At the weekend, my husband and I found ourselves doing something ordinary. He was cleaning our house windows while I got stuck into tidying the front garden. As I swept leaves, moss, and cigarette butts from the pavement and kerbside outside our home, my young granddaughter came outside to see what I was doing.
She asked me, “Why are you cleaning the street? It’s not part of your house.”
A fair question, coming from someone still learning the difference between ‘mine’, ‘theirs’, and ‘ours’.
I told her, quite simply, “Because appearance is everything, if the path and kerbside look messy, then it’s pointless making the garden look nice.”
As I continued brushing up what the wind and bins had scattered, I began thinking about that response more deeply, especially in relation to what we do here at Keith Bishop Public Relations.
The bit of pavement and road I was sweeping doesn’t belong to me. Legally, it’s not my responsibility. But it’s outside my home, and so it reflects on me. Anyone walking by doesn’t care where my boundary line technically ends. They’ll make a snap judgment based on what they see.
And that, in a nutshell, is public relations.
A brand, like a home, is defined not just by what’s inside, but by how it looks from the outside. What people observe, hear, read, or even overhear about you forms the basis of their perception, whether accurate or not.
In PR, we work in that same space. The kerbside, if you like. We ensure what’s outside your door reflects the values, standards, and strengths within your brand.
Once upon a time, councils employed many street sweepers — real people and big machines — to keep the roads and kerbsides clean. It was understood that left untended, pavements, roadside gutters and alleyways gather grime, weeds grow in cracks, and litter accumulates. And when that happens, public pride fades too.
The same principle applies to brands. In a world where social media never sleeps, public perception is always active. A single offhand comment, a misunderstood post, a poor image, or even silence during a sensitive time can have long-lasting effects. Like moss on a pavement, small problems stick and grow if not swept away regularly.
That’s why at Keith Bishop Public Relations, we don’t just wait for crises to unfold — we actively monitor, shape, and maintain our clients’ reputations. From celebrity personalities and TV networks to luxury brands and corporate entities, we help ensure that when the public takes a look, they see something polished, credible, and trusted.
It wasn’t my litter on the pavement — it was windblown packaging and someone else’s cigarette. But does it matter whose it was? If it’s sitting in front of my house, it becomes my problem by association.
The same is true for your brand. In PR, sometimes the mess isn’t yours to begin with. It might be a news cycle spinning the wrong way, an off-brand mention, or even someone else’s mistake affecting your sector. But when the public sees your name next to it, they make the connection.
That’s why reputation management is such a critical part of what we do. It’s not just about promoting good news — it’s also about responding fast, correcting misinformation, and ensuring that whatever passes by your doorstep doesn’t become a permanent stain.
My granddaughter’s innocent question — “Why bother?” — hit on something adults often ask too, in different terms. Why invest in appearances? Why pay for PR? Why handle something that “isn’t technically your responsibility”?
Because ignoring it won’t make it go away. And because what people see — and believe — shapes your entire relationship with your customers, audience, and stakeholders.
Children often think in black and white. If it’s not yours, don’t touch it. If no one’s watching, it doesn’t matter. But brands don’t have the luxury of simplicity. In the real world, everything communicates something — the way a statement is worded, how quickly you respond to events, or even who you collaborate with.
People watch. They remember. And they talk.
Most people walking past my house won’t notice the pavement at all — because it looked clean. That’s the irony of good PR. When it’s working, you often don’t even see it. There’s no drama, no crisis, no scandal. Just trust, credibility, and smooth storytelling. Like a spotless path, it simply feels right.
But it takes work. Continual, careful, often unnoticed effort.
At Keith Bishop Public Relations, we specialise in that kind of work. The visible and invisible. The strategic and the reactive. The sweeping, the polishing, and — when necessary — the rebuilding. Whether you’re launching a new product, managing a public profile, handling a reputation issue, or just making sure your brand stays spotless, we’re here to help.
Because in business, as in life, appearance really is everything.
