Purple Patch Blog / Communication

Creating a buzz

Jane Sunley - Managing Director

No one who witnessed the funeral of Jade goody on TV yesterday could fail to have been moved by the sheer emotion of it all. Maybe you were one of the thousands clapping and throwing flowers along on the way as the funeral corsage made its way from Jade's original home of Bermonsey to the church in Buckhurst Hill, Essex where the service was held. It was a poignant and grand affair, that could be likened to a state funeral. People had come from all over the world to pay their respects and one woman walked 17 miles to be there. Max Clifford, Jade's publicist, said he'd been giving 50-60 interviews a day to media from as far afield as Australia and even Saudi Arabia. As one of the flower tributes, in the shape of a jar of Marmite, so openly attested - you either loved or hated Jade. Whatever your feelings, you have to admit that this was a girl who certainly created a buzz.

Continue reading Comments (1) 14 April 2009

C + M x PC2 = X-factor

Jodi Goldman - Communications manager

Finding the elusive charisma

Recently I have been coaching a singer who appears regularly on stage in front of audiences small and large (sometimes as many as 30,000 people) though lacks something. He is, quite justifiably, sure about his talent - but like a lot of people - believes that this talent (skills / experience) alone will be enough. But then he's constantly left wondering why it is that less able singers are successful at the auditions instead of him.

The thing about first impressions is, people don't have time to find out IF you have talent / skills / experience, they will have decided that before you have sung your first note. I have written about first impressions before, but now I want to hone into something that came out of my last session with this entertainer, it's the concept of charisma.

Continue reading Comments (2) 3 March 2009

What do your messages really communicate

Jessica Cain - Managing Director learnpurple Bristol

What do the messages you send out say about you?

At the beginning of 2009, mass media reporting on how tough things will become seems to have lead some organisations into a deadly trap!

Terrible mail-outs, written hastily with mistakes galore, sent to unqualified addresses who probably aren't interested, promising credit crunching discounts -Is this the category really want your business to fall into?

Times are tough and competition is everywhere. Now is not the best time to spread confusion about who you are and what you offer. Some organisations that once stood for quality of product and service are now the main culprits for bombarding clients with big, bold, spam-like emails promising the world and delivering less than they used to.

Continue reading Comments (3) 10 February 2009

iPods, iPhones and the iGeneration

By Jo Harley, Director

We were talking in the office yesterday about being students and the things we used to get up to, when a colleague mentioned she spent a lot of time on MSN and texting people. Her face was a picture when I mentioned that when I was at university we didn't have mobile phones, and she practically went in to shock when I said that I handwrote my assignments and had to visit a library to do any research.

Continue reading Comments (0) 23 December 2008

Communication Spaghetti? Or small meatballs of clarity?

By Jo Harley, Director

One thing that is a sure fire guarantee in any interview for any job in management is that the interviewer will ask the interviewee 'why should you get the job?' and the response will, at some point allude to the fact that the interviewee is a 'people person', 'loves working with people' and is a 'great communicator.' Yet communication is, in my experience at least, the aspect most organisations struggle with.

Continue reading Comments (1) 3 December 2008