Blogger Spotlight: Mark Sanders, Adventures of Monty Dogge

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Monty is a large white-and-black Newfoundland dog which has inspired his owner Mark Sanders to start a blog and Facebook fan page written from the perspective of Monty Dogge. This year Monty and Mark even released their own children’s book based on his adventures, entitled I’m Not a Pandacow. Recently featured in our first Top 10 Pet Blog ranking, we spoke to Mark about the blog, how Monty Dogge literally stops traffic and some of the campaigns that they have worked on so far. 

 

How would you describe your blog? 
Life According to Monty Dogge is a light-hearted look at life through the eyes of a huge Newfoundland dog. He shares his insight and wisdom on things such as ‘hoomans’ and how odd they can be, and other dog breeds, particularly ‘Cockeyed Spangles’ who he has to share a home with. He also enjoys interviewing famous people and asking them the questions others may fear to raise. He is a keen poet (he is in fact the self-styled poet, Newfiette) and regularly shares his prose with his admiring public. 

 

Why did you start your blog? 
The blog was started originally because Monty was such a difficult puppy that it was felt he needed another way to express himself rather than trying to eat the postman or chew through walls. That is all behind him now and he is a pillar of the community, as a mascot for the charity Shoulder to Soldier – having helped raise over £30,000 for the Poppy appeal over recent years, as well as his other charity work and his visits to schools and nursing homes. 

 

What’s it like having a famous pet? 
I am known as Monty’s dad and I regularly have to stop so that people can say hello. Most of our post is addressed to Monty Dogge and photographers constantly want to move me out of the picture… Despite this I’m not bitter… honestly! 

 

How does your Monty cope with the pressure? 
Monty takes everything in his massive stride. He blogs live from Crufts every year and meets literally hundreds of people, but nothing fazes him. He can sleep through a school assembly and recently, at Edinburgh fringe, all of the performers sat down as everyone was crowding around Monty. He just turns to face the cameras and when he’s had enough, he has a nap. 

 

What’s your favourite pet product? 
His favourite pet product has to be Angell Petco fish treats. Monty won’t do so much as shake a paw but if you have one of these in your hand, well… he’s like puppy in your hands. 

 

What’s your favourite post? 
We have so many favourite posts, but one I particularly remember is when Monty stopped the traffic in York City Centre, as one by one twenty Japanese tourists posed with Monty, while the other 19 took photos – from the middle of the main road in the city centre! 

 

How do you like to work with PRs? 
Monty loves working with anyone that makes him more famous. He likes everyone, especially if they have treats. 

 

What one thing should PRs know about you? 
PRs should know that Monty can be a bit of a diva sometimes and if things are taking too long he will sleep, anywhere and anytime. 

 

What’s a memorable campaign you’ve worked on?  
Our first children’s book, I’m not a Pandacow, has been very memorable as we had the opportunity to travel the country. However, according to Monty Dogge, Crufts is always special. 

 

What other blogs do you read?  
I like idreambooks and often dig into that when I have time. 

 

Mark and Monty Dogge feature on the market-leading Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, influencers and journalists.

Blogger Spotlight: Marc-Andre Runcie-Unger, Katzenworld

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Katzenworld is a Top 10 Pet Blog which is written by a group of international friends who all share a love of cats. As well as being a source of adorable cat pictures, humorous stories and mishaps, the blog is home to interesting content including research, news from around the world and product reviews (reviewed by the cats themselves) for your feline friends. We spoke to one of the blogs writers Marc-Andre about what it’s like to run a pet blog, why they decided to start it and the campaigns that they’ve worked on. 

 

How would you describe your blog?
Katzenworld is all about being a fun and informative place that promotes all things cats. Our goal is to unite the cat-loving audience of the world to come together and share their stories with each other, while promoting important cat welfare topics. 

Why did you start your blog?
It all started over a board game one evening at my place back in 2014. My partner Iain and I had just adopted two shelter cats (Oliver & Nubia) from the Celia Hammond Trust, and as Yuki was already looking after her own cats, the evening soon turned into a great discussion about cats. Back then there weren’t many community-focused online publications so a plan was developed to change all that! 

Many readers wonder where our name came from. Well, I’m German, and Katzen means Cats, so in English the blog means “Cats World” though many people think it means Cat Zen World! 

What’s it like having famous pets?
It’s fun! We are always amazed at how many people know the stories of Oliver & Nubia and we’ve even met some people at events that have named their own cats after ours.

 

How do your pets cope with the pressure?
Very well. Nubia thrives on her many photo shoot moments and knows exactly how to pose for the camera whenever we need her for an event post or a product review! 

What’s your favourite pet product?
Ah that is a difficult one as there are so many great products out there! I’d say we’d have to pick a few here.  

For pet food, our favourite product has to be Almo Nature, as their food addresses the carnivore needs of our pets – plus the brand has a great ethos on animal welfare (both pets and wildlife alike). 

For cat toys, it’s the 4cats catnip and Valerian Toys, as not only are they hand-finished in Germany and use a secret organic catnip mix that works on more cats than others, but they too have a great brand ethos and support local and international cat charity projects. 
Lastly, we think that the Kiki cat cave is one of the most unique cat caves we’ve ever trialled that not only fits perfectly into a stylish home, but also addresses the specific needs of cats at the same time. 

What’s your favourite post?
Our favourite post was the collaboration with International Cat Care on where to stroke a cat. This was a fun research study and taught us and our readers alike much about cats! The post was read by more than 100,000 people in a single month across our blog and news apps, so we think our audience may agree on our choice here.

Oliver-and-Nubia

How do you like to work with PRs?

For us it’s all about working as partners! We ideally like to work with PRs that understand what we are about and work for or on behalf of a brand that’s looking for a long-term brand partnership. Of course, we are open to short term campaigns as well, but we do thrive on the long-term work. 

What one thing should PRs know about you?
The blogger team and I run the blog as a hobby to bring the best in cat news and cat products to our audience. For us, the well-being of our feline companions and their wild cousins is the most important aspect of what we try to promote and achieve through our blog. 

