About Anastasia Ivanova

Anastasia Ivanova is an Account Director in the Corporate & Public Affairs Practice at Ketchum Pleon in London. She specialises in strategic and financial communications for energy, natural resources and technology companies, as well as EMEA clients. She is a massive fan of performing arts, travelling and photography. Follow her @nastissimo.

Author Archive | Anastasia Ivanova

Consumers Losing Trust In Brands

Over the past 12 months, UK consumers have lost trust in banks, media and politicians. The recent contamination of the food supply chain has become the latest addition to the list of consumer worries.

Clearly there isn’t much more customer trust and goodwill to go around. At the same time, businesses have faced growing pressure from politicians into how they conduct their operations and have been expected to operate on the basis of what’s considered fair – a notion that businesses should make the right moral choices and not simply rely on those that are legally required. What does this mean for the way businesses communicate?

Well, there are no longer ‘off the shelf’ template solutions! Companies need to be prepared to make bold decisions quickly and seek qualified advice from a combination of legal and communications consultants as they do it.

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60 Seconds with Ketchum: Creativity in Corporate Communications

Is there room for creativity in corporate communications? Leveraging my specialty in strategic communications, I seek to answer this question and share some best practice tips.

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Getting Communications Right in 2013

Despite the widely anticipated economic doom and gloom, 2012 has turned out to be a vintage year for the UK. The excitement of the Olympics, Paralympics and the Diamond Jubilee made 2012 a year of high hopes, anticipation and deep pride.

Sustaining this positivity will be the major challenge of 2013. The Eurozone’s financial troubles and austerity, the potential for low growth to become the new norm and the UK government’s apparent powerlessness in the face of these headwinds makes “business as usual” seem like the norm for communications managers.

More businesses could go under or be restructured. The survivors will be forced to look at the emerging markets for expansion, embracing cultural differences in business and communications. Against this backdrop, here are six communications challenges to be confronted in 2013:

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Award-Winning Artist Sadie Lee Headlines Art@Ketchum Pleon

Sadie’s Holly Woodlawn large-scale painting Holly Woodlawn Posing II

Ketchum Pleon London’s reception area, turned into an art gallery in 2009 to inspire creativity of its employees and support the local artistic community, proudly unveils “Transformers” this week: an exhibition of powerful portraits by award-winning artist Sadie Lee. If you are in London tonight, come over for the “meet the artist” event hosted by Ketchum Pleon London this Thursday, 30 August at 6.00pm UK time at 35-41 Folgate Street, London, E1 6BX!

The exhibition is part of an ongoing  Art@Ketchum  Pleon programme that already showcased a number of famed British artists, including works by some of the U.K.’s leading linocut artists, such as Paul Catherall, Bodymap’s David Holah, John Lee Bird (artist), Gail Mallatratt (printer), Andy Whale (photographer), Monica Curtin (photographer), Tom Frost (illustrator) and others.

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Outsource Your Stress to an Agency

Sometimes it’s difficult to believe that PR is the seventh most stressful job, after police officer, fireman and enlisted soldier.  However, this year things are different. All of a sudden, PR professionals have found themselves on the front lines of exploding issues within their respective businesses. Headlines on the “shareholder spring”, alleged unethical business practices, and tax minimization issues have given us a taste of what it’s like to be a communications professional today. Interestingly enough, there are other issues that keep PR professionals up at night.

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Powering the Global Energy Sector

There is an infinite number of ways miscommunication can undermine a business. It’s a no-brainer. However, last week’s London Business School Energy Forum reveals that lack of communication can undermine the whole sector. In this case, the European energy sector. In the UK – of all places – the lights are predicted to go out in 2016. What does that have to do with communications, you’ll ask?

Let’s see. For too long the EU energy companies, regulators and academia have been operating in a bit of a vacuum, with their own targets to hit and a variety of stakeholders to consider. The elephant in the room – the real cost and effects of renewable energy and carbon reduction targets for Europe – has been left hanging in the air for too long. Indeed – the regulators kept regulating – and utilities “voted” with their money.

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60 Seconds with Ketchum: Coalition Government Engagement

60 Seconds with Ketchum: Coalition Government Engagement

Public affairs engagement under a Coalition Government has to be different.

Why?

Because the UK Coalition Government is proving to be much more receptive to wider interests in contrast to the narrow focus of previous single party governments.

Check out Rupert Lewis’ insights on why 2012 is a year of opportunity.

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