This way to Brazen World

Posts Tagged ‘Manchester Evening News’

PEOPLE WILL PAY FOR GREAT CONTENT

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

It’s a bold statement that, as little as three years ago, would have been the laughing stock of after-dinner conversation among supposedly digital-savvy media commentators.

No longer. It’s the phrase that resounded the most from the cacophony of perfectly-edited, media-friendly soundbites delivered by panelists at the first AGM of North-west Creative and Media Industries this morning.

It’s very much a reality in 2010. If the iPhone has proved nothing else it has illustrated, in multi-million-dollar technicolour, that consumers will happily pay for great content and the routes to view it.

More interesting is the fact that this bold statement came not from the lips of some future-thinking tech-wiz, an acclaimed Net blogger or a 30-something MD from the brave new world of SEO optimisation.

It came from Sara Wilde-McKeown, the regional general manager for Trinity Mirror North-west – the new owners of the Manchester Evening News.

Traditional media has finally joined the noisy digital party. Let’s hope they bring balloons.

They have no choice of course. Those who constantly look back and never look forward have a habit of tripping up don’t they? They also fail to see the bright young things enjoying the first rays of a new sunny dawn in front of them.

Traditional news media, if we believe McKeown is not only part of this all-singing, all dancing, sunshine-soaked dawn chorus, it’s even wearing the latest designer shades and blowing its ravers whistle.

I really hope so. There is room at the digital feast for everyone.

As McKeown so eloquently said: “We’ve all had a rather shitty time of it.”

While that may very well go down as understatement of the day at the NWAGM there’s, surely, none of us who don’t have a pang of sympathy for those employed by the old-guard.

Their captains may have been liable to gamble using their employees livelihoods as the stake and first to flee the sinking ship but, the crew are still putting fuel in the engines hoping it may lead them to the land of new opportunity and security.

In view of the rough crossing, let’s hope their passengers/consumers are still happy to pay for their tickets. Especially as there are newer ships now in view.

It’s a big sea but there’s no room for a Titanic on these waves.

By Adam Moss, Brazen News Editor

Manchester PR & media – first ever How-Do Annual General Meeting of North West Creative & Media Industries

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

If you’re in Manchester PR or media listen up, it is the first ever How-Do Annual General Meeting of North West Creative & Media Industries on Thursday, staged at the City of Manchester Stadium.

And what a way to start.

Among the guest speakers will be the new uber-boss over at the beleaguered Manchester Evening News.

Sara Wilde-McKeown, Regional Managing Director of Trinity Mirror North West and Wales, could be in for an interesting time after Trinity’s recent takeover at Scott Place.

It could certainly make for a busier than expected question and answer session towards the end of the event.

And while these kind of events have habitually turned into elongated boozing and back-slapping sessions there are clear signs that there will be some real agenda to this one.

If you’re attending – especially one of those chosen few hand-picked to address the baying media mob – I expect, nay, demand some serious revelations and news scoops from you of elevated position.

Don’t expect to get anything approximating a back-slap unless you can tick ‘yes’ to the following three criteria.

i) I am a hugely important North-west creative influencer with unrivalled insight in my chosen field.
ii) I intend to be hugely revelatory and provide at least three news scoops/pints of bitter.
iii) If I can’t do any of the above I promise, without compromise, to start the most talked-about fist-fight in the history of Manchester media get-togethers to provide headlines for any under par/lazy journalists and the gathered Manchester PR glitterati.

Alternatively, I’ll see you all in the bar. Mine’s a Boddies.

By Adam Moss, Brazen News Editor

#BRAZENQT FLASHBACK – TONY MURRAY TWINTERVIEW

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

If you missed Brazen PR’s Twinterview with exiled Manc media commentator Tony Murray, read the entire transcript here. Conversation reads from bottom up…

@citizenofbrazen Cheers, thank you for your time. Hope you can make something useful from my ramblings!

