This week in PR (2 June)

Profession

It has been yet another packed month for @cipr_global and our members with a focus on advocating the importance of research, inclusivity and professional development.

Here’s this month’s Twitter to keep you up to date with the latest developments

— Steve Shepperson-Smith (@SteveShepSmith) May 31, 2023

Purpose, climate and ESG

• Tim Le Couilliard: Purpose on Payday May 2023 (26 May)
  ‘Last year, the US made headlines with its Inflation Reduction Act, stumping up an unprecedented $391 billion in funding to attract corporates. Other countries have recently begun to follow suit. France this month was the latest to introduce a package of green measures aimed at attracting investment and boosting the country’s industry.’

Consulting, skills and careers

• • Chris Simmance: Episode 60 – Darryl Sparey Co-Founder Hard Numbers [podcast] (31 May)
    ‘We help our clients to deliver hard numbers. And we deliver best-in-class measurement of the impact of the work that we do for our clients.’
  • Arun Sudhaman: ‘Secret Slowdown’ Threatens PR Firms After Buoyant Growth (30 May)
    ‘Much has been made of the various factors that have driven the PR industry’s exceptional performance since the dark days of 2020. There seems little doubt that PR firms are outperforming their advertising and digital brethren, thanks to their ability to address a broader range of stakeholder concerns, whether geopolitics, diversity and inclusion, ESG, employee engagement, health and wellness, or workplace transformation.’
  • Antonia Welch: How to become a guest on your favourite business podcast (30 May)
    ‘Inevitably, the competition for an interview on a popular podcast series can be quite fierce. Just like traditional media, the key to success will be a well-researched and well-crafted pitch.’

Gender, diversity, health and wellbeing

• Son Pham: Matt Foster on equity, queer activism and cultural adaptation (1 June)
  ‘After 18 years of working in Public Relations with frontline client service experience, Matt Foster is currently Ogilvy’s first dedicated director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.’

Politics, public affairs and public sphere

The CIPR has welcomed Labour Party proposals to “clean up Westminster” but has called for further reform to address lobbying transparency.

Read more from @CIPR_CEO in reaction to the @FinancialTimes report:https://t.co/4LK5ZxrytI pic.twitter.com/fmygnpTppq

— Chartered Institute of Public Relations (@CIPR_Global) May 31, 2023

• Stuart Thomson: Unveiling The Truth: Philip Schofield, The Covid-19 Public Inquiry And The Critical Role Of Communications (1 June)
  ‘While an inquiry may help mitigate criticism and serve as a necessary step, it does not automatically make scrutiny and issues disappear.’
• Imogen Shaw: Great British Energy: The devil in the detail (1 June)
  ‘The broad premise holds true that, in terms of European nations that have invested heavily in renewable energy, we are an outlier in lacking a state-backed energy company that can invest in new plants.’
• Harry Handyside: Is our EV infrastructure stuck in the 70s? (1 June)
  ‘It may be bad politics to raise road and vehicle taxes, but someone will have to pay for all this infrastructure spend and someone will have to decide where that money comes from. A defining moment could come at the end of 2025, when zero emission vehicles will stop being exempt from the Congestion Charge.’
• Jason MacKenzie: Populism: pernicious, or praiseworthy? (1 June)
  ‘Populists champion people. From the left, Bernie Sanders and his insurgent Democratic primary campaign and Jeremy Corbyn both campaigned ‘for the many, not the few’. From the right, Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán embodies populism, and is now the country’s longest-serving leader.’
• Ewan Wightman: Mission Impossible? Labour’s plan to tackle health and social care (31 May)
  ‘The scale of the challenge lying ahead of Labour means they won’t be able to fix the NHS in one electoral term. Solving the health and social care crisis isn’t all about money and if Labour wants to follow through on their mission-led approach to health policy, they will need to invest the right money in the right areas.’

• Ellie Naismith: A life sciences package the Government hopes will take the sting out of VPAS (26 May)
  ‘Today’s comprehensive life sciences package is a vote of confidence in a sector whose consistent real terms growth over the last decade is something the Government is keen to sustain.’
• Joseph Stephens: Tighten it, loosen it, or lose it? The future of the green belt will play a crucial role in the next election (26 May)
  ‘The opposition leader revealed, that, if elected, a Labour Government would grant greater powers to local authorities to build on green belt land, as well as impose new restrictions on foreign buyers of UK property.’

Join our online webinar with Public affairs and comms consultant @Redpolitics on June 7th and learn about Public Affairs Code.

More details: https://t.co/isWagb6Y93 pic.twitter.com/dmxICDQmLg

— PRCA (@PRCA_HQ) May 31, 2023

Research, data, measurement and evaluation

• Maja Pawinska Sims: AMEC Summit: “PR Agencies Can Guarantee Media Coverage” (31 May)
  ‘If you doubt your ability to hit output metrics, clients will doubt your ability to hit impact metrics. And a stubborn refusal to offer budget holders confidence will damage our reputation. The industry’s aversion to committing to results is holding it back in the boardroom.’
• Ben Smith with Steph Bridgeman and Richard Bagnall: Six key themes from AMEC’s Measurement Summit 2023 [podcast]
  ‘Earned can deliver so much value within that PESO space. It was fascinating to hear Matt Neale’s insights into paid [media] costing so much more for ever decreasing audiences. That was the thread that ran through the whole event: earned is value not vanity.’

