Stuff We like...
New restaurants, TV shows, businesses, hobbies, routes to work, events and much more – we are a varied bunch at Flagship, but one thing we all have in common is we love to share – so let us share the stuff we like with you here
PR mixology
3rd May 2013At our company ‘away’ afternoon a couple of weeks ago, our CEO Diana likened us to the different ammunition that form an army, a platoon, or a brigade, if you will. Everyone has the same career type, but we’re not all cut from the same...
View Post >An afternoon of bloody-mindedness
26th February 2013If you were sitting watching the rugby on Sunday afternoon, you must have been stunned into silence as the match unfolded. There was absolutely no doubt that Ireland should have won their match against Scotland. The stats speak for themselves: 71% possession and 77%...
View Post >My Perfect Christmas Campaign – with thanks to Frisky and Mannish
12th December 2012This week at Flagship Consulting it is our Christmas Party! Wahoo! A chance to utterly play to type, darlings; quaff fizz, talk too loudly and generally “love everyone, sweetie”. So, this has got me in quite a Christmassy mood and I have been somewhat...
View Post >Getting el message acrossio in Spanglish
23rd November 2012As with all transformative technology, Twitter has created and nurtured many unexpected offspring. While everyone uses Twitter in different ways, for me, one of the most creative, enjoyable and informative types of feed is the fake celebrity persona. I’m not talking here about people...
View Post >Victory for Europe all down to shift in momentum
1st October 2012Europe retained the Ryder Cup last night in the most spectacular of fashions. They came back from a huge deficit after two days of play to win on the final day, matching a feat only achieved once before – by the American team in...
View Post >Deals galore… If your face fits
13th August 2012Currently running in beta at a private location in Nashville, Facedeals is the latest facial recognition technology to plug in to Facebook. Created by ad firm Red Pepper Land, it will allow businesses to install a camera that will automatically recognize and check-in patrons who have...
View Post >QR outta here!
21st June 2012QR codes – ugly little things that offer little value to anyone. Don’t get me wrong, when they first came out I was running around the streets, Google Goggling for hours until my phone or I ran out of juice. I was positively elated...
View Post >Guest post: The Last Laugh: Women and Work
11th May 2012I work for a company (Flagship’s US partner, Peppercom) that is known as much for its hard work as it is for its hard play. From Kangoo lessons at work to relentless e-mail banter to jovial pranks (not sure if co-founder Ed Moed, who...
View Post >Getting our knickers in a twist
13th April 2012Who would have thought that you could depict the state of our country by simply using a pair of knickers! This week I took some time to watch Mary Portas’ new tv programme ‘Mary’s Bottom Line‘. With import costs on the up, Mary Portas...
View Post >Who says you need a voice to communicate?
Even more, who says you need a voice in order to make people laugh? Lee Ridley, has just been booked for 3 nights at The Edinburgh Fringe, even though his first ever stand up gig was only in February. But that is not the...
View Post >Now that’s what I call PR vol. 1
12th April 2012This week Spotify launched its ‘play button’, allowing blogs and websites to embed music streams from the site’s catalogue of more than 16 million songs. We thought we’d pull together our top PR playlist for you to enjoy. Post your suggestions and we’ll add...
View Post >Time to go!
5th April 2012Those of you of a nervous disposition should stop reading now: I’m about to advocate the slaughter of a sacred cow. In mitigation, this is a very old cow – 62 in May – and it has outlived its usefulness…if it ever had any....
View Post >Stay at home – “I’d rather go to Greece….”
13th March 2012…So said Nigel Richardson of the Daily Telegraph when writing about Visit England’s new £multi-million TV ad campaign trying to persuade Britons to staycation in 2012. The campaign, featuring Stephen Fry, Julie Waters, Rupert Grint and Michelle Doherty (from Downton Abbey), exploring the delights...
View Post >Ready to eat…but why do I always keep going back to Pret?
12th March 2012I’ve always had a mixed view of the very successful restaurant chain Prêt a Manger – or simply ‘Prêt’ to many. On the one hand I dislike the homogeneity on the high street (and within the restaurants themselves) that Prêt and others have created....
View Post >Pedestrians – a forgotten breed?
27th February 2012I applaud The Times’ cycle campaign as there are obviously far too many accidents involving cyclists and lorries/cars on our busy roads and nightmare junctions. But I do wonder if anyone is going to campaign on behalf of the poor pedestrian? No, not for...
