Blog

It’s an emotive subject; some people have become very used to working from home and prefer it; the relaxed routine, the frequent trips to the fridge, tea or coffee breaks at will and being able to endlessly check your phone (of course it’s always something really necessary, right?) without someone checking your time management. For employers, however – those organisations, the people who have established the company that pays the wages, the people who ensure it functions well….is this ideal? Or for colleagues and co-workers, for that matter? Humans need proper interaction – in different ways and some less, some more – but working from only home does not bring all the benefits that come with face to face, in person, proper discussion, socialising and the exchange of ideas. More importantly, it’s healthy to have those geographical boundaries between work and home (regardless of how tecchies prefer to work!). The debate is summed up well, if you read on, here.

The environment, organic living and a more natural, holistic approach to life has long been a big interest of mine, so a recent story in The Guardian about horses replacing tractors caught my eye. This is all pretty niche about wine growers in France and in the past, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting organic wine growers in Germany. The reintroduction of animals for some agricultural tasks is a thought provoking subject, combining old expertise and skills, with planning for the future.

Scaled down, dominated by the wider societal news stories of the day and in a sense, more reactive – by its very nature and by default, the media landscape has always constantly changed, but now it’s the rules that have changed. If you’re representing a brand/organisation, it’s no longer enough just to have a news angle, be it lifestyle, environment, fashion, science or general consumer – smart PRs are shifting their approach on a constant basis so their story is accutely relevant to the agenda of the day, in a more focused way than ever before. For journalists/freelance writers, it’s becoming ever more harder to capture valuable editorial space. One answer is to specialise; the other is that through creativity, fresh ideas and a positive outlook, you can plan to set the agenda, rather than just follow it…

What do George Orwell, Peter Mayle, Nancy Mitford, Charles Dickens and Stella Gibbons all have in common? They were all journalists before becoming successful authors (or in Peter Mayle’s case, in advertising) or published articles while publishing novels at the same time. The printed book is alive and thriving – long may print journalism continue.

Today marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Week – a worthy cause. Awareness weeks, however, are part of the standard PR and Marketing toolkit – are they really worth it or is this a lazy and cliched way of promoting a brand, product or campaign? Judge for yourself, by taking a look here at the sheer amount of official awareness weeks in the UK.

This is a much discussed question right now; the rise of the lifestyle blogger (or by their own styling, ‘influencer’) has generally been halted as a result of the coronavirus, particularly in the areas of arts, celebrity culture, the travel industry or Instagram stars. What will most likely happen is that the professionals, those who really understand their audience rather than just using social media channels for their own profile (although of course in some cases, the two go hand in hand)….those who add something to their followers’ knowledge, provide insights, entertainment and so on – they’ll survive, but there’s no doubt there’s been a massive change in the league tables and as some bloggers will fall permanently from view, new stars will appear. As always, it’s about originality and innovation and brands will be looking for the bloggers with trend-setting vision – after all, they’re the influencers aren’t they and not the followers?

Entrepreneurship is a combination of creativity, vision, fearlessness and attitude. A touch of reality along the way is essential (to make sure your idea not only comes to fruition, but also that it lasts), but without the creative, fearless entrepreneur characteristics, your dream will remain a dream. Who wants to look back on a lifetime of ‘What if…’s? The British Library has some great advice, here.

It was Benjamin Constant, the French novelist, philosopher and politician who said: ‘Art for art’s sake, with no purpose, for any purpose perverts art. But art achieves a purpose which is not its own’.* Make of that what you will, but being able to to experience live arts, music, culture and events will not only be for the sake of arts and creative industries after so long in lockdown, but for everyone else’s sake and happiness too (*Oxford Dictionary of Quotations).

As restrictions are lifted, my guess is that people will want to resume shopping the old fashioned way – in a shop, where you can see/experience the product or talk to experts before making an informed purchase. Online only = d.u.l.l., but stores are going to have offer 3 important things in return for custom: sincere customer service, good product knowledge and innovative, quality products.

I’m always on the lookout for the unusual, the quirky… to keep me informed, but with a different point of view. Have you come across The Idler magazine? This is where intelligence and quirky met and fell in love; worth exploring of you’re also looking to get your brain out of a rut. It’s one of my favourite print magazines which also has excellent online content, as does Monocle magazine. Monocle has more of a global view, but is a constant source of creative ideas, although more business orientated, but then different points of view = different ways of thinking.