PR Resolution podcast

Welcome to Episode One, Season Two of the PR Resolution Podcast. We're returning strong! In this episode Stella interviews Lucy Hart, Executive Strategy Director at The Romans; the most awarded PR agency in the industry. Often in PR there can be too much focus on media and not enough on the public. That's why this interview is so inspiring. Lucy talks about her passion for social anthropology and you can tell she means it. Its clear that her deep curiosity in people and the psychology of minds is one of the reasons her agency's campaigns make such an impact. Lucy explains how The Romans global team work with their clients to make the magic happen. She explains their ideation process and the tools and data that feeds each of their award-winning strategies. This is a special insight into an agency doing things differently. Special Guest: Lucy Hart .

CoverageBook Director, Stella Bayles is back with a new series of interviews with innovative people in Public Relations and marketing. This trailer highlights what to expect from the conversations Stella is set to have on proving PR impact in 2025.

In this episode I interview the person that has inspired me the most in my career; Gary Preston. Gary is the founder of CoverageBook, AnswerThePublic and the new (free) PR measurement tool ‘CoverageImpact'. We discuss how the last 15 years of working together in marketing and the last 10 years of Gary being a successful software founder in the PR industry has led to the launch of this new PR tool. In a time when PR budgets are being cut and in-house teams are admitting its often down to lack of confidence in measurement, Gary believes its time for a step-change in the way the industry showcases PR activity outcomes. He also believes this should be accessible to everyone and not just those that can afford high-level measurement and analytics support... Could this new free graph-generator tool that showcases PR outcomes be the answer to the PR industry's biggest problem? Listen this interview and make your decision! www.CoverageImpact.com Special Guest: Gary Preston .

In the 25 years Steph Bridgeman has been working PR measurement, the world, media consumption and data has changed. But at a time when technology and data is abundant, why are we hearing of PR budget cuts and team struggles with proof of outcomes? In this fascinating podcast chat Steph and I explore why this is; from pivot table and design skills to senior management experience being involved, we delve into what PR measurement needs to be a success in 2024. Steph Bridgeman is the founder of ‘Experienced Media Analysts'. As well as help many teams win PR measurement and AMEC awards, Steph helps arm agencies and in-house teams with outcome insights that help them prove value and retain and grow PR budgets. As well as win the awards Steph is also on the board of AMEC (association of measurement and evaluation of communications) so its safe to say, she in totally immersed and in the know on measurement! She shares her opinion on where we're at as an industry, but also gets practical on what we can do to improve processes, including; Providing clear examples of what outputs and outcomes are and the difference between metrics Exploring the word ‘Impact' and what should and shouldn't be included as a metric there Steph shares how teams should review technology and how to cut out what's not needed And finally how to find hidden gems of skills around your organisation that can help analyse and visualise results. Special Guest: Steph Bridgeman.

It's January 2024, offcially back to work. But before you dive into your next campaign its important to consider focus and development for the year. What do you as an individual, your team and as a collective industry need to work on to move forward and succeed this year? I have enlisted the help of PR powerhouse Stephen Waddington to help us do exactly this. So grab a coffee and listen to this 30 minute episode of the PR Resolution to set your 2024 off to the best start possible. Stephen Waddington (AKA Wadds) is the Founder and Managing Partner of Wadds Inc. which is a professional advisory firm that helps agencies and communications teams with planning, strategic decision making and execution. He is fully immersed in the UK and Europe PR industry; he's been the President of the CIPR, has held senior positions at global PR and marketing agencies Ketchum and Metia Group. He is the co-founder of Socially Mobile, a not-for-profit PR school and is also a current PhD research student at Leeds Business School investigating the contribution of public relations to management. It's safe to say Wadds has a clear view on the state of play in Public Relations and what could happen in this year, 2024. In this interview, we look back at 2023 and how the economy and government decisions affected the industry. We talk about marketing and PR budgets, how we responded and how agencies were affected. Wadds talks about the alignment we have as an industry with senior business leaders and the areas that hold us back; including truly understanding business and how PR communicates success. As well as highlight the issues, he also explains what we can do to improve these areas. Wadds highlights PR talent, diversity and inclusion as an area that did move on slightly in 2023 but also needs a lot of work within teams and as a collective. As well as some 2024 predictions, our conversation outlines areas of focus that will help you individually and as a team to aim high, better sell success and as an industry raise credibility a more senior level in 2024. Special Guest: Stephen Waddington.

In this episode Stella interviews Carla Boyd, Senior Social & Content Marketing Manager at Cineworld Cinemas  Live from the Cineworld London Head Quarters they delve into influencer relations and why Cineworld UK has decided to switch nearly all of their communications to working only with social influencers over journalists. Carla explains how the essence and the feeling of cinema is being brought to life by the social influencers they're working with, which traditional comms struggles to portray the same magic.  Carla shares the how talent selection is key to the success; how and her team's selection of mid-tier passionate content creators has paid off; as their content is connecting the brand with important audiences from families to hard to reach young adults. Stella asks Carla to talk through their process, from sourcing the right influencer partners, the deal set ups, briefing and of course measurement and evaluation. This interview is packed full of tips for anyone aiming to work with social influencers now or in the near future. Special Guest: Carla Boyd.

