Christmas Hampers Charity Competition

As many of you will be aware, fatBuzz is running an exclusive Social Media Training Day for charities tomorrow - and we are happy to reveal that our goodwill doesn't stop there.

To celebrate our Training Day and to reward charity workers' continuous hard work and dedication, we are giving away not one, but TWO of Mitchells Dairy's luxurious Christmas Hampers.

If you think a particularly deserving charity worker has gone above and beyond the call of duty this year, or if you simply want to show your appreciation, we want you to nominate them for this fantastic prize.

To do so, you can nominate him/her on our Facebook page, on Twitter, or you can comment directly on this blog post.

And that's not all! If the person you nominate wins the Christmas Hamper, we will also throw one in for you for taking the time and effort to nominate them!

The competition will close at 12pm on Monday 5th November, so remember (remember) to get your entries in before then!

If you don't win this competition, but still want to buy Mitchells' Christmas hampers for your friends, family or colleagues, you can visit Mitchells' online Hampers Store by clicking HERE. 

Starting from the £35 Afternoon Tea Hamper and ranging up to the £140 Taste of Scotland Hamper, there really is a hamper to suit every taste and budget.

If you want to get in touch with Mitchells and order a bespoke hamper, you can contact them on: 01467 621389 or info@mitchells-scotland.com

Good luck everyone, and we hope you have a wonderful, educational and beneficial day at our Social Media Training Day.

PS. We will also be making an exciting announcement about further charity support later in the week, so make sure you follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out the news.

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Social Media & Music - Creating a Song and Dance

Scottish band Biffy Clyro have been making waves in the social media world again this week, after inviting fans to reveal the artwork to their eagerly anticipated new album Opposites through Twitter.

Every time a fan tweeted #BiffyOpposites, a little more of the artwork was unveiled until the entire image, complete with subtle animated touches, was displayed.

After just 18 hours, the artwork was revealed; putting the final touches on a wholly successful social media campaign.

The campaign, and the subsequent buzz that was created surrounding it, got us thinking about other bands and artists that have embraced social media.

Obviously, there are particular artists that roll off the tongue when you think of social media; Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber are just two prominent examples.

However, we decided to cherry-pick other artists and bands who have embraced social media and utilised it in the most innovative and creative ways.

Hue and Cry

If you grew up in the UK in the 80s, you will no doubt be familiar with brothers Pat and Greg Kane, otherwise known as pop group Hue And Cry, however you might not be so familiar with their social media activity. 

In an article in Wales Online, Pat Kane explained: "We have a very active relationship with the fans through social media, through our own website Hue & Cry Music Club and all the other channels."

As well as embracing social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, Hue and Cry also have their own Ning social network, Hue And Cry Music Club, which they regularly use to interact with their fans. Impressive.

Radiohead

Radiohead's online presence is long established, but it is impossible for us to ignore.

They regularly market their music in a way that no other mainstream band has attempted before; back in 2007, they recorded 'In Rainbows' on their own and released it on their website as a direct download with the asking price of “pay what you want.” 

Fast forward to 2011, where they fully utilised social media.

Ahead of the release of 'The Kings of Limbs' album, they posted a tweet on their official Twitter account: “Thank you for waiting…”, which was followed by a link to www.thekingoflimbs.com, a website designed for the release of their new album.

Four days later, on Friday the 18th, Radiohead tweeted again: “It’s Friday…It’s almost the weekend…You can download ‘The King of Limbs’ now if you so wish!”

Cue social media frenzy. Simple, but effective.

Ed Sheeran

British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is perhaps one of the best examples of how powerful social media can be in music.

Sheeran's producer, Jake Gosling discovered him on MySpace four years ago, and he has since built a loyal following of 'Sheeranator' fans through YouTube. 

Having worked with grime and underground artists, Gosling had come to know Jamal Edwards, founder of online music channel SBTV, and rather than the traditional music media, it SBTV that propelled his song You Need Me to go viral and gain millions of hits.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Conor Maynard

Conor Maynard, like a lot of aspiring young artists, used social media and sites like YouTube to share his videos and after the R&B artist Ne-Yo saw his cover of his song 'Beautiful Monster' on YouTube, the two started Skyping, which led to a recording contract with EMI.

Once again, Maynard is tapping into his social media-hungry fan base to help him decide where in the United States he should perform this winter. To determine the five cities in which the 19-year-old will give free concerts, his label has created MayniacMap, which lets his fans earn points for their respective cities.

