PRmoment Podcast

This week, we’re celebrating 15 years of the Taylor Bennett Foundation, and to do that, we’re talking to 3 of its alumni about how the programme helped their careers. On the PRmoment Podcast today, we’re talking to Kwaku Aning,  Shanice Hoo Mills and Toni Adeola

For those of you not aware of the Taylor Bennett Foundation - well, I’d suggest you should! It’s an amazing charity that exists to encourage black, Asian and minority ethnic graduates to pursue a career in communications. It does this through its PR training programme, internships and mentoring programmes.

Established by communications executive search firm Taylor Bennett in partnership with the University of East London and founding agency Brunswick in 2008, the Foundation seeks to address the need for greater diversity in the public relations sector.

With the support of leading communication companies, The Taylor Bennett Foundation runs professional development programmes that provide participants with the knowledge, skill set and network required to pursue a successful career in communications.

And what better way to celebrate the 15th birthday of the foundation than to chat with three recent alumni about the programme and how it has benefited their careers?

Kwaku Aning is currently senior director at FTI Consulting and completed the Taylor Bennett Foundation programme in 2016.  Shanice Hoo Mills is the founder of PR firm Kallure, which she launched in 2019. MHP sponsored Shanice and Kwaku’s Taylor Foundation intake.

Toni Adeola is the global corporate affairs manager at Charlotte Tilbury Beauty. Previously, she worked at Brunswick for five years. Toni completed the Taylor Bennett program in 2017. Brunswick was the sponsor of Toni’s intake of the programme.

Before we start, if you haven’t already, look at our new event PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum.

At this one event, 22 experts will give 11 Masterclasses on essential elements of managing a modern, profitable and successful PR firm.

Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.

Finally, thanks to PRmoment’s data and insight partners, Meltwater, for supporting this podcast.

Here’s a summary of what Kwaku, Toni and Shanice talked about on the show:

3 mins For any of our listeners who are not aware of the Taylor Bennett Foundation, Kwaku Aning talks us through what the charity does.

4.30 mins Toni Adeola tells us what she was doing in life before she went onto the Taylor Bennett programme.

6 mins Toni tells about the type of course content and what she found most useful.

9 mins Shanice Shields-Mills talks us through how the Taylor Bennet Foundation helped her.

14 mins Shanice talks about how long the programme lasts and what content she found most useful.

18 mins Kwaku talks about why interns being paid to go on the Taylor Bennett Foundation is such a game-changer.

“It feels good to be part of something that was ahead of its time. That’s positive.”

20 mins Kwaku outlines how PR employers out there can get involved with the scheme and potentially sponsor an intake,

“They need to have an honest conversation with themselves first. Are they doing this for the right reasons…or are they doing it as an exercise to make themselves feel better.”

“The comms industry still has a massive retention issue.”

“It’s diversity, inclusion but also having equity. ..the equity part of that is important.”

27 mins Kwaku talks about what he learned on the programme that helped him the most in his career.

“Once the programme was finished, I felt so confident in myself.”

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.

This week, we’re chatting to Alex Aiken, long-time executive director of the UK Government’s Communication Service.

Alex has worked with six Prime Ministers when they've had to make their most crucial decisions.  He worked in government communications during Brexit, during the COVID crisis, when the queen died and when Russia invaded Ukraine.

In short, he’s been in the room during many of the most difficult periods of the UK government since the Second World War.

He was appointed in December 2012 and has overseen a huge change in UK Government Communications. Currently, part of Alex’s role is to counter the disinformation spread by foreign governments about the UK and its allies.

Whatever your politics, it's acknowledged globally that UK Government Communications is a global leader in ensuring the effectiveness of its communications to the UK public.

Before we start, if you haven’t already, look at our new event PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum.

At this one event, 22 experts will give 11 Masterclasses on essential elements of managing a modern, profitable and successful PR firm.

Finally, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.

Here are some of the highlights of what Alex and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:

2 mins What does a good disinformation campaign currently look like?

3 mins How digital and social media have added extraordinary scale to Russia’s disinformation campaigns.

4 mins Is there much evidence that people are becoming more circumspect to Russia’s disinformation campaigns?

4.30 mins Alex talks us through the principles of countering disinformation: strong and independent media, educated citizens and good public information.

“AI, bots and digital media mean we’ve got disinformation campaigns on steroids- it’s easier, cheaper and quicker to do now than it’s ever been.”

9 mins “(For the European Union, The UK, The US and the G7), it’s only by working together to identify disinformation, by attributing it…and by working on the stories we want to tell that we will be able to combat it.”

“To some extent, the UK can withstand disinformation, but smaller countries (those with newer democracies and a less independent media) are more at risk.”

10 mins Alex shares his concerns about the attack of disinformation on democracies.

He refers to the book Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda from the Ancient World to the Present Era by author Philip M. Taylor, which suggests that the sophisticated digital propaganda of today poses a serious threat to democracy.

“For centuries, information has been a powerful component of military doctrine.”

“Information is a very powerful tool. Sometimes the public relations profession underestimates the power and value of its own currency of information…of truth told well.”

12 mins Does Alex agree with this quote from the Freedom House Report on “Beijing's Global Media Influence 2022:

“The Chinese government, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, is accelerating a massive campaign to influence media outlets and news consumers around the world.”

15 mins How much of Alex’s current role is to try and coordinate Western government’s response to Chinese, Russian and North

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.

This is a bonus podcast where we chat about Rajar’s latest results. For those of you who aren’t aware of Rajar - it was established in 1992 and operates the single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom.

Each quarter, it publishes the listenership figures for UK radio. This offers a really interesting insight for PR people on how the UK public engages with this important channel.

