dizem, do outro lado do atlântico, que a crise acabou; e até apresentam gráficos para o comprovar... olha ainda bem, o que queremos é prosperidade

is it possible to talk about "Corporate Personality"?

(from the free dictionary)
n. pl. per·son·al·i·ties
1. The quality or condition of being a person.
2. The totality of qualities and traits, as of character or behavior, that are peculiar to a specific person.
3. The pattern of collective character, behavioral, temperamental, emotional, and mental traits of a person: Though their personalities differed, they got along as friends.
4. Distinctive qualities of a person, especially those distinguishing personal characteristics that make one socially appealing: won the election more on personality than on capability. See Synonyms at disposition.
5.
a. A person as the embodiment of distinctive traits of mind and behavior.
b. A person of prominence or notoriety: television personalities.
6. An offensively personal remark. Often used in the plural: Let's not engage in personalities.
7. The distinctive characteristics of a place or situation: furnishings that give a room personality.

Generally Accepted Practices in PR

Antigamente era a Arthur Page Society que apresentava o estudo.Agora passou para as mãos da University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication, através do seu centro de Strategic Public Relations. O GAP 5 fala das tendências e das práticas mais correntes de PR espalhadas por esse mundo. É sempre uma referência. O metricsman fala dos aspectos mais inovadores do estudo deste ano. Nomeadamente aborda as questões relativas às BP in Use; a saber:
"Maintain a higher than average ratio of PR budget to gross revenue (GAP PR/GR Ratio).
Report directly and exclusively to the C-Suite.
Optimize the C-Suite’s understanding of PR’s current and potential contributions to the success of the organization as a whole.
Establish an effective social responsibility strategy for your organization.
Establish an effective digital-media strategy for your organization.
Establish an effective issues-management strategy for your organization.
Optimize integration and coordination of PR/Communications, both within the PR/Communications function, and with other organizational functions.
Encourage highly ethical practices across the organization, beginning with communication.
Encourage the organization-wide adoption of a long-term strategic point of view, beginning with communication.
Encourage the organization-wide adoption of a proactive mindset, beginning with communication.
Encourage the organization-wide adoption of a flexible mindset, beginning with communication.
Optimize the integration of PR and reputational considerations into top-level organizational strategies.
Measurably contribute to organizational success".

trends # 5 nuvens no horizonte?

A propósito da Edelman, vale muito a pena atender áquilo que David Brain, CEO para a EMEA aconselha aos que gerem os destinos das consultoras de PR. Conselho ssábios de quem anda há muito neste negócio e que já passou pelos piores tempos da indústria:

>Get your business in shape now. PR people are always optimistic that this win or this new project will bring in the revenue that will hide the costs they are carrying and deliver the right profit. Maybe in good times, but easy wins will be harder to find. If you are not making the right profit now, take the hard decisions now because they will be harder the longer you leave them.
>Don’t assume that the existing revenue you have committed will be there. Discount it by sector (high if its financial services or pharma) and by the quality of your relationship/offer.
>Scrub the cost base. Don’t accept last year’s costs and then add a percentage.
>Look at everything and haggle with suppliers and renegotiate.
>Incentivise your financial team to find cost savings. They will love it and they will find them.
>Have a biscuit policy. Find something symbolic to cut that is high profile but not really that important to the business and cut it to drive home the message that we are entering different times that require a different attitude (from everyone). At one firm in my past I became unbelievably unpopular for banning biscuits at internal meetings (pathetic I know but you get the point).
>Big clients that have low margin may be an OK thing because they cover a lot of your fixed costs. Small clients that have low margin are not. Shoot them dead. And then shoot them again to make sure.
>Credit-rate all your clients and re-set terms with them now that mean, as far as possible, that cash arrives as the hours are spent working on them.
>Check your debtors levels. Set the dogs loose now on those behind and incentivise your financial teams to reduce your average debtor days.
>You can’t hire your way out of a downturn so don’t plan revenues around new mystery superstar joiners.
>Identify the people that really bring in revenue and hold onto clients. They may well be the quiet ones you don’t always notice as the stars.
>Your biggest asset is your existing client base. Check now the relationship and get it sorted because our clients will be asked to look for savings and you need to be part of the discussion on that rather than get a nasty surprise from a client who feels safe to cut you because they don’t know or rate you.
>Identify those sectors that will grow . . . . we are placing our bets now on these and investing pretty heavily despite fears for some European markets.
Hone the case for PR. If you are in consumer PR now is the time to dust off the case for why advertising just does not cut it and why what we do is so much more cost-effective (through us, the client can do better for less). Remember, the ad boys still account for most of the budget and a 10 per cent shift from them to us will have a big impact.
>Refresh and re-define the practice areas that will help clients in their downturns; employee engagement, crisis management, CEO communications for example.
If you are at a mid manager level in your firm, check that you and your team make as near as you can to three times (at least 2.5 times) your total employee costs in fees. If you are not then develop a plan to get there.
For anyone in the business who has assumed that pay rises turn up every year and are always ahead of inflation . . . . those days (in the UK at least) could well be over. But if you can be become a person who brings in fees and manages to a profitable level this could be the time your career really takes off. There are a lot of mediocre companies and a lot of mediocre talent in our industry now and a short, sharp recession will sort the quality from the rubbish.