What’s the most memorable campaign you’ve worked on?
I think the most memorable campaign has to have been our work with the Ebony Horse Trust and James Bowen to help raise awareness and funds for the charity. It was great to help them spread the word, find additional collaboration partners for them to increase their fund raising and of course to meet James and Bob “backstage”. 

What other blogs do you read?
My favourite blogs out of the list of blogs I follow are: Cat Wisdom 101, Cat Chat with Caren and Cody, I Have Cat, The Conscious Cat and LoveMeow. 

 

Marc-Andre Runcie-Unger and Katzenworld feature on the market-leading Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, influencers and journalists.

Storytelling with Vuelio Canvas – WEBINAR

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Looking for a creative way to tell a story? 

Whether you’re helping your team make sense of ongoing news, pitching a client, or reporting on a campaign or an event, curating content from a range of channels is a daily chore for most.

Visualising and presenting this data can be a daunting task, but we have just the tool to help you nail yours!

Join us on 24 October 2017 at 11am to learn how you can bring your presentations to life with Vuelio Canvas. Impress your boss, co-workers and clients by transforming your data and content into engaging stories. We will show you how you can bring together individual elements from millions of media sources, be it news stories, social media activity, charts, PDFs, video or audio files into beautiful presentations made in seconds.

Stop wasting time on old fashioned spreadsheets and emails and transform the way you present your PR. Save your spot for our next webinar now! Even if you can’t make the live broadcast, we’ll send you a recording after it airs.

Webinar: Storytelling with Vuelio Canvas
Date: Tuesday 24 October 2017 
Time: 11:00 am BST
 

 

 

Willrow Hood

Is your management social media savvy?

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IMPRESS, the press regulator backed by royal charter, has taken the unusual move of banning its chief executive and three board members from dealing with major newspapers after their behaviour on Twitter. What does this teach us about management on social media?

Jonathan Heawood, chief executive of IMPRESS, was found to have tweeted or rewteeted over 50 attacks on the Daily Mail in a one-month period, as well as sharing messages that attacked the Sun including a retweet of: ‘#dontbuythesun or any other ‘newspaper’. Support Leveson, support regulators like Impress. Remove this endemic corruption.’

Two of the board members were similarly critical about the Sun and the Daily Mail on Twitter, while a third was believed to have had too much of a relationship with the Hacked Off campaign.

The behaviour of these individuals is hugely embarrassing for IMPRESS, which had to follow the Sun’s investigation with its own report before banning the four from dealing with large newspapers. Though IMPRESS has no large newspaper members, the damage has already been done.

For some business leaders, Twitter seems to come easily. Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Arianna Huffington are names that people associate with inspirational leaders who somehow always seem to get it right on social media. Part of their appeal is having a captive audience ready to hang on their every word and not every MD or CEO is in that position.

So what if you’re not a business god?

As PR professionals, we’re often responsible for managing external communications no matter how personal they are. Sometimes that means tweeting on behalf of a CEO, or maybe looking on in horror as they go off-piste (Trump anyone?).

Thankfully, we can still learn a thing or two from the Musks and Dorseys of this world – and here’s our top tips for management to get it right on social media:

  1. Be yourself
    Too often a CEO’s tweets seem sterile or staged. Our business leaders haven’t got to where they are by being boring or toeing the line – injecting some of their personality into their Twitter feeds is vital for it to be successful. But that doesn’t mean they have to do it all themselves – presenting your CEO’s voice can, and should, be a group effort.
  2. Be positive
    Reading negative or complaining messages inspires no one. The occasional rant, done right, can be funny but more often than not the best business leaders on Twitter stick to the positive aspects of life, business and experience – always trying to find the lesson to be learned.
  3. Be careful
    Don’t fall into the IMPRESS trap! A CEO is never off the clock; they always represent the business they’re running and what they say can and will be used against them if needs be. Now for some people (hey it’s Trump again!) that doesn’t matter, but most will regret not thinking professionally when they’re tweeting, retweeting or liking.
  4. Be consistent
    This isn’t something you can half-commit to; you’re either tweeting or not tweeting. Building an audience takes time and effort and if you don’t have either, don’t start because infrequent and inconsistent messages help no one.
  5. Be valuable

No matter how big your business, the leader is likely to be successful to have got to where they are. Sharing insights and thoughts can often seem like something best left to the celebrity business leaders but success breeds success and you’ll be surprised how many people you can inspire.

How do you manage your CEO’s Twitter feed? Let us know, post a comment below:

Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed – 29 September 2017

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Taking a brief hiatus from our podcast (and reverting to old-fashioned reading), we present five things you shouldn’t have missed from the worlds of media, marketing and communications.

1. Labour Party Conference

Labour Party Conference 2017

The Opposition party’s conference produced a plethora of headlines, from Emily Thornberry’s attack on Boris Johnson to John McDonnell’s pledge to bring PFI contracts in-house. Reports from the official four-day event also included the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg being given a bodyguard after receiving online abuse; the party tackling antisemitism in the party with new, stricter rules; the party’s position on the Single Market being debated by all sides; and Jeremy Corbyn’s closing speech calling Labour the ‘government-in-waiting’.

If you missed anything from Conference, you can see all of the biggest stories on this Vuelio Canvas. And, if you want daily updates from the Conservative Party Conference directly to your inbox – sign up here.

2 . Uber’s London licence

uber

Transport for London announced it would not renew Uber’s private hire operator licence after 30 September. They claimed the operator wasn’t safe or up to the required standard for the licence. The firm immediately vowed to fight the decision on appeal, which buys them time past the 30 September deadline. The ban has caused outrage among Uber’s 3.5 million London users and 40,000 drivers, many signing Uber’s petition against the decision.

Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi published a letter in the Evening Standard apologising for the mistakes they’ve made, Sadiq Khan claimed people should direct their anger at Uber rather than TfL, and reports emerged that two of the four reasons TfL gave for revoking the licence are actually its own responsibilities. With Prime minister Theresa May also now part of the story, calling the ban ‘disproportionate’, expect this one to keep going.

