Read Here How 10th December Used To be “Public Relations Day”

Reputation Management / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

“December 10th is Public Relations Day” wrote Anthony Sampson is his famous 1962 book ‘Anatomy of Britain’ – an exploration of the workings of the British state and other major social institutions. “Every year, 300 or so delegates from the IPR come to the Festival Hall to celebrate their trade, and men with double-barrelled surnames …

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Why Three Key Messages Don’t Cut It Anymore – & What To Do About It

Corporate Story, Media Training, Reputation Management / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

Have you ever surveyed your audience to see whether people can recall your three key messages after your spokesperson has been in the media? Because you did have three key messages, didn’t you? It’s like ... a rule of PR. Three key messages. But when you’re down the pub, are people actually talking about organisations’ …

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How To Stop Your CEO Walking Out Of A Media Interview

Reputation Management / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

As Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy put it: “I will defend anyone’s right to act like an arse, but if they do, they shouldn’t be surprised if anyone else decides to park their bike somewhere painful.” You may have seen the video of Persimmon plc CEO, Jeff Fairburn, walking off-camera during a recent BBC interview. He …

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Should You Call Yourself a PR ‘Professional’?

Reputation Management / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

As I sat judging entries for the CorpComms Magazine awards last week, I was also thinking about the industry language that Public Relations is a ‘profession’. Is it really? Is our work not more like a ‘craft’ or a ‘trade’? One that is mainly learnt as one goes along (a bit like most journalism!)? I …

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Don’t Use Your Own ‘Leaves On The Line’ Type Excuse In A Press Release

Reputation Management / By Andrew Caesar-Gordon

You've read the excuse - sorry, reason - in a press release for poor corporate performance. Retailers blame the weather; restauranteurs blame Brexit; Imperial Tobacco blamed ISIS for interrupting its distribution network in Iraq. And some just blame their customers. In 2015, Macy's chief financial officer, Karen Hoguet, blamed the company's weakness in the luxury …

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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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