The PR business has largely advised institutions to ignore or denounce the seismic shift in public opinion that led the USA to Trump and the UK to Brexit. Some PR professionals have also urged their clients to align themselves more closely with the very agendas that sparked the mass public backlash. But Biden's narrow victory over Trump demonstrates that instead of healing divisions this strategy has made society even more polarised. There is a crying need for the public relations business to help bring people together, to put an end to the disunity within our societies. Here I examine some of the underlying issues. I also suggest some alternative approaches to today's increasingly ineffective corporate PR strategies, mantras and fads. More »

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Categories: Crisis management / Culture Wars / Political spin / Trust and reputations

12 July 2017

2 comments

Bell Pottinger South Africa, a reality check

What unites all the major political parties in South Africa: the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)? The answer is their determination to divide the country along pre-existing racial fault lines. Yet the DA, South Africa’s main opposition party, has had the audacity to lodge a misconduct claim against Bell Pottinger (BP) with the UK’s Public Relations and Communications Association, accusing it of “sow[ing] racial mistrust, hate and race-baiting, and [encouraging a] divided society”.  Read on ›

A brave new world for mass communication

The success of both BREXIT and Trump tells us that the world is changing. Their triumphs mark a transformation of the public’s mood, which is causing the rules governing media schmoozing and managing relations with the masses to be rewritten, as fast as the authority of existing elites evaporates. Read on ›

Categories: History of PR / PR issues / Trust and reputations

15 August 2015

3 comments

Contribution to “global conversation on global public relations standards”

Professor Anne Gregory and Jean Valin have asked readers of PR Conversations (PRC) to get involved in their project to produce a Global Body of Knowledge that defines the capabilities that proficient public relations practitioners should possess.  I am taking up that challenge here by critiquing their attempt to elevate public relations into a respected profession by defining the professional qualifications that PR pros must acquire. Read on ›