Courtesy of Laughing Squid
Love them or loathe them, award ceremonies are here to stay.
After all, everybody just loves to receive an award (or 10). Award ceremonies are also great occasions for you to dress up and look your resplendent best (plus put that $900 suit or $1,000 dress to good use).
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Here’s a counter post following my first one on how PR agencies should manage their clients. Hats off to Priscilla Tan who used to work in an agency but will now be joining a global MNC (drool).
Getting the most out of your PR agency doesn’t mean squeezing the life out of them. Conversely, it also doesn’t mean that you just let loose completely and pray everyday that page one news would come on its own. Sorry buddy it doesn’t work that way.
So what can you as a client do to optimise the Client-PR relationship?
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I got tipped off to write about this following Priscilla Tan’s expose on what goes on behind the doors of PR agencies and their clients. Many of the situations which she described – expecting page one news, wanting to be called “the next big thing”, and agency bosses “kow towing” to clients – are not unique indeed.
Melvin, Preetam, Ian and I shared our views yesterday afternoon on a panel speaking session on business blogging recently by the Institute of Public Relations Singapore (IPRS). After some time away from social media gatherings, it was quite refreshing to share my thoughts and experiences in corporate blogging once again. The lunch talk was held at Geek Terminal, which seem to be the de facto venue for all things 2.0-ish.
The session got off pretty well and I enjoyed the animated exchanges between the panellists and the floor. Some of the key lessons which I shared were as follows:
Yesterday afternoon, my wife together with my son and maid got into an accident along CTE (I was attending a work lunch then). What happened was a tale of God’s divine providence mixed with extraordinary service excellence.
My wife was driving towards the city and encountered the usual Saturday afternoon jam. Traffic was extremely heavy and crawling at a snail’s pace. Unfortunately, a slick black BMW driven by a young 19 year old guy crashed into the rear of our car. He must either be driving his dad’s car or distracted by his girlfriend.
The shock was so hard that the beamer’s airbag popped up. Fortunately, my family didn’t suffer major injuries although my maid had a swelling on her head (currently under observation) while my wife’s back hurt. Both cars stopped and my wife took down the driver’s full particulars (NRIC, license plate, hand phone photos of damage, insurance company, car model).
Can Whiskers (Wai Wai) take the mickey out of Mickey Mouse? (source of image)
What do you do when an 800 pound gorilla arrives at your door step?
Well, you differentiate, innovate and fight back with all you’ve got. Especially if you are an incumbent home-grown player in your local market.
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made… It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Indeed, ladies of all ages are not just the fairer gender. They are also growing in their influence on the world’s economy – even in traditionally masculine businesses like construction, Information Technology, manufacturing and engineering.
Are blogs destined for the grave? (courtesy of Greg Ortega)
Are blogs heading the way of the Dodo? Or would they be here for the long haul?
Here is an extension of Steve Rubel’s thoughts on whether our obsession with newer and more summarised all-in-one platforms may lead to the demise of the beloved blog. As usual, he gave a no-holds-barred analysis of the situation coupled with his usual whimsical touch.
The Salvation Army is one of the world’s most recognised non-profit brand.
In this day and age, non-profit organisations like charities, trade associations, special interest groups, and clubs can ill afford to ignore branding. To reach a critical sized audience and membership, you need systems and processes to be in place. You need to also market your organisation for it to gain greater clout and reach so that it can better achieve its purpose. Just passion alone would not cut it.
Branding Insider, one of my favourite references for branding thoughts, highlighted 7 points of branding non-profit organisations.
Was reading Steve Rubel’s post about The Golden Age of Individualism which pointed to this decade old gem by management guru Tom Peters.
In Tom’s article on the “Brand Called You”, he wrote about the need to establish oneself as an authority on the matters which one is passionate about, the importance of influence and visibility, and the need to have BOTH style and substance.