The Bluewood Team

Feeding the flames

2009-09-30T16:24:00.002Z

In less than 24 hours there have been seemingly dozens of Labour ministers and supporters telling us that The Sun's campaign to back the Tories in the next election doesn't matter. To use a cliche 'he doth protest too much', if you really don't think something matters, then it's fine to say so, but then you move on to communicate your message and try to get past the negative coverage you received.
The problem is that Labour are the ones who keep reminding us that the newspaper with the biggest circulation in the country has just backed the opposition. They should probably know better than to give the Tories free publicity. Anyway you can watch someone tearing up a newspaper here on the bbc site!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8283549.stm

Airbus' Smooth Operator

2009-09-23T10:55:00.004Z

Someone choosing his words very carefully this week is Airbus' Chief Commercial Officer, John Leahy.

Panorama reportedly sent a journalist along to a press conference that the aircraft manufacturer were hosting this week "with the sole purpose, it seemed, of extracting disobliging remarks about the Irish motormouth and his airline" according to the Times' City Diary, referring, of course, to Ryanair's Michael O’Leary.

The Panorama journo was clearly out to provoke, questioning Leahy incessantly about reported run-ins with O’Leary. But to his credit, when asked whether it true that Ryanair had agreed, and then walked away from an order, Leahy carefully replied, “yes, but that’s business”. Then, when it was suggested that Airbus would not be accepting any more orders from Ryanair, Leahy refused to be drawn on the subject, nipping things in the bud by telling the reporting not to put words into his mouth.

Although he had to concede that Michael O’Leary "plays hardball”, I think it's fair to say that Leahy did well under such provocative questioning. I wonder if Michael O'Leary would have faired so well had he been in that line of questioning...

The Dark Side of PR

2009-09-21T10:51:00.001Z

There was a brilliant story in the news a few days ago regarding a ‘Jedi’ in Bangor, Wales, who was asked by staff in his local Tesco store to either remove his hood or leave the store. He claimed that the hood was part of his religion and as such he was being persecuted by being asked to take it off. As a result he is seeking legal advice and planning to boycott that store.

As if this wasn’t enough of a story (although we acknowledge he says he claims staff were rude and of course discrimination should never be laughed at), the response by Tesco’s spokesperson was sheer genius: “He hasn’t been banned. Jedis are very welcome to shop in our stores although we would ask them to remove their hoods. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Luke Skywalker all appeared hoodless without ever going over to the Dark Side and we are only aware of the Emperor as one who never removed his hood. If Jedi walk around our stores with their hoods on, they’ll miss lots of special offers.”

We suspect that this member of the press office might be a (not so) secret Stars War fan as well!

Here come the girls? I don't think so.

2009-09-15T18:02:00.009Z

I'm disappointed. 'Here come the girls'? Please.

I've just read an article on the This Is Money website that suggests that the real reason women earn significantly less than men is because they are too afraid to ask for more.

I'd previously put this down to inherent sexism in the workplace (sorry) but a survey of 5,000 men and women by the Office of National Statistics (published in women's mag Grazia)suggests that whilst men are continually asking for payrises, women are 'too scared' to even approach the subject with their boss.

'The handful of women who had dared to ask for more admitted it was 'the most stressful thing they had ever done'. But men do not suffer from the same inhibitions' which would explain why 'a typical man who works full-time enjoys a salary of £31,485, which is more than £8,500 higher than a woman's salary of £22,964'.

I'm disappointed because, sadly I think it's true.

We can't blame men for using their initiative to ask for a payrise. But we can blame ourselves if we can't summon up the confidence to do the same.

See for yourself:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/work/small-business/article.html?in_article_id=406287&in_page_id=10

Errrr, can you see the camera?

2009-09-09T12:59:00.003Z

The BBC have a clip of Cameron and Hague seemingly discussing whether the recent Afghan elections were rigged.

http://tinyurl.com/ls2q9h

Admittedly there is some confusion about whether this is genuine or not i.e. was this a way of ‘leaking’ a story or do they really mean what they are saying but either way it doesn’t look like the best thing to be doing.

Our advice; always assume the cameras are on and always assume the footage might be made public!

Oooops!

2009-09-08T13:11:00.002Z

Kingfisher had a bit of trouble yesterday when they accidentally sent out their results to the City, almost two weeks early!
Lucky for them they were pretty good numbers so their investors have reacted well. Mind you, we bet someone is regretting the ‘Send All’ button on the email system. Read the whole story here on Times Online:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article6825645.ece

Duelling Gentleman Crowe

2009-09-04T12:40:00.000Z

Great story on the beeb today about Mr. Crowe:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8237512.stm

It seems that rather than punching the journo who upset him, this time he challenged her to a bike ride! The plucky journo did at least go through with it – and lost, falling off her bike at one point.

