“Mean Write Hook”. Pretty funny, eh? Anthony Leung, social media manager at Pret , appreciates the value of a good pun, right down to his Twitter username . The focus on wit was much needed in his previous role at JUST EAT , the takeaway aggregator who built their marketing on customer-orientated humour and irreverence. Shifting from promoting a purely online food delivery business to one which is resolutely bricks and mortar, with a long-standing keenly defined brand, could phase some. Leung sees clear continuity in the approach: “Early in my career I returned to college to study marketing further, and the focus on RFM models (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) to categorise and allocate value to customers made a lasting impression on me. Essentially, when applied to social it means you’re looking at when you can next get that customer to engage. That’s the same whether trying to get people to click through to order a takeaway, or to visit their nearest Pret.” He sees social engagement as core to his role and the practice of social media marketing. “Engagement is the currency of social media. Finding those engagement points, and developing tone of voice and content to optimise for it IS social media.” Pret’s well-defined product values and store experience help in this respect. He sees the appeal, and message, even in a period in which they are being feted for their vegetarian push, as: “It isn’t veggie food or vegan food. It’s just delicious food, as Pret always has been, and always strives to be. That message resonates because of the product.” Given the absence of any digital sales, the social programme has a heavy in-store integration, with stores featuring reviews. Prompting users to “put their hands up” and recommend product is a key focus. This is evident in the Pret’s Snapchat filter for their Veggie Pret pop up, something Leung acknowledges they haven’t shouted about. “We’ve let people discover it in a very organic way. That people want to brand themselves as in our in-store is shown in the 55k views we’ve already seen, without any real activation.” When pushed on what a typical day for Pret’s social looks like, he finds it challenging: “JUST EAT was more predictable as to the shape of a typical day. Key to winning at JUST EAT was nailing the relationship between takeaway and what the customer did with it. For example, what are they doing whilst eating it – they’re watching TV, they’re second screening, and what does second screen mean? Twitter. So we’d be live tweeting. Especially things like Eurovision, the World Cup. Those moments were huge for us. At Pret that’s out the window as our story is more important. Pret is more like a charity when it comes to social than a retail brand. Everything that’s done has a purpose. You fall in love with Pret because of the core values and personality. At the heart of their strategy for social is: “Wit and being meaningful – those are key to face-to-face experiences. Even our visuals of food – they make your day better. Cacao orange pots are a great example, with hilarious but useful on pack copy writing on what sounds like a weird ingredient. My role is to ensure those common points are reflected in social, and also challenge the status quo.” Anthony started his career in Canada, and has more recently worked at Rackspace as social lead for the UK, as well as JUST EAT as social media manager. Beginning in broader marketing, he’s collected experience in charity digital community management, SEO, and social content. This reflects a broader trend we’re increasingly seeing in social – specialisation or particular strength in area of social media, rather than “everything social”. This reflects a natural evolution of the discipline, as it becomes pervasively the dominant way to engage consumers. Interestingly, he says he’s stopped looking at other brands, and is instead more interested in how people do their storytelling. For the year ahead he is excited about the potential for immersive visual experiences, from Facebook 360 videos, through to VR. “I know not everyone can come from Glasgow to experience our veggie pop-up store, so I hope to take the experience to them, in an immersive yet accessible way.” This is the latest in our series “#architectsofnext’ which profiles the people on the frontline of building what comes next, through social media. If you want to get ahead, read/do: Top Twitter follow: @AdWeak – it’s good to able to laugh at ourselves sometimes Top Instagram follow:  @TheRock – entertaining, motivational, heartwarming – one of the few celeb accounts worth following Productive habit: Constantly push yourself to be creative and original in your own personal social media content. It’ll inspire your professional work later Unproductive habit: I’m sorry I ever discovered Pokemon Go Favourite brand: Pret . Obviously. This is our #ArchitectsOfNext series, where we aim to inspire others with firsthand insight into how people shaping innovative digital engagement models think and deliver their work. #socialmedia #pret #ArchitectsofNext

