Marketing
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Tuning in to WII.FM
I don’t think I’m the only PR professional who is more than a little uncomfortable with promoting themselves….we’re a bit like the construction industry worker who fails to find time to fix up their own house. But just recently I’ve been re-evaluating the balance of my public ‘shouting’ about my clients success compared with promoting…
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Perception, The Final Frontier
Recently, I caught an interview with Aerosmith’s lead singer, Steve Tyler, who made a comment that made me contemplate things: “We’re just living on the tail of a comet.” I have long been a star-gazer. I often catch myself stealing a sneaky peak at the heavens, dreaming sub-consciously of galaxies far, far away. But that’s another story.…
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A Nation of Shopkeepers
freelancer n : A person hired to do specific assignments, not employed continuously The world of the freelancer is a stressful place to be. In my career as a Communications Specialist I have worked with many different clients, in many different business sectors and have often been approached by marketing, advertising and PR agencies to provide freelance support.
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Saving Social Media
It is very rare that a marketing or PR campaign stops you in your tracks and makes you think. Last month, however, a wonderfully creative online campaign really excited me as a communications professional, but more importantly, as an individual living in the UK post 1945. On the 69th anniversary of D-Day, Channel 4 portrayed a real-time…
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We Are All Individuals
I can relate to Sting’s Englishman In New York – I often feel like a legal alien. I know this may sound dramatic but let me explain. In a time when the use of social media is prevalent, we are given a unique insight into the world of the individual, their behaviour, their thoughts, their…
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Slaying The Dragon
I absolutely loved a story I read recently about the Iceland MP, Árni Johnsen, who moved a boulder in which, he believes, a family of elves lives, to his garden to repay them for helping him survive a car crash. Now, we can’t all claim to have seen an elf or a pixie, and few would…
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War Of The Reputation
If there was ever an individual in need of PR it was Richard III. Portrayed as an evil, grotesquely deformed, murderer of young princes, the controversy surrounding the last Yorkist monarch of England has endured to the present day. Even the identification of the bones discovered in Leicester’s Greyfriars Car Park as those of the King did nothing to…
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You Have To Kiss A Lot Of Frogs
Once upon a time there was a girl who wanted to tell stories about as many people as possible to the world. Not nasty stories, but nice stories about happy events and good news. Telling stories is the cornerstone of any good communications strategy but the world of business rarely resembles a fairy tale. I was reminded of this recently…
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She’s a jolly good Fellow
It’s not often that you get a surprise. I mean a real, jaw-dropping surprise that makes you catch your breath and brings a spontaneous smile to your face. It’s also not often that you receive recognition for your professional abilites, and not just in private but as a real public declaration. Well, that’s how my week began last…
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CAT On Wire
Working for yourself is no easy task. No, honestly. It is not an easy thing. That may come as a bit of a surprise to those of you who receive their income from an employer and gaze jealously on the perceived lifestyle of their self-employed counterparts – shorter working hours, higher earnings, no boss.
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Birthdays are bad for the brand
Market leaders are acutely aware of the value of the brand as a corporate asset with many household brands contributing millions to the bottom line of a company’s balance sheet. As a practitioner in PR, and custodian of the corporate brand, I fully appreciate its inherent power as a potent promotional tool and communicator of an intangible promise to deliver.
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CAT’s nine lives of 2011
As I was getting ready for the Hogmanay celebrations, I was mulling over the past year and began to recount some of the wonderful opportunities 2011 had presented. So, as one year ends and another begins, it seems an appropriate time to share my best nine lives of 2011…
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The twelve clients of Christmas
As a consultant I’m on the constant look-out for opportunities to promote my clients and, with time at a premium, it is often difficult to dedicate any effort to promoting myself! So, this festive season, I decided to create a small campaign to raise awareness of the range of services I offer amongst existing clients and to encourage potential…
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Are you sitting comfortably?
As we go through life, I believe that we all have the responsibility to give a little back as we go. Lend a helping hand where we can or give someone a boost on their own journey. One of the most rewarding parts of my career to-date has, undoubtedly, been my time imparting my communications knowledge to…
Allison 'Cat' Thomas 