Gullane Business Centre
12a Lammerview Terrace
Gullane
EH31 2HB
T. 01620 844736
Blogs
It was Oscar Wilde who suggested that “there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." In this blog we cover other inspirational speakers and their quotes.
The search for MH370 continues, with possible debris spotted in the water, but with factual information either patchy or non-existent. It has become the Marie Celeste of the 21st century – a modern mystery of horrific proportions, with 239 passengers and crew onboard, and played out in real-time across the world’s media.
Audiences, Orwell & corporate messages Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, PR was pretty simple: you wrote something that you thought potential customers might like to read and sent it out to as many media outlets as possible. What has changed in the intervening years is our ability, driven by digital technologies, to better understand the audiences we are selling to and, using both traditional and social media, better interact with them.
It’s about how businesses align their values and behaviour with the expectations and needs of stakeholders - customers and investors, employees, suppliers, communities, regulators, special interest groups and society as a whole.
In the spirit of Christmas and as a gesture of goodwill, we’re holding a marketing competition with a cash prize of $50 trillion for one lucky winner. No strings, no catches.*
PR is supposed to be about putting companies and organisations in contact with stakeholders. Good PR is about effective communications and, in a digital age, meaningful dialogue.
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.” So said Daniel Boorstin, the late American writer and historian. It was intended as a witty quote, but does it illuminate whether PR is a force for good or (shudder!) something less benign?
It’s that time of year when children dress up as ghouls or witches and go door-to-door innocently collecting sweets. But the history of witchcraft is rather more complex – with a contemporary PR message.
With brand value an integral element in corporate and marketing strategy. The same is true of countries, particularly in a global economy: a pertinent observation ahead of Scotland’s independence referendum later this year
King Boabdil, the 15th century king of Grenada, didn’t much like the news that a city had fallen to his enemies. So he had the messenger killed. It wasn’t the first time that the bearer of bad news had got the blame, or the last. The origins of the phrase, killing the messenger, goes back to Sophocles and Plutarch. Nowadays, we’re a bit more civilised and make clear distinctions between the message and the messenger, although we’d all prefer to be the bringer of glad tidings.
Okay, so you’ve opened the presents, but you still have to survive the rest of Christmas Day.
Every company starts off with an idea, and it’s that initial idea that illuminates how all companies grow and develop.
Reddit as an entertaining marketing tool... without the marketing
Charlie blogs on the importance of applying for business awards and the PR effect that comes hand in hand.
Take Homer Simpson. His wisdom suggests that, once he retires from cartoons, a career in PR beckons.
Creating a PR plan can be divided into five stages
The advent of big data is allowing companies to deploy smart marketing campaigns aimed at smaller and smaller segments, profiling all of us against analytical technologies that are driving messaging from the macro to the micro.
The best marketing and PR strategies are carefully crafted to communicate a small number of core messages, and to then reinforce those messages by repetition.
Corporate slogans and affectionate chickens Love ‘em or hate’ em, there’s no getting away from corporate slogans. They’re about connecting people and because you’re worth it, and that know how is just what the doctor ordered.
The worlds of marketing and communications have shifted on their axes in recent years – and the speed of change is hotting up.
Companies are in business to make money and increase market share. To achieve that requires competitive advantage and a positive reputation in the market. That’s not easy to achieve, particularly for SMEs competing against larger companies - not least to create a corporate culture that empowers employees to make it all happen.
Do you write cock and bull or nursery rhymes? A look at the spectrum of PR story-telling.
The first problem with Christmas is that you have to buy people nice presents. However, there are some fabulous gift ideas out there. As a business person who wants to influence and impress, here is my pick of the gift bunch.
You can’t see or touch it. But it’s there, an essential and invisible part of every company or organisation, and a potent force in marketing and commercial strategy. Corporate culture has become increasingly important in recent years and, despite being intangible, it can affect employee performance and organisational success.
A Charlie Laidlaw blog on the MI5 and its relation to modern day PR - July 2013
We all know that public relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and, more importantly in this digital age, what other say about you.
Charlie Laidlaw on The Broons and what it means for the economy...
It can be daunting for small businesses to contact the media. You may feel that you have a good story to tell, but how to go about it? Sadly, many companies – particularly smaller ones – end up hiding their lights under bushels.
© 2013 DavidGray PR. All rights reserved