This week in PR (13 January)

About the author

Richard Bailey Hon FCIPR is editor of PR Academy's PR Place Insights. He has taught and assessed undergraduate, postgraduate and professional students.

It happened this week

Profession

  • David Olajide: 2023 Predictions for the PR Industry (10 January)
    ‘We asked PR pundits to look in their crystal balls ahead of this new year, and judging from their predictions, the PR world is in for an interesting 2023.’
  • PRovoke Media: 2023 Forecast: 10 PR Trends We’d Like To See (9 January)
    ‘ESG is not simply a rebrand of CSR or ‘purpose-led’ campaigns, let alone promoting ‘green’ products: it usually requires complete business transformation.’

Consulting, skills and careers


 

  • Sam Bleazard: Candid Career Coach and LinkedIn influencer Vicki Marinker [podcast] (10 January)
    ‘January is busy for recruiters because they’re talking to candidates who want a fresh start. We are busy talking to people who are thinking ‘what next?’’
  • Ella Minty: Never Be Aggressive When Pitching (9 January)
    ‘We, as advisors and consultants, must and should be able to understand what a client needs or wants – not what we want that client to “want”.’

Gender, diversity and wellbeing

  • Dominique Rock: A tale of progress or more talk than action? Hopes and predictions for BME people in PR and beyond for 2023. (9 January)
    ‘In PR, despite attempts to address the lack of diversity in the industry, stats show that the industry is still mostly white (87%), with the pay gap in their favour, with progress to recruit and retain BME talent slow.’
  • Sara Thornhurst: Turning awareness into action (7 January)
    ‘It might be unlikely anyone with a visual impairment will personally thank you for including alt text, or someone with hearing loss seeks you out to praise you for adding captions but adding them every time, until it becomes second nature is putting your disability awareness into action.’

Politics, public affairs and public sphere

  • Joe Cooper: Government, industry, and unions hoping for strike breakthrough after another day of negotiations (12 January)
    ‘With junior doctors in England currently balloting on further strike action in the form of a 72-hour strike in March, tensions between the unions and government is only likely to heighten in the weeks ahead, putting further pressure on Ministers to come to an agreement in the public interest.’
  • Karina Barcellos: Letter from Brazil… (12 January)
    ‘Even though Abracom, the Brazilian Association of Corporate Communications Agencies, has published a letter of condemnation in response to the acts on Sunday, as of the writing of this assessment, only three brands have publicly positioned themselves against the attacks and pro-Democracy, with mixed results.’
  • Charlie Rattigan: Energy shakeup (10 January)
    ‘In a change up from the previous scheme, firms will now get a discount on wholesale prices rather than costs being capped. Additionally, firms will only benefit from the scheme when energy bills are high.’
  • Thomas Sharpe: UK and Japan – The Quiet Relationship (10 January)
    The island monarchies share similar drinking habits and traffic quirks as well as a long history and a significant economic relationship.’

Research, data, measurement and evaluation

Crisis, risk and reputation



  • Claire Munro: Book review: Reputation in Business (12 January)
    ‘Thomson makes a convincing case that the health of an organisation is in jeopardy without a proactive approach, stating “reputation management is risk management”.’ 

Internal communication

  • Rachel Miller: Why internal communication feels tougher today (10 January)
    ‘Stakeholder mapping has taken on a whole new meaning for me with my clients. I’ve found myself challenging assumptions, testing theories and trying to gather insights and evidence to help the internal communicators I have the pleasure of advising.’
  • Jenni Field: Avoiding the hurry habit – trends and why you need to slow down in 2023 (10 January)
    ‘As we try to navigate the awkwardness of a post-COVID workplace, people want choice, options, and the ability to discuss and feel heard. We must create space in organisations to do that.’
  • Andrew Hesselden: Eliminating overwhelm by paring back (7 January)
    ‘My focus on comms in recent years has been about minimising overwhelm for staff and looking closely at the user experience of the Comms we push out or that employees consume.’

Media, digital and technology

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