Still, just goes to show that even if you get a hard time in the press you can turn it around to your favour.

Blogging Champion

2009-06-18T13:47:00.002Z

The below link is a very positive story from Business Week, quoting Nokia's policy of not only allowing staff to blog their 'issues' but also how the company thinks this is invaluable R&D.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_25/b4136050146630.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStories

All too often we hear stories of companies stopping staff using blogs to get their voices heard but while we would acknowledge there are some potential problems, surely these can be far outweighed by the positives?

Have they heard of media training?

2009-06-03T13:48:00.003Z

Many of the Telegraph's revelations over the last few weeks have been shocking enough but here at Bluewood, we can't believe the total lack of skill most of the MPs seem to have used during their media interviews.

Admittedly it's been some of the backbenchers under the spotlight this time and they might not have the same experience as some but haven't they heard of media training? It was this gem on the standard's site which surprised us most:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23696605-details/Public+are+just+jealous%2C+says+MP/article.do

Here's a tip for MPs; before any interview you may want to anticipate some of the negative questions!

£260m of new money for training!

2009-04-23T11:23:00.001Z

In the budget Alistair Darling promised £260m for training and subsidies – is this great news or just spin? Only time will tell what impact this will have but with the skills problem and the number of unemployed growing in the UK the fear is that this is just a drop in the ocean.

Focussed training, can and will make a difference for job opportunities but the real question is whether the government are committed to seeing these policies through in the long-term?

Someone reign him in!

2009-04-15T17:37:00.004Z

The faux pas(s) of Silvio Berlusconi never cease to amaze me.

First his compliments on Mr Obama's fine suntan, then a reproach from the Queen and his snub of Merkel... ill-mannered and ill-considered; but I can handle that.

This week however he's giving wholly inappropriate advice to L'Aquila earthquake victims to 'see it like a weekend of camping', and in this morning's paper we have news of his flirting with a L'Aquila doctor. And still the Italian press love him.

Please. PR advisor. Somebody. Reign him in.

Booze or medication?

2009-02-18T14:56:00.001Z

Whether it was alcohol or medicine that did this, it didn't do much for his image or, as it turned out, his career:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWLeWqPOFpU&eurl=http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?q=japanese%20finance%20minister&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3RNFA_enGB27
Surely he had some advisers there to stop him from going in front of the World's media?

Why no news is bad news for UK Companies

2009-02-04T13:13:00.000Z

All too often businesses think that to get through a crisis the best option is to keep their head below the parapet. Recent times have shown us that even if companies could once get away with this, they certainly can’t anymore.

On January 26, Barclays wrote an open letter to investors to convince them that their business was in comparatively good health and in fact was about to announce positive results. This unusual step is not often seen in the City, where investors normally have to sit patiently until the company’s formal results announcement. When CEO John Varley and Chairman Marcus Agius wrote "In view of the events in the banking sector last week, we have decided to communicate now with employees, customers, clients and shareholders," what they were most mindful of was the devastating impact of rumour and market supposition. Rumours that Barclays were in serious trouble caused their share price to drop by almost 50%, so Varley and Agius had two choices: sit tight and wait for the rumours to die down and the market to recover or be pro-active and actually communicate with their investors. Such large organisations are often reluctant to behave in a different way than they are used to, so we can surmise that it took some persuasion inside the bank to convince them that this was the right course of action. They were right; rumours of a government bail-out were squashed, the shares rose 73% on the day and haven’t fallen below those levels since.

In a recent article about handling communications in the current crisis in Corp Comms magazine, one PR executive stated: “If nobody from the company talks and clarifies the situation then it allows rumours to take hold, and staff, customers and shareholders will find it hard to believe you when you finally make a statement. They will believe the rumours and speculation more than the facts.”
This seems like good common sense, perhaps even rather obvious, but in reality managers find it hard to apply that sense to themselves. Many companies think they can still batten down the hatches during a crisis, do little or no communication and still weather the storm. In these markets, all journalists assume the falling tide is lowering all the ships, but companies who can generate some positive newsflow – or even stanch the flow of supposition and rumour, like Barclays, are rewarded. It might even be painful – for example, BP announcing record profits but seeing their share price slide as they warned about Q4 and the carry-over of worsening conditions into the new financial year. But again, there is an upside – in BP’s case, making sure their position is known to fend off the spectre of windfall taxes or even consumer boycotts in the face of what might be seen as obscene profits.

So if communicating is the key to handling crises, how should companies go about it? In the same Corp Comms article PHA Media’s Phil Hall is quoted as saying: “The communications team must be allowed to sit at the top table…And where possible companies must agree a consistent strategy and spokesman.” Again this seems obvious, but many companies still struggle to include the comms function in the highest-level meetings and we still see the wrong people, or the right people who have the wrong information or message, speaking to the media during crisis situations.

