CHAT Ranks PRMR Inc Number 1 For PR Companies in the Caribbean Based on Qualifications

⭐ 1. PRMR Inc. (Barbados)

Most professionally qualified PR leadership in the Caribbean (PRSA + IABC). Strong regional practice, excellent strategic credibility.  PRMR Inc., the Barbados-based public relations agency known for its strategic communications excellence.  

Founded in 2007, PRMR Inc. is led by Dr. Pamala Proverbs, APR, ABC — the most professionally accredited PR practitioner in the Caribbean. She holds the globally respected Accredited Public Relations (APR) designation from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) credential from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). No other PR consultancy in the region features leadership with this combination of international credentials.

Perceptions of Social Media and Social Media Uses

I am a firm believer in the concept “perception is reality.”  After all, it is the business that I am in, managing public perceptions.  This concept has even been adopted as PRMR Inc.'s slogan"Managing Perception. Promoting Reality."  

While browsing the Internet some years ago I found the attached image, which is a great example of how one's point of view determines reality. I looked at the screen at all angles and could see depending on my point of view, three or four columns (Image source unknown).

When PRMR Inc. started its Pinterest account (http://pinterest.com/prmrinc ) this slogan took new meaning as one of our picture boards was named “Perception Is Realty”. It depicts all the items in pictures that we created or borrowed from others that fall within this theme.  Our perception at the time was that Pinterest was about to be as big as Facebook. Do you know what is Pinterest? Before Instagram came along it was the best thing since slice bread for posting pictures to communicate a message. Now my perception is that it has lost ground and is losing its relevance.

Do you see your granny on Facebook?  Yes, the age demographic of Facebook has changed dramatically over the years.  The perception, that it was just for teenagers and young adults, has changed, and it is now the social media platform for more experienced adults.   Companies now see Facebook as an integral part of their communications strategy, a far cry from the days when it was scoffed upon as not being "corporate".

You can find a job on LinkedIn, and it is for business people.  That is the perception.  I have been on LinkedIn for a few years now and have not had any job offers. While some job opportunities are posted on LinkedIn, I am not sold on it value in this area. My perception is that it is a glorified “Facebook Business”.

Twitter is good for getting news out fast.  Without a website though to give you the full story Twitter leaves more questions than answers.  Twitter can also be a nightmare when creating stand-alone messages.  Who speak in 140 characters or less?  

There is a widely held perception where social media is concerned that if you are not on social media you will be left behind.  This is the perception that matters most.  You have to be on social media if you want your stakeholders to perceive you as a contemporary, responsive, community oriented company.  So get cracking!

Can A Politician Be Over Exposed

As a little girl I remember hearing a family story were my brother as a very young child would repeat the slogan "Hopping and Lowe, 3 and 4 ". It was a Democratic Labour Party Slogan back in the '60 for the St. George Candidates Air Hopping and Somebody Lowe (wasn't even born this is a second hand story butI am sure you get the drift). My mom is a die hard D. She does not hide this fact even when the Ds were in the doldrums she would be tooting her loyalty.

It was to my astonishment then that I heard her one night watching the news say over and over Esther Byer Suckoo is a like a lamp lighter. Esther Byer Suckoo is like a lamp lighter. Not being around in the lamp lighter days I had not a clue what the old lady meant so I said to her Mom what ever do you mean? She replied that her mother use to says the only person who is everywhere is the lamp lighter.

Beep! Beeeep! Flashs lights! Flash Lights! - clearly when ordinary persons are commenting on your media exposure you are definitely over exposed. Byer-Suckoo who started her ministerial term as the media darling is certainly starting to fall out of favour. Our local/international propaganda blog also just placed a condom on her head over the prison issue. This is sure to get Barbados' Internet class tongue wagging.

My free advice to the lady and all politicians is that you have to temper your exposure to the media. You must be seen to be doing serious business not at every frivolous dog fight. When you step into the lime light people should pay attention. You devalue yourself through over exposure. Media appearances should be planned to meet a set objective. Use the media rather than be used by the media.

Corporate Social Responsibility initiative in the Caribbean - The Environment

Holistic public relations practices goes beyond people.  You also have to take the planet into consideration.   In the Caribbean we most times neglect our environment but being environmentally conscious is also good for business.  

