This week in PR (28 June)
Profession and ethics
Purpose, climate and ESG
SUSTAINABILITY COMMUNICATION DIPLOMA
- Chris Speight: How does Labour deliver its Clean Energy Mission? (26 June)
‘With commitments to establish a ‘publicly owned energy company’, rewire Britain’s electricity grid and expand renewable generation, the Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto outlines an ambitious plan to make the UK a “clean energy superpower”.’
Business and finance
- Jonathan Winston: Shein files for London IPO (25 June)
‘The potential listing, which aims to raise around £50 billion, could mark this year’s largest IPO globally, and would make it the largest listing on the exchange to date.’
Consulting, skills and careers
- Riley Nicholas: My time with the Hoffman Not-So-Evil Geniuses (27 June)
‘As an intern, I was encouraged to make mistakes, and those (inevitable) mistakes became part of my learning. I was told that “someone not making mistakes is someone hiding them.” This is great advice for anyone starting something new, I think.’ - Ben Smith: The Review of PR Pitches and Mergers & Acquisitions in UK PR in June 2024 with Andrew Bloch [podcast] (27 June)
‘The output of PR is earned media, but the value of the PR agency right at the start of the process is being able to influence the brand campaign and the creative so there are natural avenues to take out of a 30 second TV ad into different media.’ - Emma Drake: How to Write Effective Briefs as a Non-Expert and Why It Matters [podcast] (27 June)
‘Effective briefs are the bedrock of successful client-agency relationships. For Managing Directors and Project Managers, who may not be experts in marketing, creating a clear and comprehensive brief is essential. It fosters trust and collaboration, ensuring that both parties are aligned on the project goals and expectations.’
- Carrie-Ann Wade: Behind the Bob – communications leadership [podcast] (26 June)
‘Working in communications isn’t easy, and being a director of communications can feel tough at times.’ - MHP Group: Mischief Bolsters Creative Team With Two Female Creative Directors (26 June)
‘Mischief, the multi-award-winning creative agency that’s part of MHP Group, has announced the hire of Ottilie Ross and Emily Gosen as Creative Directors.’
- Elizabeth Howlett: Do the opportunities for PR at Cannes now outweigh the obstacles? (25 June)
‘PR has come out somewhat on top in 2024’s Cannes as Specsavers & Golin took home an idea generation Grand Prix award in the PR category, while Ogilvy PR New York’s ‘Michael CeraVe’ campaign won an idea creation Grand Prix in the social and influence category.’ - Will Hart: Nothing’s settled yet: The agency hybrid working conundrum (24 June)
‘I’m open to all possibilities and am genuinely excited that we have such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rethink working life.’ - David Brain: PR Cannes Can (sorry) (24 June)
‘What was absolutely clear was that the number of PR agencies leading award winning work (rather than just publicising it) has massively increased.’
- Paul Holmes: Cannes2024: Ranking This Year’s PR Lions Winners (24 June)
‘I loved the Rick Astley work, and the fact that a PR firm finally won the Grand Prix, but for me [The message from Ella] was the most powerful campaign in this year’s competition.’
Gender, diversity, health and wellbeing
- Anonymous: Seeing the wood for the trees (27 June)
‘I distinctly remember signing off at the end of the day feeling really proud of a draft page I’d written on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Little did I know that less than 24 hours later I’d be signed off work diagnosed with the very thing I’d been writing about.’ - Ben Monteith: Pride Month: it comes back to community (27 June)
‘The one thing that Pride Month has to remind us is that society has come a very long way. Maybe not far enough, and maybe it can feel like it’s not moving fast enough to resolve some of the knottier questions. But progress is progress.’
- Sarah Pinch: How social capital can help change lives (27 June)
‘As we discussed at the Conference, building Social Capital, as academics refer to it, or being socially mobile as many of us would say; requires some kind of intervention from someone, at some point.’ - Priya Bates and Advita Patel with Merima Baralić: Building a culture of diversity at PepsiCo [podcast] (27 June)
‘HR seems to be the custodian of DE&I, and I believe that should not be the case. The diversity, equity and inclusion agenda needs to be spread across the whole organisation.’ - Maja Pawinska Sims: Cannes 2024: “DEI Will Never Die” (24 June)
‘DEI isn’t black or white, it’s green – it’s all about the money. It’s good for business.’
