THEX 23|24 - Thule Experience was Thule's first-ever prestigious event, where the Swedish manufacturer demonstrated all of its new products, while showing attendees how excellent racks, roof boxes, bicycle accessories, bags and other transportation solutions are designed, manufactured and tested. We had the pleasure of participating in this event, accompanied by a team of Polish journalists from 7 leading automotive, technology, bicycle and parenting media.

The trip to Sweden consisted of two key parts - a visit to the town of Hillerstorp in the Jönköping region, where Thule's oldest factory and the company's state-of-the-art product testing center are located. The company's guests had the opportunity to tour both facilities and talk to specialists responsible for the most diverse aspects of creating and testing products with the Thule logo.

The clou of the trip, however, was THEX 23|24 - Thule Experience - an official launch of Thule novelties organized in the unique Lokstallarna industrial facility in Malmo, where all Thule products being prepared for market launches were presented on a catwalk. They were shown in action by Thule ambassadors, more than 40 of whom were at the event, including surfing legend Garrett McNamara with his wife Nicole and children, legendary mountain guide Apa Sherpa or freestyle snowboarder and architect, Maria Kuzma. A special guest was an alpine skiing legend, Ingemar Stenmark - Thule's first-ever ambassador.

The latest products - including, among others, car child seats, car tents, roof racks or new series of bags - were also available for visitors from Poland. Among the more than 600 guests of the event from all over the world were dozens of journalists, the largest group of whom were just representatives of the Polish media, representing the editorial offices of Autoblog.pl, Auto-Swiat.pl, MagazynBike.pl, Chip.pl, National Geographic Traveller, Magazyn T3 and Rodzice.pl.

We are pleased to announce that we signed a contract with Baseus in October. 

BASEUS manufactures accessories for phones, tablets, GPS devices and more. The name Baseus is an acronym for the slogan "Base On User." Most, if not all of its products are geared toward accessory users: car phone holders, docking stations, powerbanks, chargers, cables, cases and other smartphone accessories.

Despite the fact that Baseus is a young company, it is doing very well in the market and getting very positive reviews. Users stress that it is a worthy competitor to well-known brands. The products are durable, sturdy, made of good quality materials, and have a fashionable design. 

As Baseus' agency in Poland, we are responsible for cooperation with opinion leaders, product tests and reviews, and other brand presence in the media (articles, mentions, etc.). We have a wide range of products to test and have a marketing budget for influencer cooperation. For samples for testing, please contact Daniel Cieslak daniel@tabasco.pl

Tabasco's client base has been joined by the American brand Belkin - a renowned and highly-regarded manufacturer of top-quality electronic devices and accessories. Tabasco will be responsible for the full spectrum of communications activities.

Belkin is a legend in the electronic accessories market - the company has been providing users with chargers, powerbanks, hubs, networking devices, cables, screen protection solutions, headphones, smart home solutions and many other products for more than 40 years. 

Innovation and years of experience in the field mean that manufacturers of the world's most popular smartphones (including Apple and Samsung) often recommend Belkin products to their customers - as they offer the highest quality and compatibility with the most modern mobile devices. Users appreciate products with the Belkin logo for reliability, innovation, great design and a rich set of features. 

The market segment in which Belkin operates has also been a specialty of the Tabasco agency for years, and this has made us a natural partner for the Belkin brand in the field of media activities. Therefore, Tabasco will take care of the brand's full communication service in the Polish market - we will provide, among other things, press office service, support in preparing and distributing press materials, arranging product tests and presentations, planning and carrying out marketing campaigns and sales support actions.

Serving the new client is Alicia Papadopolus, alicja@tabasco.pl - We encourage you to contact us for all matters related to the Belkin brand. 

The year 2023 will be the one in which a watershed moment in environmental action by global business may be reached. According to predictions by the US Institute for Management Development, this will be the moment when many companies will move from declaring a desire to reduce their environmental impact to taking real, effective action to do so. Of course, many companies have long been aware of the negative human impact on the climate and have been taking steps to reduce the negative impact of their production and logistics processes for years - we are fortunate that all of Tabasco's customers are among them.

Here are some examples of measures and regulations implemented by our clients to minimize environmental impact.