The lessons we are learning at the moment, sadly mostly from organisations who handle their communications less well than Barclays, ought to lead to more transparency in the industry as companies communicate more and PRs are given the chance to do the job for which they were hired (to give stakeholders the right message, from the right people, at the right time).

Counting the Cost of Credit

2009-02-02T16:48:00.000Z

Can you really teach people to be better with their money? That’s what a new initiative (launching today) in Wales is going to try and find out. ‘Taking Everyone into Account’ is going to try and help people tackle debt and manage their money better.

Many commentators have partly blamed the huge personal debt we have run-up in this country for the current financial crisis and so it certainly seems wise for the government(s) to help us all get better at our personal finances. But do some people just not get this subject?

As a training company we would hope this is not the case (and the finance courses we run have never come across anyone who didn’t learn how to change the way they look at this area and improve their skills) but we have to wonder if some people don’t want to think about the potential time bomb of, for example, interest free credit. It’s easy to go and buy a flat screen TV for hundreds of pounds on credit and force yourself to try and forget the consequences but I for one very much believe that knowledge is power and this applies to personal finance as much as any other subject/topic.

So we at Bluewood say good luck for the new initiative and hopefully this one will finally do some good!

Spooks and Hacks

2009-01-07T15:02:00.000Z

Even the Spooks are now, openly, taking part in the media relations ‘game’. According to the BBC today… “Mr Evans, the current director general of MI5, is clearly more comfortable engaging with the outside world than some of his predecessors were, happy even to let some journalists into the inner sanctum of Thames House, MI5's headquarters.”
The reality is that even those traditionally closed doors are now seeing the value of the media to communicate messages. Not taking part is no longer an option!

Read the full story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7815435.stm

Schoolboy error?

2008-09-11T10:27:00.001Z

After taking a Bluewood Blog Break over August we thought it was time for another look for any gaffes and problems going on in the media. And sure enough, there is a historic one today from E.On. Whether the statement is actually true or not is neither here nor there – please REMEMBER all spokespeople; if you don’t want to see it the next day in print, don’t say it!

Read about it on Sky News here:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Campaigners-Fury-Over-Fuel-Crisis-Jibe-Made-By-EOn-Energy-Company-Executive/Article/200809215097206?lpos=Business_3&lid=ARTICLE_15097206_Campaigners%2BFury%2BOver%2BFuel%2BCrisis%2BJibe%2BMade%2BBy%2BE.On%2BEnergy%2BCompany%2BExecutive

Heckles drowned in song

2008-07-14T11:51:00.000Z

We are often asked in our courses how to handle people who keep asking difficult or unwanted questions during a presentation and although heckling tends to be more normal for stand-up comedy it seems even Bishops have to handle it too.

During a sermon by the first openly gay Bishop a heckler came in and started ‘making himself heard’, how did the congregation handle it? With a hymn!

Read about it on the Beeb’s site here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7504570.stm

Not sure it would work for an AGM though…

Primark. The killer questions. (from the comfort of the microsite..)

2008-07-02T16:38:00.004Z

Interesting tack from Primark in their response to the recent 'revelation' of their use of child labour.

Rather than agree to any interviews with Panorama for their programme on the subject - through fear of bias - Primark instead set up a micro site to speak to comsumers 'directly'.

According to PRWeek "A journalist was brought in to put unscripted questions to Primark director Breege O'Donoghue and the footage was posted on its site at 9pm on Monday, the same time as the BBC documentary was screened."

http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/article/822908/Primark-uses-web-counter-BBC/?DCMP=EMC-DailyNews

So was this smart handling of such a delicate issue? Or just a cowardly move by an organisation that clearly knew they were in the wrong...?

Good coverage for just £74!

2008-06-23T10:06:00.002Z

Not quite the PR campaign you might expect to be pushing but this Chinese Hotel has been trying a few shortcuts:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUKPEK13804520080623?feedType=nl&feedName=ukmorningdigest

“The Gehua New Century Hotel, which describes itself as "China's first five-star hotel with a media-cultural theme", has promised journalists up to 1,000 yuan (74 pounds) for articles about it.”

Admittedly it doesn’t say the articles have to be positive, so perhaps you can make your £74 and be ‘honest’. The Bluewood team has media trained delegates from certain foreign nations before who felt this was the way to get things done with the media, but we don't really recommend you try it in the UK!

Expensive illness!

2008-06-17T14:31:00.001Z

You know your presentation wasn’t great when it leads to $19bn being wiped off your share price. Poor old Steve Jobs came down with flu in the last few weeks and when he didn’t look too good at the new iphone presentation a few bloggers thought he was on the way out (thinking his cancer had returned). Sure enough, the blog posts caused panic and the share price took a dive – the moral of this story? Not sure there, but it might be that you shouldn’t always listen to the gossip!

