Monkey business

I wasn’t expecting to learn about chimps at the last World Class Development Programme squad session I went to.  Speak to riders to glean PR opportunities and watch beautiful horses – yes, but not discuss primates.

And yet when I returned to the office the next day I was energised by what I’d learnt and quickly shared my chimp anecdotes with the rest of the team.  They thought I’d gone ape...

The discussion of chimps came up during the World Class sports psychiatry session, where athlete case studies including Ronnie O’Sullivan, Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton were used to discuss the theory of Steve Peter’s Chimp Paradox.  That is that the brain has a rational ‘human’ part and an emotional rash ‘chimp’ part (plus another part which stores all our information and experiences).

Managing the chimp, it appears, is key to success.  The riders discussed how their unruly chimps could impact on their competition results, with mine in particular seeming to run riot ahead of the dressage phase – to the extent that he seems to spur my horse’s chimp into devastating action  too (I’m not quite sure why I’ve referred to my chimp as a male...)

Sir Martin Sorrell has also taken note of Peter’s theory claiming that people in advertising could benefit from disengaging the emotional side of their brain and not being chimps.  But I’m not sure that PR professionals would benefit from quite such dramatic action.

Yes, while we don’t want our chimp to run riot to the detriment of our thought processes, presentations, internal communications or crisis handling (and ultimately the success of our businesses), we do still need to retain that emotive insight, which our chimps provide, as it’s so important in our communications industry.

Understanding our clients, target audiences and competitors requires humanity and emotional intelligence – and we need our chimps, albeit carefully under control, to do this.

Samantha Kandiyali
Director

11 years in power; one tremendous divide in opinion

It seems most appropriate to use that somewhat overused and infamous brand strapline to sum up the nation’s divided opinion of the late Margaret Thatcher – ‘you either love it or you hate it’. Not a fan of using such a strong word as hate, but her death has certainly conjured up reactions resembling the uproar she caused during her time in power.

I should really state at this point my first hand experience of Mrs Thatcher is hugely limited, having been born in the late 80s (I was a bambino of the John Major era). Therefore my musings are simply a view of the nation’s reaction. It’s great to see younger generations discuss, engage and debate politics, but rioting, jumping on the download bandwagon to ensure a certain song  commemorates her passing and publishing poorly formed tweets are pretty despicable acts and certainly something this twenty (something) year-old cringes at.

Throughout history there have been notoriously loved and hated public figures...Richard III, Robin Hood, Jeremy Clarkson, (Damien Hurst, Bansky, Tracey Emin, Germaine Greer, Jade Goody, Russell Brand, list could continue). The two things that make me sit on the fence about Margaret Thatcher, are firstly, she was a woman, our first lady Prime Minister; although I’m pretty sure she wasn’t a bra burning women’s libber, there is a great deal of respect to be had for someone who achieved such a historic landmark in a time when “equality in the work place” was far from common practice. Secondly, this iron lady served and stood as Britain’s PM for an impressive 11 years, winning three general elections. Talk about stating the obvious here, but to win a general election you have to be voted for.

You don’t receive the title the ‘Iron Lady’ for being a pussy cat, from my understanding Lady Thatcher knew what she wanted and indeed how she was going to get it, regardless of who may have been standing in her path, which is where the divide appears - those who fell fowl to the changes she implemented and those who believed the changes were for the greater good of the country. Perspective and experience is everything.

There will undoubtedly be conflicting views and opinions on any public figure that is charged with representing the interests of all of us, despite the way we vote. Tough choices will bring hardships, often to those least equipped to deal with it. But what is central at times when these tough decisions have to be made, is the buy in of trust. Trusting an individual in power - much like the reputation of a business – can take years to gain and build upon. However, all that hard work can come crumbling down in a split second – especially in today’s world, thanks to our ever evolving social media habits.

Like her or loath her, Margaret Thatcher left a legacy that changed Britain forever.

Alex Underwood

Account Executive

A week in the life of a Target PR intern

No matter what you’re taught at university in terms of theory, practice and knowledge, I believe you don’t really start learning until you’re in a working environment and gaining hands-on experience - something I have always been eager to do. When I was offered the chance to work with Target, it was something I was very much looking forward to.

Now, coming to the end of my work experience placement with Target, I reflect on my week.

Arriving on Tuesday, I was filled with pre-placement nerves. Still in my first year studying Public Relations and Communications at Leeds Metropolitan University, I really didn’t know what to expect. But, there was no reason for me to have been worried. From the moment I arrived I was made to feel very welcome. After meeting everybody and having a tour of the office, it was straight into work.

Working on behalf of a number of clients including Specsavers, Cotswold Outdoor and ADEY, my week has consisted of a variety of tasks. These included checking newspapers for relevant articles, drafting press releases, conducting research, and helping to create a newsletter. I also sat in a discussion for a campaign which I found very interesting as I was able to see the thought process and different ideas bounce off one another in the office.

Throughout the week, I have been able to gain insight into the PR industry and how a PR agency operates. I feel that the team at Target has given me valuable experience and feedback which I will use constructively to help me both within my studies and in the future.

After an enjoyable week, I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity and I would love to come back to such a lovely agency.

A huge thank you to everyone at Target!

Jess Collier
PR student