I was watching the breakfast news and the story concerning a fire on Dale Street in Manchester.

I tried from the pictures to identify the buildings affected but it was hard to determine the exact location.

I had been talking to Nick Towle at the South Manchester Reporter on Friday about one of my clients Nick Rhind of CTI, a Manchester based software company. I was speaking to him again on Monday morning trying to sell in Nick and CTI, some luck but not everything I wanted.

About half an hour later the mobile went, “Hi it’s Nick.” Strange I thought you sound different, it took a few seconds to click. The next thing Nick of CTI told me that his offices were in one of the buildings on fire. Plans for Monday had changed.

Nick had taken precautions and backed up his office IT systems at his home: there is a dedicated broadband and a back-up server and laptops aplenty. The disaster plan came into play and Nick estimates that by Wednesday CTI will be running at 100%.

In addition to this good news Nick has already had an offer of an office from a client based in the Northern Quarter. Next week CTI could be running a few doors down from the burnt out buildings.

Unfortunately, of businesses that have suffered a fire 80% are badly affected and it happens to over 3,000 enterprises each year, according to the 2003 Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

So how is the PR playing out?

The key thing is to let everyone know that CTI Support Network Limited is still able to supply the service to the same standards as before. Most clients were phoning in to check the situation and Nick was on the mobile to reassure them. I will ask Nick to check if there is any client that has not been in contact - this will include leads and past clients - to make sure anyone planning to ask for a quote does not believe that CTI will be unavailable or distracted. It will also help re-engage with potential clients.

The local media has been contacted and Nick has been interviewed at length by the South Manchester Reporter and the Manchester Evening News on Monday.

To reinforce the above messages a press release will go out today to the broadcast media and will be followed by the business magazines.

The message about backing up key data as a priority action will also feature. Nick stresses that this is crucial and this episode demonstrates that Nick and CTI has put his words into action and have displayed the level of competency and responsibility that his clients expect.

I suppose we now have some case study to approach magazines that have forthcoming features on disaster recovery and the importance of back-up plans!

There looks as though there will be no PR crisis whatsoever.

If this is being read by a journalist and you wish to interview Nick please call me on 07957611834 and I will be happy to set-up an interview.

PR Blogger has written an informative piece about improving the search engine optimisation for your blog, a subject the author feels is much overlooked.

Much of the advice is straight forward such as writing unique content, other pieces of advice are easy to implement, much underused and do not even occur to seasoned bloggers. One example is making hyperlinks relevant; this includes the anchor text that should be descriptive and relevant rather than using the bland copy that does nothing to being picked up by search engines.

There was some tuts of disgust about Brazen PR being found out about planting a story that did not entirely check out, one which led to a falling out with the Manchester Evening News.

Others stated that business to consumer PR agencies apparently stretching the truth is part of the job.

Well, the episode pales when compared to a story coming from Zhengzhou in China - a cat giving birth to kittens and a puppy.

There has been some controversy as there is some debate over whether the “kitten” is a “dog faced kitten” or really is a cat. It all sounds like that Blackadder episode when they thanked the Lord because he had given the king a boy “without a pinkle” until it was pointed out that a boy without a pinkle is a girl.

Before we mock, 2000 wealthy Japanese women have been fooled into buying lambs disguised as poodles has been recently reported in The Guardian and Metro amongst others.

It appears that the owners of the cat and the local Zhengzhou media are enjoying the benefits of the interest; why let reality spoil anything?

The sad news that north Manchester business magazine Business Connections had run its last issue means that the number of Manchester focussed business magazines and supplements is becoming depressingly small.

I fear that the trend is continuing. Talking Business North Manchester, which covered Bolton through to Bury, seems to have disappeared. The phone comes up with number not assigned and the website is down and has been for a number of weeks.

Of course new portals, such as How Do might fill the gap, but it is still disappointing news, if confirmed.

If anyone has any more information please let me know.

Manchester PR agency Brazen has apparently incurred the wrath of the Manchester Evening News by issuing a PR release for a publicity stunt that had a fib.

Brazen, according to creative industries portal How Do, set-up a PR stunt that involved a guy filling a bath full of melted chocolate for his girlfriend. The diary editor of the MEN recognised that “the couple” were not a real life item: one was a Brazen exec and the other the boyfriend of a Brazen director.

I asked an editor recently if a new client I was taking on should publish a story about a major account win they won within 14 days of being formed. It was a great story but I pointed out they were formed a few months ago and I couldn’t say they had just won it. His advice was do not to get caught if you do tell a fib. He has a long memory and I suspect other journalists do as well. I decided that opportunity was not viable and not worth the risk however small.

