Qantas, McDonalds and now Toyota have found themselves at the mercy of out of control hashtags.

So its great to see Nike roll out a fantastic Twitter campaign using the hashtag #counts.

The openness and scope of this idea is fantastic. Its evocative and will prompt responses and shares, it can be used during live events (check out the Super Bowl 2012 tweets here) and future campaigns across sporting codes.

It is engaging and interpretable by customers because of shared territory not branded territory. Self serving brand campaigns on Twitter have a very high chance of failure. #Counts works because Nike has made the campaign about the customer and about their achievement (as opposed to Nike’s achievements).

The campaign is memetic rather than me me me.

The best thing about this idea is its simplicity. It requires virtually no explanation and can be woven seamlessly into user content.

There are ways in which it could be hi-jacked because that’s the nature of social media and Nike has an advantage in that customer attitudes towards it are generally positive to start with but its still a very smart idea.

It kicked off with this video, which I also love because it makes exercise and fitness accessible to all. Its a fresh approach when most brands (including Nike) tend to use high profile sports people and heroic sporting moments by default.

The supporting ideas for Make It Count are:

• “If you have a body you’re an athlete”
• “Life is a sport: #makeitcount”

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One of the things that makes Encoder Public Relations different is the approach we take to strategic planning.

Too many agencies concentrate on the development of tactical ideas. We remain focussed during the entire process.

The development of a truly differentiated approach to planning is a work in progress but its a process that all PR agencies will need to go through if they are to stay relevant and competitive.

Five stand out facts for me:

• #egypt was the number one hashtag on Twitter
• $50,000 – The amount raised for charity by the most retweeted tweet of 2011.
• 39 million – The number of Tumblr blogs by the end of 2011 (especially in relation to the next point…)
• 70 million – Total number of WordPress blogs by the end of 2011.
• 300 new millions websites in 2011 (how’s your search strategy?)
• 1 billion – The number of messages sent with WhatsApp during one day (October 2011). (are you on yet?)
• 100 billion – Estimated number of photos on Facebook by mid-2011.

I would like to know if there is any way that Facebook can make it users shareholders – that would be a great way of locking in some value and protecting against the much feared exodus.

You could argue that the users are entitled to a share – as they are the ones that make Facebook what it is, couldn’t you?

Created by: Accounting Degree Online

We would love to hear your feedback and response to our point of view.

Let us know in comments what you would add to the report and what you agree/disagree with.

I can’t claim any of the following productivity advise, as I recently read ‘7 Things Highly Productive People Do’, but felt it was worth sharing.

One of the main messages of the article was to stop multi-tasking and be militant with your time. As communicators we are the most susceptible to distractions. Most of us have Twitter accounts, possibly manage a Facebook page and constantly receive emails that expect an instant response. In an age of time-poor professionals and digital distraction, it’s now harder but more important to make the most of our time.

Some of my favourite tips were (but not limited to):

• Use the phone or talk to someone – emails are overused and often distracting. If you have to respond to an email more than twice, it’s a conversation. Pick up the phone or walk to the next desk and talk. It could save you some typing.
• Stop multi-tasking – Stop checking and replying to emails as you are in the middle of another task. And that goes for Twitter as well. Set aside certain times for each and concentrate on each task individually.
• Work in 60-90 minute intervals – Take a break and refresh. It will make the world of difference. Coffee is always a good excuse.
• Break projects into tasks – When something looks like an incredibly large assignment, it’s easier to put off. Breaking it down to smaller tasks makes it feel more manageable.

My biggest vice for distraction would have to be Email (although Twitter would be a close second). What is your biggest distraction and what will you change to be more productive?

Brown designed an experiment that would test to see if the professional creatives were as susceptible to subliminal persuasion as the ‘rest of us’.

The key take away for me – creativity comes from exposing yourself to new things in their various shapes and sizes.  Locking yourself in a boardroom for a brainstorm is one of the least creative environments going.  But its also about what you do prior to the ideation session.

The public relations industry is increasingly called upon for creative ideas – some people are clearly pre-disposed to be creative but it can be nurtured and encouraged.  Exposing yourself to a variety of inputs is one of the easiest ways to nurture creativity, as the video demonstrates.

Check out this video to learn more.  I couldn’t embed the content but the image will take you to YouTube.

It backfired… as reported by The Australian yesterday:

This morning the airline launched the “Qantas Luxury” Twitter competition asking users to describe their “dream luxury inflight experience”, in return for a pair of Qantas First Class pyjamas and a toiletries kit (prize value $30), only to have users hijack the initiative with negative comments.

There have been more than 15,000 tweets mentioning #qantasluxury.

The vast majority are negative towards Qantas though the airline has also made the point that they’ve had genuine competition entries.

There has been a lot of talk since the story broke about the fact that this was a bad idea from the beginning given the recent  industrial action, stoppages and the resulting inconvenience that these issues caused to customers.  I agree with that perspective.  You don’t need 20/20 hindsight to see that context for #Qantasluxury was all wrong.

Qantas has mis-read the situation and created a mini-issue that should have been avoided.

But for me there is a bigger question here relating to the underlying strategy.

This little campaign seems to be operating in complete isolation (or opposition) to the rest of the brand’s communication and messaging.

Take the Qantas website, not a single message around luxury on the home page and a search for luxury turns up the following results, none of which relate to Qantas services or products:

The same goes for the Facebook Page.

Not only was competition poorly timed it also seems highly opportunistic.  It’s a reminder to all brands that every media channel is joined up and that customers will quickly see through brand marketing that is not authentic.

One of the biggest challenges for Qantas is to get the Australian community to accept the hard truths about the organisation’s future and the role that Australia can play in that.  I sympathise with the business on this issue as they’re having to contend with the fact that Australia has its head in the sand.  Few stakeholders are providing leadership by creating a vision for Australia’s role and the opportunity presented by our neighbours in Asia Pacific.

The creation of a Premium airline is a big part of the Building a Stronger Qantas plan.  The company has acknowledged that there will be some painful steps that need to be taken to get there, which brings into question whether ‘luxury’ is the right positioning for the brand right now even if Qantas had been operating in an uncontroversial context.

Here is a selection of some of the wittiest and not so witty #Qantasluxury tweets put together by @tiphereth.