Last night, the Octopus team proudly joined client Cisco to launch the British Innovation Gateway (BIG) Awards 2012, an open innovation competition to discover and reward the finest examples of the UK's most innovative start-up digital businesses and SMEs. 

We were joined by the great and good of the UK's tech, creative and digital industries, as well as Cisco's global CTO, Padmasree Warrior (@Padmasree), who has over 1.4m followers on Twitter. Puts my 204 to shame :(.

The awards, which run from 1 February - September 2012, form the latest stage in Cisco's BIG initiative (www.CiscoBIG.co.uk), a significant five year investment of cash, technology and human resources, which aims to develop Britain's innovation eco-system and create an environment in which start-up digital businesses and their ideas can flourish.

Open to individuals, groups of individuals and legal entities in the UK, applicants can enter their technology concept or prototype into one of five categories, including 'Future Cities' and 'Internet of Things'. The overall winner will receive a total prize package of $200k, made up of cash, mentoring, digital marketing, public relations and legal services.

As a business, we are thrilled to be an official partner of the Awards - alongside JP Morgan, Bird & Bird and DNX - as innovation and technology are at the heart of so much of what we do at Octopus.  Members of our team will sit on the judging panel, and we can't wait to see some of the amazing and creative concepts that the entrants come up with. We're also excited at the opportunity to work with the winners, who will receive extensive PR support and a dedicated PR Programme as part of their prize.

For more information on the BIG Awards, please go to www.theBIGAwards.co.uk.  Entries close on 31 March 2012. 

Laura

Having been agency-side of the PR game for the last 14 years, I have seen - and participated in - my fair share of PowerPoint presentations. I've sat in endless meetings, debating the best order for slide decks, rehearsed pitch presentations, searched ClipArt folders for the perfect image and agonised over the most impactful slide build. 

But last night, something revelatory happened. I witnessed for the first time a new and exciting way to pitch ideas and concepts: Pecha Kucha. Never heard of it? Me neither, so here's a quick summary (courtesy of Wikipedia):

Pecha Kucha (Japanese: ペチャクチャ, IPA: [petɕa ku͍̥tɕa],[1]  chit-chat) is a presentation methodology in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each, usually seen in a multiple-speaker event called a Pecha Kucha Night (PKN). The presenter has no control of his/her presentation, and the slides automatically change every 20 seconds, typically resulting in an exciting, fast-paced and highly engaging event.

At last night's launch of Cisco's British Innovation Gateway Awards 2012 (more on that in a later blog post), a number of Britain's up and coming entrepreneurs were invited to Ravensbourne College to present - Pecha Kucha style - to members of the tech, creative and start-up community. The presentations ranged from an email solution that allows you to 'switch off' email from selected senders, to a storytelling platform where the direction of the story changes depending on the viewer's anxiety levels.

The presenters did an amazing job - gone were the usual agenda slides, company credentials and lame animations. The Pecha Kucha approach meant that each pitch was creatively delivered, replacing written content with lots of interesting imagery to help convey key points. The result was fun, engaging and really gave you a sense of the company's personality. The whole room was mesmerised - not just by the cool concepts and ideas, but by the ability of these start-ups to present such a compelling case for their businesses. 

So the challenge now is to take what we learnt at Ravensbourne and apply it to our own presentations - I'll admit, it's a bit of a scary concept (that 30 slide PowerPoint acts as a bit of a comfort blanket as you head into a pitch) but I think we're brave enough to make the leap. So I'll just apologise now if in the coming weeks you can't get hold of me, or I'm a little slow at getting back to you - it's because I'll be at Ravensbourne, learning the art of Pecha Kucha from the best of Britain's future tech talent. Fancy joining me?

Laura

In face of sub-zero temperatures, Octopus United rallied late to hold on to the top spot after a frosty encounter against a strong Do It Like A Dude outfit in the Slough Power League.

This week's encounter began at frenetic pace with plenty of early touches for Octopus, and especially for Jack Harris who saw plenty of the ball early on. Though unfortunately at both ends of the pitch!

