Hamish Thompson
| Hamish Thompson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963 (age 62–63) Swansea, Wales |
| 🏳️ Nationality | United Kingdom / Australia |
| 💼 Occupation | Public relations, lecturer, author, publicist, performance artist |
| Known for | Publicity stunts |
Hamish Thompson (born 1963 in Swansea, Wales) is a British / Australian pundit, publicist and author with an interest in political and corporate jargon, the history of public relations and the art of publicity stunts.[1] He has founded two public relations consultancies, Houston PR and Heard vs Herd. He is a TV and radio pundit, visiting lecturer and speaker on the art of publicity. Thompson has written two e-books on the art of public relations, The Art of War for PR Professionals and the How Not To Guide to PR and has won several awards for his work. He is also the founder of The Buzzsaw, an online jargon removal tool, and Polifiller, an online tool that removes unclear language from political discourse. He runs the annual Polifiller and Buzzsaw Awards. He is the creator and co-founder with James Ward of the Concept Album Talks.[2][3]
Career
In 2000, Thompson joined Dixons Group where he ran consumer and corporate media relations for seven years. Several stunts at Dixons, Currys and PC World were devised by Thompson, including the announcement of the death of the VCR,[4] the 35mm camera,[5] the floppy disk[6] and the cathode ray TV.[7] [8] The announcements achieved the ‘Heinz Salad Cream effect’, selling out stock of legacy technology and boosting sales of replacement products. Thompson’s announcement that Currys was entering the solar panels market featured on the front page of the Evening Standard and the Financial Times.[9]
He was described as a “media guru” in PR Week when he left Dixons Group in 2007 to form Houston PR (initially under the name Twelve Thirty-Eight).[10] Houston was sold to private equity investors in 2019.[11] Thompson writes for trade titles[12][13][14] and the national media.[15] He appears on television and radio. He was the sole guest on Michael Rosen’s BBC Radio 4 programme, Word of Mouth, for an episode on PR and jargon.[16]
Publicity stunts
In conversation with Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright, Thompson said: “PR is about helping your client get as close to the cliff as possible without falling off. The closer you get to the edge, the more interesting it gets.”[17]
Thompson is known for commuting in a space suit. His commutes were reported on BBC News[18] and ITV News[19] and featured widely on social media, attracting a tweet from astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield.[20] He has been seen at protests wearing it.[21][22][23] At London Fashion Week in 2015, Thompson was noticed by fashion photographers.[24] He was interviewed by Italian fashion television, and was included in the trendsetters column in the London Fashion Week Daily newspaper.[25] Space suit-inspired outfits were featured on the following season’s catwalks.[26] This episode was described by Thompson on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live and on Dan Schreiber’s Show Us Your Shit Instagram show.[27]
Other publicity stunts by Thompson include:
- A subterranean press conference, in 2014, to announce London’s first Underground Farm[28] in disused underground tunnels near Clapham Common. Hundreds of news outlets and TV stations covered this story. Thompson won a PR Week award for the stunt.[29][30][31]
- Re-inventing a wartime idea for John Lewis, Make Do and Mend,[32][33][34] for which he won a PR award.[35] The campaign and pamphlet produced as part of it have been cited in a number academic works on Austerity.[36][37]
- Creating a literacy programme in conjunction with Asda, Puffin and the Roald Dahl Foundation, in which extracts from Roald Dahl stories were printed on the backs of cereal packets. Thompson won a PR award for this stunt.[38][39]
- In 2018, the first press release launched into outer space.[40][41]
- The world’s most boring buffet, featuring the world’s dullest salads and ‘amuse-bouche’, at the Boring Conference in 2015.[42][43] The Boring Conference was publicised by Thompson for a number of years, generating international media coverage.[44][45][46]
- In May 2010, repositioning Milton Keynes as the Romantic Capital of Great Britain.[47][48] The Romantic Novelists Association was enlisted by Thompson to judge a romantic short story competition based in Milton Keynes, with the framing title ‘Love Amongst the Concrete Cows’[49]. Comparisons between Milton Keynes and Venice were also set up by Thompson.[50][51]
Other work
In 2008, Thompson set up “The Buzzsaw”, an automated online jargon removal tool to try and rid the world of corporate speak.[52][53][54][55]. In 2009, he set up “Polifiller”, with the objective of encouraging politicians to speak more clearly.[56][57] He runs annual awards for both sites.[58][59] These have been covered on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme,[60] The Week in Westminster,[61] The Daily Politics[62] and in numerous papers, magazines, books[63] and radio broadcasts in the UK[64], the US, Australia[65] and New Zealand.[66] He created two further tools, Pre-Tweet[67] and Obi Quiet.[68]
Thompson and Ward’s Concept Album Talks, a format which used concept album track titles and duration to inspire and form a set of talks, were held in small London venues in 2017.[69] The talks were widely covered and featured on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.[70]
Awards
Thompson’s first agency won several industry awards for outstanding consultancy and creativity, including a PR Week Award for marketing campaign of the year for the launch of Growing Underground.[71] Thompson has been a member of the elite PR Week Power Book (the list of the UK’s senior PR practitioners and publicists) for several years.[72]
Books
Thompson has written and edited a number of eBooks, including The How Not To Guide to PR, a compendium of the gripes of editors and correspondents from TV, newspapers and magazines worldwide, which featured on BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth[73]. Thompson’s work has been referenced in books[74], articles[75][76] and courses[77] on journalism and PR.
