The Bell Pottinger catastrophe is a harsh reminder of the value of values. The British firm co-founded by Lord Tim Bell, to whom the New…
Peter WilkinsonFebruary 9, 2018
It’s pretty clear that we are now entering a painful period for many people, mainly women but also men (scoundrels, yes, but good men too)…
Peter WilkinsonNovember 20, 2017
I struggled with the concept for years. It seemed to imply that I should, a) spend less time doing the work I loved while fighting…
Peter WilkinsonOctober 28, 2017
Ian Narev (Commonwealth Bank), Ahmed Fahour (Australia Post), Deb Thomas (Dreamworld) are all defined by events in which they lost control of the narrative. Their…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 21, 2017
Criticism imposes confronting choices on an organisation. And repeated criticism, particularly in the media, starts a downward spiral, eroding trust, inspiring more criticism, further eroding…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 4, 2017
Little destroys a political party’s or a company’s hopes faster than the loss of trust in the leader; think Trump, Turnbull, Narev (Commonwealth Bank). We…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 7, 2017
In Australia there's a conversation, an undercurrent, about replacing PM Turnbull. Some say "Why, who else is there?"; others say "Why not replace one lack…
Peter WilkinsonJune 19, 2017
We can learn a lot about how to deal with crises and crisis PR from studying others under extreme pressure. It’s hard to imagine what…
Peter WilkinsonJune 10, 2017
It’s a sensational period for good journalism. In the last short period: 1. The Washington Post scooped that Trump leaked classified information to the Russians. 2. The…
Peter WilkinsonJune 7, 2017
This week on Channel Seven’s Sunrise I was asked how Schapelle Corby, incarcerated for almost a decade, can get on with her life, particularly when…
Peter WilkinsonMay 30, 2017
James Ashby (Hanson’s chief-of-staff) was caught on tape describing a way to describing a way to ‘skim’ money from taxpayers and the party’s candidates. There…
Peter WilkinsonMay 24, 2017
Watching Trump carries lessons for us all, especially for practitioners in Crisis PR. If your boss doesn’t have values grounded in solid foundations, beware. That…
Peter WilkinsonMay 16, 2017
Crisis PR is about probabilities – there is no certainty. So I think it was reckless for the CEO of United Airlines to commit to…
Peter WilkinsonMay 3, 2017
Crisis PR & Communications Some entrepreneurs think change is easy – “I’ll lead, you follow.” For others, it’s hard; we like what we are doing,…
Peter WilkinsonApril 5, 2017
The arguments swirling around the RDA may seem like a side issue in Australian politics, but they’re not – they’re of fundamental importance. They go…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 14, 2017
Trump’s war on media last week shone a light on its critical role in a democracy - unfettered and frank two-way communication between the people…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 1, 2017
It’s the communications professionals who have failed social media. By not taking responsibility we’ve spoilt it for the rest. Traditional media has set an expectation.…
Peter WilkinsonFebruary 8, 2017
So, we’ve had our crisis and it’s been flagged we need to transform our communications team. We can use history to inform us but not…
Peter WilkinsonJanuary 23, 2017
We need to change. Russia’s mischief with the US elections is just the latest in a litany of misevents enabled by digital disruption, with its…
Peter WilkinsonJanuary 16, 2017
(Peter Wilkinson has been elected Chair of the Global Communications Alliance, an organisation of senior independent public relations and public affairs companies) To be a…
Peter WilkinsonJanuary 6, 2017
‘Post-truth’ has been named word-of-the-year by the Oxford Dictionary. For me, it's best described in this scathing Economist article, ‘The Art of the Lie’, written…
Peter WilkinsonDecember 7, 2016
The passionate debate and controversy around 18C, and Bill Leak's cartoon, has made a simple choice appear complex. It’s about free speech, or restricting it,…
Peter WilkinsonNovember 17, 2016
We’ve all seen that Dreamworld, and its parent company, displayed a woefully inadequate crisis plan. What are the lessons for the rest of us? How…
Peter WilkinsonNovember 2, 2016
Last week we witnessed the unedifying spectacle of Turnbull and Abbott going hammer and tongs at each other, with media commentary emphasising their mutual hate.…
Peter WilkinsonOctober 25, 2016
