Spread-shirt press release
Alistair MacDonald
I don't know if you have seen any but there are articles bouncing
around that I believe came from a Spread Shirt press release implying
that there shirts increase turnout. My problem is that I have done a
lot of research in to BarCamp drop-outs with the aim of reducing that
number, and quite simply I believe the Spread Shirt clams are not
true. In fact some of it is is complete fiction and seems to be mixing
data from a BarCamp it had nothing to do with.
Although I am happy to shout form the roof tops that using Spread
Shirt does identify the people who are likely to turn up I see no
evidence and don't believe that it increases global turnout.
So, I don't really want to make a sponsor have to retract a press
release and publish a correction, but I don't feel we should let this
one go no matter who it is. Can we officially give them a rap on the
knuckles and tell them that we can not support there calms. Also can
we agree on some wording that we are happy with them to use to help
sell there product, but in this case is true. It should be noted that
the PR Savvy sent the release so Spread Shirt might know nothing about
it.
Alistair
Cristiano Betta
Alistair MacDonald
that the figures are wrong.
If you are happy for me to act independently the I will but I don't
think that is best. In shout I am not happy for something that is not
true become public record. I appreciate that you don't want to upset a
sponsor and were part of the release but just because someone is
giving you money should not allow then to lie in your name.
I will post the press release next...
Alistair
Alistair MacDonald
Marketeers Engage Delegates & Spread the Word with Innovative Approach
from Spreadshirt
November 10, 2010 07:21 AM Eastern Time
LONDON--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Spreadshirt
(www.spreadshirt.co.uk), the European market leader and creative
platform for personalised apparel, announced its latest Shop Partner
deal with BarCamp London (Europe’s largest overnight BarCamp, part of
the international network of user-generated conferences
www.barcamplondon.com). The deal uses t-shirts as an integrated part
of the registration process and has previously improved the drop-out
rate from 40% to less than 5%. This follows The Guardian’s success
over the election, engaging readers with the now iconic ‘Posh Boy’
t-shirt.
“BarCamp London is a free event, which has in the past meant that
attendees sign-up and then don’t turn up on the day,” explains
Cristiano Betta, BarCamp London organiser. He continues, “to try and
reduce the drop-out rate, we used Spreadshirt’s Shop offering at our
last event, engaging our delegates with customisable BarCamp London
t-shirts that they collected at the conference. This year we’re
already seeing the buzz and engagement created by the t-shirts and are
expecting a high turn-out”.
For the 2010 unconference on 13 & 14 November, Spreadshirt’s print on
demand technology will allow BarCamp London delegates to choose the
design, style and size of their t-shirt. They can customise a BarCamp
London design, adding their name, fascinating fact or even a new
business idea. Spreadshirt gives BarCamp London an interactive
experience for its delegates, to create a t-shirt they want to wear,
thus raising awareness of the event and bonding with its advocates.
Philip Rooke, CMO of Spreadshirt explains, “these benefits are not
just limited to conferences and events. The t-shirt with involvement
has grown into a viral tool. Marketeers are taking advantage of this
and we’re seeing some very inventive ways of using apparel coming out
of the UK, our fastest-growing market. Marketing teams now have a
risk-free way of engaging with their target audiences, reaching new
places, rewarding and involving brand champions and even generating
revenue. Good quality, customisable apparel gives a company’s
advocates something they want, which are then kept and worn regularly;
“every time it’s clean” according to our consumers”.
In another campaign where t-shirts engaged readers, Spreadshirt worked
with The Guardian creating a t-shirt that ran alongside its April
Fool's day editorial spoof - Step Outside Posh Boy. This t-shirt was
given away in a competition and ran as a reader’s offer so it was
available to everyone, resulting in 3,000 t-shirt orders in a range of
sizes and styles over 21 days. Seven days after the April Fools piece
appeared in the Guardian, the Posh Boy t-shirt featured on the hugely
popular TV series Have I Got News for You. “With viral campaigns you
have to be quick. The speed at which we were able to capitalise on
this idea meant that we were able to engage with our brand champions
whilst the joke was still topical, and at minimum risk because of
Spreadshirt’s print on demand technology. As a result this campaign
was hugely popular and proved a great success”, said Kate
Morgan-Locke, Consumer Offers & Services Director, the Guardian
Newspaper.
About Spreadshirt
Spreadshirt provides a seamless extension to its Shop Partner’s
websites, handling all the online orders, payments, returns and the on
demand delivery (within 3-5 days in the UK).
Spreadshirt is the global creative platform for personalised clothing.
Almost 300 employees are working to bring the ideas of Spreadshirt
customers to life on Spreadshirt t-shirts, as well as other
customisable apparel and accessories. Without foreign capital,
Spreadshirt was founded in 2002 in Leipzig and is now active in Europe
and the USA. Spreadshirt has millions of customers worldwide and over
half a million shop partners. You can read about Spreadshirt and the
people who work behind the scenes on the Spreadshirt blogs, on
Twitter, Flickr and Facebook.
About BarCamp London
BarCamp is an international network of user-generated conferences (or
unconferences). They are open, participatory workshop-events, whose
content is provided by participants. BarCamp London is a
free-to-attend, weekend for designers, developers and geeks of all
types to share their technology knowledge. BarCamp London 8 is on
13-14 November 2010 at City University.
About The Guardian
The Guardian is one of the UK’s leading daily titles.
Cristiano Betta
Cristiano
Alistair MacDonald
resonance is that we don't want to do anything for whatever reason
then I will deal with it on my own.
Alistair
Cristiano Betta
Tim Blair
I imagine Alistair's query is based on this sentence:
> The deal uses t-shirts as an integrated part of the registration process
> and has previously improved the drop-out rate from 40% to less than 5%.
The implication of the "and" at the beginning of the second line is
that it's the t-shirts themselves which have improved the drop-out
rate; if you replace the word "and" with "that," the t-shirts then
become part of the process that has (as a whole) improved drop-out
rates.
In my (admittedly limited) experience, companies tend to exaggerate
their importance in press releases, and I feel that's just what's
happened here, nothing more.
As Cristiano has said, this press release was made with the BCL
planning team's approval, so there's nothing we could really do about
it now (even if we wanted to).
It's amazing the difference a single word can make :)
Tim.
Cristiano Betta
Cristiano G. Betta
t: +44-751-8397-784
e: cbe...@gmail.com
w: http://cristianobetta.com
w: http://cgbdigital.com
Tom Morris
> deal with BarCamp London (Europe’s largest overnight BarCamp, part of
> the international network of user-generated conferences
> www.barcamplondon.com).
I thought it was .org. Did they get our web address wrong?
--
Tom Morris
<http://tommorris.org/>
Kevin Prince
Cristiano Betta
Cristiano
Tom Morris
> Indeed, already discussed with Alistair in private: simply a problem with
> correlation being depicted as cause and affect. We can't do much about it
> and I don't think it reflects negative on us at all.
>
In a completely unrelated matter:
http://blog.tommorris.org/post/1543109445/unofficial-press-release-not-on-behalf-of
;-)