3. Twitter Trials Longer Tweets

Twitter bird

A small group of Twitter users are now testing double-length tweets. If the test is considered a success by the social network, then 280-character messages will be rolled out across the platform. Jack Dorsey announced the decision in a what was considered by some to be a verbose tweet.

Twitter, in true Twitter style, panicked at the idea of change and then made it all a big joke:

4. Hugh Hefner dies

Hugh Hefner

The founder of what became the media empire Playboy, died this week aged 91. At its height, Playboy Magazine sold seven million copies a month but in later years its content model has struggled to keep up with the internet. Opinions are divided on the man, with some calling him a legend who sexually liberated America and supported LGBT and civil rights, while others saw him as a misogynistic user of women.

You can make your own minds up.

5. IMPRESS bans board members

British newspapers

The royal charter-backed press regulator IMPRESS has banned its chief executive and three board members from dealings with major newspapers. After the press ran their own investigations, IMPRESS published a report largely agreeing that Jonathan Heawood, Emma Jones, Maire Messenger Davies and Martin Hickman, had all taken positions that could create perceptions of bias against the press – from positive views of campaign group Hacked Off to retweeting negative messages about certain papers and publishers.

IMPRESS has no members that are considered major newspapers so the ban is, at the moment, somewhat moot. Though if the Government enacts Section 40, which will require all papers to join a royal charter-backed regulator or face heavy penalties, then this story could become huge.

Something we’ve missed? Let us know on Twitter on in the comments below. 

British newspapers

Press regulator IMPRESS bans board members

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IMPRESS, the Royal Charter-backed press regulator, has banned its chief exectuive and three of its own board members from dealing with major news publishers, due to perceptions of bias against them.

As reported in the Press Gazette, chief executive Jonathan Heawood and board members Emma Jones and Maire Messenger Davies, were found to have published negative content about sections of the British Press.

Another board member, Martin Hickman, didn’t break any rules but his past activities investigating phone-hacking and his positive attitude towards campaign group Hacked Off could create a perception of bias.

This follows an investigation by News Media Association, which the Sun published in January 2017, that found the now banned members had tweeted, retweeted and liked on Twitter a number of negative messages – largely attacking Murdoch, the Sun and the Mail.

IMPRESS was set up following the Leveson Inquiry and is the only regulator recognised by the Press Recognition Panel as it fully complies with the terms of the Inquiry. To tackle its internal bias issues, the regulator has now set up a sub-committee to deal with publishers with turnovers over £20m, which Heawood, Jones, Davies and Hickman are banned from.

IMPRESS has no members who fall into this new turnover bracket as the largest publishers decided to be regulated by IPSO, the publishing industry’s solution to Leveson but one not recognised by the Press Recognition Panel nor backed by Royal Charter.

Membership of IMPRESS is largely made up of local newspapers and publications. While IMPRESS’s position is currently minor, should the Government enact Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act, all titles not signed up to a Royal Charter-backed regulator will be liable to pay costs in libel and privacy cases for both sides, win or lose. The Government has yet to take a firm position on Section 40.

This bias ruling is damaging for IMPRESS, which advocates a high standard among its members but has failed to maintain fair balance from those at the top. Its own report into the matter claims: ‘The responsibility for ensuring that membership of IMPRESS’ regulatory scheme is open to all relevant publishers and that members are treated fairly falls squarely on IMPRESS’ Board.’

The banning, but not removal of, these Board members will give the major publishers strong defense in the face of Section 40 and is another blow to the legacy of the Leveson Inquiry.

Mad about the house

Blogger Spotlight: Kate Watson-Smyth, Mad About The House

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Kate Watson-Smyth writes Mad About The House, which was recently first in the Top 10 Interior Design Blogs. Winner of both Best Interior Design Blog and Best UK Blog at the Vuelio Blog Awards 2016, Kate helps to inject personality and life into your home with her expert advice. We spoke to Kate about finding inspiration in the loo, nosing about in other people’s houses and working with brands.

How would you describe your blog?
It’s an interiors blog dedicated to helping people find their style and learn not just about new things to buy but also how to decorate their homes. I want people to be brave with their interior design choices and feel confident in what they like and not paralysed by choice or the sums of money involved. But, also, to have fun with their interiors. It’s like dressing yourself but on a bigger scale.

Why did you start your blog?
I have been a journalist for 25 years, over 15 of them writing about interiors. As newspapers have struggled with falling revenues and circulation, I had to find a new way to write. Interiors has always been my passion.

What’s your favourite thing to blog about?
I love finding out about things and discovering new talents and objects. It’s hard to pick a single thing as I am as happy nosing about in other people’s houses as finding a new cushion cover or wallpaper.

How do you manage your photography?
I write a lot about beautiful things to buy and companies are now investing increasingly in great photography so there is a wealth of sources right there which you can credit and link to the store. Using images from Pinterest is tricky if you can’t find the photographer so I try always to feature designers who I can contact.

What’s your favourite interior?
That probably changes every day of the week, but I do love a Devol kitchen.

What or who are your biggest inspirations?
I love looking around hotels for examples of clever design – they often have to fit a lot into a small space so it can be really helpful to see how they have done it. Restaurant loos are another great place to look – often great and bold use of colour and wallpaper in there. Instagram of course as there can be such a great mix of professional and personal.

What makes your blog successful?
Surely that’s not for me to say? There’s a lot of content there now and I have tried to include a lot of useful information such as how to plan a kitchen, what you should know when you are buying a sofa as well as beautiful things to buy for your home. I try to keep it chatty and varied but also full of proper information.

How do you like to work with PRs?
I like them to get my name right – the emails addressed to Mad tend not to get opened! There are so many blogs now that I really appreciate when a PR has taken the time to read the blog and work out if I really am the right person for their idea. These days I think it’s much more about focused collaboration and I tend not to work on huge campaigns that everyone is doing if at all possible.

What one thing should PRs know about you?
Don’t ring me up. Email is better.

What other blogs do you read?
As a judge for the Vuelio awards this year I have been reading a lot of blogs. I do read around my sector – in particular French for Pineapple and the Rockett St George blog but I also love fashion and lifestyle blog the-edited.com and the fashion blog doesmybumlook40.blogspot.co.uk. Gold is a Neutral is a newcomer that’s good too.

