tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78601490957772407352024-02-18T18:30:15.801-08:00PR and Marketing blogsEducational and entertaining blogs from DavidGray PR - A Scottish PR agency.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-65934866514399454022014-06-23T01:03:00.000-07:002014-06-23T01:03:54.156-07:00Yes or No, we need entrepreneurs<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBhQakjeE4kb9YjcUgeqOKATkh0Cbz9kMJabEwiocrIW4uIK4pA1paATtb7NakTjOXn9RmvgmSNlmCLRbabkk35x4ChMXbxSh7QvPmaa4L9BvYx0gO5_mUZmVL15BI6ZtDFMME8rz6NI/s1600/entrepreneurs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBhQakjeE4kb9YjcUgeqOKATkh0Cbz9kMJabEwiocrIW4uIK4pA1paATtb7NakTjOXn9RmvgmSNlmCLRbabkk35x4ChMXbxSh7QvPmaa4L9BvYx0gO5_mUZmVL15BI6ZtDFMME8rz6NI/s1600/entrepreneurs.jpg" height="110" width="200" /></a><i><span lang="EN-GB">Charlie
Laidlaw is a partner in Scottish PR agency </span></i><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i>Laidlaw
Westmacott</i></a> and a director of <a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/">David
Gray PR</a></span><i><span lang="EN-GB">.</span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">As the date for Scotland’s independence
referendum edges closer, the decibel level from conflicting voices continues to
rise.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">What’s not in doubt is that the
political, cultural and commercial landscape in the UK has changed in recent
years, fuelled both by globalisation and the bewildering pace of technological
development.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">Commercially, we now live in an
interdependent world where the concept of the nation state is itself being
reinvented. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">In a 24/7 connected world, the internet
has largely made national borders irrelevant, empowering companies to sell
internationally and consumers to buy internationally.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">We may still be proudly British or
Scottish, or a mixture of both, but we also like Google, Amazon and all the
mobile gadgets that make them work.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">Hardly surprising then that the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the WTO estimate that world
trade in global service exports grew in 2013 by 5% to $4.7 trillion – largely
driven by computer and information services.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">But it’s easy to focus too much on the
big picture because the great majority of companies in the UK are
micro-businesses – and if this sector isn’t working, then the economy is in
real trouble.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">To put that into perspective, over
30,000 Scottish businesses registered with Companies House in 2013. In 2012, it was 25,500; in 2011, 24,000; in
2010, 20,700. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)
quotes Scottish government statistics to show that small and medium-sized
enterprises now account for well over 90% of all Scottish businesses and for
over half of all private sector employment.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">If Scotland is to seriously consider
voting Yes, then we must also be convinced that independence is a national and
global opportunity for small companies to grow, and for entrepreneurs to create
new ones.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">In total last year, some 526,000 UK
businesses were registered with Companies House – nearly 100,000 more than in
2011.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">Of those, over 136,000 start-ups were in
Greater London, more than one in five of new companies, despite having one in
eight of the UK’s population. In second
place came Birmingham with 16,281. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">A report from the Centre for Cities says
that London is creating ten times more private sector jobs than Edinburgh (with
just over 7,000 start-ups). Glasgow saw
more than 8,000 new registrations.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">But London’s dominance in the
entrepreneurial stakes carries dangers.
It’s a worry for London’s creaking infrastructure and inadequate housing
market, but a nagging trend that should worry Scotland, and other parts of the
UK.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">Simply, we need entrepreneurial spirit to
be shared across the UK, because regional economic growth and prosperity
generates greater local demand for goods and services.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">In other words, regional growth provides
local opportunities for new entrepreneurs – the very people we need to succeed
for the economic prosperity of all the nations and regions of the UK. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s why interventions by the likes of Sir
Tom Hunter are so important because his mission is to see Scotland embrace
entrepreneurialism with greater enthusiasm – whether Scotland votes Yes or No,
and Sir Tom hasn’t yet made up his mind either way.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">He points out that Scotland, on a Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor compiled by Strathclyde University’s Hunter Centre for
Entrepreneurship, lags behind the UK as a whole, but that the number of
high-aspiration entrepreneurs has doubled between 2008 and 2013.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">While entrepreneurial activity is at an
all-time high, we have some way to go to match the level of start-ups in, for
example, the USA and Canada. Part of the
problem seems to be Scotland’s historical reliance on old industry, primarily
shipbuilding, coal and steel.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">The new Scotland has had to adapt to the
demise of those few giant employers, but their cultural and social echoes still
live on. Compared with the rest of the
UK, we want to leave education and get a job – creating our own company remains
a second best for many.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">But things are changing. The Curriculum for Excellence is building the
world of work into the curriculum, and colleges of further and higher education
are focusing more on enterprise as an engine of growth, and a key driver of
innovation, particularly technological development.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">On that level it’s about the concept of
creative destruction popularised by the Austro-American economist Joseph
Schumpeter which is the “<span style="background: white; color: #252525;">process
of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure
from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new
one."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #252525;">Put
simply, the new world economies are being driven by ever-changing technologies. Adapt, innovate or die has never been so
apposite.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #252525;">Yes
or No, Scotland the Brand is attracting worldwide coverage, and from salmon to
whisky, golf to haggis, our reputation for product quality is internationally
recognised. It’s something that we have
to capitalise on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #252525;">The
future increasingly lies with entrepreneurs who can shape the new economic
landscape, building new companies than can become big companies, and embed a
growing spirit of entrepreneurship in Scotland.
That will also take more joined up thinking from politicians, think
tanks, educationalists and business leaders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #252525;">While
the big numbers of future economic growth will be global, the reality is that
every new company starts out small, and we should celebrate small as well as
big.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #252525;">Whatever
the referendum outcome, Scotland needs entrepreneurs like never before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">We
are specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery. You can contact us at +44 (<span style="color: #444444;">0) 1620 844024 or </span></span></i><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="mailto:michael@laidlawwestmacott.com"><i>michael@laidlawwestmacott.com</i></a><i><span style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-514613833964190092014-05-29T03:52:00.002-07:002014-05-29T03:52:32.461-07:00To win an award you have to enter…<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 11.25pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmkcGtCeFMTeYhGwEazMEW2wP7jOuOqprSgRBLNIPcFHJLWC5WfF6dk1k7vNYXEPsF-Z8WCexwsjWUqwkQCLouiZCv_hYcTTklWCZAaTtAyC1QZCyWQFoUMlVTr2bRh5TfJw7bZT_zDgM/s1600/awards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmkcGtCeFMTeYhGwEazMEW2wP7jOuOqprSgRBLNIPcFHJLWC5WfF6dk1k7vNYXEPsF-Z8WCexwsjWUqwkQCLouiZCv_hYcTTklWCZAaTtAyC1QZCyWQFoUMlVTr2bRh5TfJw7bZT_zDgM/s1600/awards.jpg" height="179" width="200" /></a><i><span lang="EN-GB">Charlie Laidlaw is
a director of </span></i><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i>David Gray PR</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-GB"> and a partner in </span></i><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i>Laidlaw Westmacott</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-GB">. <span style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Business success involves determining a commercial
and marketing strategy, setting realistic objectives, and creating a
promotional programme to help make it happen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s about engaging with customers and
getting them to trust your company over a competitor. It’s about image, communicating a sense of
brand value and converting sales.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But how to create trust with potential
customers who may not have heard of you?
However, one often overlooked tactic can provide the third-party
endorsement that smaller companies generally struggle to find.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Entering business awards should be
front-of-mind for any company, because excellence is something every company
strives for – whether that’s customer service or technical innovation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">There’s a business awards scheme for every
business sector, so finding an appropriate award category shouldn't</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
be
hard. In addition, there are personal
awards - in HR, accountancy, marketing…you name the job title, and there’s an
award to be won. <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Nor does it matter how big you are. There are awards for start-ups,
entrepreneurial awards, or innovative
new products. Or there are awards in the
workplace - for best practice in flexible working, best places to work, social
inclusion, or recruitment policies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Here are some tips on how to make your
entry stand out from the crowd.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-GB">Enter appropriately</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">. Writing a killer submission
is a lengthy process, so best not waste time on an award category that you are
unlikely to shine in. Concentrate effort
on the awards and categories where you really have something to shout about. (If in doubt, speak to the awards organiser).</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-GB">Read entry guidelines</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">. Judges look for clarity and
generally set an upper word count. They
will also indicate what they’re looking for to support your entry – whether
that’s sales figures, customer endorsements, media coverage etc. Focus on what’s important for your entry, and
cut the waffle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-GB">Leave yourself time</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">. Writing an award submission
takes far longer than people anticipate.
For a start, facts and figures have to be assembled, and other people in
the company consulted. Better to set a
timetable that gives you time to think, rather than completing it in a mad
rush. (A rushed entry is rarely a good
entry).</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-GB">Appoint a champion</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">. While several people in the
company may have an input to the submission, put one individual in charge, and
task that person to complete a draft of the submission(s) well ahead of the
deadline. (There’s nothing worse than an
entry that looks like it was written by a committee).</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">5.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-GB">Make it interesting</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">. There’s no point being
over-technical or using too much jargon. Your entry should be memorable and
interesting, right from the first sentence.
Think of it as an elevator pitch: grab the judges’ attention in the
introduction. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">6.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-GB">Make it real.</span></b><span lang="EN-GB"> You’re justifiably proud of
your company and want to shout about its attributes. But beware of making unsubstantiated claims
to be “the best” – using sales data to demonstrate healthy growth is a better
way of demonstrating success.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB">7.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-GB">Get another view</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">. You might think that your
submission is right on the button and has ticked all the boxes. But get someone from outside your company to
take a look at it. A point you thought
was blindingly obvious might not be that obvious to an outsider. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-color: transparent;">In conclusion, what’s important is that you take the time
to really understand what the judges are looking for, and how to make your
entry stand up to scrutiny.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In our experience, every successful or
ambitious company has a story to tell, about itself, its products or its people,
irrespective of size or sector. It’s how
you tell that story that matters.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-90169940983795602252014-05-22T04:47:00.001-07:002014-05-22T04:47:21.867-07:00A PR spectrum from cock and bull to nursery rhyme<div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline !important; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5mi5Lm6NzEaKEzemlrj4obTkdTIYp1e0cus8sTypG9CfQkL59xF2MbWYoyaUSvQ9QtndePmmjFA-Zel_P52-T3p5-ERsXavNUuOFmJtNq-AiayNBeC0hgLZDcGD2UOmdSYZuj0sPmVS8/s1600/Bull+Hotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5mi5Lm6NzEaKEzemlrj4obTkdTIYp1e0cus8sTypG9CfQkL59xF2MbWYoyaUSvQ9QtndePmmjFA-Zel_P52-T3p5-ERsXavNUuOFmJtNq-AiayNBeC0hgLZDcGD2UOmdSYZuj0sPmVS8/s1600/Bull+Hotel.jpg" height="178" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB"><i style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="color: #444444;"></span></i>PR involves pitching stories to the media although, inevitably, some
stories are better than others. However,
much better to make sensible use of the material you have, rather than turn it
into cock and bull.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s what 18<sup>th</sup> and 19<sup>th</sup> century coach travellers did,
so the story goes, when they stopped at a town called Stony Stratford, north of
London.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB">Travellers would refresh themselves in one of the town’s two main
coaching inns, The Cock or The Bull, where fanciful tales and so-called news
would become hopelessly embellished. The
two establishments still exist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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</w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The town’s </span><a href="http://www.stonystratford.co.uk/history.html"><span lang="EN-GB">website</span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> says that “t</span>he High Street still contains a wealth of coaching inns that thrived
in this period, including The Cock and The Bull; in these inns travellers vied
with each other in the telling of outrageous stories…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The story may or may not be true, but it’s
an interesting angle on how – in the wrong hands – a perfectly good story can,
through spin and exaggeration, devalue both the message and the messenger.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
At the other end of the scale is the
story so subtly told that its significance is hidden. That’s best exemplified in our much-loved
nursery rhymes, written in a bygone age when any kind of careless gossip could
swiftly lead to the gallows. Back then, subtle
PR was a life-saver.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Take, for example, this innocuous rhyme:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Mary Mary quite
contrary<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>How does your
garden grow?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>With silver bells
and cockle shells<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>And pretty maids
all in a row.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It’s actually about the 16<sup>th</sup>
century <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/mary_i_queen.shtml">Queen Mary of England</a> whose
brutal persecution of Protestants earned her the nickname of “Bloody Mary.” The garden is the cemeteries she filled with
her victims; silver bells and cockleshells are slang for torture implements,
and the maiden was a form of guillotine.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<v:shape alt="http://www.scenicreflections.com/files/Shrek%20the%20Third%20-%20Three%20Blind%20Mice%20-%2001.jpg" id="il_fi" o:spid="_x0000_s1028" style="height: 126pt; margin-left: 1.5pt; margin-top: .3pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 167.95pt; z-index: 2;" type="#_x0000_t75" wrapcoords="-193 0 -193 21343 21606 21343 21606 0 -193 0">
<v:imagedata o:title="Shrek%20the%20Third%20-%20Three%20Blind%20Mice%20-%2001" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\Charlie\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image002.jpg">
<w:wrap type="through">
</w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape>Queen Mary was also the inspiration for
another rhyme:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Three blind mice, three blind mice,<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>See how they run. See how they
run.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>They all ran after the farmer’s wife,<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Who cut off their tails with a carving knife.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Did you ever see such a sight in your life?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>As three blind mice.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This refers to three Protestant bishops
who were convicted of treason and burned at the stake - but not before,
reputedly, being blinded and dismembered.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Equally loved is this:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Jack and Jill went up the hill<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>To fetch a pail of water.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Jack fell down<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>And broke his crown,<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>And Jill came tumbling after.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Jack and Jill are <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/louis_xvi.shtml">King Louis XVI</a> and <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/marie-antoinette-9398996">Queen Marie Antionette</a>. They both lost their crowns (and their heads)
in the French revolution of 1793-94.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The derivation of this rhyme is more
widely known:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Ring-a-ring o’ roses<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>A pocket full of posies<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>A-tishoo! A-tishoo!<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>We all fall down.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In the USA, the third line is often
reproduced as <i>Ashes! Ashes!</i>
It’s actually about bubonic plague in the 17<sup>th</sup> century, with
one of the first symptoms being a rosy rash.
For protection, people would carry sweet-smelling herbs with them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<v:shape alt="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNhYtGzCkcqcW3ODrGIEDTwSjh7dWR-nhfJRjZ55IFu4zU90CrxYfxycprG_WnIX1Uj8y3_iahMRCX7mZAgt8ODdH9ajdl4H5yQqCkx7vdCKB5ZKrjVebQSkHDVKY47Fxb33yD7k1dkE6/s1600/humptydumpty1-1.jpg" id="Picture_x0020_1" o:spid="_x0000_s1027" style="height: 157.5pt; margin-left: 1.5pt; margin-top: 0; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 120pt; z-index: 1;" type="#_x0000_t75" wrapcoords="-270 0 -270 21394 21600 21394 21600 0 -270 0">
<v:imagedata o:title="humptydumpty1-1" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\Charlie\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003.jpg">
<w:wrap type="through">
</w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape>Other rhymes describe historical events:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>All the king’s horses and all the king’s men<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Couldn’t put Humpty together again.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
No, it’s not about a giant egg. It’s actually a large cannon that was sited
on a tower during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War">English
Civil War</a>.
The tower was hit by cannon fire, and the tower and Humpty fell down.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Other rhymes are more complex:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Old Mother Hubbard<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Went to the cupboard<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>To give the poor dog a bone<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>When she came there<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>The cupboard was bare<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>And so the poor dog had none<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
These are the lyrics that were published
in 1805, although the rhyme is much older.