Belkin

The company has decided to manufacture the cases of its products from PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled, recycled waste) materials and the packaging - without using plastic. By doing so, Belkin is helping to reduce the amount of trash lying in landfills and has reduced the use of so-called virgin plastic (i.e., newly manufactured for production). This decision alone has reduced CO2 emissions by up to 67%, which (as of May 2022) translated into a reduction of 7,000 tons. The company's efforts were recognized by the Business Intelligence Group, which last year awarded Belkin the "2022 Sustainability Award"

It is worth mentioning that the company's products have clear markings on their packaging, confirming that they are made from recycled raw materials - allowing customers to consciously choose a product whose environmental impact is reduced. Of course, while maintaining the same quality, reliability and great design.

Thule

For the Swedish brand, issues of climate responsibility and reducing environmental impact are an absolute priority. It strives to ensure that production processes are always efficient and climate-friendly, and that the workplace allows employees to feel positive and safe.

The climate impact of Thule's factories is primarily due to the use of energy for heating, ventilation, cooling and during the manufacturing process - which is why the company has taken measures to reduce energy consumption and increase the use of renewable energy (with a target of 100%). A great example, for example, is the use of solar panels at a manufacturing facility in the US state of Connecticut, which cover about 25% of electricity needs. On the other hand, at the assembly and production facility in Hillerstorp, Sweden, renewable energy is used for heating and as a source of electricity.

Thule is also active in the structures of organizations that take initiatives to increase balance and ensure positive development of the sports and outdoor industry - the company is a participant in the bluesign® program (a certification program for sustainable textile production - its goal of this program is to eliminate harmful substances and realize high standards of friendly and safe production) and the exclusion of harmful substances from production), as well as a member of The Conservation Alliance, , European Outdoor Conservation Association, Leave No Trace, Outdoor Foundation, Mistra and UN Global Compact.

Western Digital

A whole range of climate action is also being taken by Western Digital - both by optimizing its manufacturing and logistics processes and by creating programs to motivate customers to recycle used equipment responsibly. 

A great example of this is the Easy Recycle program, run in cooperation with the USMe organization, which aims to ensure that the company's end-of-life products do not end up in landfills, but are effectively recycled. As part of the program, a tool has been created whereby the owner of a used appliance can easily arrange for it to be picked up and delivered directly to a recycling center. An incentive for such responsible action is an automatically generated discount coupon for subsequent purchases at the company's Western Digital store.

It is worth mentioning that in the first two years since the program was launched, more than 26,000 disks (a total of more than 11 tons of electronic waste) were recycled. 

Of course, Western Digital's efforts don't stop there - the company uses recycled materials for many of its popular products, e.g. SanDisk Ultra Eco-USB, WD_BLACK P50 Game Drive, My Passport SSD and SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD. An interesting and effective idea is to reduce the energy consumption of HDDs - Western Digital estimates that the changes made to their architecture save up to 300,000 MWh globally. The company has also redesigned the packaging of its products in recent years - so as to use a minimal amount of materials in their production (saving up to 12,000 trees).

Of course, the above initiatives are only a selection of our clients' initiatives - for detailed information on our clients' climate action, please visit the following websites Belkin, Thule and Western Digital.

In the glare of spring sunshine, the Warsaw conference center B'Fort hosted a meeting of Thule company, which not only officially presented the new model of city stroller, but also introduced its portfolio of products for active parents. The event was organized for Thule ambassadors, bloggers, parenting media representatives and company partners. We opted for a relaxed meeting formula and authentic user stories instead of typical marketing presentations and technical descriptions.

The meeting began with a welcome and introduction of the guests, followed by a brief discussion of the premiere stroller, its advantages and comfort for both children and caregivers. During this speech the safety of the youngest passengers was also emphasized, which is an absolute priority for the Thule brand.

Afterwards it was time for the presentation of other baby carriages from Thule offer - organized chronologically, as the products were introduced to the market in successive years. What is important, the baby carriages were not presented by sales or marketing people - the floor was given to actual users of the products, who could share their real-life experiences of using them on a daily basis.

It was started by Dorota Czaja, an actor and dancer, who talked about Thule Chariot - a multifunctional trailer/sports wagon, with which a parent and child can enjoy 4 different activities all year round - running, cycling, skiing and walking.

