When It Hits the Fan

In an increasingly hi-tech world, it's almost heartening to see a scandal as old as the hills making headlines around the world. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel discuss the spectacular fallout from the Nvidia affair crisis. CEO Jensen Huang - just about the most important man in AI - has admitted being unfaithful to his wife, with a woman accused of being a Chinese spy. His response ha...

It's not easy putting a positive spin on having more than six billion dollars stolen from your company in roughly 20 minutes. And so we turn to what's being called the biggest heist in history - the hack of cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel look at how the people at the very top of the company handled the crisis - in real time. This was a reputational ba...

There are some crises that flare up and then disappear almost instantly. And then there are those that rumble on and on and on. Welcome to Manchester City's world. It is now a month since the devastating verdict against the club - when it was found guilty of breaking Premier League financial rules and using 'sham' contracts to disguise secret funding of more than £800m. The club continues to deny...

When you live life in the fast lane and the wheels come off, the results can be spectacularly bad. Just ask Christian Horner. He was sacked as boss of F1's Red Bull amid claims of sexual harassment (of which he was cleared by internal investigations) and a slump in the team's form. This week David Yelland and Lauren Beeching discuss his concerted campaign to drag himself out of the PR pits. Rather...

Group chats aren't known for holding back. Take a scroll through your own neighbourhood chat and the word 'Evri' probably features quite highly. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel look at the reputational problem facing the delivery giant. In terms of business, it's a great success story but it has a huge word-of-mouth issue, with people needing little encouragement to vent their fury. No...

The stakes could not be higher. To the winner, global supremacy. To the loser, irreversible decline. That is how the battle for building more data centres is being fought by Amazon. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel look at how the company is fighting back against the "misinformation and outright lies" that surround data centres. The public has apparently got them all wrong. But just how...

"That's it, I'm leaving." After which, there is often the sound of a door slamming. But in this case, it's more likely to be the sound of a private jet revving its engines. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel look at why some of the UK's richest people seem so keen to quit the UK. Recent stories includes claims that the country is not just on the slide - but has irreversibly slid. What's r...

'Never complain, never explain.' Until recently, that could've been the unofficial motto for the Royal Family. Not anymore. David Yelland and Farzana Baduel discuss whether it was wise for Buckingham Palace to issue a statement in response to bombshell claims made in Earl Spencer's new book. Advisors closest to the King must have known it would pour rocket fuel on an already incendiary story - but...

When an interviewer's first question is whether your product could kill all humans, you know it's serious. This week, David Yelland and Lauren Beeching look at how the boss of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, handled himself following insider claims that AI could indeed wipe us all out. As Amodei outlined the risks - and benefits - the vital thing to look at is the timing. With Anthropic preparingto sell...

It's a feeling, it's something you can't quite put your finger on - but you know it when you see it. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel are all about the vibes. The good ones. Whether it's at Downing Street or M&S, vibes have been one of the stories of the summer. But good vibes aren't easy to manufacture, they often need intricate planning. And they also require risk, being bold and...

If PR is all about weaving great stories, then the Bayeux Tapestry might just be the perfect example. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel celebrate the comms coup that was 1000 years in the making. The tapestry's arrival back in the UK was covered and celebrated in minute detail - with hype being generated from the most mundane details. The British Museum seems to have pulled off a public...

Whether you're a multimillionaire or the son of a King, sometimes it can still feel like everyone is out to get you. And so we turn to Nigel Farage and Prince Harry. Both are dealing with huge PR fallouts on which the dust is nowhere near settling. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel discuss why even the most powerful people claim the whole world is against them. It's certainly a tried and...

Public life would be an awful lot easier if you never had to answer questions from pesky journalists. Or would it? This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel look at Andy Burnham's decision to not take questions as he launched his vision for Britain, should he become the next Prime Minister. Pumping out your message on your own terms might sound like the PR dream - but the rapidly changing nature...

Declaring your tax isn't straightforward, as anyone's who ever filled out their own return will know. King Charles probably has someone to help with the scraps of paper and receipts - but he'll still have to deal with a huge amount of scrutiny on becoming the first monarch to reveal their tax bill. This week, David and Farzana discuss why King Charles is going public - and why it was announced alm...

The public is against you, politicians are against you and the emotional argument has been well and truly lost. Which is exactly where the likes of TikTok, Instagram and X find themselves following the Prime Minister's announcement that social media will be banned for under-16s. It's being described by some as big tech's 'tobacco moment'. This week, David and Farzana assess what these companies mi...

When you're routinely described as a crackhead and convicted felon who uses sex workers, it's fair to say your reputation can't get much worse. And so we turn to Hunter Biden. Often labelled the 'black sheep' of the Biden family and a man who's been torn apart in the media. And yet, he is now being lauded (by some) for his attempts at reputational rehabilitation - including a blistering foray on X...

When PR becomes the story, you know you're in trouble. And that's where BP finds itself right now - as the dust begins to settle after a tumultuous week for the company. David Yelland and Lauren Beeching unpick the drama - from the statement announcing the Chairman's shock sacking to the furious response from the man himself. They explain the PR mistakes made by both sides along the way - includin...

Ever felt like your boss doesn't quite hold you in the highest esteem? Pity then, workers at Standard Chartered Bank. CEO Bill Winters described some of them as 'lower value human capital' during a speech to investors. His words came at a time when the bank is getting rid of thousands of positions and replacing them with AI. David and Farzana look at what happens when you say the quiet thing out l...

Not every product launch comes complete with tear gas, police dogs and angry crowds. But those were the scenes at various cities around the world as a new Swatch went on sale. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel discuss whether the chaos that surrounded the launch was PR heaven or hell. Advisors are paid handsomely to try and create such buzz - but can too much hype be a bad thing? On the...

There is an art to resigning. Fall on your sword immediately and you might end up enhancing your reputation. Cling on for months in spite of overwhelming evidence you should quit - and the opposite can be true. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel look at whether the PR rules around resigning are changing. Has the tipping point moved in an age of fragmented media? Certainly the noise from t...

Finding the right words in a high-pressure situation is not easy - especially when the world is watching. But by common consensus, King Charles' speech to Congress was deemed pretty much pitch perfect. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel take you behind-the-scenes, into the writer's room. Who was involved in crafting the words, how did multiple people feed in and yet make it sound like a s...

There are jobs and there are jobs. And then there are jobs like being head of the FBI. So when you're in that role and get accused of excessive drinking and unexplained absences from duty, the reputational risk is huge. This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel look at how Kash Patel has handled the claims - from getting into heated verbal battles with reporters to launching a $250m defamation l...

These are busy days in the world of crisis comms. Keeping calm is vital - keeping the public calm is even more vital. David Yelland and Farzana Baduel explain what's going on behind-the-scenes everywhere - from supermarkets and airlines to energy companies - as concern rises that the war in Iran could affect supply lines. They discuss the importance of being like a meerkat - horizon scanning - for...

What happens when you cross enemy lines and join the other side? As King Charles hires a Sky Royal correspondent for a top comms job at the Palace, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel discuss what happens when journalists switch to PR. Crucially, they need to learn how to go from broadcast to mute. No more fabulously indiscreet anecdotes involving the rich and powerful over dinner - they're now your...

In the good old days, if you wanted some favourable PR for a client, you could call up a journalist and take them out for a jolly good lunch. It's not so easy when the thing you're trying to influence is a bot. So is it possible to spin the likes of ChatGPT? This week David Yelland is joined by Lauren Beeching - a crisis management expert with clients that count their followers in millions. They d...