This week in PR (20 August)

It happened this week

• The Times revealed the identity of the Taliban’s media spokesperson in a front page story on Wednesday. Catherin Philp wrote: ‘For a man who has spent his life hiding from the public gaze, Zabihullah Majahid was remarkably calm. The Taliban’s spokesman stepped out from the shadows at a press conference yesterday to present a friendly new face of the religious fundamentalists to the world: Taliban 2.0.’

Profession

I've just completed the @CIPR_Global annual membership survey. Look out for the survey in your inbox and let the CIPR know what you want from membership in 2022.

— Mandy Pearse (@MandyPearse) August 16, 2021

• Mike Love: Communications is a backstage skill (19 August)
  ‘The best communications work does not win awards. It is the work that we never hear about. CEOs, politicians, and celebrities may be lucky enough to be known as “good communicators” or unlucky enough to be remembered as bad ones. However, the people who write their words, coach them on how and when to use them and design the strategies for their communication should be unsung heroes.’

Academic and education

“This is an exciting and important step in our pursuit to raise PR standards around the world" – @Ingers1975.

We're proud to reveal our new Global Qualifications Board.

More info: https://t.co/4xNBCnStGz pic.twitter.com/mcclNYvZP0

— PRCA (@PRCA_HQ) August 16, 2021

ESG, corporate and financial

Are you working in #ESG and looking for a forum to engage with both industry peers and policymakers to discuss developments?

If so, get in touch with secretariat@appgesg.org to find out more about the APPG on ESG.

— ESG APPG (@ESG_APPG) August 17, 2021

• Andy Green with Matt Appleby, Ben Caspersz and Shannon Walker: Episode 4: Inspiring Social Purpose [podcast] (no date)
  ‘Purpose is a development on CSR. It’s threaded through the vital functions of an organisation, across marketing, across HR and all these different areas.’
• Louise Nicolson: Carrot or Stick? (no date)
  ‘We’re already seeing companies ‘self-regulate’ by setting and owning environmental standards before regulators have the chance to draft and distribute policy.’

https://twitter.com/DarrylSparey/status/1427324556159733762

Consulting, teams and careers

Findings from PR and corp comms search consultancy The Works Search reveal only 11% of corporate comms professionals would consider an agency role if they were to move jobs today, but 69% of professionals would like an in-house role. @theworksrecruit https://t.co/af8gUo2nHW #PR pic.twitter.com/p1L6XkoW7V

— PRmoment (@therealprmoment) August 17, 2021

• Emma Drake: Ep 26. ‘summer hacks’ series: Building B2B relationships [podcast] (19 August)
  ‘Building strong relationships can also help you in a crisis – you need people on your side when things go wrong. By nurturing existing relationships with customers, being helpful and showing you care, you build up an army of supporters who can also fight your corner when you need them.’

• Joe Glover: What’s it like being inside an agency who have grown to 100 people in two years: Rise at Seven (no date)
  ‘A productive behaviour I observed is very little small talk at the beginning of meetings. Instead, people got right down to business. Even if a meeting was scheduled for 30 mins, if it was done in 12 minutes – then it was done and people got on with their work.’
• Daisy Snowball: The how or the what? (16 August)
  ‘I’ve worked in corporate communications for more than 20 years and in lots of different sectors, in-house and agency, public and private sector. I’m a strategic communications specialist, not a tech or financial comms specialist or a travel or beauty PR professional. My expertise is in developing outcome-focused communications, and in knowing how to determine the best use of comms messages and media for specific audiences and objectives.’
• Annie Hayes: How to attract PR talent in a candidate-driven market (no date)
  ‘When candidates can pick and choose who to work for, it’s essential that the hiring systems are transparent, open, consistent and fair. No-one trusts an employer who fails to communicate effectively about the process or is seen to screen candidates in varying ways.’
• Jessica Pardoe: Why I Moved To Traditional PR (14 August)
  ‘The main thing that influenced me to move to more of a traditional agency with a mixed bag of skills, is because I feel like that’s what PR is all about.’

Absolutely appalling by @BCFC -advertising an unpaid twelve month media ‘placement’. https://t.co/e8hHNoLr47

— Francis Ingham (@Ingers1975) August 17, 2021

Wellbeing, gender and diversity

THREAD

When we were planning the #DiversityInPR event we knew we needed to involve our professional industry bodies if we want to see change. They have to be the leading light and be able to be ahead of the curve so they can share the right advice information. pic.twitter.com/mWc9ZLczRm

— A Leader Like Me (@ALeaderLikeMe) August 17, 2021

• Harriet Small and Rebecca Roberts: Am I Stuck In A Rut or Is It Pandemic Fatigue? Fadumo Olow, Telling The Story Of Women’s Sport [podcast] (no date)
  ‘I always say diversity doesn’t just come in skin colour, it comes in thoughts and experiences and the journeys people have gone through, what they believe and don’t believe.’

Public and third sectors

https://twitter.com/KateBurkeNHS/status/1427900115579179011

• Dave Worsell: Can citx revolutionise tenant surveys? (16 August)
  ‘While paper-based and telephone surveys clearly have a vitally important role to play, especially amongst the digitally excluded audience, CitX gives you a far more strategic approach to data collection, channel optimisation, data analytics and exception handling.’
• Amy Bell: Why we all need to become better listeners (13 August)
  ‘This month marks the Samaritans yearly campaign ‘Talk to us’ which explores why we should try to become better listeners.’

