This week in PR (1 October)

It happened this week

• Words of the week: Keir Starmer made a good joke in his Labour Party Conference speech (‘my father was a toolmaker – and so, in a way, was Boris Johnson’s’). But the words of the week have to be ‘blah, blah, blah’ from a speech by climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Coffee sizes, for #WorldCoffeeDay.

For you #comms pros keeping everything going. pic.twitter.com/6QIj7XMSnO

— Hel Reynolds (@HelReynolds) September 29, 2021

Profession and ethics

Well, last night's #PowerandInfluence reinforced my belief that I'd rather eat worms than be president of a membership body. #ToughGig #TheyAreVolunteers

— Ben Verinder (@BenVerinder) September 30, 2021

• Stephen Waddington: Can we press release that? 15 stories about the public relations industry (you won’t believe #10) (29 September)
  ‘A computer and connection to the internet is the only barrier to entry in public relations. It’s possible to earn £150k and more without any formal accreditation or professional qualifications.’

ESG, corporate and financial

I haven’t captured even a tiny essence of @NaomiLJones1 brilliant session… so much to learn and think about! Here’s my simple #sketchnotes attempt. I’m going to watch again and try and do a better interpretation #CommsHero pic.twitter.com/Mlsye25s0T

— Sarah J (@CooeeSarah) September 28, 2021

• Steffan Williams: Make Haste (no date)
  ‘ESG is the new megatrend. In turn, investors are increasingly demanding more, as sustainability takes centre stage.’

• Andrew Adie: Purpose on Payday (27 September)
  ‘The Competition and Markets Authority has published its ‘Green Claims Code’ giving guidance on how organisations should communicate green claims to consumers and stating that it will review the claims being made by business and take action if it finds evidence of customers being misled.’

CSR careers finally come of age — and are breaking sector boundaries https://t.co/hOPndnUDkO

— John Brown (@BrownBare) September 29, 2021

Consulting, teams and careers

• Ray Basaula: 5 lessons from my first internship (30 September)
  ‘It can be uncomfortable at first to ask questions for fear of asking something so dumb that it’ll be documented forever. But we’ve all heard the saying “there’s no such thing as a stupid question” – and it’s actually true!’

• Ben Smith: How PR employers can become a workplace of choice, with Alice Weightman, founder of Hanson Search [podcast] (29 September)
  ‘During lockdown 58% said their productivity had increased; but 65% had suffered from mental [ill] health.’

• Angharad Planells and Rich Leigh: Radioactive 2.0 – people and policies (28 September)
  ‘We very publicly became one of the first companies in the UK to offer a four-day week for five days’ pay in 2018. The pandemic fundamentally changed many things for many companies. We’re not ashamed to say that we lost a huge amount of business in the first lockdown, across impacted sectors. We made good use of furlough, and are very proud to say that every staff member that was furloughed is back working full-time.’
• Jessica Pardoe: My Top 10 PR Red Flags To Pay Attention To (28 September)
  ‘If an employer doesn’t offer any working from home options at all, then this comes across as a red flag for me too. Perhaps not a deal breaker, but if 2020 taught us anything, it’s that our old way of working was outdated as hell.’

Public and third sectors

• Amanda Coleman: Remember Sarah (30 September)
  ‘The [Sarah Everard] situation has shaken trust and confidence in the police. No amount of protests that this was a lone individual will stop women feeling uncertain if they are approached by a male police officer. There are no words that will wipe those feelings away. After my time working in the police it makes me sad to think of all those amazing officers who may be seen through that filter. There is no one thing that will rebuild confidence in the police. There is a long road ahead.’
• Vanessa Chance: World Alzheimer’s Month (28 September)
  ‘I am really looking forward to our own fundraising this year in the office. In the past we have paid by donation yoga classes, bake sales and sponsored running. It is great to see my colleagues get competitive for a good cause and really heart-warming to see their generosity too.’ 

Politics, public affairs and public sphere

This is a superb article with actionable insights for PA practitioners https://t.co/5VqOdV58Kj

— Conor McGrath (@ConorMcGrathPR) September 30, 2021

• Laura Griffiths: Movin’ on up – Michael Gove and the Department for levelling up (30 September)
  ‘The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is no more, and has been transformed into the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC).’

• Anthie Zachariou: Labour Party Conference; A much needed show of strength and a break from the Corbyn era (30 September)
  ‘The general feeling is that Starmer, while clever and competent, will be a ‘transition’ Leader; delivering on the internal reforms needed to make the party electable for whomever comes next.’

• Emeka Forbes: Autumn offers Johnson a window of opportunity to deliver on his domestic agenda (30 September)
  ‘The build-up to COP26 has been more than two-years in the making as the UK has sought to use the hosting of the international climate change summit as an opportunity to demonstrate leadership on the environment, and to re-build relationships with international partners.’

• Thomas Messenger: Political Insider: Labour Party Conference (29 September)
  ‘The main takeaway for many from #Lab21 is that Corbynism has been excised from the party, with Starmer now entering a new phase of his leadership where he can turn his attention squarely towards the country. The big question facing Labour is, is the country willing to listen?’

• Stuart Thomson: Getting the most from the party conferences (29 September)
  ‘As with any event, the most important consideration is the follow-up. You must make the most of the information gathered or contacts established.  Of course, the nature of the follow-up will vary but do not leave anything to chance, continue to be pro-active.’
• Benjamin Peart: Three million more Britons will gain the right to vote (no date)
  ‘The Election Bill will now make British citizens living abroad eligible to vote for life, no matter how long they have lived out of the country for. Overseas voters will only have to re-register every three years. This ‘vote for life’ policy has been in the last three Conservative manifestos.’
• Pearce Branigan: Fuelling the Flames of Fear (28 September)
  ‘It is a truth most commonly accepted that the very act of denying a crisis or panic, will naturally have the opposite effect in exacerbating one (what is colloquially referred to as ‘the Corporal Jones effect’.)’

