Manchester United and Manchester City have advised their players against using social media accounts. It would seem the players have accepted the advice. The WSJ has taken a similar stance on SM. There are serious issues here to explore. Read on ›

Unite, the union representing BA cabin crew, has postponed the threat of industrial action until after the Easter holidays to allow “families to be able to plan their travel arrangements in confidence”. That would appear to be a good PR move, but it isn’t. Read on ›

Amnesty International has accused Shell Nigeria of human rights abuses, spreading pollution and other crimes against corporate responsibility (CSR). It provoked Paul Holmes, editor and publisher of The Holmes Report, to argue that companies will and should be held to the same standards globally. That’s a naïve response. Read on ›

This post is a reaction to Paul Holmes’s post Transparency is a principle, not a tool for manipulating the public. His headline was much more one-sided than his text, which was well-argued. So what comes next is a critique of the Big Idea of his headline, not his considered view. Read on ›

As a reputation strategist, I find Ryanair fascinating. Judging by the response to my first post here and on Linked-in’s PR Group discussion pages, I’m not alone.  Read on ›

Disclosure: I’ve never flown Ryanair. So I might be speaking out the bottom of my non-reclining seat. However, I love most of Ryanair’s PR. Here’re ten reasons why (and the cavil). Read on ›

I’ve got that post-holiday feeling (seven days by Lake Lugano, thanks). You’ll know it. Suddenly I think I understand lots of stuff … So here’s what I think is going wrong in a good deal of PR thought. Read on ›

Heather Yaxley’s very sensible comment yesterday in response to my piece on France Telecom’s (FT) suicides, provides an opportunity to say why in my heart of hearts I long to criticise FT’s approach. Read on ›

France Telecom has been getting unwelcome attention. It stands accused of driving 24 of its workers to suicide over an eighteen-month period. Rather than fight its corner, the company seems to prefer the old bad PR strategy: “apologise, reform and move on”. Why so? Read on ›

If we want a glimpse of where PR might go over the next ten years, we should examine Japan. The world’s second-largest economy’s property bubble burst 20 years ago. Since then deflation, recession and reality have broken the country’s commitment to consensus building, as Leo Lewis argues in “Japan’s harsh new reality” in today’s Times. Read on ›