In this episode Stella interviews the Chief Executive of the CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) Alastair McCapra. They talk about FTSE 100 businesses and the lack of PR expertise in executive leadership teams and on boards in the UK. Alastair and Stella explore the reasons for this; including reputation management being viewed as a ‘when it happens' scenario right through to senior opinions on the financial value of PR. Alastair Shares examples of what can happen when PR and reputation isn't being considered at board level and the risks businesses face financially. This episode is relevant to PR people in all sectors. It's full of advice from Alastair and the CIPR on what you and your team can do to raise awareness of the importance of corporate reputation management in your organisation and with your clients. Together we can raise the profile of PR at a senior level where it belongs. Special Guest: Alastair McCapra.

Bev Boyle, who is the Global Head of Media at World Animal Protection, plays a pivotal role in shaping the narrative around animal welfare on a global scale. She's at the forefront of crafting media campaigns that not only raise awareness but also inspire action. In this episode of the PR Resolution Podcast, Stella and Bev discuss a current campaign that is making change; Bev shares how the ‘Stop TUI from profiting from dolphin cruelty' emerged as an issue, how the content is reaching a wide audience and how the result of audience engagement is encouraging a major corporate to make change to their products. Bev also shares how her global team works with media. How they have adapted processes to work with modern media change & their dedication to responding to animal news and journalists requests in less than 60minutes. They cover the campaigns that have made the biggest impact and have helped save animals, the components and how the team measure them, especially when the biggest KPI is often changing international tourist trends. Bev also shares her insight on the challenging financial climate for charities right now and how World Animal Protection are making efficiencies that all PR teams can take inspiration from. Special Guest: Bev Boyle.

How healthy does your agency feel? Are there uncertainties around budgets? Are some of your retainers switching to projects? Is your pipeline flowing or in need of some work? If your agency finances are feeling like a challenge right now you're not alone. Research has confirmed that PR budgets are being reduced. Data gathered in June 2023 from the world's 100 most powerful communicators (Provoke 100 research) found that there has been a drop in public relations investment in the past 12 months of more than $1bn, from $4.8bn to $3.7bn.  Although agencies can't control client budget decisions, there are efficiencies that can be made in how fees are managed and how agency finances are protected. To help guide you through this tricky time, Stella is joined by agency Chief Finance Officer Simon Collard. With over 30 years experience as an Agency CFO, Simon is an expert as safely guiding agencies to larger margins and consistent profitability, whatever the industry climate may be. Stella first met Simon at digital PR and marketing agency Propellernet. Alongside a talented management team, Simon lead the agency to triple margin, quadrupled the revenue and generated 10x more profit. All without pressure on staff; the agency won Best Place to work in the UK 8 years running during this period of growth. In this interview Simon shares his wisdom on; Pricing and fees; Should PR be time or value priced? Or should we charge by output and outcome bonuses? The importance to demonstrate the problems you are solving for your client, always. Resilience; how to build it and where conscious over-servicing fits in. ‘Profit vampires' and how to deal with them. Why the profit and loss sheet is a lagging indicator to an agency's health & noticing negativity in the P&L means it could be too late Numbers; The % of revenue you should spend on people, and cost per person And the golden key in all agency profitability; time and resourcing and the best ways to manage it. Special Guest: Simon Collard .

In episode 40 Stella interviewed Rebecca Jolly and Joe Bellioti; the authors of best-selling book; ‘How Music Grows Brands'. They discussed the benefits music can have on a brands business but what about the other side of the partnership? The music artist. How does the involvement of a track in a PR campaign, advert, or TV show affect the artist? What does it mean to the target audience? Can it make or break an artist? In this episode, Stella Bayles interviews Jelena Grozdanich, director of film and television at Columbia Records to find out. Jelena explains how, just like brands, artists also have audience objectives & how the right partnership can be very powerful for both parties. She shares the benefits of working with new artists and how finding a match of niche interest points between both parties can be mutually beneficial as often ‘niche interest points' = a passionate and very engaged audience. Jelena explains the changes to her role as the music industry has changed and what she expects to see emerge in the next 5 years. Whether you're a music PR or are interested in having music as part of your marketing strategy this episode is for you. Timestamps 3:44 - Do you have an audience strategy for your artists? 7:29 What kind of difference or impact have you seen by placing an artist on a particular show or a particular game? 10:33 How important do you think it is for a brand and artist to be aligned? 15:27 Use of music on TikTok and Instagram 17:23 How do you measure whether a partnership has been successful? 26:00 Where do you see the industry developing in the next 5 to 10 years? 29:00 What do you do to maintain the work and life balance? Special Guest: Jelena Grozdanich.

In this episode I'm joined by Martin McGlown who was once a crime journalist at the London Evening Standard newspaper and went on to head-up media relations at the world's leading cancer charity; Cancer Research UK. We talk about the moment Martin made his career-defining decision and why he and the charity have never looked back. We cover the changing media landscape and how Martin's journalism background and skills have shaped the way his team operate as a newsroom. Martin shares the Cancer Research UK overall objective and how that flows into his team's strategy and KPIs. He also talks about the importance of budget scrutiny in the charity sector and the work his team does in-house in order to make the most of the donations made to Cancer Research Martin also shares some of their memorable campaigns that PR delivers so well; educating and raising awareness of prevention and treatments to help people live longer and better lives. And ultimately Beat Cancer. Special Guest: Martin McGlown.

