The Great Pinterest Boob Debate

Social media’s darling new plaything, Pinterest, continues to get huge volumes of buzz throughout the blogosphere and on Twitter. And Facebook’s recent integration of the fledgling platform into its application integration program can have done it no harm whatsoever in gaining further exposure. It’s fair to say that since I first wrote about Pinterest just six short weeks ago, there have been no signs whatsoever of the hype dying down. So much so that it’s time to start taking it a little more seriously with a view to possible brand use (though, for the record, I'm still dubious as to whether the website traffic that Pinterest drives is really relevant).

In doing so, I’ve come across all sorts of weird and wonderful uses of Pinterest. But I’ve also been on the lookout for how the user base reacts to the images posted; what seems to gain traction in the form of Likes and Repins (which is where another user re-posts the image that you publish to their own boards). And while doing so I stumbled across an interesting example of how easy it could be to offend the (rather sensitive) Pinterest user base yesterday. My attention was directed via a Twitter contact to the image on the right, so I felt obliged to take a further look. It was in the name of research, OK?!

What I found is quite incredible. In the comments of the pinned image is raging a full-on argument from some very highly strung people about whether the image is art, fashion or porn, and whether or not it should be pinned at all because children might see it. Some of the comments refer to Pinterest rules, some turn to religion, some say “it’s just boobs!” and some resort to quite nasty name calling.

Sensitivity Overload?

As a parent myself, I have to say I have no issue whatsoever with my child seeing images of the naked female form. It’s not like she’s never seen her mum, after all. Our American cousins are, apparently, far more sensitive to breasts than we in the UK are, but either way, I’m not sure how this fashion image can be accused of being pornographic any more than the stunt by milliner Robyn Coles on Tuesday at London Fashion Week, where heavily pregnant glamour model Sophia Cahill appeared on the catwalk completely naked other than for Coles’ hats (right). Furthermore, if Pinterest were to remove this image surely it would run the risk of annoying a big section of its user base - the fashion sector.

But my personal opinions aside, there are two things from this cat fight that are worth noting. First, there are currently around 130 comments on the image – and every single one is from a female. Not one man has entered the debate. Draw your own conclusions, but for me this is evidence of Pinterest’s extreme female bias, with quoted figures of a 60% to 90% female user base depending on what you read. And second, among all the negativity, the image has attracted over 70 Likes and over 100 Repins, demonstrating how one image can completely divide people. It highlights the dangers for brands using such a visual medium and while, admittedly, boobs may not form part of the marketing plan of many brands, any brand using the platform will have to be very sensitive to user preferences and be prepared to fend off criticism from unlikely angles.

What are your thoughts on The Great Pinterest Boob Debate? Leave a comment...

 by Paul Sutton, Head of Social Communications. For more from Paul, check out his social media blog, FutureComms

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Are Surveys a Complete Waste of Time and PR Budget?

Most consumer PR surveys are a waste of time. There, I’ve said it. Glad to get that off my chest. I think that consultants and agencies tend to resort to them when trying to secure news coverage with no news. I feel so strongly about this that I urge my colleagues to think twice – no, thrice! – when contemplating putting a survey idea into a PR campaign proposal. I believe that 99% of surveys are the mark of slightly desperate PR. 

Before you say ‘so what? If it gets coverage, surely that’s no bad thing?’, just ask yourself one key question: what does that coverage achieve for the brand? Unless the survey is highly relevant to the product or brand, returns to a consistent theme or lends an angle to a debate, I think they are a misguided PR tactic.

Looking at a crop of surveys from earlier this week, I spotted: 

• "Men reveal true love: cars" by Shell. Spotted in The Independent surveys and reports section. 
• "Grumpy? Bet you are off to work" by PomeGreat. Spotted in The Express and Daily Star Sunday. 
• "New wallpaper? Where’s that, love?" by TK Maxx. The Express. 

I would be willing to bet that the PR consultants behind these six pieces (some were online as well as in print) will have danced a little jig of relief that their survey was the one to score a hit that day. Let’s be honest; we’ve all done it. And equally, we’ve all had that gut-churning feeling when told that it’s either too obvious or too obscure by the journalist you’re pitching it to. I’m speaking from experience, which is why I’m writing this. Quite simply, unless your client has a big enough budget that a ‘quirky’ survey doesn’t even register as a spend, proceed with caution.

