Fred Goodwin, ex-RBS boss: is continued silence the best approach?
Ever since his downfall and the resulting political firestorm cast him as ‘arch villain’ in the world’s biggest banking failure (so far), the erstwhile ‘Sir’ and now just plain old Fred Goodwin has never given a media interview. It could initially have been for legal reasons, but I wonder if maintaining a dignified silence was ever the right approach and if he should now review that? Was it a deliberate, planned and considered action or an early mistake that he’s since compounded by failing to tell his version of events? It really is fascinating and puzzling to watch this former business ... read the full post »
01 February 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Blog | Comment on this post »
Tagged : banks, communications strategy, Fred Goodwin, gerald ronson, media interviews, RBS, reputation, Sir Fred Goodwin.
How to launch a ‘boring’ product
I once worked with a guy who was boasting about winning blanket international publicity for a new product, the first British-designed-and-built sports car for 30 years. I think his success had more to do with the quality of the story than his personal involvement. Rarely do we get the chance to work with story material of such obvious appeal; the rest of the time we have to get seriously creative. For example, years ago I was asked to make recommendations to launch a new range of corrugated steel cladding panels, ... read the full post »
06 December 2011 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Blog | Comment on this post »
Tagged : adding value, creativity, media coverage, product launch.
Preparing for a media interview: ten starting points
This post was inspired by the closing remarks of Harry, the 'difficult client' in this clip from Absolute Power, a BBC comedy series about a public relations firm starring Stephen Fry. I've posted the entire clip but the salient comments are towards the end. Most people, I'd hope, would be starting from a stronger position than Harry and with a few pointers should be able to give a good media interview. There are lots of variables to consider in each individual case but, for starters, here ... read the full post »
12 October 2011 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Blog | Comment on this post »
Tagged : interviews, media coverage, media publications, media relations, public relations.
Using dead bodies and kitchens to get your message across
If you find yourself having to explain something important but potentially boring, it can be tough to find the right language and keep people listening. It gets worse when the subject also happens to be abstract and complex. And the pinnacle is when you’re called upon to do it live, in front of many of the country’s most influential people. So it was interesting to hear the approach of a guest commentator on this morning’s Today programme (BBC Radio’s flagship current affairs show). The guest was Jerome Booth, head of ... read the full post »
14 September 2011 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Blog | 2 Comments »
Tagged : BBC, BBC Radio 4, communications strategy, media coverage, media relations, message planning, Today programme.
Customer advocacy: what’s stopping you?
In my first article on customer advocacy I outlined what I hope was a strong case for talking about your successes through the clients’ voice. In this second piece, I want to explore what’s preventing more firms from doing so. Some of the common reasons I’ve encountered are: 1. The firm has a long-standing (and unchallenged) policy not to talk about clients 2. Clients would never agree to it, for various reasons 3. There is no resource to chase relationship ‘owners’ 4. Marketing people are not trusted to talk directly to clients 5. It’s too risky. The outcome cannot be controlled. Clients might be misquoted or say something detrimental Taking the ... read the full post »
02 September 2011 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Blog | Comment on this post »
Tagged : advocacy, communications strategy, customers, reputation.
‘Trustability’ and why negative reviews are good for business
The counter-intuitive headline ‘Negative reviews drive sales, claims marketing expert’ on Marketing magazine’s web site caught my eye. But as I finished reading I was left none the wiser about why. Normally I would have stopped there and thought no more about it but the man behind this claim is Don Peppers, a widely-acknowledged marketing expert. To get to the reasons for Peppers’ claim I had to spend an hour watching his presentation at a recent conference about social media and marketing. I heartily recommend you make the same time commitment. He’s a great presenter and you’ll probably come ... read the full post »
19 July 2011 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Blog | Comment on this post »
Tagged : advocacy, B2B, reputation, selling, trust.
A great, creative example of how to win business using Twitter
I really like how a freelance Dutch creative duo used Twitter to get noticed and ultimately hired by a hard-to-reach group that happens to spend a lot of time on Twitter: creative directors in advertising agencies. Naturally, I'd prefer read the full post »
04 July 2011 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Blog | Comment on this post »
Tagged : new business, proactive, selling, social media, Twitter.
A journalist calls asking for your comments. What should you do first?
Most business people are understandably wary of talking to journalists because they know they don’t control the outcome. They worry about looking stupid, being misquoted or misunderstood. There are techniques you can deploy to minimise all of these possibilities but for this posting I want to talk about another danger: finding you’ve ended up offering the unintended ‘contrarian’ viewpoint. This happened recently to a university professor who was invited alongside myself and three other very experienced PR professionals to offer his views on the importance of selling in public relations. ... read the full post »
30 May 2011 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Blog | Comment on this post »
Tagged : communications strategy, media coverage, media relations, public relations, selling.
Pleading and humour aren’t enough to get you into editorial pages
Some people find this Youtube video of a mock-plaintive junior at PR agency Ten Yetis amusing. Maybe it did the trick but it left me feeling a little embarrassed for her. If I was her client, I’d be wondering if that’s all there is to pitching journalists – and wondering if I didn’t need a little more marketing savvy injecting into my PR efforts. Why, for example, was there not one single good reason offered up to the journalist to write about the product in that video? Why do readers need to know about ... read the full post »
03 May 2011 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Blog | Comment on this post »
Tagged : adding value, media coverage, media relations, pitching, PR firms, reputation, selling, USP, YouTube.
The crucial role of subject lines in email pitches to editors
There was a good illustration recently of why it’s so important to think carefully about the subject line when pitching story ideas by email to journalists. It arose at a recent breakfast briefing organised by media information firm Gorkana with The Independent on Sunday’s Julian Knight. Knight edits the newspaper’s money and property section. He’s got ten pages to fill each Sunday on his own, so it quickly becomes apparent that his week is a constant stream of commissioning, writing and editing - all done to fit in with a conveyor belt of various deadlines. At the same time ... read the full post »
18 April 2011 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Blog | Comment on this post »
Tagged : Independent Newspaper, media coverage, media relations, pitching.