From the Directors
What do the captains of our ship have to say about the media landscape of today? Always challenging, they want to get us all thinking a little bit differently
Blame storming- is it getting worse?
17th February 2012This morning, as my Twitter, Facebook and news feeds sprang onto my screens, it was clear that Tesco was in the middle of a media storm. Its advertisement for ‘unpaid’ nightshift workers had seemingly provoked fury and outrage resulting in the social networks working...
View Post >Midsized agencies – way to go!!
15th February 2012A couple of weeks ago London’s Evening Standard ran an article saying that tougher times were ahead for PR firms ‘stuck in the middle’. In essence, the newspaper was saying that the only way ahead for PR consultancies was either to be a global...
View Post >How PR can help improve dismal communications in the Financial Services Industry
6th February 2012This weekend saw the publication of a report on how private sector pensioners are being short changed to the tune of £1billion by the annuity industry. Joanne Segars who heads up the National Association of Pension Funds did not mince her words and talked...
View Post >Bankers, bankers, bankers …. A power for good!
1st February 2012It has been one of those days when everywhere I looked I saw bankers! On my way to Paris for the Global Fund’s 10th anniversary event, on behalf of mosquito net client Sumitomo Chemical, the papers were still full of the RBS CEO’s decision not...
View Post >A bit of Strictly in Leicester Square
This month, the team at Flagship decided to focus on things that make us smile to blast away the gloom that is January. Last week, after a full day of challenging media training, tricky crisis management and workshop planning on Start Up PR I...
View Post >How not to get fat this Christmas!
12th December 2011The closer you get to Christmas the more food programmes, recipes and promotions there are. Everywhere I look there are recipes screaming out at you; recipes for super luxury pies made with triple cream and double butter, recipes for before breakfast snacks, whilst you...
View Post >Getting the most from your PR agency
10th November 2011On the way back from New York last week I watched the film ‘Horrible Bosses’. The film is about three bosses from hell, the most extreme of which is played by Kevin Spacey. He does everything in his power to make life difficult for...
View Post >Making the right impact
27th October 2011An event is an experience and often it’s the best way to engage with people in person. It also enables you to give them a true feel for your brand’s energy and the energy of the people behind your company. But what makes an...
View Post >Looking to the future – an alliance that crosses boundaries
26th October 2011As an agency we have been looking to the future and considering the services, skills and expertise we need to offer our clients so their communications are current and help them have those all powerful persuasive conversations. Which is why we are excited to...
View Post >Timeshare – still alive and kicking after all these years
19th October 2011When I tell people I have been working with the timeshare industry for nearly twenty five years, they express surprise! Surprise that it still exists after all the negative publicity years ago and surprise that the concept still resonates with a holidaying audience that...
View Post >Soap versus gel- Matthew Parris and a very persuasive conversation
At Flagship Consulting we have developed our own bespoke model for changing the way people think about things. We call it ‘persuasive conversations’ and we use it when putting together any form of communication, whether it is a press release or a proposal. Raising...
View Post >Five things you should do when a crisis hits
13th October 2011It is a fact that over 70% of companies that have been hit by a major reputational crisis fail to recover. Companies that don’t have a crisis plan in place are, in my view, irresponsible and deserve all the flack they get. A week...
View Post >How to kill a red hot lead!
7th October 2011Last week the new puppy left a puddle on my carpet. It came to light when I walked into the study and felt this patch of dampness underneath my bare foot. My carpet is cream – the puddle was now orange. Several hours of...
View Post >Thought leadership – original and different thinking that challenges the norm
4th August 2011I’ve just read a piece in IoD’s ‘Big Picture’ magazine about how we’ll all be working in the future. The article didn’t break new ground; we’d overseen a similar ‘future of the world of work’ ‘project for our client, Penna, in 2005, which had...
View Post >Entrepreneurialism needs promoting within all businesses
20th July 2011Public relations programmes are essential for those with an entrepreneurial spirit. Businesses that communicate brave new ideas and opinions capture media interest. Our latest newsletter examines the role and make-up of the entrepreneur and we take a look at how to give a voice...
View Post >Thoughts from ITT
16th June 2011Last week I spent a most enjoyable time in Venice – nice, I hear you say! And it is true that one of the benefits of working in the travel sector is that we visit some wonderful places. This time it was with The...
View Post >What you should do when your CEO has been fired
8th June 2011Today is the day! The whisperings, endless covert meetings, unfamiliar corporate advisors buzzing in and out have resulted in the decision that the man at the top has got to go. The final deal has been signed, the statement agreed and the moment has...
View Post >Crushing and suppressing Google-is this the right approach?
2nd June 2011According to today’s Times a new breed of reputation management companies are being used to ‘suppress and crush’ Google when negative comments about companies and individuals appear. The fact that anyone can post both negative and positive comments, and that these now rank higher than...