Politics, public affairs and public sphere

We've written to the Government today urging for lobbying reform to restore public confidence.

✍️ @prweekuknews has the exclusive with comments from our Director General @Ingers1975.https://t.co/3g9sh78kkH

— PRCA (@PRCA_HQ) August 16, 2021

• Matthew Williams: A passionate Parliament and a missed call pile the pressure on the Prime Minister (19 August)
  ‘In a passionate and packed meeting, which was the first full in-person session in the House of Commons for over a year, members of all the major political parties took turns to openly criticise the Government’s handling of the Afghanistan crisis.’

• Ciaran Gill: Green international trade: an oxymoron? (19 August)
  ‘With COP26 just 75 days away, all eyes over the next few months will be on the UK Government to see whether it can step up and provide the global climate leadership that will be necessary to make this vital conference a success.’
• Amanda Coleman: When words are not enough (19 August)
  ‘Words are just not enough for the people in Haiti and Afghanistan. They need action. I hope that governments around the world will step in and do as much as possible to help.’
• Will McMyn: Better late than never: “the start of the UK’s hydrogen revolution” (17 August)
  ‘The Hydrogen Strategy was launched with a grandiose assertion from the Business and Energy Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, that “today marks the start of the UK’s hydrogen revolution.”

• Sabine Tyldesley: The ghost of Brexit past – is leaving the Digital Single Market messing with your favourite TV shows? (17 August)
  ‘Once implemented the AVMS Directive excluding UK content from quotes would particularly hit British drama, often financed only due to pre-sale of international rights to shows such as Downton Abbey and others. Already, the scrapping of the cross-border portability rules means BritBox content is no longer available anywhere outside of the UK.’

• Gavin Devine: Are All-Party Parliamentary Groups something to worry about? (17 August)
  ‘It seems to me that what’s really bothering the media isn’t APPGs at all: it is MPs having second jobs or being too close to ‘business’.’
• Mark Borkowski: A new low for the American presidency in the war of images (16 August)
  ‘The most recent image to emerge—President Biden as a solitary figure, old, isolated, and presiding over the disastrous American withdrawal from Afghanistan, represents a new low for Presidential self-fashioning in the social media age.’
• Graham Fitzgerald: Education secretary Williamson fails to make the grade (13 August)
  ‘It was another classic example of someone in authority not preparing adequately for a media interview and wasting an opportunity to deliver important messages.’

Campaigns, creativity and behaviour

PR Stunt of the Day:

Huge Hollywood-style sign appears over Wrexham in the wake of the takeover of Wrexham AFC by movie stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. pic.twitter.com/cYThT8C3hn

— Andrew Bloch (@AndrewBloch) August 17, 2021

• Jo Colquhoun: A Great British Spraycation: Banksy confirms work along the coast of England (17 August)
  ‘After days of speculation, Banksy has confirmed his authorship of a series of graffiti work that has popped up in many eastern coastal towns across England via an Instagram video.’

Brands, storytelling and influence

• Emily Davies: I’ve got a text! Why more brands are calling on influencers (19 August)
  ‘Influencers are subject to a somewhat unfair reputation. Echoes of doubts of credibility, reports of irresponsible behaviour and often negative perceptions of these entrepreneurs are often reported in the news.’

• Hayley Coleby: The Love Island influencer world is a women’s game (19 August)
  ‘My prediction is that the female winner will be this year’s influencer royalty and she will have her pick of fashion brand collaborations, in the same way that Molly Mae did.’
• Paul Mackenzie-Cummins: How to earn consumer trust and establish credibility (18 August)
  ‘How do you demonstrate that you understand how their needs and those of similar businesses you have worked with changed over the last 18 months? What full or partial solutions have you implemented for your other customers that have enabled them to overcome some of the challenges they face?’

Internal communication

I know some bosses don’t like their people to have side hustles, but today I’m launching a 6 part internal podcast series for one of my stakeholders on zero budget. I know how to do it because I have a chart topping podcast as a side hustle that was made with limited resources. pic.twitter.com/z9ggiLKZDX

— H (@HarrietSmallies) August 17, 2021

• Jo Moffatt with Natasha Wallace: How Conscious Leadership is Essential in the Future of Work [podcast] (16 August)
  ‘We sat down and interviewed 40+ people to ask about their experiences. It was such a rewarding project because listening to those stories was so energising.’

Technology, media and digital

https://twitter.com/CarrieRosePR/status/1427899826407198722

• Ben Smith with André Labadie: Navigating the new media landscape: less journalists, less media opportunities and more PRs! [podcast] (18 August)
  ‘We identified 17 core issues that have been on the media agenda during [the past five years]. The articles that mentioned brands had fallen by 28% in that period.’

• Holly Ashford: Whitepaper launch: How greentech firms can grow their brand in the year of COP26 (16 August)
  ‘Thanks in part to COP26, this year, politicians, NGOs and investors, as well as greentech and cleantech companies are all talking about, reporting on, promoting and debating the key issues impacting global heating, the climate emergency and the future of our planet.’
• Paul Wiltshire: Journalism’s the best job in the world. So why don’t more people want to do it? (16 August)
  ‘There is still at least one publisher starting trainees on as little as £17,500 a year. When our students can easily get two grand more than that for entry-level social media, PR or content creation roles, who can blame them for turning up their noses?’