• Chris Adams: What the German elections mean for the future of UK-EU relations (no date)
  ‘Observers should not be fooled by the SDP’s narrow victory – their candidate for Chancellor, Olaf Sholz, is no radical change or new dawn for German politics. As the current Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister in the ‘Grand Coalition’ which has governed Germany since 2017, he has succeeded in positioning himself as the natural successor to Merkel.’

• Paddy Kent: New Affordable Housing Programme: 300,000 homes a year still looks a long way off (27 September)
  ‘The overall focus on shared ownership reflects that home ownership is a Government priority. But it is politically controversial, especially as shared ownership homes are mired in the ongoing crisis (or scandal) of leasehold, service charge and the allocation of the costs of fire safety remediation works.’
• Nick Barron: Poles Apart (24 September)
  ‘Polarisation reduces debates to zero-sum arguments, but kindness helps us to see each other as people rather than adversaries, and to identify win-win scenarios. Understanding people is the essence of great communication – and never more so than in the Networked Age, when people are the medium through which ideas travel, peer-to-peer.’

Risk, crisis and reputation

https://twitter.com/CIPR_Global/status/1442885608473612296

• Barnaby Fry: Legal vs Communications: Can they work together in a crisis? (no date)
  ‘So, is the legal approach always about secrecy and communications all about transparency? At our recent event, we got together a lawyer, newspaper Editor and a crisis specialist to talk about the most effective response in a crisis and how the media reacts to your crisis response strategy.’
• Chloe Shelcott and Matt Stott: Fuelling the panic: The power of media in crisis situations (27 September)
  ‘Crisis situations shine a spotlight on the immense power and influence that the media has on the public. The media’s primary role is to deliver factual information of public interest, which is instant in today’s 24/7 media landscape. But the media are also businesses that need to attract readers, generate sales and increase web clicks. As a result, some outlets can often be seen walking the thin line of impartial facts versus commercial interests.’

Campaigns, creativity and behaviour

• Ruth Dale: Empty petrol pumps: using behavioural science to communicate effectively about panic buying (27 September)
  ‘Take a look at any e-commerce store and you will often see just how many people are looking at the same product as you – but oh no – there are only a few left at that price. It is pretty endless when you start noticing, and it’s not an accident.’

Content, storytelling and influence

• Emma Drake: Ep 42. Content no longer king? Less is now more. [podcast] (30 September)
  ‘Long-form content has a longer shelf-life and search engines favour it.’
• Karan Chadda: Three content priorities (29 September)
  ‘Whether it’s review scores, third party endorsements or case studies, we know that social proof is a valued and important part of the sales journey. And yet, case studies often sit at the rarely visited bottom of a page.’
• Henry Adefope: Influencer marketing has surpassed print – so the FCA’s latest celeb stunt is savvier than it looks (28 September)
  ‘The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), that oversees the entire retail investment sector, and reports to arguably the most important Government department, the Treasury, is enlisting the help of morally ‘dubious’ social media influencers to highlight the dangers of high-risk investing to an audience of vulnerable, yet precocious Gen-X & Y early investors.’
• Scott Guthrie: Creators’ Legal, a template contract start-up, sets sights on creator economy (28 September)
  ‘New startup, Creators’ Legal, is offering contract templates and other deal-making tools designed for content creators.’

Internal communication

Congrats Lesley Allman @allmancomms on the publication of your book, Better Internal Communication. I had the pleasure of reading the manuscript & writing the foreword earlier this year. It's a practical guide to help IC pros & available from all good bookshops. #InternalComms pic.twitter.com/1L9xg5j95E

— Rachel Miller, All Things IC (@AllthingsIC) September 30, 2021

• Rachel Miller: Discover who won the IoIC National Awards 2021 (26 September)
  ‘A total of 37 class winners were handed out, along with a #WeMatterAtWork Awards and the Grand Prix Award winner was the pinnacle of the evening. This top trophy went to: Now & Next: Engaging employees during challenging times for AstraZeneca by Ruder Finn UK.’
• Jenni Field, Advita Patel and Trudy Lewis: Are power poses and quotes enough to keep you motivated? [podcast, after 17 mins] (24 September)
  Jenni Field: ‘The thing for me is it’s not all about work. I generally try not to work on Fridays; and only to work between 10 and 4. If I was just working all the time, I’d find that really hard.’

Today is #InternationalPodcastDay so what better day to announce that I’m starting my own podcast: Redefining Communications with Jenni Field – you’ll find me wherever you get your podcasts and the trailer is now live! #businessconsultant #internalcommshttps://t.co/AiHSv2Fm1V

— Jenni Field (@mrsjennifield) September 30, 2021

Technology, media and digital

https://twitter.com/BethNunnington/status/1443545492131090434

• Emeka Ikechi: GUEST POST: Four tips for better social media imagery (30 September)
  ‘As the old adage goes: show, don’t tell. If you can demonstrate how your product or service is used to improve your customers’ lives, you will create an image and idea in customers’ minds.’

https://twitter.com/CallumTaylorPR/status/1443545928569434123

#prstudent #CreatorAwards22

It’s October, students have returned to university and we have launched our #CreatorAwards22 and are looking to discover and showcase talented #prstudent content creators.