Today marks the third anniversary of one of our favourite blogs: Bangsandabun.com In the latest of our 'Introducing' features, we talk to the person behind it all: Muireann Carey-Campbell to talk about the early days of her blog, her plans for the future and an update on the post that sent PRs and marketers running for cover last month!
Three years ago today Muireann posted her first blog post from her bedroom in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and set off on a journey that would see her talk love, life, race, music, fitness regimes, UGGs, fashion faux pas and even record her very own rap videos. I first got to know Muireann over a shared love of the Swedish hip-hop artist: Adam Tensta (more to come on this guy soon) and we immediately struck up what was initially a tweetship and then an offline friendship and I am always impressed by her passion, drive and global-outlook on things. This can be traced back to her travelling around the globe, working in different roles and generally becoming a citizen of the world:
"I moved to New York when I was 22, after I finished my degree. I lived there for a year and a half. Then I lived in Tokyo for a year and taught English and then moved back to my native Canada for three years (living in Montreal, Toronto and Halifax). I just moved back to England last year. It's just made me much more of a global citizen I think. I tend to look at things differently and don't particularly feel tied to any one place. If I want to go somewhere, I just go. That kind of exploration really opens your eyes to some amazing experiences. I don't miss those Canadian winters though!"
You can see from Muireann's blog and insane Twitter feed that her audience and friends are spread across the globe. After three years of hard work it seems that Muireann is becoming a major player. She was nominated for a Cosmopolitan blog award earlier this year and she is really happy with how everything is progressing:
I wanted to get back into writing for fashion/lifestyle magazines but my portfolio was full of music stuff. I came across blogs while searching the net and thought 'I could do that!' Initially I started it thinking it would be like an online portfolio for me and of course, Vogue would be beating my door down for me to write for them! It didn't quite pan out like that, but it has become a blog I'm very proud of and I'm really pleased with the progress.
Recently Muireann, after much deliberation, took the decision to post up a complaint letter she had sent to a PR agency over a project she had been asked to be part of. The post can be read here. It created quite a stir with many marketing and PR agencies using it as an example of the changing dynamics between brands and bloggers. Muireann was taken back at the response:
"I was approached earlier in the year by a PR company called Mission to do a half marathon and blog about it on behalf of their client Nokia. I was promised a bunch of stuff in return for that. As the months passed and I trained (going from someone who wouldn't even run for a bus to competing in my first half marathon in under four months), none of the things promised to me were delivered. It was just a catalogue of errors really. I wrote a letter of complaint to Mission a few days before I ran the race. They apologised, but I just didn't feel as though it was enough. Just saying 'sorry' after I dedicated four months of my life to something they asked me to do didn't seem right. So, two days after the half marathon, I published my complaint letter on my blog. I thought I'd get a few extra hits that day, but it went absolutely nuts! It spread around the internet like wildfire. I got almost 16,000 hits that day, was interviewed by PR Week and approached by many other PRs. Mission responded extremely well and in fact, next week we're about to have our second meeting about how PRs and bloggers can work better together. So, a lot of positives came out of it"
For her 'day job' Muireann works as features editor for North Leeds Life Magazine, a family run business focused more on her local community. The magazine certainly has a different reader and overall vibe to her bangsandabun blog but it is something Muireann enjoys working on:
"We're local community magazines distributed across North Leeds from Headingley out to Ilkley. Lots of our readers tell us we're a real life blood of the community, carrying area specific information and giving a voice to individuals and groups who might struggle to get their word out otherwise. On a personal level, it definitely differs from my blog work as I have to watch my language a lot more in magazine writing! But also the content is much more localised than I do on my blog. I probably wouldn't know half the things that were going on in my area if I didn't work for the mags, so it's great"
Another project on the agenda is 'Bangs on the run' where a Muireann and some of her Twitter buddies will take on the Paris half marathon. From our point of view at Hebe, we are looking forward to working on upcoming projects with Muireann and one of them is centred around our home city of Leeds, England. Like lots of the people involved in the new project and the city in general, there is a feeling of untapped potential in Leeds and it is something rising stars like Muireann can see and want to do something about
"Before moving back here last year, I hadn't lived here for about 10 years and boy, has it changed! I'll be honest and say I'm a little disappointed that the city centre kind of looks like 'anytown UK' now with the influx of national chain stores, but there's still enough individuality about the city. There's a lot of talent here and I think the potential lies in fusing our city with other international cities, drawing inspiration from there and applying to our city. Leeds in Barcelona was a great example of that. More of that please!"
We will certainly try our best to create more projects like Leeds in Barcelona only this time by collaborating with people like Muireann we can make each project even bigger and better!
Check out the first two of our 'Introducing' series here: James Steward and Marc Leaf.