Margo Neely is the Chief Creative Officer of Neely & Daughters a New York based start-up business consultancy. She is also the creator of the Neely Air TR-808 “Disturb the Peace” drum machine shoe concept: a digital tap shoe (of sorts) that allows the user to create digital beats and rhythms with movement.  This interesting breadth of experience has a one key point in common; PR. and specifically how PR coverage helps attract investors and gains funding. Margo experienced this first hand when her concept design of the sneaker that made music with movement, had stayed static as an idea for years until it went viral. Through the vast amount of exposure and engagement Margo was able to gain the attention of investors and engineers she'd only dreamed of years before. Margo now shares her PR to investment strategies with start-up businesses and charity organisations so they can do the same. This episode is absolute gold for any organisations that need to raise funding. It's also a brilliant example of the true power of PR. Special Guest: Margo Neely .

Due to its success ‘Secret Cinema' isn't so secret anymore. The London-based entertainment company that specialises in immersive film events now has fans throughout Europe and has recently launched in the US. The magic of the immersive performances has led to a cult following. But how much of the following is driven by PR and marketing and how do they retain and grow that audience? Stella Bayles interviews Simon le Grice the new VP of Marketing at Secret Cinema to find out! Having originally come from a performance marketing background Simon is very results driven and although he has been in the Secret Cinema role for just four months (at the time of interview) he is already making an impact. He is building a team and is on the search for strategic agency partners both in the UK and US. Simon shares his vision for a successful growth and retention marketing strategy. He tells me how he sees the best ways for owned, earned and paid to work together and the very important role for PR. Because of Simon's focus on audience growth he shares how he doesn't appreciate ‘meaningless data' in reports from agencies such as ‘reach'. He discusses how highly he values PR, not just because of the brand awareness it delivers but because of huge the impact it can have on SEO traffic. He has a message for comms agencies not reporting on SEO and a more positive one for agencies that specialise in events in the US…;) This episode is full of insight from the client we all want! This one is not to be missed….here's Simon! If you're inspired by Simon's marketing approach and would like to try adapting your PR reports to include meaningful data such as estimated views and SEO metrics try https://coveragebook.com/ Special Guest: Simon le Grice.

As a rule I don't discuss PR agency's values on the show. They are for staff and should stay on slides or post-its. But when I heard this story of how one ‘agency value' resulted in a team helping to evacuate 54 orphans from Ukraine, I broke that rule and dedicated a whole episode to it! I interview David Fraser, the Founder & Managing Director of Ready10, who are a consumer agency, best known for creative digital PR for the likes of McDonald's, Paddy Power, Flora and Brewdog. However it's the launch of their for-good arm ‘Ready to Help' that we cover and specifically their (no-fee) project with Save a Child and Magen David Adom, that saw them helping to evacuate a group of children from Ukraine. David shares the full account of how one phone call turned into the most complex but rewarding project the agency had worked on How the whole team (with other clients understanding) pulled together to help Save a Child and Magen David Adom  How David's past crisis management experience came into play And importantly whether it was a success and how the children are now David also reveals how the agency survived COVID, didn't accept UK government furlough grants, paid bonuses and managed to carry out this amazing project on zero budget. This story is an inspiration. Special Guest: David Fraser.

In this episode I interview PR measurement experts, Richard Bagnall and Darryl Sparey on their latest joint research that explores the effects PR has on attracting investors and gain funding for tech start-ups. We delve into the research results including the types of business that see this success, the PR approach needed to gain these results and specifically how important a CEO or founder can be in the process. This conversation is fascinating, not just because of the correlation the research found between PR and financial funding but because both Darryl and Richard have so much experience in this area of PR work (b2b and reputation) and importantly how to measure it. Darryl is the MD and Co-Founder of performance-driven marketing and comms consultancy, Hard Numbers. Richard is the co-managing partner of evaluation firm CARMA. He's been awarded CIPR President's medal for his service to PR, he won the AMEC Don Bartholomew Award and of course was also the chair of AMEC between 2016-2022 too. Together they share wisdom and practical advice from their own experiences throughout the interview. We cover; - How they researched 64 startup unicorn businesses & analysed over 65,000 pieces of coverage - We look at the sectors that have the most potential for funding - Darryl shares tips on how best to work with busy senior leaders & why a ‘Get to text' approach is best - I challenge correlation vs causation in the results and Richard shares brilliant wisdom in how we can all apply these lessons to our own measurement plans. Special Guests: Darryl Sparey and Richard Bagnall.

In this episode I delve into the power of music; how it shapes cultures, grows brands and can drive business. I'm interviewing two people who's deep understanding of music & culture has led them to work on brand partnership deals that have built reputation and grow businesses. I'm joined by ex-Head of Global Music at Coca-Cola, Joe Belliotti and Rebecca Jolly who is a global business consultant focused on growing business through culture. Former MD at Mixmag and now MD at new generation media company Woo from ITV, Rebecca has extensive music media experience and has teamed up with music brand partnership expert Joe Belliotti on new book ‘How Music Grows Brands'. Its the first of its kind and is already an Amazon Best Seller, the book helps PR and marketing teams bring music into strategies and connect with audiences in a way that will drive business. It also helps all parties in the partnership navigate the modern music industry so artist, label, brand and media all benefit. Our interview covers; How having music as part of your brand strategy is measurable, the difference music can make to a brand's reputation and and how to navigate shared objectives. Whether you're in an agency, a brand team, label side or artist, I'm confident this episode will be hugely helpful! Special Guests: joe belliotti and Rebecca Jolly.