References
- ↑ Morris, Grant (12 February 2015). "This is something you don't see every day on your commute". Twitter. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Kielty, Martin (16 July 2015). "Dark Side in album talk pilot". Louder Sound. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Phillips, Jo (2015). "Concept Album Talks". Cent Magazine. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Aiken, Kirsten (24 November 2004). "Major British retail chain says goodbye to the VCR". ABC News: The World Today. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Dixons abandons 35mm cameras". This Is Money. 8 August 2005. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "British Computer-Store Chain Stops Stocking Floppy Disks". Fox News. 13 January 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Poulter, Sean (10 December 2005). "A Digital Christmas". Press Reader. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Guru-Murthy, Krishnan (March 2008). "Currys promotes HDTV - interview with director of media relations at DSG international plc, Hamish Thompson". Channel 4 News. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Callan, Eoin (30 July 2006). "Currys to sell solar panels". Financial Times. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "DSG Shakeup As Media Guru Thompson Leaves". PR Week. 30 May 2007. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Hickman, Arvind (11 December 2018). "Private Investment Group Acquires Houston PR". PR Week. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Thompson, Hamish (25 August 2015). "Welcome to the World of Competitive PR Pitches". PR Week. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Thompson, Hamish (11 October 2013). "Why, in this age of social media, do journalists view PR agencies as anti-social?". AllMedia Scotland. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Thompson, Hamish (18 January 2013). "Lessons from the horse meat controversy". Retail Week. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Thompson, Hamish (25 September 2014). "#BendGate: How did a tech giant like Apple get it so wrong with the iPhone 6?". Independent. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Rosen, Michael (25 July 2016). "PR - How Not To Do It". BBC Radio 4 Word of Mouth. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ In conversation with Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p03sdgy6
- ↑ "'Astronaut' joins rail commuters at St Albans City station". BBC News. 5 December 2014. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Astronaut searches for space on morning train commute". ITV News. 5 December 2014. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ @Cmdr_Hadfield (5 December 2014). "Someone had a long commute". Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Katz, Gregory (24 March 2019). "Anti-Brexit marchers flood London demanding a second referendum". Stuff. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Collins, Jem (19 October 2019). "23 of the best signs from the People's Vote march outside Parliament". iNews. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Laugh for a Cause: Who says protests are serious affairs? Some demonstrators use humour to drive home the point". The Hindi. 15 October 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Dawes, Marcus (February 2015). "LONDON FASHION WEEK STREET STYLE FEBRUARY 2015". Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ https://twitter.com/HamishMThompson/status/1182911049969913856
- ↑ Cochrane, Lauren (18 January 2016). "Menswear: spacemen and Peake chic at Versace in Milan". Guardian. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Schreiber, Dan (14 June 2020). "Show Us Your Shit's 50th, Part 2". Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Hoole, Georgie (4 February 2019). "The World's First Underground Farm Is Open For Tours". Secret London. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Merrill, Jamie (30 January 2014). "Growing Underground: Michel Roux Jr Reveals Plans for Subterranean Farm in the Depths of Empty South London Tunnels". Independent. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Walsh, Tarah (30 January 2014). "London farming goes underground". BBC News. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Taking urban farming to a whole new sublevel". CBS News. 4 June 2014. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Adams, Stephen (28 August 2009). "Make Do and Mend booklet urges customers to clean shoes with banana skins". Telegraph. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Wilson, Bill (28 August 2009). "The modern 'make do and mend'". BBC News. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "iPod shields, frozen wine cubes: the modern make do and mend". Evening Standard. 28 August 2009. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "St Albans PR agency wins prestigious industry award for second year running". Herts Advertiser. 6 May 2010. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Bramall, Rebecca (2013). The Cultural Politics of Austerity. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 113, 123–4, 126. ISBN 978-0230360471. Search this book on
- ↑ Bramall, Rebecca (16 November 2012). "Popular culture and anti-austerity protest". Journal of European Popular Culture. 3: 9–22. doi:10.1386/jepc.3.1.9_1.
