COVID-19: dodge the Zoom Bombers and get your webinars right
By choosing the right web conferencing tool for your needs and following some simple security steps, you can unlock a whole new world of face-to-face communications for your employees, clients, customers and other stakeholders.
COVID-19: how data is helping us understand the pandemic
The science of data visualisation is helping us tell important stories better than ever before.
COVID-19: getting your tech right in a lockdown
In the past couple of weeks, an incredible number of Australian businesses have responded to the COVID-19 crisis by enabling employees to work either from home or other remote locations. We’ve implemented this at Cannings Purple and many of our clients and referrers are also now working away from the office. But having a desire to work remotely is one thing and doing it effectively is quite another. There are communications challenges that need to be navigated and cyber security questions that need to be answered. There is also the very important issue of what technology you are going to use and
Staying cyber-secure while keeping your social distance
We don't know how long the COVID-19 crisis will last - but there are important cyber security steps we should take while working away from our usual environments.
Navigating Facebook’s new world of privacy
Users are now being given the opportunity to make more transparent choices about their data - it's up to them whether they take it.
The 268 Podcast: is Facebook really listening in on me?
It's a disconcerting feeling - receiving targeted Facebook advertising that aligns frighteningly closely with a topic you've just been talking about.
On or off-brand? The West Coast Eagles’ new club song
Football clubs walk the line between staying connected to their past and embracing change, Adam Elovalis writes.
Our experts predict the biggest trends of 2020
Cannings Purple experts take a look into the crystal ball and forecast the trends they expect to see emerging in months to come.
Disney drama highlights important data breach trend
The drama-filled launch of Disney + wasn't what the content giant might have hoped for - but it did highlight an important trend in data breaches in Australia and around the world.
Don’t be a Luddite and rage against the machine
It takes skilled people to get the best out of technological capability - and that's a story we need to get much better at telling.
Don’t shoot the messenger: our world relies on it
The rise and rise of messenger apps seemingly knows no bounds. And it might only just be getting started.
Topical talks at the Perth Resources Technology Showcase
From BHP's new boss to robots galore, Peter Klinger takes a look at the Resources Technology Showcase ahead of its start in Perth.
Why deep fakes should trigger deep thinking
We’re at an interesting point in our history when it comes to identity manipulation. And the consequences could be alarming.
Cannings Purple up for global PR award
The winners of the global SABRE Awards will be announced in Washington next month.
Millennials are more interested in news than you think
If you think about millennials as a generation uninterested in the world around them, it's time you thought again.
What is ‘branded journalism’ and how The 268 is leading the way
Our news and thought leadership hub has been shortlisted for a major global content award.
Are you accidentally breaking copyright rules?
The inspiring news clipping you’re just about to share on social media could also put your organisation at legal risk.
Automation, artificial intelligence and the modern workplace
For centuries, debate has raged about whether machines will take over our jobs. But are our fears legitimate?
Authenticity may not really be what you’re looking for
Recently I was asked to speak in Sydney at the Corporate Affairs Summit, Australasia’s most senior and significant gathering of corporate affairs and communication executives. These events are always a perilous mix of unusual insight (this year a senior leader from tobacco company Philip Morris was the day one keynote speaker) and potential navel-gazing, as 300-plus communications professionals meet in the same room. But the panel I was on was particularly interesting, even if I do say so myself! I was asked to discuss the importance of authenticity in professional communications, especially with regards to large-scale consumer communications. This is a fascinating topic,
Parents: the forgotten user group
Whether it's parental control apps being removed by Apple or filter-less family plans from Spotify, parents seem to be a low-visibility group for big tech.
More than 10 million people hit by one data breach
We had our biggest notifiable data breach to date in the first three months of this year - and it affected an awful lot of people.
