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Reuters highlights audience distrust of native advertising

By Mikela Dennison, Account Manager, The Clarity Business Do you know how your target audience feels about that sponsored 'news' content you got placed on a local media website? Or do you know the key source of news for today's decision-makers? Whether you answered yes or no, the Reuters Institute Digital News Report for 2015 is well worth a read. You can peruse the full report at your leisure, or if you are one of the many millions of time-poor, info-hungry people around the world, check out...

Need help positioning your company to develop Government land?

By George Hulbert, Director, The Clarity Business So one element of the Budget was blown a day early: the big secret - that the Government intends to open up 430 hectares or more of Crown land in Auckland to residential development in an effort to try to cool the housing market - was leaked inadvertently by an MBIE staffer who put the proposed tender up on a website. Yesterday's budget then confirmed that the Government is setting aside a $52 million capital contingency to facilitate housing ...

HOW WE HELPED CLIENTS WIN $1.5b THROUGH TENDERS

In Clarity news this week, we are delighted to announce that recent contract wins have taken the amount we have helped clients win through formal tender processes to over NZ$1.5b. So, what is it that has enabled Clarity to support our clients in such a significant way? We take a unique approach to traditional bid writers, and here's a few of our points of difference: We understand your client and their objectives:this is the most important factor by a country mile. Many a bid has been lost...

Google changes rankings to reward press releases

As if you needed any more reason to prioritise communication for your business and brand, Google has recently unveiled a subtle but important change to its search algorithms. As reported through Reuters in the Huffington Post recently: "A little-noticed change in the way Google selects search results has allowed company statements to top the list of news links shown when users search for information on businesses." Prior to this change, only content published through news and television sites...

20 things I have learned over 20 years at work

By the very youthful and fresh-faced George Hulbert: Can I really have been working for 20 years? It can't be…. but it is! Unbelievable but true. I started my very first 'career' job 20 years ago this month. With a minimum 20 more years of work still ahead of me, I have had a bit of a 'half-time' pause to think about some of the lessons I have learned along the way so far. There's no particular order, except for the first and last points: 1. Don't be boring 2. Enjoy your working life ...

A picture is worth a thousand words (or 140 characters)

By Mikela Dennison (Associate Account Manager at The Clarity Business) *This article was originally published as a guest post on generatornz.com* Generator is full of interesting people doing wicked stuff, and we love supporting other resident members and their activities in the world of business, creativity and innovation. Generator resident Arran Birchenough (Senior Account Manager, Getty Images) was on the latest Social Media Club Auckland (#smcakl) panel on the 'Social Media Image Frenzy...

Takeaway media tips for business #yesplease

By Mikela Dennison, Senior Account Executive at The Clarity Business I recently attended PRINZ's first Meet the Media event of 2014 and thought it would be useful to offer some takeaway tips for businesses to apply in your own efforts and how you can use PR to better connect with the media and raise the profile of the work you do and the difference you make in your market. Help us tell your human stories A key point reiterated by the panel was that the more you can tell the human story of you...

SHARE SMARTER, NOT HARDER: TIPS FOR MAXIMISING YOUR BUSINESS CONTENT < Go back

By Mikela Dennison, Senior Account Director at The Clarity Business Everyone likes to work smarter, not harder - and sharing your business content is no exception. Whether it's a blog post, presentation, report, survey, white paper or infographic, you should always aim to use your content in at least four ways, for maximum reach and effect. And the good news is, it's not as complex as it sounds! We encourage our clients to maximise their content and share it across multiple platforms to get ...

10 TOP TIPS FOR PRESENTATION SUCCESS

By George Hulbert, Director of The Clarity Business If you operate within a competitive business environment, chances are you have some element of presenting to an audience within your role. Whether you bid for work and have to present to a tender evaluation team (TET), or you pitch for new work, or even if you present new services or changes to your internal teams or external stakeholders and shareholders, nailing the art of the presentation is a valuable skill to have - but unfortunately no...

A Trojan Horse

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BUILD YOUR REPUTATION - ON, IN AND ABOVE THE GROUND

By George Hulbert, Director at The Clarity Business, which has helped companies to win more than $1.2 billion of work through tenders: We love the world of construction: the feats of design and engineering we see around us every day never cease to amaze us. But just as a skyscraper requires foundations, structure and cladding, your reputation needs to be constructed carefully so that it doesn't topple at the first sign of a stiff breeze. In this blog, we showcase some of the many easy, time-e...

7 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN ASSESSING YOUR TENDERING CAPABILITIES

By George Hulbert of The Clarity Business, which has helped companies to win more than $1.2 billion in work through tenders: Here are a few mistakes I see out there that I recommend you avoid if you want to make that assessment count: Early assessment of your company's tendering capabilities can make all the difference when you're planning to target that big bid in 9 months' time. 1. Not being honest with yourselves Frequently, when going into a company for the first time to talk about tender...

Bid blunders: Four things to do to ensure you don’t win more work by tender

By Mikela Dennison, Senior Account Executive @ The Clarity Business The competitive tender landscape means that businesses are constantly on the lookout for the next big job, particularly in construction and infrastructure, but increasingly across other areas too (including banking, legal, recruitment, health, web development, among many others). If you really want to make sure you DON'T win that next bid, here are four things you should do: Focus only on answering the bid document Nothin...

