What lies buried under CSR reporting? An engaging story!
Posted on 30th July 2012 in Corporate Responsibility, Our Blog
Many corporations are suffering under the increased demands of sustainability reporting. Reports prepared to satisfy the Global Reporting Initiative standards, along with reports specific to individual investors, often mean that social responsibility and communications departments are swamped with the minutiae of slightly different questions that can require vastly different answers. Public-facing storytelling gets buried under the pressure of […]
Continue reading »The value of values
Posted on 9th May 2012 in Communications, Corporate Responsibility, Our Blog
The financial crisis and changing market developments have made many companies aware of their vulnerability, with increased competition and waning consumer confidence posing new threats. In these turbulent times, it is important to stay strong as a business and to re-examine not just your strategy, but also your values. Corporate brands can no longer just […]
Continue reading »A lesson on the power of metaphor from Inditex founder Armancio Ortega
Posted on 27th March 2012 in Communications, Our Blog
Armancio Ortega, founder and chairman of Spanish fashion group Inditex, understands the power of metaphor. In an article this week in The Economist, the 75-year-old Galician compares fashion with fish. The metaphor is particularly appropriate for a man born and bred in a small fishing village next to the famous Spanish fishing port of La Coruña. Flogging […]
Continue reading »Politicians who dodge questions: Too much media training, or lack of common sense?
Posted on 18th March 2012 in Our Blog, Public relations
This past weekend I was invited to give my views on the media performance of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, on Dutch national radio’s Sunday programme Vier Zeven. Did I think Rutte had been media-trained? Did it show? What did I think of his performance? Mark Rutte is a very good communicator, I said, because […]
Continue reading »How science is revolutionising marketing
Posted on 5th March 2012 in Communications, Our Blog
Visiting the NMSBA neuro marketing conference in Amsterdam recently gave my brain a lot to process. This science of why people buy provides us with numerous ways of literally reading people’s minds. Neuro scientists view surveys and questionnaires as a very limited way of conducting research as participants over think their answers and unconsciously rationalise […]
Continue reading »A Monster of a question: Is there any ROI for social media measures?
Posted on 13th February 2012 in Front Page Ticker EN, Our Blog, Social Media
Having indulged in the world of social media for several years now, it is quite astonishing how I managed to avoid answering the question: “What is the return of investment on social media?” This question was raised at a social media seminar we held recently . It’s a logical question because in this digital age, […]
Continue reading »Elephants and Emails: a tale of sustainability
Posted on 22nd November 2011 in Corporate Responsibility, Our Blog, Public relations
What’s the link between a Dot Com CEO’s gruesome killing of an African elephant and a communications company’s stranded email? Supply chain infection! For the past 12 years Media Wise and The Green Place have used the webhosting services of U.S.-based GoDaddy, one of the biggest providers worldwide. GoDaddy offered good value for money. We […]
Continue reading »The forgotten dangers of Social Media – are you prepared for your employees’ mistakes?
Posted on 10th November 2011 in Our Blog, Social Media
The forgotten dangers of Social Media – are you prepared for your employees’ mistakes? Embracing the world of social media in research, work as well as in my private life helps me to discover new and challenging tools, interesting topics, great campaigns and gives me helpful insights into today’s international marketing world. Nevertheless it is […]
Continue reading »Are we CSR practitioners writing ourselves out of the script?
Posted on 7th September 2011 in Corporate Responsibility, Front Page Ticker EN, Our Blog
I have been mulling over this: if we are successful in our jobs of fully integrating CSR into a company ethos, its business practices, and its product development, then surely we CSR practitioners will have made ourselves redundant? Our extinction, then, will become proof of a job well done. We have made visible progress and […]
Continue reading »