One explanation is that it goes back to <a href="http://tudorhistory.org/henry8/">Henry VIII</a>, with the King wanting a divorce from <a href="http://tudorhistory.org/aragon/">Catherine of Aragon</a> so he could marry <a href="http://tudorhistory.org/boleyn/">Anne Boleyn</a>. The “dog and bone” refer to the divorce, the
cupboard is the Catholic Church and Cardinal Wolsey, the highest Papal
representative, is Old Mother Hubbard.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
One rhyme stands out for being utterly
salacious:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Georgie Porgie<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Pudding and pie<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Kissed the girls and made them cry<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>When the boys came out to play<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Georgie Porgie ran away.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<v:shape alt="http://www.illustrationartgallery.com/acatalog/20thGeorgie.jpg" id="_x0000_s1026" style="height: 176.25pt; margin-left: 1.5pt; margin-top: -.3pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 123.75pt; z-index: 3;" type="#_x0000_t75" wrapcoords="-262 0 -262 21508 21731 21508 21731 0 -262 0">
<v:imagedata o:title="20thGeorgie" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\Charlie\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image004.jpg">
<w:wrap type="through">
</w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape>This is poking fun at a (reputed) gay
relationship between <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/james_i_vi.shtml">King James I</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Villiers,_1st_Duke_of_Buckingham">Duke of Buckingham</a>, who was also an
(alleged) lover of the French Queen Consort.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Goosey goosey gander,<br />
Whither shall I wander?<br />
Upstairs and downstairs<br />
And in my lady's chamber.<br />
There I met an old man<br />
Who wouldn't say his prayers,<br />
So I took him by his left leg<br />
And threw him down the stairs.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The derivation of this is less clear, but is probably
anti-Catholic propaganda. Catholic
prayers were said in Latin; Protestant prayers in English. There again, "goose bumps" was 16<sup>th</sup>
slang for the symptoms of venereal disease – and being "bitten by a
Winchester goose" was slang for how you caught it. The “Winchester geese” in question were south
London prostitutes.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Lastly, this:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Ladybird, ladybird,
fly away home<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Your house is on
fire <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>And your children
are gone.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The ladybird was regarded with affection by farmers as it
ate aphids, and it’s thought that this rhyme may be about encouraging the bugs
to fly off before the farmers burned stubble in their fields. However, it may not be that simple. Another possible derivation is that the rhyme
was a warning to Catholics who wouldn’t attend Protestant services. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Nowadays, in an age of free speech, we can write what we
want and make the meaning clear. But we
shouldn’t forget that the right of free speech has been hard won and that, in past
times, it could get you into all sorts of trouble.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In PR terms, it was therefore better to invent a nursery
rhyme than a cock and bull story. Nowadays,
neither end of the PR spectrum is much good!</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 11.25pt;">
<i>Charlie Laidlaw is
a director of David Gray PR and a partner in Laidlaw Westmacott. We are
specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery. You can contact us at +44 (<span style="color: #444444;">0) 1620 844736 or </span></i><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i>Charlie@davidgraypr.com</i></a><i><span style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> or connect with us on LinkedIn or Facebook.</span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<i><o:p></o:p></i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-34349368904746632732014-04-30T06:19:00.001-07:002014-04-30T06:19:57.325-07:00MI5 and PR for small companies<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2yhOYz1xotsh20zd3DPB0cs2-g98JJmp8oG79CVTqQTilgWD5unZ17pwcR9AwJ_V2x479YETGCdmJ0qvpsDxLo2p6e6aSVKTB-C0efSNzlUeuGa9GRChrnGqUMuvPgdZ8PHcm006U5Vc/s1600/MI5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2yhOYz1xotsh20zd3DPB0cs2-g98JJmp8oG79CVTqQTilgWD5unZ17pwcR9AwJ_V2x479YETGCdmJ0qvpsDxLo2p6e6aSVKTB-C0efSNzlUeuGa9GRChrnGqUMuvPgdZ8PHcm006U5Vc/s1600/MI5.jpg" height="145" width="200" /></a><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Charlie
Laidlaw is a director of <a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/">David Gray PR</a>
and a partner in <a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/">Laidlaw Westmacott</a>.
He is also a former intelligence officer with the Security Service (MI5).<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A long time ago in a place not far distant from central London, I was
being lectured about the nature of treason.
What, I was asked, did the traitor see in the mirror each morning as he
shaved? Traitor or patriot?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It was an ambiguous lesson, without fixed context, given credence
only by the fact that we both worked for the Security Service. The context I only discovered later, and by
then he’d already made his decision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now, a lifetime later, the business of intelligence has, for me,
become the business of communications – from gathering information and keeping
it secret to distilling information and making it public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On the surface, there are few obvious similarities between those
two very different worlds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">After all, the task of the Security Service involves shining
discreet torches into dark places at the edge of reason and learning enough
about the dragons that lurk there to keep them safely locked away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The business of marketing and public relations, by contrast,
involves shining media spotlights to get companies and their products and
systems noticed. It certainly doesn’t involve lights being
hidden under bushels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There is, however, one enormous similarity between the two. Let me explain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Once upon a time it used to be that people needed products to
survive. Now, it’s the other way
around. Products need people to
survive. In a business context, and in a
market economy, companies need customers to survive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In a cluttered market, whether the product is baked beans,
carpeting or a window system, every product needs a buyer – and most products
and companies have competitors. You have
competitors, I have competitors – and we’re always working to invent a better
widget.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What makes us successful, or not, is the glue that binds product
to customer. That glue is marketing –
the diffuse process by which we attract enquiries and convert those enquiries
into sales.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Within that conversion process, the central element in any
successful marketing strategy is information.
We need to provide potential customers with the essential information to
buy our product rather than someone else’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So far, so self-evident.
Yet that’s precisely the central element that a great many firms fail to
recognise in devising marketing or promotional campaigns. The information that customers need to make
that buying decision is confused by poor messaging or corporate techno-babble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Indeed, some firms’ corporate communications are so full of
technical information to be impenetrable.
Time after time, I see corporate literature or websites that convey huge
amounts of information that the firm thinks it wants to communicate - but not
the essential information that the potential customer will want to hear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Marketing is about much more than a glossy brochure or fancy web
presence. It’s more than pricing policy,
distribution channels or glitzy advertising.
It’s certainly much more than spending oodles of dosh on fancy corporate
identities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It’s about recognising information as a valuable commodity and
using that information to manage the human imagination, whether in traditional
media or on new channels such as LinkedIn or Twitter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sounds fanciful? Well,
maybe. Essentially, however, we buy a
product because we’re pretty sure it’ll work.
We may know that the product has been around for a while, therefore it’s
reliable. We may believe that the firm
producing it also reliable and therefore to be trusted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It’s why large firms spend equally large sums of money on
promotion and PR. What they’re
essentially buying, by communicating information about themselves, is customer
trust. By making their brand visible
they’re buying market credibility.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It’s a marketing dilemma that many smaller firms simply don’t
address. To achieve visibility, so the
argument goes, will cost us an arm and a leg and therefore we can’t afford the
pounds of flesh, particularly when times are tough. Except, of course, good promotion doesn’t
need to cost the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There is no reason why smaller firms can’t also play the
promotional game – especially those firms in niche sectors who can legitimately
claim particular expertise in specialist markets. It merely involves distilling key facts and
figures and promoting corporate and product information online and offline in
ways that potential customers will find digestible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Back in the Security Service bar, I wondered why Mike Bettany was
speculating aloud about the nature of treason.
Soon afterwards, he was arrested for attempted espionage, trying to
peddle the State’s secrets to the Soviet’s men in leather coats. He was sent down for a very long time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mike, it seemed, also knew the value of information and how to
sell it, for whatever expedient reason or moral justification. For the Russians, that information may have
been extremely valuable. For Mike, poor
sod, the price had a more personal cost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As I said, it’s about information and its value. The marketing and intelligence worlds aren’t
that far apart.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="line-height: 15pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="line-height: 15pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We are specialists in national and
international PR strategy and delivery.
You can contact us at +44 (<span style="color: #444444;">0) 1620 844736 or
</span></span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15pt;"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i>Charlie@davidgraypr.com</i></a><i><span style="color: #444444;"> or connect with us on LinkedIn or Facebook.</span></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-315084734759795062014-04-29T07:07:00.000-07:002014-04-29T07:07:10.526-07:00Wally Olins: an appreciation of brand value<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJNk-KtlZ7Lrygp2NEHNVdbVQPdUq8GghAsHeoDFsTiOdvGAjINRZZcymshs-7dC-q6xniq4RUax_kHJsw9jSbFFoZQ6mvBg6xSWIR-fA3tvWRivccRf6NBnDNs4-Fw5CvD2ryEwjPhyphenhyphen8/s1600/orange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJNk-KtlZ7Lrygp2NEHNVdbVQPdUq8GghAsHeoDFsTiOdvGAjINRZZcymshs-7dC-q6xniq4RUax_kHJsw9jSbFFoZQ6mvBg6xSWIR-fA3tvWRivccRf6NBnDNs4-Fw5CvD2ryEwjPhyphenhyphen8/s1600/orange.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </i><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i>David Gray PR</i></a><i> and a partner in </i><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i>Laidlaw Westmacott</i></a><i>. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s hard
to overestimate the impact that </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/apr/15/wally-olins"><span lang="EN-GB">Wally Olins</span></a> CBE<span lang="EN-GB">, who died recently, has had on the
marketing landscape, almost single-handedly inventing the concept of brand
management and embedding the idea of brand equity into the minds of marketers
and business leaders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">His belief
in the importance of corporate brand for companies, charities, NGOs – and from
countries to individuals - was pioneering, back in an age when advertising was
all about product marketing. Olins, who
co-founded the international agency </span><a href="http://www.wolffolins.com/"><span lang="EN-GB">Wolff Olins</span></a><span lang="EN-GB">, wasn’t interested in what went
into a packet or tin; he was interested in the company behind it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
Financial Times has described him as “the world’s leading practitioner of
branding and identity,” creating a new discipline separate from other facets of
marketing communications, such as PR and advertising. He believed that, while companies created
brands, the consumer had ultimate power – not only looking for utility in what
they bought, but a connective meaning with the brand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Back in the
1960s, many of his ideas were seen as wacky.
Now, the consultancy firm </span><a href="http://www.millwardbrown.com/brandz/Top_100_Global_Brands.aspx"><i><span lang="EN-GB">Millward B</span></i><span lang="EN-GB">rown</span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> estimates that the top 100 brands
worldwide were worth $2.6 trillion in 2013, up 7% on the year before. Some of those brands, such as Google and
Microsoft, haven’t been around for very long.
Others, such as Coca-Cola, have been with us for over a century.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Olins
recognised that good branding needed to precede marketing. To him, branding was more than a fancy logo,
website or snappy slogan; effective branding should capture the essence and
values of a company – a “pull” strategy that consumers could relate to. Tactical marketing generates sales; strategic
branding generates loyalty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Over the
years Olins advised not only companies but countries. Perhaps most memorably, he advised British
Telecom to change to BT, and encapsulated the brand of a new mobile phone start
up in a colour – Orange.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"> There are various inexact methodologies for
measuring brand value – looking at a brand’s market share and how it is
perceived (or “mind share”). Using that
yardstick, it’s possible that a brand might have a higher mind share than
market share – perhaps because consumers, while liking the product, can’t
afford it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In other
words, brand value (or brand equity) can’t be easily measured. Simplistically, Heinz charges more for its
baked beans than a supermarket’s own brand.
But, leaving aside any differences in product, many consumers vote with
their wallets and buy Heinz – branding has made the company synonymous with the
product.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">This in
turn raises interesting questions on the value of intangibles: between a
company’s book valuation and the longer-term intangible value of its
brands. For many companies today,
greater corporate value resides in its brands than its balance sheet and bricks
and mortar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">As
consumers, we now have multiple choices – from competing companies selling the
same kind of product, to buying them online or in an old-fashioned shop. Our purchasing decisions are, of course,
influenced by a number of factors, not least price – but so too by our
perceptual view of the company selling that product to us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">No wonder
then that successful marketers and business leaders now pay close attention to
brand and reputation management, recognising that corporate value is as much to
do with positive consumer perceptions as it is about profit margins and market
share.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
branding landscape is constantly changing, complicated also by evolving trends
and, not least by how we manage our purchasing habits between needs and wants –
between those things essential to us and those things that we’d like to have,
but don’t need.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In a retail
context, the best examples are low-cost entrants such as Aldi, Lidl or
Poundland. They have built brand value
on the simple fact that we’ll pay more for things that we want, but insist on
low prices for the things we need. On
the back of that simple psychology, they are building strong and valuable
brands – while others, such as Woolworth’s, saw their brand equity fade to
nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The term
“brand” comes from the Old Norse “brandr” meaning to burn – used, among other
things, as a way of identifying cattle.
The oldest brand is reputed to be an Indian herbal paste, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chyawanprash"><span lang="EN-GB">Chyawanprash</span></a><span lang="EN-GB">, in continuous use since about 1000 BC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So, in
appreciating the intellectual rigour of Wally Olins, it’s nice to know that he
was only rediscovering best business practice from long ago. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">You can contact us at</span><span style="line-height: 15pt;"> +44 (<span style="color: #444444;">0) 1620 844736 or </span></span><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com" style="line-height: 15pt;">Charlie@davidgraypr.com</a><span style="line-height: 15pt;"><span style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> or connect with us on LinkedIn or
Facebook.</span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-70207801363188090682014-04-25T08:56:00.000-07:002014-04-25T08:56:13.057-07:00Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words*<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeJH6ob3MUuNCqLWsvHu-oGlwnuLU5GhnXlDCtHpoCRhpSMl04xs7BFTpNJ-8clFCqMZdfDlgB9TiYtaTV1v90Uy1-t6_r_9xX24YmOX-W1TX60AoW45Lm3Q0_CqtTSgAdCUJBypfwPE/s1600/ernest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeJH6ob3MUuNCqLWsvHu-oGlwnuLU5GhnXlDCtHpoCRhpSMl04xs7BFTpNJ-8clFCqMZdfDlgB9TiYtaTV1v90Uy1-t6_r_9xX24YmOX-W1TX60AoW45Lm3Q0_CqtTSgAdCUJBypfwPE/s1600/ernest.jpg" height="200" width="140" /></a><i>Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </i><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i>David Gray PR</i></a><i> and a partner in </i><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i>Laidlaw Westmacott</i></a><i>. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s
something that we all learn at school and, at one level, it’s a pretty easy
skill. After all, to misquote </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham"><span lang="EN-GB">Somerset Maugham</span></a><span lang="EN-GB">, all the words we need are in the dictionary –
it’s just a matter of arranging them in the right order.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Of course
it’s a bit more complicated than that, but it’s a skill that more of us now
need as the internet and social media continue to drive a voracious information
landscape demanding much greater participation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">However, whether
it’s writing a brochure, website, blog, article or sales email, getting the
right words in the right order can be a daunting task.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Here are
some quotes from literary figures past and present that illuminate the writer’s
craft.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">“It is perfectly okay to write garbage – as
long as you edit brilliantly.” (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Cherryh"><span lang="EN-GB">CJ Cherryh</span></a></b><b><span lang="EN-GB">)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
absolute basic rule of writing anything is to write it. Too often, we worry endlessly over a sentence
or paragraph, before going onto the next sentence or paragraph, and then
worrying about them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Much better
to write everything down first, and only then go back and edit. That way, you’ve laid out all your thoughts
and better able to see how they might fit together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The
American novelist </span><a href="http://john-irving.com/"><span lang="EN-GB">John Irving</span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> once remarked that “more than a half, maybe as
much as two-thirds of my life as a writer is rewriting.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It really
doesn’t matter whether your initial draft is good, bad or ugly. The important thing is that it’s complete and
can now be rewritten, edited and rewritten again. In other words, have the courage to write
badly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Or as </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway"><span lang="EN-GB">Ernest Hemingway</span></a> <span lang="EN-GB">more graphically put it: “The
first draft of anything is shit.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">“A writer without a reader doesn’t exist.” (</span><a href="http://www.harlancoben.com/"><span lang="EN-GB">Harlan Coben</span></a></b><b><span lang="EN-GB">)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Once you’ve
written your initial draft have a good, long think about who will be reading
your blog, article or email. A potential
customer? If so, what do they need to
know about your product or service? What
benefits can you offer them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">You might
be (justifiably) proud of your new gizmo and the technologies embedded in
it. Your potential customer probably
couldn’t care less: they only want to know what it does and why they should buy
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">“A writer’s job is to tell the truth.” (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rooney"><span lang="EN-GB">Andy Rooney</span></a></b><b><span lang="EN-GB">)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It sounds
obvious, but there’s no point in writing marketing materials that are
dishonest. However, less obvious are the
marketing messages than don’t sound authentic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">If your new
mousetrap is better than the rest, explain why it’s better. Statements like, “we’ve just invented the
best mousetrap in the history of the world” just won’t be believed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Look again at
what you’ve written. Can each claim be
substantiated? If not, delete. The advent of the internet and social media
means that there is no hiding place…and dubious claims could come back to haunt
you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"> <b>“If you
want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and
write a lot.” (</b></span><b><a href="http://www.stephenking.co.uk/site/Home.php5"><span lang="EN-GB">Stephen King</span></a></b><b><span lang="EN-GB">)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">When you
first start out writing, that blank screen or white piece of paper can be off-putting,
stopping you from starting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">However, do
take </span><a href="http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/"><span lang="EN-GB">Sir Terry Pratchett’s</span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> advice: “There’s no such thing as
writer’s block. That was invented by
people in California who couldn't write.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The best
way to learn is to read what other companies are saying in their articles or
blogs. Okay, they might be writing
rubbish but, by reading the best of them, you’ll get a better idea of what good
writing looks like.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">After that,
it’s about practice. For example, why
not initiate a blog strategy and aim to have something posted every month? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB">“A writer is somebody for whom writing is more
difficult than it is for other people.” (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mann"><span lang="EN-GB">Thomas Mann</span></a></b><b><span lang="EN-GB">)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Very few
people, professional writers included, find writing easy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But what’s
important is to express yourself honestly, with a message strategy that
resonates with your target audiences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Get that
right and most other things should follow.
