Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Who’s better for the future of political and business relations between America and Britain? On Monday night a panel of experts debated this issue in front of a packed-out audience in H+K’s bar.

CNBC’s Kelly Evans chaired the event, which featured The Economist’s Christopher Lockwood; the FT’s Philip Stephens; Chair of Democrats Abroad UK, Rob Carolina; and CEO of Hermes Fund Managers, Saker Nusseibeh.

So, who would be better for the UK? Both have their merits according to the panel. Romney was seen as more pro-business by the panel, but his team of influential advisors causes concern. Obama’s track record meanwhile points to a steadier hand on international policy and co-operation with Britain, though the UK may face a tough decision on whether to support action against Iran if Romney is elected. For the environment, neither is likely to bring particularly good news, with other matters too high up the agenda to get to the issue of global warming in any detail.

So all in all a mixed bag for Britain, but as Christopher Lockwood pointed out, the UK wasn’t mentioned once during the three debates which shows the level of attention Britain commands at present. Instead, what matters most according to the panelists is not Britain, nor even really who wins next week’s election. Of more importance may well be the handover of the Chinese premiership, an event to which there is an information vacuum at present.

Ultimately, the relationship between the two nations after next week is likely to have far greater repercussions for Britain than the direct impact of a Romney or Obama presidency going forward.

Do you agree with our panel, tell us who you think would be better for UK – US relations?

The failure of Egypt, the champions of the past three tournaments, to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations, alongside the absence of regional heavyweights Cameroon and Nigeria, has thrown the tournament wide open.

However, the list of qualifiers for the tournament has thrown up a number of surprise names, not least Libya and Sudan, as well as (less surprisingly) Tunisia and Morocco. Alongside Algeria (who just missed out of qualification) and Egypt, all these nations have experienced significant upheavals and protests during the Arab Spring and in the case of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, regime change.

It seems implausible that national footballers can remain unaffected by such political turmoil. Yet in many ways the performances of the North African national football sides in 2011 have reflected the political actions of the Arab Spring in each nation. With the exception of Egypt, the statistics also show that all of these North African nations have dramatically improved their results on the football field since the beginning of the Arab Spring in each nation as compared to results from the 12 months prior.

Why? Read on here

Hello All! Welcome to another edition of the Financial and Professional Services team’s Friday Fiver. Big thanks this week to Dave Chambers, Peter Roberts, Rachel Griffiths, Matt Battersby, Helen Searle and Clare Coffey.

This week we look at the new ASA rules for corporate websites; the fairness of the ECJ ruling and its impact on insurance; the shortcomings of the FSA’s Retail Conduct Risk Outlook; Mr Murdoch’s acquisition of the remaining stake in BSkyB; the impact of the rising cost of children and what Charlie Sheen could learn from Bob Diamond.

ASA Is Watching You

On 1st March the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the watchdog for the advertising industry assumed new powers to regulate “companies’ own marketing claims on their own websites and in other non-paid for space they control“, as the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising was rolled out to cover online properties. The industry reaction has been mixed and there has been a good deal of chatter online about the impact this will have for companies, but it appears that the ASA will take a fairly collaborative approach in enforcing these rules. Regardless though there are plenty of website owners and social media moderators wondering what this means for them, plenty of lawyers doing their best to interpret and not much clarity so far. Certainly there will be a few social media moderators watching what they retweet or share on their Facebook pages.

Is this good for the industry? Probably and certainly for advertisers (and their lawyers) targeting children and young people. Is this good for the internet? who knows – it’s certainly not the free and unregulated space that it was before. One would assume that the originators of the 4,500 complaints that the ASA has recorded since 2008 will be happier. Though from the perspective of a PR man that has heard many times the exasperated cry that ’the ad agency just doesn’t get what we do’ I’d be surprised if the first adjudications have anything to do with the work of a PR agency.

Looking for a cheap deal…?

Women drivers braced themselves for the full impact of equality this week with the European Court of Justice’s ruling that men and women must be treated the same by insurers when assessing risk.  According to the Association of British Insurers, women under the age of 25 could see their car insurance premiums rise by an eye-watering 25%, although men will pay slightly less than they do now.  As we all know, despite the tedious jokes, women are statistically far better drivers than men and therefore a safer bet for insurers. 

