Inside PR

The exact definition of PR (be it Public Relations or Press Relations) is often open to debate, and is constantly evolving – which is perhaps no bad thing as we work directly with the rest of the business sector which is constantly evolving too. One facet of PR that does sometimes get forgotten though is its ability to not only speak to the outside world but also to reach out to employees inside an organisation too. Take for example a staple PR subject, a new client win. Of course it’s something you want to shout about to everyone who will listen, and rightly so. It shows your finely tuned company machine is doing its job properly. But a positive public announcement can equally boast morale internally (both in-house and to close partners), showing your team that what they do is valued and that you are proud of the achievements.  MCC has always recognised the benefits of internal PR but is also aware of the sensitivities of company employees. Many organisations use PR techniques internally to talk about good news or important items – it’s important that the stakeholders feel they are in the loop. The flipside is that an ill-judged public statement that doesn’t inform the employees first can have a highly negative effect on morale, especially if it’s bad news. PR can be as much about internal communication as it is about telling the rest of the world about your business.

Cookies (the Internet variety, rather than the delicious biscuits that MCC loves as much as anyone else!) have been in the news today as the BBC News website reports on new legislation that intends to make it clear to users that their information and web usage are being recorded. For the uninitiated, web cookies are small files held on your computer browser that affect the way you view web pages. Commonly these are things like saved passwords or bookmarks, but they can also save details of items you have viewed potentially to buy (such as clothes, music or anything else available online) and then tailor advertising to suit the kind of interests they deduce that you like. Obviously this can raise questions over privacy and the new legislation aims to make it clearer than your details are being tracked so you can make informed choices as to where this information is saved and used.

Ever wondered what all the Twitter hash tag stuff is all about? Buzzfeed is running an article that shows you what seasoned Twitter users do with this humble symbol to promote their clients, their products and their services to the rest of the Twitter universe. Of course the hash tag system can be used for anything and trending topics can as easily be comedy YouTube videos as serious news, but to get on the top of a list is undeniably impressive - especially as Twitter is even becoming a popular source for some of the more traditional print and broadcast media.