From PR to Eternity

Cow revealed some great research in PR Week recently about how 7 out of 10 of the FTSE 100 companies have not registered their company name on Twitter and therefore risk imposters damaging their reputations by brand jacking their name.

There's been a bit of a stir in the PR blogosphere since then, as Wadds registered @CowPR on Twitter. Since then things have escalated with a blog post here, and a blog post there, here a post, there a post, everywhere a blog post. Old MacDonald had a farm ee i ee i o...

Cow PR have however registered @Dirkthecow but not @CowPR. They apparently dropped the PR part of their name a while ago, but it still lives on and even PR Week referenced them as Cow PR.

Last Summer I worked at Concept Communications, but it was known as Concept PR by clients. The reason being as you build up a good relationship with your publics it's only natural that they will rename you with a sort of corporate nickname. For example Marks and Spencer became M&S, Apple Computer became Apple, Woolworths became Woolies, and McDonalds became Maccies. The list goes on.

So registering your brand name online can become a bit of a hassle as there's so many variations of your name in use. Nelson Mandela aka Richard Millington rightly points out it is impossible to register every conceivable variation of your brand name online. Registering a few is always a good idea though. If Cow had registered Cow, Cow PR, and Cow Communications they could have avoided being brand jacked. It's fortunate for them that Wadds didn't try to damage or imitate their brand - instead he did some PR for cows before deleting the account.

Cow aren't the only ones that haven't registered a few possible variations though, despite reporting the story, I noticed that @PRWeek hadn't registered their own name on Twitter. So obviously I nabbed it. If I was a little more mischievous I could wreak havoc and damage the PR Week brand, but fortunately I'm quite nice and will probably delete the account next week as I don't really want it. If PR Week do though, please feel free to ping me an e-mail and I'll send you the details.

UPDATE: I have now deleted my @PRWeek account. I've also noticed that I've been brand jacked too. @Mattwatson and @Matthewwatson have both been registered! Name jacking? And, hats off to Dirk at Cow PR who fessed up here.

Labels: brand jacking, cow pr, formby, ftse 100, matthew watson, pr week, rainier pr, richard millington, twitter

3 Comments:

Paul Stallard said...: I did laugh when I read wadd's blog a couple of days ago havin g also read the story in PR Week. You Rainier lads are a cheeky bunch! I think I will see if I can register for any of my ex places of work and hold them to ransom for a day or two :o); Saturday, August 09, 2008 7:30:00 PM
Sylvia Smith said...: I've read Dirk's response on Wadds' blog and it does him a lot of credit. He admitted that he made a big deal out of something that really isn't.

But Paul, "cheeky bunch"? Perhaps time to admit that what you guys did here was just a wee bit petty?

Dirk says on Wadds' blog he didn't register his old domain because not being Unilever or what not, he didn't think anyone would care.

Obviously he isn't aware of the school boy humour that reverberates around the UK tech PR echo chamber.

Some of the links and comments you posted to Matthew made me a little uneasy. To be blunt, it's malice masquerading as humour.

Those of you have spent the last few days registering all sorts of IDs and domain names, don't you have any real work to do?; Sunday, August 10, 2008 10:39:00 AM
Matthew Watson said...: Hi Sylvia,

I'm sorry my post made you feel a little uneasy, perhaps you're right and things have gone a little bit past being a joke. But I think the fuss over this just shows what a problem brand jacking is. It's fortunate that none of us registering domains like @cowpr, @prweek and @nelsonmandela were doing so with real malice.

Just read Dirk's comments on Wadds' blog now and I take my hat off to him, it takes a big man to say I fessed up. I'll fess up too, and send my apologies to Dirk and the guys at Cow PR, maybe I did take a joke too far.

