Tiresome platitudes
Some days, especially on LinkedIn, the sheer weight of corporate marketing about “doing good” is depressing. Heart-sleeves point-scoring...
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Apr 7, 20171 min read
Dress up to persuade
Which of the two photos above is the best one to help tell the story about their technology? The one of the three brothers dressed up as...
Apr 3, 20171 min read
It won’t happen again
When a woman complained about being sent photos of her deceased son even though she had asked for the full file, the Ministry of Justice...
Mar 15, 20171 min read
What it takes to communicate
A journalist commented on our Communicator of the Year award; “You’d expect them to be good communicators because it’s their job.” That...
Mar 13, 20171 min read
Taking charge at the Oscars
The Oscars hired PwC to run a process that didn’t lead to errors in awarding gongs. They would have been better hiring a PR company to...
Feb 19, 20172 min read
Savvy advocate named NZ Communicator of the Year
Former Police Association President and Labour Party election candidate Greg O’Connor has been named winner of the Communicator of the...
Feb 14, 20171 min read
The weakness of media policies
A strict “media policy” on who can speak to journalists only works if those who do speak are good at it, and free to use their skills....
Feb 7, 20171 min read
Throttling the goose
The death throes of the Wellington Sevens illustrate one of our favourite business maxims: act in the interests of your audience, not...
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 7, 20162 min read
Which headlines to ignore
A challenge of our social era is that it is hard to ignore headlines, but more necessary than ever before. The challenge of good PR...
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 11, 20161 min read
The power of words
Did Brexit win because the word sounded better than Remain? An argument in the referendum wash-up is that ‘Brexit’ was snappy and active,...
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 19, 20162 min read
Real Response: Virgin Bread
Bürgen’s campaign to attract “Bürgen virgins” to try their bread in bed sparked a little negative feedback on their Facebook page. This...
Sep 15, 20161 min read
Easy publicity, for free
There is an easy way recognise the people in your networks and to get some effortless publicity for your organisation; nominate a staff...
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...
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