trends # 4 edelman trust barometer 2008

Já está disponível e com conclusões engraçadas que podem ser de muita utilidade para quem faz das PR a sua vida. Consultar aqui

trends # 3 storytelling leituras

Corporate Storytelling

Strategic Stories: How 3M is Rewriting Business Planning, by Gordon Shaw, Robert Brown and Phillip Bromiley, Harvard Business Review, May-June 1998 issue, Reprint 98310

Why Every Company Needs A Story, Edward O. Welles, Inc. Magazine, May 1996, pp. 69
The Story Factor, Annette Simmons, 2000, Perseus Publishing

The Power of Stories When Cultures Merge, Johnny Harben, Journal of Strategic Communications Management, issue 10, pp. 16-26

The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual, Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls and David Weinberger, 2001, Perseus Publishing.

Telling Stories, Beth Ann Holden, New Age’s Body & Soul, 1999, pp. 31-36

Tell Me a Story, Beth Ann Holden, Incentive, Feb. 1999, pp. 65-66

Storytelling in Organization: Facts, Fictions and Fantasie, Yiannis Gabriel, 2000, Oxford University Press

Managing by Storying Around: A New Method of Leadership, David Armstrong, 1992, Doubleday Dell Publishing

The Leadership Engine: How Winning Companies Build Leaders At Every Level, Noel M. Tichy, 1997, Harper Business

Corporate Legends and Lore: The Power of Storytelling as a Management Tool, Peg C. Neuhauser, 1993, PCN Associates

The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations, Stephen Denning, 2000, Butterworth-Heinemenn

The Dream Society, Rolf Jensen, The Futurist, May-June 1996 issue

The Nike Story? Just Tell It!, Eric Ransdell, Fast Company, Issue 31, p. 44

trends #2 storyteling quick checklist

Why use stories:
􀂉 To break barriers
􀂉 To put information into context
􀂉 To be persuasive
􀂉 To make an emotional connection
􀂉 To enliven a presentation of facts and figures
􀂉 To keep you foremost in people’s minds
􀂉 To give you control of the spotlight

How to use stories:
􀂉 Spark transformations
􀂉 Build community
􀂉 Ignite innovation
􀂉 Learn (and unlearn) from experiences
􀂉 Share values
􀂉 Create and promote culture
􀂉 Build organizational capacity
􀂉 Shape and speed action

Where to use stories:
􀂉 Corporate histories
􀂉 Business plans and proposals
􀂉 Product development and launches
􀂉 Product messaging
􀂉 Case studies and success stories
􀂉 Customer and employee profiles
􀂉 Executive profiles
􀂉 Sales and training materials
􀂉 Newsletters
􀂉 Magazine articles
􀂉 Advertising copy

Qualities of a story:
􀂉 Narrative—a beginning, middle and end
􀂉 Suspense—something that holds our interest and makes us want to find out what happens next
􀂉 Visual details—we can picture what takes place
􀂉 Emotional content—such as fear, greed, anger, happiness and love
􀂉 Credibility—a trustworthy voice or narrator
􀂉 Optimism—faith in the ability to triumph over obstacles

Some kinds of stories:
􀂉 Legend
􀂉 Fable
􀂉 News
􀂉 Humorous
􀂉 Anecdote
􀂉 History

trends #1 storytelling

Mais do que nunca na história dos negócios, as narrativas são um elemento estratégico central da vida empresarial. Contar histórias, ou no original "storytelling", está cada vez mais a entrar no léxico dos gestores, e cada vez mais executivos utilizam as histórias para conseguir alavancar alguma área de performance específica das suas empresas. Há anos atrás, ouvia eu pacientemente o grande professor Viegas Soares (hoje professor na ESCS) falar sobre semiótica do texto, e perguntava-me sobre a utilidade futura "da coisa". Por mero acaso achei piada à matéria, entusiasmei-me, e a certa altura dei por mim nas salas de cinema a analisar os filmes que via usando os modelos sabiamente leccionados por Viegas Soares. De facto as narrativas tinham uma estrutura, e contar uma história obedecia a certas regras. Passados quase 20 anos posso confessar que nunca foram tão actuais aquelas longínquas aulas de semiótica.