Users rack up points by connecting their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare and Tumblr accounts, and performing activities — such as following, liking, commenting and sharing. And for anyone who is remotely interested, New York, San Francisco, Houston, Detroit and Tampa, Florida have accumulated the most points so far.

Ellie Goulding

British singer Ellie Goulding has fully embraced social media.

Not only did she recently conduct the world’s 'first digital album signing' in a Google+ Hangout, she also unleashed a lyric video for Halcyon‘s lead single, 'Anything Could Happen', which featured fan-submitted Instagram photos.

Goulding had just joined the photo-sharing site in June before she asked fans to show her some Instagram love, and you can view the resulting video below.

Have you found this post interesting? If so, please share it with your online community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. If you can think of any other examples of musicians embracing social media, let us know. Thank You.

Exclusive PackshotBoys Offer

One of fatBuzz’s long-term partners, David Cadzow, has an intriguing new business venture - and he has a fantastic introductory offer for the fatBuzz community.

David, who has over 20 years’ commercial photography experience, has created PackshotBoys, a vibrant new packshot company providing high quality, low cost packshot solutions for e-commerce businesses across Scotland and the UK.

And if anyone is interested in taking advantage of David’s and PackshotBoys’ expertise, he is offering a fantastic 15% introductory discount, exclusive to the fatBuzz community.

For those unaware, packshots are still or moving images that are used to portray your products’ quality and reputation, whether through your website, digital advertising or traditional print media.

He can shoot product at clients' premises or in their purpose built studio, using the best digital camera and lighting equipment available to produce stunning quality images to do your products justice.

As well as running PackshotBoys, David also owns internationally acclaimed architectural & interior photography company, Cadzow Pelosi, alongside Joseph Pelosi.

David has also previously supplied photography to a major multi-channel retailer supplying both room-set lifestyle and creative photography, as well as fast turnaround, high volume packshots.

To obtain this offer, contact David directly on 01698 891 721 or email him at info@packshotboys.com Offer is valid until 16th November.

You can follow PackshotBoys on Pinterest and Twitter, or join them on Facebook.

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Social Media Podcast No.49 - Remember When Facebook's share price was $38, now it's almost half but they have 1 billion users!

We're back with Social Media Podcast No.49 and it's a slightly different line up from usual, Kyle had to take care of some urgent client work but we are joined by a couple of first-timers on the podcast.  Taking part in Social Media Podcast Episode 49 we have Gordon White,  Iain Murray  Derek Howie and Joanna Robb.

As usual, we have some lively debate and chat around the world of social media and we bring you some useful examples of social media campaigns that have gone well, and some that have not gone so well.

One of the things we discuss is the Friends Reunited #RememberWhen campaign run at a recent charity ball when they used disposable cameras and a hashtag to engage people both on the night and, on the Friends Reunited platform.  Here is a picture of the Friends Reunited cameras that were used at the Cash for Kids Ball which ultimately raised £250,000 ($403,000) for charity.

HELP US WITH OUR 50th EPISODE
The next Episode is No.50;  we would like to make it a special edition by getting some comments from you - these can be sent by email, Twitter or, posted on the Social Media Podcast Facebook page.  Better still, why don't you send us a short audio message and we'll play it on the podcast - send audio messages to gordon@fatbuzz.com

We would really welcome as many comments and contributions as possible so please send them to us as soon as possible.

Podcast No.49 is packed with great conversation and information from the world of social media - there's also the normal banter and light hearted fun you expect when the Social Media Podcast  team get together.

There's a lot in this one including:

• Audi's ProgressIs campaign - What lessons can we learn from the competition and the two finalists, John Garcia and Jet Set Brunette?
• The fatBuzz Training Day for charities, oversubscribed but we may have some good news for the charities on the waiting list!
• iPhone 5 - Leaves its mark, but is it different enough?
• Samsung vs Apple, the battle rages on
• Will Microsoft's phone be the next big player?
• Friends Reunited - their interesting #RememberWhen campaign
• Iain's a finalist in the National Geographic Photographic Competition - does he need our votes?
• 12 Principles of Social Media Marketing - we discuss an excellent blog post from Jeff Bullas
• Bing teams up with Klout - are these 'scoring' sites of any real value?
• Social analytics tools - are they an expensive luxury?
• ROI - Are your expectations and goals realistic?
• Facebook features strongly in our discussion including the following: Facebook Gifts, Facebook Offers, the alleged Facebook fail
• Facebook also loses a clients' Facebook page and they wont respond to us - is the real price of 'free'?
• TV hit series, Once Upon a Time's Fan Club adopt With Kids as a their Charity and raise lots of money online after watching a video of Robert Carlyle on YouTube.  We discuss the global donations for this small but worth while Glasgow charity.
• Facebook pass 1 billion users but are more than half their users still frustrated with Facebook's mobile experience?
• Pinterest - great for certain brands but are people realising the potential?

