Online PR, Public Relations, Social Media & Digital PR Agency | Harrogate » Music

KLM’s social media strategy video long but pretty good

Chris Norton — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:42:27 +0000

Here is an interesting video that has been created for/by the airline KLM on its social media strategy which I got from one of my local friends David Turner – so hat tip to him.

I have to admit when I opened it and saw it was nine and a half minutes long, I thought there is no way am I watching this, but I actually stuck it out for once and it was fairly impressive.

I have worked for a couple of airlines before and I like to follow what they get up to in the social world as you never know when you will be asked to take part in some blogger outreach programme or some kind of competition. The airlines always tend to have good budgets and seem to have embraced social – mostly because of the whole Jet Blue debacle.

This video seems to be a series of three videos stuck together on three separate elements of the airline’s social media strategy. The first video gives each KLM employee a letter from the alphabet and the real team walk around on screen holding the boards up to respond to tweets to the KLM twitter stream which is just a nice publicity stunt.

The second part/video is monitoring of KLM’s social feeds and the KLM staff reading people’s twitter and social media profiles and then buying the customers small rewards depending on their actual interests stated online. Now this feels a little bit staged to me and a bit for the camera rather than part of a dedicated rewards programme but I like the idea of rewarding your communities and this is what I advise my clients all the time – why should they follow and engage with you when there is another brand down the road that is giving their fans 50% off?

So I like the idea of directly rewarding people with what they are actually writing about and doing. With that in mind I have always loved KLM and think New York is lovely this time of year – ha ha. However, this responding and rewarding people has, according to the video, managed to reach more than 1,000,000 impressions just on Twitter which isn’t too bad. I like to use monitoring tools to help people that aren’t engaging with us already too and that is probably the next step of KLM’s programme looking for people before they purchase and finding a nice way for the brand to interact with them.

However, my favourite part of this video, is the last of the three videos, in which two dance DJ’s tweet KLM and ask them about flying to the Miami music conference which is a big event in the dance music world. The airline apparently doesn’t travel direct and the KLM team decided to challenge the DJs to get enough dance music fans to sign up to the flight and then they would make it a non-stop journey to Miami.

I really like this because this is getting people to campaign for you rather you campaigning for yourself and we all know that a self fulfilling community is what we are all looking for. The strategy adopted here is not only good customer service but is also a great PR exercise. If I were KLM i would have exposed this one to the maximum and that is what they did. There is a photo-shoot of the DJ’s beat matching on the flight whilst it is in the air and lots of scenes of keen fans getting and dancing on the plane – brilliant. They found out that it was the first time an airline had changed its scheduling following a request from a customer through twitter – again another brilliant news hook. But the PR team went further and went for the (oldest PR trick in the book) Guinness Book of Records for the highest ever dance party – this was a really nice move.

The only downside to this video really is some of it felt a bit too staged and why couldn’t it have been three separate videos and/or all the three but much shorter than almost 10mins.

What do you think? Impressive or too staged?

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In Berlin @ IFA2011– testing the latest DJ equipment

Chris Norton — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 06:00:39 +0000

So I have been out of the country for a few days in Berlin with one of my clients that manufactures headphones. We were attending IFA2011 which is the biggest consumer electronics show in the world, and as a massive tech/gadget geek I was in my element and felt like a kid at Christmas.

I am also a huge dance music fan and used to professionally DJ in clubs when I worked in London and I did manage to become a semi-finalist at the British DJ championships in 2002. Recently I have got back into it and have started playing in a couple of places in my home town of Harrogate. So I was particularly interested in heading over to the Pioneer stand where I had a long chat with the head of marketing and had a demo from a DJ who was there to show off some of the latest equipment. I tried out the new CDJ2000s which have been out a little while.

One of the things I have been truly blown away by is the sheer difference digital music has made to the DJ space. The technology is now so good you can make all kinds of things happen behind the decks. The CDJ2000s allow a DJ to walk into a club with just a USB Stick and from that he can put it into one of the decks and click link and link all of the turntables together. The features you can now use totally surpass what you could do with vinyl which means a modern DJ can spend his time making the music sound personal and different.

I also tested out a brand new USB controller from Pioneer – this had the auto sync feature on it so you don’t even have to know how to beat match. In my opinion that is a bridge too far but I have been interested in USB technology and have been using the Traktor S4 which retails at around £760 which sounds a lot but the Pioneers costs £1,600 each which means you need almost £6,000 just to have a set-up. The difference between the two types of technology is that the Pioneers have managed to become the industry standard turntables like the Technics SL1210 turntable was for Vinyl. Technics have now discontinued that model which I think is pretty sad but it shows that the days of vinyl are sadly going.