Public and third sectors
- Josh Casswell: The UK needs to embrace innovation to improve recycling rates (23 June)
‘In the US, constant innovation and fresh ideas have allowed the government to change the way they engage with the public regarding recycling.’
Politics, public affairs and public sphere
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- Christian Koch: Beyond the Blunderdome: is optics in political PR a dying art? [CIPR member content](28 June)
‘Sunak’s campaign is being marshalled by experienced strategist Isaac Levido. However, [Lee] Whitehill points out “many experienced comms people [at Number 10] have left, because they don’t want to work for the tail-end of a government that looks it might get defeated.”’ - Ross Laird, Siân Jones and Richard Hunter: View from the devolved nations (27 June)
‘From Labour’s perspective, this will be an opportunity for the Party to rebuild its position as the dominant force in Scottish politics. Douglas Alexander’s expected return will give the sense that Scottish Labour’s big hitters are back and the promised location of Great British Energy in Scotland will be keenly watched.’ - Fabian Cooper: Five free ideas to tackle regional inequalities and level up the country (26 June)
‘I have put together a quick list of 5 ideas to help tackle regional inequalities. And, even better, the only capital they will cost is political.’ - Matilda Hartwig: UK business warms to Labour’s net zero policy: Is change afoot? (25 June)
‘Whilst some have previously argued that there isn’t a huge difference between Labour and Tory climate policies, it seems business is eager for change – echoing the general sentiment across the UK.’
- Tanya Joseph: Gambling with voters’ trust (24 June)
‘If voters were beginning to forget past sins, the emergence in the last week of allegations that a number of senior Conservatives, including two candidates and possibly a Cabinet minister, had placed bets on the date of the election have brought sleaze back to the fore at the worst possible time for the Conservatives.’
- Christian Koch: Beyond the Blunderdome: is optics in political PR a dying art? [CIPR member content](28 June)
Research, data, measurement and evaluation
- Paul Hender: Predictive Analytics – Playing Dice with God (21 June)
‘According to the last AMEC survey, just 20% of AMEC members were using predictive analytics in their business in 2023, down from 23% in 2022. This compares poorly to other uses of AI such as topic identification (78%), entity extraction (65%) and automated sentiment (58%).’
Brands, content and creativity
Behaviour and influence
Crisis, risk and reputation
- Alastair McCapra: Public relations lessons from the Post Office scandal (27 June)
‘The bitter irony of the Post Office scandal lies in the fact that an organisation so obsessed with its reputation went to such great lengths to protect itself from accusations of wrongdoing that it ended up trashing its historically good reputation anyway.’
Internal communication
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION DIPLOMA
- Rachel Miller: Six questions to ask about neurodiversity in your organisation (26 June)
‘Neurodiversity covers a broad spectrum of neurotypes including tic conditions, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), autism, AUDHD (autism and ADHD), dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette syndrome, acquired neurodiversity, dyscalculia and dysgraphia.’ - Cat Barnard with Jennifer Sproul and Dominic Walters: Unethical AI: considerations for healthy AI adoption with Dr Naeema Pasha [podcast] (26 June)
‘This is exciting technology that can do many things, but the unintended consequences haven’t been considered. One major concern is bias.’ - Dan Holden: What are the benefits of having a coach as a communicator? (24 June)
‘Coaching differs from training and mentoring in that the coach’s role isn’t to tell you what to do, teach you skills or solve your problems. Instead, they help you explore your strengths, challenges, and aspirations.’
Media, digital and technology
- Farzana Baduel: Behind the Byline: From Journalism to PR with John Harrington
(25 June)
‘I was looking for an industry that seemed interesting. PR and comms is part of every sector; I love the variety. There’s something about being a trade journalist: you see the difficulties of people in the industry.’