He’s really got under the skin of what social media should be for brands: experimentation, real customer understanding and constant interactions. A degree in psychology and 10 years as a radio DJ in Tel Aviv has given Erdman the perfect grounding to really understand how people want to engage with brands. During his time on the radio, he was the voice and substance – creating brand promotions that talked to the listener. He is driven by a healthy dose of realism that people don’t care much about brands: “Unless you can create a meaningful connection with someone they aren’t going to take any notice of you. And for that to happen it has to be about their story, their experiences and how a brand fits with their life. If we were giving away a phone for example, we did it by asking about messages you never meant to send. That’s funny and relatable. That’s a connection.” Erdman moved to the UK six years ago and was looking for a role that would really benefit from his experience and skills in engaging people. Social media was a natural step and AO was the perfect match. “AO has always had the customer at the very heart of what they do, it’s why they’ve disrupted the appliance industry like no other. I do just what I did on the radio: bringing the products to life by getting AO customers to tell us their stories,” explains Erdman. His frustration is that most brands still don’t yet realise this. It’s about storytelling but it’s not about their story. He’s the first to admit that on the surface home appliances aren’t that interesting, until you look at the emotional connection you have with them. When your washing machine breaks down it becomes the most important thing in your life. That, in part, informs his overall approach to AO’s social media – it’s not about big campaign spikes but being always-on: “We don’t know when you might need your next appliance, so we always have to be in the back of your mind. That’s why we focus on lightweight interactions. I see so many other people overthinking it and trying to go big everytime, which is hard to achieve, particularly on a consistent basis. You need little and often. Push the button and move on.” “Too often I hear people asking the wrong questions to begin with: I need a video that costs £10k, where can I find a production company? What’s our seeding strategy? That completely misses the point. You need to think about starting small and about what your customer wants to see from you. Then you can put your feet down, start to run faster and invest more money.” Erdman knows social has to be about authenticity and relevance – do they really mean what they say or is it just to convince me to buy something? He wants to show the genuine excitement customers have around the AO brand. He recalls a woman from Wales sending in a funny but emotional video about the death of her washing machine: “It was so personal, and she’d taken the time to come to us. We had to respond, so we called her and told her we were sending her a new one that day. That was recorded and went up on YouTube and Facebook, the response was phenomenal. We now do a surprise and delight ‘competition’ every week and record winner’s reactions. Even if you weren’t the winner you want to listen to the reactions.” But it’s not just Erdman’s uncanny ability to understand what gets a customer to meaningfully engage, he is very aware that the environment he’s in is always changing. What worked on social last year doesn’t necessarily work today. That’s probably why, refreshingly, Erdman doesn’t extol past successes but uses them as a springboard to achieve something even better. The focus for the AO brand & social team is constantly evolving and testing its social approach, content and ideas: “There are very few rules for what you need to do on social media and those rules are always changing. To stay ahead you have to be flexible and keep experimenting. I see too many people in social media hold back on an idea because they’re worried they won’t get positive results to report back. That’s not where success comes from. It should be more about learning what works and what doesn’t, and that comes from trying and being prepared to fail. It’s a salient point worth reminding ourselves, how well do you know your customer if you don’t know what doesn’t work? And with that he’s off back to Manchester, succeeding in not being afraid to fail and at the same time making the world of washing machines a far more exciting place. To stay ahead think/do: Top Twitter follow: Professor Byron Sharp Top Instagram follow: @DogsofInstagram Top blog: Neuro Science Marketing’s blog Productive habit: Going to the gym Unproductive habit: Playing Pokemon Favourite brand: Paddy Power This is our #ArchitectsOfNext series, where we aim to inspire others with firsthand insight into how people shaping innovative digital engagement models think and deliver their work. #AO #socialmedia #storytelling