Read the story on the Times site here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/chris_ayres/article4152295.ece

Sore loser?

2008-06-12T15:17:00.000Z

One of the headlines on PR Week today was that “Hillary Clinton's former international media co-ordinator has hit out at the press, alleging unprecedented bias towards presidential nominee Barack Obama”.

The question is not so much of whether this is true but more whether it’s really a good idea to ‘hit out at’ or blame the press after the event (the event during which you were part of the losing side).

Is this the moaning of a sore loser whose strategy didn’t work? Or is it a valid point about the power of a ‘friendly’ media?

Read PR Week’s article here: http://www.prweek.com/uk/home/article/816166/media-bias-strategy-error-clintons-fall-splits-lobbyists/

Going the extra mile (or 2,500)

2008-04-29T16:04:00.006Z

How about this for a tale of extraordinary customer service.

New York taxi driver Douglas Guldeniz drove an elderly couple all the way from their home in Queens, NYC, to their retirement home in Arizona, 2500 miles away, in the city's longest ever taxi journey.

Guldeniz earned himself the New York Taxi and Limousine Comission's 'Going The Extra Mile' award (and the £1,500 fare!) for his efforts.

"If my passengers, they want to dance, then I want to dance for them," He said.

Not too sure about the dancing part... but what a great guy!

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91059-1310975,00.html

Brown Porridge.

2008-04-18T13:04:00.003Z

Gordon's not had a good week:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91211-1313197,00.html
He's down in the polls, been voted Briatain's most boring man and now is being accused of having communication skills equivalent to haggis!?
Lord Desai even said "with Mr Brown as leader it would be very difficult for Labour to win the next election."
What next for Gordon?

A Bit More Flash Gordon.

2008-03-27T14:24:00.000Z

According to PR Week today; Gordon Brown’s top advisors are concerned that his speeches aren’t hitting the right chords with the public:

‘It has been acknowledged that the Government's messages are too cluttered and that Gordon needs to show a bit more personality, rather than stilted language that he tends to use when he makes these speeches.'

It’s true that Brown doesn’t come across as the most charismatic when he speaks (his speech today at the Emirates stadium was an example of this and he looks down at his notes too much!), but we at Bluewood are sure that he could do better if he had the right coaching to build his confidence and inject some life into his presentations.

We are here if you need us Gordon!

This one might upset a few trainers...

2008-03-20T12:21:00.007Z

An incredibly interesting debate has been started over the US versus UK stance on the use of 'off the record' comments made by interviewees.

It was prompted by the Scotsman's Gerri Peeve running a front page emblazoned with the headline 'Clinton is a Monster' - an 'off the record' comment made in an interviewee with a member of Barack Obama's staff - Samantha Powers. The discussion was firmly 'on the record' but when Powers suggested that Hillary was a monster, she quickly realised her gaffe and demanded that Peev treated it as off the record.

We always advise delegates that nothing can ever be guaranteed as off the record - so if you'd rather not see something in print then just DON'T say it.

Follow the link below to see the showdown between MSNCB's Tucker Carlson and the Scotsman's Gerri Peeve...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-GKsguIRV4

Marketing with imagination:

2008-02-19T15:53:00.002Z

Cadbury's latest results go to show that they weren't just monkeying around last year (sorry!), and they attribute some of their confectionery sales-success to the monkey/Phil Collins ad. If in doubt...get creative!

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30400-1305940,00.html

Is Putin scared of the media?

2008-01-23T16:06:00.000Z

The latest news from Russia is that Putin has hired his old Judo buddy to head-up the Government's press unit:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2245228,00.html
Not quite sure what to make of this - although I still doubt he'd stand much of a chance against some of the UK hacks when they smell 'blood'!

Practise, practise, practise!

2008-01-10T12:18:00.000Z

On Prime Minister's questions yesterday Gordon Brown was again fighting a losing battle against Cameron, who always comes across as sharper (if a little too sarcastic) than the PM. Gordon eventually hit back with his often-used accusation of Cameron's lines being over rehearsed, saying "all the lines rehearsed infront of the mirror".

He may be right about how Cameron prepares but to be honest with the way he is being shown up every week maybe Brown should try it too!

Hack(er)s account

2008-01-08T14:01:00.000Z

Happy New Year from Bluewood.
We thought that the first post of 2008 should be a funny one, luckily Jeremy Clarkson has given us a (vaguely) media-relevant one:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7174760.stm
Moral behind this story? It's probably that you should be careful what you say (or write) in the media!

Better late than never?