Małgorzata Socha, an actress, explained that Thule Urban Glide 2 is a handy, manoeuvrable and easy to steer stroller, which will prove useful not only in the park during a walk, but also during holiday trips or mountain hikes. Marcin Fabiszewski, traithlonist and coach, who proves that you don't have to give up your passion to spend time with your children, talked about Thule Glide 2 - a typically sporty stroller designed for professional runners, among others.

The co-founder of Ourlittleadventure blog - Mariusz Zielonka - talked about Thule Sleek stroller as a perfect solution for his three children and parents who plan to have more children. This model allows you to carry three children at once, and the possibility of mounting both the stroller and the carrycot makes it a solution for a toddler and a teenager at the same time.

Magda and Jacek Zbieraj, authors of family travel blog Zbierajsie.pl talked about why their travel companion is often the Thule Spring. They appreciate its compact design, quick and easy folding, as well as the possibility to take it outside the city.

At the end of this part of the program Justyna and Mateusz Czekalski - parents who professionally deal with photography and after hours run a parenting profile Najwyższapora on Instagram - gave their speech. Young parents admitted that the latest model of Thule stroller from the first days of their son's life was useful not only during the first walks, but also while moving around the city. They both admitted that it is comfortable and spacious, but on the other hand very compact. This part of the meeting was summed up by the moderator Filip Chajzer, who also uses Thule products from different categories, which allowed him to generously - and interestingly! - to share interesting facts and experiences from their use.

The second part consisted of lunch and casual conversations about products and upcoming launches. The representatives of the Polish Thule branch were available for the guests: Patryk Wasiak, Bartosz Matroszyło, Edyta Białek and Artur Krysiak, who with pleasure discussed every product in theory and practice and answered every question, even the most detailed ones.

Our role was to invite guests - bloggers, media representatives, but also ambassadors. We were responsible for the course of the whole event, and we made sure that each of the guests felt comfortable and left the meeting satisfied. We are proud to say that we managed to create a familiar and relaxed atmosphere that made all participants leave B'Fort with smiles.

There is a war.

We never imagined that we would start a text published on the company website with such words. Russia has invaded Ukraine and the fight is on right behind our borders. But not only - the war is being waged also in the sphere of information and public debate. Attempts to create information chaos, to divide us and to disorganize our efforts occur daily.

We have developed a guide on how to verify information on Social Media and on sites reporting on the war and the refugee situation in our country.

How do you recognize fake news?

Fake news is nothing new - disinformation is the inseparable sister of propaganda and is used to create chaos, divide societies and manipulate the behavior of the masses. With the popularization of the Internet, "fake news" has reached a whole new level. It is a matter of mass distribution, the ease of impersonating reliable sources and the possibility of easily reaching an undemanding audience, who often, even without a shadow of ill will, will be inclined to reproduce and amplify them.

This is the origin of the stories circulating on the Internet, in which people claiming to be a brother-in-law/neighbour/good friend or a colleague report various slanderous antics of refugees or scandalous (yet untrue) stories about discrimination against fellow countrymen. In 99% cases, when trying to dig deeper, it turns out that the story is false and the friend does not exist. 

Applying a very simple information filter allows 90% to sift the nonsense from the facts.

1. check the source

Investigate who is the author of the information - is it an unknown website that looks like a news site, but was set up weeks/months ago and only contains information in a similar vein? Or is it a social media account created yesterday? Such sources are fundamentally suspect. 

2. verify the information

It's often a matter of two clicks or one phone call. If this actually happened, it is more than likely that more media outlets covered it - so check to see if this information appeared in other sources. If not, something is not right. If someone cites a friend/colleague/co-worker... ask for their contact information and check for yourself. 

Of course, the latter applies primarily to "local" fake news - in the case of news from other regions, it is worth, for example, looking at the websites / profiles of organizations that deal with the verification of fake news - e.g. https://Demagog.org.pl. In many cases, you will find detailed analyses of the most popular fake news stories.

3. think about the agenda

Disinformation usually has well-defined goals - in the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it's about creating chaos and resentment towards Ukrainians, which will translate into reduced support for refugees and the country as a whole. These clearly defined goals make it possible to identify it effectively - it's enough to consider what purpose the given information has and what effect it is supposed to have. If we see that someone is trying to force us to change our point of view based on emotions and unverifiable information - let's be skeptical and cautious.