This episode lifts the lid on data literacy in one of there world's most well-known agencies; H&K Strategies. I interview global head of data and analytics - Allison Spray alongside PR Agency One MD James Crawford. James and I co-wrote two chapters in a recent PRCA paper; ‘Data literacy in PR'. We looked at how to use tech to build confidence and improve data use as well as a chapter on how to build a ‘data culture' in your team. It was the latter chapter that Allison Spray's team at H&K was noted as a great example of hiring in data expertise alongside training PR practitioners. In this interview, we go behind the scenes and get into the detail. I find out how Allison has increased confidence in data across all H&K teams We reveal the data team's interesting recruitment process and the mix of skills and sector-specific backgrounds Allison looks for. Allison and James share how they work with clients to gain the data and tech they need upfront Allison also shares tips on how to get started, whether you're a small team looking to up-skill or planning to to build a data team within an agency Since the H&K data and analytics team has developed and established the agency has won the most amount of awards ever in a year. Coincidence? or does increasing PR confidence in data work? I'll let you decide… Special Guest: Allison Spray.

In this episode I interview Amar Singh, ex-Evening Standard journalist turned content and digital marketing expert in sport and entertainment. Amar spent time at data-football specialists, Squawka. He worked in-house at Budweiser as Head of global football content and then at West Ham United where, as Head of Content, he helped the club grow its audience to a global level across multiple platforms. Now at MKTG as Vice President of content and communications, Amar and has team are experts at understanding fans on a deeper level and often on a large global scale. In our chat we explore the latest MKTG research ‘modern fan decoded' and how a change in fan behaviour in the last few years has changed the sport and entertainment industry. We talk about the rise in sports professionals and football players specifically being more influential in 'cause awareness' and therefore brand's activity around them. We look at what generation of fans are more receptive to brand engagement and why the younger generation are demanding more, not just in their experience but how they expect the brand to operate and do better in the world. This interview is full of wisdom and practical tips on collecting insight and behaviour measurement too. You can watch the video of this interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RqaB_uF1jZU Follow Amar's sports marketing newsletter and on Twitter: https://thesportsmarketeer.substack.com/ https://twitter.com/amarjourno Special Guest: Amar Singh.

AMEC Measurement Month is a time for everyone in Public Relations to level-up their knowledge in evaluation and measurement of comms. Held in November its the perfect time to learn and refresh your approach ready for new KPIs in a new year. There are just over 4 weeks of events and content releases from AMEC (Association of Measurement & Evaluation) members and most are available for free to all. In this special episode of the PR Resolution Podcast I interview the Global Managing Director of AMEC; Johna Burke. We share the best of the month and what not to miss! Johna explores common PR measurement challenges you might be facing and directs you to the best resource to fix it Johna shares the trends in measurement & highlights from AMEC award entries this year For the full calendar: https://amecorg.com/measurement-month/measurement-month-2022-events/ For further help on measurement go to: https://resolution.coveragebook.com/ Special Guest: Johna Burke .

At the time of publish, we are 3 weeks away from the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar. Normally at this stage we're at the height of World Cup hype, fans are excited about team selections, journalists are reporting from training camps and tabloids are on WAG watch. This year is very different. Nearly all lead-up stories have been negative; covering the human rights issues, corruption, timing and infrastructure problems. So what does this mean to the huge World Cup audience? How does this affect the associated brand sponsors? Are there the same news-jacking opportunities for non-official partners? I interview one the world's leading experts in sports marketing and brand partnerships; Andy Sutherden to find out. The former head of International Brand Consulting at CAA (Creative artists agency) and ex global head of sport partnerships and marketing at H&K Strategies, helps us navigate the change in comms strategy, reputation, activation and measurement of one of the most controversial worlds cups in history. Our interview covers; - The benefits and pitfalls of the £50billion Sponsorship industry - How you should prepare for crisis around this & future World Cups - The Danish sponsor Hummel's shirt launch & the conflicting stories that have been buried around it Plus - Andy share his prediction on why several coincidences around this tournament may have set a new template for all future World Cups. Whether you're working on a World Cup campaign now, thinking of using it as a hook OR into the game, brands and fans this episode is for you! Special Guest: Andy Sutherden .

Stella Bayles interviews Dan Flanagan, founder of the growing community interest group 'Dad La Soul'. From humble beginnings of group of 14 dads getting together for a play date with their kids, ‘Dad La Soul' is now a globally recognised Community Interest company that connects over 2.5k dads through art, tech and music events & in turn helps them beat loneliness, and live happy lives. Dad La Soul attributes a lot of its growth and success down to PR, and specifically their PR & social impact report that has become popular among funders, partner stakeholders and volunteers. In this podcast interview Dan shares; - How PR has helped build their network, attract new funding and sign up volunteers - Why Dad La Soul was recently namechecked in parliament - How proving social change from PR coverage for non profits and charities is essential - How a PR report can be adapted into a heavy-hitting social impact report This podcast is essential-listening for anyone working in-house at agencies specialising in charity, non-profit or community interest movements. Its has useful tips for anyone targeting parents, and its also definitely an episode for all the dads out there! COMING SOON... The measurement webinar: 'How to prove social impact from PR results' 
Stella will be joined by data analyst and communications measurement expert Kristian Foged to find out how to prove PR efforts contribute to overall charity objectives. Whether you are trying to increase donations, source funding or attract volunteers through PR, this webinar will give you the tools you need to tell your success story. Follow Stella on Twitter @stellabayles for early sign up details. Special Guest: Dan Flanagan .

