This week in PR (4 November)
Purpose, climate and ESG
Day 1 of @AnthropyFounder begins in the staggering @EdenProject – a platform for discussion and collaboration on the climate and future social good. pic.twitter.com/4iyU5eAH6D
— Benjamin Cresswell (@BenjaminJosephC) November 2, 2022
- Dafydd Rees: Climate Matters and so does COP 27 (3 November)
‘Change is difficult at the best of times. These are not the best of times. Next week Rishi Sunak will join other world leaders in Egypt for the UN COP27 Climate Change conference.’ - Milk & Honey: We’re The World’s Highest Scoring B Corp Certified PR Agency! (no date)
‘There are 60 certified PR agencies in the world, with 18 scoring over the magic 100. We are now the highest scoring by a clear 30 points. We’re the highest scoring of any B Corp organisations within Germany; and for the first time, we are accredited in UK, US and Germany.’ - Ian Morris: Purpose on Payday: SEC Newgate’s view (28 October)
‘This month we saw significant moves to clamp down on greenwashing. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s financial regulator, proposed a number of restrictions to curb it, which it intends to bring into force in mid-2023.’
Consulting, skills and careers
https://twitter.com/how_IC_it/status/1587898199007797248
- Stephen Waddington: Post COVID-19 PR recruitment boom slows but promotions accelerate (3 November)
‘95,000 people are employed in the UK public relations industry according to LinkedIn data. 10,500 people have joined the profession in the UK in the past 12 months, but only 1,500 in the past nine months.’
- Emma Drake: Does an economic downturn mean scale back or build up to you? [podcast] (3 November)
‘There are lots of things you can do to make sure spending stays conservative while still reaching your goals. It doesn’t mean less is more: it means that doing more of the right things could be beneficial.’ - Andy West: How to prepare for a tougher agency sales environment in 2023? Sieve out the new business timewasters! (2 November)
‘It does seem counter intuitive to turn down invitations to pitch at a time when revenue is under pressure, however, it’s only by tightening the qualification process can agencies use the time and resource available in the most productive and ultimately profitable way.’ - Ben Smith: How has corporate affairs changed? With Sian O’Keefe, vice president of corporate affairs, Mars Wrigley Europe, Central Eurasia, Belarus and Turkey [podcast] (2 November)
‘The critical skills in being successful in corporate affairs are adaptability, resilience, innate curiosity…and business acumen.’
Gender, diversity and wellbeing
One in four have accents mocked at work – survey < Definitely my experience earlier in my career and disappointing to see that it’s still a barrier. We need to do more. https://t.co/lFzENIt0y4
— Emma Leech (@EmmaJ70) November 3, 2022
https://twitter.com/iojosy/status/1588179631928410120
Public and third sectors
- Mandy Pearse: GUEST POST: What drives the reputation of councils? (2 November)
‘I’m keen to explore this and I’m starting with a major benchmarking survey. It’s open to any Head of Comms at a Council, combined authority or fire authority and all those who take part will get a summary of the findings.’ - Louisa Dean: A right royal do (1 November)
‘We had planned everything – social media on all council platforms were changed immediately to the prepared black graphics, web pages were created, messages of condolences went out, staff message and councillor messages were issued. Our day one actions were completed in less than two hours.’ - Sarann Buckby: How to build trust in your charity (and why you need to) (28 October)
‘In an age of fake news, establishing your organisation as a source of trustworthy information is the most important way to build trust.’
Politics, public affairs and public sphere
https://twitter.com/Mrs_Wadds/status/1586638926491574273
- Rebecca Coleman: Watching with interest (3 November)
‘By direct comparison, today’s 3% base rate feels rather tame compared to the almost 15% of thirty-three years ago. But once you factor in the significantly higher levels of consumer borrowing (through mortgages) that exist today, the effect will be similar in terms of the impact on households.’ - Sara Neidle: Pensions: October Monthly Overview (3 November)
‘The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has called on the government to reform the UK pension system due to concerns that more than 50% of savers will fail to meet pension saving targets set by the Pensions Commission in 2005.’ - Jonathan Owen: ‘Can poachers make good gamekeepers?’ Meet Downing Street’s new comms chief (3 November)
‘Some think [Amber de Botton is] perfectly placed for the position, while others are critical of yet another journalist being parachuted into the top job in government comms.’ - Mark Borkowski: Matt Hancock entering ‘I’m a Celebrity…’ 2022 (2 November)
‘Of course, Matt Hancock entering the jungle could merely be naked self-promotion. But given his distinct lack of personality, the cognitive dissonance required for Hancock to believe that he has the minimal charm or charisma required to be a jobbing celeb may in fact represent more extreme levels of delusion and egomania than continuing to harbour dreams of Number 10.’ - Sabine Tyldesley: International Trade (Weak) Week? (1 November)
‘The latest OBR bulletin concludes that more than five years since the Brexit referendum, and two years since the UK left the EU, “there is little sign to date of UK goods exports to non-EU countries making up for lower exports to the EU, with the former down 18 per cent on 2019 levels.”