The TraktorS4 is a truly amazing piece of kit too that allows you to manipulate its proprietary software with your MP3s and drive one of 4 different music channels. It has an amazing loop recorder and sample deck which acts as a fifth DJ channel and automatically catch the last beat so it is all in time. It’s really well put together and the extra flexibility and creativity you can have over your music is pretty much unparalleled. The intuitive nature of the Traktor software means you don’t really need to touch a laptop and you spend the majority of your time playing with the EQ levels and other features and on screen the software makes it all happen instantly. I love the S4 and would give it a strong eight out of ten. One piece of advice I would give is if you are buying it to play in clubs and pubs is buy the flight case that you can get for it although its not cheap at £150 it is worth it as it protects your kit much better and gives you a better DJing experience as it doubles up as a holder for your laptop. I have included a demo video of the S4 in this post check it out and let me know what you think of it.

However, personally, if I had the money I would buy the CDJ 2000s because they are an amazing piece of kit but they are more for the professional DJ than the bedroom DJ. In fact, even the guy at IFA2011 that was demonstrating them said he didn’t have a pair at home he just used them when he DJed in clubs. It made me think how can you can you practice samples and looping and the clever stuff for your sets but he seemed to really enjoy and could use them brilliantly.

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Imogen Heap launches an innovative crowd sourced album campaign

Chris Norton — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:12:57 +0000

I love it when somebody uses social media a little differently, rather than following the sheep and simply setting up the usual channels. I like it even more when someone goes out there and tries to do something a bit creative and different. Step forward musician Imogen Heap, who is well known for a being a big social media advocate. Imogen has created a dedicated microsite for her latest project, which cleverly has a #hashtag as its working title. Here is how she explains it:

#heapsong1 is the working title of the first song from my new album. The album will be completed in roughly 3 years, with a new song released every 3 months as soon as it’s completed.

My fourth solo album begins here, with you on the 14th March. You are the spark of inspiration.

Have a look at the ‘keyboard’ page, hover over the piano keys, click and discover how you can get involved with sounds, words, image and video.

Why am I doing this? Well, there’s so much going on in my life with touring, talks and tech that this was both a necessity coupled with my passion for collaborative, spontaneous and creative projects. I also love the idea of turning the tables in that the seeds of the song begins with you, making a full circle when you experience it as a finished piece.

Plus… I often thrive on a deadline (Speeding Cars + Can’t take it in both written / recorded in a week) and creative limitations (Glittering Cloud – a song about locusts using purely locust samples as the rhythm track!). I want to really put myself to the test and I’m going to have fun doing it, with you!

I wonder where your ‘seeds’ are going to lead me?

Imogen is also a huge advocate of video blogging and she regularly shares her latest ideas and works. She even provides a schedule of when she is going to be doing this through a Ustream channel here is the schedule page in case your interested.

On the microsite the user sees a virtual piano (pictured) here each key is a different day and has its own video explaining that day’s task. The Timeline for ‘#HeapSong1′ is as follows;

14th March: The ‘recording’ process will begin with Imogen’s fans uploading sound ‘seeds’ for the song (a cat’s meow, rustling leaves, banging on pots and pans) from all over the world via Soundcloud to her #heapsong1 microsite. Imogen will be online chatting about and choosing those sounds her instincts draw her to.
15th March: People can submit words to a ‘wordcloud’ where more popular words visually grow in size. Imogen will be watching and writing at home being inspired by these ‘buzz’ words with an aim to encapsulate that day in time, lyrically.
16th March: A space for people to upload their own photographs/ drawings/ stencils etc they feel connect to the past two inspirational ‘seed’ day’s themes in some way. The favourite/s will be incorporated into the 3DiCD (a virtual 3D CD) digital artwork.
17th March: Thursday is for moving image (animation/film etc). These will be the core of the video for the song. Again, urging people to choose clips they feel flow with the direction of the song.
18th March: Imogen will reveal the middle section of the song only… here she will encourage people to record a ‘solo’ (beatbox, cello, vocal, spoons, you name it) via Soundcloud over this section.
19th March: Imogen will discuss and choose one or some of these solos which will be added into the mix.
21st March: The song will be written and completed by the morning of the 21st March just in time to make the video which will be filmed, edited and ready for release 28th March.
26th March: Imogen, during this period will be inviting/challenging fans to draw inspiration from those same initial seeds and finish a piece of work of their own. On this day they can upload their work for all to see and hear on an ‘inspiration wall’, whether that might be poetry, music or a video
blog response.
28th March: Taking things to the extreme, Imogen will reveal the first listen of the song publicly on her website on 28th March in parallel with a live remix by Tim Exile who will also be hearing it for the first time. http://www.timexile.com

Her fans are encouraged to send anything from car horns through to rustling leaves. All of the content which is sent in and used is to be accredited and paid for appropriately which I think is pretty fair too. I think this is an interesting and exciting concept. It is giving the fans the power to actually influence their favourite musician’s album.

