The Century of Self is a must see video for any public relations students. It is a fascinating account of the early days of public relations and how large corporations and Governments used psychological techniques to push products and propaganda on the masses.
Psychologist Sigmund Freud’s theories first unearthed innate desires within the human psyche that he believed we subdue. He taught his nephew Edward Bernays the power of irrational analysis. Bernay’s used his Uncle’s theories to become a pioneer of marketing and PR in America. He discovered that if you could link products to their emotional desires and feelings then you could get people to behave irrationally. These were techniques that he implemented through anti-German propaganda during the World War 1 and which be brought into play after the war helping tobacco companies sell cigarettes to women.
Prior to Bernay’s work there was a taboo about women smoking cigarettes, which were seen as being very male. However, Bernay’s staged a suffragette march to get lots of women marchers to light ‘Torches of Freedom’ by all lighting cigarettes at the same time on the march. Bernay’s primed the press to be there and the story made the national news. This symbolic event created the image that if a women smoked it made her more powerful and independent – an image which still persists today. This demonstrated the power of being able to make people behave irrationally by appealing to their emotions, something which is still a powerful force in politics and corporate marketing techniques.
I was notified today of a story which appeared in relation to a legal client of mine, the Dublin law firm Anthony Joyce & Co, and two groups of investors whom I also represent. The story appeared on AIB’s ForEx news site after it was fed in via a feed from BusinessWorld.com. The story was written by BusinessWorld but with confusion over two different legal groups of investors and two separate actions.
Here are the corrections from the errors in the story below, which has now been taken down by AIBForEx and Business World, but may have been picked up by investors earlier.
1. Anthony Joyce is currently representing a group of investors called KRI, these are investors in the Kensington Royale Development in Sports City. He is no longer representing the Concerned Dubai Sports City Investors Group, more recently known as the Dubai Action Group, and they are in no way connected to the current action being undertaken by the firm.
2. Whilst Anthony Joyce is currently liaising with MED there are no plans for him or any representative of his firm to travel to Dubai.
3. KRI does not consist of two separate groups, from the Republic of Ireland and Britain, they consist of investors from eight different countries across the globe.
4. At the moment no developer in Dubai is being sued by Anthony Joyce & Co, the KRI Group, or the Dubai Action Group / Concerned Dubai Sports City Investors Group.
If anyone requires any details on either of the parties concerned above then please contact Simon Palmer of Republic PR.
This was the story that appeared….
Irish investors sue Dubai developers
A team of lawyers will today travel to Dubai to represent a group of Irish investors – many of them pensioners – who sank their savings in to the dream of a sunshine getaway only to lose out massively when the investment stalled.
The lawyers will talk on behalf of the Concerned Dubai Sports City Investors Group, which was set up last year to represent Irish people who bought off-plan apartments through the now defunct Larionovo property agents.
The five-star project by Middle Eastern Development (MED) was originally scheduled for completion in early 2009.
The law firm Anthony Joyce and Co was retained by the Irish group and by a similar representative group in Britain whose members had paid deposits for apartments in the 252-unit project.
“We have raised our concerns with MED that the project should have been built within the specified timeframe,” said Joyce of the firm.
He also made it clear that the company should not seek more money until work goes ahead.
The lawyer was awaiting instructions from the clients on whether to go ahead with the project or seek their money back, which would involve launching legal proceedings in Dubai against the developer.
The investors are worried that as much as E20m – cash many hoped would fund their retirements – is caught up in Dubai in a “limbo” after the failure of Ennis, Co Clare-based Larionovo last year. The Irish investors in the scheme, believed to number as many as 1,000, have had trouble trying to find out what has happened to their money and gathered together the cash to send out the law firm to try to find out where they stand with regard to their initial investment and the building project’s future – if any. The investors bought into the Sports City scheme, part of a massive two billion sq ft mixed theme park, which developers said would “dwarf Disneyworld”. It promised golf courses, indoor and outdoor stadia, various academies – including a Manchester United soccer academy – as well as swimming pools, health spas and many other facilities. The investors say their last correspondance received from the developers said that the project was “on hold”. However, they fear the developments have actually been cancelled and believe the term “on hold” is being used to avoid refunding them. Sold on a buy-to-let scheme through a network of worldwide agents, investors were assured of eight per cent returns for the first three years. Most of the units were sold in 2006 and 2007 with prices ranging from E168,000 to E280,000. An unnamed Irish investor was quoted in the Dubai press as saying he had reserved a two-bedroom unit in January 2007 and had paid 30pc of the total buying price of around E64,700 but heard nothing from the developer for two years. On a recent visit to see the project, he discovered that the developers had scaled down the dimensions to a one-bedroom unit on the construction drawings he was shown, that too without any prior information, according to Dubai-based online newspaper, Zawya.com. The report said the scheme is still on sale through property Website, Dubaicondoproperty.com.
40 clients of Dublin legal firm Anthony Joyce & Co are looking for Karl Morris to recover over €1m of funds, which they claim they paid him for deposits on properties in the Asilah Beach development in Morocco.