Kate Watson-Smyth is joined by thousands of bloggers, influencers, journalists, editors and media outlets in the Vuelio Influencer Database. Learn more.

Slummy Single Mummy

From Bedrooms to Boardrooms

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This morning, Vuelio hosted a webinar to discuss the results of the UK Bloggers Survey 2017. We were joined by top parenting blogger and trailblazer Jo Middleton, who writes the award-winning blog Slummy Single Mummy.

Jo started her blog in 2009, as a means to promote her freelance writing and journalism. It was about a year later (after she was sent a questionable freebie hand cream) that Jo considered the commercial aspects of blogging and started to believe it could become her main source of income.

Professional bloggers are on the rise; the survey revealed that 12% of bloggers now rely on it as their main source of income, that’s up from 8% in 2016. Jo has seen an increase in those that set out to become professional – where her rise was gradual, they’re focused on making money from the outset.

Jo believes this has upped everyone’s game, as in a professional industry only excellence will stand out.

Part of that professionalism comes from collaborations and brand partnerships, though the foundation of these relationships is not always straightforward. The survey revealed that 37% of bloggers get sent more than six pitches a week, while Jo receives in excess of 100. Though most of these are not successful, the number (and therefore success rate) does change throughout the year, with Jo more likely to take time over a pitch in a quieter month, like August.

And when it comes to successful pitches? Jo relies on both her own opinion of a brand as well as the opinions of her readers. Jo pointed out that lots of brands who work with influencers are attempting to re-establish people’s perceptions and so providing a creative way to impress bloggers is a great place to start.

She explained how Iceland approached her for a collaboration and while she wouldn’t normally have shopped at Iceland – considering it a place of kebab pizzas – her opinion has changed dramatically with each Iceland interaction and she can comfortably share her revised opinion of the supermarket to her readers. She also highlighted Iceland as a good brand to work with due to their desire for statistics and continued collaboration after posts have been published. Some brands request a post and then move on, making Jo feel like a tick box exercise.

When it comes to collaborating, disclosure is hugely important – especially as a whopping 13% of bloggers still flout advertising laws in their belief that not all collaborations need disclosure. To Jo this is ridiculous, she always makes her collaborations clear on posts and doesn’t think there’s any downside. Her readers know she’s a professional blogger and labelling something as paid-for doesn’t change her opinion.

She also commented on the rise in PRs requiring disclosure. In the last year she’s worked with more brands pushing disclosure from the very beginning of the relationship. There’s hopes this will trickle down into the blogosphere and change the statistics for 2018.

Did you miss this morning’s webinar? You can get a recording sent to you online, click here for more information. And if you’d like to talk more about the Bloggers Survey, comment below or tweet us @Vuelio. You can also reach the amazing Jo on Twitter @mummyblogger.

BBC

Laura Kuenssberg given bodyguard at Labour conference

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Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC’s political editor, has been assigned security detail at the Labour Party conference after sustained online abuse.

The BBC’s first female political editor has endured online abuse consistently since she was thrust into the spotlight. Aggressive, threatening and abusive messages are commonplace for Kuenssberg and all high profile female journalists online.

Kuenssberg is typically accused of impartiality over political stories by both sides of the political spectrum, often if a story about a leader or party is ‘negative’. Online trolls seem to have confused a political journalist doing their job, and holding politicians to account, with ‘taking sides’.

The fact Kuenssberg has had to resort to protection in order to be safe at work has angered many in politics and the media, though the truth is that this is nothing new for female personalities in the public eye, who have always received abuse online.

In the Guardian, Diane Abbott – no stranger to online abuse herself – has condemned abusive party ‘supporters’. She said: ‘It is wrong. Laura is doing a job, I may not always like how she does the job every time, but it is her job and why – just because she is a woman journalist – does she get that level of abuse. It’s wrong.’

John McDonnell has also attacked the trolls, saying it was ‘unacceptable’ and that any abusive activists would be ‘disciplined’. Though as reported in the Telegraph, McDonnell has also been accused of making light of the abuse by saying ‘I’ve said to Laura today, if you identify people, they will be disciplined by this party… John McDonnell will sort them.’

James Kirkup, writing in the Spectator, has suggested the fact a journalist is not safe to do her job without security detail is a blow against democracy in this country. Comparing the situation to a less democratically-free nation, he writes: ‘Britain would – and does – chide ‘developing’ nations in Africa, Asia and South America for failing to safeguard the free media and ensure journalists’ ability to report the words and deeds of people in power’.

The list of those publicly outraged is bountiful, but so too is the group who claim Kuenssberg has made the story up or is doing it just for attention. The bodyguard can’t stop the online abuse and so once again attention turns to the social media networks that host it but are struggling to make any sort of impact against abuse while maintaining ‘free speech’.

Women in Journalism’ s recent report highlighted the fact that one of the major reasons female journalists were missing from front page bylines was because there were so few in senior political editor positions.

But this goes further, Laura Kuenssberg’s bodyguard is not just an indication that women are struggling in journalism but an indication that women are struggling in society.

Blogger Spotlight: Antonia Ludden, #tidylife

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Antonia Ludden is the Top 10 Interior Design Blogger behind #tidylife. Antonia was inspired to create her blog back in 2012 after following US bloggers and their DIY, home organising and décor blogs. We spoke to Antonia about transforming rooms, being inspired by bloggers and working with PRs.

How would you describe your blog?
#tidylife is the place to discover all the latest UK home interior design trends and ideas, lush homeware and lifestyle inspiration.

Why did you start your blog?
Five or six years ago, I began searching for home improvement inspiration online and was finding lots of blogs from the USA but not many equivalent UK blogs. So, I thought I would give it a try myself.

What’s your favourite thing to blog about?
I love to style products and there’s also something exciting about revealing a finished project; I love a good ‘before and after’ when a room has been transformed and think readers enjoy that sort of thing too.

How do you manage your photography?
I get reasonable pictures with my Nikon – set to auto mostly, but would like to develop my photography skills. I am considering working with a photographer in the future to produce some magazine-worthy shots.

