How often do we hear a politician say that ‘sport and politics should not mix’? The fact is, they always have – and politicians know it. The comms challenge is how to work with this reality, identify potential threats, and get your messaging right. Politicians are contrary beasts. Members of the same political party this
So it finally happened: I’ve just worked with someone who was born after I started my career. This got me thinking about what anyone entering our industry now will need to know in their first year in communications. I’ve been in tech PR, journalism and digital for 22 years now. Either through agency work or training that
I’m on both sides of the PR-Influencer dynamic. I ran influencer campaigns in-agency for big brands for nearly a decade, judge influencer award categories, and am also technically a ‘micro-influencer’ via my football culture site and podcast, Outside Write. After some recent poor pitches, even from lead agencies, I am going to impart some tips
In this podcast, we discuss the changing nature of crisis communications with Laura Sutherland, founder of Aura PR and PR Fest. How does the current climate of fake news spreading at the speed of clicks impact the way that brands organise, coordinate and respond?
Be honest, how old is your LinkedIn profile image? This is a question I put to my Twitter community recently and for around a third, the answer was more than four years. We live in an age where personal online branding is critical to success or failure, so what does an out-of-date headshot say about us
Do communications professionals who bring experience from across the spectrum provide valuable experience or are agencies and brands better off hiring an area specialist? Do generalists have an identity crisis or does the PR industry need to update its perceptions? I asked my network for their thoughts. I met with an industry peer recently. While
In the second of three discussions on Influencer Relations, I sat down with fellow independent consultants, Ste Davies and Scott Guthrie, to discuss best practice for PR professionals looking to work with influencers. We cover: The growth and future consolidation of influencer platforms Creative control and ownership How influencers work differently from journalists How to
The role of influencers in the decision-making journey and how to best work with them continues to dominate discussion within PR and marketing. Recent studies, such as the Edelman Trust Barometer 2018 and this research from Prizeology, point to an erosion in trust between influencers and the public, where once they enjoyed good levels of
In PR and wider business, PowerPoint is unavoidable. Whether It’s in new business pitches, internal and client reports, or public speeches, your PowerPoint skills can really make you stand out…or let you down. With this in mind – and given some designers charge £100 a page for their services – why don’t employers spend more
Love them or loath them, the press release seems set to stay as a PR tool. Very few of them are effective, so – having written hundreds and received tens of thousands of press releases in my career – here’s your guide on how to write an effective press release. The jury is out on the
