A2E2 creates, produces, acquires and distributes digital kids’ entertainment. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the business is dedicated to producing “content with a purpose” – creating kids entertainment that is as enriching as it is entertaining for the viewer. The company’s TV brands include animations such as Warren Buffett’s ‘Secret Millionaires Club’, ‘Martha & Friends’ created with US design guru Martha Stewart, Marvel comic legend Stan Lee’s new superhero series ‘Stan Lee and the Mighty 7’ and ‘Gisele & the Green Team’ an environmental show featuring model Gisele Bundchen.

Boom! is handling corporate and consumer PR for A2E2 that will include a series of new brand announcements, corporate profiling and communications support for the company’s attendance at major international TV markets including the annual MIPCOM TV festival in Cannes.

The company recently announced it’s international expansion with the appointment of former Disney executive and KidsCo founder/CEO Paul Robinson as President of International. Robinson is currently establishing a new London office with responsibility for content distribution in all formats, content acquisitions, brand licensing and the continued international expansion of the company.

The account will be led by Boom! Founder Justin Crosby who reports to Paul Robinson.

In addition to developing original programming, A2E2 also has a licensing division focusing on extending its brands into consumer products sectors such as toys, digital products, books and apparel. A2E2 is also an international licensing agent for brands including Build-A-Bear Workshop, the interactive make-your-own stuffed animal retail experience.

“The recruitment of a great PR agency is a crucial building block in our international expansion.” said Paul Robinson, President of International, A2E2. “We have some exciting new additions to our portfolio to announce over the next year and Boom! are the ideal partner to help us communicate these world-class properties to our stakeholders around the world.”

“The opportunity to work with some of the industry’s leading executives in licensing and animation doesn’t come up very often so naturally we’re delighted to have been appointed by A2E2.” said Boom! Founder Justin Crosby.

A2E2 continues to work with Bender Helper Impact in the US.

Boom! will initially target video gaming audiences as Ukash seeks to grow its market share within the sector. It is already an accepted form of payment within hundreds of hugely popular online games including Habbo Hotel, Farmville and massive multiplayer online games (MMOG’s) such as Dark Orbit.

“Boom! showed a real understanding of our target market and we look forward to working with them to build awareness of Ukash with the MMO gamer audience and the games industry” said David Hunter, CEO of Ukash.

Launched in 2005, Ukash is a fast growing alternative payment method that enables consumers to shop, pay and play online safely, using cash. 2012 has seen the company awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for the second successive year in the International Trade category.

“Online F2P (Free to Play) gaming numbers are growing fast, and in-game transactions were worth over $1 billion in Europe in 2011*. Gamers can now make purchases in their favourite games on social networks or other online gaming portals without the need for disclosing their financial details. We’re looking forward to helping Ukash continue to grow as a popular alternative payment method for gamers” said Boom! Founder Justin Crosby.

Regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority, Ukash works by exchanging notes and coins for a unique 19-digit ‘Ukash Code’ in over 420,000 retail outlets in over 55 countries. This unique code is then used to pay directly with cash on over 5,000 websites that accept Ukash transactions worldwide.

Source: Newzoo survey
*figures from a Ukash survey of 3,000 users in December 2011

TOETOE Limited has been the UK’s leading manufacturer of toe socks since 1999, and the company is seeking to capitalise on the upsurge in consumer interest in toe-separated footwear.

Toe socks are socks that have been manufactured with individual ‘toe pockets’ for each toe, like a glove. Boom! will focus on building awareness of the benefits of toe separation in footwear outside the yoga and Pilates communities, where TOETOE®’s sustainably produced cotton toe socks have become established as the market leader.

“Our innovative products can benefit feet during everyday use as well as during sporting activities. Wearing TOETOE®s help prevent skin abrasion and blisters, improve foot hygiene, provide warmth through increased toe circulation and research shows can improve body posture and balance” said Sinan Yilmaz, CEO of TOETOE. ”We’re looking forward to taking our message to a wider audience and Boom! are the right agency to help us do that”.

