PR, marcomms, recruitment and all the bits in between

La cigarette blagueuse The Fake Ciggie

L'hiver arrive, il va être de plus en plus difficile d'aller fumer aux pieds des immeubles de bureau... La cigarette électronique est un recours. Rooll 92, un ex-fumeur, a ouvert en juillet  2007, un blog dans lequel il donne son avis sur les différentes marques de cette nouvelle cigarette inoffensive.

Voir le blog

By Claire McMenamin

PR Week Awards 2008

Last week saw members of the PR industry dress up in their very finest and gather together to attend the PR Week Awards at Grosvenor House. The event saw this year’s high achievers all congregate in one room, including agencies such as Blue Rubicon (winner of Consultancy of the Year), Burson-Marsteller (who took home International Consultancy of the Year), TLG Communications (proud winners of New Consultancy of the Year) among many more. The host for the evening was Bill Bailey, who himself has proven to be the subject of many a debate - Comic genius? Or did he go too far? – And we all settled in for an evening of celebration, heckling and, let’s face it, probably a bit too much free wine. Following the ceremony there was the opportunity both for networking and pulling some debatable moves on the dance floor before the after party came to an end at about 3am. As the majority of PR professionals nursed their hangovers and had arguably one of the most unproductive days of their career the following day, the question on everyone’s lips was whether or not Bill Bailey (I’m going for comic genius by the way) would be invited back to host the awards again...I think it’s fair to say probably not. 

 

By Thea Foote

A TIN OF SARDINES AND THE CREDIT CRUNCH

Let me tell you a fishy tale passed down from my grandfather that was told to him by an old picture dealer from London after WWII – It reflects well on the substance of fishy finance and the even fishier investment banking.

Levi and Dent were having a chat over a lux bagel on a Monday morning Dent said to Levi

“I’ve got ten crates of sardines going cheap only $2:00 a tin do you want them?”

Dent says

“That’s a nice price I’ll have them; people are hungry and I’ll turn a nice profit”.

Two weeks later Dent calls on Levi and says

“What were you doing selling me those sardines I opened a tin and they’ve gone bad!”

Levi says

“Dent my boy - what side of the bridge were you born on… Those sardines are for selling not eating!”

The moral of the story: Most business and stocks are worthless if you stop to sample the goods

 

By Simon Blake

Pizza this and pasta that….

Why can’t people just leave well alone?? An iconic brand, loved by those suffering from hangovers, students, Brits and Americans alike….is to be rebranded…. No longer will we be able to take advantage of the £5.99 buffets at our beloved Pizza Hut. Instead, we’re once again being gazumped with articles on nutrition, eating well and the fact that the we really should take notice of our diet. Gone are the days of living for eating…now come the days when we are supposed to pay homage to pasta at Pasta Hut…. Whoever thought of this needs to get a reality check… Pizza Hut should not be messed with and whoever thought to rebrand it as Pasta Hut needs to go to Jamie’s Ministry of Food

By Ragini Shah

 

Funny face.

There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face. (Act I Sc. IV, Macbeth)

Perhaps Shakespearewas onto something. The human face has seemingly endless possibilities for emotional influence, but does it ever truly betray what we’re thinking? We can wink suggestively at potential partners, coo and grin to the delight of babies everywhere and lift the spirits of a perfect stranger with a genuine smile.

 

Yet, recently I have been baffled, even frightened by the bizarre array of facial expressions that are continually caught on camera from our supposed world leaders. David Miliband(in my opinion a force for good in the world) is not only the first Cabinet Minister to appear in second life, but our Foreign Secretary is also the owner of one of the most expressive faces we have ever seen! It was perhaps a bit of a cruel joke to picture him at the Tory Party Conferencebanana-in-hand but I have to admit, his endearingly passionate speeches aren’t so a-peeling as still frames. (Sorry.) Similarly, with the US presidential elections looming next month, I’m concerned that Republican candidate John McCainis simply too funny-looking to step up to the challenge. Having said that, the next G8summit would be considerably more light-hearted if Poutin, Sarkozy et al could all have a bit of a giggle together.

 

If our faces really reveal what’s going on inside our heads…double, double, toil and trouble.

