Author Archive
Posted by Lara on 15 July 2009
Tags: | Uncategorized
As summer school holidays are approaching, May bank holidays have come and gone and with the amount of “out of office – on holiday” emails I am getting you would expect things to slow down a little over Summer. Unfortunately (well fortunately) – which ever way you look at it, not here at Global Beach.
In the last week we have launched 2 new websites and 1 new application for one of our most active clients Terrence Higgins Trust.
THIVK (www.thinkHIV.co.uk) – Our new website for gay men which busts a few myths and points out some solutions for HIV and testing. Including a full clinic finder offering the facility to narrow results dependent on your needs.
Mambo (www.mambo.org.uk)- Mambo has been developed by THT, it’s the healthier lifestyle magazine for Africans. Global Beach has helped to move the Mambo community online – our new website with blogs, sexual health information, and Aunty Fola. And soon to be added a Professionals area designed to help professionals who work with African communities.
Online Counseling (http://www.tht.org.uk/howwecanhelpyou/needhelpnow/onlinecounselling/) – Initially funded for a pilot period by the Department of Health for gay and bi-sexual men, online counselling service is now open to everyone. It gives you the chance to explore whatever is concerning you, from relationships problems to your sex life. The counselling takes place in a number of ways through email and instant messaging (chat).
I am quite excited about just how much we have got going on with all our clients… but on the flip side I reckon I will be more than ready for my holiday at the end of August!
Posted by Lara on 11 June 2009
Tags: | Company, Customer insight, Social Networking
We’re in the middle of getting together our pitch for a well-known UK Motorcycle manufacturer and I have suddenly developed an interest in looking at bikes to see if they are the particular brand we are working on… if not (in my head) I seem to think all other makes are “inferior”. I nearly missed my turning the other day whilst totally affixed on following the said bike brand in front of me.
This got me thinking, what is it about working on a brand that makes you a natural advocate and how can I influence others around me to feel as passionately about this or any other brand I work on… which in turn will hopefully inspire them to influence others?
So in the run up to the pitch (and beyond) I plan on becoming that annoying friend who won’t shut up about this particular brand. In fact I would go as far as even trying to influence at least one of my friends to purchase a bike (if nothing else so that I could experience a ride on one).
However, on a more serious note and without wanting to give away too much we are approaching the usual suspects/influencers to gain their opinion and get a feel for their passion about the brand. It’s interesting just how strong people can feel about brands (for some reason it makes me feel normal). I’ll be interested to see just what comes out of this… watch this space.
Posted by Lara on 16 February 2009
Tags: Social netowrking, Twitter | Social Networking
As I trawled through the weekend newspapers in the search for anything other than recession doom and gloom, the debate on bankers’ bonuses or frivolous Valentines reunion stories, it became evident that in almost every newspaper or publication I read, there was at least one story on Twitter. Intrigued by the apparent fascination this weekend about the service, I couldn’t help but obsess over wanting to read more to find out whether I was missing something.
I was stunned to read in the FT that Twitter rejected a takeover by Facebook valued at up to $500m, even though there is no revenue generation model from the service… Now correct me if I am wrong, but it seems almost obscene to place so much value on something that has failed to introduce ways to make money from it yet.
I then went on to discover The Twitterati (OMG – there’s a name for so-called elite users) column in the Sunday Times Style magazine. I was horrified to read that someone had actually broadcast the birth of a child to the whole world using Twitter!
And then came the endorsement from India Knight (Sunday Times columnist) that she is retracting her initial thoughts about the service – “saying it was needy and megalomaniacal and plain weird for any sane person to spend the day posting random thoughts onto a public site”, to now class it as “amazing”. Amazing because of 3 things -
1. finding out people are funny
2. apparently it can be a great resource and
3. you feel connected
Embarrassed by the fact that I work in a Digital Agency and I had not experienced the Twitter phenomenon (and also having soaked up all this recent information), I immediately signed up to Twitter and selected a few friends to follow. Having broadcast my first thought “Crofty00 just sold her soul to the devil and signed up to Twitter” it was swiftly responded to by my ex-housemate – “you’ll be bored of it in 10 mins! :)”. How right he was… has the world slowly become obsessed with what everyone else is doing every moment of the day? At what point will we make the realisation that focusing on our own lives may provide a real benefit, rather than preoccupying our interest with others?
I don’t really see any personal benefit in Twitter, I don’t want to know when my mate “is listening to the weird bubbly sound of earwax dissolving inside his ear” or “totally lost for words and feels drained”. Can that sort of thing not be discussed in the pub, or are we now evolving into a world where the majority of our social communication is done solely through the realms of the virtual world…. known as Twitter. And will there be any real financial benefits in the future?