Today, we have Alex Blakemore, newsroom producer at Markettiers, to talk us through the latest Rajar results for Q3 2023.

Thanks to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors, The PRCA.

Also, a heads up to our PRmoment Podcast data partners - Meltwater. Do check out the program for PRmoment’s new conference launch, The PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum.

Highlights include:

Radio's weekly reach is 49.5 million adults, that’s 88% of the population listening to the radio for 20.5 Hours per week.

The total BBC share of radio listening is 43%. So, in terms of the BBC vs commercial radio race, we have the BBC on 31.7m and commercial radio on 39.3m (reach).

Alex discusses the changes in scheduling at BBC local radio and what they mean for PR folks.

The impact of the Ken Bruce effect on Greatest Hits Radio numbers and whether BBC Radio 2’s reach has declined due to Ken Bruce leaving.

A discussion of how Greatest Hits radio strategy of national programming with local bulletins and the implications of that for PRs.

The PR Network is a £5m fee-income global tech PR agency based in the UK. It has ten employees, no head office and 1300 associates all around the world who it can call upon. On average, it has 70-90 associates working for it at any one time.

Before we start, we’ve just launched our latest webinars. One is our annual The Creative Year in Review 2023, and the other is PR Analytics 2023. Do check out the PRmoment homepage for all the details.

Finally, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.

Here is a summary of what Eileen and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed.

2 mins How many global PR campaigns are there these days?

2.30 mins Should most global PR firms be more accurately regarded as multi-territory?

“There are 195 total markets in the world; in terms of markets you could go to (with a PR campaign), maybe 130-140.”

“For us, when you're looking at the global/multi-territory piece, it comes down to the client set-up.”

“If a client is working in 40 markets, 40 markets for them is global.”

“The PR Network has a presence in 60 markets.”

7 mins What is the model for an international PR campaign now? Is the wheel and spoke model still dominant?

“Where we’ve seen the best campaigns come together is where you work with a consultative approach with the local agency teams.”

9 mins Is there a paradox between retaining control of an international campaign and giving people room to adapt a campaign for local markets? Isn't that a tension that will exist forever?

10 mins How many markets do the big global PR firms tend to have owned offices in? 

“The world's biggest PR firm has 29 wholly owned offices, and to cover the other markets, it works with 26 affiliates.”

14 mins Is there an alternative to the wheel and spoke model?

16 mins Eileen talks about the PR Network model and how they manage any client conflicts with their associates.

17 mins There are four ways of tacking an international PR campaign: 1) Doing the whole thing in-house, 2) Going through a global PR firm, 3) Using an international network of independent agencies, or 4) Hiring a virtual independent consultant firm like PR Network?

Eillen discusses which of these approaches is the most popular.

20 mins 70% of The PR Network’s work is international, making it a very different type of independent PR firm.

“The international piece for us is an opportunity to scale and grow.”

21 mins Are there regional trends in the types of content that work across different international PR and media markets?

On the PRmoment Podcast today, Pangolin PR co-founders David Phillips and Will Cookson reflect on ten years of running their agency.

Pangolin is a consumer PR shop in London with a fee incline of £1.75m. Clients include Pernod and Pepsi, and it employs 17 people.

On the show today, we will reflect on their regrets, lessons and achievements as they look back on ten years of owning their own business.

To deal with the elephant in the room straight away - some listeners out there might be pointing out that many firms have exceeded £1.76 m over ten years, but in a way, that’s the whole point.

Ultimately this is a story of success but only with a few wrong turns along the way, which makes it an interesting story.

Before we start, if you haven’t already, look at our new event PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum.

At this one event, 22 experts will give 11 Masterclasses on essential elements of managing a modern, profitable and successful PR firm.

Finally, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.

Here’s a summary of what David, Will and Ben discussed on the show:

2 mins David and Will talk about their “real naivety about setting up a business” when they started their firm.

“I genuinely think we were the most naive co-founders back in the day…we were senior account directors when we set up the business.”

4 mins Do they wish they’d given it a few more years in a big agency before starting on their own?

“We’ve learnt everything on the job..it’s meant it’s been slower.”

“We’re not natural risk takers.”

“We were both in our late 20s and didn't have massive commitments…if someone were to ask me to set up a business now, it would be a very different story.”

9 mins  Freuds has a mythical status amongst some consumer PR folks - is that a vital cog in your story?

10 mins When Pangolin launched, it was called Caffeine. Will talks us through why they had to change the name?

“There’s a wider lesson there about what to do when it goes legal.”

15 mins Will and David tell us how they bought a ticket to win the Pepsi account.

“Dave slightly overcooked it on the cocktails the night before.”

“It just shows that you have to take a risk at some point, and it might work out.”

19 mins David talks us through why they nearly decided to say no to the Pernod Ricard account in their first year of business.

“We had a look at the current clients on our roster, which included a birdseed brand and a few others, and thought let's do it and see where it takes us!... It’s led to a 10-year relationship with Pernod Ricard.”

24.30 mins 70% of Pangolin’s work is project-based. David and Will talk us through why that is.

28 mins 50% of Pangolin’s work is UK-based, and 50% is global. Why is that? It’s quite rare for a consumer PR shop of its size.

30 mins What do global consumer PR campaigns look like at the moment? Are they a media brief or a social media brief?

“Brands want a percentage share of conversation online.”

“We’ve had the best year to date; revenue has grown by 25%.”

“New business feels a bit slower, a bit stickier.”

34 mins How big do David and Will want Pangolin to get?

37 mins Do David and Will believe they have benefited from founding Pangolin together, or do they wish they’d been solo founders?

“Dave and I talk about things A LOT!.... Sometimes we need to stop talking about stuff and just do it.”

“When we were at Freuds, W

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.

Welcome to our October review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch.

