News today (see The Guardian, The Drum, for example) that marketing agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made (part of the multinational Publicis marketing and public relations agency group) has manipulated Wikipedia on behalf of its client, outdoor apparel manufacturer The North Face, has spectacularly backfired. The North Face has been forced to apologise for its campaign, …
Category: branding
Sep 06 2018
Epson targets freelancers’ print costs
Epson’s central London pop-up shop gives visitors a space to co-work and to test their new EcoTank printers – which offers the UK’s growing population of freelances and SMEs a cost-effective alternative to ink cartridge machines. Three times (so far) in 2018 I have had to dash out to a nearby supermarket and buy expensive …
Jan 15 2018
The demise of Carillion won’t detoxify construction
At about 7am this morning, UK construction and services business Carillion plc said it would be going into liquidation – less than six months after a July 2017 profits warning more than halved its share price, heralding the final chapter of a dramatic plunge into disgrace. I have been watching this disaster unfold with morbid …
Apr 22 2016
To change the “image of construction,” first change construction
We need to tackle some of the fundamental issues in the UK construction industry before we can effectively change “the image of construction”. “The image of construction” has featured heavily this week for me. On Tuesday, I attended a CIMCIG-led roundtable discussion in London with Mark Farmer, the consultant helping the Government’s Construction Leadership Council …
Aug 19 2015
When your people are not your greatest assets
Using offensive language may affect people’s view of your industry sector, but if you’re wearing clothing bearing your employer’s name, it can also damage the reputation of the company. It has become something of a cliche: “our people are our greatest assets“. This and similar phrases are used by many UK construction industry businesses, sometimes …
Dec 18 2014
Moving the UK SoloPRs forward
A new CIPR skills guide for Solo PRs, an office party, a podcast, and some event ideas … It can be tempting to wind-down towards the year-end, but a year-end can also work as a deadline by which you aim to achieve something. One of the objectives set by the CIPR independent practitioners (CIPR-IPs) or …
Nov 25 2014
It will take more than an app to improve the image of construction
“Leaders in construction who are either ignorant of or scornful of social media are failing the younger generation.” This is an updated and expanded version of a post – Could an app improve the image of construction? – which first appeared on my ExtranetEvolution.com blog last week. The recent Constructing Excellence 2014 national members convention attracted about …
Aug 02 2013
I #LoveConstruction. You should too.
The Love Construction campaign has been gathering momentum since the 2 July launch of the UK Government’s latest construction strategy. Its origins lie in an editorial written by Construction News editor Rebecca Evans who argued that it was time for industry people to have their say in how the industry is perceived. The vision for 2025 painted …
Mar 19 2013
SpecifiedBy.com launches, and doubles up its blogs
After my November 2012 blog post about SpecifiedBy, I did a follow-up interview with Darren Lester for my ExtranetEvolution tech blog in February, and have since had a closer look at the site following its Beta launch at Ecobuild in London earlier this month. It is, of course, still very early days, but the Beta …