In this episode I interview Donna Loughlin, she is the founder & owner of PR firm LMGPR and host of podcast ‘Before It Happened.  Having started journalism at just 10 years old; helping at a local newspaper network that her family managed, Donna progressed & became a global journalist for Reuters and the BBC. It was when she was reporting in the Valley during the .com boom that Donna swapped sides to PR and started to stories on behalf of tech start ups. Her experience of launching new tech to market, building founders and business reputation and eventually then taking them out through their initial public offering (IPO) gained the attention of the whole industry.. At her busiest she did 5 IPOs back to back in a, in a six year period… You can see why Donna is on the wish list of most venture capitalists launch plans! As well as perfecting launch strategies, over the years Donna met and worked with some of the world's greatest innovators which led her to her to create her podcast ‘before it happened' where she gets behind the scenes of the creators and finds out what really led to their moment of problem solving through tech… This conversation is a fascinating timeline to our ever changing tech world and the importance of PR and storytelling those changes. Special Guest: Donna Loughlin Michaels.

This episode explores the business success that occurs when two areas of marketing combine and work together really well. I interview Grace Keeling and James Beverage, co-founders of Made by Giants. Launching a B2B communications agency at the beginning of a pandemic may sound may sound like a tall order but for Made by Giants, it couldn't of gone better. I find out how remote working restrictions and influences from James' brand experience led to a very unique ‘investigative' approach to insight and creative. Their indepth research and planning has resulted in comms strategies that are driving sales and growing their partners (not clients!) businesses. Whether you're in B2B or B2C, there are ideation and hybrid-working lessons here for everyone. Special Guests: Grace Keeling and James Beveridge.

The day this podcast publishes (Tuesday 16th November 2021) CoverageBook 2 will launch. So, in this episode I catch up with the original founder of our PR tech; Gary Preston to share the details with our listeners first! We start with our journey; our agency pasts, and the measurement and reporting experiences that led to the birth of CoverageBook. Gary shares his aims for the second version of the platform; making every PR practitioner ‘an accidental analyst' and how he hopes confidence in measurement will return with credible metrics and simple reports. He talks about industry measurement as a whole and compares to his experience in digital marketing. And why some PR software claims of attribution and artificial intelligence is having a negative effect on measurement learning and development. Yet with the right confidence, he believes by 2023 digital marketing teams will be coming to PR to learn how to showcase and measure their work in a credible way…. Listen now to find out more ;) Special Guest: Gary Preston .

In this episode I interview Brian Wallace Founder of NowSourcing, the top rated infographic agency in the United States. If you thought using infographics in PR activation had its day, think again. Brian and his team recently helped a NBA player secure a $64million deal by reshaping the way the US media thought about him, all through data visualisation. It doesn't end there; Now Sourcing only use infographics to secure coverage for their clients on the biggest US news sites every week and they drive awareness, SEO impact and big organisational impact. I ask Brian to share their secrets; how they win the attention of journalists, how they secure links and what metrics they use in reports that keep client stakeholders wanting more. I also find out where Brian believes visual comms is going and if PR and SEO still has some relationship building to do... Special Guest: Brian Wallace.

Media readership and influence is one of the most important elements of PR planning, but who is responsible for growing that influence? In this episode I interview Effie Kanyua, the Director of PR & Comms at publisher 'Hearst UK' which includes Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Men's Health and Women's health, media titles many of us sell-in to! I ask Effie about her journey from agency consumer comms to her in-house role at one of the world's largest publishers and the flip of objectives in helping to grow media, rather than target it. We discuss; * How media consumption has changed in the last year * How Hearst media titles have had to adapt & change business objectives * What it means to drive readership to media * The importance of internal comms right now * And how the Hearst UK PR team measures multi-media PR for a diverse set of stakeholders Effie's honesty and insight is fascinating. Whether you work agency or in-house this episode is for you. As always, let me know what you think @stellabayles on Twitter. Special Guest: Effie Kanyua .

In this episode I interview Anthony Hayes, founder of the Hayes Initiative, based in NYC. We discuss his experience of upholding ethics in public affairs PR, where responsibility lies in mis-information in the media and why following your heart in communications is so important. Hayes Initiative, a certified LGBTQ-owned and operated public affairs firm, was recently recognized with an honorable mention at the 2021 PRWeek Awards for “Best in Public Affairs”. This was for their work with Time's Up, a charity that supports victims of sexual harassment, and specifically those involved in the Harvey Weinstein case. Anthony has worked with charities, presidential candidates, members of the U.S. Cabinet, governors, elected officials, law enforcement officials, and high-ranking health and legal professionals… It’s safe to say he has experience in high-pressure and controversial comms. Anthony shares how PR professionals can bring crisis techniques into every strategy and how to ensure we, as an industry, are not known for fake-news or misinformation. This episode is for everyone in PR. Special Guest: Anthony Hayes .