4. trust your intuition

We do not urge you to make all of your life decisions based on your intuition,  But it is a natural tool - so if while reading or listening to some information we subconsciously feel that something is wrong with it... let's trust our own judgment and verify it or refrain from passing it on (on Facebook or Twitter).

5. report fake news

Just identifying disinformation is not enough - if we know that some information shared is nonsense, and nonsense distributed for specific political purposes, we should not hesitate to act. The minimum is to signal it to the author or the person who just shared it (editorial office, friend on FB). If that doesn't help, let's report it as disinformation (most social networks offer this option). 

The above tips are  the basics and the first steps on the road to verifying fake news. If you feel like digging deeper into the topic, we absolutely recommend a guide on this subject published by the Panoptykon Foundation and Video prepared by Niebezpiecznik.pl. 

For almost two years the pandemic has been with us and this is a long enough time to get used to lockdowns, restrictions or working in home office mode. So much theory, and as the practice shows, the situation is so dynamic that when implementing a new project or daily cooperation with the media we still learn something new. Especially in such an important area as communication.

Since most employees have moved to remote working, the ways and methods of communication have changed dramatically. Journalists and media workers have swapped bustling newsrooms and editorial labs for the comfort of home, and marketing and PR professionals have had to say goodbye to regular face-to-face meetings and conferences in favor of instant messaging or phone calls. Of course, many companies do not give up organizing meetings for the media, but there are also those whose internal regulations and concern for the comfort and health of their partners do not allow for mass meetings and business meetings.

As a result, we have had to learn communication in the PR industry almost from scratch, and the lessons learned from this experience are quite interesting. It's worth noting that while just a dozen or so months ago, many people struggled with online meetings and meeting apps were third-choice options, today we are even able to hold quick meetings for a team or between individuals overnight. 

In our practice of communicating with journalists, video conferences have a high priority, not only in terms of organizing product launches or company team meetings, but also in terms of everyday relations with journalists, for example. And here we come to the heart of the matter. While at the beginning of the remote work system many people thought that it was only a transitional period, today, when we know that the situation is unlikely to return to the state before the pandemic, it has become almost natural to use applications and tools that "replace" meetings and face-to-face conversations.

Our experience shows that nowadays individual conversations and e-meetings with journalists, bloggers or artists are much more popular and effective than email exchanges or messages in popular communicators. A personal approach to communication (necessarily preceded by preparation for the conversation) is extremely important for us to achieve an effect in the form of publication; the exchange of even a few sentences unrelated to professional duties creates a friendly atmosphere that allows to settle specific issues or solve a problem. What is more, small talk sometimes allows to lead the conversation in such a way, that the key issue of the conversation recedes into the background, and it turns out that together we can realize another, sometimes better idea. 

We will not hide the fact that the salt of a PR or marketing person's job is excellent relations with media or artists. It is obvious that nothing can replace a meeting and a conversation in a relaxed atmosphere which will allow to discuss important issues, projects to be implemented or cooperation plans. Unfortunately, the prevailing conditions do not always allow it and we highly value the possibility of e-meeting and individual conversations with the people we work with every day. Sometimes even a few minutes of non-work related conversation is so creative and valuable that it can replace difficult negotiations or sometimes troublesome talks about current projects. A friendlier atmosphere and getting closer to our business partners definitely affects the relationship that will stay with us for many years. So, on the one hand we had to learn to communicate again, so to speak, but on the other hand we can see the arguments for taking advantage of the "benefits" brought to us by the pandemic and the remote working system.

Giants like Western Digital are in a uniquely privileged position to accurately forecast technology and market trends. In recent years, this has been an extremely difficult task - yet the company has presented a set of predictions on how the world of technology will develop. In the simplest terms, we can expect to see the continued popularity of remote working, the growth of data archives, cloud gaming and the "greening" of data centers.

For us - Western Digital's PR agency - such forecasts are excellent "raw material" to work with. Here we have at our disposal a great, up-to-date topic that will be interesting for all journalists closely watching the technology industry. Such forecasts are great material for preparing not only press releases - they are also extremely useful when arranging activities such as expert articles, statements of specialists or comments to articles describing broader market trends, but also other forms, such as adverstories, white papers, case studies or simply briefs that can inspire journalists' original articles.

