Third party power of endoresments

The power of the third party endorsement lies at the heart of PR. If something is good, don't say it yourself, get someone else to, and preferably a journalist. Now, I'm going to let you into an a little industry secret... very few of these so-called independent points of view are genuine, or at least uncoerced. Very often, a journalist's opinion has been moulded by a press release, particularly in the short-staffed newsrooms of the credit crunched media when there isn't time to source and research a story from scratch. Then's there's the happy customer quote, what we in the business like to call the "case study," to superglue a stamp of approval on your product, service, policy, political agenda. 


But Bermuda succeeded the minor miracle last week of securing, not one, but two of these golden nuggets.


Firstly, there is a video masterpiece, "Trip of a Lifetime," currently going viral. It features superb footage of the young and the restless and the beautiful cliff diving, or 'falling of the rock' as they term it, set against a fabulously cool soundtrack. It certainly has the pull factor making you want to get on a plane and find this place of dramatic backdrops, tangerine and lilac sunsets and brilliantly bright beaches. It did it to me and I'm already here! In less than a week it's generated over 70,000 hits and a little controversy, as a Bermudian father of four died performing this very same pursuit this summer. 

All things considered, the video is however proving popular and begging the question why don't tourism use this organically grown ingredient in its mass visitor cultivation campaign.


Then it was more "pwoar" than "fore" when golf pro, Darren Clarke, clapped eyes on the island while competing in last week's PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Bermuda's Port Royal course last week. He cancelled his Europe golf plans, deciding, in the words of Mark Twain, "I'd rather stay in Bermuda."


The positive effects of a stay in Bermuda for another celebrity were also highlighted recently by news that Masterworks Museum of Art is due to stage a memorial for the works of John Lennon, whose visit to the island in 1980 inspired his albums "Double Fantasy" and "Milk and Honey."A little known fact, or at least one that I was unaware of until last week, and it's my favourite Lennon song, was that his hit "Woman" was actually written in Bermuda. As reported on Bernews.com, the former Beatle said an interview: “The song ‘Woman’ came about because, one sunny afternoon in Bermuda, it suddenly hit me what women do for us. Not just what my Yoko does for me, although I was thinking in those personal terms … but any truth is universal."


The demo tapes recorded in Bermuda are available on YouTube. As Lennon was murdered just weeks after the release of "Double Fantasy," this Bermuda vacay strikes me as an important part of music history that seems to little-known. 

This was all followed by news released on Friday about the Government's plans for a $200,000 National Tourism Plan. Since January the Tourism Department has been working hard on set of "strategic imperatives." Might one suggest a tad less naval gazing and a little more seeing what is right in front of your eyes. In times like these, when resources are limited, the old fashion adage about the importance of working with what you've got rings true. Why spend a fortune on cosmetic surgery when you could play to the strengths that are landing in your lap. Encourage more extreme sports tourism using the viral as as a springboard, launch a series of golf AND relaxation packages and use the superb tourism generating model provided by Gracelands to turn Villa Undercliffe in Bermuda, where Lennon wrote his final albums, into a pilgrimage paradise. Or at least start selling the Bermuda emblazoned t-shirt that Lennon wore as a collectible!

John and Sean overlooking Spanish Point. Who knows what Lennon could have done for Bermuda tourism if he stayed alive long enough to talk about his experiences of the island...

Life's a lottery, even for Golddiggers!

Following the news in the last couple of weeks of over 120 redundancies in Bermuda (Bacardi -13, Citi Hedge Fund Services - 105, Bermuda Motors - 5), some revelations from a visit of the UK's Minister for Overseas Territories, Henry Bellingham, to the island, AKA our new BFF (Best Friend Forever), were very welcome.

Mr. Bellingham, or "Hen" as he is fondly known to us offshore offspring, had some really nice things to say about Bermuda, which we hope is not just lip service because he wants to hold our hand. He said that we could be a model for other Overseas Territories and that if anyone dared called us a "Tax Haven" in the playground rather than our proper name of "low-tax jurisdiction" then their ass is grass! I'm paraphrasing obviously.

Hen's visit came as the UK Government starts work on a new White Paper on the Overseas Territories.
One particularly interesting proposal that may feature in the report is that good causes in the OTs could start to benefit from funds raised by the UK National Lottery, which brings in a whopping $44 million a week. As a Brit living in BDA I can see this idea from both sides of the Atlantic and I have to say I don't think it's one of the best. Yes, that's a lot of money that could be shared across all corners of the UK - even the bits that aren't physically attached, but given the state of the UK's bank account, I'm sure that money, even ten-fold the money, could easily be spent on shore. Yes Bermuda has it's own challenges presented by the global economic meltdown but it is still pretty wealthy, home to the uber rich and the living is, comparatively, easy. And if it's not then you are probably less inclined to drown yourself at Elbow Beach than in the Thames, lets face it.

But even if this little windfall doesn't come off, there is hope for the Bermuda piggy bank yet. Britannia may rule Bermuda but Bermuda rules the waves apparently. Explorer Nick Hutchings is convinced that all that lies glittering at the bottom of the ocean is gold.

He is busy photographing the ocean floor around the island in the hope of confirming that rumours of 'yellow magnetic veins' than began with a submarine trip in the 80s are in fact true. As well as gold digging, he is also investigating whether the seas off Bermuda are home to black stalagmites that produce gold and copper ore or other valuable metal-rich rock that could be sold off a $40-275 for a ton of crust. Nick - if you need any help, I have my PADI certificate!!