27th September 2016
Crisis for Concentrix: the mistake of not showing up
Another week, another lesson in how not to manage a deepening crisis of failures and mismanagement ...
9th September 2016
Southern Health: How not to handle a crisis
The beleaguered Southern Health NHS trust has been lurching from tragedy to farce – with the deepening of its on-going crisis appearing largely of its own making. And its account of its actions this week have only caused further damage to its reputation.
3rd August 2016
Public consultation tip 8: Genuinely listen!
The eighth in my Top 10 Consultation Tips series is genuinely to listen to people’s feedback - and see how this can improve your scheme.
5th April 2016
Public consultation tip 7: Be ready to be grilled!
The latest post in my Top 10 Consultation Tips series is about being mindful that, unless your proposals are extremely straight forward, you’ll not just be collating people’s views but answering their questions too.
15th November 2015
Public consultation tip 6: Set your boundaries
This next post in my Top 10 Consultation Tips series deals with the importance of being clear from the outset about the boundaries of your consultation.
11th September 2015
Branding blunder
How amusing to see a photographic company - with the strapline 'image is everything' - promoting itself with such a terrible photo!
2nd June 2015
Public consultation Tip 5: Be accessible!
As the latest in my Top 10 Consultation Tips series, my fifth tip is: be as accessible as possible to your consultees.
20th May 2015
Thomas Cook’s reputational crisis – too little, too late
The tragic case of the two children killed by a faulty gas boiler on a Thomas Cook holiday is a classic example of a corporate (as well as personal) crisis that's been hugely magnified by being handled abysmally.
30th April 2015
What’s the physical experience of your brand?
With some rowdy friends round for dinner last Saturday night, we put on - as we usually do - some of my old vinyl records. (Too loudly, according to the kids trying to sleep upstairs).
1st April 2015
Public consultation Tip 4: Be clear!
As the next in my Top Ten Tips series, my fourth maxim for running a great consultation is to be clear. An obvious one, right? But it’s where so many consultations fall down.
23rd March 2015
Public consultation Tip 3: Be inclusive – within limits
As the latest post in my series of top 10 tips for running an effective public consultation – many of them learnt the hard way - here’s Tip 3: Be inclusive – within limits.
16th March 2015
The power of endorsement – and admission of weakness!
I’ve just read an article about some interesting studies from the clever people at the Influence At Work research group. They highlight how much more effective it is to get someone else to ‘toot your horn’ than do it yourself.
26th February 2015
Public consultation Tip 2: What you must do vs what you should
Continuing my Top 10 Consultation Tip series, here are my thoughts on Tip 2 – distinguishing what you must do from what you should ...
26th January 2015
Public consultation – Tip 1: Have a plan!
I recently outlined my top 10 tips for running a great public consultation.
12th November 2014
Top 10 tips for effective public consultation
There seem to be a good many public consultation exercises under way at the moment. Hopefully it’s a sign that the improving economy is giving organisations more confidence to invest in development schemes and community projects.
14th August 2014
Goldfish marketing – how fast do you need to get your message across?
I’ve just seen stats that the average human attention span is now just eight seconds. (Source: US National Center for Biotechnology Information)
17th July 2014
Fun for copywriters – tips for bad communicators
Here's an entertaining new parody song and video by US satirist Weird Al Yankovic.
30th June 2014
Worst website ever?
Many are rubbish because so little (thought/expertise/money) has been invested in them. But one I saw last weekend wins hands down by trying much too hard.
6th June 2014
Ingenious marketing idea
An American chap called Alex Brownstein was in the business of marketing himself - he was determined to find a job with a good US ad agency. So he devised what he calls the ‘Google job experiment.’
3rd June 2014
Election cock-ups – and lessons for media interviews
Looking at the recent EU and UK council elections, we could analyse who had the clearest message and most effective delivery – but it’s much more fun to look at the blunders.