What could be more Chorlton than a vegetarian vampire?

July 30th, 2010
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The MEN is loving Chorlton at the minute, which is a coincidence as we do too. Our office is located bang in the middle of ‘Manchester’s most bohemian suburb’ (their words not mine), and it’s a great place to work.

As well as the proximity of great bars for after work drinks and restaurants for client lunches we are also in Chorlton’s most iconic building: Cosgrove Hall. Not, as it may sound, a stately home, but named after the fathers of animation Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall.

In the same room where we now spread the word about new jams and hatch up schemes to launch retail destinations Ratty and Mr Toad were once crafted from clay. Cosgrove and Hall were awarded honorary doctorates by The University of Manchester this week in recognition of their work creating Dangermouse, Chorlton & The Wheelies and Count Duckula amongst many others.

Also this week Manchester’s Council chiefs announced the protection of Chorlton from chain supermarkets and bars and plans to promote more independent shops and a possible revamp of the precinct.

If you come to visit we might take you for lunch at The Barbakan and let you play with our Count Duckula toys… if you’re nice.

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Mine’s a Manchester Digital Burger!

July 29th, 2010
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I had my first experience of a Manchester Digital Barbecue last night, and it certainly didn’t disappoint!

They certainly had me waiting with baited breath to see if I could get a ticket… I was the last in the office to receive a confirmation and was very happy not to be the only ‘billy no mates’ not attending.

Held at the very cool Atlas Bar on Deansgate and serving up great  barbecue food and mojitos, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend an evening, especially as it was free (big thanks to CTI Digital, Fudge, Creative Times and Melbourne Server who sponsored the event)

It was great to see so many people involved in the digital and creative arena in one place,  and to finally be able to put faces to the brilliant coders we’ve been working with recently.

A free dinner, cocktails, good chats and no rain….. Where do I sign up for the next one?

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Sherlock, iPlayer and the BBC

July 27th, 2010
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The BBC aired the remake of the classic tales of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson this Sunday, and Democracy Towers buzzed about it on Monday morning so much, that I caught up on iPlayer on Monday night.

Written by Stephan Moffat (the chap who’s been creating a stir with Dr Who), the fast paced excitement was brought bang upto date with blogs and geo location using smart phone technology all used as the plot evolved.

The evolution of the Sherlock Holmes story from the dark and murky streets of Victorian London to the modern world of laptops, mobile phones and carefully watched streets is a revelation and proves that well written stories featuring well developed personalities can be made as relevant today as they’ve ever been.

After a speedy romp through the back streets of London, the killer was caught by ….. as if i’m going to reveal that(!). Just like the adaptation of Sherlock, the BBC continues to meet the changing viewing habits of the public with their catch up service on iPlayer (thank goodness).

Today the press is awash with rumours that our growing online catch up consumption may cause the BBC to change their license fee structure. The existing model relies on us having a TV in our living rooms …. and if internet streaming takes off, they’ll be asking the government to protect them through legislation.

Any change to the license fee tends to create uproar – but if we can all embrace the evolution of  Sherlock into a modern day super sleuth, then maybe we can accept that the BBC, after 60 years, may have to do the same.

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A right royal album

July 26th, 2010
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Today, as well as those awful pictures of you from Saturday night, and your niece’s christening photos, you’ll be able to check out the Queen’s holiday snaps and official portraits.

In an historic move ‘The British Monarchy’ has launched a flickr account, the papers have reported it with a mixture of awe and amusement and it really is a good diversion for ten minutes or so.

The Queen really is ‘down with the kids’, she has a youtube channel and she tweets; except of course she doesn’t. Usually we’d recommend that social profiles for individuals are managed by that individual, with a little help of course. But I don’t think any of us really believe that the Queen would have the time to get out her iPhone  at state dinners and tweet her thoughts.

It would seem that it depends what your starting point is: if you’re Jordan people already know so much about you that your twitter feed is going to have to be pretty salacious to keep followers, if you’re The Queen then releasing some archive photos of royal engagements is enough to keep the media and the public happy.

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Breaking into the industry!