Show's Over Sheilas

But it’s not just the Sheilas who are upset.  The ruling has drawn extensive criticism from all from all quarters, from Conservative MPs to consumer groups, to the unlikely (or so you might think) ABI themselves.  Although their members might stand to gain from an overall increase in premiums paid to the industry, the potential disruption along with the marketing advantages of being able to offer competitively priced products, mean the ‘mistaken’ ruling is something they’ve been looking to avoid.

Also, the implications of the ruling are not just confined to car insurance.  Dr Ros Altman predicts that the eight out of ten annuities currently bought by men (less relevant if you are a woman and likely to live longer) are also likely to take a hit as a result of the ruling.

All in all, there appear to be very few winners from this ruling, and gender could be the thin end of the wedge. As Catherine Barton from Ernst & Young points out in the Telegraph, there are many other ‘discriminatory’ factors currently being used to measure that may come under more scrutiny.  So, the question is, when exactly does equality become unfair? 

Less risky conduct?

This week the Financial Services Authority issued its first ever Retail Conduct Risk Outlook. Previously incorporated into the FSA’s Financial Risk Outlook which accompanies its Business Plan, the separation of conduct risk from prudential risk anticipates the FSA’s separation into two new bodies in 2012.

Conscious of recent conduct failures that have had a dire impact on consumers’ experience of financial services and products – Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) mis selling, unclear mortgage terms, and bank’s complaints handling to name a few, the RCRO is an attempt to mitigate and identify potential conduct failure in the future. However, reviewing the RCRO’s list of current issues, emerging risks and potential concerns it is striking how few of them are in any way new. Indeed, most of the risks identified are covered by work already underway as part of the Mortgage Market Review and Retail Distribution Review. Therefore it will be crucial that in identifying new conduct risks, the nascent Financial Conduct Authority must have the tools and powers to do more than shine a light on potential risks and be able to intervene early to avoid market failure. Failure to do otherwise will result in history repeating, albeit under the eye of an authority with a different name.

Rupert completes his Monopoly set….

Pass Go and collect £8bn!

Yesterday’s news that Rupert Murdoch will be allowed to purchase the remaining stakein BSkyB throws up a number of issues. There were two chief complaints made by other media outlets. One, that the deal impinges on the ‘plurality’ of media outlets in the UK by giving News Corporation a far larger stake against their rivals. As Andrew Neil argued, this increases their ability to cross-sell and to subsidise their loss-making newspapers, damaging the position of their broadsheet and tabloid rivals. And two, that the purchase of Sky News (albeit in a separate company of sorts) would mean a return to the ‘bad old days’ of the 1980’s when broadcast news was controlled by just two superpowers, the BBC and ITN.

On a day’s reflection, the first of these is likely to be a far bigger problem than the second, for which there is a strong counter-argument. Regardless of the influence Mr Murdoch will have over Sky News, it still represents a third news broadcaster and in that sense the picture is actually better than the ‘bad old days’ of just two television news outlets. It’s also worth noting that the deal is far from agreed yet – as The Times notes today, investors are queuing up to extract a high price from News Corp for their shares. And one final question as well – what does this mean for the BBC? News Corp has now become an entity twice the revenue size of the Beeb. Does that mean the constant pressure on Auntie to cost cut and justify the license fee will diminish?

Not tonight darling, we really can’t afford it…

Interesting that Aviva reckons this is fundamentally impacting parents’ decision on whether to have more children or not. The report found that 66 per cent of parents would put off having more children because of financial constraints.

It’s a fact backed up by ONS statistics, which show that the once typical average family size of 2.4 children, made famous in the 90s TV Show… is now in fact 1.7 children.

The gloomy picture was reinforced by recent Markit Household Finance Index showed that more than third of households are feeling worse off in the last month, backing up the financial concern that could be literally constricting families up and down the country. 

Why never fat cat actors?

Vanity Fair recently published their list of Hollywood top earners in 2010. Top of the list is James Cameron who earned $257m in 2010, mainly on the back of the phenomenal success of Avatar. Johnny Depp and Steven Spielberg were next in the list, earning $100m and $80m respectively.

These figures are so high they might make even the most hard nosed banker blush. So why were there no newspaper headlines slamming ‘greedy actors’ and ‘fat cat’ directors? Why do we accept high pay for some professions and not others? It might  be said that,  unlike bankers, actors have not harmed the world in any way but can we really say that about Jennifer Aniston who appears at number 25 in the list having made $24.5m in 2010? Anyone who believes that obviously hasn’t seen her new rom-com ‘classic’, ‘Just go with it’!