Understanding how people interact with news and media sites is essential in PR planning and measurement. It has been an on-going challenge in Public Relations to understand the true volume of people arriving on news sites due to publishers' secrecy on traffic figures. There was further focus on this topic recently, when UK news site, The Guardian reported that The Telegraph online is planning to link journalists’ pay to traffic and popularity of their articles. So, in this episode, I interview digital communications consultant Andrew Smith on his research into publisher traffic. We discuss: -How readers arrive at news stories -Where the traffic comes from and how they interact on-site -Publisher traffic growth strategies -How the ‘pay for views’ model could work and the problems that could come with this -Traffic and data tools available to journalists and PR people No matter what country or industry you practise PR in, this episode is relevant to you all. Special Guest: Andrew Smith .

Understanding your audience is the most important stage in developing PR strategy. It’s impossible to influence and change opinion without a full understanding of who you are talking to and how they feel. And with more data available than ever before, where on earth do you begin that kind of research? Step forward Alex Judd, Alex is the head of Impact and Planning at Clarity PR. Alex is passionate about combining the art of communications with the science of research and data. In this episode we discuss: The difference between researching B2B and B2C audiences What we can learn from advertising audience segmentation How avoid looking for insight in an echo chamber How to get buy in from stakeholders How to get started in you’re an audience insight beginner Special Guest: Alex Judd .

In this episode Stella interviews Brendon Craigie, the co-founder and managing partner of Tyto. A global PR agency that uniquely has a team working across multiple communications disciplines and international borders, without physical offices. Brendon shares his experience in setting up and running a completely remote global PR agency, not because of lockdown restrictions but because their ‘PR without borders’ strategy truly engages local markets and delivers the best possible results for clients.  As we start 2021 with most PR agencies around the world working with pandemic-led restrictions, Craigie shares Tyto’s challenges but also huge successes in serving their global clients with a team of professionals located in 12 countries.  From team practicalities to VR client meetings, this may just be the PR agency structure of the future. Stella and Brendon discuss: * The deeper audience understaning of always leading comms on the ground of the location you're targeting * The danger of communications existing in an echo chamber * What technology and processes it takes for a completely remote global PR agency to work * How Tyto hired, manages and motivates a remote team of comms professionals Special Guest: Brendon Craigie .

In this episode Stella interviews Sarah Waddington, founder and curator of the FuturePRoof book series and discusses the latest edition, 'celebrating BME talent'. Stella and Sarah explore representation in Public Relations, from an inclusivity perspective on the communicators side but also our responsibility in truly understanding, connecting and relating to the public. As well as curating the FuturePRoof books, Sarah Waddington is managing director of Astute communications, an agency in the north of England. Sarah also led the CIPR's gender policy for many years, improved social mobility within the UK PR industry and is now on the advisory board of The Blueprint, which is part of BME PR Pro mentoring scheme. The discussion explores: - Diversity and representation in Public Relations - How organisations can attract, retain and nurture diverse talent - How PR can truly connect and relate to the public - Ethics in communications & how much responsibility lies with practitioners vs. media and social platforms Special Guest: Sarah Waddington .

The second episode in our ‘public feeling’ mini-series, Stella Bayles interviews crisis communications expert, Amanda Coleman, on why understanding ‘how the public is feeling during a time of crisis’ is paramount to PR strategy. With 20 years' experience working in emergency services communication, Amanda Coleman is the former Head of Corporate Communications for Greater Manchester Police. During that time, Amanda managed the public communications during significant crises including the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017 and riots in 2011. Public feeling insights were key to build the stages of communication. In this episode Stella and Amanda discuss; Why exploring risk is the best crisis preparation Understanding how your communication is landing with the public during a crisis and post, in recovery Who should be responsible for crisis communications Crisis comms is now arguably the most important area of PR in 2020. Whether you have your plan in place or just beginning to explore, Amanda’s advice is gold-dust. Special Guest: Amanda Coleman .

With huge adjustments in how we live and global events reaching us in real-time, there is constant change in public feeling. Whether it’s uncertainty, mistrust, frustration or comradery, understanding the way we, the public are feeling has never been so important in Public Relations. In this episode I speak to Stephen Waddington. Wadds is an advisor and consultant on communications, he has led the CIPR and authored multiple PR books including #BrandVandals, ShareThis and Brand Anarchy. He has spent over 25 years understanding the public and the most effective way organisations should understand and interact with audiences, build trust and grow by improving techniques and technologies. Wadds and I discuss: - How PR has understood target audience - How to understand the public, and not just the media that influences them - How it is possible to track public feeling - Where surveys, social and search listening fits into this This is the first podcast in a series I’ll be running on public feeling insight. Get in touch with thoughts and ideas @StellaBayles @Wadds Special Guest: Stephen Waddington.

'Share of voice' is a term used to describe how a brand is being talked about against it’s competitors. Share of voice is worked out very differently in Public Relations in comparision to other areas of marketing. This is mainly down to earned, owned and paid media all having different data and what we're allowed access to. At the end September 2020, Mark Ritson wrote an article for Marketing Week, which pitched why 'share of search' could be a better alternative measure of how popular a brand is among consumers. When I read the article, it struck me as a more sensible integrated way of looking at marketing success. However, I needed the help an expert to learn more! In this episode I interview marketing attribution expert, Russell McAthy, founder of Ringside to help us learn more. We explore: - What 'share of search' is - How it considers consumer view over the brand marketing teams! - How all of the marketing activity affects it - How PR teams can explore it If you do PR for a brand that also has lots of owned and paid marketing activity, this episode is for you. Special Guest: Russell McAthy.