View Post >What to do if you hit the Jackpot
16th February 2012In recent weeks there have been two substantial EuroMillions wins in the UK. Interestingly, both decided to announce their winning publicly, leading them into the ensuing media storm. And so, we see the same story cropping up in the media – is it wise...
View Post >Reflections on Super Bowl night
7th February 2012Last year I wrote about the Super Bowl ad contest between rival car companies VW and GM (see here), but I was really trying to make the point that sporting events in the States are about much more than just the sport. This year I was lucky enough to...
View Post >Dressing to impress
30th January 2012If you look around the office on a Thursday, the odds are that an overwhelming majority of employees are wearing suits or smart office attire. The rise of ‘dress down’ Fridays in the past few years has meant that the way employees dress is...
View Post >I Get a Good Feeling: Tried and tested advice
27th January 2012It’s Friday. So-close-to-February-it’s-silly Friday. It was also sunny. Which means that most of us are caught up in the end-of-week euphoria that precedes the weekend. In our establishment, this means that everyone is even perkier today than usual, (and we’re pretty perky in the...
View Post >I should be so lucky!
25th January 2012Do you consider yourself lucky or unlucky? Have you ever missed out on a job or new client and blamed it on bad luck? I should probably declare now that I don’t believe in luck. As Thomas Jefferson said “I’m a great believer in...
View Post >The world’s funniest joke
23rd January 2012In the good old tradition of making you smile we bring together a PR stunt, a bit more pseudo-science, and the “world’s funniest joke”. Way back in 2002, Professor Richard Wiseman launched LaughLab to find the world’s funniest joke. The project lasted a year...
View Post >Business Jargon Bingo
19th January 2012Have you ever found yourself confronted with business jargon buzzwords that are just over used, unnecessary and maybe just a little bit cringe worthy? Well now you can have a bit of fun with them and play your own game of ‘business jargon bingo’...
View Post >Five things you should know about dating a PR
10th January 2012With more than a nod to Tom Chamber’s post currently whizzing its way round social media channels, Flagship in (some might say typical) PR fashion has penned its own alternative guide to dating – well – us. Ever considered the rigmarole of embarking upon...
View Post >Guest Post: No advertising, no marketing, what do you do?
24th November 2011How one author looked set to fade into obscurity, until his Twitter followers flocked together and made him a number one download It’s fair to say Are We Nearly There Yet? 8,000 Misguided Miles Around Britain in a Vauxhall Astra, was going nowhere until it...
View Post >A battle of Wills
10th November 2011So the FA finally prevailed in the unedifying poppy feud against FIFA. England’s players will be able to wear poppies against Spain on Saturday – albeit on a band around their arms rather than embroidered on their shirts (a careful condition by FIFA that...
View Post >Nostalgia – it’s just as good as it used to be
21st October 2011As the reunions of Take That, Blur, The Stone Roses and countless other bands have shown, consumers are jumping at the chance to re-engage with their past and wrap themselves in the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from nostalgia. Comebacks don’t always equate...
View Post >Running the 2011 adidas Women’s 5K Challenge
20th September 2011In warm autumn sunshine in Hyde Park, London, Casey, Jackie and myself set about tackling the Hyde Park adidas Women’s 5K Challenge course under the gauze of a bright blue mosquito net. Team Flagship was running for Malaria No More, the innovative charity committed...
View Post >Flagship’s chief “bunting-taking-down-ers” tackle QVC’s Sport in the Park
10th August 2011Last Friday, Sarah Catterick and I found ourselves down at the Millennium Stadium in Battersea Park in the late afternoon sun. Were we training for London 2012, I hear you ask? Sadly not – unless taking-down bunting becomes an Olympic event by next summer,...
View Post >PR on tour – filming on the high seas with The Gadget Show
14th July 2011Last week I flew to Italy to join Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Cruise Line’s biggest ship, just over a year after we launched her to UK media. This time, my visit was to act as PR chaperone to a TV crew from Channel 5’s popular...
View Post >If brands on Facebook were countries
27th June 2011We all know that if Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest country in the world based on population. This got me wondering about some of the brands within Facebook. They may not have the population of China engaging with their...
View Post >Much Ado about Nothing?
2nd June 2011This week I went to The Globe and witnessed an enthralling performance of one of my favourite Shakespeare plays – Much Ado about Nothing. In a time when London has a truly breathtaking array of shows to see, what makes The Globe still so...
