POPCOM

02/09/2026

28% of Australians delayed or skipped dental care last year because of cost. No surprise more of them are getting on a plane instead.

Money Magazine's deep dive into dental tourism weighed up the real savings against the real risks, including one patient who faced $80k in repair costs after treatment went wrong overseas. The question underneath all of it: who do you actually trust to get this right?

Their answer included Xavier Mito, founder of The Medical Agency, landed by Lindsay Cu***ng as the go-to voice on how a dental tourism agency works, from vetting overseas clinics to coordinating the whole trip.

That's the difference between chasing coverage and earning position. It's not just getting mentioned in the story. It's becoming the source the outlet turns to when its readers need someone to trust.

Full story, link in bio.

24/08/2026

Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn have all rolled out AI content labelling this year. If you've seen a genuine photo get tagged "Made with AI" and wondered why, the answer isn't as simple as "the platform doesn't like Canva."

What's actually happening is that Instagram reads C2PA Content Credentials, a metadata signature embedded in a file recording what tools touched it. If you've used one of Canva's AI-assisted features, its AI photo editor, background generator or image generator, that tool writes the signature into the file on export. Instagram reads it on upload, and the label can appear even when the AI involvement was minor.

Plain design work in Canva, cropping, text, colour, template layout, generally doesn't trigger the same flag. It's the AI-powered features specifically, not Canva as a platform.

Worth knowing if your brand relies on Instagram for anything client-facing: the detection is metadata based, not visual, so it can't tell a lightly-edited real photo from a fully synthetic one. And once a label's live on a post, it can't be removed from that post.

Elly Georgiou has written up the full mechanics, and what to actually do about it, on the Popcom blog. See link in comments.

Full disclosure - we used Canva to edit the attached images. That dog doesn't really have blue hair.

17/08/2026

When the call comes at 6am, most businesses aren't ready.

The first three hours matter more than any hour after. Hour one is assessment: get the facts before you react, because a confident statement built on half the picture is worse than no statement at all. Hour two is a holding statement: "no comment" reads as guilt, even when there's nothing to hide. A short, honest line that says you're aware and taking it seriously buys you time without committing you to a position. Hour three is proactive: get ahead of the story by briefing staff, clients and stakeholders before they hear it elsewhere.

A crisis communications plan isn't a document that sits in a drawer. It's a plan that's ready before you need it.

Does your firm have one? DM us.

13/08/2026

The most credible person in the room is often the least visible and it's not an accident.

Professional services teaches people to be excellent at the work, not to talk about it. Self-promotion, especially in Australia, reads as unprofessional. Modesty reads as competence. So the best people stay quiet, and the loudest people become the face of the industry.

That has a cost. Clients hire the person they've heard of, not the most capable one. And when the quiet expert eventually leaves a firm, the firm's profile leaves with them, because it was never built anywhere else.

The way we see it, visibility isn't ego, it's business infrastructure. It's a skill, like negotiation or writing. You can learn it, or you can hand it to someone who does it for a living.

07/08/2026

There is a particular kind of client conversation that no financial model fully prepares you for.

The client who received a total and permanent disability payout last year. The one whose father just passed away, leaving behind a cost base of 79 cents in CSL and a lifetime of unrealised gains. The one whose plan - built carefully, agreed upon just a month ago - needs to be reconsidered entirely because the budget changed everything.

These are the moments that test whether advice actually lands.

Knowing your clients at a human level is not a soft skill. It is the most operationally important thing an adviser can build, and it is what Nicola Beswick - Financial Planner at White Rabbit Advisory lives for.

Grateful to Laurence Parker-Brown and The Inside Adviser for the opportunity to talk with Nicola and produce this article.

https://insideadviser.com.au/when-life-changes-suddenly-the-quality-of-the-relationship-is-what-makes-advice-land/

Life transitions can reshape portfolio construction and deep client relationships matter more than rigid financial models.

05/08/2026

Every organisation deserves to have its story told. Some stories matter even more.

At Popcom, we're proud to partner with The Women's Housing Company as their pro bono communications agency.

For more than 40 years, The Women's Housing Company has provided safe, affordable housing and homelessness services for women and children across NSW. Last year alone, the organisation housed almost 1,700 women and children and supported more than 300 women experiencing homelessness. Their vision is simple but powerful: that every woman and her family has a safe place to call home.

Behind every statistic is a woman rebuilding her life. A family finding stability. A future that looks a little brighter.

As communications professionals, we know that raising awareness isn't just about publicity. It's about helping organisations connect with donors, partners, advocates and governments so they can expand their impact.

We're honoured to contribute our expertise to an organisation creating lasting change for women across NSW, and we're excited to help amplify their voice in the years ahead.

If you haven't heard of The Women's Housing Company, take a moment to learn more about the incredible work they do.

03/08/2026

Nicola Beswick isn't just a financial adviser.

She's becoming the voice Australians turn to when the financial decisions get hard.

The AFR. The Sydney Morning Herald. Money Magazine. ABC News. The Inside Adviser. Money Management. InfoChoice.

In the last 12 months, Nicola has been quoted across the publications her clients, and her future clients, actually read. On emergency funds. On inheritance planning. On the real cost of homeownership. On what it means to truly know the people you advise.

This didn't happen by accident.

Nicola has a perspective that's genuinely different. She comes to financial advice with a background in law, a belief that knowing a client at a human level is the most operationally important thing an adviser can build, and her practice White Rabbit Advisory, is designed around exactly that.

Our job is to make sure the media knows it too.

PR for professional services isn't about getting your name in print.
It's about being in the right conversation, in the right publication, at the right moment — so that when someone needs an adviser they trust, your name is already familiar.

That's what we build.

Congratulations Nicola and the team. This is what owning your expertise looks like and we love working with you!

31/07/2026

Corporate communications has become one of the most strategic functions inside modern organisations. These HBR insights are well worth adding to your reading list if you're responsible for reputation, leadership or stakeholder engagement - check out the most popular articles of 2026 so far.

In the July 20, 2026, edition of The Insider , managing editor Gretchen Gavett highlights the most popular articles for HBR subscribers so far this year, as well as a roundup of more recent must-reads and listens. Plus, Gavett invites subscribers to take the new Insider Insights survey about leaders...

27/07/2026

Reputation is rarely lost in the moment you're prepared for.

Last week, Service NSW, a government agency, filmed staff dancing to promote Census sign-ups while callers sat on hold for 36 minutes - the latest chapter in a decade-long story of long waits and longer queues. It's not really about the dancing. It's about timing, and about a public that's more stretched, more anxious, and more dependent on these exact services than it used to be. What reads as charming from a brand you follow by choice reads very differently from one you're relying on to get by.

At the same time, a quieter shift has been building. For the first time, Australians say they trust a stranger's online review more than a friend's recommendation - 62%, up from 54% a year ago. The comment left at 11pm by someone you've never met is now doing more persuading than word of mouth ever did!

Different stories, but the same lesson: reputation isn't decided in the campaign you plan. It's decided in the hold music, the unanswered review, the split-second choice of what to prioritise when no one's supposed to be watching.

Full breakdown of both stories visit the Popcom website. Link in comments. :)

15/07/2026

There’s no value in being the best-kept secret in your industry 🗞️
 
Your work can be excellent and still invisible.