He is the lead consultant - PR, Social, Content and Influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR and a partner at PCB Partners, where he advises on buying and selling marketing services agencies.

Andrew was also a co-founder at PR agency Frank PR, where he is still a non-executive director at Frank PR.

Thanks to our PRmoment Podcast sponsors, The PRCA.

A reminder about our new event PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum.

At this one event, 22 experts will give 11 Masterclasses on essential elements of managing a modern, profitable and successful PR firm. 

Here’s a summary of what Andrew and PRmoment founder discuss as PR enters its golden quarter!

2 mins This month's PR agency pitch wins news:

• The Romans win Deliveroo
• PHA win England Golf
• Stripe win White & Mackay
• Made by Giants win YouLend
• Taylor Herring win Sky Mobile and Sky Broadband
• Mission agencies Speed and Krow win the Post Office
• Tigerbond win Justgiving
• Pitch win EA Sports FC
• Third City win Nespresso
• Four win The National Lottery Heritage Fund
• Firstlight win Chivas Brothers
• Circle PR win Fairmont Hotels
• M&C Saatchi win Elizabeth Arden 

12.30 mins Andrew reflects on the current state of the PR new business market as we enter the busy Christmas period

“The markets in a decent place…there’s hesitancy, but great agencies always do well despite the economy.”

“The tech sector needs to realign and readjust, but it’s not going anywhere - it will come back strong.”

15 mins Andrew talks about this month's M&A activity

“There a lot going on this month - both trade (deals) and private equity.”

• Havas acquires Australian Public Affairs (APA)
• Omnicom acquires Plus Comms and FP1 - US-based corporate PR and lobbying firms.

“This is all about the run into the US presidential election.”

• Milltown acquire the tech policy consultancy Taso
• SEC Newgate aquire Wepublic, a corporate agency in the Netherlands.
• Tyto acquires Its a Rep, a Dutch comms agency.
• Farner acquires Lansons.

“Farner now has about 17 agencies across Europe. Farner’s fee income is about $86m globally.”

“They’ve (Farner) have almost doubled in size in the last couple of years.”

“Farner is backed by Waterland Private Equity, the same private equity firm that backed the Markettiers deal.”

“The valuation of a business comes down to scale and specialist.”

The way that Waterland works is that they don’t like to get into bids…they want a partner. They invest time in a non-competitive process.”

“It (Lansons) was an EOT, which sometimes makes it (a sale) a complex process.”

“Gordon Tempest Hay (ex Teneo/Blue Rubicon) joined Lansons 18 months/2 years ago, and...he's found them a buyer.”

“It’s interesting that Cirkle and Lansons both sold relatively soon after becoming an Employee Owned Trust (EOT).”

28 min Morrow Sodali, the US-based firm, acquires Powerscourt

“I think this deal is worth in excess of £50m.”

Welcome to PRmoment Podcast. This week it’s our October Global Creativity Review, so we are talking creativity with a gorgeous panel who will identify and chat about some of the best bits of creativity they have seen in the past month or so.

 On the show today to help us review some of the best creative work are:

 Daniel Glover, co-founder & creative director of The Academy

Olivia Mushigo, social creative, Coolr

James Gordon-MacIntosh, co-founder and chief creative officer, Hope&Glory PR

 To remind the listeners of the rules - our creatives are not allowed to choose their own work!

 This is our 4th global creativity review, so if you like what you hear, look back at the PRmoment Podcast archive on iTunes or Spotify to listen to more creative ideas.

 This special PRmoment Podcast about creativity is, naturally enough, bought to you in partnership with Creative Moment. You can subscribe to Creative Moment here.

 Here are a few highlights of what Dan, Olivia and James chatted about with PRmoment founder Ben Smith.

 2 mins Olivia talks us through some creativity-inducing viral moments/trends where brands have tapped into the news agenda.

9 mins Tube Girl and MAC at London Fashion Week.

“My money’s on Tube Girl having a slightly shorter shelf life.”

“One of the things to admire is the amazing speed at which beauty brands will spot a trend and then move on.”

10 mins Donald Trump’s prison mug shot on some anti-woke right-wing beer which then sells out!

“Make the money, honey.”

13 mins Dan Glover talks us through three campaigns that caught his eye this month, all featuring challenger brands using creativity to position themselves as market leaders.

“Simple ideas executed well.”

Pukka Pies at London Fashion Week - the pie of football: includes a kit range and the Pukka Athletic Club.

“I tip my hat to 6EZ Group.”

“I’m going to use this platform to appeal for a gluten-free pie.”

“It’s nice to see Pukka Pies embrace its role in society.”

17 mins Alzheimer Research UK Change the Ending rebrand by Above+Beyond ad agency.

“The creative is without doubt beautiful.”

“We’re a charity that doesn’t have a happy ending.”

21 mins Lick Paint’s and Heinz collab by Hope&Glory

“Heinz approached Lick in this instance.”

26 mins “There’s always one brand a year that nails it, and Heinz is having its moment.”

28 mins Heinz’s Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch Sauce and Taylor Swift’s tweet goes bonkers across earned media!

“I’m not a big fan of the fake mock-up…if you keep doing it, I will stop paying attention because I know it’s not real.”

32 mins KFC’s bespoke chicken bone jewellery

36 mins Avavav’s chaotic Milan Catwalk Video

36 mins Carrefour puts 'shrinkflation’ labels on its shelves during the cost of living crisis.

37 mins Ed Sheeran gatecrashes a wedding in Vegas

“Ed Sheeran is a one-man PR stunt machine.”

Welcome to a new PRmoment Podcast where we look at the PR job market with Dean Connolly, founder & PR recruitment director at Latte.