 

 

By Nikki Blemings

 

Innocent Veg Pots

Not long ago I wrote a blog on Innocent Smoothie drinks.  Their brand values are effectively communicated through every possible medium, and they are quite possibly one of the best developed brands over the past few years.  One of my candidates highlighted to me last week that they have now developed Innocent Veg Pots, little pots of goodness (or vegetable mush) with four yummy flavours including pea and broccoli riceand Moroccan Squash Tagine.  Being sold currently in Sainsburys and Waitrose, I am eager to try one, however I’m not sure how a cold pot of mush will go down.  I do however, always feel very pleased with myself when I neck an innocent smoothie, and with current lifestyle, I do think I would feel good knowing that I’m getting 3 portions of my 5 a day through one little pot.  It will be interesting to see whether the Innocent brand will be able to diversify, and continue the incredible success that it has enjoyed with their smoothies.  Do you have an opinion on a brand? Email Olivia

By Olivia Taylor

Time for a move?

With the current situation in both the UK and USA markets is it time to pack up our bags and head east? The Middle East benefits from enormous reserves of gas, oil, land and, the one we all want to hear – cash. One of the largest emerging industries in the UAE is PR and with the political environment as it now is means the doors are wide open to the movement of professionals from the UK. Some of the largest international agencies including; Hill & Knowlton, TBWA(Ketchum) and Impact Porter Novellinow have successful offices in the UAE. The region also benefits from year round sun, more jobs than can be filled, an amazing standard of life and an opportunity to live and work in arguable one of the most dynamic places in the world to do business. Even Robbie Williams is out there these days, what are we waiting for...see you there...!

Jess Greatrex

Top Tips for Productivity……

To my fellow Hanson Search colleagues, my clients across the management consultancy industry and all candidates across the global consultancy industry – in fact anyone who works in an office!

It’s just gone 2pm and I can feel my body getting tired. I am doing all I can to fight the need for more coffee! I want to be energetic, alert and ‘ready to go’ every second of the day from the minute I wake up through to bedtime. How do I do this???  – double espressos! Clearly not the healthiest way to give me an energy boost.

 

So I’ve done some research – apparently sleep and food are the way forward for more energy! Surprise Surprise! But let’s get specific… Here’s some ideas for energy boosting food to get you through the slumps:

 

http://health.msn.com/fitness/running/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100189109

 

And some tips on how to get a better night sleep:

 

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/sleep-disorders/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100214716&imageindex=1

 

By Simon Jacob

 

Plus de 60 artistes britanniques s'unissent pour défendre leurs droits face au numérique

Radiohead, Robbie Williams, Kaiser chiefs ou Iron Maiden sont quelques uns des 60 musiciens ou groupes britanniques qui viennent de créer une organisation pour protéger leurs intérêts face aux maisons de disques, notamment dans le cadre du développement numérique. Ce groupement, baptisé Featured artists' coalition (FAC), explique dans un communiqué qu'il a vocation à protéger les droits des chanteurs et musiciens en leur "donnant la voix dont ils ont besoin pour obtenir un plus grand contrôle sur leur musique". Plus de 60 artistes ont déjà signé la charte, qui a été lancée dimanche à Manchester. La FAC aura pour mission d'obtenir que les artistes conservent la propriété des droits de leur musique qui seraient loués ensuite à une maison de disques. Elle demandera que les industriels indiquent aux artistes comment, où et pourquoi leur musique est utilisée, et qu'ils leur reversent une part plus importante des profits.

 

Claire McMenamin

When reading Anthony Hilton’s column in PR Week, I found myself struck by the spooky similarities between financial and corporate PR and the twenty-something dating market.....

Just a couple of examples from his recent columns to highlight my point....

An article from August talks about damaging rumours which are ‘deliberately spread to bring about the fall in prices they need’ and in another article later in the month he writes about how ‘the successful PR leaves no trace’ – basically feeding stories whilst successfully remaining anonymous. Does this remind anyone else of the games people play when spreading gossip/telling tales about members of the opposite sex?  Anthony also mentions the other tactic of ‘leaking an exaggerated version of how bad things will be so that when things turn out not as bad as expected it will perversely be seen as good news’...again, the idea is scarily similar to a situation experienced by a (male) friend of mine who thought his significant other had left him for someone else, when in actual fact, she has merely gone for a dinner date with someone else. So that’s ok, right? Good news all round.

Anthony also wrote a column about how tough guys should never say sorry, using the example of Sir Fred Goodwin of Royal Bank of Scotland and how he was previously thought to be ‘an ambitious, cost-cutting tough guy’ as opposed to a ‘touchy-feely softie’, and how we all prefer the former rather than the latter. What we look for in a Company Executive is also apparently what we look for in a potential date – someone ambitious, tough, and dare we say it, arrogant, as opposed to the sweet nice guy I’m sure we have all turned down on numerous occasions. However, arrogance may be good, but as we saw with BAA, too much of it is a bad thing and will result in us running screaming in the other direction.

Anthony Hilton, City Commentator on the Evening Standard or Dating Guru? It remains to be seen....

Thea Foote