about everyday life, work and general things of interest. We have built relationships, become part of the community and will continue to do so…. We also have @bigcatcomms which is the ‘faceless’ twitter account supporting this blog. We want the @bigcatcomms twitter account to engage in a different community than the personal staff accounts, @bigcatcomms will tweet only about PR to the people that want to listen!

What are your thoughts? My answer: YES companies should have brand presence online!  Social media is the new word of mouth, a way to engage a target audience. Companies utilising these tools are not doing any harm (as long as they don’t spam you).

PRs first lady

Sarah Brown: wife, mother and Public Relations genius!

Besides being the wife to the most talked about man in politics, Sarah is using her strength as an expert in Public Relations to do a damn good job of PR for brand Brown.  Sarah is venturing outside of the realms of the women before her, appearing at Glastonbury with Naomi Campbell and partying at charity functions with Paris Hilton, not sure what message this is portraying, perhaps personality, an area in which her husband fails?

 I was surprised to see Sarah guest editing last weekend’s issue of Fabulous. As patron of Wellbeing for Women she themed the issue on women’s health with articles such as miracle pregnancies, Jools Oliver’s traumatic pregnancy and how the ‘Wellbeing for Women’ has helped women to realise there dreams off motherhood. The Editors letter featured a thought provoking phrase ‘Britain’s army of women – mums, sisters, daughters, best friends – is what helps keep the country going.’ I did muse over this being either a key message of Wellbeing for Women or a public joke about Sarah’s belief that she’s keeping the country together?

Sarah has her foot firmly in the PR door keeping up with the latest industry trends by becoming a social media wizard – a PR must!  With her @sarahbrown10 twitter account receiving more than 400,000 followers and a blogging from G8 summit on downing streets website (wonder if she had to persuade Gordon to let her do that?)  Having worked within the industry for many successful years Sarah certainly knows what she’s doing.

A recent article about her self promotion on Independent online received a lot of negative comments and ridicule about herself and her husband. Unsure of the objectives of Sarah’s actions / strategy – herself, her husband, the charities she represents or her future carer – Sarah is only doing her job.  As a wife and a PR.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the BigCat Communication blog…

 If you are interested in the PR industry then this is the blog to read! We will be commenting on the industry, our own campaigns and other peoples.  

 If you like the posts or hate them comment – all thoughts and opinions are welcome.

 You can follow me on Twitter @nataliebigcat if you would like to have more frequent insights into the mind of the person behind of this blog. BigCat group also has a cool blog – www.bigcatgroup.wordpress.com

 Hope you enjoy!