Is it just me or has PR been slammed more in the last month than in the last few years?  The industry appears to be copping it from all sides.  We’ve had:

• Neil Shoebridge’s AFR piece titled How to lose clients and annoy reporters.  He argues that the PR industry is awash with incompetent people and outlines his top and deady PR sins.
• Jason Whittaker’s guest post on Mumbrella titled Precious PR hacks and why they do their clients no good.  Here, Whittaker has had enough of PRs telling him how to do his job.
• Ed Charles, journalist and blogger, named and shamed a PR in this post after he and other food bloggers were spammed via a contact list of bloggers Charles published online.
• Heated industry debate, in B&T magazine and online over Brisbane agency, Publicity Queen, and their promise of guaranteed publicity.

And that’s not the extent of it. So what does one in PR say or do about all of this?

We consider ourselves an agency of smart, professional people who know the media and have good relationships with journalists.  We have, on occasion, f#*$ed up, gotten it wrong, and done dumb stuff.

There are always two sides to any story or coin and may we state that the stupid and incompetent are not just confined to the PR industry!

Rather than scrap it out school yard style, we’ve decided to outline A NEW MANIFESTO FOR PR because if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

We promise to:

1. Not be idiots or self important show ponies

2. Not pitch stupid, irrelevant stuff to media outlets, journalists or bloggers

3. Continue to comply with spam laws

4. Limit blanket distributions where possible

5. Keep a sense humour

6. Get to know the media or blog’s scope and where journalists’ interests lie

7. Build reciprocal, positive relationships

8. Play nice

9. Make PR as relevant and exciting as possible

10. Always strive to be better at what we do

11. Follow up and keep our word

12. Set a positive example

13. Educate younger staff and clients on the right way to do media relations

14. Not make claims that we can’t justify or promises that we can’t keep

15. Do our research

16. Beware of fibbers and phonies

17. Try to fix things when they go wrong

18. Be patient and reasonable in the light of differences

19. Ask and learn more about how journalists work and what they need

Like to contribute?  By all means, add to the list.  Or follow this conversation on Mumbrella.

Posted by Renee Creer

Having returned from Japan yesterday the memory of aeroplane food is clear in my mind (see some fine examples here to refresh your memory).

After coming across Oliver Beale’s letter to Richard Branson today about the “culinary journey of hell” he was put through on his flight I was grateful that I didn’t fly Virgin (however I’d like to ask someone at JetStar when teriyaki chicken rolls became popular for breakfast?)

Aside from being a great laugh it will be interesting to follow this story to see how far it goes.

It is fresh on Twitter, a bunch of blogs, and is being touted as ‘the best complaint letter ever’ elsewhere on the internet.  It has already hit some newspapers in the UK and was on ABC radio today and on Channel 9 news this morning (as one of the top online news stories).

I’m predicting a barrage of industry comment regarding Richard’s response and the official Virgin response from those in communications and branding and also expect that it will be used widely as a branding case study.

Then there will be t-shirts emblazoned with “It’s mustard Richard.  MUSTARD” and perhaps we’ll see a spoof website such as richardbransonkilledmyhamster.com.

I wonder if Richard will be so bold as to include crime-scene cookies on Virgin’s in-flight menu?  Either way the letter is set to go down in history.

Posted by Renee Creer

With Christmas fast approaching, our thoughts turn to eating, drinking, presents and of course… the office Christmas party.

Some see this anticipated event as an opportunity to show off their extra curricular skills - kung fu dancing, ear-splitting karaoke, jumping through their own leg (I’ve seen this and it’s awe inspiring!). Sound all too familiar?

You may think of the above as such tom foolery; that surely we, as PR extraordinaires, would keep our own Christmas parties as high end and stylish as our clients’. Ha ha, think again. Between us, we’ve seen and done it all!

So in the interest of saving you potential embarrassment (and possible retrenchment) here is our list of dos and don’ts for your office Christmas party.

DO

1. Carefully consider your party outfit. Anything that makes you look like you’ve fallen out of a lap dancing  club is probably not the most appropriate choice for advancing your career

2. Drink slowly. I’m not saying drink in moderation as, let’s be honest, that’s not going to happen, but do pace yourself. A flaming Sambucca over lunch is only going to lead to trouble

3. Ban all cameras and camera phones. Facebook can’t wait to get its little paws on that shot of you dancing with your dress over your head. Or, as Bono found out, sitting with a half dressed floozy on your lap

DON’T

1. Assume that because the work experience boy smiled at you that it’s a green light to clamber across the table and pash his face off. He was probably just concealing a burp

2. Complain that you hate your Kris Kringle gift. Your colleague probably spent hours trudging round the shops to find the offending diamante i-pod cover, so just pretend you love it and move on

3. Corner you boss for a quite one-to-one about your desired pay increase whilst spilling your drink all over their new shoes and telling them how much you love them. You may find your desk cleared the next day

These are merely our tips for the big event, the rest is up to you. If necessary, we are always available for reputation management should the need arise.

If you have any funny Christmas party stories we’d love to hear them.

Posted by Helen Lear