There is a lot happening at D4 HQ.

D4PR, before even being offically launched, is in high demand. We have some rather stupendous clients in the offing so watch this space…..for the moment we are remaining tight-lipped and not even the tickle sticks will get it out of us. If you pop round and bring us some cake, then that might be an entirely different matter, but just remember you didn’t get it from us.

Most people by now have heard of facebook, YouTube, myspace, Bebo, twitter etc. But have you heard of next2friends? Xing? ZYB? Habbo Hotel? slicethepie? gamerDNA? LinkedIn? kickapps?

Well web 2.0 is here and it is here to stay. If the hype and market researchers are to be believed it’s going to be a multi-billion dollar industry by 2012.

“Over 800 million people worldwide will be participating in a social network via their mobile phones by 2012, up from 82 million in 2007.” eMarketer

“Revenues from social networking, dating and personal content delivery services will increase from $572m in 2007 to more than $5.7bn in 2012, with social networking accounting for 50% of the total by the end of the forecast period.” Juniper Research

“Around 812,000 Britons each month, or 1.7% of all UK mobile subscribers, visited a social networking website using their mobile during the first quarter of 2008.” Nielsen Media Research

Well mobile phone operators believe it so much they are all putting their budgets where their mouths are, to join the who’s who of the social media world at the Social Networking Forum on the 9th and 10th of March in the Olympia Conference Centre, London.

Quite honestly where the speakers are concerned I don’t even know where to start, so the best thing for you to do is have a look yourselves. I know the event seems a lot of money to those on a shoe-string budget at the moment, or those people whose accounts departments have clamped down on expenses and are relying on a kitty for the office loo roll, but if you are serious about your company’s future, then get your butts down there.

You will learn an awful lot and I would suggest that you pick your talks carefully and with objectives in mind. If your business would benefit from some really well targeted SMS campaigns, and your aim is to get your products and services out to mobiles and handhelds then cherry pick from the mobile forums.

If your aim is some low-cost, specifically targeted, online campaigns then do the same with the social media forum. I believe in a many pronged attack. Often people ask me how you raise brand awareness about your company and my answer is always this. You cannot measure, monitor or get absolute, accurate results on brand awareness and most people are dishonest about their true emotions. You raise brand awareness by executing well researched, targeted, focused campaigns with specific revenue objectives that demonstrate results for your expenditure. Brand awareness comes about as a result of this.

Back to the event though….Pick a mixture of the two forums speakers as whilst social media has a lot more to show, SMS is still the cash cow for many companies and people love their phones. Who do you know under the age of 75 who hasn’t got one? Even my Dad had to relent after many years of resistence, when his company forced him to have one for whilst he was attending client meetings. My Mum would you believe it has an iPhone….before me….ahem…cough.. splutter, and just to rub salt into the wounds constantly phones me to ask me questions about how to use it. However, I don’t think everything will move over to handhelds. They will never replace the computer just as the laptop is in addition to the desktop.

Phones and laptops, the best way today to reach almost any market (I think if someone develops a mobile with a panic button on it like my great Nan’s old landline used to have, they might be on to a winner with the grey pound).

Then if you are a really smart business cookie (ooooh the puns are just rolling off my tongue today), you will also pay attention to what those big fancy companies are forecasting, trends, possible new streams of revenue, how to harness new technology and applications to improve your business processes, procedures and most importantly how effectively you are communicating with your audiences both internally and externally.

I am consistently surprised by how much confusion there is in-house with different brands and product offerings and services, before companies even start communicating outside their own front door with target audiences.

And yes at D4 we practice what we preach, just from the website alone we have started looking at some new ubercool apps to enhance our internal organisation, business offerings and our own marketing and PR strategies.

But for all of those technophobes and laggards out there. Don’t misunderstand me. My most important lesson from childhood was to look people in the eye to both gain trust and offer it, and I still like to pick up the phone sometimes instead of a long-winded text or when intonation is required to get across emotion. 80% of all decisions are based on emotion and in a fast-moving world it’s best to understand all the ways you can communicate with your audiences so that you don’t just capture some of them, but most of them.

Those companies that box clever and use this time to add strings to their bows will be the ones to put two fingers up as other companies get left behind. Whether we like it or not we are in a business war zone where only the strongest and cleverest will survive. You only need look at these denizons of the technology world’s profits to see their advice is worth solid gold let alone the price of the ticket.

You can phone +44 (0) 117 321 8303 and or contact the lovely people at D4 to get a 15% discount on +44 (0) 114 223 8183. Visit their website to see the impressive speakers lists.

Tony Christie - Made in Sheffield Film Review

Tony Christie is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I can guarantee, whether you are a fan of his music or not, you will fall for his unaffected charm. Creative Sheffield’s project, designed to increase exposure to this lovely city is wonderful. And who wouldn’t be interested in a project worked on by Tony Christie, Richard Hawley and other well-loved Sheffield creative types?

My only concern is echoed by other Sheffield folk: we quite like Sheffield being a well kept secret. If everyone discovers this creative, boutiquey, bijou city with it’s stunning architecture, uncommonly friendly people and fascinating colloquialisms, nestled in God’s back garden, they’ll all want to come here.

