No 10 Embraces Digital PR May 5, 2008
Posted by paulprdixon in : PR in the UK, PRandom , add a commentBritish Prime Minister Gordon Brown took a hammering in the UK local elections last Thursday. Not only was it the Labour Party’s worst performance in over 40 years, the eccentric Conservative Party candidate and former editor of The Spectator, Boris Johnston, was victorious in his campaign to be elected as London Mayor.
‘The multitudes have spoken,’ proclaimed the former Etonian in his victory speech. And from within Brown’s inner-circle, a Labour cabinet member said: ‘We have been given an almighty yellow card with bright red lights flashing at the edges.’ A bit of a strange quotable-quote that one. Perhaps the cabinet member (on the tail-end of an election all-nighter) was supposed to say that Brown better sort the mess out before the UK electorate reaches for the red card.
But even if Labour does get the red card in the next general election, one cannot say it’s because Downing Street hasn’t been playing its PR card effectively. (more…)
Thaksin: A Football Crazy PR Pro March 14, 2008
Posted by paulprdixon in : PR in the UK, PRandom , add a comment* This post was originally written for ‘Off The Record’ - AC Capital Strategic Public Relations’ blog
Thaksin Shinawatra - the deposed Thai Prime Minister - is not someone I particularly like. Ask any fellow Manchester United aficionado if they agree and your answer will be a definitive yes; following the telecoms tycoon’s ousting in a 2006 military coup he decided to throw his Baht at Manchester United’s local rival, Manchester City. And then he recruited former England manager Sven Goran-Eriksson, who has done a fantastic job, as team manager.
The Thai and the Swede share a turn-around in fortunes. Where one has recently returned to Thailand (kissing the Bangkok tarmac on his arrival) with the blessing of the newly elected Prime Minister from the pro-Thaksin People’s Power Party, the other (also deposed from office) has undergone a transformation himself, at least on the football field.
But this is where the similarities end. ‘Slippery Sven’ made himself tabloid-fodder (and still is) during his tumultuous England reign for scoring off-the-field more than on it. Thaksin, on the other hand, has been described as a ‘PR genius’. I don’t like what Thaksin has achieved at Manchester City. But with my PR hat on, I agree that this guy is in the Champions League spot when it comes to public relations
His record, home and away, is outstanding. Effectively harnessing the media to build his power base amongst the villages and factories, Thaksin’s successful populist campaign propelled him to victory in the 2002 Thai elections. Known to have a hat-trick of quotable quotes up his sleeve, in 2007 the ousted Thai PM famously told CNN: “I don’t believe that this can happen again in the 21st century”. In the British media almost all his photos show a goal-post-wide smiling Thaksin proudly wearing the famous sky-blue Manchester City scarf.
And now back in Thailand, he is using Manchester City as an effective tool to prop up his own image in a country which shows live Premier League games in its cinemas. On his return home a few weeks ago, not only did Thaksin kiss the tarmac in front of the assembled press, flanking him were two Manchester City players here ‘to coach Thai children’. This is PR PHD stuff.
But Thaksin does have his PR critics and has been accused of failing PR 101: to communicate effectively with all your key audiences whilst being consistent to your brand i.e. don’t lie and make promises you can’t keep. But the guy isn’t a John Rendon, Thaksin is a politician and politicians don’t always care about passing their PR mid-terms.
Now back in Thailand and ostensibly claiming that he is done with politics, Thaksin faces corruption charges; but it’s a formality that he will be cleared. Critics fear that his return is a calculated step towards regaining power. From a PR perspective, this certainly seems the case; he knows more than most that perception management is a key facet in his political rehabilitation.
As for the somewhat rehabilitated ‘Slippery Sven’, he will be hoping some more of Thaksin’s billions of Baht will be coming Manchester City’s way. I however will be hoping that Thaksin takes his eye off the football for a while, and be spared the laughable ‘Blues can dominate the world’ headlines that have become ubiquitous in local Manchester media over the last year. Come on You Reds.
Home Secretary discovers how not to use quotable quotes January 22, 2008
Posted by paulprdixon in : Media Focus, PR in the UK , add a commentFear and kebabs on the streets of Peckham, a deprived area of south London, was the message that came out from Jacqui Smith earlier this week – not the best communications from a Home Secretary tasked with sorting out the hoody-hoodlums reaping havoc, and even death, on Britain’s streets.
Jacqui Smith - From Blair’s Babe to Brown’s Trumpet
Being brought up in Stockport I know all about the hoodies. During Christmas, the local Conservative (Liberal Democrats hold Stockport) opposition described the passageway from the train station to the A6 as: “A canyon of despair”, a decent quotable quote for the local papers to feed off – which they did.
