PR and reputation management

Do your own PR and say hello once in a while

Sometimes we can all get a little caught up in our worlds. From the man that I let in front of me in the coffee queue who failed to acknowledge the gesture, to the lady on the tube who also ignored my struggle to stand up with heavy grocery bags...


Pro bono week: something to shout about

It’s National Pro Bono Week – a chance to celebrate the breadth and impact of pro bono work undertaken by the legal profession across the year. The debate around whether or not lawyers should publicise their pro bono work is an interesting one. It touches on issues of how far...


PR disaster: what we can learn from Bell Pottinger’s crisis

If you work in PR then you may remember where you were when you heard communications agency Bell Pottinger had been expelled from its own industry body – the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA). Together with ad giant Saatchi, the agency, founded by the still-living Tim (Lord) Bell, was the comms...


Brands and banter on Twitter: recipe for disaster?

I'm sure over the summer holidays with all the family at home (or even worse in a hot car) there has been the occasional flare up. One such example of online bickering that the Daily Mirror thoughtfully summarised in this article, was an eye-catching Twitter row between the accounts of...


How important are relationships really?

Last week MD Communications celebrated its 7th birthday. Seven years ago while I was sat at my desk at the Law Society running the press office I knew I needed a fresh challenge. I set myself the goal of gaining three clients as well as having a brand in place and a...


How to achieve strong and stable PR

Michael Gove, during last year's EU referendum campaign, famously declared that people had had enough of "experts". He had in mind the economists, scientists, lawyers and vice chancellors who thought Brexit was a terrible idea. Well, for now at least he's back in government, and at a time when a different...


British Airways chaos – how I became part of the story

Never become the story, runs a well-worn piece of advice to PR professionals. It's a rule I broke this week, with a syndicated quote appearing in 40 international news outlets, including the LA Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Evening Standard and the Washington Post. In my defence, I was speaking as a travelling...


The PR power of “I’m sorry”

Last week I flew to Miami to speak about the power of brands at an IE Law School conference. My flight with American Airlines was uneventful but given what I was due to speak about, it got me thinking about what's been happening recently with another American airline. Let's play a...


Kendall Jenner + Pepsi = Worst. Ad. Ever

Picture the scene: one of the most famous Millennial faces in the world, hot topics of protest and togetherness, a hippy moment and some seriously cool double denim. Doesn’t that sound like a recipe for advertising success to you? Well, while the recent Pepsi ad staring Kendall Jenner - as a...


Law firm results season – to shine, or blend in?

Who's up and who's down? After the excitement (or frustrations) of the directories' publication, law firm results season is the next opportunity to ask the question. I don't need to tell you it's a tricky market, and firms are rightly concerned about the way their results are reported - their...