Build your public relations on sound planning18 July 2009
People making money under any position of 'status quo' are unlikely to be keen on change - which explains why public relations has never achieved the level of influence or credibility that it should. Does that mean it will always be the junior management craft that is bolted on after all the important stuff has been done?
Perhaps not! The new career entrants into publ...
Draft (and daft) legislation threaten UK freedoms07 July 2009
Government legislation that threatens the free market and choice is legislation that will also threaten all freedoms. These are being taken from us in the UK, one by one.
For example, 80% of UK legislation now comes from the European Union - so why do we have a massive and expensive Parliament, desperately looking for initiatives to justify the bloated lifes...
Michael Jackson's wasted life27 June 2009The death of Michael Jackson at such a relatively early age is truly tragic. He had so much more to do and so much still to prove.
But the impossible sadness of his death is that he wasted too many opportunities. Just look again at his Earth Song on YouTube. The power, the poignancy, the drama the shock of this story. Yet it was just a song. He may have felt ...
How to add creativity to business communications26 June 2009Creativity is not the same as originality. Old ideas can be updated, refreshed turned around, inverted But it is an essential element in any communications that is going to work. Workmanlike is not good enough. We have to engage the interest, the emotions of those with whom we communicate ... not just their intellect.
Young professionals think creativity is one of the bi...
Sleazegate: Why we need a tougher but fairer deal for our MPs.26 May 2009
It seems certain that Gordon Brown's government will be brought down by sleaze just as John Major's was. But there are other similarities between the leadership of these two premiers that history may judge to be more important than the poor behaviour of MPs - and, in both cases, probably only a small minority and certainly not restricted to the respective parties they both were suppo...
Issues can destroy companies22 May 2009Issues are the key to corporate success ... or failure
Public relations is much more than merely communications
Most so-called public relations is not public relations at all. It is only about what the organisation says and not what it does. But public relations should be all about reputation and relationships; these depend on policy not just...
Is Courtney Pine racist?21 May 2009Courtney Pine is a true British jazz great and demonstrated this, yet again, when he appeared with his Jazz Warriors at the Norwich and Norfolk Arts Festival. However, his band raises an issue that concerns me. His website describes members of the Jazz Warriors as Afropean, defined as people of African descent who "exist" in Europe. A strange word considering that almost all...
Half-baked Gaza peace option...............08 February 2009So now we have a Gaza peace initiative proposed by (of all the illmatched partners) Egypt and France. The key factors that unite these deeply unimpressive countries would seem to be their desparation for global credibility, their irrelevance to any peace process and truly stunning cynicism.
Now do not get me wrong. If by some billion to one chance they have come up with a peace f...
What advice would YOU give Israel on Gaza05 January 2009
Is the Gaza situation yet another insoluble mess? Again we have two intransigent forces locked in conflict. Everyone seems to be saying that Israel should back down. But is that right and, more important, would it work?
When you are in step with everyone else, you need to be careful you are not out of step with logic or common sense.
How could I...
White House staff advised not to interfere in public relations08 December 2008The best public relations operations have the top public relations person reporting to the top management person. And all others at all other levels must defer to this ruling. How many PR advisers get frustrated by being instructed by people who may outrank them but are not in this area of responsibility? There are three simple solutions to this problem.
The first opti...
Why business leaders must spend more on promotion RIGHT NOW!29 November 2008
Good businesses promote themselves in a recession
- and, above all, they further empower their public relations professionals
Logic is not essential in business management (as we all see every day) but only in good business management. Imagine this real comment made to me consistently, persistently and obstinately by too many senior business leaders at times of recess...
How to irritate journalists - in one easy lesson24 November 2008
It is a disappointing truism that so many people in public relations either dislike journalists or are frightened of them – both attitudes are wrong for a business professional whose usefulness depends, to at least some extent, on being able to work with the media, offering them good stories when all is going well and handling problems with equal honesty and integrity. If the p...
Yet again, The TImes misuses the term 'public relations'23 November 2008The use of the term public relations, mostly by the media but sometimes by politicians, to describe some stunt, publicity or even propaganda activity, is irritating to those who know better ... particularly when it is used by those who should know better. Worse, it is damaging to the business.
Public relations is all about building reputation and relationships; to do this inv...
Haringey's top public relations professional must resign - or be sacked13 November 2008
The Haringey shame over the appalling death of Baby P has highlighted the incompetence not just of its children's services but of this council's public relations - possibly not untypical of quite a few major councils.
The boss of this shameful public relations shambles should resign. And the Chartered Institute of Public Relations must set up (and quickly) its own enquiries...
Obama's first mistake?05 November 2008
Could president-elect Barak Obama have made his first mistake in his victory speech? Perhaps not so much a mistake but an error of judgement, completely out of character? How important will be the white electorate to his presidency?
His speech was superbly researched - his references to a 106 year old black woman voter allowed a fascinating narrative thread. And ...
Disastrous public relations failure at the BBC02 November 2008Behind the massive, global coverage of the tasteless calls to Andrew Sacks, initially broadcast to a relatively small audience, was the astonishing failure of the BBC public relations. This was a failure much more fundamental than an inability to manage the crisis. Their supposed professionals obviously had no power to control events, nor to get BBC senior executives to...
BBC better get a grip quickly on the sleaze factor21 October 2008The condemnation of the broadcast of the telephone calls to Andrew Sacks will have major repercussions if the BBC does not get its act togeher and get a grip on the issue - and the unravelling policies of the corporation.
Above all, someone very senior should have been speaking about this disaster within minutes of it becoming a public issue. Any public relations department wort...
Top public relations professionals could face corporate misconduct charges14 October 2008
Top public relations professionals could - and probably should - face criminal charges when their organisations are under investigation for the newer offences, such as coproate manslaughter, argues Roger Haywood, past president of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
Such practitioners are paid to build and protect reputation ... so in cases where r...
Top branding decision20 September 2008Experts vote on world's top branding decision
Winner announced
According to a recent study*, the brightest branding decision ever was the creation of the Marigold product range. The chairman of the judges felt that this brand name captured all the essential factors that top professional marketing people seek in identifying a name that will carve out a market: originality, universality, hum...
How long before your customers get irritated15 September 2008Do interested buyers matter to your business?
How long before your customers get irritated?
Customers getting irritated is not good for business. Companies have learned at last (mostly) the three rings on the phone maximum. But attention to real live customers wanting to spend money is still too often neglected.
I once was so tired waiting for my bill in a restaurant, despite severa...
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