And remember, you don’t have to be a great writer to write great
material.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">After all, </span><a href="http://www.robertbenchley.org/sob/"><span lang="EN-GB">Robert Benchley</span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> said: “It took me fifteen years
to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by
that time I was too famous.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">That same success
could be true for your company and its products. Honesty and authenticity are more important
than great content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">However,
best also remember </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein"><span lang="EN-GB">Robert Heinlein</span></a><span lang="EN-GB">.
“Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in
private and wash your hands afterwards.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Only
joking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">*</span><a href="http://www.biography.com/people/mark-twain-9512564#awesm=~oCmm0ucR6MKZep"><span lang="EN-GB">Mark Twain</span></a><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-63981424652774471192014-04-16T05:17:00.000-07:002014-04-16T11:58:57.829-07:00Drones, connected things and ethics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLHaPA2IodbFHhxoSuoEYEPkgIdjBd8yOBqiYc4E8foqBWoLj60dYmKPquHMgXX8QFYx_G2c5xAxB-exR05c1x5-jIJZ-qa5qJK6ObZL4bQUI31XByU425J2LWr1DwU-aQTtQ1BJ866lk/s1600/Google.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLHaPA2IodbFHhxoSuoEYEPkgIdjBd8yOBqiYc4E8foqBWoLj60dYmKPquHMgXX8QFYx_G2c5xAxB-exR05c1x5-jIJZ-qa5qJK6ObZL4bQUI31XByU425J2LWr1DwU-aQTtQ1BJ866lk/s1600/Google.jpg" height="123" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Charlie
Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/">David Gray PR</a><i> and a partner in </i><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i>Laidlaw Westmacott</i></a><i>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Google has just announced that it is buying
a company that manufactures high-altitude solar drones capable of flying for
years and designed to beam down wireless signals.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The idea is that the drones will help to
connect people in poorer parts of the world and provide a stimulus for economic
growth.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s where science fiction meets science
fact, with enormous implications for all of us, not least in the ways that new
data streams are collected, analyzed and stored.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In a way, it’s a marketing dream: a
connected and inter-connected world in which big data streams just get bigger,
allowing for marketing messages to become ever more precise.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">A </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46207&Cr=internet&Cr1#.U019DVVdXgk">United
Nations report</a><span style="color: #333333;"> released at the end of
last year suggests that some 40% of the world’s population is now online, with
mobile broadband the key driver of the global information and communication
technology (ICT) market. In 1995, it was
less than 1%.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">The International
Telecommunication Union report also estimated that by the end of last year,
there would be some 6.8 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions – almost as many
as there are people on the planet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">IHS Inc in the USA
estimates that there will be more than eight billion internet-connected video
devices by 2017 – 1.1 devices for every global citizen, and virtually double
the figure in 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">Cisco believes that
the number of connected devices will reach 50 billion by 2020, with much of the
growth coming towards the end of the decade.
That’s several times the world’s population.</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">The reason for the
projected upswing isn’t just down to solar drones finally connecting the First
and Third Worlds, but the burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">At the moment, we’re
mostly connected to the internet via computer or smartphone. But the Internet of Things takes connectivity
further, allowing us to control our world in new and interactive ways.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">Forget about Doctor
Dolittle talking to the animals. Pretty
soon we’ll be talking to our refrigerator, oven and central heating system,
telling them when to come on and what to order from the online supermarket.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">In many ways, those
technologies already exist so it’s just a case of embedding connectivity into
new generations of gadgets. The size of
the market is immense, as a number of </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://postscapes.com/internet-of-things-market-size">economic
impact reports</a><span style="color: #333333;"> make clear:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">Cisco estimates that
between 2013 and 2022, $14.4 trillion of value (net profit) will be “up for
grabs” for enterprises globally. “We
estimate the potential economic impact of the Internet of Things to be $2.7
trillion to $6.2 trillion per year by 2015.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">Gartner says that
“the Internet of Things will include 26 billion units installed by 2020. IoT products and service suppliers will
generate incremental revenue exceeding $300 billion, mostly in services, in
2020. It will result in $1.9 trillion in
global economic value-add through sales and diverse end markets.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">In many ways the
Internet of Things is already with us.
For example, internet advertising already makes use of bits of personal
data to send us personalised messages.
As data mining and profiling becomes more accurate, combined with the
geo-locational functionality of our smartphones, the ethical dilemmas begin to
pile up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Charlie/My%20Documents/Downloads/InternetofThingsFactsheetEthics.pdf">report</a> on the ethics of the IoT by Delft University of Technology
says that “when boundaries between public and private spaces get blurred, and
are invisible, users would feel a sense of unease: they do not know what
information they actually share with whom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">“Many of the
developments that are about to come will reshape parts of our society and
change the way we interact and make use of technology. In that context, a
debate on the future values of living is necessary.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">A paper published by </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.theinternetofthings.eu/justin-mckeown-human-beings-and-being-human-ethics-and-internet-things">The
Internet of Things Council</a> goes further. </span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> “</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">While in many ways we may imagine the advent
of the Internet of Things not only as the first major evolutionary step in the
existence of the internet, we also may conceive of it as a step in the
evolution of our species.”</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">Another </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.theinternetofthings.eu/neelie-kroes-internet-things-ethical-implications-tomorrow%E2%80%99s-internet">paper</a><span style="color: #333333;"> for the Council makes clear that IoT “applications can
be a great plus for users, helping them save energy, enhance comfort, get
better healthcare and increased independence. In short it could mean happier,
healthier lives. But those sensors also collect huge amounts of data, which
brings ethical challenges—particularly when it comes to privacy and identity.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">How the Internet of
Things develops is an ethical issue for all of us, whether personally or as
businesses: we may make use of the technologies to effect business or personal
benefits, but how do you prevent your fridge talking to your insurance company?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;">Ethical dilemmas
aside, the potential for manufacturers and the marketing industry is staggeringly
large. The Internet of Things may seem
like an abstract concept. It is,
however, a near-reality, even if it takes a drone to deliver it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333;"> </span><i><span lang="EN-GB">We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and
delivery. You can contact us at +44 (<span style="color: #444444;">0) 1620 844736 or </span></span></i><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com">Charlie@davidgraypr.com</a><i><span style="color: #444444;"> or connect with
us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Google+.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-12933289812639546812014-04-15T10:40:00.000-07:002014-04-15T10:40:46.147-07:00Creating an integrated PR plan<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjftZXJrJ70egL1NMlULLmR4RY6-Z8EgI3enYwUo9LlB1ytCryMCsexcYF5ufpgj_iWZnuq-s9vbg1ObT9BraXg2mQPBVr4OHiXlyxUCPUw-EW_GGjutSfCjeEFp5g8SUclZwE3p1ByPVg/s1600/image+integration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjftZXJrJ70egL1NMlULLmR4RY6-Z8EgI3enYwUo9LlB1ytCryMCsexcYF5ufpgj_iWZnuq-s9vbg1ObT9BraXg2mQPBVr4OHiXlyxUCPUw-EW_GGjutSfCjeEFp5g8SUclZwE3p1ByPVg/s1600/image+integration.jpg" height="141" width="200" /></a><i><span lang="EN-GB">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><span lang="EN-GB">David Gray PR</span></a><i><span lang="EN-GB"> and a partner
in </span></i><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i><span lang="EN-GB">Laidlaw Westmacott</span></i></a><i><span lang="EN-GB">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">There’s
nothing worse than random marketing, with confused (and confusing) messages
being squirted out without any thought to the recipient, your potential
customer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The best
marketing and PR strategies are carefully crafted to communicate a small number
of core messages, and to then reinforce those messages by repetition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The
fact is that, once upon a time, it used to be that people needed products to
survive – a loaf of bread, some vegetables, a bit of meat.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now,
it’s the other way around. Products need
people to survive. In a business
context, and in a market economy, companies need customers to survive – in
other words, marketing and sales.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">So far, so
obvious. Less obvious is that the marketing
and PR landscape has changed out of all recognition, with the internet and
social media adding a multitude of new promotional dimensions. The need for integrated PR strategies has
never been greater.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Here are
some thoughts on building a successful PR strategy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Objectives<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The longest journeys start with the first
step. However, you also don’t set out on
a journey without knowing where you want to go.
That’s the first rule of marketing and PR: defining what you want to
achieve, on a quarterly basis – whether that’s to develop the brand, position
the company with its buying markets, drive traffic to your website or generate
enquiries. Clear objectives give you
something to aim for, measure success, and better determine what could be done
better.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Strategy<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Strategy is the glue that binds
everything together. It defines an
overall approach, rather than the nuts and bolts. Clear objectives provide the finishing line;
strategy is broadly how you intend to reach it.
A good strategy will articulate brand and corporate personality, ethics
and values – in other words a cohesive framework within which marketing tactics
easily fit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Messages<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The
central element in any successful marketing strategy is information. We need to provide potential customers with
the essential facts to buy our product rather than someone else’s.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yet
that’s precisely the central element that a great many firms fail to recognise
in devising marketing or promotional campaigns.
The information that customers need to make that buying decision is
confused by poor messaging or corporate techno-babble.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indeed,
some firms’ corporate communications are so full of technical information to be
impenetrable. Time after time, I see
corporate literature or websites that convey huge amounts of information that
the firm thinks it should communicate - but not the essential information that
the potential customer wants to hear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Strategy + Messages = Content<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the buyer-led world, content is
king. You need to attract the right
customers and lead them through each stage of the sales cycle. Creating that great content and placing it
where buyers are looking doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a good content strategy, research
and expertise – and making sure you show up on search engines.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By aligning your published content with
your potential customers’ needs, you will naturally attract inbound traffic
that you can convert. It merely
involves distilling key facts and figures and promoting corporate and product
information online and offline in ways that potential customers will find
digestible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Integration<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Social media and the internet have
allowed for a new kind of information flow, one in which we can all participate
– from creating a regular blog to posting on Facebook, publishing video content
on YouTube or sharing images on Instagram – not to mention Twitter, Google+ and
rest of the social media universe.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a new kind of information democracy
in which we are all publishers. It has
allowed us to replace old outbound “push” marketing with inbound marketing to
pull people towards our companies.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That takes great content that is
appropriate to your customers and a well-crafted PR strategy to ensure
consistency of tone and content across platforms. The absolute need for integration has never
been greater.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you have an integrated PR strategy?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>We are
specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery. You can contact us at +44 (<span style="color: #444444;">0) 1620 844736 or </span></i><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com">Charlie@davidgraypr.com</a><i><span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> or connect with us on LinkedIn,
Facebook or Google+.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Image courtesy of Frank Tschokert</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-20338395543303377422014-04-07T08:42:00.000-07:002014-04-07T08:43:12.820-07:00Machiavelli and a PR dimension<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><span lang="EN-GB">David Gray PR</span></a><i><span lang="EN-GB"> and a partner
in </span></i><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i><span lang="EN-GB">Laidlaw Westmacott</span></i></a><i><span lang="EN-GB">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNUP0RF1bEZoZwkuf2w55gvohyphenhyphenhp2peO6QEVoKMyUC-c_tc1X63VZbKFqHmH8k2pb9_fD8kDDphh4KahpghxNJTfa1ef2iRrqLoM6J6zm-jvxVFtKMNelfZua6eHu4qETdjYoJbctXG88/s1600/machiavelli3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNUP0RF1bEZoZwkuf2w55gvohyphenhyphenhp2peO6QEVoKMyUC-c_tc1X63VZbKFqHmH8k2pb9_fD8kDDphh4KahpghxNJTfa1ef2iRrqLoM6J6zm-jvxVFtKMNelfZua6eHu4qETdjYoJbctXG88/s1600/machiavelli3.jpg" height="320" width="253" /></a>The issue
of PR and its influence on the media is never far away, the underlying concern
being that PR either distorts the truth or blatantly hides it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s a
continuing debate about ethics, and the extent to which public relations should
be completely open and transparent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Oxford
English Dictionary defines ethics as “moral principles that govern a person’s
behaviour or the conducting of an activity.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Moral
principles are themselves about defining good and evil, right and wrong, but
the real question is – to what extent is PR the servant of absolute truth, or
the servant of those who pay for the service?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The Roman </span><span lang="EN-GB">orator </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero"><span lang="EN-GB">Cicero</span></a><span lang="EN-GB"> made the point that public relations mainly operates to benefit those
who commission it. (A great blog on
Cicero and PR from Paul Seaman can be found </span><a href="http://paulseaman.eu/2013/05/assessing-prs-debt-to-cicero/"><span lang="EN-GB">here</span></a><span lang="EN-GB">).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">More recently, Joe Haines, Harold Wilson’s press guru, remarked that PR
people have to be economical with the truth and sometimes “have to dispense
with it altogether.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In the UK, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) has a code
of ethics that sets out comprehensive principles and guidelines, grounding the
PR profession into a framework that clearly delineates right from wrong. The International PR Association extends
ethics internationally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But moral frameworks only take us so far. For example, how does a PR deal with a
client’s poor financial results? Is it
unethical to focus on exceptional restructuring costs or international market
conditions to try and divert attention away from underlying problems?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The uncomfortable fact is that there is a thin line between truth and
falsehood, and an even thinner one between truth and half-truth. That vacuum is filled with omission and spin
– the subtle art of saying nothing or deliberate obfuscation. It’s what clients want (sometimes), PRs
(often) deliver, and the media (always) expects.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Perhaps the worst example of a downright lie happened in 1990, when a volunteer
nurse in Kuwait claimed that she’d seen Iraqi soldiers taking babies out of
incubators, at a time when President Bush was being urged to take military
action against Saddam Hussein who had invaded the oil-rich country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It was reminiscent of the U-boat sinking of the RMS Lusitania in World
War One, which helped to propel the USA into the conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Except that the nurse’s testimony was a </span><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy10.html"><span lang="EN-GB">fabrication</span></a><span lang="EN-GB">. She
was, in fact, a member of the Kuwaiti Royal Family. America took military action, and Saddam was
expelled from Kuwait.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Her testimony was, of course, unethical; so too the activity of PRs who
promulgated it. However, the really
tricky Machiavellian question is: did the means justify the end? Was the West right to take military
action? Were all the deaths worth
it? Was kicking out one dictator to
restore another dictator a good thing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">From a Kuwaiti perspective, yes.
From a Western perspective, no.
Truth might be the first casualty of war, but a lie is never a good
justification for war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In the scales of ethical balance, it’s worth noting that there are now
many more PRs than journalists. Chuck in
constantly-evolving websites, blogs, forums and social media and ethical
questions proliferate. As Mark Twain
remarked: “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still
putting on its shoes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In other words, in a news landscape where the media are following target
individuals, companies and organisations on Facebook or Twitter, there are no
longer any clear boundaries to where PR begins or ends or, therefore, codes of
ethics that apply to everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">However, I
remain sanguine about the role that PR plays in our society, and of the
professionalism of the media to see through flim-flam and the fog of spin. In a democratic society, we have the right to
voice our opinions, sometimes bend the truth – but, hopefully, never, never
lie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The conduct
of PR in liberal democracies might not be perfect, but compare that to some
other regimes around the world, where PR and propaganda have entirely replaced
an independent press and media.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">According
to one estimate, 1.6 billion people – over 20% of the world’s population – have
no say in how they’re governed, and can face extreme consequences if they try
to kick the system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Take
Syria. <i>The Syria Times</i> is currently running with a “story” that suggests
that “the recent US Israeli escalation against Syria after the failure of their
successive sinister attempts…explains the real objectives of the US Zionist
project in the region.” Really?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Or North
Korea’s <i>Rodong Sinmum</i> newspaper which
this month carried an article extolling the publication of supreme leader Kim
Jong Un’s work, “Let Us Brilliantly Accomplish the Revolutionary Cause of
Juche, Holding Kim Jong Il in High Esteem as the Eternal General Secretary of
Our Party.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Snappy
title, and I won’t bore you with the newspaper’s fawning coverage that makes
reading a telephone directory seem interesting.