Do you know what the above symbols mean?  How do we dispose of waste in Barbados, Antigua or Guyana?  How much electricity does St. Kitts and Nevis or St. Vincent and the Grenadines use?  Is there a more efficient alternative?  Are our vehicles roadworthy, or are our trucks smoking so much they could be on the verge of lung cancer?  In Trinidad and Tobago their are environmental police officers but how many other Caribbean countries have this?  How many trees do we cut down on a daily basis – could you use a little less paper?  Do you use harmful pesticides?  These are the kinds of questions we need to ask ourselves if we are to truly take a holistic approach to our Corporate Social Responsibility initiative in the Caribbean. It’s not just a ‘one-way street’.

In a Pew Research Institute survey on American Values, 67% of respondents said that you should pay more to protect the environment, and 90% agreed that there should be stricter laws and regulations to protect the environment.  And, guess who the laws and regulations will ultimately be for? Companies, of course!  

So, why wait to be mandated to do the right thing? The consumer has spoken.  Rack up those brownie points and be viewed as a good corporate citizen by incorporating sustainable environmental practices into your business strategy.  Go the entire distance with your Corporate Social Responsibility efforts and be rewarded with long-term customer and employee loyalty. 

New LinkedIn Publisher

I became a publisher on LinkedIn in June.  It is fantastic to have this platform to add to my other blogs to share my thoughts on issues in the profession with other professionals.

Actually it has given me new impetus to write because I had fallen off giving away to my studies and daily paying activities, leaving my beloved hobby behind.  

Yes, some use this forum to sell themselves, this however is secondary to the real joy I get from writing and to seeing my work published.  I was reading a blog by @Timothy_Hughes today entitled "I Love Blogging"  and I agreed with him wholeheartedly and this inspired me to tell all my friends and well-wishers about my new blog on LinkedIn.

Click to to see my newest blog on China's "new" communications Strategy.  

Be Picture Ready For Your Next Photo Op

As public relations professionals, you come to dread the cliché “grip and grin” photo opportunity which clients love it. And why shouldn’t they?

After all, you may be submitting about 10 different releases about corporate giving a week to the media but it might be the client’s/company’s only opportunity for the entire year to demonstrate publicly that they contribute to the community and are, in fact, a good corporate citizen.

Usually, when these photo opportunities occur in the office setting the company representative is appropriately dressed because they are already in their business attire. However, when the setting is outside the office, the dress may be less than appropriate. Here are a few tips to ensure picture readiness. READ MORE

As public relations professionals, you come to dread the cliché “grip and grin” photo opportunity which clients love. And why shouldn’t they?
After all, you may be submitting about 10 different releases about corporate giving a week to the media but it might be the client’s/company’s only opportunity for the entire year to demonstrate publicly that they contribute to the community and are, in fact, a good corporate citizen.
Usually, when these photo opportunities occur in the office setting the company representative is appropriately dressed because they are already in their business attire. However, when the setting is outside the office, the dress may be less than appropriate. Here are a few tips to ensure picture readiness.
- See more at: http://www.prmrinc.net/be-picture-ready-for-your-next-photo-op/#sthash.Cr4JlDR3.dpuf

As public relations professionals, you come to dread the cliché “grip and grin” photo opportunity which clients love. And why shouldn’t they?
After all, you may be submitting about 10 different releases about corporate giving a week to the media but it might be the client’s/company’s only opportunity for the entire year to demonstrate publicly that they contribute to the community and are, in fact, a good corporate citizen.
Usually, when these photo opportunities occur in the office setting the company representative is appropriately dressed because they are already in their business attire. However, when the setting is outside the office, the dress may be less than appropriate. Here are a few tips to ensure picture readiness.
- See more at: http://www.prmrinc.net/be-picture-ready-for-your-next-photo-op/#sthash.Cr4JlDR3.dpuf

Communicating In A Recession

It’s no secret. The continuing unfavourable economic environment and increasing scarcity of financial resources have combined to make the attainment of corporate goals even harder.

In tough times like these, companies should be prudent in reaching out regularly to their stakeholders, and especially to their employees, with frank, open discussions on the state of their finances and their ability to stay afloat given the vast uncertainties that abound.  Click to Read More

Reflections – Southern Region Mini Conference in Barbados

IABC Barbados created another piece of history on Friday Sept. 27 when it hosted one of the mini conferences in the Southern Region Conference series.  Due to conflicting commitments at PRMR Inc.  I was only able to take in just a half of this historic event, but by the time I arrived the tone of the event had already been set.

