Sandra Macleod

Dear Prince, you are extremely well advised to listen closely to all of the signals, however faint, of impending bad news. They are your only first line of defense. You need to constantly scan your kingdom for signals of bad things that are about to happen […] This is the only chance you have to gain advantage. Therefore, set up throughout your kingdom ears and eyes that can pick up the weakest signals before they are apparent to your enemies.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), Italian philosopher who is considered to be the founder of modern political science

Sandra Macleod is advisor and contributing editor for Editorial Intelligence. She is chief executive of Echo Research Limited and a board member of Echo Research Inc. She used the Machiavelli quote above in a presentation she gave at the conference of the International Public Relations Association Gulf Chapter in Kuwait. In the context of her discussion of 'stakeholder research' Machiavelli is described as an 'expert'.

Background

Macleod's profile for Echo states:

Sandra has more than twenty years' experience in communications and reputation analysis and evaluation. Sandra's International career spans Canada, France and the UK, including PA Management Consultants. Author and lecturer across five continents, Sandra has contributed to books on professional accountability and corporate social responsibility. Sandra is the first international Trustee of the Institute for Public Relations in the USA, a Companion of the Chartered Institute of Management, and on the Board of the Finance and Performance Review Committee of the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF)". She is also a Freeman of the City of London Guild of Public Relations.

She has been in 'communications and reputation analysis and evaluation' for 20 years. Her European PR consultancy, Hayes Macleod, won the Best New Agency of the Year Award in 1989. One regular activity of the PR industry are 'awards' ceremonies. Hayes Macleod was a short lived venture with her fellow Echo Research Non Executive Director, Roger Hayes. Hayes is the Executive Director of the International Institute of Communications (founded in 1968 with the support of the Ford Foundation) whose career includes "senior positions with the British Nuclear Industry Forum, Ford of Europe, Thorn EMI, PA Consulting and Burson-Marsteller" and Pinnacle PR.

Echo, echo

According to its website, Echo Research is

the premier global specialist in reputation analysis and stakeholder research. It enables clients to measure how they are viewed, accurately and impartially, and to protect their brands and reputation.

Sanda Macleod was partner to Roger Hayes at their corporate communications firm Hayes Macleod which was set up in 1988. Hayes Macleod was later sold to Citigate in 1991. Roger Hayes is also a Non Executive Director with Echo.

Macleod's profile as a Trustee of the Institute for Public Relations adds that she is also a "Fellow of the Institute of Public Relations (UK), a Member of the Market Research Society, an Editorial Advisor to the Corporate Communications Journal, and Member of the Advisory Committee to Stirling University (Department of Film and Media Studies)".

In a press release written by Macleod for Echo in 2005, Macleod is described as being "formerly with PA Management Consultants and a board member of the DTI's Business Links".

Her fellow director at Echo is Roger Hayes, the Executive Director of the International Institute of Communications (founded in 1968 with the support of the Ford Foundation whose career includes "senior positions with the British Nuclear Industry Forum, Ford of Europe, Thorn EMI, PA Management Consultants and Burson-Marsteller..." and Pinnacle PR

Conferences and Events

Macleod was a member of the International Public Relations Association Summit Advisory Board in 2006. Macleod has contributed to two 'Gold Papers' for the International Public Relations Association: “Quality, Customer Satisfaction, Public Relations” and “Public Relations Evaluation: Professional Accountability”.

Top Hundred

In a press release from Echo in 2006, Macleod "has been named as one of the 100 most influential figures in the PR industry in the UK", according to trade magazine PR Week.