This week in PR (29 July)

Author: Richard Bailey, Editor
29th July 2022 8 min read

About the author

Richard Bailey Hon FCIPR is editor of PR Academy's PR Place Insights. He teaches and assesses undergraduate, postgraduate and professional students.

News and events

  • From Barnum to Borkowski: Mark Borkowski will be performing at the Edinburgh Festival 17-20 August with a show based on his ‘life and career as a weaver of tall tales… and doyen of dark arts for some of the most fantastical characters in the worlds of circus, theatre, music, Hollywood and beyond.’

Consulting, teams and careers

  • Ben Smith with James Beveridge: Does PR need more creative creative directors? [podcast] (28 July)
    ‘Awards for PR firms are significantly lagging behind advertising and design agencies. PR agencies were notable for their absence from this year’s Cannes Lions Awards.’
  • Emma Drake: Summer Hacks Series (part one) How well do you really know your customers? [podcast] (28 July)
    ‘I can’t stress enough how important it is to understand your customer and what drives them to buy. If you don’t know who you’re targeting, how can you speak to them in the right way?’
  • Eyimofe Okuwoga: My internship at Babel (26 July)
    ‘I first learned about Babel through a program called 10,000 Black Interns, which is a programme designed to help students of Black heritage find internships or be involved in work experience programmes across 24 different sectors.’

Public and third sectors

https://twitter.com/comms2point0/status/1552917914000527360

  • Darren Knight: Why #localgov should love LinkedIn (24 July)
    ‘We’ve tried and tested techniques to ensure we achieve higher conversation rate optimisation but also ensuring consistency of approach.’

Politics, public affairs and public sphere

https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1552607732188024833

  • Matilda Hartwig: How will the next Prime Minister achieve net-zero? (28 July)
    ‘Questions still remain around how the UK’s transition will be funded, and whether further support measures can be provided to industry in the short-, medium- and longer-term. Mrs Truss’ tax cutting agenda will likely deplete the Government’s Budget, while Mr Sunak is unlikely to take on any major commitments until the UK economy is in a better position.’
  • George Thomas: Boris Johnson’s Northern Legacy (28 July)
    ‘The argument can be made that tackling regional inequality is further up the political agenda now than it has ever been.  The fact remains, however, that regional disparities are still prevalent. In fact, the latest ONS figures suggest that the only parts of the UK where the economy has grown since before the pandemic are London and Northern Ireland.’
  • Tom Bromwich: Does Rishi Sunak have what it takes? (28 July)
    ‘One figure that 137 of Sunak’s parliamentary supporters may have noted was that, in this Opinium poll, 32% of British voters said he is most likely to win a general election – this includes nearly a third of Labour voters. Conversely, just 3% of Labour voters think Truss could – she is Sir Keir Starmer’s preferred candidate.’
  • Paddy Kent: Tax Cutting Truss – the new Project Fear (26 July)
    ‘On one side, Liz Truss wants to delay the repaying of government debt, providing her with the room to cut National Insurance and Corporation Tax. On the other, Rishi Sunak wants to maintain current tax levels and get the deficit down.’
  • Rachel Groves: Why can’t Britain’s railway take the political heat? (26 July)
    ‘Network Rail argues that the railway must modernise to make it cost effective and enable it to survive in the long term, whilst the Unions focus on pay rises, job security and working conditions.’
  • James Surallie: #TradeTuesday – UK-Australia FTA passes without sufficient scrutiny (26 July)
    ‘As the deal with Australia now moves to ratification by ministers in the autumn, some have claimed it sets a worrying precedent of not giving MPs enough time for scrutiny.’
  • Stuart Thomson: The end of levelling up (25 July)
    ‘The Conservative Government is consigning levelling up to the dustbin of political ideas. Along with terms such as the Big Society, levelling up will soon be a distant memory. But the political need to rebalance the UK remains.’
  • Thea Southwell Reeves: A fight for the right of the Party: Who will define Conservatism in 2022? (25 July)
    ‘Ultimately, this is a fight for the right of the Party. Sunak wants to distance himself from Boris Johnson’s high-spend ‘Cakeism’, while Truss seeks to woo the traditional heartland with immediate tax cuts.’

Internal communication

  • Mike Pounsford: Getting people to speak up is about listening up (28 July)
    ‘The biggest barrier to listening, and by implication to insight and new ideas, is the simple fact that people often enter a conversation with their minds made up.’
  • Advita Patel: Mastering the metaverse (25 July)
    ‘Learning and building knowledge takes time, and it’s better to be ahead of the curve in advising leaders on emerging trends than to be left behind. As internal communicators, we need to review our current channels and look at innovative ways we can start introducing things like mixed reality, using virtual and augmented tech.’
  • Adel Hanily: The power of connection and value of internal comms in a hybrid world (22 July)
    ‘The conference highlighted that internal comms cannot be seen as an afterthought as it has a vital strategic role to play in shaping both organisational culture and purpose. Communication is a two-way street and listening to teams can increase engagement and ensure everyone is on board with the company’s vision and goals, ultimately leading to greater success.’
  • Katie Macaulay: The Internal Comms Podcast: 12 challenges, 12 conversations (22 July)
    ‘With 65 episodes under our belt, The Internal Comms Podcast now has a show for almost every internal comms challenge. Here’s a handy guide to navigating our back catalogue by your most pressing issue or significant opportunity.’

Media, digital and technology

  • Scott Guthrie: Why Instagram shouldn’t listen to Kylie (26 July)
    ‘Make no mistake Kylie and Kim aren’t on the Gram to see cute photos of their friends. The Jenner / Kardashians are on the platform to shift product. Of course they liked Instagram the way it was.’

Academic and education

  • Martin Flegg: Eating the elephant (25 July)
    ‘Content never comes first in communication planning (or planning a course of study). The experience you want to create, and the objectives needed to achieve this, is all.’

Related topics

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