Winning the argument – with the power of three
I’ve just rediscovered a fascinating article by Steve Martin of Influence at Work – the ‘science behind business success’ people. It summarises a research exercise addressing the matter of, when trying to persuade people of the merits of a product or argument, how many reasons you should give.
The six secrets of persuasion
I came across an entertaining animation illustrating the ‘Universal principles of persuasion’ from Robert Cialdini, Professor of Marketing at Arizona University. It is itself highly persuasive and has clear implications for many sales, marketing and communications campaigns.
Is the FT wrong about PR?
Today's FT article – titled When CEOs should ditch the "PR polish" – has upset a lot of people in the marketing and PR business.
It’s easy to react to the headline – coupled with parts of the article recognising Ecotricity founder Dale Vince for “bucking the trend of media-managed executives” – and assume it’s a piece bashing the whole discipline of public relations. But it’s not. On closer reading, it's ...
“I thought I’d just ignore it”
“I thought I'd just ignore it,” he told me. There are many cases where I’m sure this is absolutely the best policy. Junk mail. A minor insect bite. An insult from someone you don’t care about. But an approach from an investigative BBC journalist isn’t one of them. I was a bit surprised the other day when I first got the call the other day to ...
CEO survey finds few prepared for crises
An interesting study has revealed that too many CEOs feel unprepared to handle a crisis.
The poll of 1,000 global company directors found they recognise the turbulent times facing their business in 2023, but few feel well-placed to handle disruption. Sixty-one percent said they feel unprepared to deal with ...
Fire chief shows how not to handle TV interview
I just saw the BBC's interview with Dorset & Wiltshire fire chief Ben Ansell about allegations of a toxic culture in the service. It's clear Ansell had prepared - but it's an instructive example of preparation misapplied!
The BBC's Dan Johnson asked Ansell about an email from a former employee blowing the whistle on ...
Fundamentals of crisis communications
I took part in a discussion the other day about how companies should manage their reputation in times of crisis. Here's a summarised version of the three questions posed and the answers I gave.
1. How can a company mitigate its reputational risks? When it comes to business crises, there are three phases of reputation management: preparation, response and recovery. The adage that prevention is better than cure applies well to corporate reputation. But, in my experience, too few ...
Andrew thrown under royal carriage in reputation crisis
The latest developments in the Prince Andrew saga have been dramatic. The Palace has stripped him of his Royal titles and says he’ll have to contest the legal case against him as a ‘private citizen’. But two important reputation management points have been largely overlooked. Firstly, many have praised the Queen's decisiveness. Her actions were certainly swift, but ...
Can Facebook’s rebrand salvage its reputation?
I was pleased to be quoted in this week's Management Today - in an article exploring whether Facebook's rebrand to 'Meta' can help the company overcome its deep-seated reputational problems. Of course, there may be other good business reasons why Facebook is rebranding - such as to stake a place in the public consciousness at the forefront of the upcoming metaverse movement. But, as far as the impact on its reputational ...
How to (mis)manage a personal crisis
North Yorkshire Police Commissioner Philip Allott finally quit today in the wake of his inflammatory comments about the tragic case of Sarah Everard, abducted and murdered by Met Police officer Wayne Couzens. Three big problems stand out for me in the way Allott has (mis)managed his reputation throughout his career crisis of the last two weeks. The first - and most obvious - is his ludicrous ....