But this is one of those situations - not so common in our work - when a company, while talking about its predictions, products and observations, is actually talking about an entire market segment, economy, or even the whole changing world. We like such topics... so expect more articles and publications on Western Digital's forecasts. Especially that it is one of the most interesting ways of telling about the company and its influence on our environment - not through dry product presentations or marketing texts, but through stories about how the world is changing (and how the client's products stimulate/facilitate these changes). The impact and value of such articles may be difficult to measure with an advertising equivalent... but they certainly effectively demonstrate our Clients' experience and know-how.

So what will the world of technology look like in 2022?

The last two years have turned many previous predictions about how technology will evolve upside down. In the wake of a pandemic, the entire world has "switched" to remote work and reduced travel - which on the one hand has boosted some developments, but on the other: slowed down others. Western Digital experts were tempted to make a new prediction about how storage and related technologies will evolve in 2022 - here are their predictions.

1. archive data will grow the fastest
Remote/Hybrid working will remain extremely popular in 2022 with an estimated 52% employees in the UK, for example. This means that corporate IT professionals must provide all of these people with convenient, remote access to the files they need to work - with a significant (and fastest growing in 2022) portion of this being cold (or archived) data. These are files that need to be preserved and stored in a way that makes them easy to reach - but they don't need to be instantly accessible. This category would include any backups, archives, data from monitoring systems, research, etc. Western Digital's storage specialists explain that you don't need the fastest storage media available - HDDs or tape drives will do just fine.

2. the dawn of the "green" data center era
Data centers can consume huge amounts of energy - which means that in some countries they can be some of the major "producers" of (simplifying) dioxide  carbon (it is estimated, for example, that in 2023 in Ireland data centers will be responsible for consuming 70% of the total electricity used).

Therefore, in 2022. Western Digital expects a massive migration of such system operators toward green, renewable energy - with this manifesting itself in retrofitting existing centers rather than building new ones. One of the many ways to reduce energy consumption may be, for example, implementation of new, more capacious data carriers (which will allow to reduce their number). The dominant trend will be data storage densification - that is, taking all data towards storing more data on fewer devices.

3. data independence concerns
One effect of the pandemic has been to accelerate the adoption of digital services in government - which in turn has led to a new wave of discussion about how to ensure data security and data sovereignty (in other words, how to keep government data out of the hands of unauthorized people). Western Digital expects that this year will see many government data storage systems being upgraded to meet new, heightened expectations for data security and confidentiality. This will involve both providing adequate security systems and organizing storage systems so that government data remains within the boundaries of countries or international organizations (such as the EU).

4. the future of gaming is in the cloud
2021 was the year of popularization of services allowing to run games in the cloud - without having to download and install them on the user's device. In 2022 this trend will only strengthen - thanks to services such as Netfilx, users have already become accustomed to this model of "delivering" entertainment (the best proof can be the launch of Netflix Games at the end of 2021). In order to service such services, efficient data centers will be necessary - and brands such as Xbox or Netflix will be forced to virtualize these centers in order to efficiently serve interested players and remain profitable in this new world.

Western Digital specialists add that in 2022, NFT tokens will also become an important phenomenon in the gaming world - as many game developers see this technology as a solution that can be easily and profitably implemented into  gameplay (e.g., to authenticate unique items in games).

"The best Black Friday promotions", "with us Black Friday lasts all week", or even absurdities in the style of "#BlackFriday this Wednesday" - such messages for a good few days we are bombarded from all sides. We know roughly what the idea of Black Friday is, but the knowledge about where this "secular tradition" and its name actually comes from is definitely less common.

Everyone knows what Black Friday is and why we look for bargains on this particular day - it is the Friday immediately following the American Thanksgiving holiday, which is usually a non-working day. But not for retailers - for them it marks the beginning of the pre-Christmas shopping rush, which should be emphasized with powerful promotions and discounts. It is also the moment when stores finalize their post-holiday sales campaigns and try to sell off their warehouse stocks to make room for the goods they hope to sell by Christmas.