Suffice to say, I would rather live in a free country than in the
shadowland that is Pyongyang.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Maybe PRs
and the media should try to get on a bit better, or recognise that creative
tension and differing agendas are pivotal to press freedom and public
accountability. I could, of course, be
quite wrong but, for moral and ethical reasons, would never say so publicly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>We are specialists
in national and international PR strategy and delivery. You can contact us at +44 (<span style="color: #444444;">0) 1620 844736 or </span></i><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com">Charlie@davidgraypr.com</a><i><span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> or connect with us on LinkedIn,
Facebook or Google+.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-60478173086546744932014-04-01T10:06:00.000-07:002014-04-01T11:43:49.429-07:00Modern messaging and killing the messenger<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><span lang="EN-GB">David Gray PR</span></a></span><i> and a partner in </i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i><span lang="EN-GB">Laidlaw Westmacott</span></i></a></span><i>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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King Boabdil, the 15th century king of Grenada, didn’t much like the news that a city had fallen to his enemies. So he had the messenger killed.</div>
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It wasn’t the first time that the bearer of bad news had got the blame, or the last. The origins of the phrase, killing the messenger, goes back to Sophocles and Plutarch.</div>
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Nowadays, we’re a bit more civilised and make clear distinctions between the message and the messenger, although we’d all prefer to be the bringer of glad tidings.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But getting the message right remains the single most important part of PR and marketing strategy, communicating what your company stands for and what its products and services do.</div>
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Getting it right can be a deceptively simple exercise, but in an age of social media and instant communications everything is about perception, good or bad.</div>
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The basic rules, however, are simple enough.</div>
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Define the benefits that your company or product delivers, and develop a number of key messages that underline your business strategy.</div>
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It’s about brand vocabulary and developing a corporate proposition that is uniquely yours, and which also helps with SEO strategy – getting those words and phrases seeded onto the internet</div>
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is much, much more than a marketing bolt-on. The business guru Tom Peters has said that, “In a competitive environment, only those who have a strong unified message, who create and sell quality and value, will survive.</div>
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”Developing those words and phrases involves delving into the heart and soul of your company, not just the nuts and bolts of your product or service: what do you want customers to feel about you?</div>
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In that sense, a clear message strategy is also a psychological strategy: it’s about using whatever means to get inside your customer’s head, and better understanding the touch points that generate sales.</div>
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(Hardly surprising that the “father of PR” Edward Bernays was also closely related to the ”father of psychiatry” Sigmund Freud. No coincidence, surely).</div>
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However, some aspects of messaging are becoming more complex. For example, consumers now respond more quickly to brand messages when they appear on their phones – rather than desktops or other mobile devices.</div>
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The reason is that we see our phone as uniquely ours, and that messages that appear on it have a stronger psycho-cognitive emotional appeal. Putting that into English, messages on our phones are more personal and, therefore, to be trusted.</div>
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Lesson one: if you haven’t optimised your website for mobile, go to it.</div>
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Largely, messaging is about plain old common sense – with a large dollop of research and brutal honesty. We may think we know what customers think about us, or our products, but do we?</div>
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Lesson two: don’t assume.</div>
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Then it’s about communicating those messages in ways that engage with customers, using whatever platforms are most appropriate – from newsletters to traditional media, from social media to…well, the list goes on and on.</div>
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Lastly, it’s all about context; ensuring your message is heard on an appropriate platform at a time when your potential customers are likely to be receptive.</div>
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In conclusion, a true story.</div>
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A busker starts playing his violin in a Washington DC metro station at the height of the morning rush hour, and in the course of 40 minutes makes just over $30 – not a bad return.</div>
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Of the 1,097 people who passed by, only seven stopped to listen. Most were late for work or thinking about the day ahead. A busker with a violin they could do without. When he finished playing, there was no applause.</div>
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Except that it was stunt dreamed up by the Washington Post. The busker was Joshua Bell, one of the finest classical musicians in the world, and he was playing a 1713 Stradivarius worth $3.5 million.</div>
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Many of those who passed by would have paid huge sums to hear him play, but in a familiar context at a familiar time of day. In a busy morning metro station, he was therefore someone to be ignored.</div>
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Which does, I suppose, underline aspects of messaging strategy. We might have the best message in the world, in support of the best products or services, but if we communicate those messages in the wrong way, at the wrong time, who will be listening?</div>
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Hopefully, not King Boabdil.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-16505116046869907782014-03-27T09:17:00.000-07:002014-03-27T09:20:43.747-07:00The independence referendum: the importance of SMEsThe referendum debate is picking up speed, with heavy guns being deployed on both sides.<br />
<br />
Would Scottish independence be a good thing? The airlines and some parts of the manufacturing sector say yes. The oil industry and financial services take an opposite view.<br />
<br />
The debate so far has largely been confined to the biggest issues, voiced by business leaders representing the biggest companies in Scotland.
But as the date for the referendum comes closer, it’s worth reminding ourselves that Scotland’s economy is heavily dependent on the small business sector, and they are as much affected by tax or fiscal uncertainties as anyone else.<br />
<br />
The country may need oil and financial services for its tax revenues, but employment and business growth is largely being fuelled at the other end of the economic spectrum.<br />
<br />
The statistics are compelling. Levels of unemployment in Scotland are falling, employment rising, and there are now some 340,000 small businesses in Scotland.
That’s the highest number since records began.<br />
<br />
To put that in perspective, over 30,000 Scottish businesses registered with Companies House in 2013. In 2012, it was 25,500; in 2011, 24,000; in 2010, 20,700. It’s a trend we should all welcome.<br />
<br />
This is borne out in a recent report, the UK Startup Ecosystems Report, which ranks Britain’s entrepreneurial ecosystems. Scotland comes out extremely well – ranked fourth, reflecting its high business birth rate and low business death rate.<br />
<br />
The report, essentially, is a guide to the best places in the UK to start a business, and is based on a number of criteria – for example, business birth rates, unemployment rates and the number of businesses per 10,000 adults. Scotland came after the south east, London and the east.<br />
<br />
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) quotes Scottish government statistics to show that small and medium-sized enterprises now account for 99% of all Scottish businesses and for over half of all private sector employment.<br />
<br />
The FSB also recently said that Scotland’s SMEs need support from banks, the government and utility firms if the sector’s recovery is to gain momentum this year.
Tellingly, the FSB also said that both sides of the Yes/No debate needed to make a more compelling case to SMEs on the benefits of unity or separation.<br />
<br />
It’s a point noted by the Yes campaign which is promising simplification of the tax system and a slashing of red tape for small enterprises – as well, of course, the benefits of having control of VAT: targeting tax breaks for the likes of the tourism and hospitality sectors.<br />
<br />
However, many of those proposals don’t need independence. For example, the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Bill which was voted into law earlier this year, is intended to improve the way that regulation affects Scottish businesses while encouraging sustainable growth.
It’s a good bit of legislation, overwhelmingly supported by the Scottish parliament, and a good example of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” school of thought in the constitutional debate.<br />
<br />
However, for most voters, the referendum debate has become bogged down in what BA or BP says; whether Scotland can (or should) retain the £; and whether we will be granted early membership of the EU.
<br />
<br />
These are, of course, huge and important issues. But we have to remember that Scotland is a patchwork of many thousands of companies, working across the business spectrum – many of them dependent on UK or export trade; others on international collaboration.<br />
<br />
Scotland’s economy, in a digital age, has been transformed: from medical research to renewables; from gaming to computer software: again underlining Scotland’s proud history of innovation. Would independence be a benefit or a hindrance for those high-growth sectors?<br />
<br />
Rather, then, than have the independence debate shaped by RBS or Standard Life, it is the SME sector that politicians and the media should be listening to. Should be, but aren’t.<br />
<br />
The trouble, of course, is that it’s not easy for a small business to speak up, let alone make its voice heard. That’s where the likes of the FSB, Chambers of Commerce and other representative bodies are so important.<br />
<br />
The small business sector is the Scottish business sector. What happens to it will have a much greater impact on Scottish employment and economic health than many big Scottish employers put together.<br />
<br />
We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery. You can contact us at +44 (0) 1620 844024 or michael@laidlawwestmacott.com
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-6965276393526293982014-03-27T06:59:00.002-07:002014-03-27T08:14:12.461-07:00Crisis communications and the search for MH370<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The search
for MH370 continues, with possible debris spotted in the water, but with
factual information either patchy or non-existent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It has
become the Marie Celeste of the 21<sup>st</sup> century – a modern mystery of
horrific proportions, with 239 passengers and crew onboard, and played out in real-time
across the world’s media.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">In the
absence of absolute proof that the flight did crash, relatives continue to
cling to the tenuous hope that the plane might somehow have landed safely, in
an echo of the TV series <i>Lost.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It has
created a poisonous brew of distrust and grief, with police ejecting relatives
from press conferences and a protest march in Beijing – something almost
unheard of.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But how
well, or otherwise, has Malaysian Airlines coped with the aftermath, in a
febrile atmosphere where nothing is quite as it seems?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Certainly,
the immediate aftermath was handled badly, with media briefings providing only
sketchy information, sometimes contradictory, and spokespeople not answering
questions. That allowed speculation to
run riot: from dodgy passengers on stolen passports, to the pilots’ political
affiliations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-GB">The Daily Telegraph</span></i><span lang="EN-GB"> in an early editorial described the PR
response as a “masterclass in how not to deal with the aftermath of an
incident.” That reached its nadir when a
civil aviation chief described two suspect passengers as resembling Italian
footballer Mario Balotelli.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">But much of
that criticism should be directed at the Malaysian government, and not the
airline which, in my view, has done rather well, from issuing a relatively
prompt first press release to “darkening” its website and social media channels
– removing all content that could be considered frivolous or insensitive, and
announcing that the flight codes MH370 and MH371 would be retired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Its social
media response has also shown empathy.
Two Tweets sum up the approach.
“For the families involved, every minute is like an hour. Please keep them in your thoughts as we
continue to search for MH370…” Or, “We
would like to humbly ask all Malaysians and people around the world to pray for
flight MH370…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The airline
has tried to follow the Triple R of crisis communications – regret, reason and
remedy – but has been hampered by contradictory “facts” entering the public
arena, fuelled by innuendo and false rumours.
Also, while it has expressed regret, it hasn’t been able to offer reason
and remedy – and nor can it until the plane is found, and likely causes of the
crash ascertained. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The first
rule of any crisis is to get ahead of the story. But, in the unprecedented circumstances surrounding
the airliner’s disappearance, how do you get ahead of this particular story?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">The airline
has also been criticised for announcing by late night text message on Monday 24<sup>th</sup>
March that it believed that the flight had crashed into the Indian Ocean, without
survivors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">It looked
insensitive. But the airline, in the
middle of a worldwide media frenzy, was trying to be open and transparent –
something about which it had been criticised.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background:; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The airline’s PR team had already
been facing an uphill battle, even before MH370 went missing – an uphill
struggle that has just become mountainous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The airline has racked up losses
for the past three years, unable to deal effectively with high costs,
unprofitable routes and the emergence of low-cost rivals. In 2013, it returned a negative 4% margin,
worse than almost any airline in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And, while China accounts for only
7% of the airline’s capacity, China is a growth market; if Chinese passengers
choose to fly on other airlines, that spells more trouble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The airline’s share price has been
falling for some time, and has fallen a further 10% since MH370 went
missing. It now languishes at about a
tenth of its value in 2004.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background:; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The disappearance of MH370 is both
a human tragedy and a disaster for an airline in real financial trouble. If nothing else, it underlines the need for
robust crisis PR planning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Many companies pay lip-service to
crisis communications. MH370 is a
reminder that paying lip-service isn’t enough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background:; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our sympathies are with everyone
who has been affected by the loss of this airliner. On a much smaller scale, my sympathies are
also with the Malaysian Airline’s PR team which has done an adequate job in the
most difficult of circumstances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: ; color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and
delivery. You can contact us at +44 (<span style="color: #444444;">0) 1620 844736 or </span></i><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i>Charlie@davidgraypr.com</i></a><i><span style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-36091730615107918552014-03-18T14:38:00.002-07:002014-03-18T14:38:59.019-07:00PR and the internet of things<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i>David Gray PR</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US"> and a partner in </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i>Laidlaw Westmacott</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US">.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The advent of big data
is allowing companies to deploy smart marketing campaigns aimed at smaller and
smaller segments, profiling all of us against analytical technologies that are
driving messaging from the macro to the micro.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJfgWvXfhPamwoVT34F_xXPGwO5L9b7hHusmuzKBJKRauZ7ii5EiRFe-L3EmlN2wGgwUavSR7sqCh4RWvCmSUQSAtoGIdo6jOU4O6eB1MtchVA3qPmq_cKxRwHhjcepma6Ug1cyQrcnI/s1600/internet+marketing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJfgWvXfhPamwoVT34F_xXPGwO5L9b7hHusmuzKBJKRauZ7ii5EiRFe-L3EmlN2wGgwUavSR7sqCh4RWvCmSUQSAtoGIdo6jOU4O6eB1MtchVA3qPmq_cKxRwHhjcepma6Ug1cyQrcnI/s1600/internet+marketing.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By tapping into large
sources of data, smart companies are beginning to understand how the
demographics and buying habits of an ill-defined crowd can be distilled into
valuable marketing information to drive bottom lines.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/big_data_the_next_frontier_for_innovation"><span lang="EN-GB">research report</span></a></span> from McKinsey, published in 2011, said that
big data will become a <span lang="EN-US">key basis of competition, underpinning new waves of productivity
growth, innovation, and consumer surplus.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The report said that
15 out of 17 sectors in the US have more data stored <i>per company</i> than the US Library of Congress, and that the value of
all that big data could translate into a $300 billion saving for US healthcare,
a €250 billion value for Europe’s public sector – and a 60% increase in
retailers’ operating margins.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Understanding and
making use of big data isn’t just a challenge for marketers; it’s a challenge
also for PR, with content management becoming of increasing importance – with
compelling messages for smaller and smaller groups, even down to individual
consumers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s something that,
conceptually, is well understood. Content marketing topped the digital priority
list in 2013, according to a <span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://econsultancy.com/"><span lang="EN-GB">Econsultancy</span></a></span>
report, although only a minority of companies had a defined content marketing
strategy in place or dedicated people to carry one out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sophisticated Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) systems and data mining capabilities now allow
marketers to focus messages onto comparatively small target groups and, as big
data gets bigger, those groups become smaller – the ultimate content management
opportunity.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Being able to talk to consumers
on a one-to-one basis remains the ultimate dream. However, understanding consumer behaviour and
market dynamics is one thing; big data, in particular using social media
channels, will soon allow companies to talk to you and me – with a different
sales or PR message for each of us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But big data is set to
become a whole lot bigger as “the internet of things” picks up pace, and the
virtual and real worlds become a little more blurred.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The internet of things
is all about making more intelligent use of information, by building in
communications functionality in more and more stuff – from cars to farm animals
– including the stuff we carry around: everything from store and credit cards
to mobile devices.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nor is it entirely
science fiction, and there are <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.theinternetofthings.eu/"><span lang="EN-GB">think tanks</span></a></span> and
a <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://iofthings.org/#home"><span lang="EN-GB">consortium</span></a></span> dedicated to its development. It has come about through wireless and
computer technology – and has implications for virtually everything. (It’s sometimes also called the “internet of
everything.”)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imagine then a world
in which every human being, animal or thing has an IP address and the means to
wirelessly transmit information. On the
upside, it could be a heart patient with a monitor implanted, and who can be
alerted when an irregularity occurs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But as more and more
things become smart, capable of monitoring and transmitting our every click or
purchase, and GPS always knowing precisely where we are – the implications
become staggering. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The security
implications are obvious; indeed, Cisco has just launched a <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/03/cisco_kicks_off_iot_security_comp/"><span lang="EN-GB">competition</span></a></span> to find new ways to handle security in the
internet of things. (If you have a good
idea, they’re offering prizes of up to $75,000).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How the internet of
things develops in the years ahead shouldn’t be down to technologists alone,
because it has implications for all of us, because we’ll all have to think and
behave in new ways.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s therefore
something we should, at least, be aware of, and a <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/the_internet_of_things"><span lang="EN-GB">McKinsey</span></a></span> report from 2010 is a good place to
start. It’s the future of
communications, but it’s already here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and
delivery. You can contact us at +44 (<span style="color: #444444;">0) 1620 844736 or </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i>Charlie@davidgraypr.com</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> or connect with us on
LinkedIn or Facebook.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-83653708791818570282014-03-03T07:15:00.000-08:002014-03-03T07:31:16.233-08:00Scotland the Brand, from Scott to Isaac Newton<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i>Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i><span lang="EN-GB">David Gray PR</span></i></a></span><i> and a
partner in </i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i><span lang="EN-GB">Laidlaw Westmacott</span></i></a></span><i>.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Companies stand or fall on the
authenticity of their brands, with brand value an integral element in corporate
and marketing strategy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The same is true of countries, particularly
in a global economy: a pertinent observation ahead of Scotland’s independence
referendum later this year.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkBomeHsVKVhajgZHtCAwtYkphILQXnQbFZN4jMVUSREQJ5SFDHCeuH51Ie0WODZwQwMAMOkHbOVBRJt6hyphenhyphen8KxKufid8ApGUXBRApD08DPuiUl4_yiRiU4Q5sY9oThJ3q17p-6tHcqQvo/s1600/scotland-flag-1_2103925b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkBomeHsVKVhajgZHtCAwtYkphILQXnQbFZN4jMVUSREQJ5SFDHCeuH51Ie0WODZwQwMAMOkHbOVBRJt6hyphenhyphen8KxKufid8ApGUXBRApD08DPuiUl4_yiRiU4Q5sY9oThJ3q17p-6tHcqQvo/s1600/scotland-flag-1_2103925b.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
If Scotland does vote to go it alone, it
is the value of the country’s brand that will sustain it – driving everything
from inward tourism to international investment.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Of course, defining a national brand and
its value to the economy is virtually impossible, as perceptions vary
enormously. The <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.gfk.com/news-and-events/press-room/press-releases/pages/nation-brand-index-2013-latest-findings.aspx"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #676767; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, </span>which ranks
countries against a number of criteria, offers some insight.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We are, of course, hotwired to think in
shorthand. For example, think of Italy,
and what do you associate it with?