Some of the team are spending January living life as a vegan, and we’ve been catching up with some of the leading vegan social media content creators, to hear about their experiences. Darren is one half of Vegan Family TV, one of the UK’s top vegan YouTube channels. He kindly shared his thoughts: How long have you been vegan? We went vegan in the middle of January 2012 after we watched the documentary Earthlings. I told Georgie about how horrific it was and we instantly decided to go vegan but because we have a young family we had to figure out how to get optimal nutrition without eating animal products. What have you found the biggest benefits to be? It actually turned out that it’s not just possible to be healthy while being vegan, but that you end up actually feeling the healthiest you’ve ever felt! The science proven benefits are dramatically reduced incidences of heart disease and cancer, but also on a personal level you feel bright, sharp, light and vibrant. We recover quickly from exercise and our minds feel clear. What’s the most surprising benefit compared to when you began? It’s amazing how fast it is gaining traction, everywhere we go has so many vegan options! We have traveled lots and we’re never stuck without options. What’s the worst thing? On the rare occasion when you get invited to eat somewhere and the restaurant has limited options. However we’ve learned to simply make a meal out of side options, simply order 3 or 4 side dishes and then you have a mini tapas feast. There’s always a way to make positive of any situation and just the fact we get to eat anything which means no harm is being caused to animals or our own bodies is always a winner with us regardless! What’s your biggest frustration? There was a slight learning curve in the beginning as a whole new world of foods opened up to us, but we viewed it with excitement instead. Now it all feels like second nature and we eat a significantly wider variety of foods than when we were omnivores. What role does social media plays in your veganism? Social media is huge for connecting humanity in general. It helps keep not just vegans connected but also it helps show the human element to everybody without the imaginary walls between us, regardless of religion or nationality etc. What motivated you to start creating content about veganism? We felt compelled to share how amazing we felt as family and friends wanted to know how and why we had made the changes which we had. Then it just started to gain so much traction that now we have a huge group of friends who watch us from all around the world. What share of your audience are vegan themselves? Now that we are growing so much we’d estimate that a smaller and smaller section of our audience are vegan. Probably about 30% nowadays, but we’re forever receiving comments saying we inspired others to go vegan! What’s been your most successful content? Our most successful content is showing our children since most who aren’t aware that a plant-based diet can be healthy for all ages always want to see what the children are like, whether they are unwell or wasting away! We manage to shatter those incorrect old stereotypes. Have you seen an increase in non-vegans being interested? Yes massively so! So many people are discovering the world wide benefits of veganism. What are your thoughts on what’s next for veganism? It’s going to continue growing and growing, which is good news for the planet and all of its inhabitants. How do you find eating out, and the more social side of food? Absolutely easy, 99% of places have vegan options and cooking for friends and family is fun as we get to wow them with all what there is to offer. Pizza and chocolate cake with ice cream, no problem! Is there anyone you look to for inspiration? We rely on each other for our main inspiration since the people you spend the most time with are the people you become. We also read a lot of personal development books such as The Compound Effect and The Miracle Morning. Finally, what’s the best vegan chocolate / treat option? There are so many to choose from! Ritter Sport marzipan is great chocolate and Booja Booja ice cream is delicious! #influencers #vegan #veganism #trends

So, you want to know how many users Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or other social networks have? The bad news: It’s a lot of hassle researching the latest numbers. The good news: We’ve done the hard work for you. What are we doing? Latest social network user numbers, on a Google Doc, which we will be updating whenever the numbers change. We have doubtless missed some – so if you spot any which are out of date, let us know. Or if you see publicly citable UK figures, likewise. Why are we doing it? We want to share tools and insights which help people build what comes next. We need these numbers, so we know they have value for others. We could keep them to ourselves, but you’d then spend time searching for them, not working on changing things. Why aren’t these all available already? Well, there are a few reasons: Many social networks are private (often VC backed) companies. They don’t have to share them, if they don’t want to. The really big, publicly listed businesses release these numbers as part of quarterly earnings reports. These aren’t always the most accessible, nor do these businesses want to provide a running commentary – it could make the share price jumpy In some cases they aren’t provided because, simply put, they wouldn’t tell a very pretty story. In a world in which tens of millions of users are small change, it can be tough to admit you don’t have a huge user base, or that your numbers are going backwards There is a broad shift happening whereby Monthly Active Users (MAUs) are no longer regarded as the best single yardstick