Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

I could put up a long winded post about the merits of consultancy versus in-house PR, but after a recent experience at work I’ll stick with just one benefit of retaining a consultancy over employing an in-house PR practitioner.
By working in a consultancy you will naturally have a wider range of contacts. For example, […]

When it comes to things like blogs and podcasts, everyone seems to be shouting about the fact that organisations should use them for their corporate communications. Seriously though, do I really want to hear what Bill Gates has to say everyday and does he really want to put up with Apple fanboys berating Microsoft? […]

The Dublin Tourism Office has begun to offer audio podcast guides for Dublin (via Damien Mulley and Smart Mobs). The first in the series, Georgian Dublin, is available now, and will be follwed by nine other titles with accompanying brochures. This is something along the lines of what I hope to do if […]

Corporate branding seems to be becoming a big issue for PR consultancies in Ireland at the moment. I guess that it portrays a better brand image, as well as looking professional and having put in the effort.
I’ve seen branded memory keys, CDs and DVDs designed for pitches and props created to add an extra […]

I had just sat down in my seat in the cinema last Friday week when my phone started to ring. The film hadn’t started yet and I popped out of my seat to take the call. I never thought I’d ever hear the day when I’d say, “Sorry. I have to go […]

The media and PR community are starting to cry out more often about the number of surveys that seem to be conducted these days. We’ve got figures on political support, how people intend to spend their savings and even Northern Irish men’s cooking skills. That said, you simply can’t beat a good survey […]

Traditional media like radio stations normally use podcasts as a means for listeners to download their show if they have missed it. However if the public have already tuned in, what’s the point of downloading the show again?
In a recent conversation with Adam Maguire, he pointed out to me that the success of Ricky […]

According to some people advertising is dying. In reality it’s not, especially if you can play the McDonalds theme song ‘I’m lovin’ it’ and every child in the room starts talking about MacDonalds. Its effectiveness might be beginning to wane and people should look at the overall communications mix rather than focusing on […]

There is an ongoing debate about the merits of traditional media and citizen journalism. There are journalists who say that citizen journalists are biaised and ignorant, and there are those who pen blogs and podcasts who say that they have better subject knowledge than journalists and are more passionate when reporting about events which […]

Hopefully a video will appear under this text, otherwise my test post from Google Video didn’t work. EDIT - Looks like it was a success. Please find below a Saturday Night Live sketch which has been doing the rounds on the Internet called Lazy Sunday. The clip’s popularity highlights the added effect […]

There has been a lot of talk recently about how the current generation are coping with growing up online. Their lives can be tracked via their personal website or online sharing sites like Flickr. Google has become your permanent school record for life and it’s there for all to see.
TV is still the […]

Organisations are beginning to appreciate the fact that the Internet plays a powerful role in crisis management situations. Apart from the fact that it is a medium for instant communication, social networking tools like blogs have emerged over the last few years which have ramped up the ability for a message to spread.
There are […]

There are numerous people and organisations who use the media to promote their own agenda. While this works in a lot of cases, the majority of parties who pursue this strategy push the envelope to far and often have the tables turned on them.
The Liberal Democrats, the UK political party, are a perfect example. […]

Apart from the Dublin travel website that I will be starting up in March hopefully, I’ve created two new WordPress sites that I will also be posting on over the coming months - my personal website and another one about movies, TV and DVDs. Hopefully they’ll be of interest to some people.
I will also […]

The best things in life are free, but sooner or later the government will find a way to tax them - Author Unknown
There is lots of talk about the continuing battle of the freesheets in Dublin between the Metro and Herald AM. The most decisive moments will probably be when CIE (the Irish rail […]

Here are some new irish blogs that are worth looking out for. They are a clear indication that more quality content sites are beginning to emerge from ireland.
YourTechStuff (or is it TechWire?): Despite the mismatching title and website address, YourTechStuff is the latest blog from Sunday Business Post journalist, Adrian Weckler. The […]

Those unfamiliar with Public Relations might not realise that anytime they read the words ‘company spokesperson’ in a newspaper, what that really means is that the journalist was talking to someone like me, a PR practitioner.
There have been a few stories lately about people who believed that they were misrepresented in the press and have […]

Irish Permanent has announced that it is giving up its sponsorship of the Irish rugby team, which makes perfect sense to be honest because the company has scaled down over recent years. It will be interesting to see who snaps up their spot on the green jerseys, but it does throw up a few […]

I normally hate just linking to another website without adding my thoughts on the matter, but Niall Cook really hit the nail on the head recently. His post entitled ‘Groundhog day‘ offers an interesting perspective on how the hype around blogs, podcasts, etc mirrors the hype about the Internet ten years ago.
Will the PR […]

The Present is a point just passed - David Russell
Numerous people are talking about the Canadan research which claims to show that Internet users make their mind up in the blink of an eye whether they like a website or not.
It’s true to some degrees I suppose. If I don’t see an RSS icon […]

One of the main impacts of the Internet is that it can often expose a gulf between what is reported about a product or an organisation in a newspaper and the actual consumer experience. This gap exists for companies both large and small. Here are two quick examples.
Irish Broadband is a wireless broadband […]

Anyone who says that media training is a waste of cash and something that PR consultancies offer their clients to make a little extra cash is a fool. I was recently out in TV3 and Today FM, an Irish television channel and national radio station respectively, and the value of media training was there […]

It looks like Irish politicians are finally starting to embrace the web, albeit for a variety of reasons. On the one hand, politicians like Liz McManus TD of the Labour Party and Councillor Damien Blake of Fianna Fail both have websites so that they can actively engage with the public. On the other […]

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak - Hans Hofmann
VoIP, ADSL 2+, RFID, etc, etc, etc. These might mean something to a lot of people reading this website, but there are many people out there who wouldn’t have a clue what any of them are. […]

Don’t believe the hype - Flavour Flav
Viral adverts, blogs and podcasts are innovative new channels for connecting with consumers. Don’t get caught up in the hype though. If you listen to some people, if you don’t have a blog then your company is about to go out of business. Those of us […]