Why I finally ditched my iPhone (and what I learned)
I got my first iPhone (the 3GS) in 2009. At the time, it felt like taking a quantum leap from what had been a fairly boring world of same-same mobile (as opposed to smart) phones. I remember the excitement of leaving the Motorolas and Sony Ericssons and Nokias behind, and embracing what looked like a thrilling new future of productivity and connectivity. It’s now more than a decade on, and I’ve stayed loyal to Apple, becoming more and more entrenched in its ecosystem. But I’ve also become aware that by only using one type of phone from one provider and for
How Facebook could really help decide the Federal Election
If you want to get a glimpse of how next month’s Federal Election will be impacted through social media like never before, go to the Facebook pages of either the Liberal Party of Australia or the Australian Labor Party. Once you’re there, click on the “Info and ads” option on the left-hand side of the page. And then scroll…and scroll…and scroll some more. I gave up when I got past 50 ads for each party, all of them running concurrently. Plenty of the ads feature the same material, repurposed to target different electorates and demographics. But the sheer volume of sponsored posts
Is Facebook finally getting serious about privacy?
It’s amazing what $3 billion can do. In case you missed it, $US3 billion is the amount Facebook has announced it is setting aside to pay a fine relating to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Also in case you missed it – and on a very much related matter – Facebook today announced a major new commitment to privacy, as well as a pivot away from news feeds towards private messaging platforms and community-focused activity. That shift is unsurprising given the number of users for the Facebook-owned WhatsApp platform has grown to an estimated 1.6 billion – double what it was four years ago. But
What the one-percenters can do for your digital activities – and your business
Sporting coaches and commentators can often be heard preaching about “one-percenters” – tiny, incremental efforts by individuals that make teams better. The phrase has become so commonplace in football that it borders on being cliché. But it actually references an extremely important part of business practice. Marginal gains are a part of our everyday lives. We don’t always think about them – even when are seeking them – but we all engage in them. The concept of the “aggregation of marginal gains” has been around for centuries but the man credited with triggering the recent popularity of the phrase is cycling coach Sir
You don’t know what you don’t know…but what if you did?
In one of the most wonderful and bizarre sporting moments of 2018, Australian golfer Marc Leishman was asked by an intrepid reporter: “Do you know what you don’t know?” Leishman, widely regarded as one of the more genial figures in his sport and in action at The Masters this weekend, looked perplexed but politely did his best to understand the question and then answer it, before finally deciding on a response of “no”. Seven months on and the clip remains a cracker. https://twitter.com/Skratch/status/1037416555993358337 The question seemed out of place in a golf press conference but a variation of it is heard regularly in boardrooms
Why somebody else’s data breach crisis might also be yours
The recent hacking of information from a specialist cardiology unit in Melbourne highlights the importance of being prepared in advance for a data breach – potentially even one that doesn’t belong to you. The January attack “scrambled” the files of some 15,000 patients at the Melbourne Heart Group (MHG) clinic, with a cryptocurrency demand issued for the return of information believed to have been obtained using malware from North Korea or Russia. Some patients’ information was reportedly still missing weeks later and the situation was made even more intriguing by the possible on-flow of reputational damage to a third party: Cabrini Hospital.
What is ‘doxxing’ and what do we have to worry about?
We live in a connected world where our personal information, if not protected properly, is easier to access than it has ever been. Often that access, uninvited as it might be, is harmless enough. But in some instances it crosses the line into the realm of a personal attack, which can be both emotionally and financially harmful. Recently, the perils of ‘doxxing’ have been put under a new spotlight, after an ABC journalist wrote about his experience of being ‘trolled’ en masse. So what exactly is doxxing and why should you be worried about it? Doxxing defined The term is derived from dox, which is an abbreviation of documents. Dropping
‘Old’ news, cyber attacks and shifting cultural plates – seven trends to watch
We live in an ever-changing communications landscape, where the next big trend can go from nowhere-to-be-seen to near ubiquitous in matter of days (or even hours). Against a recent backdrop in which public trust has been tested like never before (from Trump to banking horror stories and Australian cricket disgrace), our experts give their takes on the communication trends they expect to see coming into focus in the near future. Number crunching for the win One of the biggest opportunities – and challenges – for many businesses will be around how they use data and whether it can become a predictive tool for
Data breaches show health’s ‘soft underbelly’
If there’s one common theme running through data breach statistics from around the world, it’s that the health care sector is particularly prone to information ending up in the wrong hands. In each of the four sets of statistics released by the Australian Office of the Information Commissioner as part of the Notifiable Data Breach Scheme, health has “led” the way. It accounted for 24 per cent of breaches in the first quarterly report in 2018 and 21 per cent in the most recent one. Health’s lowest mark – 18 per cent – is still higher than the percentage recorded by any