We Think …

The Autumn season is known for its plethora of industry award ceremonies.  This means that as June comes to a close, the rush to get entries in on time, and to a high standard, becomes a major focus for marketers and PRs across all sectors.

With a track record for successful award entries for our clients - here's a case study example for those interested - we thought we'd share a few tips to help you in your planning for next year.

1. Try to build your case study portfolio throughout the year so you have a selection of well written...

“It’s not our fault” often seems to be the stock response of companies and government organisations when things go terribly wrong or spin horribly out of control. Instead, they explain that it’s beyond their control, an unforeseeable outcome, or the work of the previous guys in charge.

Trouble is, all too often, the public doesn’t buy it. It just doesn’t wash. And companies do too little to manage expectations or demonstrate to people that they are trying to cope. Their PR can be the disaster that follows the disaster.

Take the on again-off again relationship that the airlines and holiday companies have...

So our beloved, recently elected, most esteemed, coalesced leaders are doing something very important with Capital Gains Tax.  I thought that we had left the period of pre-election posturing and were supposed to be getting down to real policies to sort out the economic crisis.  Evidently not.  Do you know how much CGT raises each year?  Around £3-4 billion.  So alter that by, say 10% (a politically acceptable change for the electorate) and it might raise £300-400 million.  In the current situation, that is a totally insignificant sum.  As

I’ve just returned from several days at the Ipex trade exhibition in Birmingham. Why are these events never held in Mauritius or the Seychelles?

Ipex is an international print show – a once-every-four-years occasion that attracts all the industry big-hitters. Multi-million dollar marketing budgets are flexed as exhibitors jostle for the limelight amidst a fanfare of new launches.

Clearly, many months of planning had gone into some of the booth designs.  The sheer scale of many stands was impressive.  And yet, all too often, the on-stand messaging delivered nothing but bold, bland claims – ‘we do this; we do that; and oh,...

Every company has one.  They’re used on company stationery, websites, collateral, advertising and campaign activity – in short, everywhere associated with the brand in question. That’s right, it’s the trusty old tagline.

If got right, the tagline can be an effective and memorable device that is a true reflection of what your company does and your brand values. If got wrong, it could be the business world’s equivalent of an awful bar-side chat-up line.

While a number of great consumer taglines spring to mind, it seems to be more of a challenge to get it right in the B2B environment and so...

As the frenzied election of 2010 reached full swing, it was heralded as a campaign taking shape unlike any other – or at least that was different from any national political contest in recent history. With the spectre of a ‘hung’ parliament and the raised profile of the third party and its ascendant leader, it certainly was distinct from recent election campaigns.

What really helped make the campaign unique was the role of media – but the new-style media coverage did not unfold quite the way some observers thought it would. Early in the election contest, I wrote about the fact...

So we Brits are all in the throes of having to make the dreadful choice when casting our votes this week.  Colleagues and clients across Europe and the US have been studiously telling us that there is either more definition or less corruption in the UK's political options compared to their own home turf, and that we should stop moaning and just get on with it with good grace.  Point taken.

In fact, there are two issues that the successful party or coalition must address immediately and seriously.  First is the economic black hole of the UK public deficit (expected to...

So you're a major national and international telecoms company and you've recently had an incident at one of your exchanges that is affecting both telephone and broadband lines.  Here a few tips on what not to do.

1. Don't sit there while you try to fix the problem and hope that it won't affect your customers. Why not be pro-active and inform customers in the affected areas that you're working to sort the problem out? They'll appreciate your honesty and forward planning a whole lot more.


2. Don't try to make out that the business or person calling up is in fact not a...
   
   

 

I booked a well-deserved holiday this month and conducted all of my destination research online. How antiquated the thought of browsing through dog-eared brochures in a High St. travel agency now feels. Online I was able to search on price and location, view videos of possible accommodation, read reviews from other travellers – everything but dip a toe in the pool.

However, one common niggle kept distracting me like a persistent Mediterranean mosquito. Too many websites offered inadequate translations.

The language choice would be given – click the union jack for an English version. But once clicked, the resulting text read as...