This week in PR (23 March)

News in brief

• We were told data was the future of PR. We’ve been assured that dirty tricks was in its past. The Facebook / Cambridge Analytica story combines the two. Many have been telling us to smarten up over data protection; that seems to be the big lesson.
• CIPR has joined the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) as part of its 2018 ambition to have public relations recognised as a strategic management function.
• IBM is reviewing its global public relations, and long-term incumbents Ketchum and Text 100 are both out of contention (Holmes Report).

Calendar

Our calendar of events now appears on a separate page

Thought leaders: Pick of the posts

These are the editor’s pick of posts about public relations this week (focused on the UK, but with a global outlook). Recommendations are welcome to editor@prplace.com or @pr_place

Dark arts, Cambridge Analytica and Facebook

• Maja Pawinska Sims: Cambridge Analytica, Cyber-Propaganda & Brand Communications (22 March)
  ‘Every so often — rarely, even — there is a moment that sits right at the centre of an overlapping Venn diagram of culture, politics, media and business.’
• Alex Malouf: Why I decided to #deletefacebook and why you need to think twice too (22 March)
  ‘As far as I’m concerned, Cambridge Analytica basically stole, with Facebook’s consent, 50 million user profiles.’
• Charlie Pownall: Five simple ways to stop false rumours and reduce speculation during a crisis (21 March)
  ‘The volume, intensity and power of false stories and fake news today means every company has to work much harder to ensure what is being said about them is accurate and fair.’
• Ella Minty: Exploring the Darkness of Public Relations (20 March)
  ‘Bell Pottinger and Cambridge Analytica are two birds of a feather and perfect examples of what dark PR is all about.’

Business / profession

• Aedhmar Hynes: IBM: Reflection and celebration (22 March)
  ‘Winning IBM was a seminal moment for Text100. We’ve been proud of the work and the relationships that have played an important role in the growth of Text100.’
• Barri Rafferty and Rob Flaherty: A Remarkable Partnership Comes to an End (21 March)
  ‘Although the decision has been made for this journey to come to an end, we remain immensely proud of the results achieved through working side-by-side with IBM to gain recognition for their differentiators in advanced technology, industry expertise and trust and security.’
• Alan VanderMolen: Armageddon Has a Happy Ending (20 March)
  ‘I’m not too concerned about the health of holding companies. I am very concerned about what will restore consistent, innovation-led growth to marketing services and, specifically, to PR. I believe the answers will emerge from the “SpaceXs”, not the “WPPs”.’

Careers and skills

• Rich Leigh: Let’s kill the idea that we’re ‘only as good as our last PR story’ (March 19)
  ‘Clients are more measurement-savvy than ever before. The pressure for PR to prove the service we provide is more than just a way to vaguely build ‘awareness’ comes up in every single new business meeting and pitch I have.’
• Marcel Klebba: The 80/20 rule – explained (18 March)
  ‘First and foremost, the 80/20 can be a brilliant addition to the time management techniques we can use at work.’

Campaigns and creativity

• Sam Kane: How Blue Planet II changed corporate communications (21 March)
  ‘In the last year, the issue of plastic waste and the effect on the environment has dramatically risen to the top of the news agenda.’
• Katie Rattigan: The true value of creatvity in PR (17 March)
  ‘As practitioners, we have a responsibility to create compelling content that creates a positive impact for our clients.’

Internal communication

• Rachel Miller: How to communicate your gender pay gap (22 March)
  ‘The deadline for companies with 250 or more employees to report their gender pay gap is only a fortnight away.’
• Leah Bowden: Are your employees disconnecting before they’ve even begun? (20 March)
  ‘If your organisation says it offers flexible working, are your employees’ working hours then rigidly defined as 9-5.30pm in their contracts?’
• Iliyana Stareva: Making Strategy Happen: Principles for Strategic Internal Communication (20 March)
  ‘Strategy is about three things: planning, execution and communication. However, communication is often left undone or underdone in contrast to the other two.’
• Mike Underwood: Death of an intranet (18 March)
  ‘If you’d have told me 14 months ago that we’d pull the plug on our intranet to make way for Facebook, I’d have laughed in your face.’
• Jenni Kampf: Where do we ‘live’? (18 March)
  ‘I think the professional competencies and skills that we need for effective internal communications probably most align with PR.’

