This week in PR (29 October)

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.

Some much needed time for reflection. Realising how important it is to slow down. #cornwall #sunsets
@newman_andrea on Twitter
Some much needed time for reflection. Realising how important it is to slow down. #cornwall #sunsets @newman_andrea on Twitter

It happened this week

https://twitter.com/SangeetaWaldron/status/1453799719583555598

  • Another Westminster lobbying scandal; once again, no consultant lobbyist was involved. This time it was Owen Paterson MP.

Wellbeing, gender and diversity

  • Advita Patel, Trudy Lewis and Jenni Field:: Build confidence, beat imposter syndrome (22 October)
    ‘We spoke about imposter syndrome a year ago, and I had a very different view then to what I have now. I felt like I didn’t belong; now I have a confidence coach.’

Academic and education

  • Johanna Fawkes: Depth Public Relations (25 October)
    ‘Depth Public Relations is built on the following foundations (full workings will be revealed in forthcoming book).’

ESG, corporate and financial

  • Steffan Williams: Going round in circles (no date)
    ‘Heavy industry generally has a more concentrated flow of materials than service companies. It’s easy to establish how these can be used elsewhere. It’s less clear cut in the service space. ‘
  • Ally Cook: COP 26: How to engage and communicate it? (25 October)
    ‘The conference will officially open on 31 October and more than 120 world leaders will gather in its opening days. Though it is scheduled to close on Friday 12 November, previous COP events have overrun, and it is likely that this summit will be no different.’

Consulting, teams and careers

Public and third sectors

Politics, public affairs and public sphere

  • Emily Wallace: The Value of Trade Associations (28 October)
    ‘I’ve been really struck by the importance of the work they do, and the lack of recognition they receive. In particular, I think that Trade Associations are undervalued by policy makers.’
  • Devi Santosh: To meat or not to… meet net zero (28 October)
    ‘The Climate Change Committee that advises on net zero, has urged people to cut red meat and dairy by 20 per cent by 2030 and 35 per cent by 2050, to reduce emissions from agriculture and free up land for tree planting.’
  • Anita Boateng, Gabriel Milland and Jon Waghorne: Rishi goes all in: The Chancellor gambles on the economy to keep the spending taps running (27 October)
    ‘While Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson may differ both politically and personally, in his Budget and Spending Review today the Chancellor very much adopted his next-door neighbour’s risk-taking philosophy.’
  • Marc Woolfson: Budget Debrief: Our five key takeaways (27 October)
    ‘Tax and spend is back in a big way – although the Chancellor still claims to be a fiscal hawk.’
  • Claire Barraclough: What can we expect from COP26 and what can Glasgow expect from us? (25 October)
    ‘COP watchouts could be China, coal and commitments. But if COP in Paris was in the form of a promise, COP26 in Glasgow is the moment for action and delivery.’
  • Naomi Harris: Top takeaways from the UK’s Net Zero Strategy (25 October)
    ‘This Government has consistently underlined its support for the transition to Net Zero, but some argue it has – until now – failed to meet the legal obligation of the 2008 Climate Change Act requiring it to set out proposals and policies that would see the UK meet the five yearly carbon budgets.  By publishing the Net Zero Strategy, the Government has met this obligation.’

Risk, crisis and reputation

  • Amanda Coleman: Five little letters, one big word (24 October)
    ‘Five letters make up one of the most important words in communication and especially when dealing with critical incidents or crises. That word is trust. It is often misunderstood, often overlooked and many times disregarded.’

Campaigns, creativity and behaviour

  • Ethan McQuaid: Present Bias (28 October)
    Present basis is our tendency to prefer immediate rewards at the expense of long-term goals. It’s a hangover from our ancestors who, in their struggle for survival, grabbed whatever was within reach, rather than risk waiting for better opportunities in the future.’

Sport

  • Ian Morris: Toon takeover is a reputational issue, but it’s not black and white (26 October)
    ‘Association with high-profile sports events, teams and stars undoubtedly has a beneficial impact on the international image of states like Saudi; just look at the recent reports suggesting David Beckham is being paid mega-bucks for being one of the faces of the Qatar 2022 World Cup. That is the point of sportswashing.’

Content, storytelling and influence

Planning, insight, measurement and evaluation

https://twitter.com/CARMA/status/1453628849816805376

  • Paul Sutton with Stella Bayles: Is share of search the missing link in comms measurement? [podcast] (27 October)
    ‘Share of search has been used in the advertising industry for a while. Share of search its looking at what people are searching for: that should be a metric for us as a way of proving that we have made people take action.’

Internal communication

  • Jenni Field: What’s the best way to diagnose issues in your organisation? (25 October)
    ‘In this blog, I take a whistle-stop tour of how to diagnose, the tools you can use depending on your employee numbers and how to look out for bias. I also share some of my top questions to ask to really get under the skin of what’s going on.’
  • Ian Curwen: The eight things I learned at the IoIC Festival (25 October)
    ‘Anyone who works in internal communication knows the importance of line managers to successful communications, and this was writ large in the Festival.’
  • Nicole Linger: Meeting the rising expectations of the belief-driven employee (25 October)
    ‘We’re living in an employee first world. What attracted and retained talent before the pandemic requires a significant update from employers if it’s to meet the expectations of the belief-driven employee of today.’ 

Technology, media and digital

#prstudent #CreatorAwards22

https://twitter.com/pradvuow/status/1451456367907295241

    • Jasmine Denike (LCC/UAL):
@jazzdenikewow I love soccer ⚽️ #football #mancity #westhamunited #footballmatch #london #londontok #prstudent #ualstudent #minivlog #ukstudent #ukvlogoctober♬ Shivers – Ed Sheeran

@lifefrom_a2z#prstudent #dayinmylife #unistudent #unilife #unilifestyle♬ More Than A Woman – SG’s Paradise Edit – Bee Gees & SG Lewis