View Post >Summer time, and London living is easy
1st June 2011Ok ok, setting aside the overheated Tube, swarms of tourists getting in the way and rain threatening ambitious weekend plans, there is something undeniably magic about summer in London. I’m sure that summer in many cities is great. It’s just that there is something...
View Post >Newspaper cartoonists – an undervalued aid to surviving that commute?
19th May 2011I laughed out loud when I saw Peter Brookes’ cartoon in The Times yesterday morning – and that’s quite something at 07:30 on a packed Northern Line train. In case you missed it, the cartoon was of Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke...
View Post >The Ivy
30th March 2011In true PR style I decided to lunch at The Ivy. The legendary celebrity haunt has been on my list of places to visit since I moved to London so I chose it as the venue for my birthday lunch. Tucked away in a...
View Post >The Joy of Print
24th March 2011It’s the PR equivalent of a performer seeing their name in lights – getting print coverage. I know this is fact having just seen a piece of coverage I secured it today’s FT. We all value online massively, but getting a client’s name in...
View Post >How to work it: A short history of networking
A long time ago in a land far away I learnt how to network without realising it. My first full-time job after graduating was in the publicity department at HarperCollins Publishers in Auckland. Here I was given the opportunity to manage the tour for...
View Post >The Defamation of Writing Travel
18th March 2011This is worth reading, because, sometimes it is worth laughing at what we do! PR’s, Travel Journalists, Telly People – beware of the wrath of the brilliant Guardian blog section – which has been on FIRE this week… This week, Travelogues are in the...
View Post >White Swan – Twickenham
28th February 2011This Saturday I was one of the lucky 80,000 to attend the England v France game at Twickenham and ventured into the town afterwards to celebrate the win. We ended up by the river at the White Swan– a lovely old pub that is...
View Post >London Fashion Week makes us happy
25th February 2011To some, London Fashion Week may seem like a frivolous affair deserving little of the countries attention, a niche trade event aimed at those rich enough to feed a £450-a-pair Louboutin habit and strange enough to invest hours of their life locating the perfect...
View Post >Things we don’t like – part two
Glad to see I have my uses….as Flagship’s official curmudgeon. Here are five more pet peeves: People who end their sentences with a rising tone (formally, the ‘high rising terminal’) – It’s just about acceptable amongst people under 25 – the poor things probably...
View Post >Parisian Favourites
22nd February 2011I am lucky to have a son working in Paris and am taking full advantage of his location in Les Marais. So I wanted to share my favourite spots in this fabulous part of Paris. For those of you new to the area, it is...
View Post >Flagship takes time for a cuppa
11th February 2011Flagship held its second Time for a Cuppa fundraising cake sale on 7 February, raising more than £100 for Dementia UK by selling our hand baked creations in the reception of The Media Centre, Bolsover Street. I work for Dementia UK on a Pro...
View Post >Salad Anyone…?
9th February 2011OK, so it may be a bit too cutesy – but I am loving these heart shaped cucumbers… COOLCUMBER Salad Anyone…?
View Post >True Grit’s a Hit!
4th February 2011Last week I went to a free Times+ preview of True Grit, the new Coen brothers film, which I believe is up for a few Oscars. It’s a Western based on a book written in the 60s, which was later made into a film...
View Post >Bravellous
Danni Minogue may be posing in sunny South Beach for the latest Marks and Spencer’s advert, but it’s the four unknown faces modelling back in England who are grabbing headlines for the British clothing giant. The four models turned heads outside the Marble Arch...
View Post >Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley
Everyone talks about Marcus Wareing’s custard tart so would it live up to the hype? It certainly did – one of the best puddings I’ve ever eaten and I’ve eaten a lot. I was so excited about it that I couldn’t try the cheese trolley...
View Post >Moroccan master-chef: Taking on the Tajine…
Inspired by a memorable trip with the other half to Marrakesh last summer, I snuck a beautiful little Moroccan cookery book into his stocking this Christmas, in the hope that he’d soon be whipping up the delicious dishes when I came to visit. Perhaps...
View Post >The Flagship Factor
3rd February 2011When a picture speaks a thousand words…. The Flagship effect on Discover Winchester’s PR impact… ‘nuff said.
View Post >Things I don’t like
Reader beware, Flagship’s ‘Things We Like’ column is harbouring a sulphurous ‘hater’. But, let’s be honest here, we all feel better after a good hate. And I’m not talking about things we, as civilised individuals, should hate (e.g. littering, murderous dictators, Davina McCall): this...
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