The Juicy Revolution: How Tangerine PR hit a sweet spot.

I began this blog with a post that championed the apprenticeship scheme, and praising in particular the fantastic course at The Juice Academy, the brainchild of Tangerine PR.

As if that point needed to be justified, The Juice Academy (TJA) have now done so by announcing that a THIRD apprentice from their first cohort has secured permanent employment after their apprenticeship has finished.

The latest in the string of successes, Rob Watts of PH Creative, said “I'm ecstatic. 12 months ago I had no idea what I wanted to do, but now I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.”

This is a sentiment I can repeat myself, much like an elongated echo in the Grand Canyon. I didn't imagine I would ever be employed in a role where I’m using social media on a day to day basis, and it’s thanks to TJA that I’m now completely head over heels in love with a career that ten years ago, didn’t even exist.

For Rob though, a career in marketing has appealed to him for a long time. Having successfully completed his A levels, he shunned the idea of university and instead began applying for apprenticeships. He explained:

“From day one I knew I wanted to go straight into work. I feel that I've learned more at TJA than I would at university.”

The immediate impact that the Academy has had on the social media industry, as well as the apprenticeship scheme in general, is astounding. It offers a unique and well built programme of study in an industry where there is a chasm in the skills required (trying to restrain myself from using The Grand Canyon again. But you get the idea).

Life is exciting for these apprentices (including myself). We get opportunities that we simply wouldn’t get in any other job. Some of mine are detailed in our #SMAvlog. Rob had an incredible opportunity himself:

“I was given the chance to help out at the Hillsborough variety awards evening. It built up my confidence and I got to meet some of the legends from Liverpool FC.”

Rob with Liverpool FC's second keeper, Brad Jones

So, where has the success come from? The need for skills is an obvious reason. But social media apprenticeships are popping up left, right and centre at the minute, so what has Tangerine PR done to set themselves apart?

Well, they are in the industry. They are the experts, and they are training young people to become experts. This is a unique situation, and they've grasped it firmly with both hands. It’s incomparable to anything else that has been done – they have found a niche and fulfilled one of the great needs this country, and indeed the world, has.

I have nothing but praise for The Juice Academy. The sessions they organise are not just informative and useful, but they also are taught by people who are passionate about what they do, which for me, is the most essential thing.

For anyone reading this who isn't already a part of TJA, but wants to get into the industry – I highly recommend it. Regardless of the general benefits of an apprenticeship, this particular scheme is fantastic – both for businesses and potential apprentices.

For the brand new apprentices in Cohort 4, Rob has some advice that I whole heartedly agree with: “Work hard, don't be afraid to speak, and grab every opportunity you can.”

Wise words indeed. 

For me, there is no comparison between this job and any other apprenticeship programme. Hats off to Tangerine PR for what is a brilliant and innovative course that will provide long term benefits not just to the apprentices they hire, but also to the entire industry. Viva la juicy revolution. 

What are your thoughts on apprenticeships? Do you have any advice for new apprentices? Let me know in the comments section below.

A Shakespearean Sonnet for Social

For a long time, poetry was probably the biggest part of my life, much to the distaste and entertainment of a lot of people in my school year. It didn't bother me in the slightest that I was often labeled and categorised for this, as it was something that I enjoyed doing and I had the ability to use words poetically in a pretty effective way.

However, in the last couple of years, I've been focusing almost exclusively on writing songs, which, although similar, is a different ball game for several reasons.

That said, inspired by Tangerine PR MD Sandy Lindsay's fantastic "Ode to the Twitter" and in honour of Shakespeare's recent birthday, I decided the time was ripe to try my hand once more at some good old fashioned poetry, namely a sonnet in the style of the Bard himself. Enjoy!

As Fickle as a Facebook Friend

Ah! Social media, thou art fickle.
With deceptive powers to break and mend.
If thou art known not, 'twill cause a pickle,
For thou art enemy as quick as friend.
In thy brief but explosive existence,
Thou hast proven thy menacing powers.
It takes patience, guile; willful persistence -
All to be taught at Tangerine Towers.
Stay your wrath! For we look not to subdue,
But to unleash your hidden potential.
Alliances be forged 'twixt us and you:
In our future, it becomes essential.
So let us embrace, our volatile friend!
For our paths be entwined now, 'til the end.

I have to admit, I had a huge amount of fun writing this, and it makes me want to get back into it. Safe to say I've been re-bitten by the poetry bug!

My Top Ten Social Media cock ups.

For any brand, it’s a time of crisis and of extreme pressure when things go wrong on social media. A mistimed tweet, or a rogue employee with the wrong passwords can be extremely damaging to the image of a company. However, to the outsider, they can be considered fairly entertaining. In fact, some of the ones I have researched left me feeling embarrassed for the company, so I feel sorry for the manager of these accounts.

