Latest Articles

Business Briefing: Where Next for Venture Capitalists?

Despite the economic downturn venture capitalists are still looking at investment opportunities in digital media. New Media Knowledge spoke to one to get the low down on what VCs want.

more

Social Media in Practice: BBC Radio 5 Live

Web publishers and broadcasters always have to look for new and innovative ways to maintain existing audiences and win new ones. When BBC Radio 5 Live realised it was losing listeners to other sources of football-based content it launched a new service to win them back. New Media Knowledge met the people responsible.

more

Conservationists Embrace Social Media

Television is increasingly embracing new media to reach new audiences and add interesting applications. New Media Knowledge talks to the people behind a new online conservation series that aims to raise wider awareness of the plight of endangered species.

more

• The Language of the Web
• Rough Guide to: In-Game Advertising
• Alexander McCall-Smith Engages Web 2.0
• Business Brief: Video Advertising Looks to Future
• ‘Virtual Home’ for Ex-Pats in London Established
• Rough Guide to: Social Media and the Law
• Record Visits for UK Blog Sites

Related Articles

• Rough Guide to: Pay-Per-Click Advertising

  Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising on the Web has been one of the major growth sectors in marketing. Last year, Internet search engine Google overtook ITV for monies received from advertising and nearly $2 billion was spent on PPC globally. New Media Knowledge spoke to a PPC consultant to gauge what companies looking at the technology should consider. more

• Second Life in Action

  To help him reach his wide fan base, singer-songwriter Luc Floreani recently turned to online 'virtual' world, Second Life, to perform. He spoke to New Media Knowledge about his experience. more

• Made by Many and Used by High-Flyers

  BA has launched a social site called Metrotwin.com which acts as a travel guide to New York and London. more

• Online Advertising Bucks Flagging Market

  The industry received a welcome boost this week with the news that Internet advertising revenues rose significantly in the first half of 2008, despite tough economic conditions. NMK quizzed the industry on what we can expect for the next year. more

• i-design 08 - Simon Waterfall

  Simon Waterfall, creative director at Poke and former digital chair of D&AD, began the day with a series of questions and observations about the aspects of online media he found frightening and disturbing. more

First Online-Only PR& Marketing Outfit

In a sign of the market's growth, the UK's first completely online PR & marketing consultancy Consult the Guru launched on 5 May, offering to bring top-level marketing advice within financial reach of even the smallest companies...

In a sign of the market's growth and maturity, the UK's first completely online public relations and marketing consultancy Consult the Guru launched on 5 May, offering to bring top-level marketing advice within financial reach of even the smallest companies.

[Register and post your own comments on this article below...]

Their award-winning team of PR and marketing experts style their offering as "big ideas for little bucks."

To use the consultancy service, customers simply visit www.consulttheguru.com and complete a marketing brief, which is brainstormed by the Consult the Guru creative team. Within two working days, the customer receives an attention-grabbing marketing tactic, tailor-made for their business, together with information on how to make it happen. They are hoping to attract publicity-hungry SMEs with a starting price fee that represents a small fraction of the fees charged by traditional offline consultancies.

Arlo Guthrie, managing director of Consult the Guru, gave some bacground to the businesses inception: "I spent years working for mainstream London agencies which wouldn’t even consider taking on a client with less than £100,000 in the kitty. It struck me that there must be literally millions of small businesses around the world that can handle the logistics of marketing and PR in-house: they just need a good idea to get started and advice on what works and doesn’t."

The first customer to use the service was David Williams MBE, chief executive of GEM Motoring Assist. He says: "We were looking for a way to increase the membership of our low-cost national breakdown recovery club. Within 48 hours of submitting a marketing brief, Consult the Guru delivered a truly excellent concept for a marketing campaign. We think the idea is so strong, it could be one of the most effective campaigns we have ever undertaken."

As well as helping small to medium enterprises, Consult the Guru caters for large businesses. Arlo explains: "We hope brand and marketing managers in bigger companies will see our service as a great way to benchmark the advice given by traditional agencies. After all, an original idea is probably the single most important aspect of any marketing campaign, and if you’re going to all that trouble to brief other agencies, it makes sense to spend five minutes getting a second opinion."

Consult the Guru is run by a formidable creative management team. Indeed, with such an experienced team behind it, the company hopes that www.consulttheguru.com won’t just be the place to get a good second opinion, but, as the site proclaims: "your first stop for inspirational PR and marketing ideas."

The wider industry will surely gain some insights into the state of the overall online market by keeping an eye on their progress.

About Consult the Guru:

Managing Director Arlo Guthrie is a winner of the Grand Prix des Relations Presse Relations Publique. He is joined by Lisa ter Haar, previously a board director at Hill and Knowlton - one of the world’s largest marketing communications companies. Also on the management team are Richard ‘Ray’ Simpson, an ex national newspaper journalist who has spent the last three years retained by a major international pharmaceuticals company, and Nigel Kennedy, an internet communications specialist and programmer of best-selling Windows software. www.consulttheguru.com