One actor’s pay has been making the headlines this week though as Charlie Sheen continued to self-destruct on US TV. Amongst the many revelations from these interviews came Sheen’s demand that his pay for appearing on ‘Two and a Half Men’ be increased to $3m per episode. This has caused some criticism in an America where many are still feeling the effects of the recent recession.

So could Charlie Sheen’s behaviour lead to more questioning of actors salaries and their benefit to society? If so, then perhaps they should look to Bob Diamond’s expert performance at the Treasury Select Committee in January for guidance on how to manage this scrutiny. Comparing some of his comments to those of Charlie Sheen this week, they could certainly do a lot worse!

Bob Diamond on banks apologising for the crisis:

“There was a period of remorse and apology for banks, that period needs to be over. We need banks to be able to take risk, working with the private sector in the UK.”

Charlie Sheen on not apologising for anything:

“I’m tired of pretending like I’m not special. I’m tired of pretending like I’m not bitchin’, a total freakin’ rock star from Mars.”

Bob Diamond on the perceived invincibility of banks:

“Banks should be allowed to fail…It’s not okay for taxpayers to have to bail out banks.”

Charlie Sheen on the perceived invincibility of Charlie Sheen:

“Dying is for fools, amateurs.”

Bob Diamond on bonuses:

“I would like to be able to isolate bonuses. I am a businessman trying to run a business. I have to balance what our owners want, what our customers want… I am aware of the emotion around bonuses and we will show as much restraint as we can…we are responsible citizens of the world and the United Kingdom.”

Charlie Sheen on pay:

“Blame the studio for giving me this much dough knowing who they were giving it to.”

More from Bob Diamond on bonuses:

“We have to balance the responsibility we have and the recognition of the environment we operate in”

More from Charlie Sheen on… well….. we’re not really sure

“I am on a drug. It’s called Charlie Sheen. It’s not available because if you try it, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body.”

*Some great research from our client Aviva, but in the interests of transparency we should state that this is not our work

I love connecting with different parts of our network, like the star team in Finland. Yesterday, I was honored to be their keynote speaker for a new event on political campaigns and social media.

The huge European interest in the Obama story gave Kati Sulin, my fellow Interactive Strategy Director and COO of our Helsinki office, the idea to invite me to share my perspective as an American voter. The event was great fun and I even learned a bit about Public Affairs in Finland from PA lead Sari Siikasalmi and team. My very personal journey in social politics is below.

What do you think of when you someone asks you about the country of Turkey? For most Europeans, the country is defined by the blue Mediterranean, summer holidays in Bodrum and one of the world’s leading cuisines. My first opinions of the country were shaped by a Channel 4 TV series back in the late 1990s by the archaeologist John Romer, who marvelled at the ancient civilization of Byzantium through the modern metropolis of Istanbul. It took me ten years to visit the city but it was definitely worth the wait – anyone who has gazed upon the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, two of the world’s most distinctive and well-known religious buildings can attest to the enduring marvels of the East.

In recent weeks, the media has shifted considerable focus on Turkey. David Cameron’s visit to the country this week (see below) highlights its strategically important role for Britain politically, economically and as part of the NATO alliance. This week’s Newsweek argues that the country is forging a ‘unique, centrist role in a divided world’. For some time, there has been a perceptible Turkish rapprochement with its neighbours in the Arab world. Turkey has also forged strong business links in the Caucasus and with fellow-Turkic language speakers in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Yet, for fifty or so years Turkish foreign policy has consistently oriented itself towards union with Europe.

Its politicians and economists have done the sums – it’s much more advantageous to be part of the world’s largest economic bloc than left on the sidelines particularly when the country’s main export markets are Germany, France, the UK and Italy. Strong links to much of Europe are solidified by a large and vibrant Turkish-minority in Germany, which has shaped the cultural and economic life of many of the country’s major cities.

Turkish accession to the EU would bring a number of key benefits for the trading bloc and for the inner dynamics of the Union. Most interesting of all, Turkish accession to the EU will effectively decide the future of the world’s most powerful trading bloc. With Turkish accession, the EU would look very different to how its original founders envisaged.

Whether Turkey joins the EU within the next 10 or 20 years, it is evident that the country has an enormous amount of positive things going for it including a favourable geographical location between East and West, a young and mobile workforce and a growing and diverse economy. Whilst images of Bodrum beaches may remain for some, Turkey is redefining Europe’s future. It may also come to define the futures of its near neighbours in the East at the same time.

