Surviving the PR Festive Season in Style (or not)

Niall Hughes, senior account manager, Clarion Communications

It's Christmas party season - and just as I was getting to grips with the gym again, we’re once more in the middle of a booze and indulgence-fuelled five weeks of office, supplier and client dinners and drinks.

If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all - Billie Holliday

Ellie Calcutt, account manager, Clarion Communications

Overheard: a journalist saying ‘no more emails - my inbox has crashed twice in the last hour due to the number I’ve received about products for the gift guide I’m working on’…

Increased susceptibility to PR and Marketing at Christmas

Sam Payne, account executive, Clarion Communications

At a time of year when Westernised people are expected to lavish each other with gifts - some useful, some dubious - there’s potentially room to take advantage of the consumer when they enter the annual festive spending frenzy.

The Power of the Christmas TV Ad Campaign

Nicola Carroll, senior account executive, Clarion Communications

The battle of the best Christmas TV adverts has been as hot as ever this season - but I’m still talking with friends about the festive offering from John Lewis.  Christmas cracker paper hats off to them for producing something different and fresh, as they did last year, which has successfully steered away from the traditional (and boring) glitz and glam of other Christmas ads.

The Top 10 Festive Stories 2012, Probably

Jonathan Smith, associate director, Clarion Communications

Like everyone else, for us PRs Christmas comes but once a year - and for the next few weeks it's certain to take over the world of media.

Deliver Us From Last Delivery Dates

Elizabeth Bateman, account manager, Clarion Communications

Yuletide greetings, savvy shoppers.  And of course the particularly savvy shoppers amongst us will avoid the crush this year and do the bulk of their Christmas shopping online. It’s the easy solution to your festive prayers: no need to brave the cold, and you can beat the rush - and the elbow digs - to ensure all your Christmas parcels are signed, sealed, delivered and yours.

Bringing PR and Social Media together under one roof

Habib Amir, head of digital, Clarion Communications

This month we’re launching Clarion’s new digital division - influenceD - which will work across all aspects of social media, social advertising and online PR.  Why?  Because clients increasingly want all their digital, social and PR needs satisfied under one roof.

Have Yourself A Social Little Christmas

Rebecca Bolton, digital team, Clarion Communications

Christmas can be fraught with customer service nightmares - from last minute present purchases and returns of unwanted gifts to the drama of the Boxing Day sales.  And with 18 million people now using social media to contact companies over customer service issues, gone are the days of the polite letter to the editor, or contacting Anne Robinson on Watchdog over an incident of poor customer service.

The Golden Age of Facebook For Brands and Why It Won’t Last Much Longer

Habib Amir, head of digital, Clarion Communications

You have to hand it to Facebook: despite ever more cunning attempts by social media newcomers, it continues to lead the field when it comes to reaching consumers online. Which is great news for any of us trying to get our clients in front of customers.

Getting the Inside Scoop

Kathryn Platt, senior account executive, Clarion Communications

A lucky group of us at Clarion were recently given the opportunity to visit one of Britain’s national newspapers to get the inside scoop on how the other half work.  And when I say other half, I mean of course journalists - we all know there’s a love/hate relationship between journos and us PRs, and although some don’t like to admit it, we do work hand in hand to help deliver news.

Practice What You Preach

Sue Roberts, board director, Clarion Communications


This year we ran our fourth Nectar Savvy Family competition, inviting families from around the UK to share their favourite moneysaving tips with the nation and be judged for the crown of Britain’s Savviest Family.  The response from the public was, once again, huge…

The PR Handover - a lot like a big cake…

Niall Hughes, senior account manager, Clarion Communications

It’s gone 8pm, you’re still in the office and you’ve been working solidly for nearly 10 hours - but you’re not stressed out, you’re not frantically pacing by the printer waiting for your press packs for tomorrow’s event to come out, or slowly clearing time ahead of tomorrow’s big national sell-in...

Tales From The Olympic Stadium

 Shelley Wyatt, board director, Clarion Communications

Saturday 4th August was a huge day for me - not just because it was my birthday but because it was the day I started my first shift as a Games Maker in the Olympic Stadium Press Operations, Mixed Zone team.

In Praise of Clare

Howard Bowden, head of news, Clarion Communications

Dear Clare, I admit it: I got you all wrong.  We somehow never saw eye to eye in the past, because - and I’ll be frank here - I always thought you were a bit horsey, and a bit posho, and mainly because whenever I turned over to find you on BBC1 on a Saturday it meant I’d just missed Football Focus.

Can You Measure PR?

Alexandra Gerolami, senior account manager, Clarion Communications
 
Most people outside of the industry don’t really have a clue what PR is - and few can say how we are able to ‘physically’ show the success of a PR campaign.

Olympic Factor Helps Becks Notch 20 Millionth Facebook Like

Nicola Carroll, senior account executive, Clarion Communications

Earlier this week, footballer, national institution and bit of stuff David Beckham posted this photo on his Facebook page to announce he has reached 20 million Likes. The pic was posted alongside a big thank you to all his fans:

Did a lack of decent PR leave Madonna with an MDNA comedown?

James Watts, associate director, Clarion Communications

Madonna is currently touring the world to promote her latest album MDNA - a record which sold 359,000 copies in its first week of release in the US, before sales fell by a whopping 88 percent the following week to just 46,000. Such a massive and immediate drop in sales has never been seen before.

The Power of Broadcast PR: driving competition entries, boosting website traffic and increasing the nation’s love of potatoes…

Rebecca Binks, account director, Clarion Communications

In the era of tablets and Twitter, it’s easy to forget what a powerful medium TV remains.  It has the capacity to reach a massive audience - according to the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) we spend more than a day a week watching it, and furthermore, studies suggest that when used alongside other media, it improves brand performance dramatically.

Appy Days

Nicola Carroll, senior account executive, Clarion Communications

Has social media made us a lazy nation? Not only do we keep in contact these days via social networks, forums and blogs but we now also seemingly rely on apps to tell us where we are, what to eat and how to manage our busy lives.

TV’s Best Ever PR. Totally.

Howard Bowden, head of news, Clarion Communications

For the last 20 years, Edina Monsoon - you know, ‘Eddy’ in TV sitcom Absolutely Fabulous - has been the default setting in the minds of the Great British Public when it comes to picturing a PR person in all her or his glory.  As comedy characters go, she was pretty good, and as a caricature for the excesses of PR-dom - particularly for anyone who doesn’t actually work in the industry - she was even better.  Yes sir, no-one could top Eddy as TV’s ultimate fictional PR person.  Until now.