Welcome
It wasn't a PR failure, it was a failure of humanity
Yesterday Purposeful Relations co-founder Stuart Bruce published a 'hot take' article on the P&O Ferries debacle as the company brutally sacked all of its workers, to replace them with cheaper agency staff. It's had a huge reaction. Have a read and let us know what you think.
Also in this issue of PR Futurist we've got an article that explains why regression analysis is useful for PR professionals (don't yawn, it really is, and we've made it easy to understand). There's also news on the DataComms conference, automating document approval and improvements to LinkedIn
Stuart Bruce | PR Futurist
News
What actions can you take to help the people of Ukraine| PRmoment.com
PR Moment was kind enough to include some thoughts from Purposeful Relations founder Stuart Bruce on how public relations and communications professionals can help Ukraine.
sbpr.cc
Get in touch
Can we help?
A quick reminder that Purposeful Relations helps PR and communications team modernise and face the future. Our CommsTransform™ platform creates a digital transformation roadmap to help you improve people (skills and capabilities), processes (culture and professional practice) and products (technology).
Our team can also help with crisis communications planning, preparation and response.
We're always open to a quick no obligations chat, so get in touch today.
purposefulrelations.com
Data, measurement, analytics
Regression analysis for PR and communications data
We are inundated with data that we need to make sense of daily. Our colleague, Daniel Bailey, explains how a simple but powerful mathematical technique can help. This is the first of an occasional series of articles explaining the everyday use of mathematical concepts written for those of us who are not very mathematically minded.
purposefulrelations.com
DataComms Conference 2022
Purposeful Relations co-founder Stuart Bruce is one of the speakers at Communicate magazine's DataComms conference in London on 5 May. Stuart was also one of the judges of the DataComms Awards and the winners will be announced at a lunchtime ceremony after the conference. Most speakers still need to be added to the site, but we've had a sneak preview, and it's certainly worth attending.
communicatemagazine.com
Crisis communication
Crisis communications lessons from P&O Ferries
In 30+ years of doing professional public relations and crisis communications I haven't seen any company behave as diabolically as P&O Ferries. For our international readers, the TL;DR (too long; did not read) is P&O Ferries recalled all its ships to dock, so it could sack everyone and replace all its workers with cheaper agency workers. It did it using a pre-recorded video message.
I've written a short article to share some of my personal and professional thoughts.
It's already received some great feedback. Paul Holmes, founder of PRovoke Media, said:
"For a necessarily "hot" take (given the time frame) this is a brilliant analysis by @stuartbruce -- in a just world, this ends with P&O shareholders losing every penny."
Charles Arthur, former technology editor of The Guardian, said:
"Good piece by Stuart on P+O’s “disasterclass” (© @alexwickham) in PR and, well, everything."
Risks and crisis communications expert Rod Cartwright, who advised Malaysia Airlines in the months following the disappearance of flight MH370 said:
"I was going to write something on the @POferries #crisis. Instead, just read this brilliant piece by @stuartbruce. As I say so often, there are rarely true #pr crises - just crises of #leadership, #governance, #strategy, #culture and #humanity. This is all of these and worse.
Maritime PR expert Ben Pinnington, author of Making Waves - PR strategies to transform your maritime business, said:
stuartbruce.biz"Powerful blog from Stuart - another chastening PR experience for the maritime industry."
AI, digital and social
Government digital transformation - put people first!
The Westminster eForum on government digital transformation offers signs that a least some parts of the state understand what is needed for successful digital transformation. Putting user needs first, better understanding and management of risk and more balanced contracts between organisations and vendors are just three of the take–aways. A really useful summary of factors to consider when thinking about digital transformation, no matter what sector you are in.
diginomica.com
Research and reports
Please complete the European Communication Monitor 2022 survey
The European Communication Monitor is an important source of data for us at Purposeful Relations. It provides useful benchmarking data and insights into how the profession is progressing. One of its strengths is that it is conducted with academic rigour to provide data that is useful for practitioners in the real world. Stuart Bruce knows and has worked with several of the lead research team including Professor Ralph Tench at Leeds Beckett University and Associate Professor Alexander Buhmann at the Norwegian Business School in Oslo. Please help the research team by spending a few minutes to complete the survey.
communicationmonitor.net
CommTech newswatch
Changes and improvements to LinkedIn
This article explains some recent and forthcoming changes to LinkedIn, based on feedback from users. It includes improvements to how you can tailor your feed to see the news you want and improvements to messaging (still not great, but better than before).
linkedin.com
How to and tips
How to automate document approval processes using Microsoft 365
At Purposeful Relations, we help PR and communications teams work more effectively by making better use of new technology and the latest professional practice. However, often, digital transformation can be as simple as learning how to use existing tools. Most teams have Microsoft 365, but many don't get many of the benefits as they stick to old routines rather than the faster, easier, more effective alternatives it provides. This article explains how to use Microsoft's Power Automate to simplify document approval.
sharepointmaven.com