Shocking headline of the day: Twitter users read The Guardian

Avid Twitter fans know the link between Twitter, and its bedfellow liberal paper The Guardian, so won't be surprised to learn a study has suggested the group of Twitter users, as a whole, are the 3rd most liberal group in the UK just behind liberal democrat voters but ahead of the traditional leftist group of 16-34 year olds.

Dicey stats from a study written by Captain Obvious. But what is interesting to ponder is that leading media site Brand Republic has lent publicity to such a direct link between Twitter and liberal papers. Are we at risk of alienating the 'other half' of the population entirely? Twitter's best attribute is its democratic nature. If we alienate rightists aren't we undermining the very point of Twitter? Discuss.

Social Media 09 - big budget noise, but where's the innovation?

New firm Run Marketing started up recently with an excellent website for digital marketing advice for small business. Hatch PR associate Chris Lee, director of Run Marketing, attended the Social Media 09 conference last week in London and posted a good summary of what was on offer.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed to hear the agenda was dominated (apparently) by big budget examples of brands using social media for integrated campaigns. For a start, the London conference schedule is rammed with shows like this and I wish they'd taken a different stance with this new show. Where are our grass roots, innovation on a shoestring examples? Small business showing how clever marketing doesn't require huge dollars? Isn't that exactly what social media is all about?

After all, how much is a Twitter account? Free. Creating a Facebook group? Free. Conducting question and answer sessions over LinkedIN? Free.

But many a 'digital media' agency seems to be perversely charging clients big sums for creative and innovative social media campaigns. If ideas have been the bread and butter for PR for a longtime, the 'value add' that comes as standard with every programme but doesn't have its own price tag attached, shouldn't social media be the same? Traditional PR requires some use of tools and resources that cost overheads. But social media doesn't. So why should social media cost a lot to implement?

Like Run Marketing says, we want to see examples of grassroots social media campaigns. They are more interesting, less error-prone (thinking about the Habitat debacle with that comment) and far more 'viral'. That's more effective, in our book.

"Taglines: The Cheesy Way to Express What Your Business Does"

There's a lot of hilarious stuff out there on the World Wide Web. My current favourite source of belly laughs is People of Walmart - but I digress, as that site is purely for recreational purposes.

On the odd occasion, you stumble across a hilarious site that wasn't posted in jest. I found an amusing post today that wasn't meant to be funny at all - UK Business Labs asked, well, UK businesses to post their company taglines. And boy have they delivered.

I have a strong aversion to company taglines, when BtoB firms try to come up with three-word descriptions of who they are. Taglines are cheesy and they over simplify your message. It's like the corporate equivalent of sticking political bumper stickers on your car. No one wants to see that while driving. And every time a corporate marketing department has attempted to come up with a tagline, it's the most excruciating "brainstorm" experience I've sat through. Why? Because no tagline works in the BtoB world. You're not Nike and you can't tell your customers to 'just do it' without getting them all confused as to what you're really on about.

So, trust me, ditch the taglines, say what your company does in the most straightforward way possible (E.g. Hatch PR is a PR firm for digital companies) and carry on doing the great business you do. Stop wracking your brain for cheeseball, roundabout ways of saying it. You just wind up sounding like a Hallmark card on corporate crack.

Recession '08-'09 Baby Boom - you heard it here first

In PR one of our jobs is to second guess media trends. We want to tip you off early on the Recession Baby Boom - because it's just a matter of time before you start hearing whispers in the mainstream press and PR campaigns start targeting the burgeoning baby products market.

Like all good media stories it may sound counter intuitive. People should have less money now, right? And we always talk about how expensive babies are. In fact, in the US it's a generally accepted fact that a baby currently costs its parents $250,000 from conception through to age 18. If you're the type of mom who accommodates her son well into his 30s, subsisting on your laundering abilities and meatloaf, your cost could soar well above that figure.

But, taking an extremely unscientific survey of friends, family, and Facebook contacts ('cause you gotta) there is something we have heard over and over again lately: "I'm pregnant." Why? Well, these declarations have come thick and fast a few months after we heard the same thing over and over again from female, working friends: "Since the economy is shitty right now, and I might get made redundant, we may as well just get pregnant. It's not like I'm going to get anywhere in my career in this climate."

So people started taking their frustrations on the poor economy out on more fruitful, fun, bedroom-focused, endeavours. And the babies are starting to come screaming into the world.

The first concrete evidence of the Recession Baby Boom? Leading baby and maternity retailer Mothercare released its earnings today - moving onto the FTSE 250 leaderboard and Q2 sales are up 7 per cent. The stock has risen 65 per cent since May.

You heard it here first. If your company can find a way to weave a Baby Boom message into its PR strategy over the next three to nine months you won't suffer for it.

Guardian gag order - we're officially at the point of no return

The Guardian gag order story of today has demonstrated better than any recent news event how digital media / social media / TWITTER has completely changed the game in how we consume media and the types of stories we react to.

A great blog post on The Media Blog sums up why quite nicely.

Bravo to The Guardian for quick, decisive action against a disgusting legal move on the part of the despicable Trafigura and a law firm which will rue the day they entered this motion - Carter-Ruck.

Rumour has it Newsnight will be covering the story tonight - we'll be tuning in.