Move over Paul the Octopus, there’s a new match-predicting animal in town.

Fancy a flutter on this weekend’s Champions League final? Why not follow the Llama?

A Llama at Ashdown Llama Park in East Sussex is being tipped as the next match-predicting phenomenon after successfully calling the result of this month’s FA Cup final and now hotly tipping Chelsea in this weekend’s Champions League thriller.

Check out the video below to see him in action

Disclaimer – this is a client video to promote a new range of Llama Snacks. We love it though. Nicholas the llama was amazing on set. Big thanks to Ashdown Llama Park for letting us come down and film

Hello Soho! My name’s Kitty Hennessy. Nice to see you again.

Starting at Launch this week has felt like coming home – in more ways than one. I started my professional and PR life in the mighty Soho Square, just around the corner from Launch Towers in Archer Street W1. It got me thinking as to why so many creative industries choose to set up shop on King Henry VIII’s former hunting field.

It’s certainly not glamorous or picturesque to the naked eye – but perhaps that’s the point: all life is here. And always has been. The colourful locals on our corner come from a long tradition in Soho, when loitering wasn’t loitering but each corner was in fact an unofficial labour exchange. Archer Street was the musician’s quarter with nearby Compton and Frith Street for waiters, literally waiting for work.

Perhaps Soho’s creative notoriety stems from the entrepreneurship that was left behind when the employers had been and gone; survival of the fittest (or most imaginative). Artists, musicians, actors, poets  and everybody else besides gathered in the many great watering holes to devise ways of making their fame and fortune and more than a few succeeded – past residents of the area include: Karl Marx, Casanova, William Blake and Mozart.

I think that is the key to the lure of Soho – inspiration is everywhere you look, and that, combined with vision and creativity, do a successful mixture make. No wonder the Launch lot are so invigorated – you live by your wits round here!

So it’s d-day today for the London mayoral candidates. The culmination of months of blood, sweat and tears to decide the direction of London for the next four years. Quite exciting really isn’t it? Well, not if you take a straw poll of the Launch office. There is a significant portion of people who aren’t going to be voting today. They have their reasons, but one can’t help but think, as Blonde_M pointed out to me on Twitter yesterday, that politicians aren’t doing enough to inspire people to want to be involved.

This election campaign feels like a real damp squib to me. Apart from a few flare-ups between Boris and Ken (including some rather amusing swearing), no-one is standing out. Maybe it’s due to over-familiarity with the candidates, but I don’t feel that any of them have made a real effort to separate themselves from the pack, to stamp their authority and their vision on their campaign. It’s (unfortunately) come down to personalities – who do you like? And if you don’t like any of them, what do you feel like doing? Exactly….not voting at all.

Obviously politics relies a lot on personality, but one really felt that after the General Election social media would play a huge role in UK politics in the future (as it does in the US). However, whilst the mayoral election race has generated a lot of conversation online (according to this anyway), and even predicted the result, it hasn’t been harnessed or crystallised by any of the parties or the candidates. Yes, Boris did an #askboris twinterview, but a lot of the questions were like the man himself – hugely frivolous. As far as our research here can tell, there  isn’t even a hashtag that has been decided for interested people to group their conversation around. #londonelects is getting a fair amount of activity today (polling day), but it is nothing to the #GE2010 that captured imaginations two year ago.

Maybe I’m just being too unrealistic and idealistic, but I think it’s up to politicians and their advisors to explore new channels to come up with new ways of inspiring new people to vote and get involved in politics. If Obama and his team can do it, why can’t we do it in England? Admittedly, we don’t have Jimmy Fallon, but there are plenty of other options.

Much excitement at Launch Towers this week as the teams behind the inspiring Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race to the Pole recreation met TRH Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Earlier this year the five team members completed their arduous trek, covering 920 miles in the process. Incredibly, the Scott team reached the South Pole 100 years to the day as Captain Scott did, before he began his ill-fated return trip.

The Duke is patron of the expedition and joined team members in London to show his support. As you might expect, there was much media attention focused on Kate’s attire but when Prince William held the oh-so-cute three week old Hugo Vicary, son of Scott team member Vic Vicary, the media and social media sphere went into overdrive.

