How much do Vodafone pay their PR company?
Jim Carroll
Mulley got sent this press release today. It’s to plug yet another battle of the bands competiton done up with fancy bows and ribbons and trying to pretend to be something else entirely. God help those gormless young bands who enter these competitions. Brands and sponsors, though, are mad for them hence why they’re happening on an almost weekly basis. Just a pity Vodafone didn’t spend some of the six-figure sum they’ve probably allocated to this project on a spell-checker.
“riotous comedian PJ Gallagher”
These Vodafone guys are fruitcakes.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the next Brand Marketing Extension Bluesky Outside The Box meeting when this is discussed
“…one of Ireland’s most celebrated bands, Director…”
what the fuck?!?
seriously though, some of that stuff was basic seven year old shit
It looks like somebody could have simply copy and pasted text from the wrong Word file into an email.
I’ve forgot to attach Word docs etc to emails, but how this was sent unnoticed is wonder.
Hangover? The flu? Stress? Overworked?
Proof again that anything other than a simple text press release (no all-singing all-dancing attachments or PDFs) is the only way to go. Plus it makes the event sound even more shoddy than it already is.
Simple mistake. Someone released the wrong document. It could happen to a Bishop
Ah Ivor, you’re giving away your PR background there. Vodafone hired a PR company and gave them a job to do. PR company made a hash of this job. Yes it could happen to a bishop, but the bishop is not getting paid a fat-ass retainer of 20k a month to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen.
Jim,
The farmer and the cowman should be friends. I know PR bashing is the favourite sport of many scribes and most of the time with good reason.
Many PR people are so obsessed with image and other rubbish that they forget the fundamentals like getting the bloody message across effectively. I try to make sure that anything that emanates from my office on behalf of a client is factually correct, proofed and I try to avoid hyperbole. That way the stuff has more of a chance of making the printed page with the minimum amount of interference. Subs have a brilliant knack of knocking out important details such as where, when and why.
That said, with the best will in the world, typos and mistakes happen (look at the title of Conor’s blog down the page: “Till your blue in the face”).
Typos aside – will anyone want to enter this battle of the bands?
Wouldn’t touch it!
Just been to the website for this! Good God – press release is as bad as the site is! http://www.brightnewsounds.ie
Where did they get the judges from????
Love the crafty link to the Vodafone website under “downloads”. This will have iTunes quaking in their boots boys. Well done!
There are broader questions here, why have a corporate gig to do straight forward A & R?
Have budgets been hit so had at labels that salaries are suplemented by sponsorship?
Relating to the press release, oh well these things happen.
From a PR company’s point of view, it is as embarassing as the Irish Times publishing retractions.
Interesting the way those who work are gamekeepers see this as “oh, well these things happen” while the poachers are guffawing loudly at how Vodafone’s highly paid PR experts have made a hames of this relatively simple job.
Ace music scribbler Jim Carroll is blogging about it; 14 comments on it. I’d say job bloody done.
Though I will concede it could have been handled with a tad more finesse.
“Job bloody done”. What, people tearing the press release, the PR and the brand apart? At least, it’s keeping people away from Bright New Sounds which looks like a crock of nonsense to me. Maybe I should write about that…… Mmm, now there’s an idea
“as long as they spell your name right…”
PR as an industry gets away with not being able to find F7 on a keyboard.
Some blame parents. Some blame the failure to teach grammar at primary school level.
I blame the staff of the more widely read newspapers.
Sub-editors will correct the spelling mistakes and cut down the word count so the press release fits nicely between the Man Bites Dog and very contrived and public Britney’s melt down. In less organs of the press, naturally.
If the folk what make said newspapers spent less time nannying PR and more time pedantically refusing to re-write poorly composed press releases, well we’d be talkin’ ’bout a revolution. Aw yeah.
Vodafone won’t care as someone somewhere will be tasked with tidying it before it hits the wider public and Ms. PR will laugh all the way to the boozy launch.
Absolutely Jim – crock of nonsense just about covers it. Love the “record deal” they’re offering with Universal. Sounds like Universal will release one single for the winners. Hardly a million euro record contract.
What is NoCarbon anyway? Has anyone any idea? Surprised IMRO put their name to this.
Basically this looks like an effort to sell songs and package it up as a battle of the bands.
markg – I refer you to comment no 14 again
markg, F7 on my keyboard makes my iTunes rewind.
I don’t disagree Jim.
But don’t deny the fact many newspapers act as proof-readers for PR.
Of course – just as some PRs shouldn’t be left out of the house alone. But we’re talking specifics here, mark, not in general (you’re a great man for changing the subject). That Vodafone press release was a clanger by the brand’s PR – fact.
And I dont even have a F7 key on the my keyboard. Must be a PR thing
Can’t find anything on NoCarbon. Is this prize any use?
You use iTunes to write press releases?
NoCarbon – http://www.nocarbonrecords.com/
markg – weak retort, dude
The iTunes retort was to Ivor.
To clear matters up, the F7 key runs spell check in MS Word.
I do not work in PR, but with a glowing reference like this you’re a great man for changing the subject perhaps I should consider it. Although we prefer to call it widening the scope for debate.
I’ve always felt there was a gap in the Irish market for a local Max Clifford.
Cheers Jim. Not much going on there at their website.
So are bands going to enter?
markg, from reading your comments this blog, i thought you DO work in PR…?
“on” this blog, profuse apologies.
an aside, but i do love how under the “Current Offers” section of Vodafone’s site, the pay monthly link is a stylish happy young lady out shopping.
the pre-pay link is a dodgy glum looking lad on a skateboard.
at least their marketing dept. is doing a good job…
Nope Maeve, I thought it was clear I’ve a fairly negative view of PR.
Ahem…
The word ‘hence’ means, essentially, ‘because of this.’ In the paragraph at the top of this page the form ‘hence why’ is used. That’s the equivalent of saying ‘because of this why.’ It is partially tautologous and entirely bad grammar. You’d think, if you were to have a go at someone else’s writing, you’d carefully check your own.