Pelican PR Blog

Primark’s handling of the horrific Bangladesh factory collapse has not just been an example of crisis communications but a salutary lesson in the value of adopting a strong corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy.

When a clothing factory collapsed in late April killing 350 people it was headline news around the world and UK retailer Primark, which sources garments from the site, was immediately associated with the disaster in the media.

A standard but genuine ‘shocked and saddened’ statement was issued by Primark’s press office and that’s traditionally where the PR response would have ended.

After all what responsibility could Primark have for the deficiencies of the Bangladesh construction industry? Read the rest of this entry »

Sales of Toyota hybrid cars have passed the 5 million mark according to a report from Reuters.

The petrol-electric hybrid vehicles first went on sale in 1997 and passed the milestone at the end of March.

Toyota’s Prius series accounted for about 70% of the sales, making it the most popular hybrid model in the motor industry. Read the rest of this entry »

Sustainable business innovation boosts company value according to researchers from Aalto University in Finland have proved.

In the first study of its kind, the researchers tested how sustainability business innovations and the market value of companies in the construction sector are connected.

The most important finding of the study is that a positive and statistically significant association exists between sustainability innovation announcements and the market value of companies. Read the rest of this entry »

A major study into food waste has revealed that consumer don’t understand the role of packaging in keeping food fresh and reducing waste.

The study – Consumer attitudes to Food Waste and Food Packaging – highlights the ongoing disconnect between the reality of what packaging does to protect food and public perceptions of it.

Conducted on behalf of an unprecedented cross-industry partnership that included WRAP, packaging groups, retailers and others, the study discovered that despite continued packaging innovation to extend in-home life, through the use of intelligent materials, vacuum-packing and more recloseable packs, most consumers still believe that keeping food in packaging at home leads to it spoiling more quickly. Read the rest of this entry »

Retailers are misleading shoppers into buying own-brand products which “borrow” elements from the packaging of well-known competitors, according to a watchdog.

A fifth of Which? members said they had accidentally bought a supermarket version of a favourite brand at least once, with 60% of those saying the mistake left them feeling annoyed or misled.

The consumer group found more than 150 own-label products had mimicked the packaging of products such as McVitie’s digestives, Kellogg’s coco pops, Simple cleanser and wipes, Radox bath gel and Jacob’s cream crackers. Read the rest of this entry »

About 20% of outdoor retailers favour the introduction of charges for boot fitting according to a survey undertaken by OCC Outdoor.

The magazine has reported that retailers see it as one way of stemming the increasing frequency with which customers, having availed themselves of the boot fitter’s expertise, then go and buy elsewhere.

Although the majority of retailers believe such a move would prove impractical, findings revealed that a number have already given serious thought to introducing them. The survey further confirmed that footwear sales have become increasingly important to outdoor retailers over the past three years and on average account for 35% of total turnover. Read the rest of this entry »

Chances are you’ve heard someone, probably your girlfriend, mother, sister or female colleagues talking about their love of Pinterest.

Since it launched the content and image sharing site has become one of the fastest ever growing social media sites. By February 2012 it was already driving more traffic than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined and it’s got stronger since then.

With such strong growth marketers have been keen to establish sites to promote their products and services. Pinterest has recently re-styled some of its features, meaning that brands can get even more out of the platform, but before you dip your toe in the water it’s important to understand Pinterest and how best to use it. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost two thirds of hospitality and leisure businesses expect to create new jobs this year.

The Barclays Job Creation Survey 2013 has revealed that 61% of companies in the sector expect to take on new staff in 2013, up from 55% last year.

In further positive news for the industry, the majority (77%) are not planning on making any job losses over the next 12 months.

Half of all the hospitality and leisure businesses surveyed, including hotels, restaurants, pubs and bars, state that they are interested in hiring ex-public sector workers, this is consistent with last year (2012: 51%) and compares favourably to the business landscape as a whole, where 57% of businesses across all sectors state they do not want to hire ex-public sector workers. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the tough economic times, product innovation is more important to consumers than saving money according to new research.

A study by GfK found that shoppers regard product innovations that help them save time and do things better as being more significant than cash savings.

The study found that 83% of 2,983 respondents thought the most important benefits of product innovation were making life easier, followed by helping people do things better (81%), saving time (75%), convenience (77%) and entertainment (33%). ‘Saving money’ was third on the list at 80%, suggesting that, despite the recession, consumers consider some of the benefits of product innovation are worth paying extra for.
Read the rest of this entry »

Many organisations spend thousands of pounds creating powerful visions and values, motivating mission statements and stunning branding.

PR and advertising budgets are lavished on communicating these assets to customers, investors and stakeholders but too often less attention is given to communicating with the organisation’s greatest asset: its staff.

Internal communications is the Cinderella of communications and is often poorly planned, under-funded and low priority.

Well-managed internal communications campaigns inform, involve and inspire colleagues.

Read the rest of this entry »