Want to get in a room with a journalist?
The list of clients and journalists I like is, by now, fairly long and includes good friends from both camps. But is it ever a good idea to put both in the same room with the offer that the client...
Tesco’s 5p reputation
Tesco has had its fair share of bad PR over the years, and as a result spends a great deal of resource and time superintending its reputation. Anyone who follows the legal media will know that it is currently facing...
Becoming the story: PR people who get bad PR
We often see PR firms having to manage the PR disasters of their less savvy clients. It is arresting, then, when a PR adviser gets something very wrong – and when it happens it tends to attract a lot of...
Does anyone really care if you lie?
I'm at the IBA in Vienna this week networking with over 5000 lawyers and I have had numerous conversation about the fate of Volkswagen's brand. To answer this I've started by asking a few questions. Do you own a diesel engine Volkswagen?...
Can you control naming and shaming online?
It’s an unfortunate reality that most women experience casual sexism as an everyday occurrence. A yell from a white van man as she walks to work, or a presumption she will undertake the lion’s share of household chores; women in...
Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris – a case study
Not that long ago I blogged about Taylor Swift’s pretty immaculate record when it comes to well played moves in Twitter spats. Well, it seems I was tempting fate as the internet has been buzzing with Swift’s name this week,...
Is Justin Gatlin’s decision to boycott the media right?
When it comes to the media, most celebrities tend to take a cautious, even fearful approach. There’s no doubt that we have seen some horrible invasions of privacy by (mostly tabloid) journalists and some pretty devastating stories about high profile...
Two tragic events – two very different PR outcomes
The tragic incident at Alton Towers earlier this month has been all over the news. The crash on the park’s Smiler ride left 16 people injured, four very seriously, and immediately hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Luckily...
Is imperfection the way to your clients’ hearts?
The Duchess of Cambridge is one of the most photographed women in the world and both her pregnancies have attracted a mind boggling amount of press and public attention, from her maternity outfits through to the design of the royal...
Are you beach body ready?
How do you make ground up plant extracts controversial? Or even sexy? We imagine the advertising agency responsible for the recent 'Beach Body Ready' campaign from diet supplement peddlers Protein World are feeling very satisfied with the results so far,...