Everyone wants to be involved in exciting and relevant conversations. Think back a time to when you’ve been with a group of friends, and they’re excitedly discussing a TV show you haven’t seen. You likely felt excluded, perhaps even compelled to watch the show just to take part in the conversation. As those in PR know well, companies are no different. Everyone wants their company to be in the limelight, so naturally, they gravitate towards getting involved with newsworthy topics of the moment. While it can be tempting to throw your company’s name in the hat in the hope of getting the right ..read more

A reputation can be described as the intangible essence of your organisation, shaped by the perceptions of everyone from employees to shareholders, customers to prospects. But what exactly does that mean in practical terms? I’m just about to embark on my first cruise, so it got me thinking: is there an analogy to be drawn between reputation and the art of sailing? Well, in the vast and often turbulent waters of the business world, organisations must navigate through ever-changing currents, unpredictable storms, and shifting tides. Just as a ship relies on its rudder, captain and team to s ..read more

The recent strikes by the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry, but their impact extends far beyond Hollywood. The strikes began on 14 July 2023 as the actors’ union and AMPTP (the representative body for film and television studios) could not settle on a new contract. This strike also coincided with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, and so Hollywood was at a standstill until a deal was finalised on 9 November. The actors were fighting for multiple changes throughout the industry, with ..read more

“Potato!” Ah, right, my two-year old wants that mash potato she didn’t finish earlier, I better go get it. “No, potato”, she says again but pointing at her craft box. “Oooh, you’re asking for your Play-Doh.” I wasn’t listening intently enough, and instead heard what I wanted to hear – her wanting more of the wonderful meal I prepared, of course! Miscommunication and misunderstanding are part and parcel of life. They happen often, and if corrected in good time, no big deal. But what happens when there’s a communication breakdown that is left unaddressed? The relationship breaks down ..read more

We often consider translation to be at the heart of communicating across borders. You take a piece of content in one language, often English, and translate it into another – French, German, take your pick. But then, what happens when a word isn’t translatable? And what about local cultural context? A viral clip of an Irish rugby coach leading La Rochelle through France’s Top 14 competition got me thinking about this very topic. For leaders, and the organisations that they represent, translation is often just the first step of a longer journey. So, how can tech companies build upon translati ..read more

Technologically, humanity is at an inflection point. More and more industries are advancing so much that concepts and technologies previously reduced to cameo appearances in Sci-Fi films are beginning to come into the mainstream. This trend is currently being driven by a few key technologies such as autonomous or flying vehicles, the metaverse and, particularly recently, artificial intelligence. However, there is one technology that has so far gone under the radar a little more, which is on the way to completely revolutionising the world as we know it – humanoid robots. These machines, popu ..read more

Company scandals and crises hit the headlines on an almost weekly, if not daily, basis. Cloudflare has been in hot water recently, for instance, for the way the company handled mass layoffs. It was made worse by the now infamous video of a woman being let go by two people she’d never met prior, and the company has come under fire from the media, previous employees, and even current staff. There’s also the personal brand of Elon Musk, who continuously seems woefully unprepared for responding to criticism aimed at X (formerly Twitter). As individuals, we’re taught that failure is an expected ..read more

This article was originally published in Forbes. Politicians making grandiose claims is as old as time itself. Call me cynical, but often these claims are revealed by scrutiny and time to be nothing more than just that—claims. So, when Jeremy Hunt, backed by Rishi Sunak, recently outlined (several times) his vision to make the U.K. the “next Silicon Valley,” I couldn’t help but meet this with a healthy dose of skepticism. However, in this instance, they may be on to something. Britain is still a great place to do business and has consistently shown its willingness and capability to d ..read more

We’ve reached that time of year where everyone is just about focussed on the new year ahead, already thinking about their New Year’s resolutions in the hope that this is the year they’ll be able to stick to them longer than a few weeks. We hear the phrase, ‘New year, new me’, as we make promises to ourselves that next year we’re going to try and be a better human, one way or another. In doing so, do we make our resolutions for the new year too ambitious and, sometimes, too strict? We see it as almost a punishment for over-indulging and enjoying the holidays and yet, most of us don’t stick t ..read more

How many times have we uttered these words in defeat during the festive season? After hours of trying to decrypt the magic combination of ‘yesses’ and ‘nos’ in a chatbot window while online shopping, desperately trying to reach the inbox of a human employee. Well, if you believe the AI industry’s announcements, come the new year, that will soon be a struggle of the past. Yes, chatbots are undergoing a rebrand. No longer are they the cryptic gatekeepers to the human behind the screen; companies are working on making virtual assistants more humanised. Take bank NatWest’s new AI-powered chat ..read more