Pizza? Ferrari? Do you have a positive view on Italian
manufacturing quality? Would you buy an
Italian product against a competitor product from, say, France?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In some instances,
the national brand guessing game is easy.
Germany, for example, despite being on the losing end of two world wars,
has achieved an international reputation for engineering excellence that has
made it the economic powerhouse of Europe.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In that sense,
Germany has reinvented itself. So too,
Japan. “Made in Japan” once meant cheap
and second-rate. Now, the Japanese
automobile and electronic industries straddle the world, and stand for excellence
and reliability.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Scotland too has
reinvented itself, most obviously by Sir Walter Scott who organised King George
IV’s visit to Edinburgh in 1822. It
represented nothing less than a national brand makeover, making all things
tartan chic and fashionable. Later,
Queen Victoria put the heroic back into the Highlands.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In some ways, for
such a small country, Scotland is overburdened by iconography: from tartan to
whisky, from lochs to glens, shortbread to haggis, bagpipes to the Loch Ness
Monster, golf to kilts…the list goes on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
National symbols
are important because they sustain economic activity. For example, Scotland’s tourism industry
employs some 200,000 people and visitors spend almost £11 billion a year – with
many of those visitors coming from other parts of the UK. Will they still come if Scotland becomes
independent?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The tourism and
hospitality industry seems split on that one, despite the Scottish government
promising to cut VAT for the sector and reduce airport tax.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Whisky is another
icon, an industry that employs 10,000 people and, according to the Scotch
Whisky Association, exports in excess of £4 billion. But food and drink extends well beyond the
water of life. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Scotland is also
home to about 25% of the UK’s beef cattle, and we catch over 50% of the
nation’s fish. Our salmon rivers are
world-famous, supporting rural and remote communities.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Or financial
services, another national icon, with Scotland also credited with “inventing”
retail banking. Yet if Scotland
achieves independence, banks would have over 1,000% of Scotland’s GDP. When Iceland’s banks went bust, their assets
were some 880% of GDP. Is that brand
strength, or brand risk?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Westminster
politicians obviously think so, having blocked Scotland from entering into a UK
Poundland after independence. Does
Scotland therefore revert to its own currency?
Or, longer term, think about the Euro?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
(Incidentally, it
was Sir Isaac Newton, then Master of the Mint at the Tower of London, who brought
Scots coinage into line with the rest of Britain following the Act of Union).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The financial case
for independence is based, at least initially, on two iconic industries – North
Sea oil and the financial sector. The
SNP hopes to secure some 90% of tax from oil and gas, albeit a diminishing
source of revenue, and a healthy slice of income from the country’s financial
sector. (That’s leaving to one side the
issue of Scotland’s share of national debt).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
That means that Scotland
the Brand will be dependent on a diminishing asset under its waters, and a
sector that (post-crash) the country can’t necessarily rely on to deliver a
safe return. Let’s not forget that,
against Scottish tax revenues of some £60 billion annually, the cost of the
bank bailouts was some £500 billion in loans and guarantees.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It’s why the SNP
government is keen to develop renewables as a new icon of Scottish industry,
despite some ambivalent figures – for example, that offshore wind investment
halved to £29 million last year. Biggest
blow was a decision by Scottish Power to drop plans for the £5.4 billion Argyll
Array windfarm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Scotland has other
strengths, particularly its track record of invention: from penicillin to the
postage stamp, from TV to the telephone, the steam engine to logarithms…that
list also goes on and on, to modern advances in gaming to Dolly the Sheep. If Scotland the Brand stands for anything, it
must also be about education, innovation and invention. Medical and scientific research may become
brand icons of the new Scotland. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
However, in this
year of decision, Scotland the Brand will also step onto an international
sporting stage, helping the country to redefine itself (again) as a country of
beautiful cityscapes and wilderness. The
Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup couldn’t have come at a better time for the
pro-independence lobby. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But it’s the future
that will better define Scotland the Brand: how the country’s universities engage
internationally; how Scotland diversifies from oil and financial services; how Scotland
can find niche industries to build worldwide reputation; how it attracts inward
investment; and how it promotes its festivals, cities and landscapes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Scotland may or may
not vote for independence. But the
debate has done one great thing for Scotland: it has raised awareness
internationally in Scotland the Brand, a marketing opportunity that the country
should grasp with both hands.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i><span lang="EN-US">We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and
delivery. You can contact us at +44 (<span style="color: #444444;">0) 1620 844736 or </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i>Charlie@davidgraypr.com</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> or connect with us on
LinkedIn, Facebook or Google+.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-58286524922062616992014-01-23T06:03:00.001-08:002014-01-23T06:03:23.455-08:00Literary quotes for PR writing skills<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i>David Gray PR</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US"> and a partner in </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i>Laidlaw Westmacott</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US">.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was Oscar Wilde who
suggested that <b>“t<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #041e2f; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">here is only one thing in the world
worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #041e2f; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA3JN35D0TBwETRD2BshNcGXBwq2mmOMGDKOcSfCzoeKEqa8Jtp9owO_leBAu4LIHxNrehbA8r6GJIAzjDxCQGC4yMCizRffjg7WtbuEKKpaMDLzk9gRZQJTlEFJzKdA8HdGTPmfgOaPs/s1600/Book+Stuart+Miles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA3JN35D0TBwETRD2BshNcGXBwq2mmOMGDKOcSfCzoeKEqa8Jtp9owO_leBAu4LIHxNrehbA8r6GJIAzjDxCQGC4yMCizRffjg7WtbuEKKpaMDLzk9gRZQJTlEFJzKdA8HdGTPmfgOaPs/s1600/Book+Stuart+Miles.JPG" height="165" width="200" /></a>Being good at PR
involves many skills, not least an ability to communicate a promotional
direction that integrates corporate and marketing strategy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Because the new PR is
about business strategy; no longer on the periphery of the marketing mix but,
in a new world order of social and digital channels, a central component in
managing corporate reputation, driving engagement and winning customers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">“Words
are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” – Rudyard Kipling <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there’s one
timeless skill that anyone involved in PR needs above all others: an ability to
write cogently, lucidly and persuasively – and that’s a skill not everybody
has. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or as Frank Lloyd
Wright put it:<b> “I’m</b><span lang="EN-US"><b> all in favour of keeping dangerous
weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters."</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Good writing starts
long before putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b> </b><b><span lang="EN-US">"If I was down to the last dollar of my marketing
budget I'd spend it on PR!" – Bill Gates <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The richest man in the
world should know what he’s talking about.
However, before you write anything you have to understand what the story
is. Not the nuts and bolts of what the
new product (or operating system) is: but the added value it offers
customers. In other words, don’t simply
communicate the technology, get to grips with what it does and why people
should buy it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s as well to
remember Mark Twain: <b>“</b><span lang="EN-US"><b>The public is the only critic whose opinion is worth anything at all.” </b> If they don’t understand the value of your
new product, they won’t buy it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">“A
good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front page ad.” – Sir Richard
Branson<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Again, Sir Richard should know, but it’s
worth setting out some SMART objectives for your PR strategy, and the metrics
you’ll use to measure success. Interestingly,
creativity is now being seen as a key element in how the value of PR is
perceived, however you go about measuring its effectiveness. If you haven’t read the latest <a href="http://www.holmesreport.com/featurestories-info/14351/2013-Creativity-Study-PR-Industry-Must-Prove-Creative-Value-To-Business.aspx">Holmes
Report</a>, have a look at its main conclusions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Good writing needn’t always be creative
writing, but it often helps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"> “The formulation of a public relations
strategy properly begins with listening, not talking."</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US"> - Leonard Saffir <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wise words, because to
write a perfect press release, blog or article needs a clear understanding not
only of what it is you’re trying to sell – but what people are saying about it,
or about competitor products. For
example, what’s out there on social media?
Or if your product solves a problem, first understand the problem.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Competitor analysis is
also important, because you don’t want to copy the competition. You want to
differentiate your product or service.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">“If you can’t explain it
simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Okay,
few of us understand the theory of relativity, but we all know that part of
Einstein’s genius was to simplify the hugely complex. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The
trouble is a lot of PR material is written people who don’t have a clear idea
who they’re writing for. Who is the
audience you want to reach? If
necessary, visualize your audience as a person who you actually know. Write your material for him or her
personally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Shakespeare
is also worth quoting: “An honest tale speeds best, being plainly
told.” (Richard III)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">“A
lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its
shoes.”- Mark Twain<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Having sent out your material, keep a close
eye on how it’s being received. That’s
not just important for ROI, but making sure that you’re not being
misrepresented on social media. Mark
Twain was writing in a bygone age; but even then an untruth could very quickly
gain currency.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">A good tip is to make sure that nothing you
write is capable of being misinterpreted.
Check and double-</span><span lang="EN-US">check.
Don’t exaggerate or make unfounded claims.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">“If you
don't tell your story, someone else will.” – Unknown <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">PR is no longer the optional bolt-on it once
was. In the digital age, everyone can
say anything about you – good or bad, true or false. It’s as well therefore to have a PR strategy
to get your message across, before someone else does.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">But how to learn how to write? Perhaps the last word should lie with the
late, great American journalist Charles Kuralt.
<b>“I think good writing comes from good reading.”</b> Or maybe author Ray Bradbury. <b>“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 15pt; text-align: center;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">We are
specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery. You can contact us at +44 (<span style="color: #444444;">0) 1620 844736 or </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i>Charlie@davidgraypr.com</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> or connect with us on LinkedIn
or Facebook.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 15pt; text-align: center;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Image courtesy of Stuart Miles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-63242440810975718312014-01-09T02:21:00.000-08:002014-01-09T02:21:15.282-08:00Audiences, Orwell and corporate messages <div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">David Gray PR</span></i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US"> and a
partner in </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Laidlaw Westmacott</span></i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US">.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSS3aitkR-Deaq22tcXs_zBUH2P3zeVkxQ91uSEZJsN7o1fwkA1cvDARCxxJbgvO0DbBONRvisabz_I6K9gzaJRVRQ7xzk0ymaWoxlABc0uhe6-IeQ2EWMG6hAEoYTJDBY2IkibX5XQ3k/s1600/Stand+out.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSS3aitkR-Deaq22tcXs_zBUH2P3zeVkxQ91uSEZJsN7o1fwkA1cvDARCxxJbgvO0DbBONRvisabz_I6K9gzaJRVRQ7xzk0ymaWoxlABc0uhe6-IeQ2EWMG6hAEoYTJDBY2IkibX5XQ3k/s1600/Stand+out.jpeg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back when dinosaurs
roamed the earth, PR was pretty simple: you wrote something that you thought
potential customers might like to read and sent it out to as many media outlets
as possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What has changed in
the intervening years is our ability, driven by digital technologies, to better
understand the audiences we are selling to and, using both traditional and
social media, better interact with them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Understanding target
audiences has always been fundamental to building successful marketing campaigns
but pre-internet, it involved making some fairly rudimentary and broad-brush
assumptions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Put simply, if you
were selling cosmetics, you targeted women’s magazines. If you were marketing a new razor, you
targeted men’s magazines. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Audience segmentation
was limited by the media you could reach and, given the hit-and-miss nature of
PR, companies and public sector organisations relied more heavily on paid
advertising.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All that has changed
in a process of Orwellian evolution that now allows marketers to focus with
greater precision on smaller and smaller target groups, with messages specific
to our needs or aspirations. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sophisticated Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) systems and data mining capabilities now allow
marketers to focus down onto comparatively small target groups.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the new world
order, where every click of every mouse can be recorded, it may not be long
before audience segmentation becomes truly personal – a tailored message
specifically for you or me, based on where we live, our gender, demographic
profile and browsing habits.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was, perhaps, big
politics rather than big business that first pushed the boundaries of audience
segmentation, both to reach and reassure core supporters and win over floating
voters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the UK, back in the
1990s, that was typified by the invention of “Essex man” and “Mondeo man,” both
less-than-mythical creatures who inhabited the undecided middle of British
politics. Essex man had done well out of
Mrs Thatcher, and many had switched allegiance from the Labour Party.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mondeo man was
Labour’s demographic response at the 1997 election – an average person, driving
a standard car, with a family to support – almost a mirror-image of Essex man,
and someone to be wooed assiduously.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Interestingly, Ford have
recently admitted that Mondeo man did them no favours – the suggestion that
commonplace meant ordinary placed them at a commercial disadvantage against
other car manufacturers such as VW. (You
can read more about Ford’s gripe <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2489231/Mondeo-man-look-ordinary-grumbles-Ford-boss-British-chief-executive-says-term-drove-companys-image-market.html#ixzz2pby7iBgg"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">here</span></a></span>). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, it was
American big politics that took segmentation to a whole new level, in
particular the social media strategy behind the election and re-election of
President Obama in 2008 and 2012. It
used big data and digital channels to clearly focus messages – and, where
possible, target individual voters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dr Pamela Rutledge of
the Media Psychology Research Centre has a fascinating <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://mprcenter.org/blog/2013/01/25/how-obama-won-the-social-media-battle-in-the-2012-presidential-campaign/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">blog</span></a></span> post that neatly encapsulates all that the
Obama team achieved, and how they did it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For most of us,
without access to large research budgets, making good use of data must of
necessity be on a smaller scale. Like,
for example, a retailer with a large stock of XXXXL clothing to shift. Simple: contact everyone who has ordered that
size in the past with an irresistible offer (unless they’ve been on a diet, in
which case it won’t work!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A thought-provoking
case study is how <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.accenture.com/gb-en/Pages/success-royal-shakespeare-audience-segmentation-analytics-marketing.aspx"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Accenture</span></a></span>, with tech partners, worked with the Royal
Shakespeare Company to analyse data held by the theatre company, segment that
data, and then craft messages pertinent to each sub-group. The result, at a time of budget restraint,
was a hugely significant uptake in ticket sales.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Segmentation models do
of course vary, not least because of desired outcomes between the public and
private sectors. An interesting piece of
research was by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE)
and the <span lang="EN-US"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Charlie/My%20Documents/David%20Gray%20PR%202014/Blogs/This%20research%20synthesis%20was%20commissioned%20by%20the%20National%20Co-ordinating%20Centre%20for%20Public%20Engagement%20(NCCPE)%20and%20the%20Economic%20and%20Social%20Research%20Council%20(ESRC)"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Economic and Social Research Council</span></a></span> (ESRC) and which looks at segmentation
methodologies for public engagement.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lastly, it’s then down
to the quality of the sales or corporate message; connecting your company and
its products or services with its buying public. In that sense, engagement is a two-step
process; first, to understand and segment audiences and, second, to then
influence their buying decisions or patterns of behaviour. It’s a new fusion between marketing and PR.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What’s both
frightening and exciting in equal measure is how evolving technologies will
crunch big data into bite-sized chunks, and then chew them into smaller
segments until our individual lives are laid bare for other people’s legitimate
or illegitimate benefit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/big_data_the_next_frontier_for_innovation"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">research report</span></a></span> by McKinsey, published in 2011, sets out some
of the opportunities and challenges ahead.
“<span lang="EN-US">The
amount of data in our world has been exploding, and analyzing large data
sets—so-called big data—will become a key basis of competition, underpinning
new waves of productivity growth, innovation, and consumer surplus</span>…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The report says that
15 out of 17 sectors in the US have more data stored <i>per company</i> than the US Library of Congress, and that the value of
all that big data could translate into a $300 billion saving for US healthcare,
a €250 billion value for Europe’s public sector – and a 60% increase in
retailers’ operating margins.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe we need another
Orwell to make sense of those challenges and dangers, because (and with no
disrespect) it’s going to be well nigh impossible for politicians to fully
understand where the new technologies might lead – unless, of course, they make
use of them to get elected. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and
delivery. You can contact us at +44 (0)
1620 844736 or<span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Charlie@davidgraypr.com</span></i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">
</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US">or connect with us on LinkedIn or Facebook.<span style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-91298850622943535812013-12-18T13:57:00.000-08:002013-12-19T07:32:18.260-08:00Corporate slogans and affectionate chickens<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVr2tVuMzXWuzkZrTpG_gDCAdFiYWbnEtrdRoLN3tNQYG1RYDLq-1H0h2OY2d5IW2jzYZd8tgmu-LKcgypFlsFLdFCaT4_UHhUlfVDwO4FPn_8zhKUtgjFmwRpKfKpYmFdkWDUjEGe-4/s1600/slogans+apple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVr2tVuMzXWuzkZrTpG_gDCAdFiYWbnEtrdRoLN3tNQYG1RYDLq-1H0h2OY2d5IW2jzYZd8tgmu-LKcgypFlsFLdFCaT4_UHhUlfVDwO4FPn_8zhKUtgjFmwRpKfKpYmFdkWDUjEGe-4/s200/slogans+apple.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Love ‘em or hate’ em,
there’s no getting away from corporate slogans.
