Who’s On the Podium this week?

In the first in a new weekly series, we’re going to have a quick round up each week of things that have impressed us at Podium.

Three ‘things’ each week will earn their place On the Podium. The honour could go to PR stunts, pieces of marketing, toys, gadgets, pieces of news… basically whatever takes our fancy.

Plus, because we know it’s not all roses out there, something or someone will be Not On the Podium. This dreaded slot will be saved for PR fails, examples of inadequacy, people or companies making fools of themselves, missing the mark, or misjudging the mood.

Anyway, with no further ado, here is the On the Podium top three for 8th October.

Third Place: Conkers (no link available.) 

It’s conker season and, after stumbling across a conker tree after a client meeting this week, we have loaded up on conkers at Podium. Tournament to be held next week. This could get competitive.

Second place: Instagram

Social medium Instagram is stepping up its game. It has a vast number of users (over 400m people active per month), and is targeting companies and potential advertisers more seriously.

First place: Norseal

We love free stuff (hint), so were delighted to receive a load of samples from our client Norseal this week.

These are clever bits of kits that, among other functions, will soften all the sharp edges in your home or workplace, reducing the risk of children injuring themselves.

We probably shouldn’t tear around the office pretending these are lightsabers, but we make no promises.

They mainly sell to trade and architects, but do also have a direct-to-public offering at the Fire Seal Shop. Why not kiddy-proof your home with giant pencils this weekend!

Off the Podium…

There was a clear winner for the non-honour of being Off the Podium this week. It was one of those stories that you read, convinced it’s come from the Daily Mash or The Onion. But no, sadly, it’s completely legit: Dominos Pizza is going to attempt to crack the Italian market. That’s a fast-food pizza company, taking its own brand of stodge to the country that invented pizza, and who still does it better than any other.

If they last more than a year, it’ll be a miracle – and we might even give them a spot on the Podium. For now, we’ll stand back and laugh.