"We looked at working with a number of agencies and Manifest's bold and innovative ideas stood out from the crowd. They not only understand consumer technology, but they also boasts genuine experience and expertise across the entire media spectrum, from broadsheets to bloggers."

The first of the new Xacti cameras Manifest will promote were unveiled at the international Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this month, including the world's smallest, thinnest and lightest full HD camcorder, the SANYO Xacti VPC-CS1.

Alex Myers, Director at Manifest London commented: "It's fantastic to be working with a prestigious brand like SANYO, especially when it involves the launch of a genuinely ground breaking range of products like this."

Based on Grays Inn Road in central London, Manifest has a fast-growing stable of clients ranging from iconic photography brand ILFORD PHOTO to the first ever World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) held in Qatar last November, where Manifest's Digital Newsroom platform was used to disseminate news to online audiences.

Dominic Jones continued: "Manifest clearly demonstrated their ability to seamlessly combine media savvy, commercial awareness and pioneering online innovation in equal measure. We are already seeing the benefits of their creativity in our press materials and the digital newsroom they have built for us has enhanced our online communications dramatically."

Myers added, "We have a very strong idea about what PR should provide for brands in an age where the media is evolving so quickly. Far from simply reacting to the changing shape of the media, we intend to drive it - and our work with SANYO will be no different."

Manifest developed the brand identity for HARMANexpress.com, the brands' first online store, in 2009 and launched it in the photographic press. At Focus, we are helping to make the show a live launchpad for the site. A real-life version of the store will be on stand, and we have evolved the brand identity to develop artwork and promotional items consistent with the website's user experience.

Similarly, ILFORD PHOTO's unique ILFORD LAB DIRECT service will be a show-stopper at the NEC - and we have created bespoke display panels to both educate visitors about the service and drive future sales.

From a PR perspective, we'll be coordinating interviews and briefings with all of the key trade and photography enthusiast press.

So, if you're at the NEC this March, then make sure you stop by the HARMAN technology stand and see what all the fuss is about.

The WISE organisers were keen to tap into the potential of social media to bring the events at the conference to a wider audience, and Manifest's Digital Newsroom (DNR) provided the perfect platform. By synchronising the WISE newsroom with customised profiles on Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and Facebook - we were able to syndicate the news and multimedia across all platforms automatically via RSS, using the DNR as a central hub of information. The result far surpassed the pre-event expectations, with thousands of hits to www.digitalnewsroom.co.uk/wise09 and dozens of links from relevant and influential blogs using the DNR as their primary source.

The DNR provided embeddable video for bloggers to drop straight into their posts, alongside a live slideshow of images taken at the event and posted on Flickr by official sources and attendees alike. A live Twitterfeed following the official #WISE09 hash tag meant anyone visiting the DNR stories could see comments tweeted by attendees in real time. The benefits of this regular dynamic content to search engine optimisation also supported a huge amount of traffic (as high as 27%) from Google searches for the WISE event.

As well as driving online word-of-mouth (there were over 1000 mentions online during the three days of the conference) the DNR offered a hugely efficient resource for both the media attending WISE and journalists covering the news from afar. By hosting the images just moments after they had been taken, the DNR meant journalists had quick and easy access to official photography without receiving huge email attachments. Equally, broadcasters were able to view embedded video (both edited and b-roll) and make editorial judgements without having to download the large raw file from an FTP server first.

As well as delivering news in English, we were able to create Arabic versions of the DNR for the Middle East audiences at the same time as despatching the English language variations. It's safe to say that these were the first Arabic DNRs we've ever had to produce and the response from Arabic speaking journalists and bloggers alike was unanimously positive.

WISE concluded with a ten point declaration that will drive education forward across the globe for the next twelve months, with an evaluation of successes and learnings at WISE 2010 - where we hope to be delivering live news and multimedia once again.

All proceeds from the sales of the calendar go directly to Take Heart India, a fantastic charity helping underprivileged communities in India through the delivery of IT training and learning facilities.