Anyway, some of my favourite “face palm” moments on social are below

10) To start us off, good old McDonalds. Back at the start of 2012, McDonalds wanted their customers to share their “real” #mcdstories. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a Big Mac? Well, quite a few people it turns out. The hashtag was inundated with tweets about bad quality food, and just overall horrific experiences. Now, as we all know, people can be quick to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, and despite pulling the promoted hashtag within two hours, it continued to trend across the world. But at least their social media manager identified that it “didn’t go as planned.”

9) It seems that Hurricane Sandy was the perfect opportunity for clothing retailers to push forward their marketing on Twitter. Wait, what? Yep, you heard. Both American Apparel and The Gap decided to plug their companies on Twitter in response to a powerful natural disaster. American Apparel decided very kindly to offer 20% off to anyone in the states affected by the storm. The logic behind that astounds me. Makes me suggest their social media staff attend the meetings of another organisation called AA. Meanwhile, The Gap suggested people make the most of their downtime during the storm to shop on their website. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

8) Remember the horsemeat scandal? The social media team at Tesco probably do. Not only was their Twitter probably plastered with tweets from angry customers, they also neglected to unschedule  a tweet using the phrase “hit the hay.” I can imagine it probably didn’t put off the neigh-sayers.

7) This one isn’t from a brand, but it still made me chuckle. In fact, it happened this week! A 14 year old Dutch girl decided, for some absurd reason, decided to tweet to American Airlines that she was a member of Al-Qaeda, and was planning “something really big.” Far from enjoying the joke, American Airlines responded by telling the tweeter that they were giving her IP address to the FBI. She has since been arrested by Dutch police, despite several tweets protesting her innocence and that it was “her friend.” Ahh, to be young and make terrorist threats again. Those were the days.

 6) Sticking with the airways theme, US Airways “landed” (excuse the pun) themselves in hot water with a rather…interesting reaction to a customer complaint. They initially sent a standard response to the customer. But when the customer continued to express her dissatisfaction with her experience, they, or someone who had access to their account, tweeted a rather unpleasant picture of a woman with a plane that appeared to be a little lost.

5) This is a real facepalmer, and one that the company is still recovering from. On 20^th July 2012, at a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie, a shooter opened fire on the audience at a cinema in Aurora, Colorado. As one could expect, #Aurora became a trending topic on Twitter. However, the social media genius’ at CelebBoutique didn’t think to check why it was trending before posting a promotional tweet, saying that it must be caused by their latest dress. I don’t even need to make a witty comment about it.

4) JP Morgan, everyone’s favourite bankers, decided to open themselves up to their loyal and loving customer base with a Twitter Q&A session with its Vice Chairman. In some crazy world they must have thought bankers were the most loved people in the world. But he was soon brought back to Earth was a rather severe bump as he received countless abusive and probing questions about his salary and bonus, before the session even went live. It was hastily cancelled after they realised, 49 years after The Beatles, that money can’t buy you love.

3) Weeeeeee…had better not make light of a plane crash. London Luton airport become the latest in a line of airways social media bloopers that appears to be growing longer than the queues at an airport terminal. In March 2013, they decided it would be a brilliant idea to post a picture of a minor plane crash when a plane skidded off the runway, causing the death of a 6 year old boy. Still, at least they didn’t make a joke out of it. Oh, oops…

2) The runner up is Epicurious, who decided that a human tragedy is the perfect opportunity to sell their breakfast foods. Claiming that their suggestion of whole grain cranberry scones were “in honour” of the victims was naturally met with outrage from the public. After all, who wants whole grain?

1) Mutiny on the ship! Ahh, my favourite social media mess comes from my beloved HMV. Like a modern re-enactment from a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean, swashbuckling employees who were set to lose their jobs decided not to bow out from their roles with grace and dignity, but to hijack the company’s Twitter profile and air the grievances. No sooner could a tweet be deleted, than another would appear, causing a rather big sweat.

So that’s it. Ten of my favourite monumental cock ups from the brief history of social media. Ten gloriously cringeworthy tales of dignity disappeared, brands broken, and inappropriate images.

I want to hear about any other social media cock ups you have seen. Let me know in the comments section below!

Perspective, Attitude, Resilience.. Go above PAR

As I have mentioned in a previous post (found here), the last year or two has been absolutely hectic and pretty tough for me in terms of dealing with a culmination of issues. People often look at me a bit gone out, though, when I say that I have no regrets or bitterness.

For one, being bitter and wallowing in self pity is going to get me nowhere anyway. But the main reason, is that the more I think about it, the more I’ve learned from the trials and tribulations I have been through.