Brazen probably just see this as being creative and the amount of coverage they have had creating such scenarios is worth it all things considered.

I cannot help thinking that this debacle might have been staged by Brazen to get some publicity, create a little viral marketing (debate) and to show that they have some cunning and initiative.

By the end of this entry I really beginning to wonder what the truth of this is and at the same time I am not sure if I care anymore as I suspect many readers will.

PR Week has published its 2007 survey on PR agencies, based on the highest fee income earners.

(Unfortunately PR Week has a subscriber only website so I cannot link through).

London PR agencies dominate as you would expect. North West PR agencies are represented although whether they are well-represented is hard to say. A number of agencies including Mason Williams and Paver Smith declined to supply fee income figures and this must apply to agencies throughout the country. Good on you.

Now, any survey in the PR industry is going to be controversial and the usual round of useful insights and denunciations will follow.

There is no survey that really satisfies the agencies or helps clients choose their supplier, that has to be based on personal rapport, enthusiasm, skill, experience and understanding of the clients’ business and aims.

We have to say fee income does not necessarily mean better service. Smaller agencies and freelancers can offer very high levels of service and can often be a better option than larger outfits. Indeed, many smaller clients cannot afford big agency fees or often there is not the “fit” with a bigger supplier.

I came across some interesting comments on the 2006 PR Week survey that claim all is not as rosy in the PR garden as the 2007 income based surveys suggest:

• 44% of PR agencies just break even.
• Agencies with the healthiest net worth just have £100,000 i.e. in the bank and so a loss of a few clients could be catastrophic
• Fee income risers still have poor pre-tax margins

The author of the comments Andrew B Smith states that a league table based on net worth / profitability would be much more useful, but who is going to supply those figures?

How Do, the North West creative media portal, has reported that the Manchester Evening News will be making more redundancies. Numbers and departments have not been named.

A sad day for the media once again after the redundancies at the newspaper in 2006 and the demise of the NW Enquirer.

The debate about whether a PR professional needs to have a PR or indeed any degree has resurfaced recently.

The latest exchange of views on the issue was triggered by a letter from an irate PR student, to PR Week, expounding the view that PR graduates should have priority over other graduates.

I think another problem and a more pressing one, as highlighted by The Times, is that many PRs that have gone straight from university to an agency or in-house have a narrow range of experience.

This is where the real problem must lie. Many in the profession have realised this Achillies heel and this is leading to an uptake of business courses, including MBAs.

This can only be good for the PR, the client and the industry.

I wanted to move on from the NUJ debacle over the boycott of Israeli products. Enough has been said. You would have thought that the NUJ might want to put other issues to the fore before the motion inevitably comes up at the next annual delegates meeting.

Jeremy Dear, the general secretary of the NUJ, has been quoted in an e-mail as saying the following:

“The call for the boycott in part related it to the kidnap of Alan Johnston. The Palestinian journalists union has given huge support to the campaign for his release - holding demonstrations and strikes against the Palestinian authority to demand more action from them. We work closely with the Palestinian union through the International Federation of Journalists and the boycott call was a gesture of support for the Palestinian people - notably those suffering in the siege of Gaza, the community Alan Johnston has been so keen to help through his reporting.”

I cannot see the link myself. A Palestinian group kidnaps a BBC reporter, local Palestinian journalists protest and the NUJ to show how much they are concerned boycotts Israel!

Dear also claims that,

“The boycott call has nothing to do with reporting. The NUJ is not telling members how to report Israel.”

Well, if you boycott a country’s products surely you are making a political statement and directing your members.

When I was growing up the unions were broken, vilified by sections of the media and we have all had less job security since as a result. Why create this PR own goal? Why make yourselves a target? This is the time when we need the NUJ fighting for its members.

Surveys are an easy option to attain media coverage. A little too easy and the abundance of PRs using surveys is debasing this particular currency.

I came across Diana Cooke’s comments in the Manchester Evening News today (page that reflect the lack of originality of this approach.

Diana writes, “Women like Birmingham City boss Karen Brady have the WOW factor, according to another futile survey,” before rubbishing its findings. It says a lot when a journalist lets their disdain out.

Surely PRs have got to be a little more ingenuous from time to time. Unless a survey really has something to say it will merit little more than a small paragraph, perhaps a little incredulity and a glance if PRs continue to flood the market.