Archive
Opinions
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I Just Can’t ‘Belieb’ It
April 15, 2013
So the world of communications has irrevocably changed - on that all communicators agree - but just how much damage is being caused by the power of social and online media in the hands of the wrong influencers? If the recent Justin Bieber debacle at Anne Frank's house is anything to go by I would say there is room for some serious concern. For those who haven't followed the story, the 'teenage superstar' Bieber commented...
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Re-Imagining Almost Everything
April 12, 2013
Companies around the world are constantly changing the way they do business, even to the point of reinventing themselves, so that they can keep doing what they have always done - which is to sell goods and services at a profit...
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Lessons to Be Learnt From the Weakening Rand
April 5, 2013
Over the last few weeks the South African currency plummeted to levels last seen in 2009, and according to analysts the local currency is weakening because of the manner in which South Africa is being viewed by investors. If the Rand’s plunge is sentiment - driven then it would be safe to say the currency is suffering as a result of negative perceptions around South Africa. A few events have cast a dark cloud over...
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Is Paid-for Media Gaining Ascendancy Over Earned Media? How Does This Affect PR?
March 28, 2013
Every PR practitioner knows the frustration: you open the newspapers or trawl through media monitoring reports only to find that, your client’s all-important event or press statement did not see the light of day. Brace yourself for more tearing of hair because it’s getting worse. And, unlike in the cliché, it’s not going to get any better after that. The evidence is all there for us to see...
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Internships … Are They Worth It?
March 26, 2013
A view from a former intern That’s the question I’ve come across since my time of being an intern. The question is often raised by individuals who usually have a misconception of what it really means to be an intern, and to be honest I also used to be counted amongst these. My perceptions have since changed as I’ve been fortunate enough to ‘intern’ at a place where I was not only treated as an...
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Why Generation Y?
March 19, 2013
Known for their impatience and lack of brand loyalty, Generation Y has become the Achilles Heel of many consumer brands. With Gen Y soon surpassing the number of baby boomers (Gen X) in the work force, companies cannot afford to ignore this lucrative market. So who is Gen Y?...
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Controversy Continues to Plague SA Meat Industry
March 13, 2013
The ‘horse meat’ controversy erupted in the United Kingdom on the 16th January this year amid claims by The Food Safety Authority of Ireland that beef burgers with traces of equine DNA, including one product classed as 29% horse, were being supplied to supermarkets by Silvercrest Foods in Ireland and Dalepak Hambleton in Yorkshire, subsidiaries of the ABP Food Group...
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What Facebook’s Timeline Changes Mean to Brands
March 11, 2013
Facebook’s announcement of timeline updates late last week gives the option for users to filter out content from brands. The three main things coming to the newest version of Facebook’s News Feed are richer stories, new choice of feeds and mobile consistency. Both ads and stories will be richer, as photos and videos will now be larger across the feed. The photo size increase will affect posted photos and photos on posted links and extend...
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The Connection Between Teen Pop Icons and Technology PR
March 8, 2013
If the above heading left you pondering the correlation between the teen pop icon and the job of making technology interesting to the world at large, congratulations: you’re not alone. It was a test, you see. I spent days mulling over how the two were related, until it suddenly dawned on me. They’re actually not related at all. And herein lies the magic of PR. One of the often overlooked functions of PR is to...
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Successful Offshore Consulting Requires Much More Than Just Subject Expertise
March 6, 2013
Who remembers the saying: “The world is getting smaller by the day?” The metaphorical reference to the shrinking earth was often used by geography teachers - 40 years ago in my case - to illustrate how invention and innovation have dramatically narrowed the distance between people across the globe. Then, we marvelled at how, thanks to the aeroplane, one could wake up in Johannesburg, attend a meeting on the other side of the world and...