This week in PR (15 November)

News in brief

Could not be more made up for our very own @_ghop_ for scooping PR Leader of the Year at the 2019 @PRCA_UK Awards 🎉🎉🎊🎊 pic.twitter.com/5XfT7Tjjh3

— ENGINE Mischief (@mischiefpr) November 12, 2019

• Here is the full list of PRCA National Awards winners 2019
• The CIPR has awarded fellowships to Laurian Hubbard, Rachel Moss and Deb Sharratt
• AMEC has released a 52-page ebook on the theme of ‘evolving communication measurement’ to mark Measurement Month.

The amazing @SparklyPinchy scooping Journalist of the Year at the Women in Marketing awards tonight #WiMawardsGlobal2019 pic.twitter.com/LywNbhnMcT

— Tamara Littleton (@tlittleton) November 13, 2019

Academic and education

Hey @GregsAnne, look who i bumped into on a Doha in Mombassa! The wonderful professor @jimmacnamara Great to have this shared experience @prskkenya #PRSKSummit2019 #Lucky! pic.twitter.com/1CvJIP9G1d

— PRKSheehan (@PRKezza) November 14, 2019

• The Relevance Report 2020 from USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations is a collection of thought leadership pieces from academics and practitioners in the US alongside new industry research. It’s described by Golin’s Fred Cook as ‘a look into the future of one of the most dynamic professions on Earth.’

Purpose and professionalism

"PR professionals have a responsibility to understand the technologies we adopt, to consider the ethical implications of how they are used and to adapt, to add value in building trust for our organisations and clients."
CIPR President @EmmaJ70 https://t.co/XB4qyK2Khr pic.twitter.com/haBkGKgOCW

— CIPR (@CIPR_UK) November 14, 2019

• Peter Holt: Localism, diversity and braveness – what could CIPR maybe learn from other professional bodies? (12 November)
  Rob Yeldham: ‘CIPR provides me with a professional  identity. For the first part of my career I couldn’t fit what I was doing into a label. Being a chartered PR practitioner now gives me a status with other qualified professionals. I would most like to see CIPR being a braver voice for the profession challenging those who see it as an overhead or nice to have, not a core strategic function.’
• Ella Minty: World PR Report 2020 – Professional Development Is Not a Priority (13 November)
  ‘ICCO’s report raises more questions than answers and, while the industry’s growth is clear and the forecast is positive, its ability to protect itself and address its weak points is a matter for debate and consideration.’

• Sandra McLeod: Trust or Reliability: Which is better? (11 November)
  ‘Truth and trust are inextricably linked. The OED defines trust as: ‘confidence in or reliance on some quality or attribute of a person or thing. Or the truth of a statement.’ Clunky but it will have to do.  To get somebody to trust you is about doing as you say and saying as you do.’
• Danny Rogers: The future of business may hinge on one word – purpose [PR Week subscription required] (11 November)
  ‘Unlike the other buzzwords, purpose (by definition) goes to the heart of why most of us do what we do for a living. It is an existential examination of capitalism in the 21st century.’

Consulting and careers

• Sophie Anderson: Why introverts can thrive in a PR career (13 November)
  ‘As introverts are less likely to want to claim the spotlight in a conversation, it is easier for them to provide a supporting role in a conversation, making the other person feel heard and appreciated.’
• Elvina Soogun: This PR professional’s career-long battle with “perfectionism”’ (no date)
  ‘It’s exhausting and it’s stifling and it’s no way to work. You’re always close to burning out. And you aim so high, you risk not delivering. I know from speaking to colleagues, I’m not alone.’
• Sarah Roberts: Being comfortable with being uncomfortable (13 November)
  ‘A sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. Your heart rate beating a little quicker than usual. Imposter syndrome.’

Public and third sectors

https://twitter.com/comms2point0/status/1193792481340674049

• James Herring: WATCH: Kent County Council’s gritter drivers perform Ice Ice Baby (13 November)
  ‘The best Christmas campaign video of the season, thus far, has just dropped. With cold temperatures forecast , Kent County Council is reminding drivers to take care on the roads with the release of a rap track.’

Politics and public affairs

• Dan Julian: Labour has a strong message. It might need a better messenger. (8 November)
  ‘While the leadership may want to dismiss the idea that 2017 was ‘Peak Corbyn’, the fact remains that four years into his tenure, Corbyn’s ratings have gone down from where they were in 2015, and the rise in his approval ratings that he experienced during the 2017 campaign was not sustained.’

Wellbeing, gender and diversity

@CIPR_UK are looking for #MentalHealth trainers to help train the #PR profession – if you have experience of working with comms & #PR professionals & are a qualified #MentalHealth this could be a great opportunity for you #CIPRWellBeing @CiprHealth https://t.co/2IGxHZtlVf

— Rachel Royall (@RachRoyall) November 10, 2019

Measurement and evaluation

• Stephen Waddington: Measurement stupid, is solution to PR talent challenge (13 November)
  ‘Talent remains the number one challenge for the public relations industry. At every level of the industry, and in every region of the world, there is a challenge in recruiting and retaining talent.’
• Libby Howard: Three measurement myths debunked (12 November)
  ‘Measurement isn’t about generating reports for the sake of it – it’s about demonstrating value. Clients don’t want us to just do ‘stuff’, to create column inches, to fill online space – they want us to make a difference to their organisation. And if you can’t demonstrate that then how can you show you’ve done your job?’
• James Crawford: How PR can play a major role in commercial measurement and attribution (11 November 2019)
  ‘Some clients simply want to look for correlations from PR outputs to commercial outcomes, while others want full clarity on attribution. The latter is complex and expensive but definitely possible. Attribution is a data science and requires considerable skill, but we’ve found investing in the process has helped us win and retain clients.’