What’s your favourite interior?
I like dark moody interiors as well as light, bright modern spaces.

What or who are your biggest inspirations?
Fellow bloggers and Instagrammers mainly.

What makes your blog successful?
Perhaps because it has been going a while, I’ve been blogging consistently since 2012.  I also like to share achievable interiors and design inspiration on a budget, plus I am adding more lifestyle content at the weekends for something different.

How do you like to work with PRs?
It makes things so much easier when a PR is clear about their expectations. Getting a brief sent through with deadlines, social media hashtags to use etc. is really helpful.

What one thing should PRs know about you?
I am flexible and open to creative ideas!

What other blogs do you read?
The first blog I discovered was IHeart Organizing and I still like to look in on it from time to time. I enjoy reading the blogs of people who have become friends through blogging and am starting to dip into more beauty and fashion blogs as well as the home interior ones.

Antonia Ludden is just one entry in the market-leading Vuelio influencer database, which has thousands of bloggers, influencers, journalists, editors and media outlets. Find out how to reach them all here.

Podcast slide

Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed – 22 September 2017

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The #VuelioVoice podcast covering the major trending stories from the worlds of media, marketing and PR this week.

Listen to Akeshia Clarke and Jake O’Neill discuss five things you shouldn’t have missed.

This week the stories include:

1. Women on front pages – a new report from Women in Journalism has revealed that just a meager 25% of front page stories contain female bylines. We explore why female journalists aren’t getting the coverage they deserve.

2. A tale of two bookies – Paddy Power has this week fallen foul of ASA’s advertising rules while Betfair has announced a new celebrity endorsement with Rio Ferdinand in its Defender to Contender project. We discuss the opposing marketing strategies.

3. Heidi Klum’s designer clothing – Heidi Klum has launched a new range of clothing with Lidl. We explore how the supermarket is appealing to a luxury-loving audience while maintaining its low prices.

4. Ryan Air in the news – Ryan Air’s pilots are all taking their holiday at the same time due to a planning ‘mess up’. The airline’s CEO has made some controversial comments but also defended the company’s relationship with its pilots.

5. Morrisons focuses on staff – another supermarket story as Morrisons has refocused its advertising on the staff it has in store and the fresh, on-site goods they’re creating. We look at how the company, like Lidl, is repositioning itself after positive results.

Think we’ve missed something? Get in touch on Twitter @Vuelio or use the hashtag #VuelioVoice.

 

beauty prods

Beauty Shortlist Awards now in seventh year

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The seventh annual Beauty Shortlist Awards will take place in London on Friday, 2 March 2018. Run by the Beauty Shortlist team, including top blogger and editor Fiona Klonarides, the Beauty Shortlist Awards are widely respected in the beauty industry for their independent accolades.

The awards are also open to submissions from international beauty, health and men’s grooming brands, for the second year in a row.

The Judging panels this year are spread across three continents – taking in London, New York and Australia. The Panels include:

London

  • Red carpet, cruelty-free humane society ambassador Justine Jenkins, who has been the make-up artist for Fearne Cotton and Eleanor Tomlinson
  • Health coach and yoga and beauty expert Amber Macintosh (Dandelion Wellbeing)
  • Contributing beauty editor and freelance beauty/lifestyle writer Helen Wilson-Beevers (Marie Claire, Stylenest, Cosmopolitan)

New York

  • TV fashion stylist and on-air presenter Dawn Del Russo (Access Hollywood, E!, Cosmopolitan, Vogue Italy)
  • Her sister, makeup artist Denise Del Russo
  • Beauty + Content founder and beauty photographer Amy Schneider

Australia

  • Holly Spierings, creator of award-winning makeup brand Eye of Horus Cosmetics
  • Eco-luxe skincare blogger Arjun Sudhir

There will be 20 judges in total, who over six months will test every entered product thoroughly and evaluate it for efficacy, texture, scent, packaging, and numerous other factors. There are 179 open categories – find out more about the categories here.

The closing date for all entries is Friday 17 November.

The Beauty Shortlist is just of thousands of blogs that appear on the Vuelio Influencer Database. Want to know more? 

Carl Thompson blogger

Blogger Spotlight: Carl Thompson

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Carl Thompson is a Top 10 Men’s Lifestyle Blogger with his eponymous blog. Created to document his personal style and promote his menswear label Carl Thompson covers grooming tips, cocktails and travel. We caught up with Carl to talk about FSTGLFFC, modern man, the iPhone changing marketing and how he likes to work with brands.

How would you describe your blog?
The blog is really an evolution from my menswear label ‘Hawkins & Shepherd’ that I launched back in August 2013. I like to think the site is a reflection of my personal interests. I often describe it as an amalgamation of fashion, style, travel, grooming, lifestyle, fitness & food content. Which is a bit of a mouthful but unfortunately FSTGLFFC is a rather rubbish and convoluted acronym.

Why did you start your blog?
To begin with I was looking to drive more traffic to my menswear label, but it soon became apparent that the blog was developing into something separate and deserved its own platform. I wanted to talk about things other than fashion such as travel, cars etc. and Carl Thompson the blog became an extension of Carl Thompson the person. I’m really proud of the way the blog looks now.

What are the latest trends in men’s lifestyle we should be aware of?
I actually get this a lot, and it may sound funny but I’ve never been one to follow trends. I once heard David Gandy speak about the same thing in an interview, that trends are so fast and disposable that if you try and keep abreast of them all it will send you slowly round the bend. Also, lifestyle is a huge encompassing word; interior design is lifestyle, fashion is lifestyle, whisky is lifestyle. I suppose if I was to pick out any trends I know that male skincare and male grooming is getting spoken about a lot. Men are even getting into making their own moisturiser which was unheard of 5-10 years ago.

Male grooming is nothing new, it’s been around since Ancient Egypt and the Early Crusades, but it’s certainly proliferated with the likes of social media making it the zeitgeist of men’s lifestyle.

