Rule 5 Makes National PR Awards Shortlist

Just five months on from our launch we were thrilled to hear that we’ve made the shortlist of the prestigious Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Excellence Awards. These national awards are hotly contested with just under 700 entries from the UK and internationally.

Rule 5 has been selected in the Best Sporting Campaign category for our work with British Cycling on the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Glasgow. The agency is up against illustrious competition with Heinz, British Airways, Channel 4, iris PR and The FA and Lloyds Banking Group representing the other short-listed finalists. Three of the five entrants involve PR campaigns featuring London 2012.

“We had already worked with the people but the agency was new, Rule 5 rose to the occasion and really delivered at the Glasgow Velodrome” said Paul Rowlands Cyclesport Marketing Manager at British Cycling. “Elevating social media engagement was a key part of the campaign and together with the agency we broke new ground at the Track World Cup reaching over 100,000 people with 4,000 people directly engaging with the event.”

Rule 5 Flying out to SXSW

Our fledgling PR agency is flying to Austin, Texas to attend the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference & Festival – which runs from Friday 8 March to Sunday 17 March 2013 . SXSW offers a convergence of emerging technologies and music and is celebrated as a launch pad for new creative and digital applications and content. Twitter famously caught the attention of the tech world at SXSW in 2007. Last year speakers included Al Gore, Sean Parker, Pinterest founder Ben Silbermann and Bruce Springsteen. There were over 1000 conference sessions and 25,000 attendees.

Rule 5 Managing Partner Rob Brown who will be representing the agency said “this is where the great minds in emerging technologies gather every year to think and talk. If you want to know what’s next in communications SXSW is the place you are most likely to find out”. The many hundreds of sessions will include ‘How Twitter Has Changed How We Watch TV’, ‘Advanced Social Media Monitoring’ and a meet up with Sir Tim Berners Lee.

BBC Future Media Event Part 2: The first ‘safe’ social network?

The first installment of our two-part blog on last week’s BBC Future Media Event looked at the developing technology of Perceptive Media and what this might hold for the communications industry. In this second follow-up blog, we look at two key areas of interest arising from discussions with the CBBC and Digital Sport teams, starting with the launch of what the Beeb is calling the first ‘safe, real-world’ social network…

CBBC launches the first ‘safe’ social network for children

Children under the age of five have never known a world without the iPhone and so naturally demand that their technology is slick, quick and ahead of the times. The CBBC website hosts around 1,700 games and is available on a host of different devices. In a move that breaks ground in the online social space, it is soon to launch what it is calling the first ‘real world’, safe social network for kids. Allowing children to connect with their friends online in a space named ‘Vs’, the new CBBC hosted network ensures that children trade user names in the playground rather than digitally, so it’s completely transparent as to whom they are connecting with. The development has not only benefited children and their parents; investing locally, the Beeb has awarded independent developer contracts for a number of its upcoming digital projects in pitch processes that include over 300 agencies. An example of which is Manchester-based Young , responsible for developing the new Cbeebies ‘Music Mash-Up’ game-app.

BBC Sport: Mobile browsers first

The success story of the night came from the digital sport team. Ten million people per day watched the 2012 Olympics on the BBC Sport website, which typically receives 6 million hits per day. Seven-hundred thousand people watched Bradley Wiggins race for gold on their mobile and athletes and journalists utilised the ground-breaking live stream technology to watch team mates compete while keeping abreast of all events.

Head of the sports team, Chris Condron, explained the importance of first optimising the site’s mobile browser, which receives more traffic than the Apple and Android sport apps combined. A device’s market share is the key factor in building the critical mass that warrants a bespoke app development, bringing to light the need for a fully optimised mobile browser on all devices. This is especially significant when you consider 2014’s packed sporting calendar, including World Cup, Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

Want more?

Sparked your interest? You can learn more about BBC Future Media here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/careers/what-we-do/future-media

Follow them on Twitter @InsideBBCFM

Like them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InsideBBCFutureMedia

BBC Future Media Event Part 1: Perceptive Media

Last night, Rule 5 had an exclusive opportunity to attend the BBC Future Media Event at Quay House, getting a sneak peek at some of the exciting technologies coming out of the Connected Studio and R&D departments . Also at the event were the record-breaking Digital Sports team, CBeebies and CBBC, Connected Red Button and iPlayer talking through their existing products and how they’re future-proofing developments to enhance viewers’ experience. There was a lot to see and learn, so for those who didn’t score an invite, we’ve pulled together some of our favourite insights from the night in a two-part blog.

Perceptive media: The variable digital landscape

As a comms agency, we were there to glean an insight into how we might utilise developments in our constantly evolving outreach strategies, but it’s not that clear cut. How do you keep up with the Meta Data technology that created ‘Perceptive Media’ – adapting the viewing experience in line with your social cues to ensure that broadcasts are tailor-made to each individual? Got a PHD and find Patrick Cox patronising? No fear, your TV knows your academic credentials and will personalise the documentary to match your level of intellect. Horror film getting a little too much? Perceptive Media will adjust the intensity of your fright-fest accordingly. The team are still a way off from making something like this mainstream but you can get a glimpse of the future of viewing here .

Good communicators know that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to their strategies. PRs accept that blogger outreach isn’t a case of a cut-and-paste press release (or we at least hope most do) and that broadcasters want something more bespoke, more in-depth than your average sell-in. On the door-stop of the BBC, we know the importance of getting face-to-face with journalists and brainstorming ideas together, but what of these developing technologies? The BBC Future Media showed us the scale of investment in driving research forward to bring us the best possible user experience for each of us. Communicators need to ensure they keep on top with these developments in order to deliver ground-breaking, effective campaigns that are still relevant in line with the constantly evolving digital landscape.

Want more?

Sparked your interest? You can learn more about BBC Future Media here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/careers/what-we-do/future-media

Follow them on Twitter @InsideBBCFM

Like them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InsideBBCFutureMedia

British Cycling Picks Rule 5 for BMX World Cup

Rule 5 picked for BMX World Cup in Manchester

The agency has been selected by British Cycling to handle PR and social media on for the UCI BMX SuperCross world championships, which will take place at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester in April.

The agency, which launched in November, also handled the social media campaign for the Track Cycling World Cup at the new Velodrome in Glasgow during its first month of operation. “We looked around for agencies with the right combination of location, cycling and social media expertise and we ended up with a very short list” said British Cycling Cyclesport and Membership Director Jonny Clay. “We were also really impressed with the programme and the results that Rule 5 delivered on our behalf in Glasgow.”

The new win follows the appointment of two new staff; Senior Account Manager Carolanne Bamford in January and Trainee Account Executive Kirsty Usher earlier this month.

RULE 5