They’re about <i>connecting people</i>
and <i>because you’re worth it</i>, and that
<i>know how</i> is <i>just what the doctor ordered</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You may have known
that the first three belong to Nokia , L’Oreal, and Canon. The last, proving that corporate slogans don’t
always last forever, was from a well-known cigarette manufacturer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They’re ubiquitous
across all advertising media, constantly demanding our attention, and all
intended to project a sense of corporate identity and brand value.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some of course are
better than others, and the very best have become phrases in their own right,
outgrowing the brand they were advertising.
For example, <i>the customer is
always right</i>, was a slogan for retailer Selfridges at the start of the 20<sup>th</sup>
century; <i>diamonds are forever</i>, for
the De Beers mining company in the 1940s.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In other words,
corporate slogans must be memorable and say, or infer, something about the
company or its products. That means
having a clear idea of what the company stands for, and how customers see the
brand.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Developing a corporate
slogan needn’t be a difficult process, and nor should it just be for larger
companies. At their very best, slogans
can help to differentiate a company – personalising it in a way that resonates
with customers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nor need it involve huge
advertising budgets. A corporate slogan
can simply be carried on stationary, signage, or on corporate uniforms or
name-badges – a daily reminder to staff, customers and suppliers what the
company is about. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They can be
aspirational, fun or mysterious, depending on the brand. For example, <i>anytime, anyplace, anywhere</i> – the iconic slogan of the 1970s
Martini adverts brought to mind a world of jet-set sophistication.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some slogans are gender
or demographic specific. Calvin Klein’s
slogan for one of its perfume brands, <i>between
love and madness lies obsession</i>, doesn’t do anything for me – but maybe I’m
not the target market.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Slogans are meant to
concisely distil the essence of a brand, subliminally linking it with the big
idea behind it – a kind of micro mission statement.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s where some
slogans – for example, <i>it’s the real
thing</i> (Coca-Cola) or <i>don’t just book
it, Thomas Cook it </i>(Thomas Cook) are on the money. Once in the public domain, they set out a
brand proposition that competitors simply can’t copy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some slogans are
dreamed up to only last for a single marketing campaign. Some last for years. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Others fade away as times change. For example, Ford’s <i>quality is job one</i> became irrelevant as technology and changing
build practices allowed all car manufacturers to offer quality. Likewise, <i>for
digestion’s sake, smoke Camels, </i>didn’t stand up to medical scrutiny for
very long.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here are some of the
better slogans (although you might disagree):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mazda – <i>Zoom, zoom</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Carlsberg – <i>Probably the best lager in the world</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
McDonalds – <i>I’m lovin’ it<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gillette – <i>The best a man can get</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apple – <i>Think different<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
BMW – <i>The ultimate driving machine</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Audi – <i>Vorsprung durch technik*<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
New York Times – <i>All the news that’s fit to print<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Amex – <i>Don’t leave home without it<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Skittles <i>– Taste the rainbow <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Avis – <i>We try harder</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Honda – <i>The power of dreams<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Developing a corporate
slogan begins with thinking through what your company stands for, the brand
promise you’re selling, and how customers would describe it. It should also examine competitor slogans, if
they have one. (You have to define and
occupy a differentiated position in the market).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But beware using your
fantastic corporate slogan in different languages. It might have consequences that you didn’t
anticipate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For example,
Scandinavian vacuum cleaner Electrolux ran a marketing campaign in the USA
under the snappy slogan, <i>Nothing sucks
like an Electrolux</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Best of all was the US
chicken supplier that traded under the slogan <i>it takes a strong man to make a tender chicken</i>. This was translated into Spanish for a
marketing campaign, where it became: “It takes an aroused man to make a chicken
affectionate.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Probably not the best corporate
slogan in the world but, there again, it was memorable – the first rule of any successful
marketing campaign.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
*The corporate slogan
that we all know, but which baffles many.
Literally, it means, <i>advancement
through technology</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i>David Gray PR</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US"> and a partner in </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.co.uk/"><i>Laidlaw Westmacott</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US">. We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery. You can contact us at +44 (<span style="color: white;">0) 1620 844736 or</span><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i>Charlie@davidgraypr.com</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span><span style="color: white;">or connect with us on LinkedIn or Facebook.</span></span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-22621677412085372572013-12-16T05:40:00.001-08:002013-12-17T09:33:44.019-08:00A guide to getting through Christmas Day<div class="MsoNormal">
Okay, so you’ve opened the presents, but
you still have to survive the rest of Christmas Day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Because, make no mistake, it’s a dangerous
time of year. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Accidents (RoSPA) more than 80,000 <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region></st1:place> citizens end up in A&E over
the festive period – some 6,000 on Christmas Day alone.</span><br />
<br />
It’s not just kitchen burns or cutting your finger
while peeling the potatoes – or children falling off new bikes. A few
specific Christmas horrors are that some 1,000 people are injured every year
putting up Christmas decorations, over 300 are injured by Christmas tree lights
– and several dozen UK citizens have died over the past 15 years by watering
their Christmas tree while the Christmas lights were plugged in.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8QvwvnXOd_oyTZwB39a0_7NQ2CdI4FwBe3QhX0OA1cV2RmrgAG_4UoY0i7amO1nUP_PX25jkL_WTntguSkWh3RPA4kIqZGDTcg-YhNDqFzfmcrm-1hU7gFEuYfHom-G0SafvHBXtXUl4/s1600/christmas+cracker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8QvwvnXOd_oyTZwB39a0_7NQ2CdI4FwBe3QhX0OA1cV2RmrgAG_4UoY0i7amO1nUP_PX25jkL_WTntguSkWh3RPA4kIqZGDTcg-YhNDqFzfmcrm-1hU7gFEuYfHom-G0SafvHBXtXUl4/s200/christmas+cracker.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8QvwvnXOd_oyTZwB39a0_7NQ2CdI4FwBe3QhX0OA1cV2RmrgAG_4UoY0i7amO1nUP_PX25jkL_WTntguSkWh3RPA4kIqZGDTcg-YhNDqFzfmcrm-1hU7gFEuYfHom-G0SafvHBXtXUl4/s1600/christmas+cracker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">British hospitals report about four broken
arms each year after cracker pulling accidents and some five Britons are
injured every Christmas in accidents involving out-of-control Scalextric cars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">More predictably, about eight Britons crack
their skulls whilst throwing up into the loo and end up in hospital. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Many Christmas Day accidents happen because
of stairs – usually because they’ve been piled with Christmas clutter.
The other favorite Christmas hot-spot, most obviously, is the kitchen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTdpyXw5JtOmlBSI-y-Gl4gi3Kr1h4JKJAorV8rkQz-smP5agAZK0weFIOP3be09Z1i0STGfVMi43dN6AhO2TPsgNY7GUxoi2jH5QYQrzXSRRaRCBPtiY2LDXxNEiEQTAoQih35s9RB3E/s1600/christmas+pudding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTdpyXw5JtOmlBSI-y-Gl4gi3Kr1h4JKJAorV8rkQz-smP5agAZK0weFIOP3be09Z1i0STGfVMi43dN6AhO2TPsgNY7GUxoi2jH5QYQrzXSRRaRCBPtiY2LDXxNEiEQTAoQih35s9RB3E/s200/christmas+pudding.jpg" width="169" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">While in there, don’t feel tempted to put
the Christmas pudding in the microwave. The combination of fruit, sugar
and water can react violently, as a 49-year-old woman found to her cost when
her pudding blew up, necessitating hospital treatment (to her, not the
Christmas pudding). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">“People must realize that they are dealing
with a potential explosive when they put puddings in the microwave,” a RoSPA
spokesman helpfully observed, after the event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><v:shape alt="" id="_x0000_i1025" style="height: .75pt; width: .75pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"></v:shape></span><span lang="EN-US">That
doesn't mean, of course, that that we can mitigate against all risk.
Some, frankly, can’t be guarded against. Take </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc3.htm">Aeschylus</a>, for example, the Greek playwright who died in 458 BC when
an eagle dropped a tortoise on his head. (The tortoise survived,
incidentally).</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<v:shape alt="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTDR8vSod4L5P7aiOwV2FxsKynpVCwQIuVswSXEe6XT3pw-rMb83Q" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=526&tbm=isch&tbnid=UEE_AnzE4hnwnM:&imgrefurl=http://www.timetrips.co.uk/playwrights_and_plays.htm&docid=u_S1YIC1NmC5QM&imgurl=http://www.timetrips.co.uk/sophocles.jpg&w=409&h=414&ei=HCNpUt2nEeez0QXMnICYBQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&page=2&tbnh=153&tbnw=165&start=16&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:39,s:0,i:210&tx=89&ty=87" id="Picture_x0020_18" o:button="t" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" style="height: 148.5pt; margin-left: 1.5pt; margin-top: -.1pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 146.25pt; z-index: 251660288;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:fill o:detectmouseclick="t">
<v:imagedata o:title="ANd9GcTDR8vSod4L5P7aiOwV2FxsKynpVCwQIuVswSXEe6XT3pw-rMb83Q" src="file:///C:\Users\Robbie\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image002.jpg">
<w:wrap type="through">
</w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:fill></v:shape><span lang="EN-US">Remember also
that there may be 1,200 chainsaw accidents a year, but over 16,000 of us are
injured by our sofas. Socks and tights account for over 10,000 injuries
(mainly falling over while putting them on), and vegetables account for more
than 13,000 injuries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">If you go out, don’t walk near birdbaths
(311 injuries) or wear wellington boots (5,600). Don’t even think about
putting on trousers (5,900), don’t be rude to the bread-bin (91) and be very
wary of that tin of talcum powder (73).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">If you can’t eat, relax in the living room,
or wear clothes, don’t make the elementary mistake of thinking that the
bathroom is a safe place. There are over 700 sponge and loofah accidents
per year – and toilet roll holders, strangely, account for another 300 hospital
visits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">All in all, it’s a dangerous time of
year. However, from all of us at David
Gray PR, do have a happy (and safe!) Christmas.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65ZcKljZsZ1gG6FHQP9Gv9cck5bhISZvqVWvQAOWKdlar4sqBLN0QCP5LZhB_h6O_X-Pc19InjC4aE1ia0ZJLeOUs20n1nXIbbl92pp5QqX-fJhM3B2_d7Lz61qP8FsTZB8LXKkPAzZY/s1600/Merry+Christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65ZcKljZsZ1gG6FHQP9Gv9cck5bhISZvqVWvQAOWKdlar4sqBLN0QCP5LZhB_h6O_X-Pc19InjC4aE1ia0ZJLeOUs20n1nXIbbl92pp5QqX-fJhM3B2_d7Lz61qP8FsTZB8LXKkPAzZY/s400/Merry+Christmas.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: white;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i>David Gray PR</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US"> and a partner in </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i>Laidlaw Westmacott</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US">. We are specialists in national and
international PR strategy and delivery.
You can contact us at +44 (0) 1620 844736 or
</span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i>Charlie@davidgraypr.com</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US">
or connect with us on LinkedIn or Facebook.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-31091696554297850732013-12-12T05:38:00.002-08:002013-12-12T08:49:21.992-08:00Thought leadership and a $50 trillion competition<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">In the spirit of Christmas and as a gesture of goodwill, we're holding a marketing competition with a cash prize of $50 trillion for one lucky winner. No strings, no catches.*</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">It's a huge(ish) prize because we'd like the marketing and PR community to come up with a better term for one of the most over used and misunderstood terms in the PR and marketing handbook.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Z98fliTqhWIKJMNnQUcAZOfrWDa6vwfPbTnZ9u1p2ai5yYYV3hVoX3PVu8NhTush92pBg-oCDyQac7d4AxVMzKZR5B0G1TLPuf09hEzN6VSY0xIjY5moziMKdCy5BOfjZ_lt3ePWjMk/s1600/cartoon-elephant-Baby-picture.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Z98fliTqhWIKJMNnQUcAZOfrWDa6vwfPbTnZ9u1p2ai5yYYV3hVoX3PVu8NhTush92pBg-oCDyQac7d4AxVMzKZR5B0G1TLPuf09hEzN6VSY0xIjY5moziMKdCy5BOfjZ_lt3ePWjMk/s200/cartoon-elephant-Baby-picture.png" width="200" /></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">Thought leadership. A term that we all think we understand, but interpret in all sorts of different ways.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">It's a but like trying to describe an elephant. We all know what it looks like, but it's not easy to define succinctly. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">Wikipedia defines a thought leader as "an individual or firm that is recognized as an authority in a specialised field and whose expertise is sought and often rewarded."</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: white;"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">A recent article in </span></strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2013/01/30/what-is-thought-leadership-5-steps-to-get-it-right/">Forbes</a></span><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> magazine
described it as</span></strong><em><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> “an individual or firm that prospects, clients, referral
sources, intermediaries and even competitors recognize as one of the foremost
authorities in selected areas of specialization, resulting in its being the
go-to individual or organization for said expertise</span></em><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span><br />
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></i>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">I’m not sure that either
definition entirely sums up the complexity of thought leadership because it’s also
about cultivating brand and corporate values that, of themselves, are hugely
important but which may be largely intangible.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">What is central,
however, is that thought leaders are not shy to come forward. Whether as companies or individuals, thought
leaders engage with their markets, to educate, start discussions, or offer
insight –with compelling content that everyone in their markets, including
competitors, will want to read.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">That means stepping
away from the bland product press release, blog or Tweet. It means defining issues in the marketplace
on which you can comment – lucidly, provocatively (if need be) but, most of
all, cogently. Irrelevance or waffle not
allowed.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">It’s about engagement
with everyone in your markets, and saying things that are useful to them. Things that give them pause for thought. New ideas boldly expressed and well researched. Inspiring or educational content that will
lodge in potential customers’ minds: raising profile, creating trust – and
nudging them into the sales cycle.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">A lot of companies
play at thought leadership, and as a result rarely become respected
commentators. They make the mistake of
writing from a corporate standpoint, rather than from their industry. In a way, thought leadership is therefore
communications philanthropy.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">It’s about giving
valuable insights away for free; promoting you or your company for what it
knows, rather than what it does. It
should demonstrate an intellectual mastery of the market: a company to be
trusted because it understands and is willing to share that understanding. It’s about positioning and corporate value.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">My problem with
thought leadership is with the term itself.