We talk about all things PR recruitment - discussing some of the trends in the PR job market, including the latest numbers from Latte’s 2023 PR salary guide.

If you’re interested in keeping an eye on the best PR jobs out there each week, subscribe for free to PRmoment’s Top 10 PR Jobs updates.

Before we start, if you haven’t already, do take a look at our new event PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum.

At this one event, 22 experts will give 11 Masterclasses on essential elements of managing a modern, profitable and successful PR firm.

Finally, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.

Here’s a summary of what Dean and PRmoment founder Bes Smith discussed:

2 mins Dean updates us on trends in the PR recruitment market in the UK

“We’re seeing a slowdown on the consumer side; jobs aren’t flowing as quickly in the consumer market.”

“Corporate has picked up in September.”

“Just because there’s a slowdown in the jobs market doesn’t mean an abundance of talent is available.”

5 mins  What has the impact of the tech slowdown been on the PR recruitment market?

“We find if someone’s been made redundant, they’ll have a job within 5 days - if they want it” (At the junior level)

“Employer brand for agencies is crucial for attracting talent.”

11 mins  Dean says the talent gap has reduced (the number of vacancies agencies have that they cannot fill), - but it’s still a growth limiting factor for agencies.

12.30 mins “We have seen salaries level out and plateau...I don’t think we’ll see salaries move again for another 6-12 months.”

“I think salary increases in PR will be a bit below inflation.”

14 mins Dean’s recruitment heat map:

• Healthcare Red Hot 10/10
• Corporate 9/10
• Tech 5/10
• Consumer 6/10

17.30 mins Dean gives us his PR salary band update (London-based roles)

• PR account executive £26-28 K
• PR senior account executive £28-33K
• PR account manager £35-40 K
• PR senior account manager £42 -£45K
• PR account director £50-55K
• PR senior account director £60-65 K
• PR associate director £70-80K
• PR director £85-£130K

23 mins  “Linkedin’s research says that mentioning a salary in a job advert is the key feature to get someone to apply for a job.”

24.30 mins An update on working from home/in the office trend.

“We’re seeing some agencies go back to 4/5 days a week in the office.”

“Whether you want to come into the office just depends on the commute.”

“We’re seeing the rise in the destination PR office.”

On the PRmoment Podcast today we’re chatting with Katie De Cozar, director of CCgroup about how to improve the DE&I of PR agencies.

CCgroup has made major changes to its business over the past 5 years which has seen significant improvements in the diversity of its employees.

CCgroup is a £6m revenue PR firm based in London with 46 employees. In 2020 17% of CCgroups employees were BME, in 2023 that has increased to 37%.

Some background stats for our listeners:

According to the CIPR State of the Profession Report 2022 89% of the PR sector is white, 11% black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic groups. (All UK-wide)

Government data from the UK Census 2021: 82% of people in England and Wales are white, and 18% belong to a black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic group

So we as a sector need to do better when it comes to encouraging a greater representation of people to work in public relations.

Before we start, if you haven’t already do take a look at our new event PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum. Katie will be joining a panel at the event on “Building partnerships to help shift the diversity of communication campaigns and the teams that create them.”

At this one event, 22 experts will give 11 Masterclasses on essential elements of managing a modern, profitable and successful PR firm.

Finally, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.

4.30 mins “We know that diverse teams outperform non-diverse teams.”

5 mins Where do PR leaders need to start their journey towards increasing the representation of minority groups within their PR teams?

5.30 mins “Representation in London of BME is around 46%.”

7 mins Katie talks about what data do you need to know when it comes to your company's diversity.

“Our gender pay gap has improved significantly, we’ve got work to do on our ethnicity pay gap.”

12 mins Katie talks about the need to communicate your diversity data in a transparent and fair way, both internally and externally.

13 mins Here is the link to the WIPR podcast with Jo Carr Ben mentioned in the show.

14 mins The other areas that are critically important to making progress on diversity are recruitment, bonuses & benefits and staff surveys. Katie talks us through why they are such important areas and gives an insight into the changes that CCgroup made.

“Importantly we got rid of the words ‘cultural fit!’”

“We have full transparency within pay bands within the business. One thing agencies must do is include pay bands within the job description… There’s a real danger to hiding that information.”

20 mins Katie talks about how CCgroup changed its recruitment processes to improve the diversity of candidates.

23 mins Katie describes how CCgroup has democratised its approach to rewarding staff bonuses - to make it a fairer and more transparent process.

26 mins Katie talks about the role of staff surveys in helping understand how its staff are feeling.

28 mins How CCgroup’s 360 appraisal process works.

31 mins Is CCgroup producing a different type of work than before it had a diverse team?

33 mins How has the culture of CCgroup improved?

35 mins Have clients noticed CCgroup's improvement in its approach to diversity?

37 mins

On the PRmoment Podcast this week we’re chatting with Andy Peake, London CEO of creative agency VCCP. I’ve known Andy for about 25 years so, to an extent, we’ve followed each other's careers with interest over a couple of decades!

As Andy is now CEO of one the largest creative agencies in London I thought it would be interesting to get him on the show to chat about the intersection of PR firms and advertising agencies. 

VCCP London has 850 employees and according to Nielson Billings Rankings is the UK’s highest billing creative agency with £483 m in billings, in 2022. Up 34% from £360m in 2021.

The agency was founded in 2002 and is owned by Chime, which also owns the PR agencies Good Relations and Harvard.

Chime is majority-owned by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners.

The intersection between PR firms and advertising firms has become an interesting one - because if you listen to a PR firm describe itself and an advertising firm describe itself, you’d think they have become basically the same or very similar. 

But they seem to rarely compete for briefs and clients' budgets - and we’ll be discussing that and no doubt much more on today’s PRmoment Podcast today.