From my enquiries I discovered that Andre Bello, one of the morning presenters had swept away the audience of predominately females, he could have done this on appearance alone but having seen the gentlemen present a while back at another IABC Barbados event, I knew it was not just his charm that had everyone in awe.  Only today I was reading a blog by Drake Baer on Fast Company which explored Sir Richard Branson’s view on hiring, it quoted him as saying that the most crucial part of a hire is the personality. “Most skills can be learned,” he says, “but it is difficult to train people on their personality.”  Bello is living proof that Branson practices what he preaches. Click to Read More

Business Ethics: Where Do You Draw the Line?

As an independent contractor, my company, PRMR Inc., has the opportunity to work in a variety of industries with diverse groups of clients, including for-profit, not-for-profit, entrepreneurial, regional and international businesses.

In carrying out our business, we are often faced with ethical decisions that may clash with the demands of clients or affect the services that we are expected to deliver. For example, we may be building a website for a client who expects us to use images that have been taken from another site without that site’s permission. After telling the client that we are not willing to do so and explaining why, we are told that other companies that they have worked with had no problem with it. The client implies that in acting ethically, we are inept and unresourceful.  Read More

Of Publics, Perception and Reality Cont'd

Discussion 3.

Having dealt with the perception of Sir Roy based on his controversial May Day 2012 comments and historical vantage points in my last blog I now continue this topic with the toughie, which is the public’s perception of Prime Minister Freundel Stuart.  I have found Prime Minister Stuart to be one Barbados’ most honest and thoughtful Prime Ministers.  The public however perceives his biggest strengths as his biggest weaknesses.  For instance persons were horrified (including me) when he called Leroy Parris his friend (the former Chairman of Clico Holdings Barbados and certainly the most unpopular person on the island because of the CLICO collapse and the many policies and pensions left in jeopardy including one belonging to yours truly). READ MORE

PR for Public Relations

In Barbados, in secondary school we are required to select subjects early; know and stick to a particular career path, all at the tender age of 13 or 14 despite having no world experience and certainly as the old people would say ‘never even seen a star pitch.’ For students like I was, who were unsure what they wanted to do but felt uncompelled to follow a traditional career as a lawyer, doctor or accountant; this decision probably did not come until late.  Read More

Press Release or Advertising? When Did we Cross the Line?

There was a time when a press release was a press release, and advertising was advertising.  The difference was clear.

In media school we were taught that an ad was ‘paid for’ content which comes in the exact form you created or dictated, while a press release was published at the discretion of an editor, who had license to do whatever he or she willed with it. This is all well and good.  However, how do you explain to the upcoming students the differences in our craft when seasoned professionals pay scant respect to the discipline? READ MORE

Public Relations Defined

The Public Relations Society of America has launched a project to have its members and others submit definitions for Public Relations.  I read a number of stories surrounding this project and felt as if all of them were mine.  Especially Rosanne Fiske’s story on your family not understanding what you do.  When I worked at the Nation Newspaper as it Corporate Communications Manager, my mother was fine with that because she understood the concept of working for a reputable organization no matter the job.  When I set up my own PR Agency  she was however very worried for me because she could not fathom how I would make money and what service I was truly offering.
The PRSA 1982 National Assembly formally adopted a definition of public relations, which remains widely accepted and used today: “Public relations helps an organization and its publics 
adapt mutually to each other.”READ MORE

PRSA Chair Comments on Growing Stature of Female Executives in PR in The Financial Times

PRSA Chair Comments on Growing Stature of Female Executives in PR in The Financial Times

Guest Post: Four Digital Skills PR Pros Should Have - PRNewser

Guest Post: Four Digital Skills PR Pros Should Have - PRNewser

Green Public Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility The Way to Go

Over the past decade, businesses around the world have been focusing on creating products and services, which have very little impact on the environment.

Several international companies such as S. C. Johnson, TESCO and Honda have implemented environmental management systems, which go beyond what the law requires to operate in an environmentally responsible way.

Many businesses recognise that being environmentally responsible can translate into sales.  Consumers understand more than ever the importance of environmental conservation.  Even more important is that with this increased knowledge; consumers are choosing to boycott businesses that have not made the decision to go ‘green.’

This has caused several businesses to utilise greening as simply a PR tool to attract consumers and increase sales. However, several international certifications exist which can assist customers in deciphering between these ‘green washed’ businesses and those businesses which have invested in ensuring they reduce their impact on the environment.