“’Barefoot’ running is one of the fastest growing fitness trends in the UK, and exercising with toe-separated socks is no longer the preserve of elite athletes. To date there has been relatively little innovation in this sector and we’re looking forward to highlighting how everyone can benefit from wearing TOETOE®’s whether for everyday use or down their local gym.” said Justin Crosby, Boom!’s Founder.

The agency will focus on media relations with national and specialist consumer sports titles and seek to leverage TOETOE®’s brand ambassadors who include leading UK ultra marathon runners, podiatrists and biomechanists. Boom! will also support the company’s drive to increase it’s retail presence by raising it’s profile in trade publications.

It makes sense because if you look up “public relations” in a dictionary, you will find something akin to the following:

‘The professional maintenance of a favourable public image by an organisation or a famous person’ or…

‘The state of the relationship between the public and a company or other organisation or a famous person’

Almost identical definitions, right? That’s because the term PR is not as broad as other disciplines, like medicine or media for example.

But while the definition has remained relatively unchanged from the day it was first entered into the dictionary, the way in which it is presented and consumed most certainly has not. Here’s why.

The explosion of social media has fundamentally changed how we all communicate and share information. We’re global now. Indeed, social media has been the catalyst for virtually every industry you can think of as companies create new strategies to engage online.

PR arguably leads the way and you will find it hard to locate a PR proposal for a potential client that doesn’t feature a social media strategy. The reason is practitioners can communicate instantly with their target audience using social channels to share information and get feedback. Put simply, it’s now a two-way communication. Gone are the days where the likes of Max Clifford relied on feeding a story into print and broadcast media, leaving the consumer only with the choice of whether or not to believe it.

This two-way communication directly with the consumer is invaluable for businesses in that they gain real-time feedback on messaging coming from the company – good and bad.

By engaging proactively, PRs can create new opportunities and build a favourable brand impression with the whole world.

Look no further than Stephen Fry, who pretty much does his own PR by tweeting dozens of times a day, whether he is at the theatre or stuck on tarmac. The result? More followers than the average Tweeter can possibly imagine.

Social media has also changed the long-standing dynamics of the PR/Journalist relationship. Just as journalists use tweets as the basis of a story, PR professionals benefit from ‘following’ journalists and commentators they never knew existed. It’s also a good place to identify new business leads.

Now, of course, there is the expectation from consumers that they will not be subjected to mass, non-targeted information and any issues they raise will be addressed swiftly and personally. The latter can be challenging for PR personnel managing social media, due to the difficulty of vetting content. All it takes is one unhappy customer on a Facebook page or an accusatory post on Twitter and a brand can see years of positive work start to unravel in seconds.

Public relations is now just that. Public.

This increasing competition means it’s becoming more important to differentiate yourself, so online content must be fresh, relevant, informative and persuasive. Here are a few tips on how to write sharp and engaging copy for the web.

Personal tone

Unless you are writing hard news for the wires, impenetrable paragraphs penned in the third person are fading out. The web is extremely personal and content should not alienate the readership. Also, remember to keep it simple. There’s nothing more off-putting than visiting a website and not understanding the lingo. Remember, not only are you looking to keep people on your site, you want to attract new readers. Try and avoid “buzz words” and marketing speak because people find it annoying. After all, it’s a website and not a press release. Always remember your audience.

SEO

If you have your own website and yet do not know what this means, then start learning now. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and could be the difference between your site popping up on page one and not showing up until page 7. Put simply, it’s about keywords. This might seem obvious, but wording is very important. If you want to draw in surfers, you need to flood your page with keywords that will draw the right people to your site and keep them there. See? It’s easy.

Scanning and stop signs

People read newspapers and books, but they tend to scan websites because there is so much distraction – pop ups, adverts, that word document you were working on and millions of other websites. It has been proven that people prefer bold headings, short bursts of text and a good balance of space. Your web copy should be all of these things so that if a reader is in a hurry, they can scan your information easily. Hopefully, they will encounter a headline that makes them stop and compels them to read it.

