Step up to the podium, values, your time has come

Claire Thompson, Waves PR

For many years, PR messaging sessions have separated mission, vision, values and operational goals.  They all play together, but they are all very different. And the ‘proof points’ on each are very different.

As a humble communicator, it has often been hard to persuade businesses to take the ‘soft’ side of this, the values, seriously (although I often point to the RWE takeover of Thames Water where the values in action programme contributed to a valuable shareholder premium.)

Businesses have happily reflected their brand values in their logos, and the statement – maybe even the language used – on their websites. But one of the great things happening now is that people are engaging with businesses on all kinds of levels. There is an increasing recognition that businesses are made up of people – that they have a human face, rather than being monolithic entities.

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Eco Monday: Trafigura – time to come clean

Source: ethicsworld.org

This post was drafted for posting yesterday, but a lot of interest was being expressed in the #Likeminds story, so it was held back until today.

An open letter to PR consultancy Bell Pottinger

Dear Bell Pottinger,

We all use petrochemicals, and accept that, however unpleasant, the bi-products of these need disposing of.

However, quite aside of the ethics, all companies, including those like Trafigura, need to regard every part of their operations as having an effect on their PR (public relations).

Your client Trafigura is now a household name in some sectors. Their solicitors, Carter Ruck, have been put into the limelight. Harriet Harman has had her say.  The Twitter noise has died down. Has it gone as quickly as it came?  Possibly.

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Trafigura

Waves PR: October 13, 2009

The blogosphere is alive with it. The attempts of a firm of solicitors (Carter Ruck) to gag the Guardian are backfiring. The hashtag #trafigura (and those related) is unlikely to disappear from Twitter screens today, and a number of people have more than egg on their faces.

Yesterday, the Guardian reported that it had been prevented from reporting on Parliament.

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On Trust and Turds

Waves PR: July 30, 2009

Well done to Edelman for their mid-year trust barometer.

The numbers for the UK, however, make depressing reading. The report unfortunately points to the media being trusted even less than government and only 13% of large businesses being rated as good or excellent.

Few UK companies score well on trust.

The institutions in which we once had faith no longer inspire our trust.

This must count as an epic PR failure. It appears to finally be dawning upon us that all that glitters is not simply not gold, but quite possibly made of something far less salubrious altogether.

Whether UK PR professionals and companies are failing to understand the true meaning of CSR (corporate social responsibility), or whether companies’ boards are simply failing to consider the PR implications of their activities, there needs to be a sea change.

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