Having scored the opener, seizing upon a through ball from United's ever-present captain Tommy Flisher, Harris then embarrassingly levelled up the tie putting through his own goal. Looking to make amends for his error, Jack then drilled home from distance to restore Octopus' lead.

This lead was extended before half time with a further five goals, with Flisher, Harris, Steve Miller and Sammy Jamieson (2) sharing the spoils, and only conceding two goals in response.

With a flattering 7-3 advantage at half time, Octopus knew the Dudes would be out to raise their game in the second half, and raise it they did. Despite many a strong tackle from Sammy, Steve Spencer and Tom Holland at the back, United let their 4 goal cushion slip and allowed the Dudes to level the game with time running out.

Desperately seeking inspiration, out of nowhere, Tommy "The Wily Mouse" Flisher slammed in a superb finish across the keeper from a wide angle. Moments later, he again showed all his 5-a-side knowhow in supplying Harris with a sneaky free kick to put the Octopedes back in front with minutes to spare. Calmness then prevailed as Octopus ran down the clock and came out relieved 9-7 winners to remain clear at the top of the table.

In other news, Octopus' wheeler-and-dealer approach came up trumps in the transfer market with the recruitment of free agent Callum Fortune before the window was slammed shut on Tuesday.

Along with the welcome return of JP Charles, Fortune will be in contention for an immediate debut with a call up to next week's squad.

Unfortunately, Julian Moore's long-awaited return from the injury list has been set back by another week, as Octopus seek assurances that he has fully recovered from the Achilles injury that has plagued his career.

Jack, as commentator.

As a newcomer to the Octopus blog, I've had to have a good think about what to write about.

Something cerebral to impress my new colleagues? Something to do with PR, to show how in tune I am with the news agenda? A summary of my first few days? Or maybe something completely off the wall?

Well, it's Monday and I'm not sure I can do cerebral quite yet - so forget that.

A look through the news shows that there is plenty to talk about and analyse from a PR perspective:

-          The Hester bonus debate

-          Tube workers rejecting an Olympics bonus

-          The ongoing issue of racism in football

I was going to pick one of these, but a scan through the morning news shows that there's probably been enough written and said about these issues without me sticking my oar in. To summarise though, on Hester - the banks need to make a better case about their very real worth to the public; on the tube story - give over; on racism in football - kick it out messages don't really mean much unless harsher bans for players and fans are brought in. Let's really kick it out please, along with Sepp Blatter.

So that's the news dealt with, and if I was to sum up my first few days, I'd say 'new business' and 'really great fun'.

So that just leaves "off the wall", I guess, and one thing for me to talk about. Cake.

Apparently every newcomer to Octopus has to bake a cake for the rest of the office. I've taken a look at some of the previous attempts, and there are some professional looking creations in there. In fact, without wanting to cast aspersions on my new colleagues, I'm questioning whether some form of cheating may have occurred.

It seems cake baking and cake consumption are serious matters around these parts. And with my culinary genius stretching to beans on toast, it's fair to say I'm a tad anxious. I've not been nominated yet, but when my turn comes round, I'll be coming over all Stephen Hester and wanting the attention to just go away. Any ideas for recipes gratefully received. Please.

James

Octopus United continued their impressive start to the season with another comfortable victory in the Slough Power League.

This week's game against WMC started off slow and both teams cancelled each other out with long-range efforts. However, Octopus Utd seized an advantage with Captain Tom Flisher bagging the opener with a clinical finish inside 10 minutes.

From then on Octopus controlled the game and goals from Steve Miller, Sammy Jamieson and JP Charles saw the team take a 6-2 lead at half-time.

Octopus picked-up the pace in the second half, with early goals from Sammy and Tom. With a comfortable goal cushion Octopus played some good free-flowing football and ended up winning 13-2.  

January has been a good month for the team, who have notched up three consecutive wins and are now top of their league.