@Tonymurray37 Thanks again Tony. Good luck in HK. Looking forward to your next How-Do Wrap. Enjoy what’s left of your evening. #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen Just so Nina can be How-Do honey of the year in 2010

@citizenofbrazen I’m off to Hong Kong to edit its answer to GQ, but plan to bring the Alternative Wrap back to How-Do too…..#brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 You can have a Tsing Tao on us next time you’re in Manchester. Where next for you then? #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen Plus I’ve just handed my notice in at the China Daily and I’m about to leave Beijing…#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen It’s my birthday and I’ve stayed sober until 11pm to talk to you, so that’s fairly remarkable….#brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 Well, thank you for your thoughts Tony – we can hear Nick Jaspan preparing a headline already. Any final thoughts? #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen To be fair they couldn’t stand me either. I needed a change – 40, divorced on my second or third mid-life crisis #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen I headed for BJ as I’d run out of UK employers. I’d decamped from Adline and couldn’t stand the Drum people/#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen Print is still enfranchising though, it just needs to be harnessed.

@citizenofbrazen Very few people in the UK have learnt breaking news from print sources since the end of the 50′s.#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen online, broadcast etc are not the future of news, they are the current reality.#brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 So what is the future? And If Mancunians are so smart why did you do one a toute vitesse to Beijing? #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen aspiration to feign sincerity and the target audience is too smart to buy it/#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen the most cynical and informed consumer strata. At the heart of corporate social media is an#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen your customers etc will fall down, because the very people buying into social media represent#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen Social media will face a similar problem. All this touch-feely corporate stuff, getting to know #brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 Online perhaps? They seem to making a good go of upping the ante on the web? Is online the future of news then? #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen MEN is a damaged brand, probably terminally. How would you persuade someone to resample now?#brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 ….and with that decline in mind, how would you suggest GMG’s bosses put their house in order? Or is it too late? #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen in on the joke. Maybe the regional press should go post-modern, send itself up a little#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen couldn’t 20 or 30 years ago. They like post-modern TV progs when they are #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen In some ways yes, the public can see through piss-poor products like the MEN now in a way they…#brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 Is that media-savvy public the reason why the decline of trad media has been so steep ? #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen media-savvy all the time.#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen The trick is to just say enough and let the reader join the dots. Respect your public, they’re getting more #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen Been sued is easy. You just have to be incompetent and not know how to cover your arse.#brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 Only been sued once? Not doing your job properly then! Isn’t provocation your middle name?. #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen the week in the Drum. Been sued once. Biggest libel blunder I made was at Uni…#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen He’s not, BTW, he’s lovely. Somebody came to beat me up in Scotland when I made his daughter idiot of #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen I once implied that Robert Harwood Mathews, then chief exec of TBWA Manc, was a cunt…#brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 Not a fan then? So, apart from that last comment, what’s the rudest thing you’ve ever said? Ever had a death threat? #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen A few tawdry columns, a bit of wire copy and some press releases. Great news for you guys.#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen They know when something is shit, and let’s face it the MEN for the last few years…#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen The problem is that regional press proprietors have underestimated how discerning the public can be.#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen It may emerge as a more campaigning, issue-focused beast#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen I believe these things are cyclical. A re-imagining of regional press is possible.#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen The regional press has foundered due to the short-term tactics of second class individuals with no vision#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen GMG’s freefall is hugely sad, but this is what happens when you put classified salesmen in charge of brands#brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 Don’t you wish, as a media commentator, you were back in Manchester, if only to witness the GMG freefall first hand ?#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen the city centre, dressed as though they had full day’s painting joists in front of them #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen Christ what a depressing place it has become. There’s a whole feral underclass occupying….#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen As to missing Manchester, well I did until I came back in December.#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen useful, I have got from Twitter.#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen Apart from learning that Oasis had been cancelled in Beijing, can’t think of anything similarly..#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen Having said that, over Xmas, I met 3 people I haven’t seen for 20 year, all through FB. #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen I’m a big Facebook fan. It’s the ideal thing for expats. Would I be as big a fan back home? I doubt it. #brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 Facebook has 300m subscribers – a true global phenomenon. Bit like Man Utd, I suppose. Missing Manchester at all? #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen As to over here, again baidu and qq are huge, but largely with students and trendy media folk. #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen And yes I am in that minority, but I am a journo who writes about PR etc. So hardly typical #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen It’s growing fast from a zero basis and has a huge drop out rate. Particularly Twitter.#brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 True, but it’s still the fastest growing media right now. And aren’t you one of that vocal minority? #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen There’s a few questions there. Has social media really exploded in the US, Europe etc..?#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen It’s obviously hip with the media and PR folk. Bit of a small explosion.#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen It’s still a very narrowcast form of media, limited to a comparatively small, but vocal group. #brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 With the restrictions in mind then, has social media exploded over there like it has in the UK, Europe and the USA? #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen Predicted Google leaving China would topple the CCP. Utter shite. #brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen There’s a lot of crap written about China. Dreadful piece in the Guardian today.#brazenqt

