This week in PR (15 October)

It happened this week

We’re putting London’s Black history on the map.

Zoom in for @TfL and @BCAHeritage’s new reimagined tube map celebrating the Black creators, leaders and trailblazers who have helped make London the city it is today. #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/ijumXrvwT3

— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) October 12, 2021

• Finsbury Glover Hering Hires Craig Oliver & Amber Rudd From Teneo (PRovoke News)

Wellbeing, gender and diversity

https://twitter.com/CIPR_Global/status/1448559091228581889

• Francis Ingham: Workplace Mental Wellbeing Audit 2021: Francis Ingham Foreword (no date)
  ‘I have suffered from appalling mental health my whole life. Frequent bouts of depression’ destructive and pointless anxiety; an underlying lack of confidence. All of which I’ve hidden from almost everybody.’
• Alexander Clelland: World Mental Health Day – Being Bipolar In A Safe, Supportive Workplace (14 October)
  ‘As someone with bipolar disorder, every day is definitely a mental health day for me. My day begins and ends with a carefully orchestrated medication regime to stabilise my mood, combat anxiety, stave off depression and to help me sleep. But what happens in between is just as important for my mental health as my medication.’
• Amanda Coleman: Protecting our mental wellbeing (14 October)
  ‘I have been very open about my own mental wellbeing challenges that followed responding to the Manchester Arena attack in 2017. From being a very strong and capable person I started to feel wobbly, like life was going out of control, and at times being very depressed.’

• Rachel Miller: PR professionals 25% more likely to suffer from poor mental health compared to other UK workers (14 October)
  ‘The research – conducted by Opinium – found nine in ten (90%) PR professionals have struggled with their mental wellbeing to an extent over the past 12 months, compared to 65% of UK workers.’

• Maja Pawinska Sims: Neurodiversity In PR: From Kryptonite To Superpower (11 October)
  ‘Neurodivergent conditions include attention deficit disorder (ADHD), autism (autism spectrum disorders including Asperger’s Syndrome), dyslexia (difficulty with reading, writing and spelling) and dyspraxia (difficulty with planning, practical and physical tasks and coordination).’
• Holly Bremner: Baby loss awareness week – opening up a difficult conversation (10 October)
  ‘I have lost three babies and have never been fortunate enough to have a live birth- that is one of the hardest sentences I have ever written. In fact, it really is the hardest thing I have ever faced in my life.’
• Jenny Millichip: Battenhall Wellbeing: launching personalised team therapy on-demand (8 October)
  ‘During the past 18 months we have asked our colleagues what more we could do to look after their wellbeing, and with the information that came back, we made significant changes to offer even more support.’

diversity without inclusion will not work @NorrisDanielleE

with @amritknijjar @TeeClayts @NafisaShafiq #diversityinPR pic.twitter.com/GxTEqohZOX

— A Leader Like Me (@ALeaderLikeMe) October 14, 2021

Academic and education

• Rebecca Roberts and Harriet Small: Teaching The Next Generation of Industry with Dr Clea Bourne [podcast] (14 October)
  ‘My entire teaching boils down to one word. It’s to help students to understand the role of power in the industry… The most recent example of power is that owned by big tech. Digital platforms now have a great deal of control over what counts as a good story. They also get to determine who contributes to and sees a story.’

ESG, corporate and financial

• Louise Nicolson: Thinking in Circles (no date)
  ‘A move from fossil fuels to renewables is predicated on a shift to consume more electricity.  Electrifying our energy system requires we build more.  For more cables, wires, turbines and solar panels we need metals and minerals.  Around three billion tonnes of graphite, lithium and cobalt will be needed to deploy all the renewable power generation and electricity storage needed to keep the world below 2C warming.’
• Gihan Hyde: Common ESG communication mistakes and how to avoid them (10 October)
  ‘Getting internal buy-in is half the battle to achieving true sustainability. Once an ESG strategy is set, it must be implemented and communicated from the ground up; only then will it have the best possible chances of succeeding.’
• Engine MHP: ESG Insights: October (no date)
  ‘Becoming a certified B Corp is another way companies can look to demonstrate their ESG credentials, with Kin + Carta recently announcing they are looking to become the first public company listed on the London Stock Exchange to do so.’