If I am going to be picky I think the channels could have been done a bit slicker and shared a bit better but I still think this is an interesting idea and something which could prove extremely fruitful for both Imogen and her fans. Social media is about engagement and you can’t get much more engaging than producing the music yourself.

I would like to give a bit of a hat tip to my good friend Gemma Wilson who tipped me off about this as she knows the type of stuff I like to blog about.

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Dead Dinosaur launches online word-of-mouth campaign searching for the next Christmas track

Chris Norton — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 10:54:12 +0000

It’s been a busy few months over in the Dinosaur caves, we have scooped a number of new social media accounts and we also have a few new team members who

will be revealing themselves to you shortly I expect.

I don’t normally cover that many case studies on the blog but I decided recently that I am going to try and do more of this. This is mainly because when I have been speaking at events, people really seem to prick up and listen more at the case study section. I think most people prefer to here about practical application rather than the theoretical side.

So here goes – one of the online word-of-mouth marketing campaigns that has got us really excited has been the launch of Audio Technica’s search for an alternative Christmas Track. Here’s some campaign blurb we have written to put you in the picture:

The popular music manufacturer is looking for fun and vibrant YouTube video entries from the underground music scene that put a positive new spin on the age old tradition of Christmas carols.

The nationwide competition, which is being judged by Grammy & Brit award-winning record producer and chairman of the Music Producers Guild Steve Levine, is being formally launched via Audio-Technica’s social media channels of Facebook and Twitter.

The online competition is not restricted to any particular type of music so bands, DJs or music producers from any genre have the opportunity of scooping either the top prize of £500 or five runners-up prizes of £100 worth of Audio-Technica equipment. As an extra incentive the first 100 entries will all receive a free pair of Audio-Technica ATH-CK51 headphones worth £30 each.

We launched this particular campaign last week and we have already had some brilliant entries and posts from influential bloggers in this area. To bring it to life I have enclosed one of the video entries for you to take a look at – it’s quite amusing although I do admit if feels weird writing about Christmas already.

This campaign has come about because we held a strategic social media workshop with Audio-Technica a while back now and from that workshop we drew up a clear strategy to help them become more fun and engaging online. I think this campaign is a great way of doing this, as it allows musicians to express themselves using their own user generated content.

The campaign I have highlight here is just one we are working with them on. We are also helping Audio-Technica with some blogger relations and have a number of new campaigns to tell you about later. To help bring blogger relations to life I thought I would share a quick post from one of the product reviews we have organised recently to give you a flavour.

The great thing about Audio-Technica is it produces really good quality products that are right down my street and if you have good products, then your customers or bloggers should say nice things about them and if they don’t then you can use that feedback to make the products better. Don’t be scared to ask bloggers, or any influencer for that matter, their opinion.

To stay in touch with the latest entries, just subscribe to Audio-Technica’s YouTube channel here.

So that’s enough about the campaign, if you can play a musical instrument, why don’t you have a go and get yourself a free pair of headphones? You never know it could even be fun!

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Social media consultancy for emerging DJ’s and Producers!

Chris Norton — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 09:49:51 +0000

My good friends over at Rising Digital, a social media and word of mouth marketing consultancy which specialises in the music industry, has created a new ‘Lite’ division to help talented artists break into the British market. I know all the guys over there and we have worked together on various projects from time to time.

Rising Digital has an impressive roster of clients including the Gorillaz, chart sensation Swedish House Mafia, DJ Mag Top 10 Sander van Doorn, BBC Radio 1′s ‘In new DJs we trust’ Alex Metric, Mercury award winner Ms Dynamite and many more.

The new division is going to be called ‘Rising Lite’ and will offer its services and advice, to help up and coming artists so they too can have a bespoke and strategic guide for their online presence. Artists will gain consultancy on which platforms will be most be suited to them, how to communicate with fans and industry peers, as well as how to capitalise on the use of new technologies. My old pal and former colleague Sebastian Mysko said:

"We work with young producers who are at the top of their game, and just need a ‘digital’ pick-me-up. They have time on their hands, a hungry desire to solidify a name in the industry and a huge passion for the music. These three attributes alone mean they work hard, and I mean really hard."

Rising Digital launched back in 2008 and has become a dominant force in online marketing in the music sector. The Rising Digital guys are real specialists in the dance music arena and if I had a client in that area I would refer them to Seb and the gang as they really do know their stuff and the sector inside out. I would personally like to wish them all good luck with this as I think its a great idea.