Public Relations professionals excel in storytelling. PR has also been known not to use data as well as other areas of marketing. So when I came across the wisdom of Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, the founder & CEO of storytelling with data, I had to interview her on the PR Resolution Podcast. Cole is the author of the best-selling book, ‘storytelling with data: a data visualization guide for business professionals’ and, through her courses has helped thousands of people around the world tell better stories with their data, but what does she think about PR data? In one of my favourite interviews to date, Cole and I explore; If naturally right-brain people can tell great data stories We cover the Barcelona Principles 3.0 updates & how it’s possible to communicate outputs & outcomes visually Why getting to know your report readers is SO important And why starting with data is actually the wrong place to begin your measurement journey.. Special Guest: Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic.

The PR industry has had to adapt to a huge change recently. Not only have many comms strategies had to change, we've never had a news agenda like this. In this episode I'm joined by news experts from 72Point, part of SWNS Media Group which is an independent press agency working directly with major news-desks in the United States and the UK. I interview Daniel Johnson-Kim and Rick Maughan, Heads of Editorial and Media Liaison at 72Point Inc, New York, to discuss the changes at the major news-desks and how to sensitively navigate them. Together, Daniel and Rick have more than 20 years experience in working with news desks in both the UK and USA. As well as Daniel being an ex journalist, designer and editor at The New York Daily News and News Corp, he and Rick now work alongside journalists and PR teams to help shape brand comms into news. We cover: How journalists are working during lock-down How to be a resource (not a nuisance) How to adapt sell-in tactics Tips on how to navigate news-desks Special Guests: Daniel Johnson-Kim and Rick Maughan.

Since the world went into lockdown, millions have turned to Amazon. The online retailer is due to release sales and profit figures on 30 April, however analysts have already forecast a sales increase of at least 22%. It’s been predicted that during the pandemic Amazon has experienced sales of $10,000 every second, day and night!! wow. Just before the pandemic was announced, I met Jim Hawker, co-founder of agency PR & marketing agency, Threepipe to find out about a new growth area for them; Amazon optimisation. It’s not a common skill-hire or PR service we talk about in the industry so I was keen to hear more. In this podcast interview Jim explains why Threepipe built a whole department just to focus on Amazon activity for their clients - How their PR tactics adapt in an Amazon strategy - Why Amazon is the new Google for FMCG brands - Where brand reputation comes into play in a new way - Why being bold IN TRYING new techniques doesn’t just build your clients business it can build an agency too This podcast was recorded just before COVID-19 hit in the UK and US, yet the insights Jim shares couldn’t be more relevant right now. Special Guest: Jim Hawker .

It's 2020, integrated marketing is the norm, but could we be delivering better campaigns if we understood paid media better? In this episode I interview Shanna Apitz, the Executive Creative Director and head of innovation at Hunt Adkins, a paid media specialist agency in Minnesota. Having developed her career in the paid media space, Shanna has helped hundreds of US brands grow their business through interactive and integrated campaigns. I wanted to find out how a leading paid agency approach earned media, where Shanna thinks paid and PR fit in the marketing mix, how the two specialisms should work together, and how powerful an integrated campaign can be for a business. Special Guest: Shanna Apitz.

In this episode I step out of Public Relations and interview an expert in marketing measurement; Russell McAthy. Russell has been helping businesses attribute success (often revenue) to various lines of marketing for years. Without his insight into customer behaviour, millions in marketing budgets are likely to have been misspent. The term 'attribution' has come up a lot recently in PR recently so, I wanted to get back to basics. Russell and I cover what 'attribution' means, how PR fits into overall marketing evaluation and how you can talk about it to your stakeholders. Russell also tells me about how an update to cookie data happening in February 2020, that is going to make a MASSIVE difference to PR and paid, and we all need to know about it! Get ready to learn. Special Guest: Russell McAthy.

We've seen a lot of development in comms techniques in 2019. However one area of digital marketing I didn't expect to hear in PR merging was affiliate marketing. That was until I interviewed Rich Leigh and Will Roberts at Radioactve Talent in December 2019. After that meeting, the marketing mix completely made sense! I went to their office to find out how they're bringing years of influencer and publisher knowledge from PR and merging it with Will’s expertise in online affiliate and revenue share deals. If you haven't heard of affiliates before, don't worry. The guys explain exactly how the process works for agencies, brands and influencers. Rich also also explains why, as a PR agency founder he is branching into this new growth area and why it's making their current clients very happy.

Sentiment is a crucial part of measuring Public Relations. It’s the process of understanding if a brand is being described in a positive or negative light. But what if you’re in a crisis team and most of your clips are expected to be negative? Or you’re running a youth campaign and the social posts include negative/positive slang in multiple languages?! Sentiment is difficult, but without it we’re not fully evaluating Public Relations. So what steps can we take to fully analyse our work? In this special ‘measurement month’ episode I’m joined by AMEC members and analysis experts, Steph Bridgeman, head of Experienced Media Analysts and Maya Koleva, head of Insight at Commetric to share their knowledge. We cover how to manually track sentiment, how machines are learning what positive and negative descriptions are in social and news posts, how to tackle international campaigns and steps you can take in your own evaluation. This really is relevant to everyone in Public Relations. Special Guests: Maya Koleva and Steph Bridgeman.

