Communication is a goal, not a process

PR is the invisible source of the majority of things you see and hear in the news. £6.5 billion is spent on PR every year in the UK to change the way we think about everything from Pepsi Cola, The Labour Party, global warming and the Toyota Yaris to Jade Goody.

The average citizen is hit with over 3000 messages each and every day. Allowing for seven hours sleep a night, that’s more than three messages a minute, every minute.

To cut through and achieve communication, you’ll have to do more than make announcements – you’ve got to tell stories. Success is down to how you look at things - if you like, it's the way you tell them.

We were surprised to find that, contrary to received wisdom, a 2006 poll revealed only 4% of US citizens actually think that Elvis is still alive. But for us, the story here is that this still means around ten million Americans are prepared to believe that The King was working undercover for the FBI to expose the Mafia in Las Vegas and went into hiding when his cover was blown.

And we’re not arrogant, but if we were forced to fake the circumstances of MK's death, we’d probably plump for a slightly more glamorous exit than to be found slumped on the toilet, pumped full of drugs and chomping on cheeseburgers.