This week in PR (29 October)

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.

PR Stunt of the Day.

Co-op in Glasgow rebrands ahead of #Cop26 pic.twitter.com/4tgkd6Ic9b

— Andrew Bloch (@AndrewBloch) October 27, 2021

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

After 20+ years of outstanding service by Profs Phil Harris & Danny Moss, this journal seeks 2 new Editors-in-Chief who can build on this solid foundation + further develop the journal for its next phase. Deadline: 17 Nov. More details can be found here: https://t.co/wh4EFoSuzy

— Journal of Public Affairs (@Journal_of_PA) October 22, 2021

• 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

Are you an agency in the UK with under 15 members of staff?

We welcome you and other business strategy enthusiasts to join our first SME Group event with special guest @TonyLangham.

Book: https://t.co/W8pbwuXlKV | @MattCartmell @AnnaGeff pic.twitter.com/jTVRZqwIAS

— PRCA (@PRCA_HQ) October 26, 2021

• Paul MacKenzie-Cummins: Tell customers what they need to know (not what you think they do) (25 October)
  ‘They wanted to be described as ‘Europe’s leading…’ We refused. It wasn’t true.’

Public and third sectors

• Dan Slee: YOUNG DATA: What Beatfreaks’ The 2nd Dose youth insights can teach communicators (28 October)
  ‘[Millennials] know they have years ahead of them and want to change the world they live in, the report says. Black Lives Matter, climate emergency and other campaigns have left a mark. They believe in equality and they want to change in work and out of it.’
• Peter Holt: From comms roles to becoming a council chief executive (25 October)
  ‘My thinking about the ‘job after next’ was because I just couldn’t see a full-time comms person like me ever being appointed directly into a chief exec job in one giant leap.’

Politics, public affairs and public sphere

Only @CindyXiaodanYu and @katyballs could convince me to do such a free-ranging interview. From joining and quitting May's govt, to becoming part of Boris’ team, and desperate fight to break deadlock, including the prorogation. Now you know https://t.co/S8umTZi2mg CindyXiaodanYu

— Nikki da Costa (@nmdacosta) October 22, 2021

• 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.’

• Greg Rosen: Labour doubles down on ‘unfairness’ as Reeves draws dividing lines (27 October)
  ‘Reeves sought above all to paint the government as increasing the cost of living for working people, and to position Labour as the party to “keep the wheels of our economy turning”.’

• 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.’

I agree with the Speaker. Leaking the budget to the newspapers ahead of the announcement is an insult to Parliament and the people who elected it. Scrutiny should be by MPs, not the Mail. @Conservatives @RishiSunak @BorisJohnson @CommonsSpeaker

— Simon Gentry (@Simon_Gentry) October 25, 2021

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

One of my final recommendations in my dissertation was the creation of a professional body in the UK for the influencer marketing industry

Well done to @sabguthrie for being one step ahead (he is the expert!) and congrats on setting up the IMTB https://t.co/C3NZ1YgyhX

— Sophie Smith (@sophiersmith19) October 23, 2021

• Emma Drake: 5 tips for working with B2B ‘influencers’ [podcast] (28 October)
  ‘There’s lots of talk of influencers these days. In B2B this can be quite tricky.’

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

OK, here we go. After a late start I’ve finally got myself enrolled onto the @pracademy #InternalComms specialist diploma. Lots of reading to do but it was great to meet some of the cohort in London last week. Looking forward to learning and sharing over the next 6 months. #CPD pic.twitter.com/fGvAodmNvS

— Josephine Graham (@iojosy) October 22, 2021

• Vicki Marinker with Kim England: Using technology to build a global internal community [podcast] (no date)
  ‘Why, what’s in it for me? What’s the benefit of posting to an internal forum rather than sharing in an email?’
• Rachel Miller: New guidance to help you communicate suicide (27 October)
  ‘Statements should only provide confirmation of suicide if: the family approves; the suicide took place in public; the coroner has confirmed a suicide verdict.’

• 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

• Ian Silvera: The clash between geopolitics and Bitcoin is inevitable (28 October)
  ‘A 2020 survey found that Ukraine and Russia were leading the way in cryptocurrency adoption.’
• Chris Sedgwick: 10 things every firm gets wrong with Gartner… initially (no date)
  ‘For many companies, moving their dot into the ‘Leader’ square of the Gartner Magic Quadrant and keeping it there is the holy grail for tech marketing and sales.’
• Alice Wilks: Reactive PR: turning something out of nothing (25 October)
  ‘It turns out you don’t have to spend a fortune to gain publicity for your company. All you have to do is keep on top of the news…’

#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

• • • Julie Mari (Solent): Employee wellbeing: Why is it important? (27 October)
      ‘In my opinion, it is one of the organisation’s roles to take care of its employees so they feel good and comfortable. You don’t adopt dogs if you’re not going to take care good care of them, right? So if a company recruits employees, it will have to make sure they’re feeling good within the company.’
    • Bethany Gough (Solent): Would a public apology from LBC have been a good PR opportunity? (26 October)
      ‘Recently [Steve Allen] branded Tilly Ramsay as a “chubby little thing” live on air during his LBC radio show.’
    • Andrea Carbonell (Solent): The truth behind Amazon employees: an interview. (24 October)
      ‘I have interviewed Pol, 22 years old, and Xènia, 23 years old, who are both workers for the multinational at the logistic centre located in Martorelles, Spain.’
    • Katie Coyne (Salford):

  @katiecoyne8♬ original sound – Katie Coyne

  • Ammaarah Lunat (Leeds Beckett):

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