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December 2010

OFT raps PR professionals over Twitter tactics

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has warned PR professionals to alter the way in which they use blogging and social media platforms such as Twitter. The warning comes after the OFT took enforcement action against one commercial blogging network, after it was found that it had breached fair trading rules by not disclosing which posts and updates were sponsored. Social media can be a great tool for PR agencies, but the OFT warns that public relations officers (PROs) need to take extra care when using it to ensure that they are being open and honest with consumers.

Vodafone shies away from proactive PR in tax-avoidance protest controversy

The communications chief at telecommunications company Vodafone has revealed that he will not be proactively engaging with protestors who claim that the company has been let off a substantial tax bill. The protests by tax-avoidance campaigners started a few weeks ago, after it was alleged that Vodafone had been let off an unpaid tax bill of approximately £6 billion. Clothing chain Topshop has also been targeted by angry campaigners. Vodafone denied the allegations when the protests started in October and November, but the story still doesn’t seem to be going away.

How social media can be used for damage control

A huge number of businesses and organisations these days are taking advantage of the many PR opportunities available with social media. Using social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and even YouTube, companies are able to interact with existing and potential customers in a completely new way. Along with interaction and promotion, however, social media can also be used as a method of damage control in the face of a potential PR disaster. An example of this would be if a very public mistake was made, or news of a potential scandal is reportedly about to break.

NASA uses lunar eclipse as a PR opportunity

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has managed to turn a lunar event – the recent lunar eclipse coinciding with the Winter Solstice – into a PR opportunity. Scientists at NASA were excited because the Winter Solstice – the moment when the Earth is tilted the furthest away from the sun on its axis - and the lunar eclipse happened on the same day, Tuesday 21st December 2010, within just a few hours of each other. To celebrate this event and promote the agency, NASA’s public relations team planned a number of interactive events.

Why is the building of brand recognition so important?

A lot of PR strategies focus heavily on ways to increase the familiarity of the brand, but why exactly is brand recognition so important? As a term, brand recognition relates to the way in which existing and potential clients and customers recognise and connect with your brand.

A PR consultancy can help when competition is tough

This is the time of year where it becomes apparent just how important a good PR agency is, particularly for retailers at Christmas time. At Christmas, the competition between retailers intensifies as they’re all fighting over one another to try and attract customers. This is where a public relations agency can really help. It’ all about seizing opportunities and knowing when it’s the right time to be launching a campaign and promoting a certain message. For example, a big news event might occur that is relevant to your industry; this is when a PR agency will pounce.

The Twisted Calendar of Public Relations – why PR consultants favour flip-flops in December

The ability to be one step ahead of the game is an essential PR skill, but six months?

Knowing a good PR agency when you see one

It’s not difficult to find a PR agency but finding a public relations company that knows exactly how to handle your campaign is another matter. But if you’re looking for a public relations consultancy, you should spend some time on ensuring that the company you choose is able to fulfil your needs and handle your campaign in the best way possible. Most public relations agencies will know how to speak to journalists but not all of them know how to handle certain situations.

The beauty of online PR

We all know how influential online PR has become but the new techniques undertaken by PR agencies haven’t really changed; online PR has just become another way of reaching people. Online PR hasn’t replaced any aspect of the PR techniques, but it works alongside the existing tools that a PR agency will use and has become a really important part of PR. Online PR has helped PR agencies to offer their clients a more permanent solution to getting their message across to the right audience.

Providing journalist-friendly PR copy

Ever imagined the headache you create when you send your beautiful-looking press release or PR copy over to a journalist to use? Ever thought that they might have to sit there and strip out all the formatting and special characters and replace them with standard ones?