This week in PR (18 February)

It happened this week

https://twitter.com/MGreer_PR/status/1493664328519667717

• Storm Eunice: Why and how storms got their names is a triumph of public communication and public engagement by the Met Office since 2015. (Around the world hurricanes and tropical storms have been named for longer than this: Hurricane Katrina caused New Orleans to flood in 2005.) BBC Newsbeat explains.
• Nick Clegg has been promoted to president of global affairs at Meta (the company that owns Facebook) elevating Clegg to the level of founder Mark Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg (via The Guardian).

Industry / profession

In editing this #CPD #ethics resource I viewed regulation as a form of public accountability. This reveals many layers of compliance in applied ethical practice. https://t.co/fiouWEYOeQ

— Dr Heather Yaxley (@greenbanana) February 16, 2022

 

• Mark Borkowski: I work with celebrities, so take it from me – fame has never been so dangerous (15 February)
  ‘Organic fame is hard enough to manage, but prefabricated fame is cheap, flimsy and rarely lasts long, to the detriment of those who experience it.’
• Stephen Waddington: Trends in the integration of marketing and public relations (15 February)
  ‘Discussions about the integration of marketing and public relations are typically abstract and of limited value in practice. Without a defined organisational structure and business objectives we can’t begin to understand the best way for these functions to work together.’

THREAD: If the #comms profession had an advertising budget… pic.twitter.com/POr7mQDbmb

— Hel Reynolds (@HelReynolds) February 12, 2022

Purpose and ESG

Every brand has some sort of house, grid, pillars or chart for their values and principles.

TBH I’ve seen a fair few that are laughable and others that simply aren’t rooted in reality – but @LEGO_Group's clarity here is perfection. pic.twitter.com/TQeTRSnyOl

— James Herring (@itsjamesherring) February 17, 2022

• Sarah Bosworth: ESG: Communicating with clarity & credibility is crucial (15 February)
  ‘As the number of firms committing to Net Zero targets for 2050 grows, few CEOs can realistically expect to still be in the seat in 28 years’ time to see through these commitments. Instead, shareholders and stakeholders are pressing for progress that can be measured over the next 12 months, to hold leaders to their word and force the required investment and action.’

• Kate Sandle: Just Transition (no date)
  ‘Taking action to mitigate climate change is essential but demands systemic thinking.  We need to consider the impact of climate action on our societies to create a sustainable economy.  And vice versa. ‘

Consulting, teams and careers

• David Gallagher: Rising Star: Five Minutes With Sara Yussefi (14 February)
  ‘Based on my personal experience as a client, having worked with many agencies in the past years, one thing I would tell any agency or advisor: be 100% accountable for what you deliver to your client. Only deliver what you would deliver to the Queen of England, in your specific case.’

Gender, diversity and wellbeing

• Ben Pang: Pay your graduates: low salaries are killing diversity in the PR industry (17 February)
  ‘For someone like me, who doesn’t come from a wealthy family, living on £23,000 in central London isn’t a possibility. This is even worse for those from BAME households, given that almost half are living in poverty. I was fortunate to secure a role in the Civil Service with a significantly higher salary.’
• Imogen Shaw: LGBT+ History Month, Section 28 and schools (15 February)
  ‘LGBT+ History Month originated in the US in 1994, but in the UK, it began eleven years later, following an initiative founded by two British teachers and activists.’
• Sebrina Kepple: The Pursuit of Equality (14 February)
  ‘Recruiting diverse candidates is a great start for all organisations. Diversity increases creativity and innovation as diverse workforces have wider backgrounds, cultures and experiences and are therefore able to better relate to and reach a wider audience. However, smart leaders don’t just stop at recruitment, they actively seek to develop and progress diverse talent into leadership roles.’

Public and third sectors

• Darren Caveney: Values can be value-less: it’s time to step up (16 February)
  ‘Some of the behaviours I have heard about this year – and I have to be honest here and say it’s often from most senior people – have absolutely not matched up to the values of their organisations.’
• David Burland: A tale of two charities (14 February)
  ‘What both these stories reinforce to me is whether our (basically) 19th century model of charity governance is suitable in the 21st?’
• Dan Slee: LONG READ: Heading for the 2nd Pandemic anniversary here’s where I am. Where are you? (12 February)
  ‘Those comms people who have worked through it in NHS, police and local government in particular are often scarred by the experience.’

Politics, public affairs and public sphere 

• George Thomas: Further miseries for the Queen as alleged cash-for-honours scandal rocks the head of state (17 February)
  ‘This is certainly not how the Queen envisaged starting a year that was supposed to be a year of celebration. Historically however, the monarchy as an institution has been able to weather the most difficult of storms.’

• Stefan Rollnick: Why political persuasion is so hard (16 February)
  ‘A huge U.S study from 2017 concluded that political campaigns were having ‘minimal persuasive effects’. To understand where our industry can do better, we need to know why it’s so hard.’
• Stuart Thomson: More ‘and’ and less ‘but’ (16 February)
  ‘Successful public affairs is about offering solutions rather than just presenting insolvable problems. That means we must find ways of keeping the conversations going. That means using more ‘ands’ and less ‘buts’.’
• Peter Tulupman: Trade Tuesday: The ‘Special Relationship’ (15 February)
  ‘America remains the UK’s number one trading partner, responsible for around 16.7% of the UK’s total trade.’