Break up text

Nobody wants to read blocks of text with nothing pretty to look at. Pictures make a big difference to the aesthetics of the piece and how readers connect with what you write. You can also use sub-headings where appropriate.

Take a break and read aloud

This can’t be stressed enough. Take a break from writing every 10-15 minutes and come back to it with fresh eyes. You won’t believe the amount of errors you make until you read it cold.

Reading your words out loud helps your writing flow more. If your writing does not sound conversational, it is way too rigid for web writing.

Naturally, the news was met by a mixture of disbelief and disgust. Disbelief in that many believe this is just another publicity stunt following his previous threats to introduce a toilet fee, stand-up flying boards and a fat tax etc.

And disgust as in: what if he means it? Would customers have to pay extra to be guaranteed NOT to be next to a porn consumer? Also, what if children are in the vicinity?

O’Leary told the press: ‘I’m not talking about having it on screens on the back of seats for everyone to see. It would be on handheld devices.

‘Hotels around the world have it, so why wouldn’t we?’

Maybe there is a market for in-flight porn, but haven’t the bigger airlines with first and business class [bigger spaces between the seats] already floated the idea?

O’Leary’s wacky ideas of the past have certainly not had a negative impact on the brand and there is no immediate suggestion that this will. Sure many customers talk of horrendous experiences on Ryanair, but this doesn’t seem to translate into numbers.

Earlier this week, Ryanair reported half- year figures which showed that profits came in at €544m – a 20% jump on the results for the same time last year. The man is clearly doing something right.

But British broadcasting had remained a closed shop until earlier this year when Ofcom relaxed the rules, giving broadcasters the opportunity to feature branded items in a non-advertising context as long as it was “editorially justifiable”.

ITV’s This Morning was quick on the uptake, swiftly signing a deal with Nestlé to feature its Dolce Gusto coffee machine in what was rumoured to be for three months and worth a tidy six figures.

Fast forward to less than a week ago and arguably the most high profile deal to date featured Coronation Street, whose first product placement deal was signed with the Nationwide Building Society. From next month, the soap will get its first branded cash machine.

Nevertheless, it is hardly the wave of brands popping up our screens that had been predicted by some when the new rules kicked in.

Is this catalyst the British TV industry has been waiting for, or will product placement remain a slow burner for some time?

One ITV executive told Boom! that so far it’s been a case of “old habits die hard” as broadcasters become more familiar with the concept.

“The slow start may also have something to do with unfamiliarity with the new rules and broadcasters not wanting to fall foul of products still on the forbidden list,” he said. “Junk food, alcoholic drinks, tobacco and fat or sugar-laden foods are still not allowed, of course.”

Some analysts estimated that the UK product placement market could be worth up to £100m annually – in just a few years – if based on the US model. However, Ofcom was more circumspect with its prediction of £25m-£30m annually.

Still, it must be argued that, aesthetically, drinking a pint of Guinness is far less embarrassing for the viewer than watching Phil in EastEnders class saying: “A pint please, Kat.”  A pint of what exactly? You wouldn’t get away with saying that in a normal pub. If you did have a regular tipple, then wouldn’t you just ask for “the usual”?

In addition, DAB still accounts for most digital listening, though use of radio-via-TV platforms and internet listening also crept up in the last quarter.

Now let’s look at the fortunes of the various stations, starting with the BBC Radio 1. The station grew its audience again over the summer period, so it is reaching more listeners each week than at anytime in the last decade. However, in the big battle – breakfast – stable mate Radio 2 still performs better, with Chris Evans growing his audience to 8.86 million while Chris Moyles’ audience figures dropped to 7.16 million.

In the commercial sector, Global Radio is clearly benefiting from the fact its two juggernauts, Capital and Heart, are now the two biggest in terms of audience size in London. Proof then that playing the same songs throughout the day has a market. Bauer Media’s underperforming Magic 105.4, which lost 12.8% of its audience, was in third place.

Elsewhere, some digital-only stations also experienced good quarters, with Absolute Radio’s decade stations, 80s and 90s, both performing very well. In fact, the former is now the biggest digital-only station, ahead of Bauer’s The Hits Radio.