The film I previewed on this project, whilst initially suffering from some comical editing hiccups (taken in the natural good humour inherent in our village-city) achieved what it set out to do. I asked my peers their opinion, which wasn’t entirely necessary as they were visibly glowing with pride.

It’s all summed up rather wonderfully by the pub landlord featured in the film: Sheffield folk all have an opinion on where they live, perhaps due to being permanently surrounded by views, may perhaps be unaware as to quite how creative their city is, but protect it fiercely whatever the weather. After all, who else will?

Tony Christie - Made In Sheffield cover of Arctic Monkeys, Only One Who Knows

Rumour, mystery, passwords and funny handshakes… well not really, but it was a secret project we were working on.

We don’t know if you have heard anything, but there was a rumour going around that D4 are up to something. Now you can stop trying to get it out of us, the tickle sticks and water torture are no longer necessary. D4PR is finally here!

Due to client demand we have had a sudden growth spurt and D4 as it exists just cannot contain all of the creativity and work on its own. It’s not a case of growing too big for our boots, we’ve just suddenly shot up like a magic beanstalk and needed to clearly identify our service offering, so that all you lovely people understand everything we can do for you.

All that is left to do is listen out for your inbox ding, or the sound of the post hitting the doormat and frantically flick through, throwing away the boring bills and bank statements to see if you have been invited to the party of the year. Well what is the point of officially launching our PR company without a party to invite all of our clients and their friends to as well, to share a bit of happy success in an otherwise gloomy time of year?

Here’s a couple of behind-the-scenes shots from the original photoshoot. Thanks to Tom Jackson and the model we hired as part of the project for doing such a wonderful job. Listen out for our competition coming soon…..

Here at the D4 and D4PR Studio, we are inundated daily with e-marketing campaigns designed to illicit a positive response. So it is a shame, therefore, that an abundance of these e-shots and articles actually have the opposite effect – frustration and negativity – due to the numerous spelling mistakes contained within. Instead of grabbing our attention with a catchy photo or well-written story, we simply end up cringing at the shocking mistakes many ‘professionals’ are making in their work.

It would be easy to pass the buck at this point and blame inexperienced interns hired by these big companies, but on many occasions we find these articles are written by journalists and even editors. Maybe their creative flair kicks in during an evening out or when bored on a train journey, and they decide to submit work via the predictive text function on their mobile phones. Who knows, but it would certainly explain the sheer volume of howlers.

One recent example was an online article about simple mistakes made by PR professionals. Ironic then that the piece was in fact littered with basic grammatical errors, glaringly obvious spelling mistakes and in some instances the wrong word altogether! Of course, this could also be blamed on the veritable evils of writing quickly via mobile media – small screens are not conducive to clarity of proofing. Even the most prolific of texters who refuses to abbreviate, can make mistakes when in a hurry.

To err is human, which is why no matter how confident, qualified or experienced you are, a second glance at an article is hugely important. When we undertake a piece of work at D4PR, whether it is an e-shot, newsletter, website, press release, case study or blog, we always make sure the finished article is proofread by a professional copywriter and triple checked by several members of the team. This ensures any mistakes are picked up and removed before publication. Proofreading really does eradicate the simple errors so many people are making, and therefore increases the effective impact of a finished article or e-shot.

Research by some bright spark at Cambridge University found that, “it dseon’t matter in waht oredr the letters in a wrod are. The olny imptroant thnig is taht the frist and lsat lteter be in the rhgit palce. The rset can be a ttoal mses and you can slitl raed it wiohtut plobrem. Tihs is bscauee the huamn mnid deos not raed erevy leettr by iteslf, but the wrod as a wlohe.”

This is not an exoneration for howling inaccuracies though – boundaries and guidelines are set for a reason. With ever-progressing technology, which we wholeheartedly embrace, writing is becoming a lost art. English is a beautiful, expressive language, and we should use it with style not laziness.

Despite the frustration, I can’t help but smile at the thought that maybe some writers have adopted the same view as Ralph Wiggum from The Simpsons, who memorably said: “Me fail English!? That’s umpossible!”

We are currently updating famous fans for Hendo’s. Richard Hawley, David Blunkett MP and Paul Potts CBE, Chairman of the Press Association, have all been mighty helpful and forthcoming in their loving of Sheffield’s favourite relish. Sean Bean is a major fan as are the Blades and Owls, in fact the more people I talk to the more love we get.

One slight disappointment was Michael Palin’s agent who informed us that “Michael does not do advertising or promotional work”. Hmmmm I am sure there is a contradiction in there somewhere.

However the vast majority of people are clamouring to show their support for this charming and unusual brand that remains so close to how it was 100 years ago. But where are the female Sheffield fans, I know they are out there….go on show your love.

Here’s a little teaser shot ahead of going to print and web with all of the famous fans, and if anyone else wants to get in touch to show their support please feel free to email clare@d4pr.com or call us on 0114 276 9512

In Sheffield for under a year and our Clare has already made quite an impression.

