When The FT Pulled A Company’s Press Release To Bits

Today’s short blog post looks at how a single newspaper article derailed a company’s attempt to secure positive media coverage for its 20 second Covid test. It shows how traditional media still has the resources and bite to hold organisations accountable for the claims they make and how important it is to be accurate and …

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SHOULD YOU GIVE A MONKEY ABOUT BAKKAVOR

Case Study / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

Hundreds of workers at meat and food processing factories across the UK have tested positive for coronavirus. Working conditions and practices seem to put them at particular risk. One of those affected is Bakkavor - a FTSE250, £2bn revenue company that you have probably never heard of although you have probably eaten the dips, sauces, …

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Frustration Boils Over In Oxfam CEO Media Interview

Case Study, Crisis communications, Help For Communication Directors / By andrewcg

What was the low point in Oxfam's response to its reputation crisis? It was frustration boiling over for Oxfam’s CEO, Mark Goldring, when he gave a media interview to the Guardian and said that criticism of the charity was “out of proportion to the level of culpability”, that no one had “murdered babies in their …

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Should Company Spokespeople Expect More Hostile Media Interviews In 2018?

Case Study, Media Training, Reputation Management / By andrewcg

Hostile media interviews. Was the Peterson-Newman Channel 4 interview a watershed moment? Business has an image problem. Whether the focus is on its role in society, levels of executive pay, the privatisation of public services or the alleged behaviour of some of those attending the Presidents Club charity dinner, corporations are under greater scrutiny than …

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Ryanair is NOT having a reputation crisis

Case Study, Crisis communications, Reputation Management / By andrewcg

Because that would suggest that its reputation is being damaged. It is not. It is being confirmed. Just as Michael O’Leary likes it to be. It's a great example to include in our media training. If O’Leary has said it once, he has said it a thousand times - fly Ryanair if you want the …

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Why does a story go viral – like United Airlines bumped passenger?

Case Study, Crisis communications, Reputation Management / By andrewcg

Why does a story go viral? The United Airlines bumped passenger story offers us a nice insight into the power of communications. I suspect that this situation doesn’t make an appearance in United’s crisis manual. But then, it’s not a crisis. It’s a poorly handled issue - at the moment. Much like when two weeks …

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Parliamentary Committee Woes

Case Study, Media Training / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

Mike Ashley’s appearance today before the Business, Innovation & Skills Parliamentary Select Committee today has all the makings of a classic. The self-confessed loudmouth who had called MPs a “joke” was done up like a kipper, particularly by Labour MP, Paul Blomfield (a star in the making?). Electric Airwaves published our latest short animated video …

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During crisis, be consistent and be aware

Leave a Comment / Case Study / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

The decision made by Cincinnati Zoo seemed like a no-brainer. A three-year old boy had climbed over a fence and fallen into the enclosure of a 4001b Gorilla named 'Harambe'. Even though the gorilla did not appear to be attacking the child, even though the gorilla was from an endangered species, Zoo Director Thane Maynard …

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Can you get away with controversial media comments?

Case Study, Media Training / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

When an organisation's leader says something contentious in public, its PROs often cringe. A press release is issued to 'clarify' the comments in "'order to restore calm to troubled waters; the executive may be urged to take a holiday. But if the comments are not on the scale of BP' s Tony Hayward "I want …

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