If you would like to donate to Gareth Hughes Once Upon a Fan campaign for With Kids, you can do so at the Just Giving Page here

We hope you enjoy the podcast, if you have any comments to make or topics you would like us to discuss please leave them here on the blog or on our Facebook Page.

Play the podcast here:

Subscribe/Download Social Media Podcast on iTunes

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Should I or shouldn't I - Is fear stifling your creativity?

Many good ideas never see the light of day through fear of failure or ridicule. 

How many times have you had what you think is a good idea but, by the time you go to implement it, doubts have set in and fear takes over?  You then shelve the idea with the intent of 'sleeping on it' and it never seems quite such a good idea again.

Sound familiar?

This week's New Media Breakfast can perhaps help to dispel some of these fears or, confirm you shouldn't proceed.  I will be looking at some examples of social media winners and losers; campaigns that have worked well and others that have ended in tears, hopefully you will get inspiration from some and cautionary intelligence from others.

I have tried to choose a wide variety of cases from the world of industry, commerce and charity - there is no shortage of examples of winners and losers whatever the sector.  I have also tried to pick examples from all of the main social media platforms so, regardless of which platforms you favour, hopefully there will be something you can relate to.

By the end of the breakfast presentation I hope all of the attendees will have a better idea about the following:

• What kind of social media works - or doesn't!
• Potential pitfalls
• What is success or failure?
• How to test your idea before going 'global'
• How to deal with a negative response

I hope as many people as possible make it along to find out about this important issue and I hope that all attendees will leave with the confidence to try new ideas.

I hope in the future the only real barrier to your social media marketing success is the limitation of your own creativity and that its not coupled with fear of failure.

HOW TO BOOK
Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 28th September 2012
Time: 7.30am for 8am
Cost: £10 +VAT

You can read more about the New Media Breakfast here.

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:

No.29 MEMBERS GO FREE 

If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email malcolm@fatbuzz.com with you membership number and he will add you to the attendance list.

We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

If you have found this post interesting please share it with your online community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. Thank You.

Social Media Podcast No.48 - Angels eat Shortbread and, has Apple finally got it wrong?

At long last everyone is back from holiday and we've (almost) got our refurbished offices back.  It's been a bit of a gap since the last podcast but, we're back and straight into the usual banter and social media chat.

Taking part in Social Media Podcast Episode 48 we have Gordon White,  Kyle Murdoch, and Iain Murray  The extended break since the last podcast means there's lots to cover in this podcast and, we've tried to include some more examples of what fatBuzz are doing with clients and how they are using social media to market themselves.

As usual, the banter is good and the conversation moves along with good humour and, we hope, some interesting information from the world of social media and emerging technology.

We're fast approaching Episode 50; have you any ideas what we should do or, do you want to take part?  Let us know - email gordon@fatBuzz.com or kyle@fatbuzz.com.

The new fatBuzz offices get a mention in the podcast so we thought we would include a picture of the unusual flooring we've decided to install; we will bring you more pictures of the finished article in the near future.

We've also acquired a golf chipping net and some practice balls so, when you visit the fatBuzz office you may be asked to take part in our ongoing  "Finding the Net" challenge!  It's our version of a visitor's book and all the scores will be recorded on our "Finding the Net" wall.

