This week in PR (2 December)
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
The most searched word on the Merriam-Webster online dictionary in 2022 is 'gaslighting': the "psychological manipulation of a person that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts." Well, that's what 'they' want us to think.
— Paul MacKenzie-Cummins (@PaulMacKenzie_C) December 1, 2022
- The Financial Times has reported on the governance debate within the PRCA.
Profession
There are now over 500 Chartered PR Practitioners.
Congratulations to @NicolaJonesPR on becoming the 500th to #GetChartered.
Read reaction from Nicola and CIPR President, @SpotRachel; https://t.co/mXPivkRvZG pic.twitter.com/aoGj5I9ilG
— Chartered Institute of Public Relations (@CIPR_Global) November 28, 2022
Purpose, climate and ESG
https://twitter.com/AnthropyFounder/status/1598381985633894423
- Lucy Walton: Loss and Damage (no date)
‘The most memorable outcome of COP27 was the agreed fund for climate justice, from which payments will be given to developing countries who suffer “loss and damage” from the implications of climate change.’ - Arun Sudhaman: Analysis: As Easy As ESG? (28 November)
‘The disconnect between the flimsy rhetoric of ESG reports and the reality of corporate risk management that they are intended to represent is something that communicators must address if they are to overcome the notion that ESG is nothing but hot air.’
Consulting, skills and careers
- Stuart Bruce: ICCO World PR Report – PR leaders optimistic, despite global challenges (28 November)
‘Strategic consulting’ and ‘purpose and ESG’ easily top the list of skills that will be required by PR professionals around the world over the next decade. As usual with these type of surveys it’s hard to separate the public relations and communication areas of practice, from the skills needed to do them.’ - Ella Minty: Instinct. Intuition. Gut feeling. (28 November)
‘My instinct and intuition have helped me enormously along the years, but I never relied on them alone; to do that would be very dangerous because the environment we operate in is much more complex than that of the hunter-gatherers of millennia ago.’
Gender, diversity and wellbeing
I’ve seen the Royal Racist story pop up on my feed a few times. Reading the exchange was terrible but not surprising as it happens to some people of colour frequently. It was 100% the right move for the person to resign and step back from her duties. However…
— Advita CommsRebel (@Advita_p) December 1, 2022
- Samiah Anderson: D&I in Public Affairs: What’s missing? (30 November)
‘PA professionals are the conduit between business, government and the general public who wish to influence legislation that impacts everyone in this country. A diverse workforce shaping the law can only further aid policy decision-making that is more inclusive and equitable.’
- Manisha Kataria: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome as a Young PR Professional (no date)
‘It soon dawned on me just how little I knew. Yes I studied media at university level for 4 years, but nothing I was taught prepared me for PR.’
Great night at the Women in PR 60th anniversary party. Catching up with lots of friends pic.twitter.com/PuLgOANkNS
— Mary Whenman (@marywhenman) November 30, 2022
Public and third sectors
https://twitter.com/laura_skaife/status/1598054778873204736
We’re back in person for @LGcomms #CommsAcad 2022, plus delegates watching online too. Excellent start from Lee Cain, former Director of Communications at No10, talking strategy in a crisis, and how powerful comms comes from prioritisation, simplification and repetition. pic.twitter.com/lE4l07iOUn
— AlixMac (@AlixMac) November 30, 2022
Politics, public affairs and public sphere
Should Matt Hancock be reinstated as a Tory MP?
“No”, says Conservative Deputy Chairman Nickie Aiken
“I would suggest that having seen what he’s done in the jungle, he’s maybe thinking about not coming back after the next general election”
— Stuart Thomson *Public Affairs* (@Redpolitics) December 1, 2022
- Charlie Rattigan: NHS join the party as its workers threaten strike action (1 December)
‘A winter of discontent is looking like a real possibility as Britain is set to be further disrupted by strike action over the festive period.’
- Max Richardson: The current energy crisis is a sign of more to come (1 December)
‘At current rates, there will be over 1 million electric cars in the UK within two years, all of which will need charging, raising the question, can we handle the extra demand?’
- Will Neale: Living longer requires a fresh look at later living (1 December)
‘Projections show that by 2030, the number of over 65s will top 15 million – or just over 20% of the total population.’
- Matteo Bellani: Halfway to 2030: Equalising the Global HIV Response (1 December)
‘Ending the AIDS pandemic is both an ethical imperative and an urgent health and economic priority. Yet, in the age of polarisation in public debate, HIV no longer inspires the strong feelings it once used to, the kind which motivate more vocal advocacy.’
- Emily Wallace: So, where are the workers going to come from? (30 November)
‘Both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer gave speeches at the CBI conference that all but dismissed employers’ demands for immigration rules to be relaxed to allow them access to the people they need to support the growth of their businesses.’
- Doug Johnson: The Levelling Up Bill – blowing in the wind? (29 November)
‘Despite a pledge from Rishi Sunak to maintain the moratorium on onshore wind during the Conservative leadership contest in the summer, the Business Secretary, Grant Shapps, has said that the government can see a place for onshore wind, ‘where communities are in favour of it,’ and where it benefits communities.’