How does the modern man compare to men of the past?
It really depends on how you’d like to pigeon-hole the modern man. Certainly, our views on masculinity have changed, say from the 60s. If you think that Sean Connery was a body builder back in his day. His physique more than his thespian skills landed him the role of James Bond. Compare a 60s’ Sean Connery to a modern day Daniel Craig. A nice juxtaposition on Ursula Andress coming out of the water in Dr No was to have Daniel Craig coming out the water in his trunks in Casino Royale.

My point is, how we compare modern men to men of the past is heavily dependent on how we view not only masculinity, but varying degrees of masculinity. I mentioned David Gandy earlier who is the embodiment of elegant or refined masculinity then on the other end of the scale you have Connor McGregor, who many see as rugged masculinity. It’s an interesting question, one that has many facets though.

What’s going to be the next big trend in men’s lifestyle?
It might sound obvious but we’ve recently seen the introduction of the iPhone 8, which has integrated facial recognition technology. This will mean that people will likely be making more payments with confidence on the phone rather than on a desktop or tablet. I’ll be interested to see how men’s lifestyle reacts, how brands will move over to this technology sector where everything will be dictated by your mobile phone. I hope I don’t sound like a conspiracist; I have nothing against Apple. But they’re very clever, they don’t do a lot of advertising because the media goes nuts over them anyway and they’re very  determined, like Facebook, to have you do everything through their platform, whether that’s buying that new sectional leather sofa or downloading the latest style app. I think brands will be more mindful than ever on how they market themselves online.

Carl Thompson with his french bulldogWhat one thing could you not live without?
Ha, my Apple 8. Only kidding. My phone is king in my life but I’m also nuts about my coffee maker. I once heard that Beethoven counted out his coffee beans, I’m not that anal but I recently upgraded my coffee machine to a KRUPS Espresso Automatic Series. I’ve successfully climbed the ranks to reach ‘Coffee Snob’ status through years of purchasing substandard freeze dried crap, pre-ground coffee beans in cafeterias and capsule coffee machines. It also costs a king’s ransom so I’d be very sorry to see it go.

How do you like to work with PRs?
I’m lucky enough to know a lot of people within the PR world. I like to try and think from their perspective what do they want from me. The answer is numbers. They like to see a return on their investment for their client whether its stats, exposure or some really decent imagery.

It’s a real treat for me when my blog receives certain accolades. It’s not just a badge of honour that looks good on the site or in the email signature, it’s great for the PR companies too as they get to show it to their clients. It means they’re picking the right influencers to promote or endorse their brand.

What’s one of your favourite collaborations?
I’m going to mention the one I did with HomeSense. Most probably because it’s fresh in my mind, but it was also a lot of fun as I got to include my beloved French Bulldog Charlie. It was fun to play around with as it centred on a home interior theme, but themed for dogs. Charlie had a good time, he got some new toys and I just remember that being a fun day and they’re a good brand to work with.

What one thing should PRs know about you?
I get to the point on the email. I’ve been told I’m a lot nicer in person than I am in email threads, but when you have an inbox like mine you don’t always have time to fluff around with niceties and holiday chat etc. I like to be clear, concise and I think everyone benefits from that.

What other blogs do you read?
This should be the time when I list all the cool blogs and mention other great bloggers doing amazing work. Truth is, I only read a handful of blogs. I like the obvious ones like the Mr Porter Journal, I keep an eye on Fashion Insight for product launches and PR updates. For photography & editorial inspiration my first stop would be Toni Tran at fashitects.com, Ali Gordon at aligordon.net for his style & creativity, then there’s a guy I follow who runs a site called Human Research, he likes to run his mouth and on occasions and can be controversial but I like that.

 

Carl Thompson appears on the market-leading Vuelio influencer database along side thousands of other bloggers, influencers, journalists, editors and media outlets. Learn more about Vuelio’s solutions. 

Graph

PR pros on the rise, journalists in decline

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The latest report from the Office of National Statistics on employment by occupation shows the number of journalists has declined year-on-year by nearly 11,000 across both employed and self-employed journalists, editors and professional bloggers working full and part time.

For PR professionals, the number has risen by just over 5,000, again across both employed and self-employed full and part time staff.

The number of journalists in the UK between April and June 2017 was 72,908. That breaks down further into 52,723 employed by organisations with an 80/20 split between full and part time staff; and 20,185 self-employed with a 60/40 split between full and part time.

For PRs, they are still behind the number of journalists by some margin with just 54,301 in 2017. There is also a much higher proportion of PR professionals in employment with 48,447 employed by an organisation as opposed to just 4,968 self-employed. Of those employed, there’s an 80/20 split between full and part-time staff. The same breakdown is unavailable for those that are self-employed.

Year-on-year the biggest decline is to the self-employed sector – for both journalists and PRs. Journalists shed 14,000 self-employed and PR lost 4,000 self-employed professionals. Both actually rose in terms of those employed by an organisation suggesting the trends aren’t so stark; journalism just had more self-employed to shed.

Across every industry in the country though, this trend doesn’t continue as the self-employed workforce marginally increased in number (as did the total workforce overall).

The report also reveals the male and female split:

Journalists PR Professionals
Male 39,051 17,968
Male % 54 33
Female 33,857 36,333
Female % 46 67

As this shows, the journalism industry is much more closely balanced when it comes to gender, which makes the recent WIJ report on the lack of women on front page bylines even more concerning.

The PR industry is much more female-heavy, a trend which has actually become more pronounced since 2016 – as male staff numbers have declined and female staff numbers have increased. It is unclear why men are leaving the profession and whether the industry can do more to encourage a balance.

What do you think about gender divide in our industries? Let us know in the comments below.

Want to know how to contact all the journalists, editors and bloggers working in the UK? Check out our Media Database. 

interior design blogger

Blogger Spotlight: Jen Stanbrook, Love Chic Living

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Jen Stanbrook is the Top 10 Interior Design Blogger behind Love Chic Living. Jen posts advice on how to easily transform a room, improve your living space with the help of interior design trends, or add a bit of colour. Love Chic Living is a finalist in this year’s Vuelio Blog Awards. We caught up with Jen to talk about room makeovers, working with PRs and having integrity.