“A year ago, The Star Business Monthly teamed up with Ben Sequerra, now Chief Executive Officer of Pro Sheffield, to discover the 35 most influential young business people in South Yorkshire. That first list of talented individuals - all under the age of 35 - proved so popular that a whole new list has been drawn up for 2009.”

Clare Williams was on the list and attended the awards with a rather large grin on her face. “It is such a brilliant feeling to be recognised in your area of expertise, not only that, I knew nothing about it until Ben Sequerra contacted me for a photo!” To read the full article please click here

(As Clare hates her photo being taken she will not thank us for pointing out, her piccie is in the top right!!)

Anyone want to join me in sticking it to the man? I think we already have to be perfectly frank. We are doing some amazing work at the moment, Clare has been lecturing at Sheffield University and may have some further exciting news in the next few days to announce.

This is all bucking the current trends and goes to show that when you stand by your guns, continue to work hard and smart, whilst demonstrating extremely high standards of work, you can do anything you set your mind to and we are happy to take you with us for the ride.

Watch this space closely for news on our latest projects, some brilliant ones coming up and thank you to those of you who have complimented us on our wonderful new site. D4 is as strong as ever, doing some fantastic web development jobs (check that blog), long term projects with clients and has been in the press quite a lot lately.

As we said, quite simply, exciting times!

Gaucho the restaurant in Manchester on St Mary’s Street is just sumptuous. From the moment you walk through the door the service is impeccable and I want everyone to know the steak is just to die for. Actually everything is to die for; the food, the cocktails, the ambience, even the level the lights are set to. My favourite cocktail involves Zubrowka vodka, which is my most loved vodka. The bar staff are most certainly trained to the nth degree because I myself have some bar training, which makes me painfully fussy about my drinks when I am paying for them. In this case I need not have worried, it was mixed to perfection, designed to tickle my tastebuds and left me wanting more.

Beautiful Interior Design

The decor in each restaurant is bespoke and Eve Latham does an amazing job of making everyone feel like they have come to visit friends in Gaucho Manchester. She remembers names, something sadly lacking in the restaurant world in these impersonal times. It is totally female friendly, I felt comfortable having a working dinner in there on my own and they have free wi-fi, just ask any member of staff. In the evening it is a real treat for couples, friends or family and at lunchtimes certainly somewhere to take clients and colleagues for maximum impact or as a reward for hard work or a contract won.

Having been to the Richmond Upon Thames Gaucho on prior occasions I am familiar with the formula. The difference in Gaucho Manchester though, is what makes it so special. They manage to harbour that special brand of Northern charm. London’s market is largely transient and as an ex-Londoner, with family and friends still down there, I can honestly say the general public in that demography don’t celebrate or share success. Particularly in the current climate, everyone is divided by a ‘who’s next?’ paranoia.

Whilst the North is not unaffected by what is going on in the financial downfall of our green jewel of an island, we have a very different attitude. Smile, get on with it, and if you are able, give someone just behind you a helping hand.

So whilst I appreciate that some belts are tightening and for many Gaucho is a rare treat, the inspiration and experience is worth every penny. You will leave feeling full and perhaps even a bit more positive about people and the future, both personally and in business. I am a person inspired by fantastic food, lovely wine and great service so yes I really do mean this and no I am not being paid to say it.

But don’t take my word for it. I took Trevor Sorbie’s words instead, who was dining there the same night as I was. Not only a charming, lovely man but he gave me a wonderful quote:

“I came here about one month ago for lunch. The waitress described the steaks and educated me as to what was available. This is unique to any restaurant I have ever been in and I had the best steak (medium rare) that comes up to 5 star restaurant value. I highly recommend it.”

And that is straight from the King of the Crown!

Barbados, Milan, Japan and now taking over the North…..

‘Wonder Woman’ Williams has been busy promoting D4 and generally getting about; Manchester, Leeds, Cheshire, Dorset, London. Whilst not as glamourous as some further flung locations, it is helping D4 Online & D4PR….sorry what was that last bit? And what is all this we hear about D4PR?….hmmm well you will just have to keep watching this space and an eye on the news.

Business North West was a fantastic event at the end of November. Not only was the networking worth it alone, the keynote speakers were superb. With talks from the likes of Facebook, Lyndsey Menzies of Big Mouth Media, Max Clifford ‘THE’ PR Guru, Darryn Lyons of Mr Paparazzi fame, Julie Meyer from Ariadne Capital and the best maths lesson ever from Dennis Turner, Chief Economist at HSBC. Ms Williams met some Editors and even managed to get quoted on print and in video. Her quote can be read here

Clare and the team will not only be there next year, but may well have a speaker slot. The event can be highly recommended to all businesses - large, small and entrepreneurial as extremely helpful, informative and engaging, not to mention lots of potential business!

The week after Clare stayed at the City Centre Chic apartments in Manchester, who were also at BNW, and she says frankly she will never step over the threshold of a hotel in Manchester again (well that may be a slight exaggeration).

She also attended the Fairhursts Design Group annual Christmas drinks at Kro in Manchester. Thank you very much to all the people who worked so hard to put on such a brilliant event. It was packed to the rafters with architects, company directors and clever design people and it was lovely to see something so well attended and enjoyed by all.