Change4Life, a nationwide drive to get people living more healthily is sending out thousands of free Supermeals booklets containing 14 easy-to-prepare, healthy meals that won’t break the bank. We all have excuses as to why we don’t eat more healthily. Whether you’re a salad dodger who can’t hit five portions of fruit or veg a day or you’re worried about wasting fresh produce, our Supermeals infographic will show you how to get the best out of the time and food you have.
Associate Director Andy Green blogs on…
Say bye-bye to ‘middleweight creativity’ in public relations practise and take advantage of new opportunities in research and planning to transform your communications.
In a new talk ‘The Creativity Paradox’ – specially commissioned for the new Strategic Management series run by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations – Andy Green FCIPR explores how communicators can capitalise on new understanding of how the brain works, thinks and produces creativity, combined with new opportunities in research and planning.
The event takes place at the CIPR Centre in London on Tuesday February 28th at 5pm.
Andy will explore how, by realizing the creative potential of your information and insight to create or add to your brand stories, you can gain a disproportionate share of your culture.
Success however, will only come if communicators both fully understand how the creative dimension operates coupled with harnessing the revolution in new forms of data to create what he calls ‘new school PR’.
He will examine the growing importance of creative thinking at a strategic level and the explosion of activity at a micro-tactical level, with a move away from what he labels ‘middle-weight creativity’.
The Strategic Management series aims to promote knowledge sharing, knowledge gaining and to facilitate discussion on research techniques, planning in PR and measurement and evaluation – the overall process of managing public relations activity.
This series runs alongside the CIPR’s newly founded Research and Development Unit which promotes research and development in the profession and ensures a solid research foundation for future development of public relations practice in the UK and internationally.
Andy is the author of ‘Creativity in Public Relations’ now in its fourth edition and translated into eight languages and ‘Effective Personal Communications Skills for Public Relations’ both published by Kogan Page.
Tickets for ‘The Creativity Paradox’ are priced just £20 and available from the CIPR via http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/2620931276
Associate Director Andy Green blogs…
At last the magic ingredient of Coca Cola’s success is now being shared.
No, I am not talking about the tightly-guarded ingredients of its flavoured water.
Rather, how it allocates its precious resources for brand communications to ensure its future success by ‘gaining a disproportionate share of popular culture’ (isn’t this what you are about: aiming to gain a disproportionate share of your stakeholders’ culture?).
For several years now, when facilitating brand communications reviews or strategic awaydays I have been advocating an 80:20 formula – 80% of the things you do, you play safe, tried and tested; 20% you go for innovation, try new things, play, experiment, and engage more with risk.
By using this recipe, I believe you can get the best balance between safety/change and risk.
In its major strategic review, Coca Cola 2020 goes even further. It uses a 70:20:10 ratio.
70% of activity is Low Risk, bread and butter stuff;
20% is Innovative on what works, tending to be activity engaging more deeply with specific audience (but still has broad scale);
10% is for the High Risk, potentially tomorrow’s 20 or 70% activity, where learning intent is declared upfront, and you are prepared to fail by celebrating both failure and success.
Coca Cola is taking a lead in putting Brand Story at its heart of communications. Its video Content 2020 is both a masterpiece of production, and an essential must-see for any serious marketing communication professional. Check out the video – it only lasts 7 minutes.
Also, it is great to see the format used by the Royal Society for Arts in its Animate series being used as a model for spreading messages.
In the year ahead it’s going to be tough, but it’s not about the survival of the fittest – rather, the survival of the best fitting: who can best adapt to chnages, new demands, and capitalise on available opportuntities. How are you going to devise your 70:30:10?
Here are some key strategic tools I will be harnessing in the brand workshops I will be running for clients during 2012:
7. Just do the right thing
If you are not planning a strategic review for 2012 – will you still be here next year?
Are you seeking a ‘disproportionate share of popular culture’ in your communications in 2012? (So long as it’s part of a coherent Brand and Brand Story strategy.)
What are you going to do different in 2012? How are you going to be best fitting to your new world?
Working Word senior account executive, Rachel Mortell contemplates the dos and don’ts of the annual Christmas party.