CONTENT IS KING

By Mikela Dennison, Senior Account Executive @ The Clarity Business We've been spending a lot of time recently speaking with our clients about the value in creating original, interesting, objective-driven content that engages their audience and provides an opportunity to share knowledge on a regular basis. Lots of businesses think it's hard to create original content - but it doesn't have to be. Content isn't just the written word Worried you aren't a wordsmith? No problem! Either get some p...

Top tips for creating winning business publications

We work with several of our clients to create visually stunning, message-driven publications that cut through the noise and connect directly with the intended audience. From compelling corporate profiles that showcase services, engaging infographics that energise employees and equip stakeholders with data, to sleek corporate magazines that demonstrate connections and activity in the market, The Clarity Business makes them happen. We offer communications strategy, message development and copyw...

5 things to do if you don’t want your business to thrive in 2014

By Mikela Dennison, Senior Account Executive at The Clarity Business It's a new year, which means 12 fresh months for you to help your business swim... or sink. By many accounts (CNBC, Stuff.co.nz, NZIER) the New Zealand economy is going to have a 'rock star year' in 2014, and could potentially even be one of the strongest growth economies in the world. However, not all businesses seem to want to thrive. Some even appear to want to fail. This blog is therefore designed to appeal to organisat...

OFF TO A ROARING START

Here at The Clarity Business we are excited to be enjoying a strong start to the year. We've been working with a number of exciting new clients and new sectors in 2014, running a series of communication planning workshops which are a great way to look ahead and plan strategic action that will drive our clients' businesses forward: What businesses are looking to achieve in 2014 Communications and business objectives vary according to the client, the sector, and where the business is at in terms...

Goodbye 2013 - Hello 2014! Tips for business success in the New Year

By Mikela Dennison, Senior Account Executive at The Clarity Business There has been a strong sense of optimism in New Zealand's business circles this year, and it's only going to pick up further next year. You can utilise smart communications and a strong message to make the most of the positive conditions – and we can help you. According to a recent article on Interest.co.nz, business optimism is at a 15 year high - which is great news for the economy and for the people working hard to keep...

Startup Grind: Mike Ballantyne from Online Republic

By Mikela Dennison, Senior Account Exec at The Clarity Business With the Startup Grind NZ chapter now a key event in Auckland's entrepreneur and business diaries, another great talk was held at Generator on Tuesday 26th November, with Online Republic co-founder and President Mike Ballantyne in the hot seat with interviewer and MC Helena McAlpine. Online Republic is a collection of niche cruise, motorhome, RV and car rental sites, with a global network of offerings. Some examples of the specia...

The battle over news releases continues: Part Deux

By Mikela Dennison, Senior Account Exec at The Clarity Business Earlier in the year, we did a post on the so-called death of the press release - which has traditionally been a mainstay of communications and the interaction with media. In recent weeks (and months, and years) there has been renewed debate about the usefulness of the release, with some pundits saying it's had its day. Coca Cola: News release-free by 2015 The head of digital communications and social media for Coca Cola, Ashley ...

The changing face of a political scandal

By Mikela Dennison, Senior Account Executive. If you've been paying any attention to the media this week, you will be well aware of the extra-marital affair between Auckland Mayor Len Brown and local politician Bevan Chuang which has come to light after the latter signed an affidavit and went public with the details of the two year relationship. It's certainly not the aim of this post to unpick the moral elements of the scandal - that's already been done enough elsewhere and will continue to...

Is the media release dead?

By George Hulbert, Director of The Clarity Business: Is the media release dead? Not yet, according to this PR practitioner - and for four reasons at least: 1. It is good discipline to think through the key elements of a media story and what media need through the lens of a press release. Hanging links and online content off your release can add great value to what you issue, but I find that to get to the heart of thestory you are trying to construct it is hard to beat the structure of a media ...

Use your knowledge to boost your PR success

By George Hulbert, Director of The Clarity Business How many times have you pitched story ideas to journalists only to be told: "That's just too commercial, sorry." Your new product or service – so exciting to you – is just not grabbing the news interest you thought it should. So, how might you try a different approach? In my view, what companies KNOW is almost always more interesting to journalists than what you have achieved or are selling. The sort of knowledge that we know is of use ...

5 lessons about effective message that I have learned from being a dad

By George Hulbert, Director of The Clarity Business - and father of three. Many people leave their 'home intelligence' behind when they set off for work in the morning. But I often find it useful to think about some of the messages that have worked on the toughest audience in the world: my children. I'm not in any way setting myself up here as a parenting expert, but as the father of three children of 7 and under, every day brings a new challenge in trying to get the little monkeys to do what...

Top tips for nailing your next media interview

By Mikela Dennison, Senior Account Executive @ The Clarity Business In the past two weeks, we've worked with several of our clients who were looking to engage with the media and achieve coverage to get their message across to the right audience. Our clients' stories and messages were covered across television, radio, print and online, representing the range of platforms that can be used to communicate a message and connect with your audience. Whether you are a media novice or you are a seas...