Thursday 29 October 2009

How social media can bring your brand to the masses

We have been promoting our clients successfully through traditional media for the last ten years. Building strong reputations with press and clients alike. But we knew that things were changing and so we buried ourselves in social media, learning on our feet and integrating ourselves into this online community.


The social media buzz is being felt around the world as networks such as Twitter and Facebook show a growth above and beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.  For the first time many brands are able to actually connect with and speak to their end users as if they were simply chatting about what to have for tea. This modern social accessibility is something many brands can only dream of.


Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures and video. Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP, to name a few. Examples of social media applications are Google Groups (reference, social networking), Wikipedia (reference), MySpace (social networking), Facebook (social networking), MouthShut.com yelp.com (product reviews), Youmeo (social network aggregation), Last.fm (personal music), YouTube (social networking and video sharing), Avatars United (social networking), Second Life (virtual reality), Flickr (photo sharing), Twitter (social networking and microblogging), Open Diary (blogging), and other microblogs such as Jaiku. Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms like Mybloglog and Plaxo.


Phew, you may say. Do I want to know all of that? Do I need to know all of that? Is it going to help my business?
Answers: Maybe, not really, yes.


But where do you begin?
There are so many options that the danger is that you actually end up doing nothing because you don’t know where to start. Mistake - big one!
The real starting point begins we believe with asking yourself what it is that you want to achieve?
The usual answers of more sales, market share etc. can really be addressed in most cases by gaining more awareness of your brand - thus resulting in more visitors to your own web site.
But an effective social media strategy can achieve a whole lot more. Including improving brand loyalty and brand image whilst creating a loyal brand community.
That’s where we come in. Through a process of study and practice we have devised systems to drive more traffic to your website. We have this working for a range of customers varying in size and geographical location.
We will work with you to learn your core values and your business objectives and translate this into the message that we promote for you.


But what do we want achieve for you?
Increased traffic to your brand website.
Increased awareness of your brand.
Promote your products and services to identified target market.
To maximise brand mentions.
To offer review products to key influential bloggers.


Our social media service
Building of YouTube stream, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr groups that work to actively promote your brand.
Manage the above mentioned accounts.
Promote any blog or website that you currently utilise.
Cross tweet information across our well established Twitter accounts. We have a combined reach of over 13 million people. FYI, we have never used follow programs on Twitter. All of our followers have chosen to follow us and are receptive to our messages.
Act as the social media point of reference for all enquiries.


Why Us?
Well.... that’s quite simple really. We are early adopters and in social media that means everything. We are not saying that we have been there from the word dot....but we seem to be there 24/7 now (if you follow us you know that to be true!)

By early adopters we mean that social media has become a way of life for us. We are on line by hook or by crook - yes OK, we are addicts! That was one thing that Sian learned when over at the BlogHer conference earlier this year. That us social media geeks are all addicts. As much as we like to try to defend it - it is true. Our social media management does not stop when normal office hours cease. Much of our important social media networking is done in the evenings and weekends. Regular social media providers don’t offer this level of out of hour’s service.
We already run a number of highly effective social media accounts for our clients. Giving us an amazing potential reach of over 13 million people - which is way over ten times the combined circulation of every single printed parenting publication in the UK. This kind of puts things into perspective.
So that is us and what we do. We could go on wowing you with our success stories but quite frankly whilst we have been writing this we have been neglecting our Twitter feed. 
Whilst working with us cannot guarantee you more sales we can guarantee that we can build your brand and drive traffic to your site - and how do you think that could influence your sales?
If you would like more information on our regular PR service please visit our main site www.asclearas.com
If you would like to hear what we have to say on a regular basis please follow our blog by adding us to your RSS feed or by adding yourself as a follower on the right of the page. Our full contact details can be found on our main site.

Saturday 24 October 2009

Prince Lionheart win Prima Baby editors award

The new Prince Lionheart Silicone Bottles have just won a Prima Baby Editors Innovation Award. 
These tactile bottles have to be seen in action to be truly appreciated. If you would like to test them for your publication please email us.

TotsBots making Britain Great Again

I placed this feature for TotsBots in the Daily Express this week. They are one of a dying breed of companies who still manufacture their products in the UK.
Their factory employs local people and boosts the local economy.
They have come a long way since they began making nappies in their kitchen - TotsBots are a real UK success story.
Fiona and Magnus are available for interview.

