Brand Newsroom

The news been really depressing lately, with so much death, destruction, doom and gloom. Why is it that the news always seems to focus on the negative? And is there room for more positive news? James and Nic take a look at good news versus bad news and the opportunity that creates for marketers.

Public speaking is a vital skill for anyone in business, yet so many of us are bad at it. The Brand Newsroom team has been delivering presentations for years. Today they swap notes and share advice to help you make your presentations the engaging, lead-generating business tools you need them to be.

One of the most common questions journalists get asked is ‘where do you get all your stories from?’ Generating story ideas is a reporter’s bread and butter and these days it’s also an essential skill for the content marketer. Today, the Brand Newsroom chats with longtime reporter (and content marketer) Dan Hatch about how to generate article ideas like a journalist.

With some British voters already experiencing “Regrexit” after voting for “Brexit”, what are the lessons for communicators? James, Sarah and Nic discuss being honest with your audience, trust and selling a positive message.

Ninety-eight million people in the US listen to podcasts every year, with an average listening time of more than four hours a week. Podcasting has finally arrived as a mainstream medium. The Brand Newsroom team shares some secrets to success.

Plenty of websites are happy to share your content for you. They might even invite to supply an editorial. But are they worth the effort? Will they actually help you get your content to a new audience? Will they be good for your brand? Or are they just taking advantage of all your hard work and your willingness to give them free content?

Have you ever sat at your computer screen, totally stuck? You know want you want to say, but you have no idea how to say it. It doesn’t matter that your deadline is looming. The words just aren’t coming. You’ve drawn a blank. Today, the Brand Newsroom team looks at “writer’s block” and share some great tips for pushing through it. Show Notes: Here’s the link to Peta Bree Rule’s original blog post. http://www.globalcopywriting.com/writers-block-solutions/#sthash.weJGXeyE.dpbs

Have marketers been too seduced by creativity and forgotten why we’re here? That is, have we forgotten our purpose is to answer the question, ‘how can I help you?’ Starcom strategy director Sergio Brodsky joins James, Sarah and Nic this week to talk about urban brand utility — the idea that marketing can be used for public good, with simple ideas and messages that improve daily urban life. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/bnr90-sergio-brodsky-urban-brand-utility/

How important is authenticity to influencer marketing? James Lush, Sarah Mitchell and Nic Hayes look at a recent viral video that’s broken records in just one week and discuss what contributed to the success. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/bnr89-smart-social-media/

Have you ever considered how location services could enhance your content marketing and boost business? Nic Hayes and Sarah Mitchell are joined by Adam Mullett, Marketing Manager at NGIS, who describes an untapped opportunity to use maps and mapping services to visualise your company’s big data. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/brand-newsroom-88-putting-your-content-marketing-on-the-map/

Journalism is changing fast. Newsrooms are shrinking, news is published online first, and the “hungry beast” that is publishing requires more content than ever before. So how do we communicate with journalists effectively to give our story pitch the best possible chance of success? James and Nic talk to veteran reporter Simon Holt about his new book, 101 Ways to Connect with Modern Newsrooms. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/brand-newsroom-87-simon-holt-pitch-journalists/

Are you too sexy for LinkedIn? That’s the question photographer Julissa Shrewsbury posed in a recent blog post designed to get people thinking about what the images they use on social media say about their level of professionalism. She joined James, Sarah and Nic for a chat about personal branding. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/brand-newsroom-86-photography-personal-brand/

Global content marketing expert Rebecca Lieb is this week’s guest on Brand Newsroom, as the team discusses the performance of content marketing. Measurement, Rebecca says, is about way more than ROI via sales. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/brand-newsroom-85-metrics-marketers-overlook/

Fast food chain KFC has been slammed for a sexually suggestive picture it ran on social media last week in Australia. While the post was pulled after just an hour, the debate lives on — with the Brand Newsroom team deeply divided over the ad’s rights and wrongs. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/brand-newsroom-84-sex-advertising-ever-ok/

Editorial workflow can be messy. There are too many stages involved, too many approvals and often too many interested parties getting out their red pen to make unnecessary changes. It shouldn’t be this hard. This week the Brand Newsroom team turns to traditional newsrooms to find ways to make editorial workflow as efficient as possible. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/brand-newsroom-83-manage-editorial-workflow/

Brands have fallen over themselves to build social media profiles to reach their consumers, but is social really providing a return-on-investment? Where is it that most brands are going wrong? And how do you give your company the best chance of social media success? Yappy founder Kohen Grogan is this week’s guest. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/brand-newsroom-82-get-roi-social-media/

There is new research out this week that will shake-up old notions about how business-to-business brands should be using social media. A report by TrackMaven shows LinkedIn isn’t the most effective platform to drive engagement — but you might be surprised to learn which platform actually performs best. Join the Brand Newsroom team as they discuss social media for B2B. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/brand-newsroom-81-effective-social-media-b2b-will-surprise/

As journalism jobs are cut around the world, highly skilled writers are being released into the market. In this week’s Brand Newsroom, James, Sarah and Nic ask: Is journalism’s demise marketing’s great opportunity? Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/brand-newsroom-80-journalisms-demise-marketings-great-opportunity/

Sales and marketing are meant to be on the same team, so why are they so often at war? James Lush, Sarah Mitchell and Nic Hayes take a look at the different motivations and goals of each department and how, when they work together instead of against each other, everybody wins. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/brand-newsroom-79-stop-the-sales-v-marketing-war/

Journalists are flooded with press releases each day which are never read, so how do you set yours apart? James and Sarah share their tips on getting the most out of your story. Show Notes: http://lushdigital.com/bnr78-increae-mileage-press-release/