Octopus will look to continue their good form next week, and with Julian Moore still on the long-term injury list, the team may give a debut to January signing, James Pieslak.

JP

Sure everyone's aware of the Snickers story doing the rounds at the mo. But just in case here's the gist: Snickers 'hack' a celeb's Twitter profile posting Tweets that appear to be incongruous with that user's house style.

Jordan, for example, Tweeted that Chinese leaders are likely to loosen monetary policy to stimulate growth. A few other surprisingly fiscally-minded Tweets followed, before a Twitpic popped up with said celeb holding a Snickers with the tagline 'you're not you when you're hungry'.

The bit that's confusing me is why this campaign is being positioned as a fail or backfire by some in the digital media. One (fairly spurious) reason being that it's insulting to Jordan. Well, I'm sure she's dead pleased that the digital media is mobilising to support her - but she shouldn't be surprised - such has been the unflinching nature of their support for her and her work in recent years. Further, if Jordan is in on the joke then why is it a problem? Surely they're not concerned that Jordan is... *gasp* ...being manipulated at the hands of Snickers? Poor, naive, non media-savvy individual that she is.

Anyway, let's be real; Jordan doesn't generally tweet about the fiscal policies of the world's super powers, and that doesn't necessarily make her stupid. Which is the point of the joke.

It seems to me that this is more about a 'Fail' story being more interesting than a success story, than it is about providing a genuine insight on a brand campaign. I have noticed this more and more in the digital media recently, this desire to chase the fail, over-analysing campaigns to urgently seek out the most negative stance. I understand that analysis is what they do, but let's not forget that the average consumer won't be arsed to dig that deep (and who can blame them?).

Snickers should be applauded for doing something a bit different, and for successfully causing buzz about their brand - something which is mentioned in an irony free manner by many of the articles I have read. Moreover, as far as I can see, the only real negative buzz is that which has been created by the media.

Maybe it's an overly personal viewpoint, but I just don't like brands that have stuck their necks out being run down in the media for doing so. Let's save that for agencies that send dead goldfish to the media or whatever.

NB: As far as Octopus is concerned you won't be seeing our Twitter handle posting or RTing any 'Fail' stories

Tommy

When January 1^st hits, you almost feel forced into making New Year's resolutions. And they are always the same ones; eat healthier, go to the gym, stop smoking. Most people resent making resolutions as it can feel like you are setting yourself up for failure. How realistic is it to eat healthily for the entire year?! You are bound to fall off the wagon at some point.

However, in business it can be very different, and creating resolutions - or goals if you wish - for the year ahead can be quite refreshing. You can sit back and reflect on the past year, look at what worked and what didn't, and make resolutions based on what will make your company even better.

So here @OctopusComms, we got together to discuss what we would like to achieve or do more of this year, and have pulled together our list of resolutions for making 2012 an even better year.

1)      Network more

As PR professionals, we all know that contacts are key. You never know, that person you were wowing with your oh-so-witty-and-intelligent conversation at the pub last night could turn out to be a golden connection for you in the future. There's potential business relationships and partnerships to be made in so many places, and you can never have enough friends, so one resolution that we fully intend to keep in 2012 is to get out there and get networking. We'll regularly be showing our faces at industry, client and social events throughout the year, and we can't wait to see you there!

2)      Expand our business

This year we want to expand our client base by going after yet more new business, winning exciting clients in new, exciting spaces. All while keeping our lovely current clients happy of course! As new technology emerges - and consumer and business trends change - we want to stay ahead of the curve and work with clients in these new spaces. We also want to apply what we learn to our existing clients to keep them ahead of their competitors.

3)      Spend more time with journalists

We talk to them day in, day out, we know what issues and topics excite them and when they need to file their story. But we want to get to know them even better, preferably over a beer or two. This year we are each tasking ourselves with taking at least five key media contacts (whether national, broadcast, trade, consumer or blogger) out for a drink to learn more about what interests them, both in and out of work. This will help us develop even closer relationships and ensure we are always getting it right. Times change and journalists move on, so this knowledge will help us stay ahead of the game and continue to stay relevant to the journalists we work with.