Media and digital

• Scott Guthrie: How firms are building influencer marketing skills internally (no date)
  ‘There is no centralised repository of influencer marketing information. Instead best practice knowledge is localised and stuck in the heads of those who practice it.’
• Stephen Waddington: A SEO PR primer (20 March)
  ‘Search engine optimisation (SEO) is about listening to conversations on the web, creating relevant content and building relationships. It’s public relations.’
• Chris Lee: Asking for Links: The Right and the Wrong (20 March)
  ‘A UK PR agency asked me about this recently. We’ve got all this earned coverage for a client, but some of it isn’t linked, can we ask for a link back?’
• Rebecca Henderson: What I’ve learnt from filming my first vlog (20 March)
  ‘My best bit of advice would be to take however long you think it’s going to take you and then triple it. At least for the first few vlogs while you find your feet.’
• Arianne Williams: 7 of the best tools for bloggers (18 March)
  ‘Creating, organising and sharing great content can take time. Here are my top tools for making the whole process easier.’
• Ste Davies: How to Optimize Your Twitter Profile In 2018 (no date)
  ‘It’s easy to get stuck in a rut with how you use certain tools and platforms like Twitter. But if you’re doing social media the same as you were even just a year then you are probably doing it wrong.’

#prstudent #bestPRblogs

Here are two useful resource for PR students:

• PR Careers: 2018: 150 PR internships and graduate schemes
• Stephen Waddington: Updated: public relations dissertation topics

And here’s our pick of the best posts by those studying public relations and/or aspiring to work in PR.

• Katya Hamilton-Smith (LCC/UAL): My thoughts on the use of social media in elections (22 March)
  ‘The Media show episode asked whether the Conservative Party could win another election without harnessing social media like the Labour Party.’
• Orlagh Shanks (Liverpool John Moores): What Makes an Influencer an Influencer? (22 March)
  ‘Did you know, there are people out there, self-employed, being paid thousands of pounds just for a post on Instagram? ‘
• Annie Shivers (Ulster): 3 of the most iconic PR stunts of all time (22 March)
  ‘Seemingly the truly iconic PR stunts of all time took place 50+ years ago!’
• Sam Sparks (Greenwich): Creativity in PR (21 March)
  ‘When venturing out into a creative career you must be aware of four different elements which will benefit your creativity and career growth.’
• Jessica Pardoe (Liverpool John Moores): Why it’s time to Ditch the Insta-Envy (20 March)
  ‘The discover page is a haven for the biggest names on instagram, but for many it can result in major self doubts.’
• Hannah Martin (Ulster): Nothing is perfect (20 March)
  ‘I had to be pinned down by a few nurses, endured six months of a severe addiction to Carmex and six cringe worthy pregnancy tests in front of my mum.’
• Rosie Heaton (Leeds Beckett): Tired of being tired (18 March)
  ‘More often that not I choose to apply an extra layer of makeup, stay quiet and troop on.’
• Molly Hare (Leeds Beckett): Independence vs. loneliness at university (18 March)
  ‘All of a sudden, it may start to hit home that uni isn’t a summer camp and you have to survive alone, without the usual cocoon of friends and family. So, are you feeling completely free and independent, or are you dreading the thought of being by yourself?’
• Niuma Ugail (Leeds Beckett): Creative Campaign; Virgin Trains #Avocard (17 March)
  ‘You can get cheaper train tickets if you show up at the station with an avocado. And this is real.’
• Jason Ashford (Ulster): Let it snow (17 March)
  ‘The “snowflake” generation aren’t avoiding hearing ideas they don’t like, if anything they’re inundated with them.’