How would you describe your blog?
Love Chic Living is a home and interiors blog showcasing inspirational yet achievable design for a family home. It’s evolved a lot over the last five years, responding to my readers and my own tastes too. As my skills as a blogger have developed I’ve been able to feature more diverse and interesting posts, reacting to the market and readers’ demands.

Why did you start your blog?
I started the blog as a platform for my love of home and interiors. I’d always wanted an interiors shop but a young family meant that was a little out of my reach at the time, so writing a blog about all my ideas was the next best thing. And I’m still here almost six years later doing exactly the same thing.

What’s your favourite thing to blog about?
My favourite blogging topic has to be room makeovers. They’re the most popular with readers too. They’re hard work and don’t necessarily come around very often but when they do, they make a very satisfying blog post. Brands are also now much more creative in the way they like to collaborate, and I love the way there’s always something new and fresh to work on for me and my readers.

How do you manage your photography?
It’s taken me a long time to get better at photography, but I’ve done a few courses and slowly improved my camera, lenses and setup. There’s always room for improvement of course, and I’m constantly learning how to get the best shot that shows the setting or products off to their best advantage.

What’s your favourite interior?
I’m really pleased with my recent living room makeover. Like other bloggers and stylists I’ve embraced the dark wall and tried it out in my own home. I wanted to show people how it could work and what it looks like in an ordinary home. I think readers really respond to that, I know I do.

What makes your blog successful?
Good question! Honesty, integrity and keeping it real. I hope I achieve those aspects in most of the posts I create, whilst also giving a little bit of me too. After that, it’s just relentless hard work, staying relevant and developing ideas, skills and features to keep things fresh. It’s exceptionally competitive so it’s important to do your own thing, and focus on the things you love rather than watching what others are doing.

How do you like to work with PRs?
I love working with PRs and brands on a long term basis. I like clear, honest information from PRs, creative campaigns and realistic budgets and timescales. I’m professional and straightforward to deal with and enjoy those qualities in PRs and the projects they run. I have a lot of contacts that come back to me multiple times for further projects, which is incredibly satisfying.

What one thing should PRs know about you?
My inbox is never ending! I endeavour to reply to emails quickly but it’s not always possible so don’t chase me 24 hours after your first email if you’ve not heard back from me. I read all of them, and answer most. Eventually.

What other blogs do you read?
I read all the fabulous interior blogs I can of course, including more established and newer, up and coming. I also read a few lifestyle and beauty blogs. I’d read more if I had more time!

Jen, Love Chic Living and thousands of other bloggers, influencers and journalists feature on the market-leading Vuelio Influencer Database. Find out how you can reach them all here. 

Women In Journalism

Men still dominate newspaper front pages

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Male journalists are still in the majority when it comes to national newspaper front pages. A study by Women in Journalism (WIJ) has found that just 25% of front page stories were written by women in June-July 2017, a measly 2% more than the average in 2012.

The Daily Mirror had the lowest count with just 10% of front page bylines featuring women while the Guardian led the way though still had an underwhelming 43%.

Some papers have actually slipped backwards from 2012, with the Express falling furthest having 50% female bylines in 2012 but just 16% in 2017. Other papers to go backwards include the Daily Mirror (down 11%) and the Sun (down 3%).

WIJ said: ‘It has long been argued that time and increasing numbers of women in the media and public life will fix our long-established ‘women problem’; that as more women reach the top of the profession, the male lens will vanish. But as the campaigners for more women on FTSE 100 boards have discovered, the pace of change is glacial; on current progress it will take 100 years to reach parity between men and women in business. Our new research suggests the same is true of journalism.’

The Guardian’s lead, among five papers to improve, could be because it is the only paper with female political editors (it has two that job share) and politics is so often the source of a paper’s lead story.

WIJ also suggests the replacement of Alan Rusbridger with Katharine Viner has had an impact on women being more visible, arguing culture change can come from the top. It does, however, counter this with the fact the number of female bylines increased (though marginally from 8% to 15%) under George Osborne’s editorship compared to Sarah Sands’.

Another explanation WIJ has for a dearth of front page female bylines is that most news desks, with the exception of the Times, Sunday times and Metro, are run by men who assign the stories in the first place. Though how news stories are assigned and the reasons why, is probably worth further exploration before using this as sound reasoning.

What is clear is that female journalists are underrepresented on news front pages, and by extension the biggest stories. More needs to be done to ensure women are being fairly represented in the media.

Access the full report here.

Find out how to reach all the front page journalists and top outlets in the UK on the Vuelio Media Database. 

Lib Dem conference summary

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The Liberal Democrat conference today came to a close, with the final Vuelio conference bulletin covering all the highlights from the fourth and final day.

The top action from today includes the party’s latest Brexit-related motion; Norman Lamb’s speech and Vince Cable’s rousing conference close.

This final speech from the party’s leader cautioned against the Lib Dems being seen as ‘UKIP in reverse’. Wrapping up four days of Lib Dem activity, he asked activists to join him in taking ‘the Liberal Democrats back to Government’.

Vuelio’s Political Services team has collated all the main stories from the major news outlets, including the Guardian, Mirror and Express, as well as top influencers on social media. They are available all in one place on our special Lib Dem conference canvas.

If you think you’ve been missing out, and you want to make sure you receive daily updates for the Labour and Conservative Party Conferences – sign up to receive our special alerts directly to your inbox.

Lib dem canvas

Photo of makeup

Is Instagram stealing bloggers?

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Instagram continues to grow at a rapid rate, with an estimated monthly user base of over 700 million people. But is the social network causing a decline in traditional bloggers? Or is it just another hosting platform?

The Vuelio Bloggers Survey reveals that year-on-year there’s been an 11% decline in fashion and beauty blogs and a 2% decline in food and drink. These numbers are significant, especially when we consider lifestyle (up 3%), parenting (up 13%) and even travel (up 3%) have all risen.

The number of bloggers using Instagram has also risen – up 5% to 79% overall. While Facebook has also risen by 6%, the other major platforms (Twitter, Pinterest and – dare I say it – Google+) have all declined.

