The reflection on strategies from Liam at Black Belt Dojo made me chuckle. And then it turned to a nervous laugh as I wondered which paragraph of the article in the glossy business mag we fit into. Net.Mentor Creative – one of the three strands of our business – offers advice in creating communication strategies for those organisations that either think they have something to say (but actually are saying the wrong things to the wrong people), or have something to say (but don’t know who to say it to).
Our fabulously named business mentor, Emmanuel Aharoni, starts to turn very strange shades of differing colours when the words ’strategy’ or ’strategic’ are mentioned in his presence. “WHAT DOES IT MEAN???” he yells as we cower, pitifully, in the corner, thinking desperately of an educated reply while whimpering “it’s OK, our potential clients will know!”
The Merriam Webster dictionary definition is :
1 a (1): the science and art of employing the political, economic, psychological, and military forces of a nation or group of nations to afford the maximum support to adopted policies in peace or war
(2): the science and art of military command exercised to meet the enemy in combat under advantageous conditions b: a variety of or instance of the use of strategy 2 a: a careful plan or method : a clever stratagem b: the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal
3: an adaptation or complex of adaptations (as of behavior, metabolism, or structure) that serves or appears to serve an important function in achieving evolutionary success <foraging strategies of insects>
Hmmm, based on this, we’d have our clients’ Boards marching up and down, issuing edicts while adapting their behaviour to forage for suitable snacks in the canteen.
PR guru and academic Anne Gregory in her chapter on Public Relations Management in Alison Theaker’s Public Relations Handbook states: “For many public relations professionals, a sign of having ‘arrived’ is obtaining ’strategic’ role signified by having a seat on the board.” OK, so far so good – strategy is obviously important. She continues: “There is growing evidence to suggest that public relations is a vital tool for strategic management“. Yes, I’m keeping up so far…She then goes on to talk about systems theory and organisational structures, which is fine, but I’m still not sure about the strategic bit. Ah, hang on, here’s something under the section “Public relations in strategy-making” which says “…suffice it to say that strategy-making involves a great deal of information gathering, analysis and decision-making.” Right, so actually, going back to Merriam Webster and the foraging strategies of insects, we may not be so very far away…I’m starting to turn a very strange shade of something.
Tags: PR strategies, public relations, strategic communication, strategy
Zune and iPod: Most people compare the Zune to the Touch, but after seeing how slim and surprisingly small and light it is, I consider it to be a rather unique hybrid that combines qualities of both the Touch and the Nano. It’s very colorful and lovely OLED screen is slightly smaller than the touch screen, but the player itself feels quite a bit smaller and lighter. It weighs about 2/3 as much, and is noticeably smaller in width and height, while being just a hair thicker.
Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get something done.