Tech PR firm Text 100 has carried out some research into the way journalists use social media. It interviewed 72 journalists about the way they use social media channels in their professional lives to research companies and communicate with PR executives. Read More
Thanks to call centres the British people are a lot like Debbie Harry’s Blondie: ‘Hanging on the Telephone’.
According to a recent report, we typically waste around 45 hours each year waiting to be connected to a call centre representative.
This won’t be surprising to students of Behavioural Economics who know that – rather counter intuitively – people are more willing to hold on longer if told all lines are busy compared with being promised that their call will be answered soon. Why? The notion of having freely available operators suggests an unpopular service that is consequently not worth holding for. Whereas a message saying that all lines are busy and requesting people to hold or ring back later encourages them to stay holding in the queue longer as it suggests a popular service worth waiting for.
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Interesting piece on the ‘Who’s the Mummy’ blog raising the question of how PR firms can get blogger outreach so badly wrong. It is one of the most important bits of social and digital PR and it can reap great results if done well, but you only have to talk to a few people to know that many agencies are not very good at it.
As Sally of Who’s the Mummy writes often PR agencies simply get the approach entirely wrong because they don’t have a strategy or an idea of what the conversation they should be having with bloggers is. Read More
Global PR firm Edelman today publishes its annual Trust Barometer. For over a decade, this research into global attitudes has triggered conversations around trust in business and government. And this year, with a US presidential election around the corner and the EU still trying to plot a way to economic security, trust remains at a premium for businesses and brands.
Having scoured the Barometer findings, one message shines through in this year’s report: trust will depend on far more than platitudes emanating from the corporate press office. People don’t want more Facebook, they want keener responsiveness, more openness, better dialogue, and more frequent communication from companies and brands. Read More
The 70,000-strong army of volunteers who will be helping the London 2012 Olympic Games to run smoothly have been told that they mustn’t mention details of their location, their role or any backstage information about athletes, celebrities or “dignitaries” on social media.
Considering the nature of social media on sites like Twitter and Facebook is to share precisely that information the London Olympics organisers appear to be issuing rather optimistic social media guidelines for volunteers. Read More
I used to have a boss with an amazing knack for sidling up to the desk of a junior researcher late on a Friday afternoon to ask, “How are you fixed?”.
This meant one thing: a flash poll or fast-turnaround survey put into the field that day and reported back to the client as soon as it was done. A flash poll in those days, for me, was the first sign that a client was in trouble. Some crisis had hit and we needed to dive in to understand how much people knew, how much they were affected by that knowledge and how to fix any damage to the brand or bottom line. We joked that we needed a big red button to push to set off a siren so that everyone would know that it was going to be a long night or two. Read More
It’s ironic that Bell Pottinger – the guardian of many reputations – is currently dealing with its own reputation issue.
Reports suggesting Bell Pottinger could manipulate Google results to drown out negative coverage of Uzbek human rights violations and child labour have damaged the reputation of reputation management. Although the PR industry has a power to influence, this influence is limited. If the truth is dark and nasty, the truth will out eventually. Read More
A few weeks ago, I asked this question, effectively launching the first stage of The CRAPPs (Communicative Relations Awards from PR Professionals), a light-hearted PR awards scheme launched in 2010 to celebrate the often-fractious relationship between journalists and the public relations industry.
Well, I just wanted to quickly blog to tell you that the ten most nominated names in each category have been announced, in categories such as ‘The ‘most likely to tell you to sling your hook’ award and ‘Least twattish Twitterer – the must follow journo’ (with a separate category for ‘must-follow PR’). Read More
Last year, we launched a different sort of journalist/PR award scheme. We wanted to celebrate the famously love/hate relationship between both camps in a unique, memorable way. How did we choose to celebrate this, I hear you ask?
Well, by poking fun at it, now you mention it.
The CRAPPs (The Communicative Relations Awards from PR Professionals – the acronym unsurprisingly came first) was born in 2010 and was always intended to be a light-hearted affair, in an industry awards calendar more tightly packed than Vanessa Feltz’s fridge. Let the CIPRs of this world battle it out for serious, industry-respected awards, we thought. We’re just happy bringing a bit of premature Christmas cheer to the professional world we inhabit. Read More
In true overdramatic-parent style, I must confess to occasionally pulling out the ‘I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed’ reprimand when my five year old plays up. It’s a tried and tested disciplining method that not only tells her when she’s done wrong, but in a clipped, scathing way. No wasted words. No pulled punches.
Now, on to the reason for this blog.
Many of you will have seen the very, very funny and brilliantly caustic Twitter profile for Shippam’s Paste earlier this week – a brand I literally knew nothing about. Read More
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