King penguins are the second largest penguin, often confused with the larger Emperor Penguin. An easy mistake, we’ve all done it. They are found in the northern reaches of Antartica, Tierra del Fuego, the Falklands and now the 2008 People, Words and Penguins, sorry, People, Words and Pictures Christmas card (see the attachment ‘card-1′ above). They can also be found hanging around with David Attenborough on this You Tube video:
Commenting on current economic trends and impacts upon the public relations profession, Danny Rogers, editor of PR Week, writes in his editor’s column (14 November 2008):
“There may be a longer-term underlying shift towards smaller, media-neutral consultancies and freelance or pluralist working.
“Over recent years I have noticed the emergence of a number of leaner consultancies … whose model is a few experienced consultancies from different fields.
“Talk to their clients and they argue such collectives bring fresh perspectives to their business challenges and that they get a more personal service from senior consultants. Moreover these consultancies tend to be flexible, low-cost businesses. No bad thing in the current environment.”
I have expanded the PWP Communications Flickr page today with a series of recent shots on landscapes – the subject being National Parks of Great Britain. The site http://www.flickr.com/photos/pwpcomms/ has photographs taken in the past couple of months in Dartmoor, the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales. Please feel free to visit.
The BBC’s handling of the Radio 2 controversy regarding Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross shows the danger of failing to implement crisis PR plans, despite the organisation having a strategy in place for such incidents. From show broadcast to the first official apology to Andrew Sachs seems to have taken 36 hours, with the Director General Mark Thompson allegedly having first heard of the show’s over-the-edge content via the Mail on Sunday. In terms of an interview response, rather than written statement, the BBC put up Tim Davie, director of audio and music, on the BBC News Channel on Tuesday morning. Their approach has been regarded as slow but would a quicker response or putting up a more senior executive earlier have helped dilute the story? This saga concluded with criticism from the Prime Minister, resignations and suspensions. It seems somewhat ironic than in these 24-hour rolling news, digital media times that it is the BBC of all organisations that is being seen as slow to react, leaving itself open to prolonged and greater criticism, a point made last week by John Humphreys to his bosses on the Today programme. A crisis PR strategy demands speedy implementation if it is to maximise its effectiveness and reduce reputation damage. As Mike Tyson, someone no stranger to negative publicity himself, says: “Everyone’s got a strategy until they get hit.”