If you are a football player, or a doctor, or an accountant, you can almost never do what you want to be able to do when you first begin your journey. It takes years of learning, experience and mistakes to develop the necessary skill set. In my opinion, life can be treated exactly the same. In some ways I think those who go through more have a better chance at being successful in life because they have the capability of dealing with tougher situations.

This isn’t to say that having a hard life will guarantee a good life in the long run. What will make you have a good life is how you choose to react to the situation you find yourself in. You can choose to feel sorry for yourself, or you can choose to get out and solve your issues, or at least attempt to. Trust me when I say you will change as a person once you have this attitude.

The last year has also put things in perspective for me. Before, I was very much a naïve, narrow minded individual with a pretty selfish view of the world, if I’m completely honest. I was greedy for success and personal glory. Don’t get me wrong, I still have that same drive to be the best, but it is no longer the primary focus of my life, although it is still obviously a major part.

What matters is people. Relationships, friendships and family. The people who are in your life are the ones who can make it or break it, or sometimes a little bit of both. We’re all guilty of taking people around us for granted (and after all, why wouldn’t we?), and it’s something I have tried working on. Certainly, I appreciate people, past and present, for who they are rather than what they can offer.

I guess this post is kind of telling you that it is necessary, in a way, to embrace hardships as part of life. If you can see them as a challenge more than an obstacle, I believe you can get further. Don’t automatically take the easy route to avoid trouble, because this can backfire, as amazing as it might be in the short term. Sometimes the things you truly want in life, or what you need to do in life, may seem like the hardest, most impossible thing in the world. I assure you, anything is possible if you have the right attitude.

Rest assured, I’m not an eternally shining beacon of positivity. I have my moments, sometimes long periods where I wish more than anything that things could be different. But I genuinely believe that things will work out for themselves in the long run because I fight for what I want, even if it seems hopeless. I don’t quit. I feel like it, just as much as anyone, but I plod along relentlessly. I’m a competitive person, and I won’t let anything get in my way. You should be the same because, trust me, it makes all the difference.

5 reasons Ricky Gervais is a social media genius.

Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais on Twitter), is known for being irritating, funny, and extremely intelligent, when he isn't playing pranks on bald Mancunians with spherical shaped heads.

On Twitter, he is at his opinionated and egotistical best. But it is genius, and he knows exactly what he is doing. Brands can learn a lot from the way he uses social media because he just gets it.

Allow me to explain.

1)     He is human. Some influential brands and figures on social media use it primarily as a marketing tool and to plug and promote their latest product. Sure, Gervais does this too. But fundamentally, he uses Twitter in the same way as the everyday person would. People can relate to  him because he shows he is human, not just another celebrity trying to flog their autobiography or whatever it is they delude themselves into thinking we want to buy.

2)     He has personality. This kind of links in to the above point, but is slightly different. An important part of a social media strategy is to get the tone of voice right. Obviously, on this occasion the tone of voice is his natural use of the platform, but he shows a unique side to his personality. An example for you: one minute, he is boasting that he’s just going to “pop to L.A,” and posts a selfie of himself clutching a glass of expensive champagne on his private jet. The next Tweet, he’ll be promoting animal welfare charities. Between all that, he'll post one of his infamous “bath pics.” More on those later. My point is, individually, he probably wouldn't get away with doing any single one of these and would chase away all but the most committed of his fans because they’d get sick of it. But he can get away with it because he’s honest, he’s refreshingly blunt, and he simply doesn't care about offending people in a way that causes no harm. People love that.

3)     He knows his audience. This is probably the biggest point. He knows what kind of people follow him. He knows what they want to see, what he can get away with. He also knows what will provoke the most reaction. Have you seen his incessant comments about religion? He knows exactly what he’s doing. He probably does feel that strongly about religion, but his primary reason for it is for a) his own entertainment when he gets abuse and b) because he knows it will induce engagement, which is exactly what he wants.

4)     He engages with his audience. This is something so many influential Twitter users get wrong. If you click on his profile, you will see so many replies to his fans, even if they are simple smiley faces or him saying “cheers” for a compliment about one of his tv shows. People appreciate that. He understands that people will follow if they think they can engage with him. It shows he “listens,” so to speak, and people will flock to someone who pays attention to them.

5)     His content is unique. He posts a lot of stuff on Twitter that a lot of celebrities wouldn't dare or dream of doing. The most obvious instance of this is the bath pic that he posts on a scarily regular basis. For those who haven’t seen these, I’m not going to try and explain. I just suggest you check out his photos on Twitter…or use the hashtag #bathpic…but I’m not responsible for any eye burning, or mental scars that may be incurred by doing so.

