Maxicom – AxiCom = MaxTB at Wildfire
Mar 12th
Hello anonymous blinking observers.
It’s time to announce that as of Monday the 15th of March, I’ll be leaving my role at the magnificent global PR powerhouse AxiCom to join the team of thrusting young things at Wildfire PR.
Raising the Temperature
You may be familiar with the agency online via such noted Wildfirers as DannyWhatmough and DebbyPenton ( or have met them in real life as Danny Whatmough and Debby Penton respectively…) Alternatively, I’d be surprised if you haven’t read the brilliant Wildfire blog or indeed Danny’s own.
For many of you this will mean business as usual except for one logical alteration: what once was @maxicom is now part of my wider web presence as @maxtb.
There will be no encores…
Ch-Ch-Changes
Another exciting change is the fact that I’ll now be working remotely from somewhere in town one day a week- expect to see me shouting into my mobile at a workspace near you (any recommendations for suitable locations gratefully received.) Secretly, I hope this may also give me a better chance of completing Operation “Beat Whatmough at Foursquare”.
To all you journalists out there, Wildfire seem to be on a streak of announcing various new clients right now so it looks like an exciting road ahead- no doubt many of you will continue to hear from me regularly. To those I’ll be leaving behind, it has been a pleasure and thankyou for your part in the many-headed hydra of relationships that the press represents- couldn’t have done it without you!
Last Words
Finally, it seems only fitting to present one last thankyou to everyone I worked with during my time at AxiCom from the excellent clients all the way through to @TheKennedy, @crossy and the rest of the Enterprise team. @axiTom, you are in safe hands.
So that’s it, nothing more to say other than:
TO THE FUTURE!
Could You Have Effervescent Cola Tablets?
Feb 4th
An unashamedly different kind of post today but I’m ill and I like the idea so up it goes.
Wouldn’t it be excellent if Coke/ Pepsi etc brought out a (probably limited edition) product where you dropped a tablet into the water and it reacted like this:
How to Stop PR Spam
Jan 28th
The writing of this post was accelerated by today’s launch of An Inconvenient PR Truth, a marketing campaign from RealWire with its own clever take on the PR spam situation. It’s easy on the eyes, cleverly tied in with RealWire’s colours and even comes with its own journalists’ Bill of Rights
But of course, it’s just a nice idea. If the problem of PR spam could be solved by education alone then God knows there are enough training courses and articles out there for it to have disappeared a long time ago.
I think there may be a better solution out there…
Thank Me Later: The Role of Gratitude in Social Media
Jan 19th
Good manners are great- like social alchemy, they lubricate the processes of every day life, giving a little advantage to those who use them effectively.
But as with all things, they require balance. Perhaps it’s because it exposes their ritual, arbitrary nature but gratuitous deployment can breed suspicion or come across as weakness. I think it’s much the same with the gratitude that some people demonstrate in social media.
Why the Nexus is not “just another Android phone”
Jan 6th
Okay, let’s make this clear: The Nexus is just another Android phone.
However, it’s one that Google have thrown the full weight of their marketing effort behind. Bear in mind these guys don’t hold press events for the opening of every envelope- the last big one announced Google Wave and that was only as part of a larger Google I/O gathering.
Furthermore, Google are notorious long-game thinkers. They gradually manoeuvre their way around the industry, insidiously implanting the importance of their products into your everyday lifestyle. It’s viral.
Look who’s talking