2007-12-17T11:33:00.000Z

A slightly festive post this week, that reminds us how rubbish the mail can be:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1297175,00.html

Here’s hoping all the Amazon presents arrive in time this year!

Judging the Judges?

2007-12-06T15:19:00.000Z

Here's a controversial one for you.

A number of UK judges are to undergo media training so that they can speak to the media following controversial sentencing decisions:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7130616.stm

An interesting one this; I'm sure it'll help to educate the public about how and why these decisions are made, but are we at risk of putting the judges themselves on trial?

It's sure to ruffle a few feathers with judges having to explain themselves to the press...

What do you think?

Job-hunting

2007-11-27T15:51:00.000Z

There are plenty of PR blunders to get your teeth into this week.

Guy Hands supposedly accused bankers of being a pack of dogs and Gordon Brown’s mob seem to mess up daily but the award for outstanding PR blunder (possibly for the whole of 2007) has to go to Matthew Marr, a chief press aide himself, who was overheard saying some less than polite things at an awards ceremony last week. Needless to say he is “not expected to carry on working in political PR”. Well done that man. Read the article here:

http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/article/768552/No-back-shamed-PRO-Marr/

Is Ratner back?

2007-11-08T15:27:00.000Z

Just about every media and presentation training company out there has used poor old Gerald Ratner as an example of how NOT to do it. But it seems Gerald is turning things around and even using his catastrophic downfall as a way of promoting his new jewellery business:

http://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/expansion/risk-takers/262303/gerald-ratner-is-back.thtml

It’s always good to see someone fight their way up from the bottom but do we really think he will get back to the top?

Spraying with Confidence?

2007-10-22T14:34:00.000Z

According to an article in the Daily Telegraph you can now use a nasal spray to help build your confidence before making a presentation!
Sounded a bit far-fetched to me, or at best a form of Dutch courage:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/21/wspray121.xml
Unsurprisingly everyone at Bluewood really thinks you ought to have some proper training (e.g. one of these! http://www.bluewoodtraining.co.uk/presentation_training_intro.html) to learn how to overcome and manage your nerves before a public speech but if you are willing to try the spray; get in touch and let us know if it works!

Rod Stewart - Media Trainer?

2007-10-12T14:02:00.000Z

I read that Rod Stewart had offered advice to Sir Paul McCartney about how to handle the media and couldn't resist hearing what he said. His words of wisdom were a little disappointing; "don't read the papers". Luckily Rod isn't one of Bluewood’s trainers. Our experts will show you that there are a few better ways to deal with the press and make the most of your media relationships!
Listen to Rod's advice: http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,31100-stewart_261006_0800,00.html

Public speaking put down from Arnie

2007-10-03T11:01:00.000Z

Arnold Schwarzenegger is not known for his clear and eloquent public speaking so it must be disappointing to get some flak from him on this front...even if you are Boris Johnson. Adam Boulton on his Sky News blog caught some cheeky comments over the last week:

http://adamboulton.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/10/the-bother-with.html

Top presentation training tip - always assume the cameras are on!

Careless comments, catastrophic losses.

2007-09-27T13:29:00.001Z

For anyone unsure of the price to be paid for ill-considered words spoken to a journalist; try £3.5 BILLION.

BP CEO Tony Hayward sent his organisation's share price crashing down this week with comments that will also no doubt have a knock-on effect on the entire oil sector.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bfcd47a6-6b9a-11dc-863b-0000779fd2ac.html

The CEO of a £108 billion outfit REALLY ought to know better.

Belated Birthday Wishes

2007-09-19T14:48:00.000Z

So it's birthday time for Bluewood Training, and I think we've just about had all the wine and cake we can handle. But what made me smile yesterday was finding out that we share our birthday with the WORLD'S OLDEST MAN.

Admitedly, 112 year old Tomoji Tanabe of Japan is probably going a tad mad, declaring that he wants to live 'indefinately'(!) but nonetheless he's is in pretty fantastic shape for someone so ancient.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7000487.stm

Happy Birthday Bluewood Training. And of course, Happy Birthday Tomoji.

Chocolate Monkey.

2007-09-11T14:26:00.000Z

Viral marketing is a term that is being heard everywhere now. It is said by some marketing 'experts' to be the only way to reach your customers effectively these days.
But; what is it? Does it work? Is it just a funny clip someone uploads on youtube?
Well this is latest of them:

http://www.glassandahalffull.com/

Does it make you want to eat chocolate? Or just go and buy Phil Collins' Greatest Hits?

Mercury Microphone Shambles

2007-09-05T10:36:00.000Z

Hats off to the Klaxons winning the Mecury Music Award last night, was great to see an outsider win over the more established acts.

However their acceptance speech handling left a bit to be desired?! Holding the mics so close that no-one could understand a word they were saying before then falling over the stand...