As well as this, his awareness of what people want from him is outstanding. He might plug his latest movie or tv show, but he also entertains on Twitter in a unique fashion. For example, he brought David Brent back for a series of Youtube videos where the famous figure from “The Office” teaches the audience the guitar (although there’s not really any teaching involved). People were all over this, and it has led to David Brent performing around the country. He used those videos, I believe, as market research to see if it could work. It’s a genius stroke, and he must be feeling very good about himself.

It is fair to say that Ricky Gervais gets Twitter. He understands it, and uses it to the best effect he can. This is why he won a “lifetime achievement” at the Shorty Awards. Even he found it amusing that he was awarded this within a few months of being on Twitter. I’m a fan of Gervais, I loathe him, but most of all, I admire his genius use of his online space.

Progress, progress and more progress.

What I am about to say will not shock you. 

I love it here at West Midlands Fire Service.

I have reiterated this point over the course of this blog, and I want to do it again right now.

A lot of these posts have been about social media in general, my views of things going on and stuff like that. So, I thought it was about time I caught up with you all about what is actually going on.

If you haven’t read my good friend and colleague Jess’ blog yet, I suggest you check it out here. It’s a great read and provides a fresh perspective of what happens here at HQ!

It seems insane that we have been more than a month already. It feels like only yesterday that I was getting lost on the short (and, in fairness, extremely simple) walk between Duddeston Station and the fire service’s headquarters here on Vauxhall Road.

I was confident at that point that this was the right decision for both my personal life and my career, and I am happy to say my confidence was founded upon sound logic. I have loved every minute and still look forward to getting in every morning! A lot of people have that feeling for the first couple of weeks and then lose it as they settle in, but I still get excited every morning (even though my energy is usually lacking! I’m not a morning person).

I wanted this post to be a balanced point of view, and be able to say “well, this could be better.” The simple fact is though, this job is perfect for what I want.

I have always wanted a job with variety, the chance to get away from my desk every now and then, and most importantly, a great team who make the day enjoyable. This is exactly what I have been given with this role.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to be given this opportunity (not least because of the sheer volume of applicants for The Juice Academy’s course). Already I can feel myself being more clued up about how to make the most of social media for my business.

So, what have we been doing?

Well, as I have already said, we don’t spend the whole day at our desk. There are a number of days where we have been out covering events for both Twitter and our #smavlog. We have also been around the building in different departments, finding out more about what the fire service do, which has been a valuable experience.

 Jess even had the fantastic chance to spend a day with White Watch at Aston fire station to see what they do on a day to day basis, in the first of many #SMAdays. 

 The most important thing for me is that I have been given the chance to develop into someone who doesn’t just “do a job,” but into someone who can be a valuable asset to any company.

Our line managers are not content with us using our strengths to complete tasks to the best of our ability. They are keen for us to use each other to learn and develop the skills we are less adept at in order to make us well rounded and more capable individuals.

This is why I am more than content with my current position in life. I look forward to work, I look forward to home and most of all? I look forward to, and I am very excited about, my future career.

The standard response.

“We’re sorry to hear this. Please call this number and they will try to help.”

I think we’ve all received one of them on social media at some point, haven’t we? When we’re not happy about a service we have received, it seems like a natural reaction (these days, anyway), to take to Twitter and rant about it.

Or maybe that’s just me.

I don’t know about anyone else, but when I make a complaint, I want the person listening to my irritating whinging to care, or at least to PRETEND to care. So when I get the reply “we’re sorry to hear this,” it actually makes me feel even more contemptuous toward that company.

Here’s my problem:

-        I KNOW that this is sent to EVERYONE who makes a complaint. That makes me feel like my complaint has not been digested by the company as a problem. It feels like I am a number, not a valued user of their product or service.

-        They make no effort to try and solve the problem. Sure, they probably have a separate customer services department. But social media officers have, in effect, a customer service role. In that sense, they should at least try to appease me until the issue is processed by the relevant department, right?

It looks like some companies who use social media well still even send it. For example, Aldi tend to do very well with what they do on Twitter. They run regular competitions, use current trends and hashtags to maximise their reach, and when they engage with their followers, they do it well. But, then you see this:

Sigh.

It just grates on me. The great thing about social media is that it is ideal for building relationships with your customers. Is that really what is going to work? Do they really think that people are going to appreciate being sent a copied and pasted response?

How about this then?

THIS is more like it. Even if the sympathy shown is false, at least an effort is made. The person who responded to the complaint is trying to sort it out rather than palm it off on someone else, which is always good to see.

I just think companies have a responsibility to respond to complaints in the right way. At the moment it seems like little effort is made and that the managers of social media simply don’t care. The tweet above is what, personally, I would like to see more of.

Do you have any negative experiences of customer service on social media? Let me know in the comments section below!