The quotable quote - of the self-destructive kind - Jacqui Smith let slip in an interview with Isabel Oakeshott, Deputy Political Editor for the Sunday Times, read: “I won’t walk down a street alone at night”; the headline reading exactly the same as the quote.
But the situation was to worsen for the Home Secretary. Hours after the interview, realising Smith had just loaded a powerful firearm – with NEWS CORP delicately engraved into its sides - office aides initiated a desperate spin operation with claims that her words did not come out as intended. The aide then attempted to rebut Smith’s assertion by claiming that she had recently “bought a kebab in Peckham”; music to a smiling Oakeshott’s ears, she duly included this desperate attempt in her article.
The Jacqui Smith debacle is completed with a week that has begun with some serious negative coverage on the blogs (mine), in the magazines and published in the newspapers. The Spectator says, “Our defeatist Home Secretary”; the Guardian leads how I lead: “Fear and kebabs on the streets of Peckham”.
You do have to wonder why she took this pre-arranged interview in the first place. A quick Google search reveals a website which tracks the stories UK journalists are writing – and it seems Isabel Oakeshott hasn’t written a positive piece for quite some time. If the interview had to go ahead, then her communications aides – who haven’t exactly proved their value throughout this debacle – are also, like Smith, in need of some media training in 2008.
Scouts: We’re PRepared January 14, 2008
Posted by paulprdixon in : PR in the UK, PRandom , 2commentsThis week my “Public Relations” Google alert set alight in a way Baden Powell could have never foreseen when he decided that making fire with kindling best prepares a boy for a man’s life.
From the broadsheets (UK’s Daily Telegraph) to the red-tops (UK’s Mirror Newspaper), and doing the rounds on the blogs, the Scout Association has scored some substantial media coverage through announcing a new “PR Badge”. The new PR award is one of 42 unveiled in a major update of the Association’s merit badges.
The Scout’s New Chief Spokesboy
The Telegraph calls them “Woggle-wearing spin-doctors”; the Mirror sees it as “only fair to warn you not to panic when you first see one {a Boy Scout} wearing a PR Badge - a profession well-known for spinning the truth.”
But I am sure the Scout Association will settle for bit of tongue-in-cheek from the media when its key messages came through so clearly (and with the images of the new badges). We now know that – amongst 200 badges - Scout’s will also be able to earn badges in skateboarding, BMXing and rollerblading. We were reminded that the movement last year celebrated its centenary when 40,000 scouts from around the world joined a massive jamboree in the
UK. And we were informed that “Scouting is more relevant today than it ever has been over the last 100 years because it gives young people the opportunity to experience things they otherwise would not have the opportunity to do.”
As a former Scout – and now working in PR – it would be nice to roll back the years and earn my PR badge. But that’s not say I didn’t appreciate learning how to chop wood and tie a sheepshank. I was happy to read yet another key message come through in the media: “Purists have not been forgotten with new badges for Map Reading, Hiking and Emergency Aid.”
Let’s hope this jamboree of press coverage helps fuel the on-going resurgence in Scouting. We might also see a few more men working in the industry in the years that come.
Brown got Carter, I got to learn about FPR January 11, 2008
Posted by paulprdixon in : Career Focus, Media Focus, PR in the UK, PRandom , add a commentYou know what it was like when you learnt to drive. Fellow learners were suddenly everywhere, often to your annoyance in flashier, faster cars than the aptly named 0-60 in 60 seconds Nissan Micra you somehow got lumbered with. At least that’s what happened with me. And it’s the same with PR – you begin working with a new client, and then, out of the blue, there is the client’s logo, the client’s product, as you go about your life outside the office. It’s relentless and is only replaced when you start, as I like to say, ‘entering the zone’, with the next client.
Over a festive dinner with my twin sister and her fiancée the seeds were planted for a similar experience. They told me their friend works in Brunswick’s New York office and would be interested in hearing about my life in Beijing. I had never heard of Brunswick. At that point I was dying to get onto Google and begin delving into a corner of the PR world I had yet to enter: Financial PR.
So I did. But not before I came back to Beijing last week – adhering to a rule I set for my own ‘12 days of Christmas’ back in the UK: No ‘electronic’ information. For 12 days I was all about the British newspapers – in print. And it felt great, washing the ink off the tips of my fingers after my early morning read, and walk with the dog to the local newsagent, was, weirdly, a joy.
Being back in Beijing means I am more likely to have sore eyes rather than darkened finger tips; my eyes are already glued to blogs, vlogs, wikis and of course the on-line editions of the same British newspapers I read during my 12 days of Christmas back in the UK.