Musicians or not, I think those guys need some presentation training before their next award ceremony!

Mind where you step:

2007-08-30T14:28:00.001Z

I couldn't resist posting this one:
http://test.channel4.com/lifestyle/green/dumped/
4's newest reality show is set on a rubbish dump!
You really wonder what insane creature is coming up with these ideas...mind you, I might be too curious to miss this.

A day off for £6bn?

2007-08-29T08:30:00.000Z

As August comes to a close there isn’t even a day off to look forward to for nearly four months because we’ve just had the last bank holiday till Christmas. But there is hope at hand; a leading think tank is strongly recommending that we get a day for Heroes in November:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6965053.stm

What do you think? Surely we should commemorate those who deserve to be remembered? And we want more bank holidays don’t we (especially as the Europeans seem to have hundreds)? Also, the story suggests the obligatory holiday for employees is going from 20 days to 28…some good news at last!

Online Whispas

2007-08-21T13:13:00.000Z

If you were in any doubt about the power of bloggers and online campaigners then look no further than this story:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1280368,00.html
Due to online pressure the Whispa bar is making a comeback. People have been signing online petitions and starting groups on Facebook (Bluewood is still wondering if it should have a page – suggestions welcome!) to demand that the classic Whispa bar comes back to our shelves. I think this is great, not only did I quite like Whispa bars but if the online community can bring back chocolate bars what can’t we do?
Cadbury’s is probably pretty sensible about keeping an eye on the online forums, partly because of their target audience but also because of their recent crises but this shows that some corporates really do take the online community seriously.
So what next? What else should we bring back? Or perhaps more importantly get rid of?

Live on a yacht or not?

2007-08-14T12:09:00.000Z

The winner of last Friday’s EuroMillions has now come forward to claim their £35m prize. Once I got over the intense feelings of jealousy I started to wonder how much I would have liked to win the cash and what I would do with it if I had.
This day-dreaming is hardly surprising and I bet I wasn’t the only person thinking how this money would change their life. But it did make me wonder whether most people would give up their job if they won.
There’s no shortage of people who say they hate their job and wish they didn’t have to work, but I don’t think it’s laziness, I think because of the actual work or more likely because of a ‘human’ element within the company. So what about those people who jump out of bed in the morning and can’t wait to get to the office? What motivates them? What makes them so happy in their work?
I think the difference is doing something you believe in and hopefully working with others who do as well. Maybe it’s not that simple but surely even winning £35m won’t stop you believing in something you think is right?

£35m - that's a premium-rate call:

2007-07-26T11:40:00.000Z

The latest phone-in scandal has hit ITV with resignations and confessions that up to £35m was spent by the public; calling competitions they could never win.
This story seems to keep on growing and we wonder who will be in the spotlight next. But have we really seen any decent handling of this crisis?
When you hear that the swindles had been going on for ages and that the companies in question were making millions of the back of it, it's very hard to be forgiving; however the crisis was handled.
The initial response from the service provider behind GMTV was that the allegations were nonsense (they probably should have got some PR advice before making this comment). But we have now had some apologies and one heavy-weight resignation. Telling the truth during a crisis is always recommended but sometimes it's just too late.
Can't say I'll be calling GMTV any time soon...

Is all publicity good?

2007-07-18T11:15:00.000Z

As always there have been a few stories this week that have promoted products/companies/stars for less than positive reasons (e.g. Sting being sued for sexual discrimination, Asda stopped from selling the new Harry Potter book or Kenmare Resources and their 'naked Director' scandal) so I'm curious...is all publicity is really good for you?

It might look like Asda wouldn't come out of this too well, except for the spin which says the real reason they aren't allowed to sell the book is because they were going to put too low a price on it (i.e. the positive message for us=Asda is cheaper than the competition).

And Sting; it can't do you any good to be found guilty of discrimination but the last thing the star would want is for record sales to drop because he been forgotten.

As for Kenmare; who knows maybe some investor who hadn’t heard of them will have a look at their website and think their shares are worth a punt.

Can't say I am convinced about all publicity being good for you but if even the bad stories remind us that a star/company/product are out there then that can't be all bad.

We don't need your stinking badges:

2007-07-10T17:13:00.000Z

There was a time when the BBC was held up as an example of honest and quality broadcasting but now their good name seems to be tainted on an almost weekly basis by mistakes and misfits. The latest comes in the form of a ‘deception’ by Blue Peter, yes, I know it’s hard to believe. But it looks as though no broadcaster is above dirty dealings and the media watchdog – Ofcom – has fine the Beeb £50,000 for what it called “serious breaches” of the broadcasting code.

More on this can be read here on the Sky News site (perhaps not the most neutral site to read it on) http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1274307,00.html

Will the Beeb recover from this knock? Yes, without a doubt BUT is this a sign of more problems to come at White City?

