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Welcome to my blog. I'll be updating it frequently and share views and ideas that I hope you'll find interesting. We're all the media now“Institutions that once had to go through media to deliver information are now themselves What so every organisation is now a newspaper or TV station? Yes and no. Good is the enemy of Great“Good is the enemy of great ….the vast majority of companies remain just that – good, but not great”. That’s the view of one of the best writers on leadership and creating excellence, Jim Collins. Substitute, in place of “companies”, schools, colleges, councils, hospitals, charities or any other form of organisation and the words are still true.
Help for...?Are emotions more important than facts in reputation building? Is the attention-grabbing headline more influential than an objective analysis of a situation?
Excite, not satisfy.“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new”. The death of Steve Jobs, and the impact he had on society and business has filled vast areas of the media in the last week. I’m not going to talk about that – others are more capable – but will look at an aspect of his approach and philosophy that can apply to every organisation, not just Apple. Jobs’ quote above demonstrates his belief in always looking ahead. Making the new familiar...“Making the new familiar and the familiar new”. According to Stephen Fry this is a definition of poetry, but it’s also absolutely true of good marketing. A new product, organisation or service will each be an unknown quantity. The unfamiliar organisation or service or, indeed, situation makes us less likely to feel comfortable Olympics ticket communicationsI confess. I’ve got Olympics tickets. Not sure which ones but I know I’ve had some success in the ballot. Those of you who haven’t been lucky may start hissing now but I think the process was as fair as possible. Would I feel the same way if I hadn’t been fortunate? I honestly can’t say but the whole communications process around Olympic ticketing should have had some affect. What's Your Vision?“Four hundred years ago you were executed as a witch if you said you’d had a vision, now they’re compulsory”. I heard this at a conference and it’s stayed with me when working with clients. It seems that every organisation has articulated, or wants to develop, its “vision”. Interestingly, many of them struggle to describe what they see. First impressionsFirst impressions are definitely important. Sometimes later experience causes us to revise our assessment of a person or organisation but not always. That’s why getting off on the right foot is a key part of building reputation, trust, and custom. Posted on: 6th March 2011. Flight of Communications Fancy?Surely it’s time for BAA (or any airport operator) to get all their airlines together and construct an unambiguous communications plan that spells out who is responsible for what? Total clarity on the frequency of updates, who communicates about specific flights, who about passenger facilities for those delayed, etc. It’s a sensible pooling of the expertise and resources that exist. Posted on: 22nd December 2010. Only useful information pleaseI have a big sense of déjà vu about the government’s claim that it will bring new openness to public services. That it will somehow create a new “citizen accountability” on the part of schools, hospitals, councils etc. I can’t help but feel that it’s been done before and that some of the new proposals are more about being seen to do something rather than actions that will deliver great benefits to anyone. Posted on: 10th November 2010. | We're all the media now“Institutions that once had to go through media to deliver information are now themselves What so every organisation is now a newspaper or TV station? Yes and no. Read more ... | |
Areas of expertise in education, schools, public and third sector marketing:
- Advertising
- Branding
- Campaign Design and Management
- Communications Audits & Planning
- Corporate PR and Communications
- Communications Reviews
- Community Relations
- Copywriting
- Crisis PR
- Design Advice
- Event Management
- Face-to-face Events
- Marketing Audits & Planning
- Media Relations
- Organisational Reviews
- Public Consultation
- Staff Surveys
- Stakeholder Audits