with which to measure usage of a service. That means some businesses are reluctant to share these numbers because it’s not the best measure of how their service is used (for a video business, time spent viewing might be a better indication than MAUs, e.g. Facebook track Daily Active Users (DAUs)). There isn’t, however, any commonly agreed alternative Why do these user numbers matter? Solid user numbers give a basic indication of the scale of adoption – but do bear in mind that because Snapchat has a lot of users (as one example) doesn’t mean it would be relevant for grandparents – demographics of users matter, as well as raw numbers. You’ve missed my favourite network! Sorry – let us know, and we’ll do our best to add it. I’ve found different numbers… Send us a link to the source. If it’s more recent, or more reliable, we’ll swap it. We’ll get better numbers, together. Can I use these numbers for my document/homework/blog? Sure. It’d be lovely to get a shoutout if you do, but absolutely – please do. #MAUs #socialmedia

Since we started monthly sessions with Sanctus (a start-up dedicated to increasing communication and transparency around mental health), we decided to find out how much conversation is already happening around mental health. We found that mentions of mental health on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, blogs, forums and news sources in the UK over the last year cumulatively reach 22.3 BILLION users. We can break this down further, determining which topics, in particular, reached the most people. We certainly aren’t ignorant of the constant discussion around social media and mental health, and the stats show that this sub-topic reached 570M people, whereas mental health in relation to work had less than half the reach at 280M. In terms of conditions, however, depression and anxiety were by far the most discussed on the whole, particularly on Instagram where the most used (relevant) hashtag was 'depression'. Perhaps more interesting than the sheer volume of mentions and reach was the variety in the conversations, and who was involved in them, depending on the platform. Twitter has the largest reach of mental health conversations Last year there were over 7.7M tweets, reaching 16.9M people. 85% of the engagements with these mentions were retweets, explaining the significant reach and also indicating a passive engagement with the topic. The behaviour here implies that users are happy to share the content, but not necessarily add their own personal perspective or experience into the mix. A distinct difference from other platforms was that learning difficulties were the most discussed mental health topic on Twitter, with mentions of autism making up 6.4% of the total 7.7M. Somewhat heartening is the drop-off in mentions at the end of the workday when people are traditionally with their families. This graph shows the influx of mentions during the working day over one week: Who is talking about it? Twitter is the most likely of the social platforms we analysed to have an even gender split, yet women made up 56% of users in the mental health conversation. We saw this slight skew towards females across most of the platform; this was in line with our expectations as women are usually more active at sharing on social. Men do discuss mental health, but it seems that forums are the platform of choice. 74% of forum users who mention mental health are male, perhaps due to the anonymity of the platform. Forums like Reddit play a significant role in these conversations – across their mental health threads, there are over 827k active members. Something for everyone? What was really stark from our research was that there is no single way of discussing mental health – different platforms host different content for different audiences. As outlined, Twitter seems to be predominantly a platform for sharing in this conversation. Forums appeared to be the place for millennials to chat through mental health, while those aged 34-45 were the most interested in mental health on Facebook. When you delve a little deeper, however, into the world of memes, the younger generation is present on Facebook. While we are unable to analyse interest in mental health meme pages on Facebook, previous research tells us that the audience for memes is mostly under 25. Furthermore, nearly every mental health hashtag on Instagram also had a dedicated meme-related hashtag too (e.g. 'depressionmemes'). Pair this with the knowledge that the most successful content within the mental health conversation is visual (dark humour memes, motivational quotes, etc) and you start to develop a better understanding of not only which platform people are on, but where they head once on it. Once again, the audience for visual content displayed a clear behavioural pattern of sharing; they passively engage rather than actively comment. Ultimately if you want to discuss mental health on social, there’s a huge variety of conversations taking place with a diverse range of users to choose from. While many people choose to simply share content in order to be involved and show support, there’s certainly the opportunity for active involvement and social (especially forums) offer the benefit of anonymity for those who want it.