Planning, measurement and evaluation

Something I read last night made me realise that there are still many #PR and #Comms peers who are struggling with 'output' and 'outcome' in terms of our work.

So, I thought I should explain it using soup … I hope it helps. Plain and simple. pic.twitter.com/VOtM5xtSL1

— Ella Minty (@EllaMinty) February 15, 2022

• Ben Smith: A tour of PR’s measurement decisions: A discussion with Onclusive’s Marcus Gault on the PRmoment Podcast (15 February)
  ‘As technology improves, more of the heavy lifting can be done by AI. The key advantage is speed of insight. But AI still only gets you so far down the understanding and insight route. The sweet spot is a hybrid model using people for the deeper insight.’

Brands, content and creativity

Kudos to @monzo for sharing their Tone of Voice guide with the world – it's fairly unusual, but it does make a very interesting read! https://t.co/itevRp15nX

— Balint Brunner (@balintbrunner) February 16, 2022

Risk, crisis and reputation

• Laura Sutherland: Saying sorry doesn’t always mean you’re sorry (17 February)
  ‘Saying sorry needs to be genuine. It also needs to be backed up with action.’
• Andrew Duggan: GUEST POST: Reflections from a comms professional after a terror incident (17 February)
  ‘Keep a note of calls, conversations, actions, and a log of your comms output throughout the event with times and dates. It will save a lot of retrospective searching and collating later on.’

• Amanda Coleman: Time to ditch those statements (15 February)
  ‘Developing media statements to respond to issues is important but it should not be the only way of communicating. It is time to push for media interviews to become a central part of the communication plan if we are really going to effectively deal with situations.’

Internal communication

• Katie Macaulay with Jim Shaffer: IC at the sharp end [podcast] (no date)
  ‘Communication is not there just to talk, communication should be managed in such a way that it improves the performance of your organisation.’
• Lauren Westmore: How Employers Can Support a Healthy Work-Life Balance For Staff in 2022 (16 February)
  ‘Remaining Covid-19 restrictions will be removed in England at the end of this month. Many workplaces have started encouraging employees back to the office. As the working world creeps back to normal, how can employers ensure they are supporting a positive work-life balance for staff?’
• Advita Patel: What does the future of metaverse mean for communicators? (no date)
  ‘There may be some scoffing at the back of the room, but the metaverse and everything it involves should be taken a little seriously by communicators and business owners.’ 

Media, digital and technology

https://twitter.com/stuartbruce/status/1494255718521872384

• Matt Redly: Banking on the future: JP. Morgan enters the metaverse (17 February)
  ‘Alongside the launch of JP Morgan’s metaverse offering, the bank has released a report on the metaverse which argues that there is vast business potential around these virtual spaces.’

• Lauren Williamson and Charlotte Grant: Behind the scenes of broadcast news – getting noticed in the newsroom (no date)
  ‘Once you’ve secured the opportunity, it’s important to remember that broadcast television quickly adapts and reacts to the news agenda faster than any other medium, which means your story can be dropped at any point.’

• Ella Bradley: TikToptimisation: How to maximise your TikTok visibility (15 February)
  ‘Even better than staying current is being a step ahead: taking part in trends and challenges will only get you so far. With 68% of users being passive browsers (users who scroll through TikTok, but don’t necessarily interact), you want to be that account that stops scrollers in their tracks and gets them actively involved.’
• James Donald: Is LinkedIn about to find the solution to political content on social media? (14 February)
  ‘LinkedIn is testing an option that allows users to block political content from their news feeds. Other platforms will be watching the result of LinkedIn’s test keenly.’

• Anais Merlin: MWC Barcelona 2022: A chance at normality once again (14 February)
  ‘Trade events also provide access to trade media and analysts—key channels of influence during the RFP process.‘

#prstudent #CreatorAwards22

https://twitter.com/ChloeShelcott/status/1493244840620003330

• • Jasmine Denike (LCC/UAL):

@jazzdenike very single but very loved  #valentinesday #vday #minivlog #londonlife #londonvlog #london #singleinlondon #single #selflove #uktiktok #prstudent This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) – Natalie Cole

• • Katie Coyne (Salford): 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Katie Coyne (@prwithkatiecoyne)

• • Ellie Jones (Liverpool John Moores): 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ellie Jones PR (@elliejonespr)

• Julie Mari (Solent): How can social media affect our self-concept? (17 February)
  ‘The ideal-self is the version of ourselves that we would like to be. This is why we follow icons we respect and admire on social media, some of whom reflect an ideal we aspire to.’
• Elena Niculescu (Solent): The challenges of being a student and entrepreneur (16 February)
  ‘I find the PR course to be a lot more lively and interesting than Marketing with Advertising. The fact that the university works on ensuring that students are ready for the future makes me question if more universities do the same?’
• Bethany Gough (Solent): What I learnt from organising a University wide event (14 February)
  ‘We were set a target of 100 students to attend the day by our lecturer, Sally. We were nervous about reaching this goal however, on the day we smashed this target with over 200 students attending the event.’