Google Sidewiki: The PR revolution that won’t happen

You might have heard about the Google Sidewiki when it launched in September 2009. Google Sidewiki is a browser sidebar that lets you contribute and read information alongside any web page. The internet was buzzing: “Google’s Sidewiki is a Revolution in Social Media” wrote iMedia Connection, “Google Sidewiki could damage corporate brand reputations” PR Week claimed and “SideWiki will change the lives of beleaguered PR folk” wrote The Guardian. Yet, several months later Sidewiki didn’t take off and PR hasn’t changed. … Continue Reading

Where are you from?

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A question that will prove harder to answer in the coming decade and will bring along new business and communication challenges.

The Financial Times asked 10 of its writers to “identify an idea that is going reshape the business world in the coming decade.” The thought-provoking predictions published in the FT Weekend Magazine focused on everything from cloud computing to Gen Xers entering the apex of their power and new types of risk insurance on the market. I would like to add one more idea to the list: the simple question of “Where are you from?” won’t have an easy answer. … Continue Reading

Are They Going to Share This Article?

As a PR guy, I get excited when an article that I helped to make happen finally appears online. I get even more excited when I see that the article has been shared, retweeted and posted all over social media networks. And now, there is a research that looks into who shares articles and why. It provides a little bit of insight into which articles will spread virally. This fascinating study published by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and written about in today’s New York Times shows that articles need to create an awe. … Continue Reading

The Wall Street Journal Europe Wants To Be Your Second Paper

When I lived in the States, WSJ was one of my favourite publications. I listened (and still sometimes listen to) every morning to WSJ This Morning, a radio show that focused on the main stories of the day, and read both the print and online versions. After moving to the UK I switched to the WSJ Europe edition and immediately noticed that there are some stark differences between the US and European editions. To learn more about these differences and the WSJ Europe, I recently attended one of Gorkana’s Breakfast Briefings with the editor in chief of Wall Street Journal Europe Patience Wheatcroft and its deputy editor Iain Martin. … Continue Reading

Diversity PR: For diverse campaigns, your team has to be diverse and your client must see the money

A couple of days ago I attended CIPR’s seminar on cross cultural PR and diversity. The presentation (which you can find below) was given by two very knowledgeable PR professionals Silvia Cambié from Chanda Communications and Bieneosa Ebite from Bright Star PR. I quite liked a quote Silvia had on one her first slides:

“The business secret of the future will be about including and inspiring people who in the past we thought did not belong.” Annette Verschuren, President and CEO, The Home Depot,
Canada & Asia … Continue Reading