Archive
News & Opinions
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Why Fake News is a real PR problem
January 27, 2017
When the news is the news. Agenda-driven news is nothing new, but the sudden and not so subversive rise of fake news has me stunned. Black Ops, #PaidTwitter and the US Presidential Election have brought to light a deep and dark area floating somewhere between sinister political spin, cleverly crafted click bait, bad PR, and powerful pay-to-play masters who have the scary ability to twist fact into falsehood. Just last month New Balance nearly had...
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Top 5 Social Media Trends for 2017
January 25, 2017
In 2016, there was no shortage of updates and developments in the social media industry. From novel features and platforms to new technologies and brand opportunities, the year proved that consumers are engaging with brands more easily than ever before. Whilst it is difficult to predict exactly how the social media landscape will advance in 2017, we know that it will continue to evolve at a rapid pace. In order for brands to enhance their...
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FleishmanHillard’s Sharon Piehl Named to the African Excellence Awards PR Awards Jury.
January 5, 2017
Sharon Piehl, managing director of FleishmanHillard’s South African office, has been selected to be part of the PR jury at the 2016 African Excellence Awards, taking place in March this year. The Awards, launched in 2015, reward the best in African PR across a wide range of categories. Piehl, along with 23 other leading figures in the PR industry, will judge the most cutting-edge African PR campaigns of the past year. The Awards are part of a...
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Attracting millennials demands innovation in the communications workplace
October 25, 2016
Misconceptions surrounding the millennial generation prove that this young, vibrant and thoughtful group of people, continue to challenge today’s thinking in the workplace. Organisations are being challenged to adopt new ways of working in order to accommodate and attract this complex group. Born and bred in the digital revolution, these digital natives can bring significant value to the workplace. Employers are encouraged to dig deeper to find out what drives the millennials and what environment...
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What is the point of PR?
September 27, 2016
Over the years, the definition of PR has been debated and re-written, and PR practitioners have been subjected to a number of stereotypes. Whereas in reality, PR is a lot more than what people think. Cue annoying “oh like Olivia Pope?” questions. In my opinion, we’re the “Authors of Credibility” for our clients and their brands. The point of PR is to drive the reputation capital of an organisation- which is now as important as...
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The elevator pitch is not working, use the conversation stairs
September 22, 2016
In the digital era, technology has caused the power pendulum to swing in favour of the consumer. Previously, sales pitches were done in the form of a quick elevator pitch, at a conference for instance: This is where I am from and here is what we do - hopefully something resonates with you and you call us back later. Communication to prospective consumers were done over mass channels such as TV and newspapers and customers...
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Go for gold: Tap into the social media conversation
September 20, 2016
Over the past decade, social media has exploded onto the scene and has been growing exponentially. The number of available platforms increase every month and the combined amount of users is sitting in the billions. Social media plays an integral role in how we receive, engage and ultimately create information. Just take Twitter for example. I delved deeper into the recent Rio Olympics, and the hashtag #Rio2016 alone generated over 27 million posts with a total 100...
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Igniting innovation in PR
September 13, 2016
We have all heard that in order to stand out, we need to innovate and challenge established practices. But in a competitive PR landscape, how do we as consultants achieve this? It is no longer good enough to just create brilliant ideas for clients, we need to extend beyond traditional promotional tactics by moving away from what’s normal, comfortable and easy. Don’t talk product, talk impact Standing out from the crowd goes beyond talking about...
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Branded podcasts: Listen to your audience
September 8, 2016
The earliest form of storytelling is oral and had its heyday when it took to the airwaves in the commercial radio era. It is still one of the most powerful ways to communicate in the modern age, even as visual stimuli are everywhere you turn. I’m talking about the rise of the podcast. Sure, podcasts have been a thing for a while now, but they have been niche –digital radio for tech nerds. They have...
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Facebook at Work – future or failure?
August 31, 2016
Social media driven employee advocacy is not new. It makes sense, it’s necessary and effective. A company’s biggest advocates sit within the organisation, tools like Sociabble and Everyone Social provide an effective service where company sanctioned content is curated and presented to employees to consume and share – tools of this nature fulfil in part an internal communications role with the added benefit of external advocacy. It is hardly a surprise that the likes of...