You ultimately get the reputation you deserve
They say a person or organisation ultimately gets the reputation they deserve. I’d like to think so in the case of Santander UK, whose former chief executive is António Horta-Osório. He’s the one whose enforced absence through ‘overwork’ surprised the City in 2011. At Santander he once presided over the now defunct Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, two formerly staid organisations turned racy retail banks that Santander gobbled ... read the full post »
21 February 2013 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : banks, customer service, marketing, public relations, reputation, trust.
Possibly the best piece of PR advice your company will get this year
A corporate brand doesn’t have to huge to become ubiquitous although a colossal marketing budget is clearly a factor. It also helps if you have an outspoken, maverick chief executive as Ryanair or Pimlico Plumbers do. At a personal level, another tactic is to present yourself (and by extension your company) as the counterpoint to what most others are saying on a trending topic – journalists usually welcome contrarian views ... read the full post »
23 January 2013 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : communications strategy, diversity, marketing, media coverage, reputation.
What’s wrong with this announcement?
Among the usual round of appointments news this week, one stood out for all the wrong reasons. The firm in question is a big, very well known name in the professional services sector. It has a good reputation but it’s hard to see how churning out puffy drivel about a newly created senior level executive post is helpful in that respect. Here’s how it was reported on one PR industry ... read the full post »
06 December 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : corporate announcements, marketing, public relations, writing.
Is Brand Journalism something new or just business as usual?
A lot of people are getting excited about the next big idea that’s happening in public relations and marketing. It goes by various names - brand journalism being the latest – but the central premise behind each of them is that companies will soon all have to become publishers, or face extinction. What I do for a living makes me hyper-sensitive to, well, hyperbole. And this so-called big trend has ... read the full post »
01 November 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | 2 Comments »
Tagged : brand journalism, branding, communications strategy, marketing, public relations.
3 Minute Management Briefing: using social media to demonstrate expertise
Social media sites can be a great way of showcasing your personal knowledge and expertise on the subjects you wish to be associated with. The two main social sites for business people are LinkedIn and relative newcomer Quora, but I’ll also cover discussion forums. Starting with LinkedIn, from your personal home page open the drop down menu under the ‘More’ tab. Click on ‘Answers’ to open up the main answers page, ... read the full post »
10 October 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : expertise, expertise marketing, marketing, reputation, social media, third party endorsement.
Why is mystery shopping such a secret for B2B companies?
Every organisation needs the insight that comes from walking in their customers’ shoes. Only when you see what they experience as they try to buy from you can you really organise your business properly around customers’ needs. This is hardly new, but for B2B companies, take-up of such basic insight management has been surprisingly slow, as an article in this month’s issue of Professional Services Marketing magazine explains. The ... read the full post »
01 October 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | 2 Comments »
Tagged : law firms, marketing, mystery shopping, new business, reputation.
Why Public Relations and Human Resources should get to know one another better
Public relations, in a business context, is mostly about creating goodwill, understanding and support for the company from people who matter (stakeholders, if you must). These people typically include customers (obviously) and prospects, suppliers, local communities, business partners, industry groups, legislators and so on. Most important of all, arguably, are the company’s own employees: you won’t keep customers if employees don’t care about them. No matter how much time and effort ... read the full post »
12 September 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : HR, human resources, Intersport, marketing, public relations, reputation.
Did this year’s Cannes Lions Award winner place creativity ahead of results?
So Banco Popular de Puerto Rico’s ‘Most Popular Song’ campaign took top PR honours at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (that last word in this long-standing annual awards event is a recent addition). It may have been a worthy winner from a creative perspective but I'll bet many clients who pay advertising and PR agencies for ideas were left wondering, as ... read the full post »
26 June 2012 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : agencies, Cannes Lions, communications strategy, marketing, PR Awards, public relations, results.
Why we need to hear less from you and more from your customers
Most people old enough to be in senior management roles today know the slogan 'Let your fingers do the walking'. It did wonders for promoting Yellow Pages and joined the advertising hall of fame back in 2002. But how about ‘Let your clients do the talking’? Nope, that doesn’t resonate quite so loudly does it? But it should, because credible endorsements from others are one of the most potent ... read the full post »
07 January 2011 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | 1 Comment »
Tagged : communications strategy, marketing, new business, reputation, selling, third party endorsement.
The FT meets ‘The Body’ and a PR car crash ensues
Earlier this month Elle Macpherson, one of the original ‘supermodels’, was interviewed by Lucy Kellaway in The Financial Times. You can read the article here (although you may need to register). It’s a great read, though it left this formerly neutral reader, and I suspect many others, with a rather dim view of ‘The Body’, as she used to be known. It made me wonder read the full post »
25 October 2010 | Posted by : Andy M Turner | Comment on this post »
Tagged : communications strategy, marketing, media relations, PR, PR firms, public relations, reputation, The Financial Times.