Before we start, if you haven’t already do take a look at our new event PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum.

At this one event, 22 experts will give 11 Masterclasses on essential elements of managing a modern, profitable and successful PR firm.

Also, a reminder that the final entry deadline for the ESG Awards is 29th September 2023.

Finally, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors of the PRCA.

Here is a summary of what Andy and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed on the show:

2.30 mins As far as many PR people are concerned advertising agencies wedded themselves to producing 30-second TV ads that no one watches any more. So what have advertising agencies become?

5 mins What types of discipline specialists does VCCP have?

8 mins How does an advertising agency differ from a PR firm?

“The simplest way of categorising what different parts of the agency do is into paid, earned and owned and there’s obviously an enormous amount of overlap now.”

12 mins Andy talks about why he thinks don’t PR firms and advertising agencies compete against each other more often.

15.30 mins How much tension is there between a long-term strategic view of a brand strategy, with the need to respond to a news hook or an event?

19.30 mins Agency-wise we’re living in an era of specialism over the generalist. PR firms have more specialists than ever - but Andy talks us through the extent of specialism within VCCP.

22.30 mins With the level of specialisation in agencies now, is there a danger that everything just takes too long? How do you remove bureaucracy and hierarchy from a multi-specialised agency structure?

“The client shouldn't feel like there dealing with a big group of people.”

24.30 mins From the client's perspective, has the buying of marketing services either become or, is in danger of becoming, too confusing and too messy?

“You’ve got to find a way of constructing yourself as an agency, and as a client, that is going to make that experience for the customer as seamless and consistent as possible.”

27.30 mins How is the creative market for VCCP at the moment? If 2022 was an 8/10 where is the market now?

“You have to be winning new business. There are going to be reasons, which are completely out of your control, that mean some clients are not going to spend as much next year as they

On the PRmoment Podcast today we’re chatting with Jo Carr, the president of Women in PR. Jo is also co-founder of PR agency Hope&Glory.

Women in PR was founded in 1962. So it’s just turned 60!

It has 350 members and the profile of the organisation has grown a lot over the last 10 years or so.

Of all the trade associations in public relations, I’d suggest Women in PR is the one with the greatest momentum currently.

For our international listeners, there is an organisation called Global Women in PR, which has a similar remit.

Before we start, if you haven’t already do take a look at our new event PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum.

At this one event, 22 experts will give 11 Masterclasses on essential elements of managing a modern, profitable and successful PR firm.

Also, a reminder that the final entry deadline for the ESG Awards is 29th September 2023.

Finally, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors of the PRCA.

2.30 mins Jo talks us through the raison d’etre of Women in PR

“We are losing legions of brilliant women from our industry. Our (WIPR’s) mission is to increase the number and diversity of women in senior roles across the (PR) industry. We do that through networking and support, through mentoring and campaigning”.

5 mins Jo outlines the barriers stopping women from reaching the most senior roles in public relations: sexism, racism, life stage changes and employer support.

“The evidence shows that if…women don’t have an enlightened or progressive employer it can get in the way of their progression.”

6 mins Have PR employers become better employers of women in recent times?

8 mins Jo discusses the importance of having an employer brand in public relations.

9 mins There are about 60,000 women working in PR in the UK, so why do Women in PR only have 350 members?

10 mins Jo talks about what mentorees get out of the Women in PR mentoring scheme.

13 mins Jo reveals the secrets of being a great mentor.

“Great mentors are great listeners, you can’t see your mentee as a problem to be solved.”

15 mins To get the most out of mentoring, what do mentorees need to bring to the scheme?

“The combination between coaching and mentoring is very important”

15 mins Jo talks us through the difference between mentoring and coaching.

16 mins Jo discusses stats (from 2022) suggesting that the gender pay gap in public relations is getting worse.

“How do we we stop so many women from leaving (PR)? If they stayed that would have the biggest impact in reducing the gender pay gap.”

20 mins Jo discusses the changes the PR sector needs to make to reduce its gender pay gap.

23 mins How can PR employers help their female employers more?

27 mins Jo talks about how WIPR plans to increase its diversity.

28 mins Jo outlines a number of resources that are useful for employers and employees wanting more information about menopause and perimenopause including mymenopausecentre.com.

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.

Welcome to our September review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch.

He is the lead consultant - PR, Social, Content and Influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR and a partner at PCB Partners where he advises on buying and selling marketing services agencies.

Andrew was also a co-founder at PR agency Frank PR, where he is still a non-executive director.

Thanks to our PRmoment Podcast sponsors The PRCA.

A reminder about our new event PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum.

At this one event, 22 experts will give 11 Masterclasses on essential elements of managing a modern, profitable and successful PR firm.

Also, a reminder that the final entry deadline for the ESG Awards is 29th September 2023.

Here is a summary of what Andrew and PRmoment podcast host Ben Smith discussed on this week’s show:

2 mins Andrew gives us his rundown of this month's PR pitch wins

• Instinct wins Moonpig 
• Purple wins Yoo Capital
• Stir wins Dunkin Donuts
• Cirkle wins Wilkinson Sword
• Social Chain wins Holland & Barratt
• Hope&Glory wins Vision Express
• Mercia wins Wembley
• Ogilvy wins Muller
• One Green Bean wins Singapore Tourist Board
• Teneo wins The AA
• Powerscourt wins Rightmove
• Frank wins Cupra
• Axicom wins AMD 

“A gamechanger for Axicom”

15 mins Andrew updates us on this month’s M&A news:

Markettier’s acquisition of Sassy

Definition has raised £7m debt investment from ThinCats

An update on the $7 billion Syneos Health deal, which sees the firm go private.

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.

