First there was the recession. Now there is Swine Flu. Whereas before nightmares comprised of hard-earned money slipping through our fingers like water, now they’re made up of cramped Tube journeys where a stranger looms into view and coughs in our faces. Truth be told, the national press isn’t exactly a ray of sunshine at the moment. Have a go at spotting how frequently the words ‘Pandemic’, ‘death’ and ‘infection’ are featuring on the front pages. Frankly, it’s very depressing.

 But it is a comfort to see that the social media wizards are having a ball with this latest crisis. Spreading faster than, well, you-know-what, is a phenomenon where the internet is starting to reflect – and even drive – the global panic.

Twitter, that micro-blogging nemesis of HR managers worldwide, is ablaze with comment, ranging from the mildly curious to the outright hysterical. ‘Could it be germ warfare?’ tweets one paranoid user. ‘All that pork is infecting people’ adds another, whom one can imagine emptying their freezer in a red-faced frenzy.

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For me, last week’s conversation seemed to habitually focus on three subjects – there was the matter of my impending filling, the matter of my impending wedding and the matter of my mouldy drink. Since the latter, as my long-suffering workmates will concur, monopolised my conversation, I settled on the subject for my blog. But before I explain further, let me put a few things in context.

Firstly, my mother. She is renowned for complaining.  But not just for the sake of it, she’s really very nice.  But complaining in order to correct customer service sins.  You don’t have to press 2 followed by 7 followed by the # key to know what I’m talking about. This is a battle that is worth fighting, and in the past month my mum has received a case of wine from her bank, ensured my grandmother’s entire care home has been reviewed and got Berkshire County Council to pay for a new wheel for my dad’s car. That’s no mean feat and involves an incredible amount of dedication, time and perseverance. But why should getting good customer service be so difficult?

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The ‘paper review’ is an integral part of our day here at Launch. Every morning we get together and start our day with a discussion – and debate – about the day’s news. What coverage has Launch Group generated? What is at the forefront of the news agenda? What makes a good story? Which stories are relevant to our clients? What are the latest trends? Who is going to be the next ‘it’ girl?

Taking part in these reviews, I have discovered a recent trend in stories about wine – news pieces and health stories, a feature on the depleting economy of wine growth in Southern France,

the advent of a new ‘wineophile’ generation pioneered by Jay Z.  As a young, single girl living and working in the capital, I consume my fair share of wine, and often this worries me. Is a glass of wine a day good?  What is healthy?  What is sensible? What should I do? 

According to The Daily Telegraph red wine gives you brain power. A study by an Italian hospital reveals that the red stuff can in fact increase a women’s libido, and Marie Claire joins the scrum by swearing by red wine as a dietary aid. So, a glass of red looks like a very attractive option.

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It’s going to be a tough week for those employed in finance. As any building housing offices of the maligned financial services nervously begins to batten down the hatches and instruct employees to ‘disguise’ themselves for their own safety, there is certainly a whiff of unease in the air. It’s even, perhaps theatrically, been likened to the French Revolution. Watch out bankers and world leaders, the media warns, hell hath no fury like those that have lost all their savings due to economic incompetence.

Add to the mix the protestor’s swift uptake of online tools in their activities, and you have an additional headache to manage.   

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As the only Canadian here at Launch Group, and a relatively new resident of London, I thought I would share my top ten list of favourite things to do/see/eat/watch in the big city. Perhaps it’ll give other newcomers some ideas!

So, in no particular order:

Borough Market

It’s very popular and incredibly crowded on Saturdays, but I love coming here to eat lunch and   
spot all the different kinds of food on offer. It’s an epicurean’s dream…

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Even if you’re not a fan of the fruity sweets that promise a rainbow tasting experience, you can’t help but feel for Skittles. It isn’t easy for brands to embrace user-generated content, you might say, or to so utterly fling themselves into the social marketing arena with nothing but a wing and a prayer. To do it so spectacularly badly was an impressive feat.      

They started off well, mind you. A website re-design that saw Skittles giving its entire homepage over to Twitter postings was certainly a bold move. So long as a 140 character ‘Tweet’ contained the name of the brand, it would be automatically published. Unsurprisingly, this caused not a little excitement as consumers contemplated the nerve, as well as the opportunity, and marketers wondered if they’d missed a trick somewhere.

Was Skittles trying to be hip? Weren’t they worried about a backlash? What were they expecting people to post about – the flavoursome differences between lemon and orange and the way the sweets turn your hands a multitude of colours if you hold them too tight? This was surely a worthy online experiment, and observers settled in for the ride.

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While contemplating the prospect of blogging I considered writing about food, as that’s what I spend a lot of my day thinking about… so much so that in my first week working here I managed to send a client email calling us Lunch Group – subliminal indeed! But then I realised it may be marginally more interesting to the average blog reader if I documented what I actually do (as opposed to eat) in a typical day here at Launch.

So, here it is – a recent day in the life of me, Hannah Whitby – Senior Account Exec…

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Ben, off-duty. No, seriously

I read a book recently that I thought might be of interest. I thought this because (a) it actually altered my take on a subject that I’ve spent far too long thinking about for more than 25 years now and (b) there’s not a chance in hell you’re ever likely to read it. On Amazon it ain’t.

Whilst not strictly about business, the Doc behind this little gem sums it up nicely in his opening line: “I teach the psychology of greatness.” Don’t let this overblown (he’s Californian!) statement of intent or the fact that you may have already guessed it’s a sports text put you off enjoying just a few of Dr Rotella’s pearls: 

1.       Believe in yourself – be your own best friend

The voice inside your head – the one with which you talk to yourself – should be giving you what you need. Your subconscious can’t discriminate information from your conscious brain. If you’re telling yourself you’re a lousy excuse for a PR exec, chances are your subconscious will accept that as the truth.  

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Interesting article in The London Paper last night. According to social media expert James Kirkham, Twitter holds some tangible romantic possibilities. Apparently, because ‘tweeting’ reduces information exchange to just 140 characters each time, users are forced to carefully consider every word they publish, and ask themselves whether what they’ve written effectively delivers what they want it to. Backed into such a corner, Kirkham argues, means a lot less spiel and a lot more substance is able to shine through. This, in turn, results in a far more transparent and engaging conversation.

I think the same should be remembered by the brands that use this platform. Twitter embraces the art of the ‘update’ – the ‘need to know.’ There isn’t much room for lengthy advertising pitches or great swathes of the latest press release. Holding your audience’s attention is key, because if you can’t convey the value of your subject in those 140 characters, people are less likely to consider you a worthy user to follow. Brutal, but true. As Twitter is essentially permission-based, meaning that no one has to follow you and anyone can prevent you from following them, you need to work that much harder to show just what exactly you’re going to bring to the table. How is what you’ve got to say useful? Why should you be telling people about this? Aren’t you going to invite feedback? What is the crux of your message? If you’re follower list is looking pretty paltry, it’s time to honestly ask yourself just how you’re going to morph into that Romeo of your audience’s dreams.