The increasingly irregular Web Curios returns after a week’s absence – in the unlikely event any of you are upset at the sporadic nature of these posts, feel free to contact Hill & Knowlton and tell them to stop giving me so much real work to do. Alternatively, why not donate to the “Let’s Ensure Matt Never Has To Work Again” fund? Every penny counts, kids!

So, The Octopus has spoken and Spain are going to win the World Cup on Sunday. This will make the purists happy, and will probably come as a massive relief to this woman (and a massive blow – *ahem* – to 86,000 (at the time of writing) men). The most shocking thing I’ve seen at this World Cup, though, is this team-by-team ranking of the best-looking footballers at the tournament – Cristiano Ronaldo as Portugal’s most attractive player? REALLY? Women and homosexuals of the world, I am disappointed in you. You think this mahogany narcissist is attractive? WHAT’S WRONG WITH SKINNY, PASTY WEBMONGS, YOU FREAKS???

*Composes self*

But! There is more to the world than football, hard as it may be to believe. There is a gun-toting killer on the loose, we are in the middle of a TROPICAL HEATWAVE – it’s like the Summer of Sam (it’s not like the Summer of Sam). There’s been loads of stuff on the internet, too, which is convenient as otherwise I’d have to pad out the rest of this blog with my inane witterings – thanks, internet!

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Webmongs! Hello! Look! It’s a brand new political dawn in which the strong are just, the weak secure and the peace preserved – oh, no, actually it’s a hung parliament, a few days of uncertainty and the horrible, ugly prospect of having to go through this bloody circus all over again before the year’s out. You don’t need me for analysis of the situation (for which let’s be thankful; if you did need me for this, it would be a poor lookout for the country as a whole) – get it here instead. If you’re feeling depressed about the outcome, though, why not console yourself by spilling your guts to a bunch of random strangers on the internet? I’m going to leave the last word (for now, at least) on our much vaunted ‘digital election’ to the fine folk from B3ta – the web didn’t change the course of the election or the outcome of the vote (really, it didn’t – IT WAS THE TELLY WOT HUNG IT), but it made me laugh lots. So that’s ok then (warning – audio track contains swears) :

Right, enough of the important stuff. Let’s get back to the frivolous internet rubbish.

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It’s hard to know where to start this week. THERE HAS SIMPLY BEEN SO MUCH HAPPENING. Frankly, though, it probably doesn’t matter what I write here (yes, I know that it never matters, but indulge me) given the fact that The Rapture is almost certainly nearly upon us. Look at the evidence – volcanoes, strange lights in the sky, Nick ‘Casanova’ Clegg now a shoo-in at No.10 after proving himself the least robotic and inhuman of our three potential leaders on TV last night…the end times are coming. Frankly it’s only a matter of moments before the skies are filled with smug Christians all laughing and pointing as they are raised up to heaven to watch the rest of us boil in fiery eternal torment (obviously there is NOTHING remotely un-Christian about this image). With that in mind we might as well enjoy our last moments, and what better way to do that than to waste the final precious minutes of life remaining to us by staring catatonically at a computer screen and ‘enjoying’ this week’s roundup of ephemeral rubbish that couldn’t be any less consequential? But before we get started, an amazing photo of a volcano (no, not this one) from the most amazing man on Twitter, @Astro_Soichi:

Two lakes inside a volcano, taken from space. Yes, SPACE.

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I’d thought about trying to compose something pithy and insightful for the opening section this week, but frankly all I can think of is the upcoming 4-day weekend. It’s times like this that I’m particularly grateful to Jesus for riling up the Romans and getting himself nailed to a tree (as with all the good stuff on here, that line’s courtesy of someone better than me – in this case, the late, great Douglas Adams). Freedom, webmongs, sweet freedom (or at least the transitory illusion of freedom, which frankly is pretty much all any of us can hope for, with our useless arts degrees and a future of interminable wage-slavery ahead of us). To celebrate, I give you THE LIFE OF CHRIST IN CATS (one of the finest things ever to appear in Viz):

A plate depicting the life of Christ through the medium of cats. No more, no less.

Anyway, feline frippery aside, here’s this week’s offerings…:

[NB - if you're strapped for time, can I just suggest that you go straight to the last video and watch it. 23 seconds you won't regret. Obviously if you've got time then read everything as it's all...well, pretty mediocre, frankly]

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