Communication culture: Momentum and legacy in the post-COVID business environment
June 30, 2020 – By Janet Houen, Group Manager - Organisational and Change Communication, and Emily Wood, Director
With the initial economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, the task of rebuilding businesses and the economy is now high on the agenda — for organisations and government alike. We are all acutely aware that the enforced change of the past months has brought uncertainty and accelerated adaptability in equal measure, with communication… Read More
The digital measures that could save your business during COVID-19
April 1, 2020 – By Rob Lovegrove, Head of Digital
At a recent PwC Australia virtual event, Rowland’s team of communication and digital leaders led a discussion about the issues and opportunities posed by COVID-19. In my comments, I suggested this could be the wake-up call many businesses needed to better prepare themselves for running their organisations virtually and in an immediately changing digital environment…. Read More
It’s time to take your annual report design to the next level
July 24, 2018 – By Dean Power, Creative Director
In recent years, overt marketing and brand content in annual reports — at least in their traditional printed guise — have taken a backseat to emerging online, social media and interactive channels. Limited budgets that could be seen as a lingering legacy of the post-GFC austerity years have also taken the limelight away from the… Read More
Making comms great again? What’s hot in 2018
February 5, 2018
It’s that time of year when we think about what’s getting us communicators excited in 2018. Here are our five fave frontiers we are talking about at the water cooler right now. Rise of the website (back to the future?) Rob Lovegrove, Head of Digital I see a resurgence in branded website content in 2018… Read More
Breaking up with Apple
September 12, 2017 – By Chris Airey, Editor and Animator, Creative Studio
At the time of writing, it is T-minus 12 hours until Apple CEO Tim Cook takes to the stage of the brand new Steve Jobs Theatre in Cupertino to proudly unveil the company’s newest lineup of iPhones. It has been ten years since Apple’s first imagining of the smartphone which, without doubt, revolutionised the way… Read More
How are data and tech disrupting the PR biz?
September 5, 2017 – By Rob Lovegrove Rowland Head of Digital
In preparing a presentation for a recent PRIA Queensland event on the topic of how data is transforming the PR jobs of the future, it dawned on me that my education and career, across a range of communication disciplines, has mirrored the rise of the internet of things. The 90s delivered not just the Internet’s… Read More
The smart cities turning ideas into action
August 2, 2017 – By Susan Hawkins, Group Manager - Integrated Marketing Communication
We’re loving the new series of ABC’s Utopia, especially last week’s take on the smart city movement. It seems every city in Australia is talking the smart city talk, but how many are turning talk into action? We decided to glance around the globe to see how other cities have progressed with their plans. Unfortunately… Read More
Let’s chat ‘Chat Bots’ — how can they add to the customer experience?
July 26, 2017
You know those virtual help-desk pop-ups so many Facebook pages and websites seem to be using these days – ‘live chat’ at your fingertips? There’s been much interest in chat bots of late, and increasing use by company websites as a customer service salve. At Rowland, we’ve been dabbling in natural language processing to understand text and sentiment… Read More
Data behind the data — the value of the digital Annual Report
July 5, 2017 – By Rob Lovegrove, Head of Digital
For many, the writing, collation and production of an Annual Report can be a testing time — checking, double-checking, treble-checking the numbers and data before going to print or more commonly hosting the report online. As we continue to see a trend towards digital Annual Reports, the opportunity to derive data and insights from web… Read More
Brand Matters: Podcast-ing for the greater good with Prince Harry
May 16, 2017
This week Marci and Jennine have their pinkies at the ready as they natter about podcast-ing for the greater good. How does one go viral? Naturally, one has Prince Harry as one’s special guest*. All of this leads to a discussion about ‘The Crown’ which Marci loves for the intrigue and Jennine loves for the… Read More