Property PR Hub

Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation – an out of date concept or a useful tool?

In 1969 the US communications academic Sherry Arnstein identified the terminology of consultation in her Ladder of Participation.  In some respects, Arnstein’s theory is a useful resource by which community involvement can be considered today. Arnstein’s Ladder was intended to reflect the relationship between community and government, identifying poorly-led participation as ‘manipulation’ on the bottom ...
Property PR Hub

The rise in single issue and direct action groups

Traditional forms of civic involvement have declined during the twenty-first century:  trades union membership has almost halved since the late 1970s and now comprises less than a quarter of the workforce.  Yet membership of special interest groups has increased substantially.  Nearly 4.5 million people, or one in 10 UK adults, is now a member or ...
Property PR Hub

Selling a service

In the property industry we are used to promoting bricks and mortar. This has the benefit of a geographical location and ‘milestones’ such as planning consent, public consultation events, ‘turf cutting’, and ‘topping out’. When promoting the attributes of a property consultancy – that is, the ability to provide property advice – we are rarely ...
Property PR Hub

How will property PR continue to change?

The most significant change in PR so far in the 21st century is undoubtedly the online revolution.  As Emma Drake, founder of Henbe said so eloquently in the conclusion to Promoting Property:  insight, experience and best practice, ‘The use of technology has enabled us to understand our publics better, to understand how they think and ...
Property PR Hub

The internet and local communities: the hyperlocal website

The rise of the ‘hyperlocal’ website is of critical importance to the planner, developer and local authority.  Not only do hyperlocal websites play an extremely constructive role in promoting and debating local issues, they have considerable campaigning potential and such warrant an understanding by the profession. The term ‘hyperlocal’, which originates from the US, describes ...
Property PR Hub

Communicating Construction: submitted to Routledge for publication in early spring 2021

Communicating Construction: insight, experience and best practice is a collection of essays on PR in construction, each covering a specific aspect of the construction sector and sits alongside Promoting Property: insight, experience and best practice as a guide to the sector, written by those who know it best. It fills a much-needed knowledge gap and has been a real pleasure to edit.
Property PR Hub

The campaigning power of the internet

Protesting against the status quo, lobbying politicians, campaigning against organisations, cause-related fundraising and political campaigning have flourished in line with the accessibility of internet communications.  Whether to inform, to mobilize or to bring about direct action, the abundance of communication tactics now available enables anyone to run a powerful online campaign.  From local campaigns, such ...
Property PR Hub

Property consultancies and the online revolution

A centuries’ old name is not enough to ensure success in centuries to come; neither is a decades’ old approach. I interviewed several PR directors of property consultancies for my book Promoting Property:  insight, experience and best practice and more than one of them commented that today’s environment is one of ‘adapt or die’: property ...
Property PR Hub

Change in property communications

My recent blogs have described both the external and internal forces shaping the property sector, and therefore the role of property PR.  I now go on to consider the way in which PR itself is changing the way in which we work. As very chapter of my book Promoting Property:  insight, experience and best practice, ...
Property PR Hub

The evolving role of the property PR practitioner

Today’s PR consultants are brand ambassadors, social media experts, data analysts, content marketers, crisis managers, boardroom advisers and trend spotters in addition to the tasks associated with their traditional role and there is undoubtedly greater integration between PR, digital and marketing functions. Taking into account the wide range of responsibilities, communications tools and tactics that ...