Consulting, teams and careers

https://twitter.com/ShavaunGlen/status/1448612276236439556

• Babel PR: Why PR? Q&A with Babel’s Assistant Apprentice, Lauren (14 October)
  ‘As ‘Media Studies’ was my favourite subject during my A Levels, I decided to talk to my media teacher about careers in the media. It just so happened that my media teacher was previously in the PR industry and after hearing about it, I decided to look into PR apprenticeships in more detail.’
• Son Pham: The Nomad S2E3 – Kristian Hoareau Foged (14 October)
  ‘I got this job offer – then at the time of what then was Text100, now Archetype – on their graduate scheme. I thought, you know, summer Fridays, away days, and bar, that sounds like a great place to start as a first job. Here we are some eight years later and still doing this [PR and comms] in the industry and have never gone back to law.’

Politics, public affairs and public sphere

• Sophie Morello: Countdown to COP (14 October)
  ‘Scientists from the Natural History Museum revealed that the UK has lost more of its natural biodiversity than any of the G7 nations and with only 53% of biodiversity left, it is in the bottom 10% of the world’s countries.’
• Ciaran Gill: The Northern Ireland Protocol: a touch of Frost raises the temperature (14 October)
  ‘All eyes will now be on Lord Frost to see whether these proposals, which Šefčovič states were developed on the back of extensive discussion with “political leaders, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders in Northern Ireland”, will be acceptable to a UK Government ostensibly concerned with maximising sovereignty at all costs.’

• Ben Peart: Is Facebookm changing democracy? (13 October)
  ‘Facebook is changing its policies on political advertising, which has consequences for campaigners, and may, on a wider scale, impact democracy itself and stop non-incumbent campaigns from being successful.’
• Naomi Harris: Party conferences 2021: politics, power plays and positioning (12 October)
  ‘If Net Zero was in the title of every other fringe event, questions about plans to address cost of living concerns were on the lips of attendees, both in Brighton and in Manchester.’

• James Surallie: Battle of the departments as PM appears to back gas support loans (12 October)
  ‘As the row between the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy intensified over the weekend, the Prime Minister is reported to have intervened from his post-conference break in the south of Spain to weigh in behind Kwarteng.’
• Alex McCready and Guy Smith: Advice to schools on navigating the new normal (12 October)
  ‘Covid-19 has forced numerous changes. This has prompted an urgent need to review all policies in order to reduce risks both legally and reputationally. It is clear that a school with strong policies will be better placed to ensure that everything is operating as smoothly as possible.’
• Stuart Thomson: Reflections on the party conferences (12 October)
  ‘The Conservative conference is no longer a conference, it is a political trade show – no one has ever pretended that Conservative members have a role in making policy for the party.  It is all about set-piece speeches / Q&As, the fringe and the exhibition.’

Risk, crisis and reputation

• Neil McLeod: Reputation management in the public eye (11 October)
  ‘One thing which often goes forgotten in a crisis is internal communications. Staff and colleagues should be kept in the loop from an early point. When things aren’t going well externally, it’s important to keep your own people on your side.’

Campaigns, creativity and behaviour

• Jessica Pardoe: Are Thursday Too Thirsty For Fame? (12 October)
  ‘Thursday has gone viral, so to speak, today – but at what cost? Its latest callous attempt at OOH marketing has certainly attracted attention, but for literally promoting adultery. Sure, many won’t take this too seriously – but do you really want your app to be associated with cheating and ruining relationships?’

Sport

• Danny Rogers: Saudi Arabia’s takeover of Newcastle United is a huge story and one with PR, brands and reputation at its core (10 October)
  ‘This is a huge business story, political story – and one with PR, brands and reputations at its (some say, rotten) core.’