@citizenofbrazen It’s not really like that. China is very laid back, except when it comes to the Internet and visas. #brazenqt

@Tonymurray37 So Tony, how does a Mancunian exile deal with all that alleged censorship in China. No Google for goodness sake? #brazenqt

SHREWD POSH SPICE SHOWS JUST HOW TO WORK THE MEDIA

Monday, August 17th, 2009
Posh Spice signs up for Amercian Idol

Posh Spice signs up for Amercian Idol

When news arrived that Brazen’s favourite ‘Marmite’ celebrity Victoria Beckham was to guest on American Idol there were ripples of ‘what the f**K’ and ‘is she stupid?’ but I couldn’t help think there was a clever hidden agenda afoot.  Although VB initially only confirmed one appearance there was much speculation that she could permanently replace Paula (I’ve danced with a cartoon cat) Abdul following her announcement via Twitter that she was leaving the show.

I sadly have to admit to following the lucrative career of VB since meeting her very briefly when we looked after the Manchester United wives Christmas Party at then Sugar Lounge many moons ago.  Never before or since have I been so impressed by a calculated entrance, mingle exit strategy – not a foot out of place – devoid of emotion – absolutely focused!  Sadly however I’ve never had a client budget stretch to work with her.

My suspicion seems to have been confirmed with the latest announcement of her £3m deal. The ‘one off’ stunt merely a clever way to test public opinion? Add to that the leaked (AS IF!) news via radio interview that Simon Cowell turned down the opportunity to sign the Spice Girls saying they had no future – I smell a cleverly interesting ‘feudal’ back-story being created by programme bosses to inject some heat into the on-screen Beckham/ Cowell relationship!

Whatever happens, its win win for VB.  The fashion pages cant get enough of her new line that she just so happened to be wearing at the Colorado judging.  I suspect we’ll be seeing many more VB creations throughout American Idol – clever cross selling Victoria!  “Fear not ladies, you too can get your hands on her style” writes Dianne Bourne from the Manchester Evening News.  That VB dress is on sale at Manchester’s Selfridges Store, a mere snip at £1600.

For someone renowned for her glum pout I bet she’s peeing her Armani pants on the inside…  All the way to the bank!

By Peter Burling
Associate Group Director

WHEN BRAZEN MET ‘THE REAL QUEEN OF ENGLAND’

Friday, March 27th, 2009

When the Purple Pussycat club in Manchester asked Brazen Productions to come on board to help promote their Mirror Mirror club night the “Original Club Night For Hookers, Lookers, Trannies & Truckers” with special guest Ms. Jodie Harsh, I jumped at the chance to work with the self-dubbed ‘Real Queen Of England’, (well who wouldn’t, right?)

For those not familiar with the name Ms. Jodie Harsh, not to be mistaken for Jodie Marsh, she’s the celebrity drag queen DJ who counts amongst her closet friends Agyness Dean, Kate Moss and Jade Jagger who has a fabulously successful club night in London called Circus.