Fantastic front page coverage followed for the Legion, with much of it mentioning the heroic efforts of Lt Col Henry Worsley and his Army team-mates in raising funds for The Royal British Legion’s Battle Back Centre.

The expedition raised a staggering £160,000. And Team Poppy at Launch has been honoured to be involved and supporting them every step of the way…

I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but I have been absolutely transfixed by the whole Leveson Inquiry. For someone who is obsessed by and works in the media, it has shone a light on some of its more nefarious dealings (not something we’ve had anything to do with here at Launch).

At times it has seemed like an episode of The Thick Of It (particularly the scene when Malcolm Tucker invites four journos to his house for a friendly curry whilst on ‘holiday’). The more sinister revelations are more like something out of a Stieg Larsson novel.

Unfortunately (or fortunately if you’re Jeremy Hunt, Rupert Murdoch or one of the other people who have had aspersions cast on their character) there is no Lisbeth Salander available to use either her photographic memory or supreme hacking skills to uncover the real truth.

The questioning of both James and Rupert Murdoch this week have been characterised by the limitations of the evidence available. There have been salacious emails that, on the surface, appear to pull those involved right into the mire. However, those who have been implicated by these allegations have been able to play down the seriousness of the evidence. And when it comes to phone calls, meetings and conversations, memories become even sketchier.

The unfortunate truth is that, whilst it may feel that we are living through an epochal moment in the way that politics, media and the public interact (history in the making, you might say), the full reality of how News International and the various political parties have worked and clashed over the past 20/30 years is only going to become apparent once the major players have a lot less to lose.

We can spend time (as they did on Newsnight last night) discussing the effect the Inquiry will have on Murdoch, whether Leveson and Robert Jay could have been stronger in their questioning and whether criminal charges should be brought. However, we’re probably going to have to wait until memoirs are published and empires crumble for the full truth to out.

In the meantime, let’s sit back and enjoy the ride. And be thankful that we at least UK politicians and the Murdochs have their own opinions that they are not afraid to share (unlike the guy below…)

One of the most common questions we get asked as digital consultants at Launch is, as We Are Social noted this week, ‘Where should we start with social media?’

There’s no quick and easy answer, as every company’s challenges and opportunities. However, for complete newbies (newcomers), a social media audit is a great place to start.

A good social media audit should help you analyse your current position online and in social media, identify potential influencers to engage and fertile ground for active to be targeted at.

We’ve put together a short simple template to help guide your thinking. Of course, if you want us to actually carry out the audit for you, you’ll have to get in touch.

Pinterest is a social network that has been creating a lot of interest online in recent months, but what exactly is it and how does it differ from old favourites Facebook and Twitter? Take a look at our handy need-to-know guide below, and then look up Launch Group’s very own Pinterest page!

What is it?

Pinterest is a new social network that allows users to ‘pin’ the things they love from around the web into one place. These ‘pins’ are organised into ‘boards.’ Try to think of Pinterest as a great big interactive scrapbook where you can show off everything you’re interested in, and follow, as well as comment, on others with similar interests. Anytime you pin something, you are given the option to share it across your Twitter or Facebook pages.

Re-pinning, following and likes

‘Re-pinning’ works much in the same way as ‘re-tweeting.’ If someone has posted something you like too, re-pinning it will add it to one of your own boards. You also have the option of following other people – either every single one of their boards, or one in particular. Those that you follow will appear on your Pinterest dashboard when you log-in. ‘Liking’ a pin tells the person who pinned it exactly that – you like it! It does not automatically add the pin to any of your boards.

How does it work?

First of all, you need to download the ‘Pin It’ button from the website and add it to your browser. That done, it’s incredibly easy to use. When you’re browsing the web and come across an image or a video you like, hit the ‘Pin It’ button. This brings up a window with all of the available ‘pin-able’ content. Select the image or video you want, choose which of your boards you want it added to, add a short description and BOOM! You have successfully pinned an item. When others click your pin, they will be directed back to its original source, which is great news for brands who have had pins taken from a product page and will benefit from the back-link.