Here at OneFifty we are firm believers that it is important to provide resources that support and optimise our team’s personal well-being so they are able to thrive at work. In our continuing search to improve our tools to provide a healthy work culture, we found Sanctus, another startup. Sanctus provides confidential and unbiased spaces for employees to talk about any challenges they might face from their mental health to personal development goals. Our Sanctus coach, Claire, drops by once a month and her work really benefits our team. We love her! Sanctus’ view is that mental health should be treated like physical health; their aim is to put the world’s first mental health gym on the high street! We got to speak with James Routledge, the founder of Sanctus and listened to his insights on the relationships they find between social media, your environment, and mental health, and how we all have mental health that we need to look after. From memes to awareness of potential negative implications, let’s see what James had to say… #1 Social Media and Mental Health Do you think anonymous online discussion helps people be more open? James: It can help people to get to the point of opening up, yes. Why does it matter that we understand how mental health is discussed online? James: In many ways, people might feel more comfortable to share online as there’s less risk from behind the screen. For some, this can be a valuable outlet and there are, of course, cases where people find great catharsis and connection online. However, there are other instances where people’s mental health is triggered in negative ways online and this is really important for us to monitor. Do you think ‘mental health day’ is a useful concept? James: It’s an absolutely necessary one in my opinion. We have sick days so let’s have days off for poor mental health. Do you find that humour is a good way to discuss mental health with someone? James: I’d say we do; humour can be a way to make mental health less scary and more relatable for people. Is there a forum that you would recommend that has a strong community or is particularly informative? James: Sanctus on Instagram is a good place to start, definitely. Other than that, a lot of the other forums can be good for some but very triggering for others. It’s hard to find a place that is very inclusive. What we saw on Facebook was that people who were most active were likely to be parents discussing learning disabilities. We know that young people are aware of mental health. How do we get more of them involved in charity pages, for example? James: I feel like younger people need to be spoken to with more relevant content, hence why the memes are obviously doing so well! #2 Work and Environment Our own research in mental health conversation online last year saw that common topic was the relationship between mental health and the modern work lifestyle. With higher pressure and longer hours behind a computer screen, we asked James how Sanctus are seeing a rise in work-related mental health conversations. How much do you find that work is discussed in conjunction with mental health? James: A lot and a lot more recently. People are spending more and more time at work, plus we’re expecting more from our workplaces. Work might not always cause mental health issues, but it can be where they manifest. Work has a huge impact on our mental health so it comes up a lot. What do you think may cause the cyclical nature of mentions during the week? James: It’s tough to say, but it definitely looks like there is a clear link between people’s weekly living patterns and their mental health. I suppose it just confirms that our outside environment affects people’s inner worlds. #3 Mental health is not homogeneous Do you think there is still a stigma with publicly discussing mental health? James: Yes and, to some extent, I believe there always will be. There is always going to be stuff that people find hard to talk about. What demographics do you tend to see from your clients? Is it homogeneous or does it tend to be varied across most backgrounds? James: Since we started Sanctus one thing has consistently been hammered home to us; we all have mental health, no matter our age, gender or ethnicity. However, we learnt something quickly, that is; our environment at work and home impacts our mental health in unique ways for everyone. What emotions do you see the most in your sessions? James: How long have you got?! Mental health encompasses the full range of human emotions, so it’s so diverse. When people bring their full self to a space, you’ll see the whole of them and that’s a lot of emotion! Within your sessions do you see news stories shaping the narrative or your conversations or people becoming aware of certain conditions through the news? James: The trends going on in the world certainly impact people and, let’s say when there’s a lot of news stories about sexual harassment or racism, that can inspire people to share those sorts of topics too. Are there certain conditions that you encounter or that are more talked about and discussed? James: Anxiety and burnout seem to be getting to the point where they are normalised to an extent to talk about. Depression too is becoming more talked about, but the label seems to scare people a bit more. Do you think there still is a generational gap in discussing mental health? James: From what we’ve seen at Sanctus, younger generations are slightly more open to talking openly about mental health. Yet, that’s not to say older generations are completely against it. We just see a skew towards a younger demographic. Overall, it is refreshing to work with a company that values and understands the importance of personal well-being and we are proud to be partnered with them to help to remove the stigma that is attached to acknowledging personal mental health! If you would like to hear how Sanctus have helped OneFifty, here are some comments about the support our coach Claire brings: “From my brief experience with Sanctus, I have found it really beneficial on a professional and personal level. Claire is amazing, insightful and very helpful in helping me tackle the subjects we speak about. She is extremely professional but makes me feel at ease every time I see her.” “I’d say Claire pretty adaptable – e.g. listens extremely well and can relate to you whatever situation/emotions you’re in.” #data #interview #sanctus