In many cases, Public Relations objectives are often set by a marketing team with little involvement from the CEO. So what happens when a PR agency not only has access to the CEO but they come up with a PR campaign together? You get, Tinder for Cows! In this episode, I interview Doug Bairner, the CEO of Hectare, an agriculture technology business along with his PR agency lead, Jon Lonsdale at Octopus Group to find out how their working relationship formed an international campaign. I uncover how a CEO really views marketing and what he wants in terms of ROI. Why a consumer creative from a b2b agency worked so well and why having PR throughout a business can have such a positive impact. Special Guests: Doug Bairner and Jon Lonsdale.

'Instagram influencer' is no longer just a marketing term. Parents fear them, young people want to be them and the press seem to loathe them. But with so much attention how much influence do they still hold? In this episode I get two opinions. Scott Guthrie, an influencer marketing consultant share his views on the industry. Lucy Piper, a 19 year old PR consultant from TalkerTailorTroubleMaker also shares her and her friends experiences of following influencers throughout their teenage years and now working with them in PR. Is still trust in this influencer group, how much longevity do they have and should they be in our marketing plans? Listen to find out.

With the more content being generated than ever before our hard-earned editorial coverage is being buried on publisher sites faster than you can say 'public relations'! But what if there was a way to keep it in front of people for longer? In this episode, I interview Jerrid Grimm, co-founder of Pressboard on an emerging area of marketing where PR meets paid and editorial stories can be boosted to a bigger audience. Listen to find out how. Special Guest: Jerrid Grimm.

With shows like Love Island in full swing this summer, the meme machines have been in action on social media. But should memes be part of brand marketing? In this episode, I interview Elliott Kurjan & Ricky Williams, the duo behind a new agency Wagyu social. Ricky & Elliott are experts in Instagram influence. They are the brains behind the growth of huge Instagram accounts including Ladbible and UniLad. Elliott is also the meme-king that runs Instagram profile 'Awful Banter'. They know what creates the thumb-stopper moment! Now working with brands, Elliott and Ricky explain what 'meme marketing' is, how to do it and the huge reach and engagement a brand can expect from this form of communication. Special Guest: Elliott Kurjan & Ricky Williams .

Stella interviews Danny Bell, a video director, and producer in the UK and US. He's produced popular shows such as Big Brother and LOVEIsland and had work featured on major TV channels including MTV, C4, ITV, Sky, and NBC. Danny is increasingly working with agencies and brand teams on creating editorial video content for online and social platforms. In this episode, Stella interviews Danny on the development of TV and online video consumption, the change in brand involvement and how audience engagement is leading the change. Special Guest: Danny Bell .

Stella interviews Katie Paine on social media measurement. Having led the charge on social and PR measurement development for almost 30 years Katie has picked up the well-deserved title of 'queen of metrics'. Katie shares her thoughts on why impressions are a misleading metric in reports and how PR teams can attribute organisational goals to social activity. If social media is part of your campaigns this year, this episode is gold-dust. Special Guest: Katie Paine .

In this episode, I interview SWNS Media Group news editor Jim Rich on his career and experiences in the US news industry. The former New York Daily News Editor-in-Chief was once named one of the most powerful people in New York media by The Hollywood Reporter. He has seen the industry go through huge changes and he is now using his unique experience to help PR teams. Jim talks about the way news consumption has changed publishing, its effect on news teams and knock-on effect to Public Relations. We talk about the new competition between news publishers and social platforms, why the reach of a story is so important and what a successful story looks like. Essentially, if news is part of your PR strategy this year then this episode is a must-listen. Special Guest: Jim Rich .

Steve Strickland is the co-founder of new award-winning PR agency Talker Tailor Trouble Maker. He has led the agency for two years alongside partner and long term colleague, Gary Wheeldon. Before starting Talker Tailor Steve held three creative director roles at agencies; Weber Shandwick, freuds and most recently M&C Saatchi PR. Where he was tasked with safe-guarding the quality of creative product globally across its 8 offices. In this episode, Steve shares how he and his and co-founder Gary’s experiences in the PR industry led to their decision to create Talker Tailor and how they have poured their learnings and experiences (good and bad) into the operation. Steve shares his views on diversity in Public Relations and why its essential to build freedom into a team. He also speaks candidly about where Talker Tailor is at now and where he and Gary aim to take the agency in the future. If you’re looking for an insight into modern PR, want to hear some very real language and a have good laugh, listen now! Special Guest: Steve Strickland.

Gini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich communications, editor of one of the most popular US PR sites, Spin Sucks and has been pioneering paid erned social and owned (PESO) strategies in communications for years. Gini sets PESO strategies for businesses as well as trains PR pros on how to build plans, work with clients and measure effectively. She is an expert in multi-channel communications. In this episode Stella asks Gini what the PESO model is, how it can help achieve business goals, why Public Relations should be leading this activity and how to do go about it. Gini also shares her thoughts on episode four of the Resolution podcast on how Diageo is using PESO in their PR measurement process. Listen to the experts view now! Special Guest: Gini Dietrich.

Stella Bayles interviews James Alexander, the head of influence and advocacy at global drinks business Diageo. Stella and James discuss the multi-channel marketing campaigns Diageo run and why measurement of the activity is so key to the business. Stella finds out how Diageo marketing teams and agencies use a version of the PESO (paid, earned, shared and owned) model to organise and measure activity. James shares details of how he developed a standardised reporting process to measure and compare success. Including their tool-stack and metrics. if you’re curious to know how a large-scale international organisation makes decisions on marketing then this is the podcast for you. Special Guest: James Alexander .