The CEO, a new client, asked me last week, “How do we measure our Public Relations?” There are two answers I know of and neither…
Peter WilkinsonOctober 19, 2016
I've written before that social media strategists need to behave like clever newspaper editors - concentrate on giving their customers the information and entertainment they…
Peter WilkinsonOctober 11, 2016
Hilary Clinton: experienced, competent, smart; but sub-par as a leader. Malcolm Turnbull: intelligent, successful, capable; again, failing as a leader. What did JFK, Ronald Reagan…
Peter WilkinsonOctober 5, 2016
Think like a newspaper editor. Eventually, your career will depend on it. Here’s a prediction: go forward 2-3 years. More and more journalists will be managing…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 14, 2016
There are two distinct phases in a crisis: • First, stop it • Then, repair the damage It is generally a mistake to try and…
Peter WilkinsonSeptember 6, 2016
The importance of values I do a lot of media training, which these days includes social media training. Training people on the use of social…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 23, 2016
We watch politicians as one way to learn the do’s and don’ts of communication and change management. For the second time in his prime ministership…
Peter WilkinsonAugust 9, 2016
ABC bashing – a poor sport On Saturday the Minister for Communications, Mitch Fifield, was reported in The Australian as asking the ABC to ‘Please…
Peter WilkinsonJuly 26, 2016
We can learn a lot about public relations and how CEOs should manage their companies by watching politicians. Public Relations rule: The vision thing Shortly…
Peter WilkinsonJuly 19, 2016
The use of that hashtag is an angry shout for the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S. There’s what I think is a misguided…
Peter WilkinsonJuly 12, 2016
Here’s the Turnbull Paradox: for him to think he’s the smartest man in the room, that he knows best what we want, means he can’t…
Peter WilkinsonJuly 6, 2016
Information overload is a personal battleground, for senders and receivers. Trying to work out the rights and wrongs of the Brexit last Saturday, with the…
Peter WilkinsonJune 28, 2016
Eddie McGuire might have got away with his 'drowning Caroline Wilson' comments, but for social media. For years he’s been making these outrageously inappropriate comments,…
Peter WilkinsonJune 21, 2016
The Australian Leadership Debate on May 29 was probably the worst recent example, but it’s happening daily in the current election campaigns. It’s gob-smacking that…
Peter WilkinsonJune 15, 2016
Justice Lindsay Foster is a Federal Court judge in Sydney. He is presiding over the class action brought by lawyers against Volkswagen over the ‘defeat…
Peter WilkinsonMay 3, 2016
Absolutely. I know this is a sensitive and emotionally charged issue, so I’ll do my best to tread lightly, but I’ve held this view for…
Peter WilkinsonApril 24, 2016
Crisis PR: the killer This past week two clients have been threatened, one overtly and one implied. One is a threat of a negative media…
Peter WilkinsonApril 19, 2016
You wouldn’t have predicted that such a bright spark would make such a basic mistake! CEO’s and PR people learn a lot by watching politics.…
Peter WilkinsonApril 6, 2016
When I left journalism and started out in DIY business, fear of failure was a huge incentive to innovate. Most small businesses have to be…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 29, 2016
I’m often asked this and I wonder if it’s wise to be too prescriptive? Switzerland with 60 Minutes PR is a growing sector, journalism is…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 22, 2016
People often ask why Millennials are fleeing traditional media. To me it’s too dismissive to say “They’re apathetic” or “It’s the Twitter generation”. Here’s my…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 15, 2016
Public Relations can’t spot a well hidden crime, or deceptions or lies. What Public Relations can do is help instill a culture of integrity and…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 8, 2016
Do what you say you are going to do, and then some. It’s so obvious to almost all of us: parents, employers, employees. Here are…
Peter WilkinsonMarch 1, 2016
Here’s a different slant on a story that’s been doing the rounds for the last week, about yet more redundancies amongst journalists, with The Independent…
Peter WilkinsonFebruary 23, 2016
Q: Since when could Bernie Sanders, an ageing idealist who has played on the radical fringes of US politics since 1968, come within a bull’s…
Peter WilkinsonFebruary 17, 2016