It’s now so used and abused in so many different contexts to have lost
its shine. A cliché to be quietly killed
off. I think it’s time to come up with a
better term.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">What’s certain is
that the person who comes up with that new term, and manages to achieve widespread
business acceptance for it, will be a genuine thought leader.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">I’ll cull the best
suggestions made on our LinkedIn or Facebook pages before Christmas, post the
best of them early in the New Year and (since it’s my $50 trillion) I’ll also
pick a winner.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">Any takers? <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;">* The prize is
offered as a single banknote issued by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, so don’t
get too excited.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="color: white;"><i><span lang="EN-US"> </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><i>David Gray PR</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US"> and a partner in </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><i>Laidlaw Westmacott</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US">. We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery. You can contact us at +44 (0) 1620 844736 or </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com" style="text-decoration: none;"><i>Charlie@davidgraypr.com</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US"> or connect with us on LinkedIn, Google+ or Facebook.</span></i></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-2751528968676255982013-12-06T07:40:00.001-08:002013-12-06T07:40:06.555-08:00Corporate ethics and business advantage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMKHhSjYWX6deV7zgMr2G2M9iWxV1BrgvBuXXS3N8tLTX4j_E5Uq9YKgH17qSG3EbVPbSw8sTj1TP3T60eepbassf7FKD3_KZ1XKbmA2IM-xtmNVqzyRyePYbyyQQYa1Jqf2xYp2MMfIU/s1600/dilbert-business-ethics2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_9EoKCgUyTjseHS97sRupnTR2cMZZ_lPC3WVTHXcpRLCgAe2Y7Mvhmp187ERxJjX3D-WxyBFOTsbZJ26uwHI69tuQkp32KY_iYlvrT1mHkR7m9uRaH0YwYehhv2v-ep7vWTfzimssAM/s1600/business-ethics.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2_9EoKCgUyTjseHS97sRupnTR2cMZZ_lPC3WVTHXcpRLCgAe2Y7Mvhmp187ERxJjX3D-WxyBFOTsbZJ26uwHI69tuQkp32KY_iYlvrT1mHkR7m9uRaH0YwYehhv2v-ep7vWTfzimssAM/s400/business-ethics.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="padding: 0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;" valign="top"><br />Companies are in business to make money and increase market share. To achieve that requires competitive advantage and a positive reputation in the market.<br /><br />That’s not easy to achieve, particularly for SMEs competing against larger companies - not least to create a corporate culture that empowers employees to make it all happen.<br /><br />Corporate culture is the indefinable “something” that companies rely upon to drive sales and good customer relations, the cornerstones of all business success.<br /><br />But, as we’ve previously written, corporate culture can be planned for and incorporated into business strategy, helping to define what a company stands for and how it is “doing right” for its employees, customers and the wider community.<br /><br />One effective way to give voice to corporate culture is to develop and set down a Code of Ethics, providing employees with a context within which they can act honestly and fairly, and removing any ambiguity in their decision-making.<br /><br />It sounds deceptively simple, but creating a Code of Ethics can be of far-reaching importance, because it helps managers focus attention on what the company is really about, and what risk factors can impact on decisions made – at any level in the company.<br /><br />Not least, it should clearly set out the ethical values that drive the company, from its relationships with customers, suppliers and employees – and covering everything from sales techniques to accounting practices.<br /><br />A good Code of Ethics will cover a company’s ethical values and how those values are monitored and periodically reviewed. It should tell everyone, from customers to employees, what the company stands for.<br /><br />Although primarily a business tool, a Code of Ethics is also a powerful marketing and PR statement, because it articulates how a company does business, and how individual employees conduct their day-to-day activities.<br /><br />Most Codes start with a clear statement that sets out in the broadest terms what the company expects. For example:<br /><br /><a href="http://investor.google.com/corporate/code-of-conduct.html">Google</a><br /><a href="http://investor.google.com/corporate/code-of-conduct.html"><br /></a>Under the strapline, “Don’t be evil” Google says that it’s about “providing our users unbiased access to information, focusing on their needs and giving them the best products and services that we can. But it’s also about doing the right thing more generally – following the law, acting honorably and treating each other with respect.”<br /><br /><a href="http://investors.linkedin.com/documentdisplay.cfm?DocumentID=8816">LinkedIn</a><br /><a href="http://investors.linkedin.com/documentdisplay.cfm?DocumentID=8816"><br /></a>“Consistent with our core values, LinkedIn employees are expected to act and perform their duties ethically, honestly and with integrity - doing the right thing even when "no one is looking.”<br /><br /><a href="http://www.morganstanley.com/about/company/governance/ethics.html">Morgan Stanley</a><br /><a href="http://www.morganstanley.com/about/company/governance/ethics.html"><br /></a>“Putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, and giving back.”<br /><br /><a href="http://assets.coca-colacompany.com/45/59/f85d53a84ec597f74c754003450c/COBC_English.pdf">Coca-Cola</a><br /><a href="http://assets.coca-colacompany.com/45/59/f85d53a84ec597f74c754003450c/COBC_English.pdf"><br /></a>Coca-Cola provides one of the clearest statements on why ethical standards are so important:<br /><br />“We live in an era when public trust and confidence in business are among the lowest levels in history. We at The Coca-Cola Company are fortunate, however, to work for one of the most admired businesses in the world – a reputation that has been enhanced and safeguarded over the years by a rich culture of integrity and ethical conduct. Our business is built on this trust and this reputation.<br /><br />“It influences how consumers feel about our products, and how shareowners perceive us as an investment. We have seen plenty of examples in recent years of powerful companies with once stalwart reputations tarnished forever by unethical actions of a few people or even just one person. As former Company Board member Warren Buffett once reminded us, “it takes years to build a reputation and only a few seconds to ruin it.”<br /><br />The above examples from mega-companies can equally be applied to the smallest of enterprises, because every company’s activities impact on employees, suppliers, customers and the communities within which it operates.<br /><br />However, a Code of Conduct should be more than some fine words on a piece of paper. It needs management leadership and input at all levels to determine what issues are of concern to employees – everything from sales techniques to customer relations.<br /><br />It should fit easily into a company’s approach to corporate social responsibility and, not least, it should be monitored for compliance, with staff training to ensure that ethical behaviours become simply “how we do business.”<br /><br />In a fast-paced enterprise, creating those ethical standards and monitoring mechanisms can be time-consuming, and many companies just don’t see the point.<br /><br />However, as a way to concentrate everybody’s minds on what matters, and to offer a better service than your competitors, creating a Code of Ethics may be the best thing you’ve never quite got around to doing.<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
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<i style="color: white; text-align: start;"><span lang="EN-US">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: white; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i>David Gray PR</i></a></span><i style="color: white; text-align: start;"><span lang="EN-US"> and a partner in </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: white; text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i>Laidlaw Westmacott</i></a></span><i style="color: white; text-align: start;"><span lang="EN-US">. We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery. You can contact us at +44 (0) 1620 844736 or </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: white; text-align: start;"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i>Charlie@davidgraypr.com</i></a></span><i style="color: white; text-align: start;"><span lang="EN-US"> or connect with us on LinkedIn, Google+ or Facebook.</span></i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-40084619906601867102013-12-05T07:25:00.000-08:002013-12-05T07:25:06.878-08:00A mission statement for the New Year<div class="MsoNormal">
Every company starts
off with an idea, and it’s that initial idea that illuminates how all companies
grow and develop.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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That idea will flow
through your business and marketing plans, helping to determine everything from
corporate strategy to sales forecasts. <o:p></o:p></div>
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However, have you
considered setting down in black-and-white a clear mission statement on what
your business is about? – something brief and snappy that summarises who you
are, and why customers should consider buying from you?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Every large company
has a mission statement. You can see
details of Fortune 500 companies and their mission statements on this <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.missionstatements.com/fortune_500_mission_statements.html"><span lang="EN-GB">website</span></a></span>. The influential business writer
and lecturer, <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://drdianehamilton.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/top-10-company-mission-statements-in-2011/"><span lang="EN-GB">Dr Diane Hamilton</span></a></span>, also lists her Top 10 online mission
statements.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfF0VSFFcnuJcNlZT6dAh0m40UPEX2-NljGP5qfqtRKBGnzJtOQBKRe7G9cXDgo5Xo-G_Kdv0lp5PnScM4CC7Sm1I3EYUbYeXBcpw6RUImBjmCWPnkBc1DwifGAg2MTTzJnSzAQegrys/s1600/mission-statement.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfF0VSFFcnuJcNlZT6dAh0m40UPEX2-NljGP5qfqtRKBGnzJtOQBKRe7G9cXDgo5Xo-G_Kdv0lp5PnScM4CC7Sm1I3EYUbYeXBcpw6RUImBjmCWPnkBc1DwifGAg2MTTzJnSzAQegrys/s320/mission-statement.gif" width="320" /></a>But well-crafted
mission statements shouldn’t just be the preserve of the big boys. In essence, it’s a succinct and clear
statement about your company – and the big idea that underpins it. It’s about who you are and why you exist.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Writing a compelling
mission statement is more than scribbling down a few sentences. It’s about thinking through why you’re in
business, what you offer customers, and why you’re different or better than
everyone else.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a sense, a good
mission statement encapsulates your business plan, and going through the
creative process can be as beneficial as the finished mission statement. After all, it forces you to think again about
your big idea – and how it relates to staff, suppliers, customers and the
community.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, mission
statements should not be a procession of dull and meaningless words, joined
together by phrases that we’ve all heard a million times before. Don’t be afraid to be a bit wacky – if one
of the reasons you’re in business is to have fun, say so.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The clothing firm, <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.joeboxer.com/"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Joe Boxer</span></b></a></span>, makes this explicit as part of its mission
statement “…Because everyone wants to
have fun everyday, Joe Boxer will continue to offer something for everyone with
fun always in mind.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, if you’re a
law or accountancy firm, you might reasonably not consider fun to be part of
your mission statement. But beware of
using words such as “professional” or “expert.”
Clients expect you to be professional and expert – otherwise you
wouldn’t be in business.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In other words, a good
mission statement shouldn’t be a statement of the blindingly obvious, or trite
words that could equally apply to any other company in your sector. For example, <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.dell.com/"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Dell’s</span></b></a></span><b> </b>mission statement is “to be the most successful
computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in
markets we serve.” Really? I thought that’s what all computer firms were
in business to do.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Equally, mission
statements should reflect reality, and illuminate how staff should behave. <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1780075.stm"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Enron’s</span></b></a></span><b> </b>snappy mission statement was “Respect. Integrity.
Communication and Excellence.”
Okay, a bit vague, but rather inspiring – but a pity that Enron was also
in the business of ripping off pension funds and ruining livelihoods.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It can be rather fun
comparing the different mission statements of companies in the same
sector. Car manufacturer <span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.volvocars.com/uk/Pages/default.aspx"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Volvo</span></b></a></span>, likes
lengthy gibberish: “<em><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">By creating
value for our customers, we create value for our shareholders. We use our expertise to create
transport-related products and services of superior quality, safety and
environmental care for demanding customers in selected segments. We work with energy, passion and respect for
the individual.”</span></em><em><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<em><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Compare that
with </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.jaguar.co.uk/index.html"><b>Jaguar</b></a></span><em><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">: “</span></em><span lang="EN-US">To create and build beautiful fast cars that bring the
enjoyment and exhilaration of driving to life.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipCtwi0Hi8uUR2ntY3XrC8tmZ-_WY4j4osfGT8guTwvMhSHs-lTKCC9nTLRlhhAhny7MDgZXuBjsjIfvkhVqV0voXmiF7mj_j7yHMyExV30T6rLrZI84vwCg1n1CIYIox_WFysPcWgJ_I/s1600/nike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipCtwi0Hi8uUR2ntY3XrC8tmZ-_WY4j4osfGT8guTwvMhSHs-lTKCC9nTLRlhhAhny7MDgZXuBjsjIfvkhVqV0voXmiF7mj_j7yHMyExV30T6rLrZI84vwCg1n1CIYIox_WFysPcWgJ_I/s200/nike.jpg" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.nike.com/gb/en_gb/"><b>Nike’s</b></a><b> </b>mission
statement is also rather good: “To bring
inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” (A co-founder of Nike made the point that if
you have a body, you’re an athlete.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.starbucks.com/"><b>Starbucks</b></a><b> </b>goes
for cute: “</span>to
inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one
neighbourhood at a time.” Nice also that
the company paid UK corporation tax this year for the first time since 2009.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Other examples
are:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A-G46Lnqqi72ka9lP10kWcUcjHJWISZu4mZTJtiTWGSXvyfrJcybbZCZu1YTs4gE36jn_oHmpW5B8_Z2pI31DeHJ9zI6bPuQ7t3rgF8LLa-Pzvd2CSvH6wOsNgRgokABi8XJGMLBxk0/s1600/google.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A-G46Lnqqi72ka9lP10kWcUcjHJWISZu4mZTJtiTWGSXvyfrJcybbZCZu1YTs4gE36jn_oHmpW5B8_Z2pI31DeHJ9zI6bPuQ7t3rgF8LLa-Pzvd2CSvH6wOsNgRgokABi8XJGMLBxk0/s200/google.jpg" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.google.com/about/company/"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Google</span></b></a></span><span lang="EN-US">: “Organize the
world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/"><b>Amazon</b></a></span><span lang="EN-US">: “To build a
place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to
buy online.” (A recent UK TV documentary
called into question some of its labour practices).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Perhaps
the last word should lie with </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson">Sir Richard Branson</a></span><span lang="EN-US">, who suggests that a mission
statement should follow the Twitter format – no more than 140 characters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">He
follows his own advice. </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.virgin.com/"><b>The Virgin
Group’s</b></a></span><span lang="EN-US"> mission statement is to the point: “Be different by being
better.” Enough said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgopr5OKHyGxjro3Rf4gYXxj0LxV0iLyW5R5K_TtLwBPf8YKGXjFfKZBXsdhcn8exL4qF5hZ_4Wg527Boy5bZYGFDi_ndA4reYl9fgisjg9jffKZq8YG5JrujVxb0q6drTZiK970K3sjt8/s1600/richard+branson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgopr5OKHyGxjro3Rf4gYXxj0LxV0iLyW5R5K_TtLwBPf8YKGXjFfKZBXsdhcn8exL4qF5hZ_4Wg527Boy5bZYGFDi_ndA4reYl9fgisjg9jffKZq8YG5JrujVxb0q6drTZiK970K3sjt8/s320/richard+branson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i>David Gray PR</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US"> and a partner in </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i>Laidlaw Westmacott</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US">. We are specialists in national and
international PR strategy and delivery.
You can contact us at +44 (0) 1620 844736 or
</span></i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i>Charlie@davidgraypr.com</i></a></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: white;">
or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Google+.</span><span style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-595793488986867192013-11-25T02:28:00.000-08:002013-11-25T02:28:07.130-08:00Corporate responsibility and doing the right thing<div class="MsoNormal">
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is about how
companies conduct themselves. Not just
big companies, all companies.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s about how businesses align their values and
behaviour with the expectations and needs of stakeholders - customers and
investors, employees, suppliers, communities, regulators, special interest
groups and society as a whole.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It gives voice to corporate culture and helps to ensure
that everyone in an organisation conforms to a common set of behaviours – even
when “nobody is looking.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Having a clearly-articulated set of social values should
be, I believe, at the heart of every business strategy. For smaller companies, those values need not
be onerous – but they should demonstrate that the company is thinking beyond
itself. <em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After all, business
leadership starts with clear purpose and values, and CSR is what happens when
you express and live those values in all your internal and external relationships.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Nowadays, CSR can be used interchangeably with other
terms including responsible competitiveness, corporate citizenship, social
contribution, or the triple bottom line, among others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It has existed as a part of the business lexicon for
years, but has increasingly come to encompass not only what companies do with
their profits, but also how they make them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It goes beyond philanthropy and compliance to address
the manner in which companies manage their economic, social and environmental
impacts and their stakeholder relationships in the workplace, the marketplace,
the supply chain, and the community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Many companies now look to support initiatives that
are aligned to the issues and interests most relevant to them, their industry
sector, and to the countries and communities in which they operate, often
picking a few key thematic areas or challenges, rather than tackling hundreds
of different things on an ad hoc basis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">In terms of the tools they are using, they are
increasingly applying their own core competencies in addition to money – for
example the skills of their employees, the capability of their technologies,
the leverage of their networks, and product donations to help tackle public
problems.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdcLgfpoe6MzP5E9MPXKt6EGAlc1XCngs9xFo4dCCYCobEyQkzlWsA9lICg3Lw9AR7GUMjPPxEPDzP_WBl8AlaTcgrHee3h34YOB8jUMeaxw7S3YAb4HW2C2rMt8rUtiyMr9Yna-5cpM/s1600/ecotown-Social-Responsibility-Page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdcLgfpoe6MzP5E9MPXKt6EGAlc1XCngs9xFo4dCCYCobEyQkzlWsA9lICg3Lw9AR7GUMjPPxEPDzP_WBl8AlaTcgrHee3h34YOB8jUMeaxw7S3YAb4HW2C2rMt8rUtiyMr9Yna-5cpM/s400/ecotown-Social-Responsibility-Page.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<b>CSR: a starting point</b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
CSR is, in essence, about managing social, community and
environmental impacts to help improve results, reduce risks and enhance
reputation. It is also about growing a
business in a way that has value for everyone connected to it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At its very simplest, a starting point could merely involve:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal">Recycle printer and toner cartridges,
and print and photocopy only when necessary and double-sided</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Buy materials only from suppliers who
use sustainable sources, and audit the supply chain accordingly</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Ensure lights, computers and other
equipment are switched off when not in use, use power-saving devices –
and, if possible, buy energy from renewable sources In any case, replace lighting with low
energy bulbs</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Pay staff, suppliers and creditors on
time.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Encourage support for local
not-for-profit organisations.
Perhaps give staff a couple of paid days per year to work with
local community groups, or “adopt” a local charity</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Think positively about flexible and home
working. After all, a day saved on
commuting will have an environmental impact. Flexibility is also about home/work
balances and being a family-friendly business.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Benefits will vary depending on the company, the specific proposed and the effectiveness with which they are implemented, and could include:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Attracting, retaining and developing motivated and committed employees</li>
<li>Winning and retaining business customers</li>
<li>Improving business reputation, positive publicity, and networking opportunities</li>
<li>Cost and efficiency savings</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The above is no more than a starting point, to focus management
minds on how to “do business better.”
That in itself is a good thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From a marketing perspective, it puts the company in a wider
context, no matter the size of that company.
It demonstrates a commitment, however small, to the world beyond its
office or factory.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is, of course, about doing the right thing. However, doing the right thing can also have
commercial and reputational benefits – a win-win marketing and PR strategy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
CSR should be part of every business.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">David Gray PR</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> and a partner in </span></i><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Laidlaw Westmacott</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">. We are specialists in
national and international PR strategy and delivery. You can contact us at +44 (0) 1620 844736 or </span></i><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Charlie@davidgraypr.com</span></i></a></span><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: white;"> or connect with us on LinkedIn or
Facebook.</span><span style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-82079807787040991582013-11-20T04:59:00.002-08:002013-11-20T05:31:03.737-08:00Corporate culture and commercial dividend<div align="left" class="MsoTitle">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">You can’t see or touch it.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">But it’s there, an essential and invisible
part of every company or organisation, and a potent force in marketing and
commercial strategy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Corporate culture has become increasingly important
in recent years and, despite being intangible, it can affect employee performance
and organisational success.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBYZUPr1gK73mCfp2lD1FUGp2ZnW7eWqcF6Hpg6PwCZQR7og10ehtQwaPokEtcWv9bKZY14T7LiKG9cK6d5K-khlfJYCDu5gDbRd51AXWkAUCSi0hFiaSW_sfs9tYClPJn_gd0PdpBis/s1600/Creative-corporate-culture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBYZUPr1gK73mCfp2lD1FUGp2ZnW7eWqcF6Hpg6PwCZQR7og10ehtQwaPokEtcWv9bKZY14T7LiKG9cK6d5K-khlfJYCDu5gDbRd51AXWkAUCSi0hFiaSW_sfs9tYClPJn_gd0PdpBis/s320/Creative-corporate-culture1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6818.html"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Prof James Heskett</span></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> in <i>The Culture Cycle</i> suggests that an effective culture can make a
20-30% difference in corporate performance, as compared with “culturally
unremarkable” competitors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">It’s something that every company should at least
think about, and all those agencies that advise on business, marketing or PR
strategy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">However, corporate culture is also difficult to
pin down. It has many definitions and is
heavily influenced by, for example, geographical location, sector, history, and
the personalities of leading managers.
