By Mark Pinsent, Managing Director, Hoffman Europe It’s an interesting word, provocative. Many (most?) people would feel that it has negative connotations; that it’s about someone looking for an argument, spoiling for a fight. Indeed, if you look at many dictionary definitions, these do lean towards the adverse, for example, “causing an angry reaction, …more
By Chris Owen, Director, Hoffman Europe We recently had a call with a potential PR intern, as part of a series of chats we’re having for new agency hires for the year ahead. He was positive, clearly had a flair for writing, had a great balance between ambition and desire to learn his PR chops, …more
“I want to be in WIRED. How do I get into WIRED?” By Chris Owen, Director, Hoffman Europe As a PR pro, if I had £1,000 for every time a prospect or client said, “We’d like to get into WIRED / The Economist / the FT,” then I’d genuinely have no mortgage. I might …more
Dear Joe, Welcome to the White House. Is it just me or does it feel like it’s been an eternity since the Nov. 3 election? Anyway, I know you come into office with several mission-critical priorities screaming for attention. The pandemic has killed roughly 400,000 Americans. Economic conditions prompt comparisons to the Great Depression. …more
The holiday celebrating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. prompted me to dust off the “I Have Dream” speech. Obviously, his words have never been more relevant. It’s a revealing exercise to read the text of the speech rather than watch and listen to the speech. King was such a gifted orator, you get …more
No need to rehash yesterday’s events. My Mom’s choice of adjectives was “disgraceful.” I’d say that nicely covers it. What was Trump’s answer to the storming of the White House? A tweet (naturally). Because Twitter had locked down Trump’s account for his incendiary behavior, he had to use the account of one of his minions, …more
What a year! We are almost there. We can see the finish line to the calendar year just beyond our outstretched finger tips. While the world won’t automatically return to its axis on Jan. 1, 2021, there’s something rejuvenating about starting a new year with a blank canvas and possibilities. Happy holidays.
You would think every company would prefer to communicate in a way that connects with people. After all, before segmenting the target audience, we know the objective is to reach people. Yet, business writing often comes off as mechanical and even stiff. Do you want the narrative to sound like it comes from an actual …more
Vince Lombardi, the famous football coach for the Green Bay Packers, had a saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” So it’s been for international companies this year as the pandemic and a volatile political climate force executives to navigate a communications environment unlike any in history. One topic that’s worth putting …more
