Manchester United’s Ferdinand embraces social media

Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand is turning away from traditional media outlets and using the Internet to build his brand.

The 32 year old defender is one of many who is using the internet to communicate with their fans. Other footballers include Cesc Fabregas and Nicolas Anleka.

Ferdinand has been using social networking sites including Twitter to create a relationship with supporters. Ferdinand is the most followed Premier League player on the Twitter social media site, with 540,000 followers.

Social media sites have helped footballers such as Ferdinand create a better image for themselves and change the supporter’s perceptions of them which traditional media such as newspapers have created.

Ferdinand stated that “People in the past may have thought I was a certain type of character from what they read about me or what they heard, I get better responses now from the public than I did before. They see me for what I am rather than what I’m not. They don’t have to like me but it’s important they see the real me.”

Athletes have stopped relying heavily on newspapers, television and radio interviews but now use facebook or Twitter to comment and tweet so they can stay interactive with each supporter. Utilizing their own sites allows them to control the message while still appearing spontaneous.

However, even though using social media sites are effective and easy for athletes the F.A. has given them a warning and explained the rules and regulation about these sites and told them they will face sanctions if they overstep the mark.

 “Any comments which are deemed improper, bring the game into disrepute, or are threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting may lead to disciplinary action,” the F.A. said in its message to players and officials.

The F.A. in its statement to players warned them that though they may be talking to a small audience of followers, their messages risked being amplified. Several players have tried to delete postings only to see them published online or in newspapers later on.

These sites can be very influential and athletes need to be careful what they write so they are sensitive to other people, ethical and truthful and if used the right way can be beneficial to their career.

Jaffa Cake...A biscuit or a cake ?

The manufacturer McVities classed its Jaffa Cakes as cakes, but in 1991 this was challenged by UK Customs and Excise because “cakes” were exempt from the UK 20% VAT rate that came into force on 4^th January 2011.

McVities argued that Jaffa Cakes were miniature cakes showing that biscuits would normally be expected to go soft when stale, whereas cakes would be expected to go hard, something than an out of date Jaffa is inclined to do. The court ruled that the Jaffa Cake is a cake and therefore VAT free.

 Due to social media this story attracted a lot of attention which led to groups called “The biscuit, sorry cake” being made on facebook and number of people tweeting about Jaffa Cakes.

Any sort of attention can be publicity and increase the sales of the product and it was the same in this case. McVities did increase the number of Jaffa cake sales but did not use the help of online social media to create a more positive name for them and establish themselves in the market.
The PR industry knows how to make the most of a news story and “spin” it so the manufacturer does not looks negative however in this instance the use of social media was not considered.
McVities could have published details of their 1991 legal arguments onto facebook, engaged in debates using Twitter and simply issued a press release onto their website.
This shows that being active on social networking sites can be beneficial for the manufacturer, company or organisation. Using Facebook or Twitter can help you interact with your customers and explain the situation clearly and also gain there feedback which will be positive in the long run.

Putting one foot in the PR world

If you have been following my blog posts then you will know for the past four week I have been on a work placement but now it has come to an end. It’s unbelievable how fast time goes by when you’re having fun.

My first placement was working for a charity organisation in Coventry. As part of this placement I helped organise a charity event for a Punjabi festival called Vaisakhi. As I am Punjabi myself I found this project very interesting and was able to help with a lot of the preparation. I was able to put theory I learnt in lecture into practice. I learnt how to create a PR plan and timelines in my strategy and practice lectures and I adapted these and used them to help me create an organisation plan for the event.

At this placement I improved my communication skills, learnt how to organise an event properly and how to carry out research. Even though this placement lasted one week it was still beneficial for me. I really enjoyed myself and met some interesting people and I would go back to volunteer as I was happy to help people less fortunate them myself.

Going back three weeks it was a raining Wednesday and I was walking to my first day at my second placement at Nitoonz Communication, I was very scared as I did not know what to expect. I hadn’t worked in the public relations field before and I was afraid I wouldn’t know what to do however I walked in and was welcomed my friendly faces and I instantly forgot about my worries. I was introduced to all the employees and shown where to sit.

I had my own desk and computer which made feel quite important instead of a student there to do a work placement. I was given responsibilities and got stuck in straight away.

Once I completed the first day I was reassured and was looking forward to carry on with the work placement. Within the next three weeks I learnt how to create media releases, press releases, write information for websites, how to communicate with journalists and other companies.

I found this work placement more enjoyable than the first as it involved the UK Bhangra music industry and that is something I am very much interested in. The most exciting part of the placement was getting in touch with high profile music artist. I was quite shy and star struck but slowly I got used to it and then found it exciting.  

When I graduate I would like to work in the entertainment industry specifically the Bhangra or Asian entertainment industry so this placement was very beneficial and gave me an insight to what the future may hold. I would definitely recommend a work placement to any student considering a career in any subject especially PR as you receive a taster to what working in that field will be like and then can make the decision to carry on with that career path or not.

I am now determined to finish my degree and achieve a good mark so I can start my career in the PR world. I have already started looking for another placement which I can complete over the summer. I would like to experience another side of PR and hopefully it will be longer than one month so I can gain much more experience.