Author: Jacqueline Burns
As a head of marketing, I once received a telephone call from an irate client contact who accused my company of a serious information security breach. As it transpired, he was correct. Unbeknown to me, one of my firm’s business development managers, while visiting the client’s office, had pocketed their internal phone directory and then […]
The world’s largest consumer goods companies – the likes of Unilever and Proctor & Gamble – spend squillions of dollars each year on market and competitor research and analysis. Polling, surveys, focus groups, test markets, new product development – all of these techniques are employed to minimise the risk of failure. But how can you […]
If you hate your job or are disengaged at work, you’re not alone. A couple of months ago, polling organisation Gallup released the findings of its annual international employee satisfaction survey. Gallup has been measuring employee satisfaction since the late 1990s. The 2013 report is based on feedback provided by 230,000 workers in 142 countries. […]
Anyone who knows me will know I’m a fan of The Bold and The Beautiful. My little sister and I have been watching Bold since it first aired in the late 80s. So it’s fair to say I’ve lived through the trials and tribulations of the Forrester family. And I’ve virtually supported Brooke through her […]
In a world where seemingly everyone claims to be an expert in something, how do you identify the real thing? A friend and PR colleague recently revealed that his process for screening someone who claims to be a ‘social media guru’ is to first gauge how many Facebook or Twitter followers they have. In his […]
It’s widely accepted that in an over-crowded marketplace form, function and feature will not deliver a point of difference. At least, not a sustainable one. Today’s consumers reject being marketed to and are instead turning to brands that share their core values. Hence, a brand’s principles, and the alignment of what it stands for with […]
The Hill’s hoist, cochlear implant, plastic money, invitro-fertilisation and dual flush toilets are among Australia’s great innovations. But who knew that five pioneering scientists from the CSIRO were responsible for the invention of wireless technology? By the time its patents expire, WiFi will be used in an estimated five billion devices. The CSIRO first sought […]
While there are the investigative journalists who ‘find’ and ‘break’ news, much of what we read, hear and watch is present because someone else brought it to the media’s attention. This is what public relations firms do for a living but even if you can’t afford a PR firm there are ways you can get […]
Whether the motivation is ego, a promotion, peer recognition, or something else, the pursuit of industry awards is an art that takes time and thought. Having this year served as a judge of two of the industry’s most prestigious awards programs, the following insights could help you to avoid some of the common blunders and […]
Professional networking comes naturally to me and I am rigorous about maintaining my profile and business contacts. This week, a former direct report invited me to connect with him on LinkedIn. Having not communicated for some years, I clicked through to his profile to check out where he was and what he had been up […]