The Christmas season has crept up on us once again. Cardiff city centre has transformed into a quintessential German village, populated with traditional wooden huts selling a selection of trinkets, handmade Christmas decorations and food. The inviting smell of mulled wine and roasted chestnuts can get even the most committed Scrooge in the Christmas spirit.
But if there is one thing that gets people fired up for Christmas, it is the much-anticipated office Christmas party. Indeed we at Working Word are looking forward to our client Christmas bash which will no doubt be a great opportunity to catch up and have a good time with clients, journalists, contacts and friends alike.
Understandably, everyone wants to let loose a little at the Christmas party. It’s been a tough economic year that many businesses in Wales have struggled through. A Christmas party is surely a chance to forget about all of that, stuff your face with mince pies and wash it down with Baileys right? The answer is yes and no; have a good a time but try and avoid complete humiliation that will leave you cringing well into 2012.
No matter how many Christmas parties you attend this year, if you follow this simple survival guide, you should be able to get through the festive period without a hitch.
Rule #1
Manage drinking time. Whether your party is a lunchtime affair or after work, accept that it’s likely to go on for a number or hours. If you want to last to the bitter end with your speech intact it’s important to space out your drinking and make it last. Drinking water in between should go some way in delaying the effects of intoxication!
Rule #2
Try and avoid talking shop with your colleagues. If you have unresolved work issues, the Christmas party is not the time or place to air those grievances. Not only does it dampen the mood when everyone is trying to enjoy the atmosphere but the alcohol factor heightens the risk you may say something you will regret on Monday morning. If you predict a riot, simply avoid that person if you are a bit tipsy.
Rule #3
Make sure your guests are taken care of. If you are hosting a party, it’s important to remember that your guests’ enjoyment is paramount (even over yours). Make sure they are engaged in conversation, have a drink in their hands and are introduced to like-minded people. If they enjoy themselves, the atmosphere will look after itself. Christmas parties can be a great opportunity to network and make yourself known – just make sure it’s for the right reasons.
Rule #4
Make sure you dress appropriately. For men, I suppose there isn’t much room for error. The biggest decision will be to opt for the shirt/tie combo or opt for a more casual look and leave the tie in the office. For female guests however, getting the dress code wrong can send out the wrong messages. If you spend all year trying to look professional, you don’t want to ruin it with an ill thought-out low cut, backless number that’s way too many inches above the knee. Dress comfortably but smartly and reindeer jumpers are a no-no, unless the theme is fancy dress of course.
Rule #5
Have fun! Christmas parties shouldn’t be too restrictive as everyone is there to have a good time. It’s a chance to let your hair down. If you are relaxed, mingle with the guests and avoid getting too drunk, you will get the most out of the party. Make sure you see out 2011 in style, whatever you do.
Work experience placement Georgia Gibson-Ford on escaping classroom PR theory and breaking into the real world.
About 20 different PR companies were emailed and only one responded….Working Word. “If you want a career in PR, work experience is essential”; I’ve been told this numerous times by people ‘in-the-know’ but it is much easier said than done!
Time to burst out of the bubble for Georgia
When I first started my degree in Journalism, Film and Media at Cardiff University, I expected to become a serious, hard-hitting news journalist overnight.
After almost three years of studying and a week’s work experience at a local newspaper, I can finally say this is not the route for me; I wanted a career with flexibility, creativity with words and ideas and, most importantly, to actually talk to people!
The more I’ve learnt about PR, it seems clear that creativity and communication with people lies directly at the heart of it, but what about in the real world?
Most university tutors (and the CIPR website) mark the value of work experience in the industry as priceless; it’s one thing sitting in a classroom reading about how PR works but it could be a completely different kettle of fish outside my journalism ‘bubble’.
After many, many emails enquiring about opportunities with next to no leads, I was ready to throw in my PR towel (until graduation loomed) but then I was given a chance by Working Word!
I’m so excited about being able to break free from my stuffy lectures and explore the real world of PR and really hope that I can gain as much out of this week as possible as unfortunately, they are very hard to come by.
Georgia's new t-shirt (maybe)
Although I’ve just arrived, the colleagues here have already made me feel that this is the best place to come for an engaging and motivating first step into the PR world and I’m confident it will confirm there is a place for me outside my university ‘bubble’.
