We’ve posted details of two new vacancies over on our Careers pages today: we’re looking for a full-time account manager and rising star; as well as a part-time (two or three days a week) consultant to job-share with one of our current senior account managers.

Do take a look, and get in touch if you would like to join a small but growing team, with a flexible approach and no-nonsense attitude. In the meantime, for more insight into what life is like at Berkeley, check out a few of our previous blogs.

Jo Jamieson

It’s always quite exciting to receive a new brief from a prospective client, especially if you’ve been courting them for weeks/months/years. Sometimes you get them completely out of the blue, and that’s nice too.

Until you read the bit at the bottom of the briefing document, in very small letters, that says: “It is expected that you will provide an initial trial period of 6 months [sic] PR support which would be provided free of charge…” Yes, really.

OK, so I know I shouldn’t have - but I couldn’t resist a little tweet. The reactions from my Twitter followers were predictably outraged…

After all, in what other industry would this be acceptable? “Hi Mr Accountant, we’d like you to do our annual audit, but we do need the first one for free I’m afraid. That ok with you?” “Hello Mercedes, I’m considering buying one of your lovely motors, but I’d like to have a six-month test drive first - y’know, just to see if I like it enough to actually part with my cash.”

I remain astounded. At what point did we become a desperate bunch of monkeys prepared to ply our wares for *nada* in return? And, more to the point, what sort of PR agency would agree to this? Yet, in response to our thanks-but-no-thanks email, we were informed that “…we already have such an offer on the table.”

I can only hazard a guess at the quality of service on offer. What do you get if you don’t even pay peanuts?

Jo Jamieson

Source: Daily Telegraph

I’m not sure how many people will be reading this blog entry today, as 1 February is officially “National Sickie Day”. Well that’s according to research by the Employment Law Advisory Services that rekons up to 350,000 workers will have called in sick today. I bet the light dusting of snow this morning also added to that number, with many choosing to crawl back under the duvet.

Not only is this a pretty alarming statistic, but a great piece of PR for the Employment Law Advisory Service. This is a perfect example of a story that ticks all the boxes on what makes news - it has a clear human interest angle; it’s negative with businesses set to lose £30 million in lost productivity; it’s topical, due to the nature of the research and the snow today (!); and it’s a comprehensive survey with a high number of respondents, which in itself is a winner with the media.

As a result, the story is splashed over every national newspaper and trade magazine you could think of - with the findings having relevance for every industry and worker in the country. If only we could  devlop such compelling research for our clients!

Thinking recently about Angela’s blog post on the ethics of companies donating to Haiti and publicising those donations, I also had my own thoughts about President Obama and the PR job that US aid to Haiti was doing to help improve America’s image on a global scale. I thought about Obama’s ‘yes we can’ epithet and rhetoric of change - powerful and persuasive PR concepts. Is Obama the ultimate spin doctor?

And then I thought - “does PR always have to be about ’spin’?”

Just because something appears to have PR value, does that automatically mean that it is not genuine or sincere? Is Obama’s effort to bring aid to Haiti based on pure humanitarian duty and instinct, or is he essentially doing it all for the PR, to make the world ‘like’ America again?

There is definitely a certain cynicism linked to the world of PR. As a tool that can inform, persuade and influence in the most subtle of ways, it can be seen to have a negative power and almost an exploitative potential. And it is true that some celebrity publicists or unscrupulous agencies will maximise stories or situations for their own gain, tarring the rest of the PR world with the same rather sticky brush.

But as in any industry, for every bad apple there are always a few good ones. Those that focus on the story and are led by a set of ethics that ensure that story is grounded in fact. ‘Spin’ is one thing but in all truth, nothing can take the real value away from a good story.

Emma Sinclair

Source: www.nickburcher.com

My colleague Jo Jamieson provided one of our clients a Twitter training course this week during which one of the questions asked was “what demographic is using Twitter – is it just Guardian readers?” An interesting question and one which I have not seen any breakdown of to date. 

However, it is interesting to see how many different brands are starting to engage in the tool and understand its value. This was proved throughout the Manchester derby mid-week with the game shown live on BBC1 and adverts appearing on the digital boards pitch side throughout the game from Umbro followed with a message ‘Follow us at twitter.com/umbro’. I wonder how many extra followers they received after this campaign?

That said, the proof of how successful it has been will not be how many additional followers Umbro gets but how it engages with these followers. Digital campaigns should never be measured by spikes in traffic or sales however nice these are, but should be seen as a part of the service the company offers.

If by having an extra channel to potential customers Umbro can provide a customer service that is superior to competitors it will make them stand out from the crowd. By generating customer delight or by providing a service that is second to none online, companies can make digital a success regardless of what sector they are in or the demographic they are targeting.

Paul Stallard

Are corporates jumping on the...

Darren Cronian sparked an interesting debate on Travel Rants, questioning whether companies are donating to Haiti just to get some good PR or because they really care about the people affected by this devastating earthquake.

Companies who promote that they are donating to appeals like this (such as BA for its free chartered aid flights and Simon Cowell’s charity single) know they’ll receive some positive coverage as it’s a very newsworthy and topical issue.

But so what?  Does it really matter whether companies use an appeal to get additional exposure?  Every contribution for emergency appeals really help and generating awareness of donations is vital to raising money quickly.  Goodwill actions are received really well by the general public - remember how much positive feeling was created from the Live Aid appeal back in the eighties?

Charities like the Haiti appeal need PR and I don’t think that we should be too sceptical about the reasons behind the promotion.  Companies, regardless of size, have always publicised their charitable donations, sponsored wallks or parachute jumping - it’s good for a company’s CSR.

A straw poll of the Berkeley team today showed that our team agreed that it didn’t really matter why companies publicised their charitable effort, so long as it raised the money they needed. Emma Sinclair actually raised an interesting point by saying - if companies are going to make a significant donation then it’s fair enough to get exposure, otherwise the public will think that no one is trying to help. 

So, what do you think?  I”d be interested to see your responses to this ongoing debate.