Volunteer and past trainee Richard Bastian is blogging for our clients Healthy Planet and has had a piece featured on the Independent website.
Fifty years ago the British wartime ‘make do and mend’ attitude may
not have leapt to mind when considering the environment, but in 2012 the
principle of reuse is experiencing a revival.
London residents alone throw away 20 million tonnes of waste each
year according to the London Community Resource Network, which estimates
that recycling or reusing these resources could stop 150 million tonnes
of annual carbon emissions.
Consumer companies are forever selling us new goods and the rise of
cheap fashion in high street stores had reduced the incentive to mend
old items. However, designers such as Wayne Hemingway, who has turned
old cola bottles into umbrellas, and From Somewhere’s Orsola de Castro,
who turned banned Speedo swimsuits into designer dresses, are making
reuse more fashionable.
Read the full article on Independent blogs.
Showing posts with label Healthy Planet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healthy Planet. Show all posts
PR for the right reasons: a foray to the other side
Well, it's back to business here at Poached after a brief but productive pause. I have a new trainee, Louise, who is working for our new client, Healthy Planet.
This is my idea of Poached-lite now that the pilot is over: just one trainee who's main job is to help me out and make the most of any opportunity that comes their way. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, I'm still working to build business, gain new funding and get us set up for the future.
Healthy Planet has added an exciting new element to our work here at Poached and, in truth, one I was reticent to take on: PR.
What I know about public relations (or dealing with the media, which is what it mainly amounts to) stems from being on the other side of the fence. As a former journalist I know what annoyed me, what was helpful, and what I'd like to receive from a PR agency. But I've always steered clear of 'doing' PR - it feels a bit too much like crossing to the dark side.
There's another way of looking at it though. Right now I'm working for a client who has really interesting and positive messages about people and the environment. They're doing innovative things with technology, schools and businesses to try to gain as much as possible for the environment from the transactions that we would be making anyway - in this case buying gifts and paying rates.
So it's not difficult to want to help get those messages out there. And I'm sure journalists and the public will be keen to hear them. So, here's what I'm trying to do for Healthy Planet in a neat five points that you might find useful too.
1. Make sure the messages are simple and clear. Try not to do too much with the one press release/event/email/etc. People need one message that they can grasp quickly and easily - without having to think too hard or dig around for more information.
2. Think about what the audience will find interesting about it. Ask what's in it for them? Then lead with that. Good journalists will be attuned to their audiences' interests and will be more likely to run the story.
3. Target the message to an audience that has reason to be interested. Wasting your time on people or media outlets that will never want to run your story is also a waste of their time and damages your reputation.
4. Spend time getting the information right. Make sure it's concise, has all the facts, is set out clearly and consistently and has contact details and links to further information.
5. Take a deep breath and go for it. The worst you'll get is silence.
This is my idea of Poached-lite now that the pilot is over: just one trainee who's main job is to help me out and make the most of any opportunity that comes their way. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, I'm still working to build business, gain new funding and get us set up for the future.
Healthy Planet has added an exciting new element to our work here at Poached and, in truth, one I was reticent to take on: PR.
What I know about public relations (or dealing with the media, which is what it mainly amounts to) stems from being on the other side of the fence. As a former journalist I know what annoyed me, what was helpful, and what I'd like to receive from a PR agency. But I've always steered clear of 'doing' PR - it feels a bit too much like crossing to the dark side.
There's another way of looking at it though. Right now I'm working for a client who has really interesting and positive messages about people and the environment. They're doing innovative things with technology, schools and businesses to try to gain as much as possible for the environment from the transactions that we would be making anyway - in this case buying gifts and paying rates.
So it's not difficult to want to help get those messages out there. And I'm sure journalists and the public will be keen to hear them. So, here's what I'm trying to do for Healthy Planet in a neat five points that you might find useful too.
1. Make sure the messages are simple and clear. Try not to do too much with the one press release/event/email/etc. People need one message that they can grasp quickly and easily - without having to think too hard or dig around for more information.
2. Think about what the audience will find interesting about it. Ask what's in it for them? Then lead with that. Good journalists will be attuned to their audiences' interests and will be more likely to run the story.
3. Target the message to an audience that has reason to be interested. Wasting your time on people or media outlets that will never want to run your story is also a waste of their time and damages your reputation.
4. Spend time getting the information right. Make sure it's concise, has all the facts, is set out clearly and consistently and has contact details and links to further information.
5. Take a deep breath and go for it. The worst you'll get is silence.
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