This is a bonus podcast where we chat about Rajar’s latest results. For those of you that aren’t aware of Rajar - it was established in 1992 and operates the single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom.

Each quarter it publishes the listenership figures for UK radio and this offers a really interesting insight for PR people on how the UK public is engaging with this important channel.

On the show today we have Alex Williamson, senior newsroom producer at Markettiers to talk us through the latest Rajar results for Q2 2023.

Thanks to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors, The PRCA.

Also a heads up to our PRmoment Podcast data partners - Meltwater. Do check out the program for PRmoment’s new conference launch The PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum.

1.30 mins Alex gives us the highlights of what PR professionals need to know about Rajar’s Q2 2023 results.

“49.5 million adults listen every week to the radio each, 88% of the (UK) population.”

3 mins Alex talks about the increasing gap between commercial radio and the BBC.

“Commercial radio reaches 39.1 million, the BBC reaches 31.6 million.”

“People want to be entertained.”

“Hits Radio has gone up from 1.7 to 1.8 million listeners, Jamie and  on Heart reach 3.8 m listeners, which is catching up with Greg James on BBC Radio 1 who has just dipped below 4 m, on 3.9 m listeners.”

“More than ¾ of main shoppers with kids, the people you want to reach, listen to commercial radio.”

5 mins Is it easier to target audience niches within commercial radio than BBC?

7 mins Why the modern structure of the radio market has big implications for PR planners.

9 mins The importance of local content for radio and the implications for PR professionals.

“The Ken Bruce effect has worked wonders for Greatest Hits Radio”

“The BBC is still the most trusted broadcaster.”

Today on the PRmoment Podcast we’re talking about values. We’re going part history lesson, part comms theory and part future gazing. To help talk us through that kaleidoscope we’ve Rebecca Grant, UK CEO and Global Chief Brand Officer of BCW on the show.

We’re going to talk about the importance of values in successful communication campaigns. 

The hope is that in 30 mins' time, you'll know about the basics of Schwartz’s values theory, why it matters to communications and we’ll give you an insight into the research BCW has done to take Schwartz’s theory and apply it to communications best practice.

So it’s a serious show and to match such a serious topic I should mention that it’s the very serious ESG Awards entry deadline in September! Take a look at all the categories on the ESG Awards website.

And thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors of the PRCA.
Here is a summary of what Rebecca and I discussed on the show:

2 mins Rebecca talk us through Schwartz's work on values and what it was all about.

“Values are the motivational basis for what we think, feel and do…they are foundational and shape how we engage with the world. They are more constant than our attitudes, knowledge and opinions."

“Values are formed in adolescence and then shape your view of the world and they remain constant.”

“Your values might shift or evolve but on the whole, once your value set is formed in adolescence they remain constant.”

“You will have different values, they are not mutually exclusive.”

“Professor Schwartz defines the basic human values - of which there are eleven.”

“Values are good predictors of future behaviours.”

7.30 mins You can visit www.bcwmovatory.com to find out your own values.

8 mins Rebecca talks us through Schwartz’s 11 values: 

Self-direction, Stimulation, Hedonism, Achievement, Power, Security, Tradition, Conformity, Universalism Societial, Universalism Nature, Benevolence.

14 mins How has BCW’s research put a communications layer on top of Schartz’s work to understand how to communicate with people with different values?

“As people, we will fit into 1 of the 7 Archetypes based on a combination of our core values”

19 mins Why this research has huge implications for communications and content planning.

23 mins Rebecca talks us through the 7 Archetypes coming out of BCW’s research.

The Success Seeker, The Conformist, The Adventurer, The Visionary, The Protector, The Good Neighbour, The Traditionalist and The Conformist.

25 mins Bens's core values: Benevolence, Universalism Societial, Self-direction.

26 mins Rebecca’s Core Values: Benevolence, Universalism Societial, Conformity.

In this new regular format of the PRmoment Podcast with Ben Smith we’ll be catching up with UK public relations leaders - and our guests will share their in hindsight secrets that they wish they'd known at the start of their careers.

This week on the PRmoment Podcast we're talking to Paul Joseph MD of Full Fat.

Full Fat is a consumer PR and social agency with 18 employees. It specialises in FMCG and event work. Current clients include San Miguel, Poretti, and Sziget Festival (a massive festival in Hungary that is I'm told bigger than Glastonbury!)

Paul has worked out Full Fat for just over 10 years. The agency was founded by Ella McWilliam and Megan Morass.

And thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors of the PRCA.

Here’s a summary of what Paul and I discussed:

2 mins Paul shares his first In Hindsight Lesson: “A one-size-fits-all approach to the workforce doesn't work”

“In the PR industry, there can be quite a linear approach to how people progress”

“We’ve created part-time roles, we’ve offered people the opportunity to do hybrid roles.”

“You’ve got to have an inclusive environment…our working model has completely changed to what it was 5 years ago.”

“We offer one-to-one mental health support sessions”

7 mins Paul talks us through what the word inclusive means at Full Fat, in a practical sense.

8 mins Paul tells us his second In Hindsight lesson: “Trust your gut”

“You have to listen to that inner voice…ultimately any decision is better than no decision.”

10.30 mins Paul’s third In Hindsight Lesson: Know your superpower.

11 mins Paul shares his superpower: That he’s an introvert.

“PR job adverts exaggerate extroverted traits …interviews lean on extroverted traits.”

“Being calm and pragmatic tends to put people at ease…the ability to really listen goes a long way with clients!”

“I'm more creative when I’m on my own”

14 mins Paul’s fourth In Hindsight Lesson: Don’t rest on your laurels when it comes to your DEI journey

“That’s really about making sure you’re always adapting your approach”

15 mins Paul talks us through the phases of Full Fat’s DEI journey over the last few years.

