Posted on Current PR Conversations PR Axis

Relations with customers and prospects

In serialising chapters from the 1948 book Your Public Relations since October 2013, I have been struck by the relevance of the authors’ thinking and practice, often in total contrast to arguments that PR today is more strategic than in the past. The ten chapters featured so far seem to counter the progressive perspective of PR’s history. The next chapter, discussed in this post, however, is different and feels remarkably old-fashioned in many respects. Its...

Posted on PR Axis

Analyzing “results” from a communications performance measurement conference

“Until we relate one public relations measure to another…we will never be able to show causation from our communication programs.” Fraser Likely By Mary Jane Martin, MS, APR It was Fraser Likely who once said that until we relate one public relations measure to another—whether it be an internal communications or a social media metric—we will never be able to show causation from our communication programs. That is, we will never be able to show that...

Posted on PR Mediums

Contemplating selfie disruptions in historical and modern-day PR

“If I were Bernays, as a sign of self expression, I would dedicate my creative genius to adapt (or adopt) the ‘selfie’ idea for a public relations program dedicated to individual emancipation.” Stuart Ewen By Toni Muzi Falconi The Museum of Public Relations scheduled an event for late March 2015, at Manhattan’s Baruch College / CUNY Newman Library (where the books and artifacts of the museum are currently situated), anticipated to be a critical and topical...

Posted on PR Motion

Calculating your worth in public relations

A basic calculation of what you are worth as a PR practitioner comes by dividing your annual income by the number of hours that you work. Not the number that you are employed for, but how many hours you work. Often in PR we ‘over-service’ – not only if we work as a consultant but within in-house roles too. It has become ingrained in practice that clocking up hours, and getting the job done is...

Posted on PR Mediums

Popping candy politics prioritises publicity over policies

With the date of the UK general election set as 7 May 2015 – and dissolution of Parliament therefore already determined as 30 March, we’re in a period of what I’m calling ‘popping candy politics’ that prioritises publicity over policies. As an example, last week brought us hashtag #pinkbus as the Labour party chose a pink minibus for a tour of the country that was intended to connect with female voters. The result was a focus...

Posted on PR Nexus

Examining the (weird) science of communication presentations

Whether it is a field of scientific endeavour, a corporate communications challenge or an attempt to communicate the position of a government or government department, a diverse talent pool will eventually do a better job than a single demographic. In the second half of his guest post, Mike Spear suggests 20 female speakers who specialize in “science communications” and who he believes, individually or collectively, can help conference organizers to achieve at least some of...

Posted on PR Axis

Winning better relations with the community

One of the notable developments of scholarship in public relations in recent years has been an increased focus on its role in society. A socio-cultural turn was noted by Lee Edwards and Carrie Hodges in their 2011 book: Public Relations, Society & Culture, which presented PR as a “cultural intermediary occupation…central to economic and cultural life due to the power and influence it commands”. In noting how the lifestyles of those involved in such occupations...

Posted on Classic PR Conversations PR Sense

Double-dipping exposes reputation risk in blurred boundaries of PR and journalism

When it comes to reputation, there is little distinction between a real conflict and a perceived one Op-Ed by Daniel Tisch, APR, FCPRS As media scandals go, it was a big one for Canada: The revelation that for the past two years one of the nation’s better-known TV news anchors was a part owner of a small public relations firm. Even more unnerving was that the anchor—and, on occasion, other journalists affiliated with the TV...

Posted on PR Techster

Six social media and digital communications trends for 2015

One of the most enjoyable hybrid academic-practitioner experiences I have had this year has been as course leader of the PR Academy Digital Communications Certificate course. The reason is that we have been able to incorporate a lot of contemporary thinking around ways of learning as well as the emerging field of digital communications and social media. This includes blended approaches to online and offline learning (with Stuart Bruce leading a face-to-face session, alongside my...

Posted on PR Axis

Making the case for solid public relations research

Exploring the core elements needed and depth of analytical knowledge required to lead public relations-oriented research projects By Natalie Bovair, APR Recognizing that research is essential to strategic public relations planning, not to mention program evaluation, conventional wisdom would have it that public relations professionals—at least those of the strategic management variety—were taught or developed strong research skills. Herein lies the problem: The majority of PR practitioners lack the depth of investigative experience or the...