We’re delighted to have some new friends – Rogue Ponies! Rogue Ponies is a platform which matches brands that need to populate their channels – whether with photography, video or beautifully-rendered prose – to those who are expert at creating high quality, engaging content – social creators. The team we’ve put together at Rogue Ponies works with brands to select creators specifically for their style and subject knowledge, not their number of followers and commissions whatever the client requires. Brands are then provided with what those influencers create, be that images, video or copy, for use on their owned channels. So you get content in the style that your followers are most likely to engage with, because it’s been created by someone who engages with that audience every day of their online lives. You’re paying for the creator’s skills, not their follower number, as they don’t post it, they just provide it to you, making it appealing to creators, and effective for brands. We’ve got a team of three working hard to make the internet a better place, with creators able to do more of what they love: creating great content, with less #spon, and more, better brand content instead. So, whether you’re a creator who wants to pursue their skills, or a brand wanting great images, video or copy, get in touch. #influencer #rogueponies #Photography #influencers #video #content

Football’s coming home… World Cup fever is gripping the nation once again. With England beating Panama this weekend 6-1 England fans finally have something to be optimistic about. But are fans getting ahead of themselves? We looked at searches for “footballs coming home” on Sunday. You can see that there is a clear spike after England’s .. goal. When people are searching for Football song what is everyone’s favourite? Based on Youtube searches over the past week ‘Three Lions’ has got more overall search volumes on Youtube. However, Vindaloo receives the biggest spike. People search for football related songs peaks an hour before an England match. If you’ve forgotten how good the Vindaloo video is then here is the youtube link. World in Motion (blue) Vindaloo (green) Football’s coming home (yellow) #england #football #music

There are many things that I’m proud of contributing to at OneFifty; outstanding creative campaigns, stellar client service… but most of all my ‘WorthListeningTo’ Slack channel in which I regularly share Podcasts that I believe the team should listen to. But why podcasts? Podcasts, quite simply, are my hobby. I binge them like a Netflix series, and it turns out I’m not alone in that either. Research by Ofcom in September 2018 shows that over 6 million people tune in to a Podcast each week; a number which has doubled in just 5 years. When it comes to young adults (15-24), 1 in 5 are listening to podcasts each week. I don’t know about the rest of the 6 million, but I personally enjoy listening to podcasts because it’s great to get some entertainment without screen time; when you’ve been staring at your computer for 8 hours, the last thing you need is to go home and stare at your TV screen or phone for another couple of hours. I love finding new shows and sharing my recommendations with others, so here are some of the podcasts that have popped up on #WorthListeningTo. 8am: commute time On your way to work, you need to get yourself inspired for the day, and an hour listening to inspirational people is a great way to do this. Without Fail: Alex Blumberg, CEO of Gimlet media, has candid conversations with people who have battled adversity and lived to tell the tale, from business leaders to filmmakers and everything in between. The Pitch: another Gimlet podcast (there’s a theme here: Gimlet podcasts are excellent and some of my favourites), in which real entrepreneurs pitch to real investors, for real money. Like Dragon’s Den, but without watching the awkwardness go down. The Forward by Lance Armstrong: I can’t take credit for this one, it’s a recommendation from Alex Pearmain. Lance Armstrong chats breeze with sports stars and musicians – entertaining and inspiring at the same time, whatever you think about dear old Lance. 11am – A 20 minute tube journey between client meetings If you’ve got 20 minutes to waste on a tube journey, throw your headphones on (or earbuds if you have to) and listen to the Guardian’s Today In Focus with Anushka Asthana. Today in focus looks at one topic, which has usually been in the news recently, and explores it for 20 minutes. Great for learning about a new thing each day when you don’t have loads of time. 1pm – lunch time Take half an hour to remind yourself that we’re all just tiny beans in a big planet by listening to The Habitat, which followed a year in the life of 6 volunteers living on a fake planet, as part of an experiment to see whether humans can live on Mars. Fascinating stuff. 