There's really a lot in this one including:

• Tablets - Iain enthuses over his new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 but, was it rushed to market to pay the fine to Apple?
• Patents - Are they getting stupid?
• Nexus7, Kindle Fire HD - Is 7'' set to become the new norm?
• Bruce Willis vs Apple - Die Hard star contenting what happens to his music when he dies
• Do you know what happens to your digital music and books when you die? - Should you have a digital will?
• fatBuzz training day for Charities - We explain the reasons for hosting a free event for registered charities
• Unsubscribing from email lists - Gordon has a rant about marketers who think spamming  is a good strategy
• Our hashtag gets spammed - How the New Media Breakfast was a victim of its own success
• Facebook Pages Manager and Android's Mobile Pages Manager - Making Facebook page management easier on the move
• Iain's App of the Month: Friday -  Turn your social media interactions into a timeline
• Image Marketing - The popularity of image based Apps and, when will Facebook get a decent App on the market?
• Pinterest as a marketing tool - Are brands missing the opportunity and we provide an example of how John Dick and Son is using Pinterest
• How to get 47% more engagement from your content
• Who spends more online, Men or Women?
• Instacube - An interesting product and, an interesting Crowdfunding exercise
• Bloom VC - Bloom provide a guest blog for fatBuzz and Gordon invests in some cupcakes
• YouNoodle.com - Getting your idea or product off the ground
• Arttokens.co.uk - A great way to give original art as a gift
• Findhealthbupa.com - A great resource from Bupa for finding health and lifestyle Apps
• iPhone 5 - Iain predicts Apple have finally got it WRONG!
• Device security - could the power cables hold the answer to improved security?
• Apple under pressure - Iain explains why he thinks Apple Corp is under pressure
• Technology advances - how much is dictated by the manufacturer rather than consumer demand?
• Collaboration - We explain how John Dick and Son and Dean's Shortbread collaborated with content
• Red Bull - how do they keep 30 million fans engaged on Facebook?
• Content Explored - We explain the thinking behind our new "Content Explored" series of blog posts
• Pinterestification - Is this the latest buzz word and how Principle Consulting's new web site is a good example of 'Pinterestification'

We hope you enjoy the podcast, if you have any comments to make or topics you would like us to discuss please leave them here on the blog or on our Facebook Page.

Play the podcast here:

Subscribe/Download Social Media Podcast on iTunes

If you have found this post interesting please share it with your online community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. Thank You.

Winners and Losers...the September New Media Breakfast

SOCIAL MEDIA WINNERS AND LOSERS

DATE: Friday 28th September
VENUE: 29 Member's Club, Royal exchange Square, Glasgow

It's our birthday!
The September breakfast is the 3rd Anniversary of The New Media Breakfast; yes, it’s been three years since we started or monthly knowledge sharing events. We are pleased these have now become part of the regular calendar at No.29. We also thank No.29 for all of their support during the past three years; they really make it easy to host an event of this nature.

We also take this opportunity to thank everyone who has attended the breakfast since we started, we hope you enjoy coming along as much as we enjoy hosting them. We appreciate your support and hope you will continue to come along to the events.

The September New Media Breakfast will explore social media winners and losers. This is a topic we’ve had requested in the past so we’re pleased to be able to bring it to you now.

The Winners
ROI is a question we’ve been asked about numerous times, hopefully this breakfast will help you identify the possible returns you can expect by exploring some social media winners. We will look at examples where brands have used social media tools to become social and how they succeeded in their objectives.

The Losers
It would be wrong to simply focus on the winners, there are many social media losers out there and we can learn as much from them as we can from the winners. We will look at some of the social media marketing failures and investigate what went wrong; we hope this will help identify what not to do.

We need your help...
We are looking for assistance from you; do you have a social media success story or, do you know about a success that you would like us to highlight? Equally, please let us know if you know of any failures that we could perhaps review and share with your New Media Breakfast colleagues.

We hope you can make it along to this important breakfast to help us celebrate three successful years of New Media Breakfast and perhaps learn from other winners and losers.

FREE Social Media Training Day
We would also like to draw your attention to a very important event we are hosting in No.29 on the 31st October – a FREE Social Media Training Day for charities. This event is strictly on a first come first served basis so, if you know any charities that may benefit form the day please share the information about the day with them. You can find out the full detaisl and programme for the Charity Training Day here.

HOW TO BOOK
Venue: 29 Member's Club, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow
Date: Friday 28th September 2012
Time: 7.30am for 8am
Cost: £10 +VAT

BOOK FOR NEW MEDIA BREAKFAST GLASGOW HERE:

No.29 MEMBERS GO FREE 

If you are a 29 Member you can attend the breakfast free of charge. Please email malcolm@fatbuzz.com with you membership number and he will add you to the attendance list.

We hope you can make it along to this event. If so, I look forward to seeing you on the day.

If you have found this post interesting please share it with your online community using either the Twitter, Facebook and Share buttons below. Thank You.