Author: Zsofia Lakatos

Zsofia Lakatos is the President of the Hungarian PR Association, owner of Emerald Public Relations and a board member of the Superbrands Committee in Hungary. She started her career as a journalist, jumping into agency-world later as Director of Capital Communications and from 2008 to 2015 as Managing Director of Hill+Knowlton Hungary. Zsofia holds an MBA in Management and a degree in Public Relations. She is an internationally acknowledged CSR-expert, a frequent lecturer of conferences on PR and CSR. Her book „Corporate Social Performance in Emerging Markets” was published in July 2013 in London

Let’s make kings! Public Relations as biggest power on Earth

Do you know what the biggest power is on Earth? No, it’s not money and no it’s not politics. It’s Public Relations. Of course, I’m fairly biased on the topic, being the President of the Hungarian PR Association, but the power of PR is one of my favourite subjects related to the profession. Good communicators – for now you are permitted to call them spin doctors – can manipulate whoever they want. They can create …

Why PR should be of strategic importance – and why it is not

Let’s face it! If we asked 10 people randomly on the street, what Public Relations means, 4 of them would have no idea, 3 would think it’s marketing, 2 would say press relations and maybe one would know the answer. Of course, the general public doesn’t have to be aware of my beloved profession, but I would take an educated guess that the numbers would be somewhat similar if we asked the business community. And …

Understanding and interaction. What I love about being PR professional

I am proud to be a PR-expert. I’m passionate about it. This is what I always wanted to do, this is what is on my mind when I’m at work and when I am not. This is not an 8 to 5 job; this is something you do 24/7. When you are in PR, there are no holidays. I love it! And it hurts when other people don’t see it that way. When they think …

Companies cannot afford to miss corporate PR. It can save them when hard times hit

During the crisis years, companies were forced to cut costs and the area first targeted – after sponsorship and charity – was corporate public relations. Sales efforts focused on direct promotion with the spotlight on activation, shopper (POS promotion) and social media campaigns. Corporate reputation management slid down the line into the basement and has not been able to climb back up since. To this day, I meet CEOs who strongly believe that reputation management …