6pm: commute home The commute home is the perfect time to switch off and indulge yourself in something a bit more entertaining. For some it’s music, but for me it’s usually one of the below. Disgraceland: music lover? This is the podcast for you. In each episode, Jake Brennan tells the story of a rock and roll star behaving badly. It’s amazing just how badly people can behave when they’re famous. Dr Death, Over My Dead Body, Dirty John or in fact any true crime podcast by Wondery: you just can’t help get sucked into the stories. My Favourite Murder: a true crime comedy podcast about murder – and the number one podcast that I’ve been following for years. Karen and Georgia, the hosts, take turns to tell each other a story about a real life murder, with plenty of funny bits inbetween. I even have a keyring with the show’s motto on it: “stay sexy and don’t get murdered.” No YOU’RE weird. My dad wrote a porno: The aubergine emoji of the list, Jamie Morton reads his dad’s home written pornography with 2 friends each week. Quite funny, but gets a bit samey after the first couple of seasons. Good for a laugh to start off with though. Serial: The first podcast I ever listened to; Sarah Koening explores a true story each season in this award winning podcast. Warning, they’re incredibly addictive, and you will find excuses to discuss the cases with anyone who will listen. A good one to start with if you got hooked on Netflix’s Making a Murderer. 10pm: Getting a good night’s sleep Sleep with me: no, this isn’t a less than subtle hint that I’m after something, it’s a podcast that quite literally puts you to sleep. It’s essentially a gobbledegook bedtime story, where the narrator Scooter repeats himself, stutters, makes no sense at all and speaks in such dulcet tones that you’ll drift off listening to it in no time. Strange, but it works. So there you go, a whole list of listening to delights to get stuck into. Let me know how you get on with them over on Twitter! #podcasts

With Instagram holding the title of the “worst social media network for mental health and wellbeing”, our own Architect of Next Olivia felt it was time to offer some words in the way of a defence. You might call it narcissistic, but perhaps it’s self-love – whatever you call it, selfies and bikini shots don’t define Instagram. I am not here to say it can’t be detrimental to mental health, I am not here to say it can’t be demeaning of our own realities and neither I am here to say it doesn’t have its downfalls. But, I am here to put forward its defence and highlight its benefits. Instagram to me – and I imagine many others – acts as a portal into the other; the other place, the other person, the other life. It is a window to other people’s lives in a way that we never had before social media. The people in our lives are often far, they are often flung and one of the true powers of Instagram is allowing us to see snapshots of their lives. Capturing moments of their happiness, their achievements, their self-love or just simply the things they care about, for everyone in their digital world to see. Why can’t we view Instagram more in this way? As a catalogue of the happiness in people’s lives, a record of their triumphs, a gallery of their best moments, a place to see what matters to them. I believe as a tech-literate generation, we are wising up to social media; we are well aware it is a filtered version of our realities. So, why not appreciate it for that: a collection of our favourite moments in which we relish and celebrate in those moments with one another? Your Instagram is your space, so make it into what you want it to be. Post about the things that matter to you, follow the people who are posting things you care about and create it as a space on the internet that you want to spend time. Instagram can be narcissistic, it can be a place of self-love; but fundamentally, it is what you decide to make it. So if you don’t like your Instagram, only you can change it. Follow, unfollow, block as you need in order to make your Instagram a place you like to be. #Instagram #socialmedia

We’ve built OneFifty on a small number of tools, which help us be more effective and mirrors the way we need to work. One of our latest Architect’s of Next, Becki, has broken a habit of a lifetime and fully embraced the single way we run tasks and projects… Efficiency. What a word. It’s something I have always struggled with (both personally and professionally) but to be clear I don’t mind so much. I’m happy to get up 30 mins earlier than I need to, if it means I can potter around and not be under pressure to leave the house. Ironically, I’m always 30 minutes early for most things. Where am I going with this I hear you silently cry through the screen… Todoist, that’s where I’m going. I arrived at OneFifty, new pen and pad in hand. Stationery is one of my loves (alongside pizza and wine #classic) It’s perfectly formed, add a unicorn or some velvet and there’s a slip of my personality, like a badge of honour, neatly beside me on my desk. This is how I do my lists. Sorry. Rewind. This is how I used to do my lists. Because when you join OneFifty, efficiency has to become your new best friend. Let me tell you that pen and paper just doesn’t cut it anymore. There is no time to transfer my notes from my pad to a doc, no time to rewrite my to do list (colour coded for importance FYI). There’s a bigger piece to this however. It’s about how I work with my colleagues and how I let them know what I am doing and how I see what they are doing. See Todoist was the thing I was most concerned about when I started here. Slack – done it. New people – got it. New ways of doing things – ummmm old dog new tricks much? So when Alex, sold me into the vision of Todoist, that actually my life will