What is Public Relations - marketing or advertising?

It’s one of the most frequent questions we are asked. Many people are unclear about the roles of PR, marketing and advertising, and even within these disciplines there is ongoing debate, so let me try to clear some of the mist surrounding this subject.

Marketing, is about creating and retaining customers. It should be based on a well-researched plan that includes the four basic principles - product, position, promotion and price, and uses a mix of different tools to achieve its goals. Advertising and public relations play a part in the delivery of a marketing campaign.

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So much technology, I don't even have to leave the house!

I like to take time over my appearance. Even if I'm tired, or just going out for a pint of milk, I can't bring my self to just "throw something on". This doesn't mean I'll preen myself for six hours just to pop something in the wheelie bin, but I will make sure that if I venture into a place where others will clasp eyes on me, that I have at least done my hair. Who knows who you will meet. I can't stand seeing some people who are in town looking like they have just woken up. In a hedge. After a night of vodka and heroin. There's a style to the stubbly look, but the hobo look doesn't fall into the category of "win".



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Lack of back-ups get my back up!

Ladies and Gentlemen... It has started!

I went to my car this morning and it was covered in frost for the first time this year. This is not a good thing; it signals that the real winter has started and it will be at least 3/4 of a year before it becomes warm to an acceptable level. It also means that I have at least a 25 minute wait when I get home before the radiators do their mighty work and warm the place up. It means that I will get home when it is night-time, it means that venturing outside involves putting on coats/hats/scarves/gloves which simply takes up too much of my time.

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Looks always deceive.

I love surprises. Good surprises, mind, I don't for example relish the moment when I come home to find a tiger has ravaged my house. No, I love good surprises, that feeling of thinking something is simply not going to work despite assurances then, lo and behold, it all goes according to plan. Imagine how amazed the observers of the Wright Brothers' first flight must've been when it all worked. I mean to those who don't understand the physics of flight, it is an utterly preposterous suggestion that a structure made of wood and canvas would actually fly? What, like a bird? Nonsense!

But it did, and that must've been like watching someone say they'll walk through the Empire State Building, on fire, then actually doing it.

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There is such a thing as a FREE lunch!

When David Cameron came to power and dished out the ministerial jobs, I had high hopes that, finally, we would have a cabinet that would fully support the vital role that small business plays in UK Plc.

I was wrong.

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Woohoo, I've just voted

Okay, so I’ve just gone out and voted. Get me!!! Who did I vote for? Well I’m not telling you, but it was the same folk that I always vote for.

In the UK, we have dozens of parties. Granted, there are the “big three” where the minority get the majority of the votes, but that is like everything in life. That is why something like 5% of businesses makes up 70% of all UK business turnover. I may have just made those statistics up, but you get the idea.

So why do I always vote for the same people then? Is it just me? I doubt it. Truth be told we all do this. It is not a fear of change that stops us, indeed most of us secretly love change, but it is the fear of uncertainty that keeps us in the same place all this time. We don’t know if the new guys will be worse than the present ones. Mr Labour voter may worry that, despite the Lib Dems' promise on social issues, that they may be taxed out of their car. Or their central heating.

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Why Is The Editors “Delete” Key So Worn Down?

Despite it being their job, you wouldn’t have thought that writers of any kind would want to annoy Editors, or make them take glee in deleting all that hard work, would you. However, even with the joy that is “spellchecker”, or the plethora of books and guides to help you, too many people are making stupid errors that simply paint a bad picture.

So, are you making these errors? Well, before you all jump up to declare that you are in the minority that never gets it wrong, let’s look over the list to see the main offenders. And don’t forget the Editor is not going to call you to say what you have done wrong; they will simply delete all your hard work. So let’s see what people miss out:

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Enjoy your own publicity for Red Nose Day

If you popped into your high street supermarket this morning and wondered why their staff were wearing fancy dress and rattling tins at their customers, don’t worry, it is not a new stealth tax initiative from our beloved Chancellor, its Red Nose Day!

Without doubt it’s a worthy cause, but have you ever wondered why national organisations like supermarkets and building societies support and encourage their staff to take time out of their working day to raise millions of pounds for charity?

No matter how benevolent the organisation, there has to be a payback. The huge amount of publicity and goodwill that these companies receive from the television and national press far outweighs the lost hours organising it.

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The Funny Game Of Rules and Regulations

Aren’t the olden days a funny thing? Something that it seems no one has ever lived in, as everyone who lived whenever the “good old days” were had someone then talking about their “good old days”. When were they exactly? Who knows!

One thing I always notice about people talking about “the good old days” is that there is a real case of the rose-tinted glasses. Have you ever noticed that when someone is on a nostalgia trip, maybe with a couple of pints just to help them on their way, that it was always some kind of golden age, where the worst thing to expect was a spot of scrumping, then being chased by a ruddy faced officer called Plod. “Oh, the ‘50s were a grand time” we’re told. Funny how no one reminisces about the infant mortality rate being 29.2, as opposed to 6.9 in 2003 eh?

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