Seven digital-only channels now reach over a million listeners a month, including Absolute 80s, Five Live Sports Extra, Smash Hits, The Hits, 6Music, 4Extra and Kerrang.

Typically the day begins at 9am, but most journalists tend to get in closer to 10am. Some turn up much later depending on if they are at a press conference or some other event.

This period is quite relaxed as journalists, drink coffee, read news and share ideas. There is often time to squeeze in a visit to the Atrium for some breakfast and a polystyrene cup of tea. It’s also an opportune time to catch up on emails and gather story ideas ahead of the news conference.

Around 10am, or just after, the news editors will typically speak to the reporters about potential stories they each have in mind for the paper. There they will go through the ‘flat plan’ – the number of pages in the issue, advertising space etc.

The news conference meeting generally begins at 10am/10.15am – or once all reporters are in – and sees the different section editors getting together to discuss all the potential options. During this time, journalists will carry out preliminary work on stories and source or make enquiries on any others requested by the news editor.

After the news conference, stories will be reviewed with the journalists and then the rest of the time will be spent on the phones, responding to emails and writing copy.  Throughout the day, journalists always keep an eye on breaking news and follow it up with web copy. They also break online any story that is unlikely to hold for the next issue.

Lunch doesn’t always happen, but a visit to the Atrium often occurs around 1pm.

There is usually a second news conference around 2.30pm to establish what is going to make the final cut. At this point, journalists will be asked if their stories ‘have legs’ so spaces in the paper can be divvied up. Most copy is then submitted around 5pm, but this can be extended is a story is particularly taxing.

After this, journalists will talk to their section editor about any loose ends/ what can and cannot be mentioned in the copy.  People then tend to leave around 6pm, although some hacks work much later depending on what they are following up.

DO

1. Call to explain what the story is and why it’s relevant for that publication.

2. Make sure the contacts listed in press release are available for interviews once the press release has been sent out. This seems obvious but so many times the contact person listed and/or the relevant interviewee are unavailable.

3. Manage the interview i.e. if the interviewee is rambling, remind him/her that the journalist is on a tight deadline.

4. Research the publication. You should have a good idea when you call whether it is a story for them or not.

5. Know a bit about the journalist you are pitching to.

6. Include as much information as possible in the subject line and personalise your pitch.

7. Know if the title is a national or regional and how often it comes out. It is alarming how often a PR asks a journalist if the title is a weekly when it has ‘Week’ in the title.

8. Know when the publication goes to press. Knowing deadlines can be the difference between talking to a journalist and being told to call back another time.

9.  Pay attention to what else is going on in your industry when pitching.

10. Give them industry gossip. You will be surprised by how often a journalist will repay you with favourable column inches.

DON’T

1. Expect coverage based on a generic email you sent out.

2. Set up interviews and then tell the journalist that the whole conversation was on background. It’s awkward for the journalist and bad for the new relationship they thought they were developing.

3. Pitch a story that you don’t understand – it’s a complete waste of time for all concerned.

4. Ramble.  Brevity is best, so keep your pitch short and to the point with enough relevant information. If the journalist wants to know more, they will ask questions.

5. Send an irrelevant pitch. If a journalist is on your media list but the story is not relevant to them, take them off it. You can lose respect that way.

6. Hound journalists. If they haven’t come back to you, there is usually a reason for it. But being too aggressive can actually repel them. A quick follow up call a few days after you send your pitch can help, but calling daily will just make the reporter angry.

7. Send flashy press kits. Journalists do not have time to wade through marketing material.

8. Exaggerate. Don’t make claims you can’t back up.

9. Use the phrase “Quick Question” in the subject line when following up a sell-in. Already the journalist knows there is no story so why should they bother answering?

10. Say “I know you’re on deadline, but can I talk to you about a story for next week?” If you know they are on deadline, wait until they are off it.

In creating these lists Boom! spoke to journalists from The Sunday Times, Broadcast, FX Week, Reuters, Computing, Media Guardian, TBI,  Screen Daily, Media Week and C21.