AI, tools and automation

• Dan Slee: OK COMPUTER: A three little pigs warning about AI in PR that you need to pay attention to (15 November)
  ‘The broad warning is the need to develop better skills in data, artificial intelligence and machine learning in your own role as well as advising business and organisations on AI.’
• Phoebe-Jane Boyd: AIinPR: the PR industry is not ready for AI (14 November)
  ‘Communicators interested in AI are encouraged to contribute to the AlinPR panel by adding academic materials to the Google document. The final repository of information, as well as the AIinPR 2020 plan, will launch on 16 January at The Turing Institute.’
• Ste Davies: To Learn How Your Data Could Be Used To Control You, Look At China (no date)
  ‘Every single day you give away hundreds of data points to giant multibillion dollar companies but in the worst possible scenario imaginable how could all this data be used against you?’

Internal communication

This is a great session this morning – #internalcomms is part of PR so we need to make sure that leaders and organisations understand how important the employee is to success #ciprconf19 pic.twitter.com/sNWAanCsLb

— Jenni Field (@mrsjennifield) November 13, 2019

• Helen Deverell: Why you should volunteer for a professional body (12 November)
  ‘The [CIPR] Inside committee is now looking for new members, so this is your chance to get involved. But what does being involved actually mean?

• Debbie Aurelius: Perfecting the Craft of Podcasting with Paul Gisby [podcast] (8 November)
  In Our Time: ‘Melvyn Bragg is not an expert in all these fields, but he does an excellent job of getting experts to explain their subject…. I think audio is brilliant at explaining subtleties.’

Media and digital

• Sarah Lay: Killing me softly: Why your micro-copy makes or breaks your digital experience (14 November)
  ‘The label of a field in a form? Micro-copy. The words on the button you want someone to press? Yep, micro-copy. The error message they see when something goes wrong? You know it, micro-copy.’
• Laura Sutherland: The Role of Public Relations in Digital Transformation (8 November)
  ‘The reason so many talk about digital transformation isn’t to scare businesses and more traditional thinking owners, Directors or CEOs, it’s so your business is future proofed by being what it needs to be for your customers.’
• Laura Joint: A PRs guide to Google’s new follow vs no-follow rules (8 November)
  ‘In September, Google announced it was changing the way it crawled follow and no-follow links.’

#prstudent #bestPRblogs

• Rachel Mole (Solent): Does Public Sharing = Public Property (14 November)
  ‘Online bullying and abuse is such a hot topic at the moment and I know of many people, both celebrities and non-celebs that are campaigning for stricter social media controls.’
• Hannah Gilsenan (Ulster): What I would tell myself 365 days ago… (14 November)
  ‘I study Communication, Advertising and Marketing at Ulster University which should really be called Communication, Advertising, Marketing, PR, digital media and graphic design, because there’s so much more to the degree than the title portrays.’
• Millie Vincent (Solent): Are you excited about John Lewis & #ExcitableEdgar? (14 November)’
  ‘Interestingly, the company has released its full advert solely on social media, two days before they premiere the advert on live TV Saturday evening. Is this showing that they value social media reception more? Or perhaps using the release on social media to create a share of voice before the big release on Saturday night?’

• Abi Kitcher (Solent): Is ethical branding important to us? (13 November)
  ‘The discussion was whether we really mind if companies lie to us or not. The initial thought is “of course we mind!” It’s unethical, it is not good PR and it must surely bring a company to a halt and destroy their reputation?’
• Hannah Chambers (Ulster): Who’s winning Burger Wars – From Genius Marketing to PR Fails (13 November)
  ‘In my eyes Burger King have the lead here, I love how reactive their PR and Marketing is and their constant focus on current issues. I think their constant ‘trolling’ and responding to McDonald’s is pretty humorous and clever and gives them the upper hand here.’
• Emma Street (Lincoln): The semiotics of learning about Public Relations early (12 November)
  ‘Every time I think that I finally understand everything there is to know about public relations, another window opens up and introduces me to a whole new level of what pr is. For me, that just really cemented my belief that there should be more opportunities at school for students to learn about public relations.’
• Niamh Murray (Ulster): Why Students Should Skip Uni (12 November)
  ‘You can’t complain about the results of the elections or about decisions that are made if you didn’t vote. True, we can’t do anything about what politicians decide, but we can do something about who gets to make those decisions.’
• Emily Spackman McKee (Ulster): My name is Emily and I’m addicted to TikTok... (12 November)
  ‘At first I was apprehensive and it seemed like the whole app was just a bunch of pre teens lip syncing or dancing to random songs and the odd funny dog video.’
• Siobhan McKerr (Ulster): Pretty Little Thing’s pretty big PR disaster (11 November)
  ‘It is not the only clothing company that has used this warning, ASOS and Fashion Nova also have this warning within their company terms and conditions.’

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