Well, fancy that. A former colleague, who left to set up his own digital PR firm, claiming “press releases are passé and the future is social media”, has done a U-turn.
“I’ve given up on social media, Henrietta. It’s all about earned media,” he tells me over lunch. I don’t know whether to let him think he’s a visionary or order him a plate of humble pie. How many times had I told him that a story in an influential news outlet like the Financial Times or Property Week still has greater impact on a business than any paid social media post, podcast episode or digital advertisement?
I’m always in two minds about social media – on one hand, it gives us PRs something else to do; on the other hand, it’s overrated for B2Bs.
On the way back to work, I pop into the Amazon pop-up store on Baker Street for a pair of customised Pepe jeans. Very old school – I pay for them with cash and take them away in a bag. Back in the office, it’s back to business – Ashley or Faye for the Strictly glitterball? Gawjus!
My increasingly agitated House of Fraser store owner client calls to see if I can do anything with the Sunday Telegraph revelation that Mike Ashley’s “creeping” takeover of struggling high street chains “has come at a cost of 6,000 jobs and more than £1bn in unpaid bills”.
I laugh (under my breath) and tell him that Ashley has the hide of a rhinoceros and is no one’s fool. After all, the value of the stock alone in the stores is more than he has spent on buying them.
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