View Post >So we’re all middle class now?
21st April 2011As John Prescott famously said, “we’re all middle class now” and this seems to have been confirmed in a recent study undertaken by research company Britain Thinks. The study shows that 71% of Britons define themselves as middle class, almost a quarter are working...
View Post >Words of PR advice to Kate Middleton
20th April 2011Dear Catherine Next week your life will change forever as 400 million viewers tune in to watch you getting married. As no doubt you have noticed there is a rapacious appetite from the media and public to know everything they possibly can about you....
View Post >Tweeting with the TV on
BBC News recently did a story about how differently people watch TV today compared to the past when families gathered around the box to reverentially watch the programmes. The journalist observed that the younger generation watches social TV – a mix between TV and...
View Post >When PR generates leads
5th April 2011Flagship believes that great PR is about building reputation and encouraging conversation that persuades people to change their behaviours, so that they buy our clients’ goods and services, recommend their shares or act in a way that is the desired outcome. We are often...
View Post >A Recipe for Thought Leadership
24th March 2011This is one of the best ways to put together a simple recipe for a thought leadership campaign. Adding the fresh data gives the thought leadership a real kick and helps it develop its full flavour. This recipe is so powerful it will make...
View Post >PR Week debate: ethics in PR
Recent uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Bahrain have thrown the spotlight on PR agencies and businesses that have been associated with these countries or regimes. There is an ongoing debate about what place ethics has in PR, as discussed by Professor Roger Steare, director...
View Post >Women as Agents of Change
18th March 2011On Monday I attended the Observance Service for Commonwealth Day at Westminster Abbey in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. The theme of the service was ‘women as agents of change’. We were treated to ‘reflections’ from...
View Post >Japan – Nothing Speaks Louder than Quiet Calm
15th March 2011In the last few days the world has been overwhelmed by an inconceivable disaster unfolding in front of it. And yet as the images of the whirlpool over the epicentre, the wall of water pushing inland, large boats being smashed against bridges and fires...
View Post >Lessons from skiing for media training
4th March 2011I feel very privileged to have close friends who choose to share their lovely chalet in the Alps with us and I recently travelled out for a weekend’s skiing. I have been skiing now for over 25 years and while I had a number...
View Post >Getting lighter – a positive move for domestic tourism
3rd March 2011The government’s new tourism strategy is expected to suggest that clocks move forward by two rather than one extra hour in the summer months. It would see British Summer Time (BST) maintained during the winter months and “double summertime” applied during summer months, putting...
View Post >Heading for World Malaria Day – April 25th – advocacy at work
28th February 2011For the past decade the global community has been working hard to reach near zero malaria deaths and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Each year a focus is placed on malaria on World Malaria Day, this year being marked on 25th...
View Post >Persuasive conversations – how do you change behaviour?
Our job revolves around communication and a good communicator knows it is often more important to listen than to talk. This applies to every conversation we have, whether it is face to face, on the phone or online. We need to find out what...
View Post >Ab Fab PR
17th February 2011Flagship was recently invited by the PRCA to participate in a PR Master Class to share our experience working on the DLR campaign that was short-listed for a PRCA Consumer Award. Our campaign, based on our ‘Discover London’s Real’ theme, focused on our Lunchtime...
View Post >Why are women so bad at promoting themselves?
16th February 2011I often run media training workshops for women entrepreneurs and business women. I am always amazed and in awe of the talent and ability of the women I meet. Their ideas, their drive and passion are second to none. They have passion, energy and...
View Post >“I dreamed a dream”
15th February 2011Last week I attended an event on diversity organised by the Corporate Research Forum. It discussed current research and thinking about the issue and presented a number of case studies from corporate bodies who had made a commitment to embrace and encourage a more...
View Post >DIY PR? It’s a risky business…
So what’s wrong with DIY PR…well nothing really. If you have worked out what you want to say, how you want to say it and who you want to say it to then it is a great way to promote your company and services....
View Post >‘The Corporate’s Speech’
3rd February 2011Why is it that the majority of business people have a problem with getting people to understand what they are saying? Colin Firth’s brilliant portrayal of the stammering King George VI shows how difficult it can be to just to speak. Whilst King George...
View Post >How to make a product sexy, steamy and wet
I love the new Volvo V60 ad because it has added a sense of fun into the slightly po-faced approach of executive cars. This tongue in cheek approach is brilliant and makes the ad memorable and also make the Volvo appear younger, cooler and...
View Post >Social Media; Slick footage or homemade movies?
4th November 2010I recently moderated a session on social media at the Resort Developers' Organisation (RDO) annual conference. I introduced the session with a short animated presentation on some of the statistics on social media - if Facebook were a country it would be the third...
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