- Sara Price: Sunak’s political headaches (1 November)
‘Both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have agreed that the solution to the deficit is through tax rises and spending cuts. Everyone will have to contribute in the years to come, not just those who are better off.’
- Anita Boateng: Partner Anita Boateng gives her thoughts on Rishi Sunak’s new Cabinet (31 October)
‘With one reshuffle, he told his loyalists that their commitment will be rewarded, he told Truss and Johnsonites that there was an important place for them, he told the One Nation and ERG-backers that their voice mattered, and he told every former Minister on the backbenchers that there is a route back to government.’ - Stuart Thomson: Don’t let communications run wild [podcast] (29 October)
‘Too often, in a bid to save reputations, we let communications become the absolute focus of our attention. If a media statement kills an issue off, then it’s been successful.’
Research, data, measurement and evaluation
- Jen Phillips: Developing An Adaptable Measurement Plan (2 November)
‘An adaptable plan has two main benefits: it sets you up for success with initial measurement objectives, while also serving as a foundation for when your measurement needs become more complex.’
Crisis, risk and reputation
https://twitter.com/SteveShepSmith/status/1588214531494404098
- George Hutchinson and Amanda Coleman: Reputational Risk and the Police (3 November)
‘The report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) is a wake-up call not just for policing but for other public services and businesses.’
- Sara Naylor: Why trusting only the leader’s instinct is usually the wrong move for organisations communicating during crises (1 November)
‘I counsel clients that there’s rarely an issue that can be managed better without looking up and out. This requires communications expertise as an equal partner at the table.’ - Tom Conway-Gordon: The Not Quite So Curious Case of Kanye West (31 October)
‘In the great majority of reputational threats, or indeed serious crises, there is nearly always a warning, a ‘shot across the bows’ that precedes the more damaging, harmful or in the most unforgivable instances, fatal follow-on occurrence.’
Internal communication
https://twitter.com/Gallagher_Ex/status/1587033304125132800
- Rachel Miller: Podcast: Why measurement matters for IC pros (3 November)
‘It is easy to measure the numbers of views or clicks on an intranet story. But clicks and likes are outputs rather than outcomes.’
- Advita Patel: How to communicate change in an inclusive way (1 November)
‘Two-way dialogue during a change programme is often neglected, but it’s crucial. We communicate down the chain, and managers tend to take on feedback, but they don’t necessarily feed it back up.’ - Jenni Field: It’s not disengagement, it’s distrust (1 November)
‘Disengagement is distrust. If people aren’t engaged in the work and the organisation, they aren’t engaged in the people who lead them or the people they work with.’ - Kate Isichei with Rebecca Sangster-Kelly: How to manage stakeholders [podcast] (31 October)
‘If you don’t like the two-by-two [power-influence] grid, make a list of the groups or individuals impacted, interested or influential.’
Media, digital and technology
Seeing as how I've just checked on a Twitter ad campaign and it's got the worst conversion rate I've ever seen in my career (literally and by a long way), here's how I'd fix Twitter:
1) Roll out Twitter Blue, but don't call it that. Call it Twitter Professional.
— Paul Stollery (@PaulStollery) November 3, 2022
- Drew Benvie: What can we expect from Elon Musk’s Twitter? (2 November)
‘Little has changed on Twitter so far, but we expect major transformation in the coming weeks and months. It’s important, therefore, that every brand and spokesperson monitors the news closely and reacts quickly.’ - Gini Dietrich: The Struggles We All Have With the PESO Model™ (1 November)
‘Sometimes using the PESO Model can be a struggle for communicators, especially because it’s different from what they’ve used in the past—and from what executives expect.’
#prstudent #CreatorAwards23
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- Marthe Bugge Edseth (Leeds Beckett):
@marthebuggeedseth #prstudent ♬ Pirates Of The Caribbean – Main Theme – He’s A Pirate – Geek Music