What are the demographics?

According to Mashable, 42 per cent of users are aged between 25 and 34, and of those 56 per cent are male (versus 44 per cent female).

Why are people using it?

Pinterest is a slightly different kettle of fish from your Facebook and your Twitter – primarily because the emphasis is on being inspired. People flock to Pinterest for ideas on what to have for dinner, how to re-model their bathroom and what they should wear to a friend’s wedding. In this way the site gives its users vicarious pleasure in taking a look at what other people – all over the world – like. Visitors are also already in a ‘buy hungry’ state of mind by the time they arrive at Pinterest, which offers a not insignificant opportunity for brands.

How could brands use it?

Showcase ‘exclusive’ never-before-seen content
Let followers get involved in curating brand content by selecting the function that allows others to add to your boards
Request images or video of followers with a particular product in return for rewards
Run image and video competitions
Run focus groups and use the comments functionality to collect feedback
Promote new products and campaigns in a visually interesting way
Upload a selection of coverage
Inspire a brand lifestyle by going beyond simple product-pushing. We really like the Whole Foods Market Pinterest page, which inspires not just on the culinary front, but across exercise, well-being and environmental too

When I saw the headline Simon Cowell Confronts Brick-Wielding Intruder in London Home, I assumed Jessie J had drastically misinterpreted the scale of the ‘battle’ between Britain’s Got Talent and The Voice UK.

As it turns out, it wasn’t the aggressively-fringed pop starlet but merely an “overzealous fan”. To someone as used to facing down lunatics as Cowell, I doubt this intrusion barely registered.

Instead, he was probably wondering how his Saturday evening light entertainment juggernaut was bested in the ratings by a BBC show that spurned a crucial plank of his TV Midas touch formula.

To him, spending a few hours mocking a procession of attention-seeking wannabes as they desperately try to outdo each other in their efforts to “stand out” (ie look mental), is the raison d’etre of the modern talent show.

That The Voice has drawn first blood despite the fact the judges don’t get to see the contestants until they have passed judgement, must have galled him mightily.

To add insult to near injury, not only was BGT beaten in the head-to-head ratings battle, The Voice was much more popular online than its established ITV1 rival.

TV-themed social media hub Tellybug claimed The Voice was the subject of 60% more searches on Yahoo! than BGT, and Twitter users were also talking more about the BBC programme, with 130,351 tweets about The Voice during its transmission. The equivalent figure for Britain’s Got Talent was 63,639 tweets.

While tweets about The Voice dropped markedly once Britain’s Got Talent began on ITV1, the BBC1 singing show was still the more talked-about while the programmes were overlapping: between 8pm and 8.20pm, The Voice was the subject of 37,136 posts on the social network, compared to BGT’s 20,079.

Will Cowell’s ire last? It’s doubtful. His success is fuelled by coverage and, as showbiz PR legend Mark Borkowski pointed out, the publicity battle was clearly dominated by one man alone.

“You can’t manufacture, train or interview for a showbiz force like Cowell,” wrote Mark and he’s right. Even without the break-in, the coverage of The Voice would have hinged around Cowell anyway.

Until the Beeb grows “publicity balls” (Borkowski again), Cowell’s opinion on Saturday night TV will carry infinitely more weight than anyone at the BBC.

Friends and colleagues haven’t been able to escape me talking about Mad Men recently. I’m EXTREMELY excited about season five kicking off on Sky Atlantic on March 27^th. It’s the best show on TV at the moment, and not just because it resonates so strongly with people like me who are in the business of client servicing.

The promotion of the show’s return has been carefully orchestrated, with a range of teaser images and videos appearing on both sides of the continent. In America, this has ramped up considerably of late, with AMC and various US media devoting huge chunks of space to interviews and other behind the scenes gossip. So far, so standard.