Strategy? What Strategy?

This type of survey is, on the whole, instantly forgettable, not linked to a wider strategy and does nothing to create brand engagement. If you ran an awareness survey of Express readers half an hour after their morning coffee, only a tiny number would have any recall of the brand behind the survey, far fewer would have any change in perception of PomeGrea or TK Maxx and I’m willing to bet that there would be virtually nothing registering on a ‘greater propensity to buy’ scale.

The worst is when the BBC do a wonderful piece about it but don’t mention the brand that commissioned the survey because they can’t! I saw a five minute piece on BBC Breakfast a few months ago, on the effect of music on driving. It was a relevant survey but all that work simply secured a mention for Populus, the polling company, rather than the client. Such a shame.

The Integrated Approach

There are exceptions. I always felt that Travelodge did well with its consistent theme of bedtime and sleep, which tied into its sleep tight campaign. The company backed up the campaign with a Director of Sleep and regularly reported on what Travelodge was doing to ensure a decent night’s kip. Whether or not they really DO have great pillows and ways to soothe you is a different matter; I guess we’d need to read the mystery shopping reports to know. But the point is that their PR surveys were part of an ongoing campaign, supported by many elements. I think the surveys approach may finally have reached its sell by date but I liked it at the time.

Debenhams uses a different tactic altogether and every time I read one of their news stories, I mentally congratulate the PR team. They base light-hearted news stories on shopping trends, using their own sales data to position the brand as a retail trend-spotter. My favourite was a story about the change in British eating habits, based on the fact that Debenhams was selling more solo forks than cutlery sets. And long before 99p Stores brought out a cheap Pippa bottom, Debenhams ‘did’ the Pippa story.

Surveys are best when they’re part of a medium to long term campaign, you can return to the theme more than once and/or you have access to data that doesn’t cost the client more than they are willing to risk. Because surveys are a risk. I’d love to know your thoughts. (And apologies to the PR teams behind the PomeGreat, TK Maxx and Shell surveys this week – I’d feel pretty miffed if another agency critiqued a survey story I had sweated over!)

by Carole Scott, Director


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How You Can Make a Difference to Technology Justice

This week is Social Media Week, a global initiative where those working in the social and digital communications industries come together to focus on promoting best practice. London is one of the key locations, and you can’t spend long on Twitter at present without running into the #smwldn hashtag. I was fortunate enough to be invited to take part in a panel debate about the future of the communications industry yesterday, taking my seat alongside Deputy Editor of The New Statesman, Jon Bernstein, lifestyle blogger Eva Keogan, and European Digital Manager for Spectrum Brands, Katie McLean. But more of that another time.

At BOTTLE we’ve taken a slightly different tack around Social Media Week. ‘Social Good’ is a phrase that has started to appear more and more over the last few months but has yet to really mean much in terms of action. We’ve been working with the charitable organisation Practical Action recently, which is focused on using technology to combat poverty. The issues are complex and wide ranging, from the technological challenges and governance issues surrounding the distribution of and access to energy, to ‘simple’ on-the-ground solutions like the Zeer Pot, a clay ‘fridge’ that can extend the life of fresh food in hot countries from four days to three weeks.

The Issue of Technology Justice 

There are 1.4 billion people in the world today who don’t even have access to electricity, and this prevents them from working their way out of poverty. It’s a technology issue and, as such, is something that the tech and communications industry should have a natural affinity to. And that’s where Social Media Week comes in.

With our help, Practical Action has this week called on the tech, social media, communications and PR communities to back its campaign for ‘technology justice’ in the lead up to the Rio+20 Earth summit in June. Changing Government policy is far from an easy task, but the UN has set a target of 2030 for universal energy access and, on a more immediate front, Practical Action is determined that the issue will be high on the agenda at the Rio+20 summit, and it needs a wave of awareness and support from the digital and tech community to ensure this.

It has devised an initiative called ‘Make Your Point’ where you can graphically demonstrate your support. It’s a lovely idea that doesn’t rely on donating money or sitting in a bath of beans – it just relies on everyone who reads about it to spend 30 seconds of their life registering their support for an amazing cause. So although we don’t normally use BOTTLE Uncorked to push specific client projects, just this once please get involved and click here to #MakeYourPoint. Thank you.

 by Paul Sutton, Head of Social Communications. For more from Paul, check out his social media blog, FutureComms

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