Anyway thanks for stopping by!
Matt

P.s. I've deleted @PRWeek now. I'm a nice guy honest :-); Sunday, August 10, 2008 11:34:00 PM

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	About Me Matthew Watson is a consultant for Rainier PR, who blogs about his journey into the world of technology public relations. Matt's views and opinions are his own and do not represent those of his past, present or future employers. 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There's been a bit of a stir in the PR blogosphere since then, as Wadds registered @CowPR on Twitter. Since then things have escalated with a blog post here, and a blog post there, here a post, there a post, everywhere a blog post. Old MacDonald had a farm ee i ee i o... Cow PR have however registered @Dirkthecow but not @CowPR. They apparently dropped the PR part of their name a while ago, but it still lives on and even PR Week referenced them as Cow PR. Last Summer I worked at Concept Communications, but it was known as Concept PR by clients. The reason being as you build up a good relationship with your publics it's only natural that they will rename you with a sort of corporate nickname. For example Marks and Spencer became M&S, Apple Computer became Apple, Woolworths became Woolies, and McDonalds became Maccies. The list goes on. So registering your brand name online can become a bit of a hassle as there's so many variations of your name in use. Nelson Mandela aka Richard Millington rightly points out it is impossible to register every conceivable variation of your brand name online. Registering a few is always a good idea though. If Cow had registered Cow, Cow PR, and Cow Communications they could have avoided being brand jacked. It's fortunate for them that Wadds didn't try to damage or imitate their brand - instead he did some PR for cows before deleting the account. Cow aren't the only ones that haven't registered a few possible variations though, despite reporting the story, I noticed that @PRWeek hadn't registered their own name on Twitter. So obviously I nabbed it. If I was a little more mischievous I could wreak havoc and damage the PR Week brand, but fortunately I'm quite nice and will probably delete the account next week as I don't really want it. If PR Week do though, please feel free to ping me an e-mail and I'll send you the details. UPDATE: I have now deleted my @PRWeek account. I've also noticed that I've been brand jacked too. @Mattwatson and @Matthewwatson have both been registered! Name jacking? And, hats off to Dirk at Cow PR who fessed up here. Labels: brand jacking, cow pr, formby, ftse 100, matthew watson, pr week, rainier pr, richard millington, twitter Posted by Matthew Watson on 3 Comments: Paul Stallard said... I did laugh when I read wadd's blog a couple of days ago havin g also read the story in PR Week. You Rainier lads are a cheeky bunch! I think I will see if I can register for any of my ex places of work and hold them to ransom for a day or two :o) Saturday, August 09, 2008 7:30:00 PM Sylvia Smith said... I've read Dirk's response on Wadds' blog and it does him a lot of credit. He admitted that he made a big deal out of something that really isn't. But Paul, "cheeky bunch"? Perhaps time to admit that what you guys did here was just a wee bit petty? Dirk says on Wadds' blog he didn't register his old domain because not being Unilever or what not, he didn't think anyone would care. Obviously he isn't aware of the school boy humour that reverberates around the UK tech PR echo chamber. Some of the links and comments you posted to Matthew made me a little uneasy. To be blunt, it's malice masquerading as humour. Those of you have spent the last few days registering all sorts of IDs and domain names, don't you have any real work to do? Sunday, August 10, 2008 10:39:00 AM Matthew Watson said... Hi Sylvia, I'm sorry my post made you feel a little uneasy, perhaps you're right and things have gone a little bit past being a joke. But I think the fuss over this just shows what a problem brand jacking is. It's fortunate that none of us registering domains like @cowpr, @prweek and @nelsonmandela were doing so with real malice. Just read Dirk's comments on Wadds' blog now and I take my hat off to him, it takes a big man to say I fessed up. I'll fess up too, and send my apologies to Dirk and the guys at Cow PR, maybe I did take a joke too far. Anyway thanks for stopping by! Matt P.s. I've deleted @PRWeek now. I'm a nice guy honest :-) Sunday, August 10, 2008 11:34:00 PM Post a Comment Links to this post: <$BlogBacklinkTitle$> <$BlogBacklinkSnippet$> <$I18NPostedByBacklinkAuthor$> @ <$BlogBacklinkDateTime$> Create a Link << Home

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