The calendar has certainly had an impact, with the national print media picking up the story first, before Sky News, BBC Brazil (yes, Brazil), Le Monde and a myriad of other international titles picked it up. We even made it onto the home page of the Huffington Post - the world's most influential and well-read blog - before that sparked a flurry of coverage stateside including the San Francisco Chronicle.

Alex Myers, Director at Manifest London commented:
"It's fantastic to see London Nude Tech get so much media attention - it should really help to drive sales."

"I think when people first heard about the project they thought it would be just another a twee charity project. However, the photography and design have been carefully crafted to make this a calendar people actually want to buy, which has made a difference."

"The media attention probably derives from the fact that it's funny to talk about a calendar of naked geeks, but then there's a twist when they see the images are fantastic shots of confident, successful entrepreneurs that certainly don't fit the stereotype of a technology nerd."

The calendar continues to spark debate and conversation online - you can follow the tweets using #LDNnudetech - and you can take a sneak peek at the front cover on Manifest's Flickr photo stream.

In November, their Digital Newsroom went live - a resource we hope will help Excellent Development to promote their activities with added effect in 2010 and beyond.

We also conducted a social media audit for the charity, helping them to understand the social media landscape and make the most of the opportunities that exist online to promote their cause.

Alexandra Oatham, Fundraising Development Manager at Excellent Development commented:
"Manifest has been a great help to us. Their understanding of social media and new digital communications tactics has already helped us to advance what we're doing and evolve our strategy for the coming year."

The guys at Excellent Development are in celebration mode at the moment, after being selected by The Daily Telegraph to be part of their Christmas appeal - a campaign that will hopefully raise awareness about this charity's fantastic philosophy when it comes to supporting those in need of clean water.

If you want to find out more, visit their website at www.excellent-development.org or follow them on Twitter via @ThisisExcellent

Manifest has developed considerably over the last 10 years with the most recent development being the launch of our London office to service our growing client base in the south.

Nev Ridley concludes:
"We are entering another exciting period with the recent opening of our London office and continued growth in the north. This is a fantastic achievement which of course could not have happened without the hard work of all our staff and support from our clients."

Our PR Account Manager, Fiona Shackleton said:
"The family run business started out by supplying independent retailers and wholesalers in the northwest region. As such, UK POS wanted to thank its loyal customers - after all they helped UK POS get to where it is today - but also highlight that its family values still remain key to its everyday business practice."

For that reason Manifest created a campaign that would focus on local press and independent retail trade titles. We launched competitions, an Independent Retail Starter Pack and also drew on UK POS' 20 years working relationship with fellow family-owned business, Gee Tee's.

Debra Jamieson is Sales and Marketing Director of UK POS and explained:
"As a family run business these milestones are very dear to us and it was fantastic to do something which has been well-received by our valued customer base. Manifest has really delivered, not only on this campaign, but over the past 12 months and we look forward to continuing this into 2010. Now its time to celebrate!"

Commenting on his appointment at Manifest, Stewart said:
"I was delighted to have been given the opportunity to work for a company which offers such variety and that was ultimately what I was looking for when it came to moving on from Mitre. The prospect of being part of a creative studio with such talented and experienced designers and working on a variety of briefs and clients was a real draw."

More recently, Kate Burn joined Manifest after completing a degree in Public Relations and Advertising at the University of Lincoln. Prior to joining Manifest, Kate worked as a Marketing Assistant at Leeds based manufacturing and engineering parts supplier WDS Component Parts Ltd.

Commenting on joining Manifest, Kate said:
"I was thrilled to have been offered the position at Manifest as I was very impressed with its fresh approach to PR. I look forward to developing my skills as a young public relations professional within such a progressive company."

Manifest designed the platform, which makes the submission process quick and easy for users, whilst providing secure data capture for Dunlop Adhesives.

On pack promotion of the competition has also been crafted by our creative team and the 'Professor BRAINBOX' artwork s used across all promotional items - from the on pack leaflets to runners-up prizes.