July 26th, 2010
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*** guest blog by Susie Whitby***

As a recent graduate I have been eagerly on the hunt for a job in PR, competing against other candidates with real life experience. At times it seemed no one was willing to give me the essential experience required in progressing my career. However, this week I was fortunate enough for the opportunity of a work placement here at Democracy PR.

So far I have been here three days and am already beginning to understand the ins and outs of the industry which will prove invaluable to me in the future.

With a welcoming, passionate team around me, I am confident I have much more to learn about this exciting and fast passed industry.

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All the gear, no idea ….

July 19th, 2010
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Given everything that the internet can tell us about our clients, customers and ourselves, it’s almost unforgivable for new business approaches to be made without some basic desk research.

Our landing page gives you an idea of what we do, who we work with and a quick click to the team page tells you who the team are. We really do make it easy.

For the sake of saving their blushes, I’ve removed the details of the ad agency who sent this, however … let’s be honest, I don’t think they’ll ever see it.

SUBJECT: Digital PR

Sent to: info@democracypr.com

Hi

Do you guys offer your clients any digital services , or do you include them in any pitch work? e.g social media – facebook apps, iPhone apps, micros sites, games, data collection sites etc?

Mark


From: Jennifer O’Grady [mailto:jennifer@democracypr.com]

Sent: 19 July 2010 10:46

To: Mark

Yes we do

Sent from my iPhone


SUBJECT: Digital PR

Sent to: jennifer@democracypr.com

Hi Jennifer

In house or do you outsource?

I’m actually after a partnership – we have all the skills to make iphone app, mobile apps, facebook applications, custom facebook landing pages microsites, games , viral – all the things clients want as we see a shift from traditional media and move to have campaigns which have a digital element or elements to them.

In recent months we have started working with PR agencies , so that they can be confident when pitching campaigns or for new clients that they can include a digital element.

If you want pop into our Leeds HQ – top floor penthouse office, I’d be happy to spend 20 mins with you and explain how we can help.

+ don’t worry we are very used to working with NDA’s so you can rest assured that your clients are kept safe!

From: Jennifer O’Grady [mailto:jennifer@democracypr.com]

Sent: 19 July 2010

To: Mark

Hi Mark

We do everything in house outside the app building, however, we also work with a number of different agencies to deliver that.

We have reciprocal arrangements with them, meaning that we send business in both directions.

I’m unlikely to be in Leeds over the next few weeks, but if you’re ever over in Manchester feel free to pop in, I’m sure I have 15 minutes that I can spare.

I can’t see him making the journey over to Manchester for a 15 minute chat, but that’s OK, because the truth is that they don’t really want our business, if they did, they’d have put the effort in.

Taking time to get to know your target consumer, to understand what they want and be able to apply it is a basic communication tool that every business benefits from.

This weekend, we’ve been working on the launch of The Rock in Bury, staging a social media campaign that has amassed almost 3,000 fans in less than two weeks.

The heart of this campaign has been to really get to know and understand what the people of Bury want from their new retail and leisure destination. Some love it, some have areas where they believe it can be improved – but every one of those 3,000 fans know that The Rock is listening to them and cares enough to want and keep their business.

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Bury’s Got Talent

July 13th, 2010
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The X Factor may have been in Manchester this weekend , but they missed some serious talent in Bury.

As part of our social media campaign for the retail and shopping heaven that is The Rock, Bury, we have been holding karaoke roadshows to recreate Nickelback’s rock anthem, ‘Rockstar’ with the locals of Bury and the surrounding areas as the stars.

Sunday saw us spending a lovely sunny day at the ‘Forever Bury’ event held at Bury FC, and I was amazed by the enthusiasm and energy of everyone who took part. The event, held at the famous Gigg Lane stadium, saw fans of all ages eating ice cream, getting autographs from players and rocking it with yours truly…. I was so inspired I had a little go myself (never to be seen footage… I hope!)

Everyone involved got into the spirit of the day and i can’t wait to see the results of this bury rocking video.

Simon Cowell was definitely in the wrong place, if he’d been with me he would have seen that Bury’s got the X Factor.

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