6th July, 11.30am-1pm

Ashley Norris of Shiny Media + final Q&A

Ashley Norris is finishing off today's Brands & Blogs event, explaining what Shiny Media does, and why advertisers should be engaging with "influential, intelligent, informed and interested" bloggers. Latest entry is below, with chronological updates after the jump.

13.10: Another question: do brands play nasty and attack each other in these kind of campaigns? Richard says it's happening on messageboards and forums, where brands pay people to write negative reviews of their competitors, but not so much on blogs. Jeremy says B5 Media has caught some companies out - "we thought, who feels that strongly about socks?!".

13.11: Questions are hotting up now: should brands respond to negative comments on blogs? Jeremy says yes, but only if you can respond honestly, and you can't do it for all comments obviously. But it's worth doing selectively.

13.14: And that's it. Lunch, wine, and a chance to go up to the 18th floor of Centrepoint and spot rainclouds.

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Posted by Stuart Dredge on July 6, 2007 12:48 PM in presentation
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Brands & Blogs debate

Now we've got a discussion with Jeremy Wright of B5 Media, and Richard Rocca of Glam. They're both involved with big blog networks in North America, and are here to tell us how things are working over there.

12.42: Richard is talking about all the blue-chip advertisers on Glam - they're all keen on working with professional blog networks, as long as they really are creating quality, trusted content.

12.43: Ooh, a question asking for hard data - what return can brands expect on spending money in this area? SHOW ME THE MONEY. Jeremy says it's important for blog networks to establish what brands are looking for - survey responses or time in front of a viewer or something else. And then create a campaign to deliver that.

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Posted by Stuart Dredge on July 6, 2007 12:31 PM in presentation
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Neil DuLake of The Guardian

Now it's the turn of Neil DuLake, digital consultant for The Guardian. He'll be explaining how even a Big Media firm like Guardian News & Media is preparing to lose control over some of its content. Latest entry is below, with chronological updates after the jump.

12.26: Also, The Guardian must be part of the web, not just on the web. The most successful brands in this space will be that – encourage debate, be provocative and edgy, and move to a multi-way conversation. And the best brand campaigns in the future will probably be created by the consumers themselves. Does this mean Saatchi & Saatchi will pay me a huge fee for YouTube videos of my cat? No. Ah well.

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Posted by Stuart Dredge on July 6, 2007 12:14 PM in presentation
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Helen Nowicka of Shiny Red

Next up is Helen Nowicka from Shiny Red, who's going to be talking about how consumers feel about brands connecting with them through new media tools like blogs and social networks. Latest entry is below, with chronological updates after the jump.

12.11: What's a good online PR campaign? Think on and offline for starters, it's not one or the other. Remember you're a guest in this space – don't behave in a disrespectful way. It's about a dialogue, not a monologue - or even a three-way conversation - brands talk to people, people talk back to brands, and then people talk to people about how rubbish / good the brands are.

Fourth, embrace the new rules. Don't pay a blogger to pretend to be your CEO (they'll probably be too scruffy in any case), and don't fake it - go into this space with an open attitude.

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Posted by Stuart Dredge on July 6, 2007 12:03 PM in presentation
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Jeff Meers of Shiny Media

Today's first presentation comes from Shiny Media's own Jeff Meers, who's going to be outlining some of the research on New Influentials, and how marketers can converse with them. Latest entry is below, with chronological updates after the jump.

12.02: We're not yet in the mainstream though - marketers don't see blogs as must-haves on their schedules. At the mo, we're jumping across the chasm to mainstream adoption from brands – the sheep and dinosaurs. Although we probably won't call them sheep when trying to sell them ads.

12.03: Savvy marketers can beat up the dinosaurs – get to the online influentials first. And that's a wrap.

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Posted by Stuart Dredge on July 6, 2007 11:52 AM in presentation
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