4)      Better utilise social media channels

Social media is something we can't live without, and in 2011 we saw more and more journalists using social platforms, like Twitter, to connect with brands. So this year, we are aiming to better utilise these channels to make the journalist pitching process a whole lot more informal (not to mention a darn sight shorter!). Using a neat little 140 characters instead of a long-winded email or a dreaded follow-up phone call has proved very successful, and we'll be trying our utmost to do it more this year.

5)      We will put our hands up for 2012

It's safe to say we have had some stonking brand buddies and celeb link ups in recent years. Everyone from Amanda Holden and Colin Jackson, to Theo Paphitis and The Prime Minister(!) have helped us to tell our clients' stories to the rest of the world. Finding fame with our various London 2012 campaigns and exciting charity work with organisations like Comic Relief (we've even had lunch at the House of Commons), it's difficult to think of how we can top all we've achieved so far. But this year we have decided to work extra hard, setting our sights even higher, yes higher than working with David Cameron!  After all, we only have 'one shot' to bag the ultimate of celebrity endorsements.

Aston, Oriche, Marvin and JB, if you're reading this (and why wouldn't you be?!), we put our hands up!

They say that old habits die hard, but in this case its new habits made great.

Here's for an exciting 2012.

Jen and the team at Octopus Comms

 

Unless you've spent this week hiding in a cave or trapped in a clothes horse, the chances are that you'll have seen The Independent's series of front page "scoops" exposing PR behemoth Bell Pottinger.

Now there isn't time to go into all the whys and wherefores of each of these stories. But a couple of things struck us today at Octopus Towers after reading this piece on Bell Pottinger's track record of editing clients' Wikipedia pages.

1.       What's the big deal?

So some PR people have been paid to amend some facts on their clients' Wikipedia pages. So what? That's hardly PR at its best but surely the whole point of Wikipedia's self-policing system is that it is, well, self-policing. You probably won't get away with making things up. And there seems to be no evidence that anyone at Bell Pottinger added anything untrue. And as long as it's true and has been referenced according to Wikipedia's own rules and guidelines on how PR people should use the site, what's the big deal? I mean, everyone knows that you should take everything you read on Wikipedia with a pinch of salt.

Which leads me on to point two...

2.       You should take everything you read on Wikipedia with a pinch of salt

Any GCSE history student will tell you that you need to consider who your source of information is when deciding what to believe. Whether intentional or not, everyone has some inherent biases and no one can be 100% trustworthy. Given that Wikipedia is written by thousands of people that we don't know, it's only sensible to treat any information you get from it with a bit of caution, whether it is from a paid PR person, an angry blogger or just someone who happens to be really interested in snails/mushrooms/the back catalogue of The Small Faces. In fact, the nature of the industry means that a paid PR person is probably the least likely of those people to include things that haven't been independently verified.

Which brings me on to point three... (see how this works?)

3.       PR people are not, I repeat not, the devil

The very fact that The Independent thinks this story is worthy of space in its newspaper is a worrying sign of how PR people in the UK are perceived: as shadowy, amoral and Basically A Bad Thing. Now, like any industry, I'm sure PR has its share of dodgy people and organisations. But for the most part, PR exists because a lot of companies and organisations are not very good at talking about themselves and want some help in doing just that. Maybe as an industry we need to start telling people that more often and much more loudly in order to combat this image of nefarious ne'er-do-wells that has somehow become the stereotype.

(Disclaimer: I've never edited a Wikipedia page. Not for a client and definitely not for my own personal pleasure.  Neither have I met anyone from, or claiming to be from, an oppressive regime in the former soviet union. And I do not know Prince Andrew.)

Phil

Clichés, as we all know, should be avoided like the plague. The same could be said for sweeping generalisations, let's face it they are all supremely unhelpful.