2007-07-09T14:32:00.000Z

Has anyone else read about the government plans to introduce lessons on personal finance as part of the curriculum?

It made me smile.

Nice idea, teaching the youngens how to open their own bank accounts. Even better, teaching them how to pay back the increased debt they'll be owing as a result of the bumped-up price of almost everything:

'Shadow schools secretary Michael Gove told The Times: "There is a certain irony that, after presiding over changes to student finance, tax rises and a massive increase in housing costs, the Government is now lecturing the next generation on how to handle debts which ministers have saddled them with." '

Excellent.

New Brown, old Blair.

2007-06-27T11:19:00.000Z

Blair faced his last Prime Minister's Questions this afternoon and apart from a few predictable jokes he didn't get off too easily, in fact he looked like he aged a little more during the event.

Will Brown do a better job as PM? Only time will tell but with Cameron snapping at his heels he needs to work hard to win over the voters, whether with his actions or more likely (sadly) with some cunning media handling (a former journalist I spoke to a few days ago had some less than positive things to say about Gordon!).

Blair rewrote the book of PR and spin in politics - somehow I don't expect any such innovations from Brown but perhaps that's a good thing.

Managers - Want to keep your staff happy? Just talk to them.

2007-06-20T16:17:00.000Z

As part of a team that trains people to be the best communicators they can be (we really do) I would say that communication is something I a) think about rather a lot and b) consider to be highly important. This week, however, my attention has been drawn to the importance of good internal comms - namely in the workplace.

The strength of communication between employers and employees could, I believe, well be the make or break of any organisation. Talking to your staff, and allowing them the freedom to respond openly and confidently has got to be the most basic yet most powerful way to a happy workplace. And, in stark contrast, an environment in which staff are not properly addressed has to be a sure-fire way to lose their trust, their loyalty and confidence.

Learning to be better communicators, and better still, learning to manage staff through the aid of good communication will produce something priceless for any employee at any level; a feeling of respect and of integrity.

We offer various courses that help turn people into better communicators, and one in particular that addresses communication as an imperative feature of good management. However one tip that I would offer to all managers for immediate affect is this; make sure you talk and really listen to your staff; after all, they are what makes your organisation.

Does communication matter to you as an employee? As an employer? Have you had any particularly good/bad experiences of communication in the workplace? Feel free to discuss without fear of retribution..!

Falconer, Jail Bird.

2007-06-19T11:07:00.000Z

The Government seems to have performed a U-turn over the release of prisoners this week. A ‘Whitehall source’ has stated that the Government has run out of options (having only 481 prison spaces left) and so up to 2,000 prisoners could face early release.

Now the point here is not the fact the Government can’t keep criminals locked up. Instead it's the fact (that Sky News are particularly keen on today) that on May 6th, Lord Falconer, in a Sky News interview said "I am not going to announce early releases because of prison overcrowding. It's simply wrong". So, firstly did Falconer lie to the media to keep them off his back? If so, he won’t be trusted again and his reputation and the reputation of the Government will be damaged. Secondly, if he wasn’t lying and the events that have happened were unexpected, what should he do to rectify this blunder?

If it's the first; the fact is that you shouldn’t lie to the media EVER, it is done fairly often and those that get away with it, don’t for long – sooner or later they get found out and whether they are in PR or are a spokesperson they find it very difficult to rebuild the trust of journalists. If it's the second; what we'd recommend is some quick thinking and crisis handling (if it’s not a crisis yet it could be soon). By explaining the situation to the media and outlining why the position has changed, or the fact that new information has arisen you will at least go some way to justifying what happened. The last thing you should do in this situation is ignore it and pretend nothing happened.

We await a response from Lord Falconer and it may turn out that the ‘Whitehall source’ was incorrect but either way this situation has all the ingredients to make a very sticky mess for those involved.

See the Sky story here:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1271123,00.html

A drop of French courage?

2007-06-13T13:05:00.000Z

One of the dos and don'ts we never thought to include in our media training courses seemed to be rather obvious: 'Don't speak at a press conference when under the influence'.

Now you may wonder what I am getting at but a video of Nicolas Sarkozy at the G8 Summit has been posted on You Tube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=1uxb0JHqzlA and the French President seems to be quite drunk. The matter has been explained away by the French as the effects of a sleeping pill but is it a coincidence that Sarkozy had just had a 'long meeting' with Putin?

So needless to say we wouldn't recommend a bit of Dutch courage (or anything else that makes you stagger and mumble) before you go on stage; your journalist audience are unlikely to see the funny side!

Not so Cold War.