Crisis, risk and reputation

#ITV share price ended the day less than 1% down on the previous close. The #CrisisComms team deserves a pat on the back. They will be praying for no more talent fibs. The story has edged away from being a corporate reputation issue & back to tabloid fodder. pic.twitter.com/ykHsdleOxw

— Andy Barr (@10Yetis) May 30, 2023

• Esme Roberts: Crisis communications: riding the storm, keeping hold of the narrative and taking accountability. (31 May)
  ‘While many have dismissed the [Phillip Schofield] controversy as rumours and hearsay, the crisis is set to have wider implications for ITV and its senior management.’

• Sheena Thomson: Geopolitical literacy, risk and crisis avoidance.(27 May)
  ‘Geopolitics impacts us all. It is also rapidly becoming the latest boardroom and beyond buzzword as we see the real time effects of geopolitics in today’s uncertain world.  All want to know what is next as they face increasing risks, multiple challenges and crises, and the consequences of these.’

Internal communication

• Laura Legetter: The important difference between resilience and resourcefulness in the workplace (1 June)
  ‘Resourcefulness – rather than resilience – instead invites us to find alternative approaches, formulating an effective course of action rather than sucking it up. Our role is to identify and develop the resources that will help our teams to be resourceful.’
• Nikki Burslam and Kirsty Phillips: The Power of Company Culture (31 May)
  ‘People say culture eats strategy for breakfast, but we believe they should go out on a date. Culture is strategy’s perfect match and they should be fully aligned to create an environment that gets the best out of everyone.’
• Rachel Miller: I’m writing a book on internal communication (26 May)
  ‘The working title is: Internal communication strategy: design, develop and transform your organizational communication.’

Internal communication and employee engagement are not the same thing.

I keep seeing people confuse the two and they are people who advise others which is so frustrating!

Getting off soapbox, but leaving this here: https://t.co/vweXR7JBrP

— Jenni Field (@mrsjennifield) May 30, 2023

Media, digital and technology

Here’s another digital pr person listing off all the great things we did this month.

Look to be honest, I’m not sure if these threads are interesting/helpful for anyone else – but they are really just to give a pat on the back to the team cos this coverage did not come easy!

— Louise Parker Peiris (@louisevparker) June 1, 2023

• Matt Village: Britain’s fintech glow-up as British fintech’s grow-up (1 June)
  ‘It’s no secret that the UK’s fintech sector has been going through a turbulent time recently.  In the past few weeks alone there have been stories around crumbling valuations, regulatory uncertainty, and about the viability of the UK as a region that can truly create a ‘tech powerhouse’.

• Dan Slee: INSTA TIPS: What the Instagram algorithm looks like in 2023 (1 June)
  ‘All too often, people just shovel content out in a way they always have. Don’t. As the algorithm changes, so how you create content should change. Key to all of this is engagement. You should be asking how you can encourage people to engage with what you are sharing.’

• Neville Hobson: Podcasting in the mainstream on show in London (31 May)
  ‘Podcasting in the UK is very much alive and well if even half of what I heard and saw at The Podcast Show 2023 in London last week is any indicator.’
• Celia Cox: Blue skies ahead for decentralised social media (no date)
  ‘What sets [Bluesky] apart is that it operates on an open framework, meaning that users can post their messages to a server tailored for specific interests or communities. By using this decentralised framework, users have more autonomy over the content they do and don’t want to see.’
• Simon Neville: Artificial Intelligence is the hot topic for journalists – time to take a line (30 May)
  ‘The key to a good communications strategy is knowing where the questions will go next and it is clear that artificial intelligence is firmly on the agenda.’
• Sam Knowles: Why insight and analytics professionals aren’t doomed by AI (no date)
  ‘For the research and analytics community – data storytellers who blend the sometimes ‘fire and ice’ world of narrative and numbers, stories and statistics – AI can feel particularly threatening…But I think there are several reasons why the reports of the death of human researchers and analysts have – to quote Mark Twain – been greatly exaggerated in the face of the arrival and rapid spread of generative AI.’

Academic, education and training

• Khanh Van Bach:  ‘Where Practice Meets Academia’ – Where I met my career inspiration (no date)
  ‘I was attracted to [Thomas Stoeckle’s] slide with only one sentence “PR is bridging role in turbulent times.” It seems that the more volatile the society, the more essential the role of PR is.’
• Sanjana Jadhav: Closing the gap between PR and academia (31 May)
  ‘Ending the day on a strong note, [Anne] Gregory said that PR as a profession is more about listening than telling – a statement none could disagree [with].’