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Opinions
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Facebook Reactions now available worldwide
February 25, 2016
Facebook has just announced the availability of ‘Reactions’ – now accessible globally. For a long time now, we’ve been anticipating the potential introduction of the ‘dislike’ button on Facebook. However, the Facebook team had something else in mind. Why stop at that? Late last year we were told that ‘Reactions’ would be coming – a full range of emoticons, ensuring you can express your feelings about a post in any way you like...
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Now you can experience a moment in time with Twitter
February 23, 2016
One of the many reasons Twitter is still the most unique social platform around is its ability to connect everyone without restrictions. Being able to read and respond to the thoughts and opinions of celebrities, world leaders, politicians, and admired artists brings people one big step closer to a connected world. Being the number one channel for sharing breaking news, means we all need to follow a lot of global and local news handles to...
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Is the communications landscape where it needs to be?
February 22, 2016
The prestigious Bookmark Awards have been presented annually for the past eight years honouring the industry’s best digital work. According to Kevin Welman, managing director of FleishmanHillard South Africa, the Bookmark Awards play a significant role in the communications industry. “The Bookmark Awards, like other awards programmes, serve as a mechanism to test the creative ability in the digital landscape and affords agencies the opportunity to benchmark themselves against international and local standards.”...
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A conversation with FleishmanHillard’s Kevin Welman (Part 1)
February 8, 2016
A curiosity of Kevin Welman’s career, in the context of today’s fluid job market, as he has been with global communications agency FleishmanHillard for just over 20 years. Now the general manager of its Johannesburg office, Welman spoke to Media Update about his career and management style, among other topics. This is part one of a two part series. By Adam Wakefield - Media Update...
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Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself
February 3, 2016
As of late, things in South Africa have been quite interesting. People offended, debates sparked, movements encouraged and law suits laid (and won). It’s been encouraging to watch the intensity of individual beliefs spark conversations, transparent conversations that needed to be had As individuals, this is great. But as employees of brands, things can become a little blurred. Most of us represent someone else’s reputation and image in the companies we work for or represent...
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In 2016 the most successful PR professionals won’t be PR professionals
January 28, 2016
Kevin Welman, MD of FleishmanHillard, shares insights on the direction of the public relations industry. During a recent Breakfast Presentation hosted by PRISA, Kevin Welman, MD of FleishmanHillard, spoke about the direction in which public relations is headed, and what practitioners need to do to remain relevant… “I don’t like the term public relations, and I don’t refer to FleishmanHillard as a public relations firm,” he explains. “It is a communications firm that helps clients solve...
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So you want to know what the big deal is about Snapchat
January 22, 2016
The revolution will be Snapchatted. At least, that’s according to the Most Contagious 2015 report. Over the past year, the disappearing-message app has shaken off its sexting reputation and has become a content discovery platform every brand should be taking seriously. In January 2015, Snapchat introduced the Discover feature, a section of the app that allows brands to publish videos, articles and ads. Of course, this feature is reserved for a few curated brands that...
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Looking Back on 2015
January 19, 2016
As we begin a new year at FleishmanHillard, we wanted to take a moment to look back on the last twelve months, to see what we have achieved, what lessons we have learned, and to highlight our most outstanding moment of the year. We are thrilled with what was yet another stellar year at FleishmanHillard. 2015 was filled with both challenges and successes, all of which have afforded the company and its staff members’ opportunities...
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Communications and Business Acumen go hand in hand
January 15, 2016
With the public relations landscape constantly evolving, PR professionals have tried to reinvent themselves and the industry by shifting their focus to various elements such as authenticity, integration, creativity, storytelling, big data, etc., to remain relevant. Although many agencies and professionals are moving quickly to keep on top, one of the key areas that is most undervalued in the industry is working to build knowledge around business acumen. To be a good communicator, you need to...
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If a brand isn’t on Instagram and no one is around to see it, does it even exist?
January 14, 2016
I was part of a pitch recently for an Instagram campaign, and the client said something that stuck with me. He relayed the story of his boss’s 16-year-old daughter. As part of a normal, everyday conversation among her and her friends, the topic of insurance came up following a social media ad campaign one of them had seen. The 16 year old brought up her father’s company and the youth benefits it offered. A friend...