The origin of the name Black Friday

But why is it actually Black Friday? This association is, after all, decidedly negative - Black Thursday is the colloquial name of the day on which the gigantic crash of the New York Stock Exchange took place in 1929 (Black Monday was also the moment when the Dow Jones index took a massive plunge in 1987). Generally, in our culture "black" is associated with bad, gloomy, and generally pejorative associations. So who came up with the absurd idea to call "Black Friday" a day that should be a joyous rather than a painful holiday for retailers (after all, statistics show that in the U.S. Black Friday is the biggest sales day of the year)?

Well, it seems ... no one in particular. The most popular theory - cited by Wikipedia - The term was originally used to describe the common practice of workers taking sick leave because they didn't want to return to work on Friday after a hearty Thanksgiving meal on Thursday. So they called their employers en masse, informing them of their illnesses, the stores were faced with staff shortages - and for their owners it was just a classic, negatively understood "Black Friday. That's how it was described in the early 1950s in the trade journal Factory Management and Maintenance.

Black Friday and Black Saturday

Theory number 2 (consistent with theory number 1) also has a decidedly negative ring to it - according to which the term was used by policemen to describe the ordeal that awaited them in connection with the duty to ensure order and peace around stores and shopping centers, which right after Thanksgiving Day started with promotions (although then it was usually referred to as Black Friday and Saturday). The problems were more with the increased traffic around the stores than with the battles over overpriced mixers and televisions (which came much later)... but well - the connotation was still decidedly negative. The policemen didn't like that Friday, all the more so because, due to the commotion around the stores, they weren't able to take vacations and extend their weekend. And so the pejorative term "Black Friday" was coined

Of course, there are also various alternative theories circulating on the web - some of them are based on stories about black ink, which was supposed to be used by salesmen to record income in their bookkeeping (as opposed to other colors, which were used to record losses), others have their roots in dark stories about slavery. Today, however, it is believed - as confirmed by an article published by Sarah Pruitt in the History.com - That it is the "police-holiday" genesis that is most likely. Although, of course, with such complex and old traditions, getting a 100% accurate answer to the question "where did Black Friday come from" may be impossible.

The fact is, however, that thanks to the events described above, retailers have become more and more aware of the fact that on one Friday in November shoppers flock to stores like crazy - and it's no wonder that this trend has started to be factored into sales and promotional plans. Black Friday as we know it today was born in the 1980s - and that's probably when the negative connotations finally disappeared and Black Friday was established as the biggest sales day of the year, quite successfully integrated into the American shopping cycle. With time, of course, it grew with additional activities (Black Week, Cyber Monday) and was more or less successfully exported around the world. But this is a topic for a completely different text...

We proudly represent OM Digital Solutions GmbH in the media and provide PR and marketing support for the new OM SYSTEM brand. It should be added that the company took over the heritage of Olympus Corporation and from now on the photographic, sound and observation equipment will be produced under the new banner - OM SYSTEM.

All new products, so far released under the Olympus brand, will be signed with the new name and logo OM SYSTEM. As a PR agency we are, among others, responsible for media distribution of the new logo and informing the customers about the change of visual identity. Please visit our new website  https://www.omsystem.com

According to a statement from OM Digital Solutions, OM SYSTEM brand products will continue the Olympus brand philosophy and provide photography lovers with innovative solutions and exciting experiences connected with capturing a moment in a picture, so that technology does not destroy its atmosphere by its imperfection.

We are already pleased to confirm that the first interchangeable lens camera is under developmentwhich will be branded with the OM System logo. The new model will be compatible with the Micro Four Thirds system standard, and the manufacturer promises that it will take photography to the next level by using computational photography, among other things.

We will soon provide the media with more information about the new camera, as well as provide journalists and influencers with the first samples for testing and review.

We run, in close cooperation with OM Digital Solutions, business profiles of the company and brand in Social Media channels. We encourage photography fans to observe OM SYSTEM brand profile on Facebook i profile @olympus_poland on Instagramwhere we publish posts and Instastories about product launches, inform about shopping opportunities and promotions, and respond to fans' questions and needs. In connection with the rebranding and launch campaign of the new brand we are developing actions and attractions that we will publish on FB and Instagram.

A presentation of the new brand can be seen below

The guardian of the OM System brand and products in our agency is Alicia Papadopolus, which is the main channel for news related to OM Digital Solutions, and will be happy to answer journalists' questions about the transformation and rebranding as well as current and upcoming products.