Posted on By Alexander Garrett, Since the beginning of January, staff at London PR agency Frank have been on the receiving end of a surprising incentive. In an industry that prides itself on communicating constantly, employees have been rewarded for not using their phones. The Frank on Hold scheme uses an app to give points – which …
Posted on By Alexander Garrett, “Is the digital detox set to be 2019’s biggest health fad?” asked a recent headline. The hashtag #DigitalDetox was used 100,000 times on Instagram in 2018, and a wave of recent communications campaigns have capitalised on the trend. In November 2018, Vienna’s tourist board launched Unhashtag Vienna, a campaign encouraging visitors to …
Posted on Facebook is building a private version of the internet. While that may be good for personal privacy, it’s a threat to public conversation. Facebook’s big play at its F8 developer conference this year was privacy. CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted in a keynote speech that it’s an area where the social media firm has a lousy …
Posted on By Steve Howell It doesn’t matter whether you are chocolate pudding or a would-be president, the product has to meet expectations. The Marks and Spencer ‘food porn’ adverts were hugely successful only because most people actually agreed that #ThisIsNotJust any food. Politicians similarly must both choose the right narrative and live up to it. Joe Biden’s …
Posted on It sounds good in principle. A sign in Cairo airport directs passengers to Egypt Air Public Relations. In practice, the desk turns out to be manned by a customer service team. The team is friendly, polite and helpful – a credit to the airline. It constitutes good public relations, even if it is not PR …
Posted on Billy Caldwell may have changed public opinion about cannabis forever. This is the inside story from his campaign team. By Paul North, On a late summer afternoon in June 2018, a cab was racing across London to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital carrying a team of campaigners who hoped to change the law to help a …
Posted on By Darryl Sparey, Director, Hotwire, Chances are, if you’re reading this, you still have an opportunity to be nominated for the PRCA’s next Young Professional of the Year award. The PRCA’s latest PR and Communications Census states that PR is: ‘an overwhelmingly young industry: the average industry practitioner is 29 years old’. Data from the IPA’s 2017 Census shows that …
Posted on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is about integrating environmental and social affairs with corporate strategies and business operations in the communities or sectors in which organisations operate – a sort of ethical ‘pay to play’. Many abused the term and even more believe that by having, pretty much, a ‘charitable’ department, nothing else matters. Well, it …
Posted on By Oliver Tunmore, Earlier this week, one of the world’s most prominent names in natural beauty and skin products, Lush, announced its departure from mainstream social media channels. In an Instagram post on Monday morning, which now has over 67,000 views and 1,000 comments, the company stated: “We’re switching up social – this isn’t the …
Posted on Throw out the playbook* and buckle up. It’s a bumpy ride. By Oliver Druttman, “Ah yes, I’ve seen this one before. Just copy and paste the statement from the crisis manual. That’ll hold ‘em,” said no (self-respecting) PR ever. The one sure thing about an issue or subsequent crisis is it never plays out like the …