What Matthew Weiner and the execs at AMC couldn’t have expected (but potentially SHOULD have) was the effect that the show’s fans would have on the hype that is surrounding season five. First there was the minimalist poster that appeared around NYC, which was swiftly converted into a meme by creative street artists (check out the best of them here. I like the Superman one the best).

Then this weekend a new Tumblr was set up full of people ‘draping’. Draping, in case you’re not familiar with it, is people uploading pictures of themselves in the classic Don Draper, ‘one arm across the back of the sofa’ pose.

People on Twitter were asking whether these two (especially Draping) were marketing/PR stunts. I doubt it. You could make a cogent case to say that the white background of the teaser poster was an invitation to creative and street artists, but I doubt this was the defining factor in their decision.

Both memes are happy by-products of a TV show that has captured people’s imaginations, and become so important to people’s lives that they want to create content of their own volition. It’s the purest form of advocacy. When we’re putting together an all-channel campaign for our clients, it’s our holy grail.

What AMC and Matthew Weiner will be conscious of is the fact that, however careful they are with their own promotion of the show, this kind of unplanned fan activity only serves to ramp up the expectations around its come back. Already delayed by a year, season five will have to kick off with a real bang to escape the inevitable ‘jumped the shark’ accusations.

I have no doubts it will more than live up to the hype.

(my Mad Men Yourself photo is below. A great example of AMC’s marketing!)

I’ve been to Tesco loads of times. Seriously. I’m not bragging, but I mean loads and loads of times. In fact, I’ve been so many times I know that if you were to live your life sequentially, rather than chronologically, then the time spent in Tesco would take up a 64 day stretch. That’s bonkers really. 64 days. Two summer months and two days. 9 weeks and a day. 92,160 minutes.

But I’d never been with Launch Group. Not for one second.

I am new at Launch Group, coming to the end of my third official week. It’s been great: really cool. What I have particularly responded to, and talked about at home and on the phone to my mother, is the immediate sense of cohesion. I never felt like the ‘work experience’ kid, I never felt like the ‘tea-mule’, rather a legitimate member of Launch Group. Sure, the most inexperienced member, but a member none-the-less.

This sentiment is no better explained than on my second day. I was at home, talking about how much I was enjoying Launch and eating a Solero, when I receive a text asking whether I would like to attend a photo-call in the morning at a nearby Tesco to launch the Together for Trees initiative. I didn’t expect that. It wasn’t necessary to extend a professional olive branch. I was grateful enough, as I should have been, to be on work experience with Launch Group, let alone be allowed to attend official business with our CEO Johnny and an important client. But then again, I have been in Tesco loads, so maybe they have spotted my retail nous. ‘I’d love to’. ‘Great news David, see you at 8am’.

It’s 8am. I enter, what is a very large Tesco near Earl’s Court, and bashfully ask whether a PR event is being hosted. The gentleman didn’t know, but pointed me to an aisle that had been turned in to a “rope bridge or a jungle or something”. I’ll give that a try. I walk down the central reservation, no real jungle in sight, but there is a group of people at the very far end. As I get closer and closer, what unravels is both surprising and charming. The aisle isn’t an aisle any more, it is closer to an installation: lined with looming plants, and a wooden bridge on the floor held together by rope. Two colleagues are being directed by the photographer. I stand, reticent. Not only do I not know how to help, but I don’t know what I could even do to enhance what is an impressive display of PR imagination and implementation. In the meantime, Kevin is still being told to hold the hose higher above Harri’s umbrella while she peers out looking delicately affected by the fake rainfall.

I turn around and am suddenly shaking hands with Ed Stafford. I know of Ed Stafford. It was a real pleasure to meet him, and he put me at an ease I didn’t realise I needed. He gets called to position by the photographer. “Here?”. “Yeah that’s great”. Immediately, and with consummate ease for an explorer not a model, he looks like he is back walking the Amazon. Except for the trolley of food. Although I wouldn’t put it past him to walk the Amazon again with a trolley full of food, that’s for sure.

The photographer is done. I look to my colleagues. “Right, back to the office’. That’s it. This magnum PR event finished. Except of course it isn’t finished. It is just the spark that starts the day’s work.