Give something a three-latter acronym and it sounds important and powerful: HMG, USD, CID, and JCB. Then there’s CPD: not the carbon disclosure project but Continuing Professional Development. In reality, training while in employment. Many professional bodies have CPD requirements for their members: they have to keep their noses to the grind stone by keeping their knowledge and Read More
Posts by Richard Sharpe
Use mind maps as a tool in corporate communications
There is a tool in the tool kit of corporate communications which is not used enough: the mind map. Also known as the spider diagram. They are not for everybody, but they help those who see more value and information in pictures than in lists. They enforce a discipline about the subject. One thing has Read More
3 tips for a better CV
CVs are selling documents: they are selling you to an employer. And they can be so bland and boring that they soon end up in the waste-paper basket. Here’s 3 tips to make your CV stand out: 1. Make sure that at the top you have a personal statement that really says something. I call Read More
WH Smith breaks the four golden rules of communications
WH Smith needs to buck up its corporate communications. It has been hit by two mini scandals: It is charging up to 50% more for the same goods in its WH Smith hospital shops than on the high street; and It is not refunding vat at it airport shops and pocketing about £10 a year Read More
John Lewis screws up the Sharpe’s blinds
John Lewis, the department store, trades on its reputation for goods and services. In the Sharpe house this reputation is pretty low. It has taken from early April to the middle of July to get some blinds fitted. That’s the date we have been given. We placed the initial order in early April. John Lewis Read More
Do sponsors hate Fifa enough to put on real pressure?
The only way to get reform soon in Fifa will be through pressure from the sponsors. And even that may not work. Adidas, Coca-Cola, Gazprom, Hyandai and Visa pour $177 million and more a year into Fifa’s coffers. A further $131 million comes from second-tier sponsors such as McDonalds and Budweiser. A further $46 million Read More
Thorny issue for corporate communications: declare on EU membership or not?
Corporate communications teams this week face a thorny issue: do they commit their corporation to continued membership of the EU or not? Should they try to stand above the debate? Or should they, like the Ford Motor Company, commit early? A corporation faces the accusation that, if it delays its announcement of its views until Read More
Don’t change your name, Thomson holidays: TUI has no pull in the market
What’s in a corporate name? Nothing but reputation and a connection to customers. Rumour has it that Thomson, the holiday company, is about to change its name to TUI. That’s the name of the holding company. A mistake to change What a mistake it if does. It will lose the goodwill of all the millions Read More
Fragmented libel blocks documentary on Scientology from the UK screens
The fragmented state of libel laws in the UK means you will not be able to see a US-made documentary about the Church of Scientology. English and Welsh libel was reformed in 2013. The hurdles for the claimant were raised and the defences strengthened. Northern Ireland has the old libel But Northern Ireland kept the Read More
Vue lost a customer because of poor film listings
Vue, the cinema chain, needs to pull its socks up when it comes to listing its films. I wanted to go to the cinema over the weekend in Portsmouth. Vue has a 14-screen multiplex in the Gunwharf Quays complex. But I could not work out what was on. A single poster of about A3 size Read More