One that never seems to want to lie down and die is the one about how men ought to be able to second-guess what their wives/partners want without ever being explicitly told - the "if you don't know, I won't tell you" thing.

I'll neatly sidestep the extent to which I find this outlook depressing. But as an illustration of the potential for damage this attitude has, let's transpose it into a scenario more familiar with those of us who work in PR and comms… client/agency relationships.

We all know how it goes. You win the account, you put together a plan and away you go.

At some point you sit down with the client to review progress. You know in your heart-of-hearts whether you've been working hard enough or not - you don't need numbers to tell you that.

But this is where it can get tricky.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you (or your account team) have been wildly over-servicing the client. Loads of hours, lots of activity and plenty of good solid hits in the media. All, therefore, looking good.

Yet it's not unheard of for the client to turn round at that point, faced with what you feel to be an excellent set of results, and go…. meh!

How can this be? You've worked hard - harder than hard. But the results you've delivered are like pearls before swine.

All too often this boils down to one simple oversight. The client didn't explain to you in detailed, unequivocal terms what they wanted. Consequently, all your hard work doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

For an industry busting at the seams with communications professionals, there's a shocking amount of poor communication going on around day-in, day-out.

It's not easy to look someone dead in the eye and ask them what they want. Harder still to look someone dead in the eye and tell them what you want.

But it doesn't half help with pre-empting a whole unholy host of unfulfilled expectations further down the line. Who knows, it could even see off some of the most common reasons for the breakdown of such relationships:

- Not listening

- Not caring

- Boredom and complacency

- You bring me flowers, you don't sing me love songs

- Or burying your head in the sand and refusing to acknowledge things aren't going as well as they should be

We need, as an industry, to eat our own dog food. It's not enough to wax lyrical at clients on the merits of clear concise communications. We need to walk the walk and, indeed, talk the talk. Ask some frank questions… what will success look like, for example.

Don't pussy-foot around the issue, get to the heart of the matter. Once you've established what the client wants, or needs, you can then look forward to directing all your efforts in a much more targeted way.

Sean

So we're 10 years old as an agency.  How did that happen?

Anyway, we'll be celebrating and partying hard tonight with our lovely clients, former Octopedes and other assorted friends and family who've all made the last 10 years special. Can't wait to see some old faces and share some memories.

But given that the theme of our party is #Bestof10 - and being one of the VERY lucky few to have been here from the start - I thought I would try and think of my very own 10 best memories of the last decade.

So here goes:

1. Sept 2001: Winning our first client as Octopus with made up business cards (while still working for someone else - sorry, Clive)  

2. June 2003: Seeing our first major high street name client win story appear in PR Week

3. December 2005: Taking everyone to France for a 24hour Christmas bash on a ferry

4. Jan 2006: Winning the Google pitch and running through the office

5. December 2007: Mini Coopers for everyone at the Christmas do

6. Jan 2008: Pulling an all-nighter in Finland for a BIG pitch and weirdly nailing it the next day

7. June 2008: Getting a call from the team about winning Cisco while in France and going out to buy champagne

8. July 2009: Seeing the house band play at the first Roctostock Festival (our summer camp)

9. October 2009: Finally winning our first PR Week Award after all those nominations

10. October 2011: Seeing the big audience assemble for our Future 5 event

Editing this down to 10 was tough but I've tried. Looking at this again though, most of these moments involve booze and I seem to have a black spot over 2004 somewhere. Maybe these two facts are linked.

And I've spent a joyous hour in the archives looking for some pictoral funnies.  Check out these beauties:

 With more hair and in front of Windsor Castle

 

Yes, Billy it's a plane, there's loads of them in Windsor 

 Our first industry splash! 

 

 A young Billy looking strategic 

But my list has some big gaps, too many to mention. There's all the great client wins we've had, all the staff get-togethers, all the awards and gongs, the brands we've launched within the group, the buzz and excitement of the results we get and, most importantly, all of the talented people we've hired along the way.

So until tonight, enough nostalgia.  See you all later!

Jon