Before I even had the chance to Google Brunswick, the name was already appearing thanks to Gordon Brown appointing Brunswick’s now former Chief Executive, Stephen Carter, as his new ‘Chief advisor chief of strategy and principal adviser to the Prime Minister’, i.e. Spinbuster. And I have since learnt that Brunswick’s founder, Alan Parker - described as the ‘great conduit’ between Whitehall and the City - played a pivotal role in developing the financial PR industry into what we see today.
Brown watched Get Carter on Boxing Day
I hope in 2008 I will continue to learn more about PR through being inquisitive and curious about the PR world outside of my client work. Though I am not that sad, being able to return home on a wintry Beijing evening without seeing a client’s advertisement pasted in my apartment building’s elevator, as is the case now, would be nice…
Capello to see red from the tabloids December 19, 2007
Posted by paulprdixon in : Media Focus, PR in the UK, PRandom , add a commentOn the pitch, the imperious Fabio Capello will have to get England dribbling its way back to the dizzying heights last seen in ‘66. Off the pitch, the 61 year old Roman general will have to contend with a British tabloid press that has its own way of unleashing hell.
The British broadsheets are somewhat more forgiving and tend not to plaster their front pages with turnip heads (The Sun, Graham Taylor), or with “Wally in the brolly” headlines like the one found more recently in the dying moments of the last England manager’s tumultuous reign (Daily Mail, Steve McClaren). Instead, the broadsheets all decided this week to discuss the wounds Capello is likely to suffer in the merciless hands of the red-tops – and his best line of defense against them (nothing to do with four at the back of course).
Capello’s key message to the tabloids in 2010? 
First blood has been drawn. The Sun is already lambasting the latest
England manager’s command of the English language – mocking him for saying “honou-ra-ra-ble” - in what was his first English sentence during this week’s press conference at the Royal Lancaster Hotel. (more…)
BT Customer’s YouTube Rant December 2, 2007
Posted by paulprdixon in : PR in the UK, Social Media , add a commentBT came under scrutiny earlier this week when one of its frustrated customers posted a video complaint on YouTube.
And obviously it worked. Within days he had received a response from the office of BT chairman Sir Christopher Bland and a full refund which he rightfully deserved.
BT obviously did the right thing by sorting the mess out as soon as possible. But its reputation took a hit in the British news - especially the tabloids.
BT - Riding the storm
The Sun Newspaper - Britain’s leading tabloid - made it one of their top stories for the day (at least on-line) informing readers that after scores of letters and hours spent on hold or speaking to staff at the BT call centre in India, Mr Askins decided to grab the attention of the company - and its customers - by venting his rage on the video website. Consequentially, Mr Askins received preferential treatment from BT’s top brass.
YouTube stories are increasingly popular for newspapers as they add a further dimension: anyone reading online can just click straight through to the video post, if it isn’t already embedded like it was for this story. Also, even if you reading your morning papers the old-fashioned way the chances are your computer is not too far away. With YouTube stories, newspapers can offer more than words and pictures.
Cover ups Don’t Fly November 30, 2007
Posted by paulprdixon in : PR in the UK , add a commentOriginally posted 4 August 2007
The world’s favourite airline’ is experiencing a turbulent week.
First it was announced that BA is now the worst performing of all Europe’s major airlines, then a few days later it was hit with a £270 million fine for price fixing with Virgin. And today - just when they thought the nosedive was over and a spin had been averted - The Times (London) reports that BA attempted to conceal how many bags it was losing after discovering that it had come bottom of an industry league table. BA obviously doesn’t like to spin in the air - or with the media on the ground it seems.
BA, keeping its customers in the dark
Embarrassed by the findings, BA contacted the air passenger watchdog, the Association of European Airlines (AEA), and ordered it not to release the results of its quarterly survey of baggage delays and punctuality. In other words: stop the usual practice of issuing a press release to announce survey results. But that wasn’t enough for BA. They also wanted the figures to be placed on an obscure part of the AEA website, where they would be difficult to find. The AEA were outraged and neither of these requests got off the ground.
Hu’s better suited to handling a flood crisis? November 30, 2007
Posted by paulprdixon in : PR in the UK , add a commentOriginally posted 26 July 2007
As I waded through my regular news portals covering the latest flood reports from the UK - and China - it was interesting to see how the respective leaders from both countries are getting their feet wet and supporting the relief efforts. Even more interesting is their attire.
First there is Gordon Brown - whether it’s riding the storm in PMQ’s;
Serving aces past 13 year-old secondary school students;