Environmental certification programs are useful for identifying environmentally preferred goods and services. They are typically run by third party organizations that establish environmental standards for goods and services and then certify supplier offerings against them. These certifications include (among others) GreenSeal, EcoLogo, ISO standards of certification and Green Globe.
Read More 

PR In the Headlines

Not quite a sitting duck, but well, these are larger fish

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rupert-murdoch-calls-pr-guru-212334  The Rupert Murdock saga continues and PR gets the headline.  Perception is reality and from this Hollywood Reporter headline the appearance to me is that Steven Rubenstein will be doing some dirty work. Do you get that?  The PR professional sharing the same prominence as the lawyer.  At least we are getting some attention and prominence if for the wrong reason.  A school of thought says all publicity is good.  Maybe Rubenstein will have the Johnnie Cochran effect and come up with his own cool slogan. "if the glove don't fit..."

PR Practioners Don't Think Up Stories: My Response to Mail Online Story

I read the Mail Online story “Insider reveals: PR men would think up a story and Rebekah’s Sun and News of the World would run it word for word. Some were complete fiction” (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2013046/Rebekah-Brooks-Sun-News-World-run-fictional-stories-insider-claims.html) and was pretty much disgusted as a former journalism student and more so as a seasoned PR practitioner.

Clearly the story was fired with the passion of a disgruntled employee but despite this fact I took issue with the salacious depiction of the field of public relations.  I take issue with the suggestion that we in the profession ‘think up’ stories.  Yes writing is a big part of what we do, but to say we sit and dream up stories for clients shows a total disregard and lack of respect for the profession.  Professional Code of Ethics governs the way the majority of professionals work on a daily basis.  Both PRSA (http://www.prsa.org/aboutprsa/ethics/) and IABC (http://www.iabc.com/about/code.htm) have these codes prominent on their websites. READ FULL STORY

Disengaged employees costing companies dearly

Many companies today are operating at one-third of their people potential because the remaining two-thirds of their employees are not engaged, says an internationally respected specialist in employee engagement and internal communication.

And according to Ken Milloy, President of Ken Milloy Management Consulting Inc. those disengaged employees are costing their companies dearly through lower productivity and profits and by chasing away potentially loyal customers.

“The collective capability of a company’s workforce is a source of competitive advantage – a unique characteristic of the business that cannot be copied,” he told human resources and corporate communications professionals at a recent workshop hosted by the International Association of Business Communicators, Barbados Chapter. “But that competitive advantage cannot be tapped unless employees are truly engaged.”

Milloy said engaged employees are those who feel a “heightened emotional connection” towards the organisation that influences them to exert greater discretionary effort.

“Discretionary effort is that extra effort that employees can give or withhold – it’s their choice,” he explained.

The Vancouver-based management consultant said engaged employees can be recognized by the passion that drives them to build and innovate and to find new and more effective ways to accomplish their roles.

“They will take less than half as many sick days off as the average employee, and they are 87% less likely to leave the company,” he added.

Milloy identified several “core drivers” of employee engagement, including how well managers “walk the talk”, how well employees understand how their work contributes to the company’s performance, and whether the company makes an effort to develop its employees’ skills.

But the most important of all, he stressed, is the nature of the relationship between employees and their managers and supervisors.

“If employees don’t have a strong relationship with managers who set clear expectations, knows them, trusts them and invests in them, they are less likely to perform or stay,” he said.

(An IABC Barbados Release)

Be Remarkable!

I copied this from Judette's Facebook. Why? - because only last weekend someone asked me about putting merchandise from my company PRMR Inc. in a bag of give-a-ways for a Jazz show.

Not being prepared I insisted that there was nothing I had suitable to project my brand image at the show, and here it is I stumbled on Judette's Facebook post and she says it succinctly for me. Have a read.


By Judette Coward-Puglisi

I swear most marketers have no clue whatsoever what to do. So we do unoriginal things, or stall, or fail to deliver on our brand's promise.

Take this weekend for instance, master designer Claudia Pegus launched her resort collection," Breeze" at the picturesque Crews Inn. Pegus' line was stunning, what was in the goodie bag was not.

I imagine that the designer's team asked the show's sponsors and corporate partners for stuff that could be placed into the bag and guess what they all did? Each (with the exception of one) gave the exact same thing: flyers, brochures, newsletter, all good stuff, sure, but nothing bold or remarkable.

The exception here was the Jamaican milliner whose stuffer included a stunning red and black pin that could be worn on a hat or dress. It was something tangible. Something that the fashion savvy crowd could use. It was cleverly branded.

Marketers need to give deeper thought to how they position their products in the context of each situation instead of rolling out the same things, the same collateral in the same way.

Truly brilliant positioning is hard to quantify or predict. Same is true with marketing.