CEOs and digital dirt

News that Christian Streiff, the chairman of French car company, Peugeot-Citroen, has been ousted follows hot on the heels of the departure of GM head, Rick Wagoner, this weekend.  Interesting to see that the Wikipedia entries of both Christian Streiff and Rick Wagoner already carry this latest addition to their CVs.  It is important for [...]

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PR overloads Twitter?

There’s undoubtedly been a tipping point in the take up of new/social media by PR practitioners this year – and it’s all thanks to Twitter.  Nearly all the PR folk that I speak with are finally recognising the need to get involved – which has its amusing moments as some seem to now think they [...]

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Is this a new Ikea car launch, crafty PR or just online rumour adding 2+2 to get 5?

I’ve been investigating the origins of a story that Ikea is apparently about to launch a car, the Leko. The story is told in French – with leblogauto writing about the Leko website on 23 March, although Onlike.net reported it a day earlier as did La Gazette, where there is a link to a “mailing” [...]

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Mother’s Day shows the PR power of women

The news that Jade Goody has sadly died comes on Mother’s Day in the UK, a time that Prince William recently revealed is difficult for him.  William has become patron on the Child Bereavement Charity – which has launched a campaign: ‘Remember on Mother’s Day’ asking people to consider “those mothers bereaved of a child [...]

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Taking control of your study nerves

It has probably never been so easy to access advice to support studying – whether that is in the form of study materials, feedback on formative assessment or access to tutors to clarify any questions students may have. But that doesn’t stop students worrying about how to tackle the next assignment coming their way – [...]

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A new model of social media PR?

The post: Yes, CEOs Should Facebook And Twitter – Forbes.com, claims that social media damaged the Ryanair brand following an employee’s marvellously insulting reply to blogger, Jason Roe – and the even more non-textbook response from the company’s spokesman, Stephen MacNamara: Ryanair can confirm that a Ryanair staff member did engage in a blog discussion.  [...]

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CIPR qualifications – top marks for professional practitioners

In a tough job market, being able to indicate your professionalism as a PR practitioner is vital.  Gaining the CIPR qualifications (Foundation, Advanced Certificate and Diploma) is a mark of commitment to improving vocational competencies through key knowledge and practical skills. The first assignment is a robust CRT (critical reasoning test) which assesses understanding, critical [...]

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Fat Duck – fat PR problem

With 400 diners now reported as suffering food poisoning from Heston Blumenthal’s fancy Fat Duck restaurant, a visit to the website shows no attempt at crisis management.  It somewhat bizarrely states: Welcome to The Fat Duck website. We are currently in the process of updating the design, technology and style of this site to offer [...]

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Summits – PR for meetings?

Have you been invited to a summit yet?  Forget about strategic meetings or twestivals, the only place to be seen at the moment is attending a summit. Such events are meant to be “ambitious” and high level, where matters of gravity are addressed.  Smart Communities reflects that summits are “usually reserved for the heads of [...]

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Sport or health & safety hazard?

When teaching writing skills, I like to focus on how the same content can be produced for different purposes and in varied styles.  This helps put the focus clearly on the receiver, as well as ensuring that the objective is considered before starting to write. Here is an interesting example – stair climbing.  This is [...]

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