For example:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Wal-Mart -</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> Founder Sam
Walton’s concern and respect for staff from the foundation of the company
created an environment of trust that still persists. Walton met staff, calling them by their first
name and encouraged change to maintain a competitive edge. Even now, employees consider “how Sam would
have done it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
<b>Southwest Airlines - </b>Its relaxed
culture can be traced back to unconventional boss Herb Kelleher who encouraged
informality and wanted staff to have fun at their jobs. Employees are valued, with management
acknowledging births, marriages and deaths by notes and cards. Staff are encouraged to pitch in and help
out, especially at check-in, giving Southwest a higher turnaround time than the
industry average.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
<b>Hewlett Packard -</b> Problems several
years ago encouraged HP to change its culture; staff are now required to
formulate personal and professional goals each year, and are rewarded for
meeting them, such as getting away early from work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVPUhDqONdtpmivDBoC6JEM-K9xF0uFnSLnAjk22HTdzsxwfZ4LhUUmCBAGJxYE2D10gcO5L7zJi956gMgK5MASPWupjiUEXExcr4WWzvcAItewXzqZKUzSI9L2n1ma3P3Bi6XS2u5Fg/s1600/Apple.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVPUhDqONdtpmivDBoC6JEM-K9xF0uFnSLnAjk22HTdzsxwfZ4LhUUmCBAGJxYE2D10gcO5L7zJi956gMgK5MASPWupjiUEXExcr4WWzvcAItewXzqZKUzSI9L2n1ma3P3Bi6XS2u5Fg/s200/Apple.png" width="181" /></a><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Apple -</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> has a culture of innovation. As one </span><a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/02/12/cook-apples-culture-of-innovation-refuses-to-recognize-limits"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">director</span></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> explained, it’s “deeply embedded…. The boldness,
ambition, belief there aren't limits, a desire to make the very best products
in the world…It's in the DNA of the company.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">But corporate culture isn’t just for large
corporations and essentially has several key elements, of which two most
important are:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt;">A clear corporate vision, supported by corporate
values consistent with the aims of the company and aligned with the personal
values of employees</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: -18pt;">A high value placed on staff with extensive
employee communication at all levels</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Simplistically, there are four types of corporate
culture:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Academy Culture</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Employees are highly skilled and tend
to stay in the organisation, working their way up the ranks. In return, the organisation provides a stable
environment in which employees can develop and exercise their skills. Examples
are universities, hospitals, large corporations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Football Team Culture</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Employees are “free agents” who have
highly prized skills. They are in high demand and can rather (too!) easily get
jobs elsewhere. This type of culture exists in fast-paced, high-risk
organisations, such as investment banking.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Club Culture</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The most important requirement here
is to fit into the group. Usually employees start at the bottom and stay with
the company, with the organisation promoting from within and valuing seniority.
The best example is the military.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Fortress Culture</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Employees don't know if they'll be laid off or
not, in industries that often undergo regular and significant change. While there are many opportunities for those
with specialised skills, the nature of the business keeps changing. Examples are high tech and IT companies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Corporate culture can flow from a company’s
Mission, Vision and Ethics (if it has those), but is largely unwritten. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">It comes from the personality of leading
managers, corporate vision, how the company communicates with staff, and how employees
interact with the company. However,
corporate culture can be influenced by:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The key things that a company is there to achieve, both for
employees and to satisfy customer expectations<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The “cultural” elements that are positive - for example, excellent
staff, high motivation, good morale etc<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The “cultural” elements that are hindering the business - for
example, high employee turnover, or staff not helping one another etc.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Assessing what corporate culture exists within
your company can be hard. For example,
staff may be reluctant to make their views known. Sometimes an external assessment is the way
forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">However intangible, corporate culture does have
an impact and, if planned, can have a commercial dividend. Best not leave it to chance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">To reinforce the positive, an article for Harvard
Business School quantifies the fact that companies with well-defined corporate
cultures are generally perceived as good places to work – and that’s on top of
other commercial benefits. Not bad for
something invisible.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Or as the </span><a href="http://www.greatplacetowork.com/our-approach/what-are-the-benefits-great-workplaces"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Great Places to Work</span></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> website puts
it: <span style="color: white;">“30
years of research, in over 40 countries around the world, has shown us time and
again that investing in a high-trust <strong>workplace culture</strong> yields
distinct, tangible business benefits.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #282828;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">David Gray PR</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> and a partner in </span></i><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Laidlaw Westmacott</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">. We are specialists in national and
international PR strategy and delivery.
You can contact us at +44 (0) 1620 844736 or </span></i><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Charlie@davidgraypr.com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> or connect with us on
LinkedIn or Facebook.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-88710972191296091162013-11-14T08:08:00.001-08:002013-11-14T08:16:34.204-08:00Five steps to writing a PR plan<div align="left" class="MsoTitle">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It’s nearly Christmas, and what better time than
to consider your corporate plans for 2014.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">If you haven’t already thought about it, what PR plans do you have for
the New Year?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Every company has a business and marketing plan. Yet it’s surprising how many don’t have a PR
plan to support new business acquisition and growth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">However, effective PR can make a real difference,
helping to position the company with its buyers and oiling the wheels of
commercial success.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Essentially, an effective communications plan is
about creating and sustaining relationships between the company and its
‘publics’ – whether those publics are the media, customers, potential
customers, employees etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Creating a PR plan can be divided into five stages:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">1. Situation Analysis<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">First, a full assessment of the business and
the target markets you want to reach – a clear picture of where your business
is now, and where you want it to be in five years time, against your business
plan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4MvtR3bzsszB7paOGvNzIl_1hnEWEN2NS-_YYrRtQsOWHTyloFQdAuUKvA3iGCI_8tPftcsTMuSB7YUiru9CKi2WSPm8XMR576SQ5Yp7ChJ2ep4wt-3g-MNCUCvJbTyfQ2IBjmDciPk/s1600/Future_Planning1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4MvtR3bzsszB7paOGvNzIl_1hnEWEN2NS-_YYrRtQsOWHTyloFQdAuUKvA3iGCI_8tPftcsTMuSB7YUiru9CKi2WSPm8XMR576SQ5Yp7ChJ2ep4wt-3g-MNCUCvJbTyfQ2IBjmDciPk/s320/Future_Planning1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">It should also be based on an analysis of
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT), to give a
comprehensive picture of the markets(s) in which you operate, the particular
strengths you have in those markets, and the potential opportunities, dangers –
and points of differentiation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The PR plan should address all your ambitions and
set key objectives, namely:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">To raise corporate profile and reputation</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">To develop relationships with key publics</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">To build value into the brands(s)</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">To provide the best environment for achieving commercial
objectives.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">While many such programmes are open-ended, with a
budget set at the end of the process, it is more sensible to have a rough
budget from the start – that way choices can be made and priorities set in
developing tactics.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">2. Audience Identification and Segmentation</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">You need to be clear from the outset at whom the
programme is aimed – the key stakeholders or publics that you want to reach:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Customers & potential customers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Employees</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Suppliers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Investors</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Those in a position to influence</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">A clear understanding of your business and
markets will then illuminate the communications plan, segmented horizontally by
target sector and vertically by target audience (age, sex, demographics
etc). That, in turn, will determine the range of media and other
marketing activity best suited for each of your business requirements.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">3. Messaging<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The programme should have clear messages for
each target audience, and which will help to underpin your corporate brand(s)
and brand values. Those messages must be appropriate for each target
audience and consistent across all online and offline channels. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdH_jwjXrBaMfsCb1RWGM0Bpmd97bG17953ul4Q331hPsnEqBaqoVwjH8TGpcsiN6P-v2XnWtrXMM907WPKtvuCFUWm-BXZ3SZhQbILjt7KsO2x6e64xIneKVXnpzZ5P3VwUlMuDpbBc/s1600/cupandstring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdH_jwjXrBaMfsCb1RWGM0Bpmd97bG17953ul4Q331hPsnEqBaqoVwjH8TGpcsiN6P-v2XnWtrXMM907WPKtvuCFUWm-BXZ3SZhQbILjt7KsO2x6e64xIneKVXnpzZ5P3VwUlMuDpbBc/s320/cupandstring.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Branding and messaging are vital to communicating
an integrated and cohesive image of your company and products/services, and
must work across PR, advertising, direct and online marketing etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Internal communications should also be part of
the mix: at the very least, it gives staff the knowledge and tools to be active
brand ambassadors for the company. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">It should perhaps also involve an element of
crisis planning to ensure that all scenarios are considered in the PR
process. Reputation can take a long time to gain, but can be lost very
quickly. In any business, it's wise to integrate PR strategy into any
corporate preparedness plan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">4. Creating the PR Plan<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Once the above steps have been completed, it
becomes easier to look at the different ways in which you can influence key
publics:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Media relations (online and offline) (press
releases, articles, 1-to-1 briefings etc)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Direct Mail and E-marketing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Advertising (print, radio, TV)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) (social
participation)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Seminars, conferences, exhibitions, business
awards</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Website and online strategy (including blogs,
social and newsletters)</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The plan should also address two other aspects:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Thought Leadership</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> – a clear demonstration that you understand the key issues in each of
your markets from the perspective of the customer. This will differentiate the company from its
competitors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> – a clear statement and practical demonstration that you understand
that you have responsibilities to your communities, employees, and wider
society. Putting in place a CSR element
within the PR plan is, again, a point of differentiation.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">5. KPIs, Budget, Annual Planning<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In the same way as every part of a business
should be subject to performance measurement, the PR plan should also have Key
Performance Indicators to determine how successfully the programme is being
delivered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The plan should be reviewed on a regular basis
and, more systematically, on an annual basis - determining whether such aspects
as reputation or brand recognition are being raised. Double-guessing what
your customers (actual or potential) think is never a good idea. Companies
that listen to what their customers say, good and bad, are generally more
successful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Successful companies are ones that pay attention
to PR, promoting themselves and their products/services and helping potential
customers through the purchasing cycle.
It needn’t be hard, and it needn’t be expensive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So if you make one corporate resolution this New
Year, why not embrace PR as part of your sales and marketing armoury.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In future posts we’ll look at how companies and
brands can create better commercial contexts from, for example, corporate
culture and corporate social responsibility.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ZRWOpXtSGJe0WxGk8uKRFey3aLriBKiO2W3FpcKnajegq1Ms0PxYMIiM04AwNINAZTENZdCP0c9yXXJE4ZU2U89iOvNbdboSGgL-7Q4sIXxBkYo7mAp0j60b9hKI6t8_MXMjMF9JaTQ/s1600/visu-why-work-with-us-3+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ZRWOpXtSGJe0WxGk8uKRFey3aLriBKiO2W3FpcKnajegq1Ms0PxYMIiM04AwNINAZTENZdCP0c9yXXJE4ZU2U89iOvNbdboSGgL-7Q4sIXxBkYo7mAp0j60b9hKI6t8_MXMjMF9JaTQ/s1600/visu-why-work-with-us-3+(1).jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Charlie Laidlaw is a director of </span></i><a href="http://www.davidgraypr.com/"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">David Gray PR</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> and a partner in </span></i><a href="http://www.laidlawwestmacott.com/"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Laidlaw Westmacott</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">. We are specialists in
national and international PR strategy and delivery. You can co<span style="color: white;">ntact us at +44 (0) 1620 844736 or </span></span></i><span style="color: white;"><a href="mailto:Charlie@davidgraypr.com"><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Charlie@davidgraypr.com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> or connect with us on LinkedIn or
Facebook.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7860149095777240735.post-52940120199010978792013-11-11T05:26:00.003-08:002013-11-11T05:52:21.000-08:00Tips on writing the perfect press release<div class="MsoNormal">
It can be daunting for
small businesses to contact the media.
You may feel that you have a good story to tell, but how to go about it? Sadly, many companies – particularly smaller
ones – end up hiding their lights under bushels.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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But if you’ve decided
to take the plunge, the best way, now and since dinosaurs roamed the earth, is
by press release. However, there are
certain rules and conventions to ensure that your release receives the
attention that it deserves.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Subject<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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First and foremost, a
bit of honesty. How newsworthy is your
press release? Is it going to be of
interest to the local or national media?
Or is it something best suited to the trade press? In
other words, create realistic expectations and work to them. If you’re opening a café in Glasgow, that
will of local interest – so no point thinking about the national media unless,
of course, you plan to open a whole chain within five years. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4UQkfMgzsUU0XprAMBcZp2E6v2FfHW7eX8CMCxjZGKCnrRcf1FNUqo0QzfNc1wDdV24XlWC9x4mK2y-LwSyROTHMoTByacEwXXi8heipUmxBpcKBJo6vJ3tL7WvEKxpiTWO11132FjU8/s1600/keepcalm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4UQkfMgzsUU0XprAMBcZp2E6v2FfHW7eX8CMCxjZGKCnrRcf1FNUqo0QzfNc1wDdV24XlWC9x4mK2y-LwSyROTHMoTByacEwXXi8heipUmxBpcKBJo6vJ3tL7WvEKxpiTWO11132FjU8/s1600/keepcalm.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>Create a media list<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Having thought through
your target media, create a list. Your
coffee shop is of local news, but how about food writers? What about student magazines? (You could offer them a discount on first
purchases). Research your target media,
and identify who’s been writing on the subject.
And don’t forget relevant bloggers or other online sites – they can
often be more influential than the mainstream media.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Structure<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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Draft out a rough
structure for your release. Remember,
the media want to know who, what, why, when and where. They want key facts, not waffle. Ultimately, they’ll be writing the story, not
you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Headline<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Journalists receive
huge amounts of dross every day and, often, the headline is as far as they
read. Therefore, think very carefully
about your headline. <i>New café opens in Glasgow </i>will go in the
bin. <i>New
Glasgow café to put caffeine into the community </i>will stand a better chance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Key messages<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Whatever your company,
or its size, you want to communicate messages of importance to your
business. For our Glasgow café, are your
ingredients Fairtrade? Will you be
creating new jobs? Are you
family-friendly? Do you offer
wi-fi? However, don’t exaggerate and, if
you’re quoting facts or statistics, double-check that they’re accurate.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>News v advertising<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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It’s a truism, but a press
release is about news. Everything else
is advertising. Don’t get the two mixed
up. <i>Glasgow
café sponsors local football team</i> is news.
<i>Glasgow café would like more
customers</i> is advertising. Likewise,
don’t use words like “best” or “unique” or “world-beating.” You may believe that about your company or
product, but hyperbole is the surest way to cross the news/promotion boundary –
and for the media bin to beckon. (Also,
don’t use exclamation marks).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Accuracy<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It always helps if you can make a
journalist’s life a little easier, so check and double-check spelling and
punctuation. It’ll also enhance your
reputation as someone they can trust, and who is taking their media relations
seriously. <b>Good tip</b>: write your press release then go home. Check it again the next day. You’ll be surprised at the little mistakes
you missed the day before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Quotes<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Quotes are great, because they’re the only
part of a press release that can’t be changed.
But use them sparsely, and use them to get your messages across. “We want our café to be an integral part of
the community,” is probably quite a good quote.
“As part of the refurbishment, we bought a new coffee machine,” probably
isn’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Jargon<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Avoid like the plague. You are the master of your subject; don’t
expect anybody else to be (unless your press release is aimed at highly
specialist publications). A wise old
advertising executive once said that jargon is the hallmark of a pretentious
ass – and he’s right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Length<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">In media relations, size isn’t
everything. If you can’t tell your story
succinctly, it probably isn’t worth telling.
For inspiration, have a read of <i>The
Sun</i> or <i>The Daily Record</i> – good
stories need not be long stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Distribution<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Once your release has been buffed and
polished, send it by email, with a catchy subject line. Paste your release into the body of your
email (some media outlets don’t like attachments from unknown senders) and,
under your fine words, provide full contact details, a link to your website – and
any further information you think might be useful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The media is there to serve its readers,
viewers or listeners. Not you. However, the well-crafted press release is
still able to cut through the media clutter and benefit you and your business. Good luck!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13250006289688759438noreply@blogger.com0