The gender split in social media preference also points to Instagram’s effect on the ‘declining’ blog topics. Both fashion and beauty, and food and drink are dominated by female bloggers – and Instagram is the preferred social network of female users, with 14% compared to just 10% male users.

Years after NYMag claimed ‘Instagram captions are the new blogging’, the platform is scooping up a new wave of influencers who don’t need  to spend any time or effort on setting up blog, managing a website or buying hosting. All they need to do is create an account and go – allowing them to focus on creating content, which is what blogging is all about.

And the rewards can be huge, with an estimated $50K dollars for a sponsored post if you have 1M-3M followers, it can become a genuine source of significant income. It is also relatively low maintenance, though better photography and more engaging captions will inevitably lead to more success.

So should all bloggers join the Instagram revolution?
No. Of course not. Blogging is, at its root, about personal expression. If Instagram works for influencers who enjoy the easy set-up and prefer the strong visual focus, then that’s great. Though there is still an audience for longer form text and custom sites with custom content. It’s about finding what works for you.

Is Instagram wooing you away from your blog? Let us know in the comments below!

No matter where influencers work, Vuelio has you covered. Find out more about our Influencer Database.

Podcast slide

Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed – 15 September 2017

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An audio round-up of all the trending media, marketing an PR stories you shouldn’t have missed this week.

Listen to Akeshia Clarke and Jake O’Neill’s top five stories you shouldn’t have missed:

This week the stories include:

  1. Bell Pottinger going into administration – the agency giant has succumbed to the scandal in South Africa and administrator BDO is now seeking new firms for the staff and clients to go to.
  2. Facebook’s algorithm has been criticised – the social media giant’s ad software allowed people to target their ads at anti-Semitic groups including those that had listed a topic of interest as ‘Jew hater’. In more positive news, the platform has expanded its crisis information portal to help those in dangerous situations more readily source information.
  3. Regulators on influencers – a look at PRWeek’s Influencer Breakfast Briefing with the ASA and CMA. Both organisations are keen to promote best practice among influencers and brand collaborations to ensure no one is the wrong side of the law.
  4. Ofcom’s diversity report – Ofcom’s latest report ‘Diversity and equal opportunities in television 2017’ has revealed that all broadcasters need to improve diversity among their staff with a particular focus on the UK’s largest broadcaster, the BBC, who they think should be leading the way.
  5. James Murdoch’s ‘warning’ to the government – the media mogul gave a speech this week in which he suggested a Britain facing Brexit should be willing to allow big business deals, such as Fox’s takeover of Sky. He is keen to get involved in the regulation process with the CMA, which he said proved Britain wasn’t a soft touch post Brexit.

Think we’ve missed something? Get in touch with Jake O’Neill on Twitter @MediaJake.

The Dapper Chap

Blogger Spotlight: Adam Tanous, The Dapper Chapper

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The Dapper Chapper is a Top 10 Men’s Lifestyle blog written by a team led by founder Adam Tanous. The Dapper Chapper covers an eclectic mix of men’s lifestyle and fashion advice, with updates on the latest apparel, luxury cars, fitness, places to go and must haves. We spoke to Adam about his love of whisky (hint hint), pocket squares and his transition from a PR making his PR relationships excellent.

How would you describe your blog?
The Dapper Chapper is a men’s lifestyle blog with writers based across the UK. Our aim is to see every man have the confidence to explore their own individual style, no matter their taste or budget.

Why did you start you blog?
I was working as a sports PR and my reasoning was two-fold. Firstly, my weakest PR skill was press release writing, so I started The Dapper Chapper as a creative space to improve my writing. I found it far easier to write about topics I am passionate about and I quickly improved. Secondly, I wanted to be involved with, and gain access to, a lifestyle that I was genuinely interested in. I’ve always loved sports and fashion, so The Dapper Chapper was my route into the latter.

What are the latest trends in men’s lifestyle we should be aware of?
We obviously remain as cutting-edge with our content as possible but we take fashions and trends with a pinch of salt. We tend to try and focus on brands that boast timeless style and if there’s a modern twist, even better.

How does the modern man compare to men of the past?
I believe men are more aware of various aspects of their lifestyle that previously may have been overlooked, from grooming to styling. I think different industries, like grooming for example, have done a far better job of expanding into the mainstream. The fashion industry has a bigger job to do and I think things like London Fashion Week Men’s haven’t resonated with the masses yet, hence why the blogosphere is so crucial.

What’s going to be the next big trend in men’s lifestyle?
Every other day we’re emailed about a new athleisure brand and lots of them are really good. Mainstream brands are also releasing athleisure collections too which reflects the demand. On the other side, gin is very much in. I’m drinking Martin Miller’s Westbourne Strength at the moment, I recommend you do to.

What one thing could you not live without?
I wouldn’t want to live without a pocket square, but I suppose I’d just about survive without one, so I’d say my Apple Mac. It was hacked a few weeks ago and it’s genuinely scary to realise how much I rely on it every day.

How do you like to work with PRs?
I used to be a PR so I found this transition very easy. I read all the time about PR horror stories but the ones I deal with regularly are first class.

What’s one of your favourite collaborations?
We’ve had some amazing collaborations, we’ve worked with The Royal Exchange, Jaguar, Clements and Church, Oris and The Jockey Club on some amazing projects that have taken us everywhere from backstage at the British GP to parties in Basel. But, if I have to pick one, I think it would be our takeover of Maserati GB’s Instagram account.

I love Maserati and was really proud of that partnership, it was blogger/brand cross-pollination at its finest. Not many people know this but I actually broke my leg 48 hours before the shoot. The team pulled together and we produced 20 images to take over the brands account for August.

What one thing should PRs know about you?
We’re very PR-friendly but if you send a generic email, it won’t be read. Also, I like Whisky, particularly from Islay.

What other blogs do you read?
Men’s lifestyle blogging is now really strong and we’re proud to be part of that. I think MenswearStyle produce good blogs with genuine takeaways and I also have a lot of time for bloggers attached to Individualism, most of whom create effortlessly cool content.

Adam Tanous and The Dapper Chapper features on the marketing-leading Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, influencers and journalists.