Archive

Year: 2012

  • Managing Crisis Communications

    December 18, 2012

    Written by Katharina Scholtz, published in Gotta Quirk in 2009 but still so relevant today. It’s 2am and you get a call saying that the range of vitamins your company manufactures has just turned the tongues of twenty kids permanently blue. There are angry and Web savvy parents tweeting, mailing, blogging, phoning and letting the world know that your brand has done some damage. The media run stories citing studies done about the psychological damage of...

  • Public Relations – More Evolutionary Than Revolutionary

    December 12, 2012

    The opinion of Kevin Welman, Managing Director of Fleishman-Hillard SA, drafted by Tom Manners In many ways, the past year has been one of subtle transformation for those who work and play within the realm of professional communications. Although we have yet to experience a ‘eureka!’ moment worthy of Archimedes’ bath time revelation, we’ve all noticed an understated, yet sudden shift in the very foundation underlying the strategies and approaches we have grown used to...

  • PR From the Perspective of a Reformed Cynic

    December 7, 2012

    January 09th 2012 was an extremely important date in my life.  It was on this day that I went against everything my mentors had instilled in me about the perceived ‘Dark Side’ that is Public Relations. In the Journalism world the word PR is passionately frowned upon.  For most, it’s where aged journos eventually end up when they’ve retired in hope of salvaging the ‘tacky’ profession.   Here I am aged 26, hardly at the peak...

  • Understanding the News Cycle

    December 5, 2012

    As communications consultants we have a particular responsibility to understand the news cycle. By analysing different news cycles over time we are able to identify interesting trends and plan accordingly for them...

  • Measurement – Making It Count

    November 27, 2012

    In the world of ‘PR,’ measurement or analytics remain elusive moving targets. Yes we all agree AVE’s are not the measure of PR. Really? How many of you still use these as a tool, justification to get the executive committee or C-Suite in your company to approve budget for ‘PR’ led activities for the next year? Don’t hang your head in shame because the truth is the majority of us still do. It’s not that...

  • Ignore Media Training At Your Peril

    November 19, 2012

    For something so important in public life, far too many public figures pay little attention to how the general public perceives them.  This is quite strange, given that one can learn how to speak clearly, confidently and to get their point across in a way that their audience understands and appreciates. Yes, you don’t have to be born with the gift of the gab to, for example, explain why taps are running dry; hospitals have...

  • Stop, Collaborate and Listen!

    November 14, 2012

    Try this: it might just result in a communications environment that garners the best results for both the client and the PR team. There are a few simple rules that seem to fall into the “logical side of the brain” category - and yet, they mostly seem to become lost in the melee of other less sensible workplace rules. One of these rules applies to those operating in communications industries or departments, and the hopes...

  • Social Media 101 for the Business to Consumer Environment

    November 8, 2012

    Part 2 Part 1 of Social Media 101 for the Business to Consumer environment sets the scene for the theory behind social media, looking at: The purpose of social media for business The challenges faced and what businesses are getting wrong Why users join or disengage from a businesses’ social media page What communities expect from a brand’s social media presence and who should manage this presence In part 2, we look at best practice...

  • Social Media 101 for the Business to Consumer Environment

    November 6, 2012

    PART 1 NOT all social media channels are suitable for your brand!  The social media revolution has forever transformed the manner in which people communicate.  The advent of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, initially embraced by ‘early adopters’, now have a tremendous following with over 1 billion users on Facebook and a 140 million actively on Twitter.  These days everyone aspires to be digitally ‘switched on’ and businesses have certainly not fallen...

  • No ‘Eish’ moment when doing business in Africa- well it depends who you know

    October 29, 2012

    Media in Rwanda are easy to work with and they are more likely to attend a media launch if there’s some degree of government involvement. A PR campaign in Zimbabwe will require planning well in advance as the execution phase may take longer than expected – for some reason things tend to move slowly in this market. Kenya is the opposite; the country has an advanced media industry which employs very astute journalists who know...

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