Morris has properties in Ireland and Spain. He was last seen at his villa in Benalmadena near Malaga in Spain.
A private detective hired by investors cannot find him so Anthony Joyce is issuing a public appeal to find him.
If you have any details about the whereabouts of Karl Morris then please contact Anthony Joyce on + 353 (0) 1 4545 000.
This a cool free service from Google where you can demonstrate your prominence in Google searches via a short video. If you would like to make you own you can do so via: http://www.youtube.com/searchstories
The only drawback is it’s a bit fast and can’t be slowed, so just press pause if you want to see anything in more detail.
I used to run the press office at Europe’s largest exhibition, the MIPIM show, which is a property conference held in Cannes every March and the smaller retailer property exhibition MAPIC, held in September.
MIPIM and MAPIC is held in the Palais Des Festivals, which is the same building the Cannes Film Festival is held in. The famous ‘bunker’, the converted basement car park is where most of the exhibition is held, however, a few years ago the Palais was given a nice shiny extension.
Exhibitions can be a fantastic way of building your business but there is no point just turning up and expecting to find new business. Attendance can be expensive so attendance should be planned an executed carefully.
16,000 people officially attend MIPIM but thousands more visit Cannes without actually buying a ticket for the exhibition in belief that most of the business is done in the bar/restaurants or on the boats that surround the Palais Des Festivals. A lot of them believe that the €1,000 ticket is not good value, however, this is missing the major benefit because as well as providing access to the exhibitions, seminars and launches at MIPIM, the tickets also provides access to the database of attendees prior to the event and this is invaluable.
If you’ve ever tried to grow you’re business you’ll appreciate how hard it is to tie the key people down in the companies and organisations that you’re targeting. However, if you working in the property and development sector all the major figures in your target companies will be at MIPIM. By buying a ticket to MIPIM you can use the database to trawl the companies attending, see who from them is attending and contact them prior to MPIM in order to set up a meeting with in Cannes. This way before you have even attended you have diary of key meetings set up.
Equally all the major national and trade media will be there so you should target your key contacts and arrange to meet them when you are there. They have to give there editors a good fill of stories in order to justify there attendance and there is tough competition for exclusives. If the media aren’t on the main attendees database then contact the press office for the event and get a list of the media who are attending.
Because of the high profile of an event like MIPIM often organisations will hold their news back and make an announcement at MIPIM. A few years ago Boris Johnson, London’s Mayor attended, which was covered by the BBC, when he launch the Olympics masterplan. All the major cities of Europe take stands and launch their development and regeneration plans there, so if you’re into development you can get head start identifying sites and meeting key public figures.
An event like MIPIM can also help you renew your relationships with existing clients or contacts. Many companies will have an annual event at MIPIM even if they don’t have anything new to launch, although most ensure they do as it’s such a good opportunity. Irish companies will often take have a Guinness and Oyster event and one year we organised a fish and chip party on the beach.
Once you have planned you new business meetings and meeting with media, i.e. the business the next to ensure you have tickets to major parties and launch events, you need to ensure you’re seen at these. The top parties are often in the five star hotels that line Croisette, Cannes famous palm-tree-lined beach side road, such as the Martinez or the Ritz Carlton.
Lastly if you are going to take exhibition stand plan well ahead and ensure you exhibition is design and built down to the finest detail. The exhibition stand says a lot about your company, so it needs to be high quality and stylish in order to attract people. Lots of them can often look like coolest of bars. As well as presenting details of your services, you often want a novel way of attracting people there, so you have to think about what people need at and exhibition. People are often hungover so you could provide coffee and bacon sandwiches every morning, these novel ideas go down well. Providing a toilet is another pull (make sure you have a big toilet sign). Later on in the day you could have cocktail waiter from a local bar teaching people how to mix cocktails. Most of all you want a way to get people to your stand that is NOT hard sell. Getting to know someone over a drink or a much needed bacon sandwich can be infinitely more valuable than trying the traditional new business route.
Here is a great video from Ciaran Adamson on how they design and build and exhibition stand. It shows how much planning and work actually goes into making the right stand. It’s also a great example of using social media to promote your business. I’m sure Ciaran needed a way to reinforce how much time and effort it takes to build a stand and how a good concept comes together – this video captures it perfectly.
In Summary
The success of attendance in an exhibition is all in the planning; before you even get on the plane you should have a full diary of meetings with business contacts and the media, a list of launches and events you are attending, and aims of what you want to achieve at the exhibition. So buy a ticket, even it is expensive as it should more than pay for itself if you plan your time properly and execute your time properly.
Work on the Cork Medical Centre (CMC) is progressing well and nearing completion in time for its opening on 16th September, 2010.
I’m currently having weekly PR meetings in Cork in the run up to the launch and last week I took some videos and photos to show how fit out is progressing.
The video below shows a 360 degree view of the fantastic City Gate development where the CMC is located. City Gate is first class with exceptional quality of workmanship and finishes. It was developed by local cork developers John Cleary Developments (JCD).