19 mins Paul’s final in Hindsight Lesson: Treat yourselves like a client - both the people and the business

“Having a profile makes a huge difference.”

“You also need to be clear about what you stand for and what your positioning is, over time your position might change and you might need to give it a refresh.”

“It’s about elevating voices within the agency…giving them profile.”

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.

Welcome to our July review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch.

Andrew is a co-founder and non-executive director at Frank PR and is now lead consultant - PR, Social, Content and Influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR. He is also a partner at PCB Partners advising on buying and selling marketing services agencies.

Thanks to our PRmoment Podcast sponsors, The PRCA.

Do look at the brace of new webinars that we’ve launched on PRmoment, including Social Media in B2B and The Contribution of Comms to ESG.

2 mins Andrew contextualises the state of the new business market in UK PR currently.

“In an economy that is a bit shaky…being able to demonstrate effectiveness is more important than ever.”

“Why Andrew’s PR agency activity barometer is busier than ever!”

8 mins Andrew gives us his rundown of PR pitch wins for July, including:

• Good Relations wins Starling Bank
• Fleishman wins HS1
• Mischief wins Team GB
• Ready 10 wins Kind Snacks
• Stripe wins Giggling Squid
• PR Network and Heathrow Express
• Azaria win VTech and Leapfrog
• Nudge wins Kettle chips
• MSL wins Currys
• Ketchum wins Dolmio

18 mins Andrews gives us his insight into the Havas Uncommon deal.

“It could be a deal that’s worth up to £120m in 6 years time”

“Havas already has a reputation as one of the most creative marketing services in the world…and they are doubling down on creativity.”

21 mins Andrew explains the £120m valuation of Uncommon on its current fee income of £22m.

25 mins Andrew reviews SEC Newgate’s $100m investment from Investcorp, an alternative investment firm, for a 55% stake in the business. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and values SEC Newgate as a $250 m business.

28 mins Andrew rounds us off by talking us through some smaller trade deals:

• The Bigger Boat acquires Scriba
• Bulla acquires Hype Collective
• There’s a management buyout at Lucre Group which rebrands to Gold79.

This week on the PRmoment Podcast we talk about what CEOs want from PR and we also identify the 7 top attributes that CEOs want in the comms directors.

The folks at PR recruitment firm VMA have recently interviewed 20 CEOs and today we’re going to chat with VMA’s MD Lucy Cairncross about what she’s found out about CEO communication priorities.

Thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors of the PRCA.

Here’s a summary of what Lucy and I discussed:

2 mins What are CEO’s current priorities?

3 mins Are UK CEOs more brow beaten than their international counterparts? 

4 mins The top 4 CEO concerns: International stability, economic turbulence, political changes and environmental commitments.

6 mins What do CEOs want from their PR and comms teams? 

“Comms is central to the quality of response to those issues.”

“Previously comms was a side thought, now comms is at the heart of the big issues from the very beginning.”

“The breadth of responsibility that comms people have within organisations is now vast”

“Successful organisations will have strength in comms”

12 mins Why are CEOs still struggling with their organisation's home, hybrid or office working policies?

16 mins The impact of the speed of organisational change on the priorities of the CEO.

“Organisations need to adapt to survive…for some organisations, their raison d’etre will no longer be viable.”

18 mins The focus and challenges the CEOs are experiencing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I)?

“DE&I requires constant attention across all functions.”

21 mins PR people should sell T-shirts with this message on them: 

“You cannot be effective as a CEO without a trusted communicator by your side.” Robert Swaak, CEO, ABN AMRO

24 mins How internal comms went to the forefront of CEO priorities during COVID.

28 mins Are in-house PR and comms folks retaining the increased breadth of responsibility they gained during COVID

“The expectation is the same…but they aren’t necessarily being given more headcount and more budget”

32 mins Are comms directors now more important than marketing directors?

“Where they aren’t aligned and where they don’t work together, those cracks really show”

“They are aligned functions but not the same function.”

35 mins The 7 top attributes that CEOs want in the comms directors:

1. Subject matter expertise
2. Empathy
3. Nuance
4. Clarity
5. Connection
6. Agility
7. Coolness under fire

41 mins Lucy reflects on the current state of the in-house PR jobs market.

 In a new regular format of the PRmoment Podcast with Ben Smith we’ll be catching up with UK public relations leaders - and our guests will share their in hindsight secrets that they wish they'd known when they started their businesses!

Today we're chatting with Greg Double, creative director of consumer PR agency Mischief.

Mischief is the consumer PR arm of MHP. MHP and Mischief are owned by Next Fifteen, which acquired them from Engine last year. Mischief has recently won Diageo and Team GB accounts. Other clients include Lego, Just Eat, and Ocado. MHP which owns Mischief has a fee income of about £33 m and 200 employees.

Greg has previously worked at Frank and Ready 10. He has been at Mischief for 3.5 years.

And thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors of the PRCA.

Here is a summary of what Greg and I discussed:

 2 mins Greg confirms the re-appearance of the Mischief brand as the consumer arm of MHP!

4 mins Greg gives his first in hindsight lesson: He should not have started his career at Blue Rubicon! (now Teneo.)

“I was too young to start in corporate PR...everyone had done a Masters!”

“I was too immature to be in that game”

“The graduate scheme was Apprentice style…I’d never been tested like that before.”

“You have a responsibility to keep learning.”

11 mins Greg gives us his second in hindsight lesson: Don’t get bowel cancer at 33.

“I’m down half a bowel, I had chemotherapy last year.”

“Deborah James is the reason I got checked, which was very lucky for me.”

“We need to destigmatise chemotherapy!”

“The obsessive part of me has been erased away a bit.”

