Archive

Year: 2013

  • The Rise of Minstrel Shows in South African Television

    November 8, 2013

    American minstrel theatre died in the early 20th century but its legacy lives on in 21st century South African television ads. The theatrical form was founded on the enactment of racial stereotypes, branded by rainbow coloured costumes, blackened faces, thick lips and bad jokes...

  • The Art of True Consulting Starts With Listening

    October 31, 2013

    With just over 4 years of industry experience under my belt, I am pleased to say that I have learnt quite a lot about good client service.  One of the key things that I was taught during my intern days by a phenomenal consultant that I had the privilege of working with - Caroline Halton- was to master the art of listening...

  • Media Pitching – The Perfect Date

    October 16, 2013

    When I first started in PR I didn’t realise one of my biggest strength’s would be media relations. I remember my first cold call to a journalist distinctly.  There were so many thoughts running through my mind- what am I going to say, are they going to respond positively, how will I land the pitch.  And I shudder when I think of my first press release, which I felt I had under achieved.  The main...

  • Confessions Of An Intern…

    September 17, 2013

    Ok, let me take you back in time: When asked what you wanted to become in the junior phases of your life, you’d mention the title of the job you desired at that time. For instance, ‘I want to be the CEO of company X’. Did you ever ask yourself exactly what that title entailed? Did you have a plan as to what steps you needed to take to get to the point of being...

  • Mind the Gap: FleishmanHillard Research Highlights Authenticity Gap for Companies

    September 10, 2013

    Johannesburg, September 10, 2013 —Corporate behaviour matters as much as products and customer benefits in influencing perceptions of companies and driving buying decisions, according to global research on corporate reputation launched in South Africa this week...

  • Has Anyone Seen the Movie ‘Idiocracy’?

    September 3, 2013

    I am of the firm belief that access to information is essential to the health of democracy. I recall when I started in this career there were journalists that I knew could smell ‘PR speak’ a mile away and would not touch your ‘PR’. These journalists revolutionised our industry and the way organisation’s communicated. Any organisation that envisioned an existence past its current financial year sought out communications agencies that would help ‘tell its story’...

  • What Women Want!

    August 30, 2013

    What do women want? That’s the proverbial question. Men, and some brands, believe that women are complex in their needs and wants. They believe that they need to embark on earth shattering endeavours to connect with women...

  • PR People (Should) Say No… or Should They?

    August 27, 2013

    A short while ago, I stumbled on a blog post titled Creative People Say No  and before even getting into the post’s content, the title had my attention. Particularly the “no” part. It got me thinking about our fascinating, dynamic industry of PR and Communications. Please forgive the sweeping generalisation I’m about to make, but go with me on this for a sec… As PR consultants, we are trained to be YES people. We say...

  • Why Music and Productivity (Should) Go Hand in Hand…

    August 21, 2013

    Take a walk through FleishmanHillard’s Bryanston offices and you’ll find headphones and plenty of them - generally attached in one way or another to people’s ears. This does not signify, as one might assume, that somebody up top keeps hiring antisocial hermits but is actually, according to a recent study, a sure sign of employees who are dedicated to keeping productivity levels high in the workplace. This particular study spoke to 1 000 small and medium...

  • A Company is Only as Good as its Leadership

    August 19, 2013

    There is a shortage of good leadership in modern society - I mean what has happened to the leadership that built this country?  The leadership that people like Oliver Tambo, Albertina Sisulu and Nelson Mandela brought to South Africa. Napoleon Bonaparte once said “a leader is a dealer in hope.”  In the six months that I have spent as an intern at FleishmanHillard, I have learned quite a lot of about the industry but never...

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