Also on site at City Gate is Cork’s only VHI SwiftCare Clinic, located only a minute’s walk to CMC. This short video below shows how close the entrances to both facilities are.
This is article appeared in Irish Sunday newspaper The Sunday Business Post, on 18th July, 2010 and covers the €8.5m equipment and financing deal that the private hospital developer Sheehan Medical awarded to German firm Siemens.
Article from The Sunday Business Post
Siemens wins €8.5m deal
18 July 2010
Healthcare provider Sheehan Medical has awarded an €8.5 million contract to Siemens Healthcare to supply equipment for its new facility, Cork Medical Centre.
Under the agreement, Siemens Financial Services will provide finance for all of the equipment to be used in the hospital. Siemens Healthcare will provide angiography, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography, x-ray and ultrasound equipment.
‘‘We have first class technology in all our hospitals and aim to make the Cork Medical Centre the most high-tech facility ever developed in Ireland.
Siemens is an important part of this aim, its ability to provide an integrated approach that covers innovative technology will allow us levels of diagnosis and treatment that will be in unsurpassed in this country,” said James Sheehan, chief executive, Sheehan Medical.
Cork Medical Centre will be the anchor tenant in City Gate, a mixed-use scheme in Mahon.
The €90 million facility will have 75 in-patient rooms, four operating theatres and a same-day surgery centre with 20 out-patient beds. It will also house an intensive care unit and cardiology and neuroscience units.
Sheehan Medical is operated by James Sheehan and his father, Dr Joseph Sheehan, who is chairman. Joseph Sheehan was one of the founders of the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin in 1984.He was also part of the consortium that built the Galway Clinic in 2004.
The Cork Medical Centre, Cork City’s newest private hospital, the first to open for thirty years, will open it’s doors on 16th September, 2010.
Developed and operated by Sheehan Medical, the €90 million facility will house the latest medical technology from Siemens Healthcare, making it the most technologically advanced hospital ever developed in Ireland.
The Cork Medical Centre will be a 5 star facility providing 75 single in-patient bedrooms, fully sealed with the latest in infection control. The main focus of the hospital will be surgery; there will be four operating theatres and a same day surgery centre with 20 out-patient beds.
The 135,000 sq ft hospital has the capacity to offer over 39,000 patient treatments per year.
The hospital will also house an intensive care unit; radiology facilities with MRI / CT / X-ray scanners; a cardiology and neuroscience facility. International accreditation, benchmarking and auditing will be provided by an internationally renowned healthcare organization.
“We are delighted to be able to confirm the official opening date and already we have consultants and other medical staff moving into the complex to prepare for the opening,” said Cork Medical Centre’s Chief Operating Officer Philip Sheehan.
All of the big three health insurers are expected to confirm they will cover the hospital in the coming weeks. “We have had positive talks from the VHI since September 2007 and expect to confirm the details in the coming weeks and we are also at advanced stages of confirming with both Aviva and Quinn Healthcare. Cork is massively under-serviced when it comes to private beds with less than half the number per capita.” said Mr Sheehan.
The Cork Medical Centre is the Sheehan’s third venture in Ireland – as they are one of the founders and major shareholders of the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin and the Galway Clinic, both covered by all three health insurers. The group also has strong links with the Loyola University Health System in Chicago – one of the world’s largest health centres and renowned for its research, development and pioneering approach to new treatments.
The opening of the state-of-the art hospital is a major milestone in the development of the City Gate Medical Campus which already houses the largest VHI SwiftCare Clinic in the country and the VHI Medical Centre.
“People of the region deserve a new facility like this on their doorstep rather than having to make a journey elsewhere for the most modern treatment available in world medicine. A lot of our existing patients in both Blackrock and the Galway clinics are commuting form the Cork area already” added Mr Sheehan.
More photos and videos of the hospital can be viewed at the Cork Medical Centre’s Facebook page http://www.tinyurl.ie/5q. You can also use the Facebook page to ask the Sheehan Medical team questions about the hospital.
SimonPRepublic: Getting lots of spam on clients' Facebook walls where anyone can post. Checking them all the time but to having restrict posting privileges 1 hour ago from Echofon
SimonPRepublic: Argh Enda Kenny alert on the radio. Can he never give a soundbite without stuttering? He always stutters on the key part of his message. 3 hours ago from Echofon
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Company law in Ireland requires every company to include its registered name and company number on its website. Republic has been operating November 2006 but when we moved to a Limited company set up the CRO wouldn't let us have "Republic" as a limited company name in case people thought we were doing PR for the Republic of Ireland - yes the PR for the whole country - though the business name 'Republic' is fine in their eyes. The registered company name is, therefore, Palmer PR Limited, which trades as Republic. The CRO number for Palmer PR Ltd is: 479153. Vat no: 9733176G.
Business, Latest news and features, Snickers Workwear | Simon Palmer | 
08/09/2010 7:25 pm | 
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