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Nastala Crazy – An interesting video with a slightly weird twist

Chris Norton — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:35:13 +0000

My friends down at Rising Digital have just published one of their artists latest videos which is worth a watch. Nastla’s crazy is much more mainstream than the usual dance music Seb and the guys distribute but the video is very interesting. It actually reminds me of a cross between Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Michael Jackson’s Leave me Alone – have a look and see what you think.

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YouTube bans music videos – better get a couple in quick then

Chris Norton — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:34:34 +0000

I am sure you have all heard the latest that YouTube is to remove all of the music video content due to an argument over royalties. A statement from PRS For Music (the body which YouTube is arguing with) stated:

"PRS for Music is outraged on behalf of consumers and songwriters that Google has chosen to close down access to music videos on YouTube in the UK. Google has told us they are taking this step because they wish to pay significantly less than at present to the writers of the music on which their service relies, despite the massive increase in YouTube viewing."

To be honest I don’t think this will last long as this is a ‘cut off your nose to spite your face’ issue.

Well before it removes them all, here are a couple of music videos we have cobbled together from one of our client events (Up For It) in Huddersfield in February. The idea for the event was to promote dancing as a good form of exercise.

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Technorati Tags: Chris Lake,Camel Club,YouTube Argument,PRS For Music

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My top 25 tracks for a Friday afternoon

Chris Norton — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:01:37 +0000

One of my favourite journalist bloggers Sally Whittle has tagged Jed, Louise and I. She has challenged us to share our top 25 tracks for a Friday afternoon. Now I have to say I found this really difficult as there is so much good music out there and I have quite an eclectic taste – so to get it all into 25 tracks is quite a challenge. Unfortunately, S-Club and the Fast Food Rockers didn’t make it in this time – sorry Sally.

I have added most of these to my a playlist on Spotify, so if you have Spotify on your computer you can download my list here. I had a lot more dance records in here originally but unfortunately my taste was a bit too niche for Spotify, so I have kept the dance a little more commercial.

Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
Dr Dre – Let me Ride
Backstreet – No Digiidy
Sweet Dreams – The Eurhythmics
Daft Punk – Around the world
Stevie Wonder – Very Superstitious
Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds
Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me
The source ft Candy Staton – You got the love
Kool and the Gang – Get down on it
Jurassic Five – Finish First
The Killers – Mr Brightside
Snow Patrol – Run
Pulse – The Lover that You Are
King of Leon – Use Somebody
Alcatraz – Give me Love
De’Lacy – Hideaway
Green Day – Jesus of Suburbia
Ben E King – Stand By Me
Oasis – She’s Electric
Bob Marley – Redemption Song
Shola Ama – You might need somebody
The Beatles – Eleanor Wrigby
Thomas Bangalter – Together
The Verve – The Drugs Don’t Work

In the interests of fun, I tag Simon Collister, Sebastian Mysko and Stephen Davies to take up the challenge. Good luck!

Technorati Tags: Top 25 Tracks,Spotify,Sally Whittle

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An interview with Chris Lake

Chris Norton — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:16:15 +0000

I am a bit tired today following a busy night at a client event in Huddersfield.

For the event we combined my two favourite things dance music and social media. I booked a producer and DJ that I have mentioned several times before on my blog Chris Lake.

We decided to do an interview live on the internet before the gig from his hotel room using Kyte. For me the interview was interesting just to hear Chris’ perception on how dance music is changing and what affect social media is having on the industry.

To be honest the quality of the video here is pretty poor (lagging), so I think Chris and his team will probably use different technology to do any future Kyte interviews but Chris certainly had some interesting things to say.

He also played some fantastic music later on during his set.

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be-at.tv – new online dance music community is launched

Chris Norton — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:41:56 +0000

A new online dance music community has been launched which uses a lot of web 2.0 functions to give its users a much more real clubbing experience.

be-at.tv opens with several different DJ windows to choose from and these are likely to increase over the coming months. A user can select their favourite DJ and then click on a particular set they want to view.

Once the user has chosen their set it then opens up four new windows and plays the DJ’s set in full.

I have watched a DJ who I like called Dirty South and his set is brilliant.

In the top left square you can watch the DJ in the booth doing his thing, the other three windows follow cameras which have been sent around the club. All of this is shown at the same time when the music was played – so you get the crowd reaction etc.

This site is still in its Beta format but I like it. Obviously as it’s a web 2.0 site you can share your favourite set on Facebook, Stumble etc and tag things to make them more shareable. It looks like it is going to try and generate income from advertising but at the moment it appears to be fresh from any ads. There are lots more functions I could bore you with but I won’t – basically, if you are into dance music and social media this site will be for you.

Technorati Tags: be-at.tv,dance music community,dance social network.

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