Speak like your customers
Countdown decided this month to tell its customers that they should refer to tampons and such like as “period products”. It is changing...
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Jun 4, 20191 min read
Is authenticity unobtainable?
The ideal of an “authentic” organisation persists because audiences respond best to expression and actions that lack artifice (that is,...
Jun 12, 20181 min read
Two factor controversies
The controversy over origin of World’s fashion wear shows us the two major factors necessary for a controversy make the leap into public...
Jul 13, 20171 min read
Telling unchanging stories
For a career that has become a profession, the political class perform surprisingly badly at the job. Here’s two lessons you can learn...
Apr 24, 20172 min read
Tiresome platitudes
Some days, especially on LinkedIn, the sheer weight of corporate marketing about “doing good” is depressing. Heart-sleeves point-scoring...
Nov 16, 20161 min read
Handling criticism: A PR lesson from Trump
Donald Trump has been elected US President despite months of intense, high-profile condemnation from the political and media...
Nov 3, 20162 min read
The go-with-the-flow crisis strategy
A common factor in the unfolding public relations misfire of Ardent Leisure, owner of Dreamworld, is misjudged actions. Ardent executives...
Oct 18, 20161 min read
When not to respond
The New Zealand Rugby Union did not need to enter the issue of a Wellington rugby player escaping conviction for street violence. The...
Oct 17, 20161 min read
Let the audience fill in the gaps
24 hours after being vilified for firing a disabled worker who stole a colleague’s drink bottle, the chief executive of Bunnings went on...
Oct 5, 20162 min read
Do journos hate your PR?
A survey by UK-based PR week found journalists think half the PR people they deal with are not good at their jobs. The main complaint of...
Oct 3, 20162 min read
When in trouble, be specific
The Wellington Rugby Union hit trouble over its response to player Losi Filipo escaping conviction for a vicious fight in Courtenay...
Sep 15, 20162 min read
Clear Water
It has been fascinating to study performance of the “transparent” approach to communication adopted by councils over contamination of the...
Sep 5, 20162 min read
Don’t panic!
We live in in a topsy-turvy, hyper-sensitive era, where photos of staff playing the fool get a public treatment worse than dangerous...
Aug 5, 20161 min read
CEO activism: be very careful
Beware of people claiming customers respond well to companies that take stances on social issues. There’s a US study by Weber Shandwick...
Aug 1, 20162 min read
Comfortable with controversy
According to research by the Economist Intelligence Unit, CEOs say reputation is their organisation’s most prized asset. But they also...
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