Jacinda Ardern, Ashley Bloomfield and thousands of anonymous comms workers just accomplished what we all would have thought impossible just weeks ago. Duncan Greive looks back at the historic lockdown, and how it was achieved. It came in the early evening of Wednesday March 25 – an angry, violent buzzing, all around the nation. The … Read more
A global survey of the public relations industry puts the Ardern government top of the pile. As New Zealand records its second consecutive day of zero new cases of Covid-19, moving cautiously closer towards the goal of “elimination”, the government has received another international plaudit for the response – this time from public relations practitioners. … Read more
The case for the meeting that everyone loves to hate, by someone who used to go. This week sees 3,000 of the “global elite” gather on the top of a Swiss mountain to opine on the state of the world and people could not be more outraged. Again. The stereotype of the “Davos man” (only … Read more
Summer reissueHe’s a lot of things: a commentator, political PR guy, Twitter scrapper, dad, recovering alcoholic – even Mongolian ambassador. But Matthew Hooton’s main focus at the moment is chalking up a philosophy Master’s in London. Toby Manhire meets one of the most fascinating – and polarising – characters in NZ politics This post was … Read more
It was meant to ‘draw a line under the whole episode’. So how did it turn into an unmitigated PR disaster, asks former Edelman executive David Brain. The thing about the Royal Family is that everything they do is PR really. I mean in the old sense of image and spin. There’s no product or … Read more
He’s a lot of things: a commentator, political PR guy, Twitter scrapper, dad, recovering alcoholic – even Mongolian ambassador. But Matthew Hooton’s main focus at the moment is chalking up a philosophy Master’s in London. Toby Manhire meets one of the most fascinating – and polarising – characters in NZ politics Life is a like … Read more
A new book on facts, misinformation and communication could have the effect, intended or not, of rehabilitating public relations for the non-establishment left, writes journalist-turned-political-staffer-turned-PR-guy Ben Thomas. An essential stop on the carefully orchestrated tourist trips to North Korea is the imposing Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum. It curates Kim Il-sung’s almost singlehanded defeat of … Read more
When GJ Thompson took leave from his lobbying firm to act as the prime minister’s chief of staff, he remained a director of the firm and his profile stayed in prime position on its website. How serious is the appearance of a conflict of interest, asks Asher Emanuel. The government lobbyist who served for several … Read more
Neale Jones and Jenna Raeburn are partisan lobbyists, doing their clients’ bidding at opposing ends of the political divide. But, as Asher Emanuel explains, they have a surprising amount in common. Three framed Labour Party posters hang in Neale Jones’ new office at the parliament-end of Lambton Quay. Two are items of affectionate nostalgia: anti-nuclear … Read more
Five shining examples that reveal the glories of a super-succinct media statement. In a world of bottomless coffee, endless online scrolling, and prose that goes on much longer than it needs to, winding circuitously around corners and over bridges, as if crying out desperately for an editor or a blowtorch, much like this sentence, thank … Read more