The innovative promotion also gave us a chance to use our unique new Digital Newsroom facility to distribute the news to online audiences and journalists alike. There will be more information on our DNR on the website shortly and the platform makes news easier to find for interested parties, easier to share, and eradicates many of the issues journalists have with traditional press releases.

The competition has already seen an influx of entries and as the PR campaign gains momentum, we're sure to see may more inventive builders have a crack at winning the laptop.

As part of Manifest's new PR strategy for ILFORD PHOTO, we designed and established the Twitter account for ILFORD PHOTO in early September. Importantly we had already established an outreach strategy that would make the platform a success for the brand from day one. We conducted a social media audit for ILFORD PHOTO that highlighted the online influencers in the photography community, enabling us to engage with Twitter users that would find our content relevant and compelling from day one.

Twitter.com/ILFORDPHOTO leapt to 345 followers in less than a week and coupled with a Facebook following of 850 fans, this provides ILFORD PHOTO with the capacity to engage with well over 1000 advocates directly online.

"By preparing our content and approach carefully, we have really hit the ground running with ILFORD PHOTO's online presence," Comments Alex Myers, Director at Manifest, "However, this is only the beginning, as we are preparing a bold and groundbreaking online campaign for 2010 that will really unlock the sales potential of social media audiences for ILFORD PHOTO."]]> Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.manifestcomms.co.uk/news/2009/09/let-us-be-your Manifest's social media team is at the forefront of social media communications and with Manifest's Social Media Training (SMT) programmes we can help your organisation to understand the opportunities and risks that exist online for your brand.

"More people use Facebook every day than the cumulative circulation of every national newspaper in the UK. But it's not just the scale and influence of social media that makes it so important - it's the capacity to interact and engage directly with audiences,"
Says Alex Myers, Director at Manifest.

"Our SMT services aim to shed light on the possibilities for organisations, while providing them with the tools to begin benefitting from online communications."

SMT programmes are adapted to the specific objectives and knowledge levels of delegates - ensuring optimum value and insight is gained.

Half day introductory seminars are complimented with full day workshops that combine the seminar structure with one-to-one training.

"There are a lot of people providing social media training," Alex added, "But too often they are not tailored to the specific objectives of an organisation, have a very generic scope or do not provide a stepping stone to getting started. We aim to change all that."

To find out more about Manifest's Social Media Training programmes, or to book a session for your organisation, contact us.

"Initially the southern office will focus on its PR and pioneering Social Media work, with all creative design work conducted in Huddersfield. This coexistence means we are increasing our scope and scale, while continuing to drive work through our founding office in Huddersfield. There are obvious benefits for customers in London and the north."

"Despite the gloomy outlook, we have had a really positive 2009 so far, so it makes sense to invest in something in which we are experts and we know works," explained Nev.

Manifest's London office is based in Kings Cross, providing a great central London location with the added benefit of seamless travel from the North when teams collaborate.

As well as ads, Sandtoft required additional promotional collateral to catch the imagination of new and existing customers based in the south.

The first of the ads can be found in the trade press, with collateral ready to be rolled out.

Elaine Liversidge, Marketing Manager for Sandtoft Roof Tiles commented:
"The brief highlighted several potential routes which the design team explored and this led to three very different options being presented to us. However one concept really stood out and we are extremely pleased with the overall result."

If Facebook was a country, it would be the fourth largest in the world - and there would be a tiny hamlet called Manifest Communications. Please join us so we can become a metropolis.

Some of the guys in studio also think of themselves as music visionaries, so if you want to know what we're listening to then why not connect with us on Last.fm. Yes, we do use Spotify, but last.fm is just a bit more sociable (blog post on that is to come!).

All joking aside - we live and breathe social media here and we understand how it can help your organisation to get its message across. If you're one of the many people wondering what social media can do for you, then the best way is to jump right in and see for yourself.

The site is designed for the Web 2.0 world, providing sharable and downloadable information, coupled with links to all of Manifest's various social media identities - from Facebook to Last.fm.

Thanks to its careful design structure, the site also looks great across a multitude of different browsers and platforms - even smartphones such as the iPhone or Blackerry.