2007-06-06T09:16:00.001Z

The war of words between Putin and well, everybody else, has continued this week after Vlad threatened that the world is likely to return to the ‘Cold War’ days. Blair is due to meet with him at the G8 summit and promises a “frank discussion” with the Russian leader. In the BBC interview Blair went on to say that many people were “concerned about the direction Russia is heading.

But what is more interesting is why Putin is causing this confrontation and media frenzy; is it to cause a distraction from the Polonium poisoning which he or some of his ‘mob’ have been blamed for (no doubt Blair will raise this one with Putin) or is he just using the media to make his voice heard and build global-support?

The media are no fools and they know when Putin speaks it will get an audience (and rightly so, as he is the leader of one of the planet’s largest nations), so who is using who?
Used correctly, the media can help you build support although threatening the world with weapons may not be the way to go about this. So this brings us back to the above question – what is Putin up to? I don’t pretend to be an expert on Russian politics but I think we can expect some more PR activity from Moscow over the coming weeks. Watch this space…

Have Endemol gone too far…again?

2007-05-30T09:06:00.000Z

This week the news has been covering Endemol’s latest production (no, I don’t mean Big Brother which, sadly, is due to start again this evening), in which donors compete to win a kidney. The show, being broadcast in the Netherlands, will give people, desperate for a kidney transplant, the chance to win one from a terminally ill donor.

Endemol, claim that the show will highlight the severe lack of donors available but instead it is likely to make them come across as a media organisation looking to profit from suffering. References to the botched handling of the race-row at the last Big Brother show have already been made and you can’t help but wonder if the organisation behind are just stirring up more anger and resentment.

So have the media gone too far this time? Personally I think they have. We can’t have a situation where ratings are obtained at any cost but when media organisations are trampling all over ethics to get to the top surely things have gone too far. Endemol’s spokespeople have been keeping their heads down during this and don’t seem to be offering comment – maybe they are too busy looking for some training on how to handle the media in a crisis!

Read the BBC’s view here…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6699847.stm

Pushing our luck? We certainly amused the Daily Telegraph...

2007-05-25T13:32:00.000Z

Love or loathe him (and i'm sure it's the latter) you have to admit that Tony Blair has his media 'handling' down to a fine art. Ok, so with the ever-present cup of tea for that 'common touch' he's probably gone into overkill to be fair (but more on that in a separate blog...), but with expert techniques like that how could we resist offering him a job as a Bluewood Trainer?!

And so, standing by our 'Our delegates want to become experts so we use experts' belief, we thought we'd let a few people know that we're hoping there'll be another expert trainer on the Bluewood block come the end of June.

The result? Well it seems we managed to amuse the Telegraph's Simon Goodley enough to get a piece in his City Diary; Hate the spin but love the spinner? I'm glad to see our efforts haven't gone to waste, even if we still haven't heard anything back from Tonio...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/05/24/ccdiary24.xml

A cry of pain for the Cutty Sark.

2007-05-22T08:17:00.000Z

It is tragic that the Cutty Sark has been so badly damaged by fire and it will be all the more sad if it turns out (as suspected) to be arson.

Living and working quite near Greenwich means that the Cutty Sark has been one of those characteristics of London that you get used to seeing over the years and perhaps even take for granted - I had often meant to go onboard, do the tour and see what she was like but I always put it off till the next time. Sadly there may never be a chance to see her in her glory again as the damages may now cost too much (£25m was the pre-fire restoration figure).

I hope that she can be saved but it will only happen if the public show their support - donations can be made at www.cuttysark.org.uk.

And if it does turn out to be arson perhaps, in honour of the Lady's 19th Century heritage we should bring back hanging.

Do the scientologists need some communication skills training or just the BBC?

2007-05-14T14:55:00.000Z

The scientologists seem to get quite a lot of flak for their ‘religion’. And they’re are about to get some more as Panorama documents them tonight on BBC 1.

In response, however, they have released a rather embarrassing video on you tube of a BBC journalist losing his rag in a big way with some scientologists (who seem to keep fairly calm). The guys he is interviewing do seem quite sinister in a sort of Men in Black kind of way so perhaps he was justified in blowing his top – of course we don’t get to see the first bit on their video.
But a broadcast journalist from the beeb really ought to have known better than to start hurling abuse at someone when there are cameras about – one top tip in media training is ‘always assume the cameras are on’ and I suppose he forgot about that one. Not sure the beeb would be all that keen on Bluewood providing their journalists with media training…maybe I should give them a call…

New blog...

2007-05-14T13:56:00.000Z

Hi,

This is our new blog. I have set this one up before I actually showed it to Gemma so it is entirely likly she won't like it, will complain about the colour scheme and won't like the font but what can I say? I'm impatient.
The aim of this blog will be to talk about everything and nothing and kings and fools but hopefully we will give it a bit of an amusing slant or two as well!
More coming soon...