Daily Express
22 Oct 2009

Wednesday 21 October 2009

loBO from bababing! now in stock

We now have samples of the fab new loBO bouncer from bababing! If you are a magazine or parenting site that would like to review / test it. Please drop me an email.



Tuesday 13 October 2009

Thank you ParentDish.co.uk for the wondermummy review

wondermummy the leading online maternity fashion store has just picked a great review from ParentDish. wondermummy offers a complete range of stylish, fashionable maternity clothing that doesn't make you compromise on your own pre pregnancy style.
Every item in their online store is road tested by pregnant mums to ensure optimum quality and wearability. Their contemporary suit is an amazing buy that adapts to accommodate a growing bump and at just £109, it offers amazing value.
If you are interested in featuring wondermummy in and maternity fashion features please drop us an email to sian at as clear as dot com


This easy wear pregnancy dress is another must have at just £44.99.

Friday 9 October 2009

Mother & Baby Awards Finalists are Announced...



It is the news the industry has been eagerly awaiting! These are a nail biting few weeks whilst we call wait around to find out if we have made it as a finalist.
This year they have changed the format of the awards and every product entered was tested. Making some categories packed with up to forty different products.


So which as Clear as clients have made it to the awards night on November 19th?


  1. Best Sling or Carrier category - TotsBots Papoozle (also last years winner).
  2. Best Baby Food - Annabel Karmel Make it Easy Pasta.
  3. Best Bath time Product - Prince Lionheart washPOD.
  4. Best Highchair - Stokke® Tripp Trapp®
  5. Best Newborn Sleep Aid - Green Baby organic cotton sleepgown (one of my fave all time products.)
  6. Best Product for Weaning - Prince Lionheart bebePOD plus.
  7. Best Pushchair - Stokke® Xplory®.
  8. Best Reusable Nappy - TotsBots Pocket Tots.
  9. Best Twin/Tandem - Leebruss Zoom





I'm not really sure what happened to the cot category as their is no mention of it, but I will come back to you when I hear.
Please wish all of my clients the best of luck. My part is out of the way no and we just have to sit back and wait.


The run of magazine product awards is a real time investment for us. Every year things go wrong and we were hindered even further this year due to the postal strikes just as we were sending out samples.


As an agency - this year we send out items to more than 100 testers!
Winning magazine recognition awards do really help with sales and consumer confidence especially in the nursery industry.






The full list of finalists in this years awards can be seen on the Ask A Mum website

Lots of client mentions in this weeks Nursery Online newsletter

Thanks to Cathy over at Nursery Online for all of the client mentions in this weeks newsletter. 

She also gives a run down of all of the winners in this years Practical Parenting awards. You can see this weeks newsletter at the Nursery Online site.



Thursday 8 October 2009

Business Suit from wondermummy for the Mumpreneur in us all

As any mum will vouch finding stylish, comfortable, fashionable maternity wear can be pretty stressful. Add a job that requires you to wear a suit and this frustration can be easily doubled.
Leading on line maternity specialists wondermummy have the answer with their easy to wear Maternity Suit.
Boyfriend cut trousers with an easy adjust waist band allow you to cleverly accommodate your expanding middle teamed with the fully lined tie front jacket that looks great right throughout your pregnancy.

A choice of plain black or pin stripe fabric and in sizes from 10 to 16.

This fab suit is a must have at just £109.99 and if that wasn’t good enough for the next couple of weeks you can get it at the discounted price of £87.99.


wondermummy style tip:  Try our maternity suit with a classic white shirt or a classic office look.   Alternatively, wear with our pregnancy vest top for casual but stylish occasions put the maternity suit with a ruched maternity top and pumps.

Editors notes: wondermummy was created by a self confessed clothes junkie. Her first pregnancy became the inspiration for her successful business. Now a mum of three wondermummy is still on a mission to offer pregnant women the opportunity to buy fashion that makes them feel great throughout their nine months.
Each garment is road tested by a group of mummies to be and every item that makes it to the online store have passed their stringent style, comfort and quality tests.
Wondermummy stocks fashionable, current styles for every occasion from work to glamorous nights out.
High res images are available to download from the Client Image Bank on our main site 

Friday 2 October 2009

More good press for us today....

A good piece of coverage on Fashion Monitor news for WonderMummy.com

as Clear as in the news again...


Here is the link to the story featured on today's Nursery Online newsletter