Finding the right slogan

I've come across various slogans and I couldn't help but ask myself how the slogans were formed and who even thought of them. The slogans were so appalling and lacked creativity. I have definitely seen slogans I felt were really creative and depicts the intention of the organisation or product but I have seen more bland slogans.

A slogan is a must have for every product or service as they help reinforce an aim as well as letting the public know what the product stands for amongst several others. Your slogan speaks for you so it's a MUST to make it count. When one hears 'just do it' you automatically know it's 'Nike'. Analysing the slogan, it is safe to conclude this slogan meets what Nike stands for as it deals with everything sport.

Popular misconceptions about PR

This post is inspired by someone I met last week. So we got talking and asked what I studied in University, I replied 'public relations' and this person goes.... "I feel like everybody that studies that course don't want to do anything with their future". Of course I took offence to this statement because it hit the wrong button so bad! I could not help but think how rude and ignorant this person was then it occurred to me that there are so many people out there with the same mindset as this person.

It's no news that it is difficult for 'outsiders' to really understand what public relations is all about or what PR practitioners do and this leads to various misconceptions about what PR really is. As a result, I have decided to make a list of the popular misconceptions people have about PR.

1. PR is not lies, propaganda or misrepresentation: Most people are of the notion PR is deliberate distortion of the truth just to get the 'target' to behave in a certain way. This is not PR as public relations deals with credibility, building relationships and tenable reputation management.

Why do Nigerian organisations overlook crisis planning?

No organisation prays to go through a crisis neither is it possible to predict the form a crisis will take. However, it is highly advisable for organisations to have crisis management plans developed for various likely incidents rather than waiting for the crisis to occur before thinking about how to handle the incident.

A typical crisis management plan highlights the person(s) that performs specific role in a certain crisis situation, a prepared sample press release, emergency contacts information, building plans, etc. Having a crisis management plan prepared will help handle the crisis better  'if/when' it happens and help minimise the effect. Most organisations especially in Nigeria disregard the need to have a contingency plan for reasons best known to such organisations.

7 things to learn from your competitors online and offline

If you want to be successful, do what successful people do. No matter what business you're into, it is good to observe and analyse competitor's activities .  I always say it's best to analyse and learn from a competitor that is more successful and also learn from a competitor that is not doing as good as you. Reason is you get to learn from their successes and failures and use this to improve your own brand. So here are some essential things you can learn from your competitors;

1. What audience appeal do they address; You can research into what appeal your competitor use in campaigns and other related elements. Are they using fear, happiness, family, motherly love, sex appeal, etc. Also analyse how effective the appeal used has been. The essence of doing all these research on the competitor is to know what to incorporate in your own product or service and what to avoid.

IS Corporate Social Responsibility essential for every organisation?

One of the frequently asked question and debate topics is ' what is Corporate Social Responsibility anyway and is it an important add-on for every organisation?'

    

CSR is one controversial topic that till these day has no unanimous definition. There are so many arguments for and against the concept and this makes for an interesting read. Basically, there are two categories of people associated with the CSR as a concept.

1. Those who see it as a philanthropic model; that is companies make their profit and then decide what charitable cause to support. Most companies focus on education and training, healthcare, environment, infrastructure, voluntary sector empowerment, corporate community involvement. This is often referred to as Corporate Philanthropy.

Making your brand outstanding

What is the essence of establishing an organisation or creating a brand/product if no one knows what you do or settling for being an 'alright' brand when your can be outstanding? If your organisation or product is in this category, then you are going to thank me for this post!!

Many 'good' organisations have shut down and some are still closing down. This is because being good is no longer enough! Your brand cannot afford to just be referred to as 'good' when there are so many products out there which makes it extra easy for mediocre brands to go unnoticed. Consumers are now smarter and would not settle for average/low brands when there are high-quality brands available. They would rather invest their resources into something 'promising' - an outstanding product/brand.

Is the Press Release Truly Dead?

Recently, I've been coming across articles stating that the 'press release' is dead and these articles got me thinking if truly the press release is dead. No doubt the rave about press release has reduced. Without thinking twice, I believe we all know the most obvious reason for this. Yes you guessed right! The evolution of the internet most especially social media.

Most organisations now prefer to use their social media platforms and websites to reach their audience because it is quicker, more engaging, they can get almost an immediate feedback and they probably reach a greater percentage of their audience. As Jeff Barrett mentioned, "companies are looking to be quicker with content, provide faster approval and be able able to capitalise on the conversation and content of the moment".