✅ What to do if your boss is wasting your public relations talent
Corporate communications, public relations, media and management insight
What can you do if you're in an in-house role and your manager sees the corporate communications or public relations function as a press release factory?
A student raised this question in a Socially Mobile office hours session last week. The programme makes the case for the strategic role of public relations, which is focused on building relationships that support an organisation's business objectives.
The easy answer is to find another job where management recognises the value of public relations. A third of our students typically do this within 12 months of graduating. The harder answer is to help your manager understand the strategic potential of public relations.
🎯 Speak the language of management
Ask for the business plan and connect every public relations activity to business metrics using your organisation's business objectives
Highlight instances where proactive public relations activity has helped mitigate issues
Present competitor case studies where strategic public relations supported business goals
📊 Make it visual
Map your organisation's stakeholders on a single chart and the means of engagement
Create a simple dashboard showing the relationship of public relations impact beyond media coverage
Track trends in stakeholder sentiment over time
👥 Build a coalition
Turn up like a manager in your organisation
Partner with marketing, sales and customer service
Gather evidence from stakeholders about your contribution to the organisation
Have you faced this challenge? I would love to hear how you addressed the situation.
Have an excellent week.
US election
🏛️ TRUMP VICTORY: President-Elect Donald Trump’s second term will result in sweeping changes to immigration, trade tariffs, education and federal power. His agenda includes creating what he calls "the largest mass deportation programme in history" and eliminating the Department of Education. The Associated Press has summarised the Trump policy agenda. Source: Associated Press.
🗳️ CAMPAIGN LESSONS: Labour strategists are drawing lessons from Kamala Harris's defeat, criticising her campaign's focus on optimism and celebrity appearances during an economic crisis. Senior advisers believe the result validates their strategy of acknowledging voters' economic struggles rather than promoting messages of joy. Source: The Guardian.
💔 MANAGING DISAPPOINTMENT: If you’re struggling to come to terms with Kamala Harris’ election loss, consider limiting news exposure, focusing on controllable aspects of life and maintaining healthy routines. Seek support from friends, family or professional services when feelings overwhelmed. Source: Sarah Waddington CBE.
🔄 X EXODUS: In light of Trump's victory and Musk's alignment with his agenda, users opposed to Trump are being urged to finally abandon X (formerly Twitter) for alternative platforms such as Bluesky and Threads. The platform's transformation into a propaganda channel, combined with Musk's increasing far-right stance, has made it untenable for many users seeking balanced discourse. Source: Slate.
Management
📈 SCALEUP SUCCESS: Startups get the headlines, but the UK's 34,000 scaleup companies drive significant economic growth, generating £1.4 trillion in revenue and employing 3.2 million people despite representing less than 1% of businesses. These companies, which are growing by more than 20% per year, outperform in areas such as sustainability, diversity and international trade. Source: Wadds Inc.
👥 FOUR-DAY WEEK TRIAL: A thousand UK workers are set to participate in Labour's first official four-day week pilot. The programme, which maintains full pay for reduced hours, aims to present findings to the government by the summer of 2025, though Labour has not yet officially embraced the policy since gaining power. Source: 4 Day Week Campaign.
Media
🔄 MEDIA LAW UPDATE: The UK government plans to modernise media merger laws by extending oversight to online news sites and magazines, moving beyond traditional TV, radio and print newspapers. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's proposal aims to protect media plurality and accurate reporting in the digital age, with the power to intervene in acquisitions that could impact public interest. Source: UK Government.
📊 UK NEWS RANKINGS: The BBC remains the UK's largest news website with 38.3 million visitors in September, while The Guardian has overtaken Mail Online as the second biggest commercial news site with 21.8 million visitors. The data shows widespread traffic declines across most major UK news sites in September, with three-quarters seeing month-on-month audience drops. Source: Press Gazette.
Social media
📈 RISE OF REDDIT: Reddit continues to see growth in daily active users to 97 million, largely driven by increased visibility in Google search results. While this represents significant growth, analysts note that many visitors are transient Google search users rather than engaged daily users, creating both opportunities and challenges for advertisers targeting the platform. Source: The Information.
📱 AUSTRALIA SOCIAL BAN: Australia has announced plans to introduce legislation banning children under 16 from using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, with no exemptions for parental consent. Platforms will have one year to implement age restrictions, though industry groups warn the ban could push teens toward more dangerous parts of the internet. Source: BBC.
Artificial Intelligence
🤖 AI GOVERNANCE UPDATE: The Australian government has taken a leadership role with the publication of a national framework for AI assurance in government, establishing key cornerstones and practices for safe and responsible AI use. The voluntary framework implements Australia's voluntary AI Ethics Principles and provides practical guidelines for government agencies using artificial intelligence. Source: Australian Government.
🤖 AI ASSISTANCE: The UK government is rolling out an experimental AI chatbot to help small businesses navigate complex bureaucracy and access support on GOV.UK, with up to 15,000 users participating in the trial. Using OpenAI's GPT-4 technology, the tool aims to reduce the estimated 56 hours per year that UK adults spend on government-related admin by providing personalised answers from across the website's 700,000 pages. Source: UK Government.
Thank you to Deon Binneman, Jacqui Bridges, Vic Davies, Catherine Frankpitt, Rachel Howard, Alan Morrison, Mandy Pearse, Alex Waddington and Joe Wiggins, and everyone who shares and debates the stories in the newsletter via our Facebook and LinkedIn communities.