Wonderful to catch up with @AlistairBurtUK – a good advert for life after politics. We worked together twenty years ago and he remains as charming as ever x pic.twitter.com/dSYmxwL08o
— Jo Tanner (@StraightTie) November 30, 2022
Brands, content, community and creativity
- Josephine Timmins: Just What Exactly is PR? (1 December)
‘Every brand has a set of values, a mission, a raison d’être. And the role of PR is to tell the story around those values.’
Research, data, measurement and evaluation
https://twitter.com/PRCA_HQ/status/1597622365999009792
- Andy Green: Purposeful practice needs more purposeful measurement – free tool (1 December)
‘Produced by the Dublin Conversations the Canvas is designed to support more purposeful work in the communications industries.’ - Joe Phillips: Andy West Q&A on the importance of Measurement and Evaluation (30 November)
‘Our profession must demonstrate the value it delivers to the businesses it serves. It can only do that by measuring what matters, which is to align key metrics with mutually agreed business or organisational outcomes.’
Crisis, risk and reputation
https://twitter.com/MrsCulverwell/status/1597589819898699777
- Emma Drake: How resilient is your comms plan? Business continuity, issues and reputation [podcast] (1 December)
‘A comprehensive business continuity and resilience plan is something that helps you anticipate and manage disruptive challenges both internal and external so your business can weather any storm.’
Balenciaga going down the "it was the a third party fault, not ours" route of #CrisisCommunications – sigh. via @WolfofBaldSt https://t.co/QOJjl6Ogbx
— Andy Barr (@10Yetis) November 28, 2022
Behaviour and influence
- Scott Guthrie: Verity Park founder of TBH Talent talks creators [podcast] (30 November)
‘I’d create videos with rate card estimations, strategy predictions, and I show the behind the scenes of the industry which people rarely get to see those videos began gaining traction with some of them reaching over half a million people. The TikTok algorithm honestly never fails to amaze me.’ - Nick Taylor: Tyto launches 2022 Tyto Tech 500 influencer report (30 November)
‘Overall, business leaders and journalists continue to be the most prevalent influencer types across UK, France and Germany, this year accounting for 58% and 19% respectively… However, it is the Academics that have gained the most significant ground in our rankings, up 25% across Europe since last year and 118% since 2020.’
Internal communication
- Liam Fitzpatrick: Intelligence has to make sense to the boss (1 December)
‘Our challenge is to present information in a way that helps leaders make better communications decisions. Great sources and methods, and analysis only work when a reporting officer can help the leader make sense of the insights on offer.’ - Mike Klein: Winning in 2023: Five Key Firefights for Internal Comms (28 November)
‘Businesses are generally measured on the actions they take (what people do) – operationally and commercially – yet for the most part, internal comms data is largely based on employee engagement surveys, which measure how people feel.’ - Calm Edged Rebels: What makes us credible? [podcast] (25 November)
‘I think we get a bit stuck in trying to encourage leaders to be authentic. If you take two politicians to illustrate the point: you could argue that Donald Trump and Boris Johnson are both authentic; but you could also argue that neither is credible.’
Media, digital and technology
https://twitter.com/danslee/status/1597918526630555650
- Ben Smith: The Media Review with Mark Borkowski on the PRmoment Podcast: Musk, Hancock and The World Cup [podcast] (29 November)
‘Everyday is a news day – and a school day. We have to be connected to it to break out of our bubbles. If Twitter fails, it would fundamentally change PR and news. It’s a significant tool we’ve begun to underestimate.’
- Ellie McGarahan: 2022 In Review: Fintech’s Reckoning? (1 December)
‘Where once investors pursued aggressive growth, the tide has turned and appetite is now geared much more toward implementing longevity and sustainability.’ - Jennifer Faull: ‘People see why we came off now’: Lush has no regrets about quitting Instagram and Facebook (28 November)
‘We could see how these social platforms and the way they were operating were going to come unstuck.’
#prstudent #CreatorAwards23
This section is open to any UK-based public relations student (or indeed, any UK-based student seeking a career in public relations). Tag your shareable content with #prstudent and I’ll consider it for inclusion here.
- Chloe Rose (Sunderland): One Love… but only when it’s allowed (30 November)
‘Though both the Qatari governement and FIFA officials insist that everyone is welcome regardless of sexuality, members of the LGBTQ+ community have been left with doubts after looking at the country’s track record of how they’ve been treated in the past.’
- Destiny Hollern (Sunderland): The influence of influencers: why they are vital for the PR gaming industry. (29 November)
‘According to Google’s internal data of 2018, 200 million people watch gaming content on YouTube, double the television audience of that year’s Super Bowl. When the pandemic hit in 2020 that skyrocketed numbers due to people being at home looking for escapism around 62% of adults to be precise.’
-
- Chloe Angel (Manchester Met):
@chloeeangeel4 Day in the life of a student ambassador This is the first voice over I’ve ever done so sorry it’s not the best #studentambassador #dayinthelife #fyp #mmu #manchestermetropolitanuniversity #openday ♬ original sound – Chloe Angel
- Layla Smith (Fashion Retail Academy):
@1ay1asmith fashion pr#fashionpr #intern #fashionstudent #london #fashion #pr #foryou #StumbleToVictory ♬ Young Folks – Shindig Society