improve, my days become more efficient, I was unsure. During the busy days of on-boarding, I struggled with taking my lists online, of organising my days online, of just being online (I know, I’m in digital, it’s laughable) but my organisation had always been offline, my trusted sidekick in paper form. I struggled to remember to assign tasks to other people, I struggled with the shortcuts: to be frank I just struggled. I had a little secret list in my lovely notepad that I’d refer to. But it wasn’t working. When everyone else is doing it another way, successfully, I knew I had to give up my dirty little secret. So after watching and reading everything Todoist had to offer, and a session from the Todoist Master (Alex), I flung myself wholeheartedly into the digital list thing. I’m 3 weeks into my new way, and oh boy am I a new person. Now I won’t profess I’m perfect (yet) but actually this has transformed my days. I don’t worry about what I’ve got to do, it’s there. Something comes to me in the middle of a train journey, I fling it on the app. Something sparks my attention, guess what it’s on my list. I’m proficient in all things “shortcut” for my new favourite thing which makes it more joyous. I need a hand with a task – oh I’ll just take a look at their todoist – to gauge what’s fair or achievable. I’ve even colour coded my app on my phone to fit in better (yes I also judge books by their cover.) And don’t even get me started on Karma points. Points for doing work? I’ll take that every day of the week! But in all seriousness, this app is now an extension of me and is helping me to become a better team mate, a better leader and one of those people that remembers to switch off, because I can, because it’s written down on the app. So, what are my top tips for those of you wanting to fling themselves into an organised state? Here you go: Make time to learn it – don’t give it a day and revert back (guilty!) take time to use it, and mould it to your style Put everything on it – don’t half use it, that’s way more stressful than not using it at all Organise! I miss my colour coded notes sometimes, because colour helps me, but if I spend just 5 minutes moving my list around, I know I’ll be more productive the next day Review and rewrite – don’t leave other people’s notes on your list. Look at them when they are assigned (hello email notifications) and adjust as soon as you can – this was a breakthrough for me Do not, and I repeat again, do not just hit reschedule everyday. If you are having to hit the reschedule button – ask yourself why. You might just find the answer lies with someone else And if you still aren’t convinced may I refer you to this. #projectmanagement #taskmanagement #todoist #waysofworking

Sarah’s back to tell us why Giphy is the Gif that keeps on giving. It’s been three months since we first told you about the world’s best kept organic social secret (or, technically, worst kept, given we keep shouting about it), Giphy. It’s fair to say during those ~UnPrEsCedeNtEd~ few months the world’s seen many changes but there’s one thing which has stayed the same throughout, and that’s our love for a GIF. If you haven’t read all about why we love Giphy so much, have a quick look here, and then head back for our update 👇 So, now you’re up to speed, here’s 3 more things you need to know… Verification seems to be getting faster We’ve verified a couple of accounts and whilst the official word on the street (well, website) is that it could take a month, we’re seeing verification for brands happening within 24 hours now. How do we know that? We made our very own Giphy account. You can have a look here [link]. In the 1 month we’ve been on the platform, we’ve seen 116k views of our content. Not bad considering our only investment in this was our time making the GIFs. Upload to availability on Instagram stories is instantaneous – meaning real-time marketing is accessible to small brands If you follow any of #MarketingTwitter you’ll see that real time marketing’s been cast aside in recent years in favour of what I’m calling the ‘lost all imagination, just like to spend big brand bucks with high frequency’ school of thought. Its the older, and let’s be honest, more predictable cousin. And spending big bucks is great when you have them to spend – but what Byron Sharp et al have forgotten is that there are smaller, newer brands who don’t have that luxury. What’s great about Giphy is that uploads on the platform from a verified account are, in our experience, available in real-time on Instagram stories and other channels. Magic. This opens up the playing field for smaller brands who can jump on a trend and create a branded GIF reacting to it quickly (without layers of bureaucracy holding them back), letting them reach new audiences in real time. Will Insta stickers significantly shift the dial for these brands when it comes to share of market? Maybe not. But do they give an opportunity for brands to reach new people in a way that’s native to their platform use and non-invasive, without paying for media? Yes. People love dancing skeleton man and poo emojis 💩 We mentioned a few months ago that analytics data for Giphy is barely existent and unfortunately nothing has changed there (come on Giphy, get a move on) BUT we have been enjoying the ‘trending GIFs and stickers’ sections of the site, which helps give an insight into what’s trending and how people are reacting to the world, frame by frame. Of course, Halloween GIFs are right up there at the moment, shortly to be replaced (we assume) by fireworks, toffee apples and thanksgiving, depending on where you live. And when it comes to Emojis? The top trending is officially 💩 #GIPHY