Content, storytelling and influence

• Scott Guthrie: Influencer marketing disclosure and the algorithm of deterrence (8 October)
  ‘Current influencer marketing compliance and disclosure rules are sufficient and fit-for-purpose. However, the sanctions at the disposal of the regulators, and the process for triggering those sanctions, should be revisited.’

Internal communication

I made it into the @theICcrowd #TheBigYak's header image – what a great day of fantastic conversations with wonderful people. Feeling energised and inspired, even at nearly 4pm on a Monday… pic.twitter.com/yGD6KadJJA

— Claire Shortt (@claireshortt_) October 11, 2021

• LIz Overton: Warning: Use with caution – Three phrases to watch out for in your internal comms (13 October)
  ‘A languages graduate who once yearned to be a journalist or theatre critic, I still can’t believe I finally get to work with words for a living. I think I’ve got the best job in the world.’
• Jenni Field: Chaos to calm: Staying focused [podcast] (13 October)
  ‘As I specialise in helping organisations go from chaos to calm, I’m going to give you six tips on how you can make changes to how you work.’

Technology, media and digital

• Dan Slee: VIDEO EDIT: Five video trends for 2022 and what to do about them (14 October)
  ‘Video is the most popular type of content.’
• Simon Gentry: Squid Game and K-culture (14 October)
  ‘The show is making headlines not only because of its huge viewing figures, but because it’s being seen by some – notably North Korea – as an allegory of the ‘evils of life in the beastly’ capitalist South.’
• Lily Germain: Why TikTok Isn’t Just for Teens (13 October)
  ‘It’s not only brands that are using TikTok to profit on rich storytelling, but journalists are having a pop too when it comes to finding entertaining stories to write about.’

• Stephen Waddington: I’m mad about Twitter (13 October)
  ‘Twitter is getting an easy pass from the media and the public because of the much bigger issues that challenge Facebook. It needs to work a lot harder.’
• Paul Sutton and Mark Stringer: What does it take to build and market an app? [podcast] (13 October)
  ‘[Scoot is] now a B2B platform for businesses around sharing car travel, reducing emissions, and the race to net zero. Our enemy is not Uber – it’s carbon.’
• Sophie Sadler: Trade versus national coverage: which is better? (no date)
  ‘In my opinion, the question shouldn’t be which is better, trade or national media, but rather, which will serve your purposes better.’
• JFG Communications: Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day (8 October)
  ‘She was the first to recognise the [Babbage] machine had applications beyond pure calculation, and to have published the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine’
• Chris Sedgwick: 10 things every firm gets wrong with Gartner… initially (7 October)
  ‘Analysts are unique in their knowledge requirements and will not be interested in the same information as investors or journalists.’

#prstudent #CreatorAwards22

On Tuesday my classmates and I were told to sell ourselves to the class in 10-15 seconds. All I recall of mine is forgetting everything I had prepared and instead mumbling about procrastination before announcing that I love giraffes. I hope I was at least memorable! #prstudent

— Adam Jones (@adamjzjones) October 14, 2021

• Bethany Gough (Southampton Solent): Is it ethical to use filters online? (14 October)
  ‘What society deems as beautiful is now defined by lip filler and plastic surgery. As we consume these images across social media platforms, should the platforms themselves be held accountable for content posted which promotes these unrealistic beauty standards? Or is it the responsibility of users?’

• Ellie Jones (Liverpool John Moores): 5 steps to self care as a student (11 October)
  ‘When my mental health is bad, I abandon my self care. That is how I realise I need to implement the habits that truly make me feel good.’
• Julie Mari (Southampton Solent): Ethical theories: Which one suits me best? (8 October)
  ‘I feel comfortable with relativist ethics as we all have different cultures, education, ideas and previous experiences. We all live different lives in different places and have had different experiences, so our moral principles may differ, but that does not mean they are better or worse.’
• Chloe Price (Harlow College): https://www.instagram.com/p/CU-5SQJtp2h/ 

Lara Judd (Leicester):