So with excitement brewing about the ‘royal’ appearance set for 25 March 2009, we began to generate coverage to pull in the punters on the night, after all that’s what it’s all about isn’t it?! Here are a couple of links for you to see:

lgf.org.uk

gaydarnation.com

We set up a style shoot and interview in the Manchester Evening News and secured a mention in Urban Life as well as targeting key gay and drag audiences through the web.

Armed with a fabulous selection of clothes, borrowed from the ever-generous Rebecca at Selfridge’s in Manchester’s Exchange Square, I set off to the gorgeous new Velvet Hotel where the shoot was to take place. Knocking on the door to Jodie’s room (I can call her that now we’ve met) I steeled myself for some serious diva attitude… sorry to disappoint but she was actually a really nice, very professional and super glam.

For the shoot we chose two options; A stunning neon pink number from Elizabeth and James matched with the latest in legging fashion, Sass and Bide ‘rat’s tail’ leggings, Jodie’s own shoes and her own black Marc Jacobs ring. The second outfit brought a touch of sophisticated glamour with a stunning Marlene Birger sequined cardigan teamed again with the Sass and Bide leggings, the ring and shoes.

With the help of our photographer Rachel Joseph we got some great shots and the shoot went very smoothly.

The night itself was the busiest Mirror Mirror club night so far and Jodie performed a great set for a crowd of Trannies, Truckers and Lookers (I don’t think there were any hookers!).

Job done, client happy and Ms. Harsh? Well I’m sure you’ll be seeing and hearing plenty more from her in the future!

By Robbie Platt, Account Executive

MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS JOB CUTS – NINA WEBB COMMENTS

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

It was a very sad day for journalism yesterday when MEN Media announced 150 redundancies and the closure of all its local editorial offices. I know it’s been on the cards for some time, but it’s still a blow when the news finally breaks to the local journalists we know as colleagues and friends.
Read what I and others had to say about it on How-Do.

By Nina Webb, Owner

Nina’s Blog

Friday, March 6th, 2009

How else can I start the first blog on our snazzy new website, other than with, Welcome To Our World?

Brazen ‘World’. I can hear our detractors right now, choking over our assumed arrogance. Who do they think they are? Are they seriously aiming for world domination? And what’s that fist all about? Has Nina turned into Che Guevara?

No.

It’s actually very simple.

People have always said that Brazen’s in a world of its own, so we decided to open our doors and invite everyone into our world to see what we’re really all about. A bit like Willy Wonka. But prettier.

And, sorry to disappoint everyone, but we’re all very nice.

Although we do have a confession to make. We are totally obsessed with what we do and with our clients. We’ve never been interested in anything or anyone else. That’s really why we’re in a ‘world of our own’.

We live our lives trying to go the extra mile for our clients and be the very best that we can be. We’re uncompromising about it. Because that’s all anyone can do, especially in these difficult economic times.

So ‘welcome to our world’!

For those of you familiar with our old website, you’ll see that there’s lots more detail on this one, from our team to our manifesto to our work. We hope you enjoy looking through it, as much as we enjoyed doing it, and putting it on this site.

There are some new faces and new functions on there too. The best bit (apart from the video footage of our gorgeous team) is our news agenda service, which is free to anyone who subscribes.

Here’s the sell. (I wouldn’t be in PR if I didn’t spend a little time selling our craft now would I?)

The Brazen News Agenda Service is something we’ve been using for months here at Brazen House.  Our news editor Adam “Killer Line” Moss (who’s also a journalist at one of our favourite papers, the Manchester Evening News, plus freelances for the nationals) calls his media mates on a Sunday night to find out what’s going to be dominating the headlines the following week.

Then on a Monday at 9am we have a conference news-room style, and create new and spontaneous stories for our clients, which we then go away and make happen above and beyond what’s already in the plan.

Carpe Diem. It keeps us living and breathing and inspiring – ourselves, our clients and the media.

It’s what PR is all about.

The Beautiful Game. And I’m not talking football.

Does your PR consultancy constantly surprise and delight you?

By Nina Webb, Owner