“I’m constantly terrified it’s going to come back…so I’ve made some staunch lifestyle changes.”

“I love that I still care about my work.”

“I’m proud mentally I’ve retained a balance.”

21 mins Greg first had symptoms in Oct 2021, when the Omicron strain of COVID was kicking off - which meant he was unable to get a GP appointment.

“Because I had private healthcare, through work, there is a legitimate argument that work saved my life there.”

“The NHS is the best in the world for saving your life, the worst in the world for knowing your life needs saving.”

25mins Greg outlines the symptoms that mean you should go and get checked out for Bowel Cancer.

Things to look out for: Blood in your poo, if your poo habits change, waking up in the middle of the night desperate to go to the toilet.

27 mins Greg talks about why he will no longer eat processed or ultra-processed foods.

30 mins Greg talks about his third in hindsight lesson: Don’t be afraid to evolve your career.

“By embracing opportunities your career will end up in a better place.”

34 mins Greg talks about why “demographics are useful but fundamentally dead”

35 mins Greg describes the work Mischief is doing to try and bring science to targeting an audience with a specific passion.

“Demographics are growth limiting”

“Earned is essential for passion…you can’t pay for passion - you have to earn it.”

Ready 10 founder David Fraser is the next guest in our new In Hindsight series on the PRmoment Podcast.

In this new regular format of the PRmoment Podcast with Ben Smith we’ll be catching up with UK public relations leaders - and our guests will share their in hindsight secrets that they wish they'd known when they started their businesses!

Today we're chatting with the founder of Ready 10 David Fraser.

Ready 10 has revenues of £4 m and 35 employees. It is a consumer PR shop based in London. Clients include McDonald's, Brewdog, Reed and Paddy Power. David founded the business about 7 years ago.

It's 5 years since David's been on the PRmoment Podcast it was David who persuaded me to launch it all those years back! So thank you, David, we now get between 5-6 thousand listeners a month and people seem to enjoy the show.

If you haven’t taken a look already - do check out the Creative Moment Awards website, the final entry deadline is on Friday 30th June 2023

And thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors of the PRCA.

Here’s a summary of what David and I talked about:

2 mins David tells us his in hindsight first lesson: How to position your business.

“Your positioning isn’t a fixed thing, it’s an evolving thing.”

9 mins David’s 2nd in hindsight lesson: How to push through the £1m barrier

13 mins David talks about how can build extensions to your business without damaging the original.

“When there’s 10, 15,25 of you (employees), the values you want to hold get lost unless you write them down and push them through the business.”

15 mins David’s 3rd lesson: The importance of values in a business

20 mins David 4th in Hindsight Lesson: “When the tide goes out, you can see who has been running things properly.”

“We didn’t make any redundancies, we didn’t take a penny of furlough money from the government”

26.30 mins David’s 5th Lesson: “You can lose everything in an instant”

“I am the grandson of a holocaust survivor”

“Don’t ever think that anything is permanent, things can change in an instant, be ready for that uncertainty”

32 mins David reveals his 6th and final lesson: People (employees) always want more. 

“You have to design a structure that takes them with you if you want them to grow, rather than pushes them away.”

“No one is turning up to work every day to make me (David Fraser) successful!”

Welcome to PRmoment Podcast. This week it’s our June Global Creativity Review so we are talking creativity with our wonderful panel who will identify and chat about some of the best bits of creativity they have seen in the past month or so.

On the show today to help us review some of the best creative work are:

Kim Allain, creative lead, MSL
Ottilie Ross, creative director, Halpern
Tom Rouse, creative director, Pitch Marketing Group

This is the third episode of our monthly global creativity reviews -  here are our reviews for March and April. (May seemed to get a bit too frantic and I forgot, sorry!)

This special PRmoment Podcast about creativity is, naturally enough, bought to you in partnership with Creative Moment. The final deadline for The Creative Moment Awards is Friday 30th June.

Here is a summary of what we chatted about:

2 mins We kick off with some creative trends identified by Kim, Ottilie and Tom:

“We seemed to have gone back in time…The PR stunt is back!”

“Not everything (needs) to work across every channel”

“Integrated work works when you have time to deliver it!”

6 mins Ottilie talks about the first piece of work that caught her eye this month - Lulu Lemon Dupes

How Lulu Lemon leaned into the #dupe culture rather than fighting against it.

“You won’t need dupes when you use the real thing!”

“Really single-minded, really brave and great visuals”

“Dupe culture on Tiktok is people who are trying to buy into something but can’t afford it…so this is a great way for them (Lulu Lemon) to tap into that culture of dupes and TikTok and Gen Z but (it) also widens their consumer range.”

1 min Tom talks about Elvi’s recent work to raise awareness of the pelvic floor: Pelvic Floor Playlist

Elvi has released a playlist of 3 tracks that replicates the sound your pelvic floor has during different times: Orgasm, menstruation and pregnancy.

“It (the campaign) gets you to think, it gets you to unlock it. And (from a PR point of view) it gives you a different asset. (Journalist) pitch desks get thoughts of pitches - how many are getting sent playlists?”

13 mins The panel discusses whether men have a pelvic floor. They do!

“The campaign makes the pelvic floor feel more real”

“Any woman who experiences periods… knows that when it gets to a certain point of the month you know there’s something going on in your body but your not sure what it looks like but you just know it’s about to be a roller coaster of a ride and can’t wait until the week after…and putting some tangibility to it to allow women and men to experience what that is like in terms of sound is really strong.”

17 mins Ottilie talks about a prince of work that impressed her this month: The Beautiful Sound: from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The sound of cancer cells dying: https://www.themostbeautifulsound.org/

“I loved the campaign but they could have taken it a bit further.”

“There are so many ways you could build on his cam