
Monday, 30 June 2008
Agenda leading publication?

Wednesday, 4 June 2008
The future’s bright, but may not be in London
I spent a very enjoyable and informative day with PRCA members in It is clear looking at their client lists, which include many household brands, and discussing the sort of margins that they are achieving that they are more than competing with the
One agency has recently closed down its
There is still a perception in some quarters, despite considerable evidence to the contrary, that London holds all the best PR brains and that the out of town agencies don’t deliver the same results.
But if the cost and frustrations of living in
Maybe Bite Director, Robin Wilson, who is leaving
Monday, 2 June 2008
Stop - you know it's wrong

I’ve just counted up, and so far this year Carrot has received eight PR briefs that do not contain a budget.
If you work in an agency that is willing to through the pitch process without an agreed budget or are considering issuing a consultancy brief without a budget – please stop.
Nobody gains from a blind pitch.
Clients get lots of ideas that do not fit the available budget and agencies have no idea of what level of resource to assign to the pitch or resulting campaign.
For the life of me, I can not think of one good reason to exclude budgets from the consultancy selection process. Maybe you can suggest one?
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
A millionaire every month!
Monday, 19 May 2008
2008 - The Year of Video
Speaking at the ICCO Southeast European Summit in Slovenia this afternoon, Senator Marc R. Pacheco of Massachusetts (D), gave an interesting take on the new media battle for the United States Presidency. It would seem that the 2008 campaign really is the year of the video.
When it comes to videos Obama is by far the most prolific, with 1,338 videos online, which have been watched a staggering 45 million times. Clinton and McCain are lagging behind with just 376 and 262 videos a piece.
Super delegates have also been getting in on the act, with the youngest, just 23 years old, announcing her support for Obama on a YouTube hosted video.
But apparently it isn’t all serious stuff; more than 1.9 million people have watched a video on YouTube of Clinton singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" out of tune at a campaign rally.
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Danny answers your questions
Danny Rogers, editor of PR Week, has responded to A Close Second's questions.It will give you an insight into what the editor of our only weekly trade title is looking for, what he loves about PR, and what drives him mad.
Well worth a read.
PR Week
Sunday, 11 May 2008
Hindsight is a wonderful thing
I nearly laughed out loud when I saw the letters page of PR Week on Thursday.
These included a near rant from Clive Booth of the ACCA, who seems to confuse opinion with news. When I last looked Mr Booth, they were both legitimate parts of the media agenda, and our panel provides opinion.
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Will it blend?
This is by no means a new viral, but it always makes me laugh, and I have yet to find a better example of how to demonstrate your product's benefits on-line.
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
No contract, no consultancy
I was glad to see the report in PR Week of Shaw PR's success in its court case over a past project client, charity or not.But the lesson has to be - contract first, work second. Far too many consultancies seem happy to work without a signed contract. It is simply bad business practice. Consultancies need to be absolutely clear as part of the pitch process that a signed contract is a prerequisite for work starting.
Monday, 28 April 2008
A busy week for Danny
Danny Rogers made an eloquent argument for the benefits of PR on the BBC's Working Lunch last Friday (interview starts at 38 minutes).Neatly working the old promotion of a survey tactic, Danny used the Top 150 annual survey to get a plug for PR Week and the benefits that the sector offers clients.
Danny has kindly agreed to answer questions from 'A Close Second'. So if you have any questions for the editor of PR Week please do send them to me at richard.houghton@prca.org.uk.




