Newsroom » The Cast Blog
François Hollande: reaching out but not connecting
by Matthias Lüfkens on 11th May 2012
The first Heads of State and Government to personally congratulate François Hollande the night of his election were Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Rupo followed by the Croatian government, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Haitian president Michel Martelly, the European Commission, European Council President Herman van Rompuy and Stefan Seibert, spokesperson for Angela Merkel. UPK Prime Minister David Cameron simply tweeted a link to his news release.
2012: The Year of the Tangerine Tango
by Elaine Cameron on 18th January 2012
Did you know that Pantone has been designating a specific colour to every year since 2000?
Last year it was Honeysuckle, a dynamic, reddish pink chosen to “embolden us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigour… It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life.”
In that respect, Pantone was onto something, as 2011 was nothing if not challenging for many parts of the world: Japan, Greece, Pakistan and Turkey, to name but a few.
This year, it’s a more cheering shade of orange: Tangerine Tango, to be precise. According to Pantone, this “spirited reddish orange continues to provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.”
So, with thanks to TrendWatching, let’s take a look at what might be some of the bolder highlights of the year ahead and what amber alerts are looming.
First Steps of the New Spanish Government
by Juan Astorqui on 9th January 2012
Media commentators close to the Partido Popular and the current government, now led by the recently inaugurated President Mariano Rajoy, say that the new team is “a group of capable men.” For the moment, following the first cabinet meeting the government has been able to raise the taxes on salaries (called the IRPF in Spain), property and savings; all to be implemented with immediate effect. In February Spanish salary earners will find their income reduced considerably. However it is important to note that the Government’s spokesperson, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, insists that the tax rise “will be temporary.”
Coffee, Croissant and Newspapers: Endangered species or a luxury for few?
by Andrea Bailo on 3rd November 2011
“…So, media becomes like fast food: people will consume it on the go, as they travel to and from work, watching news, sports and film clips on mobiles or handheld wireless devices, or others already in test by our satellite companies. [...] And, crucially, newspapers must give readers a choice of accessing their journalism in the pages of the paper or on websites such as Times Online or – and this is important – on any platform that appeals to them, mobile phones, hand-held devices, ipods, whatever…”
This is a quote from Rupert Murdoch dated 2006. Reading these words today, it seems that he might just have turned out to be right.
BlackBerry Mom: The G(irls)20 Summit and evidence-based communications
by Katarina Wallin Bureau on 24th October 2011
Last week I was proud to take my 2-month old daughter to the G(irls)20 Summit in Paris. I am on maternity leave but didn’t want to miss the opportunity to participate in this event, an initiative that brings together one delegate, a girl aged 18-20, from each G20 country, plus a representative from the chair country of the African Union, to debate, discuss and design innovative ideas necessary to empower girls and women globally. The agenda is the same as the one of the G20 leaders and focuses on economic innovation, with a set of recommendations developed at the end by the delegates and presented to a representative of President Sarkozy, in advance of the G20 meeting in Cannes next week.
A Tale of Two Power Cuts
by James Ogilvie on 11th October 2011
On 19 September, a power cut caused by a fire in an underground electrical facility left most of the EU district in Brussels without electricity for an afternoon. On 28 September, the President of the European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso delivered his 2011 ‘State of the Union’.
“I used to be a peaceful man…”
by Maria Lazarimou on 4th August 2011
“I used to be a peaceful man, but they (the politicians) have hit me where it hurts the most…they deprived me of the possibility to give to my kids the possibility to dream” This is an actual verbatim from a qualitative research, exploring the motives and behavioral drivers of the “Indignant” and it most eloquently describes the unprecedented loss of trust of the Greek people towards all kinds of institutions, including the corporate world.
Big cities leading the way on climate change
by Bill Royce on 12th July 2011
Followers of the UN’s climate change negotiations will be disappointed with the poor progress at the talks in Bonn this month. Hopes of a new international agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012 are fading fast…
The challenge to rebuild trust
by Jeremy Galbraith on 21st June 2011
Greece is in political and economic turmoil, there are demonstrations across Spain against economic austerity measures and Belgium hasn’t had a government since the federal elections in June of last year…
Global Energy Practice
by Bill Royce on 9th June 2011
We have just launched Burson-Marsteller’s Global Energy Practice, which connects the EMEA Energy Environment & Climate Change practice to colleagues worldwide to service companies operating globally and to better share knowledge and insights.
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