- ↑ "St Albans PR company's cereal campaign success". Herts Advertiser. 21 September 2011. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Wallop, Harry (9 April 2011). "Roald Dahl stories to be on millions of cereal boxes". Telegraph. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Leroux, Marcus (23 July 2014). "City People: the Feuds, the Faces and the Farcical". Times. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ @shortlist (22 June 2014). "Twitter". Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Waugh, Rob (6 May 2015). "Boring Conference strikes back after 'too interesting' claims". Metro. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Pidd, Helen (25 November 2012). "Boring festival brings unexpected intrigue". Guardian. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Coughlan, Sam (11 November 2011). "Boring conference 'too interesting' fear". BBC News. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Henley, Jon (27 May 2014). "The Boring Conference – the fascinating world of the mundane and ordinary". Guardian. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Menden, Alexander (2 December 2012). ""Boring Conference" in London: Her mit der Langeweile!". Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Alleyne, Richard (28 May 2010). "Milton Keynes Relaunches Itself as a Romantic Destination". Telegraph. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Smith, Robert (15 November 2016). "Houston to challenge stereotypes and reveal 'real' Milton Keynes in birthday brief". PR Week. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Will I find a man who's Milton Keynes on me? We look for love in Britain's most romantic town". Mirror. 1 June 2010. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Robinson, Winifred (10 June 2010). "Milton Keynes rebrands itself as romantic capital of UK". BBC Radio 4 You and Yours. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Alleyne, Richard (28 May 2010). "Milton Keynes Relaunches Itself as a Romantic Destination". Telegraph. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Fisher, Anne (14 January 2015). "One man's crusade to banish business buzzwords". Fortune. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Seebacher, Noreen (8 January 2014). "'Love Handles,' Buzzwords and the Epidemic of TMI". CMS Wire. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Blacklist These Buzzwords From Your Emails If You Want To Be Taken Seriously". Marie Claire. 16 February 2016. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Overington, Caroline (11 June 2020). "Jargon words 'in the time of COVID'". The Australian. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Dwyer, Jim (4 November 2014). "Filtering Out the Jargon of Politics". New York Times. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Workman, Alice (12 July 2020). "Strewth!". The Australian. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Brady, Jon (9 February 2016). "The 10 most annoying PR jargon terms revealed". The Drum. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Worst political jargon in Australia for 2020: 'That's a great question, Andrew...'". Canberra Times. 2 July 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "A new online tool, Polifiller.com, is being launched..." BBC Radio 4 Today Programme. 16 October 2014. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Parker, George (22 November 2014). "George Parker of the Financial Times looks behind the scenes at Westminster". BBC Radio 4 The Week in Westminster. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Neil, Andrew (16 October 2014). "...untangling political jargon with PR man Hamish Thompson..." BBC 2 Daily Politics. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Lush, Edie (2016). How to Speak with Confidence in Public. Bluebird. p. 61. ISBN 9781509814534. Search this book on
- ↑ Parker, George (21 November 2014). "George Parker of the Financial Times looks behind the scenes at Westminster (at 21:00)". BBC Week in Westminster. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Valentine, James (2 July 2020). "Afternoons with James Valentine". ABC Radio Sydney. Retrieved 2 July 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Dann, Colin (3 July 2020). "Why politicians use certain phrases". Radio New Zealand. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Gerrie, Anthea (27 October 2014). "How Not To Be Annoying On Social Media". OZY. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Curt, Johnson (15 December 2015). "Silence those' Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Spoilers with Obi Quiet". Movie TV Tech Geeks. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Manning, James (15 July 2015). "Speak to the music at The Concept Album Talks". Time Out. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Paterson, Colin. "The Concept Album Talks". BBC Radio 4 Best of Today. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "PR Week Awards". 15 October 2014. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ https://www.prweek.com/power-book/uk/2019/hamish-thompson/5bebdc55-182c-e6ae-953f-e2a600000000
- ↑ Rosen, Michael (26 April 2016). "PR - How Not To Do It". BBC Radio 4 Word of Mouth. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Phillips, Angela (2014). Journalism in Context: Practice and Theory for the Digital Age (Communication and Society). Routledge. p. 46. ISBN 978-0415536288. Search this book on
- ↑ "Journalists ask PROs to stop wasting their time with follow-up calls". PR Moment. 17 September 2013. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Thorne, Tony (23 July 2016). "Family language". Familect. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Bailey, Richard (12 June 2020). "This week in PR". PR Academy. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
External links
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