309 episodes

The PRmoment Podcast is a series of life story style interviews with some of the leading lights of UK PR.

PRmoment Podcast PRmoment

    • Business
    • 4.6 • 43 Ratings

The PRmoment Podcast is a series of life story style interviews with some of the leading lights of UK PR.

    Do in-house B2B communicators value creativity?

    Do in-house B2B communicators value creativity?

    On the show today, I’m chatting with Jo Ogunleye, B2B Communications Lead at Google UK  and Laura Wheeler, Head of Communications UKI, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Google Cloud.
    Both are B2B communicators, and we’re going to talk about what creativity looks like in B2B communications, how it can be used and how it can be integrated across the appropriate B2B channels.
    Thanks to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors, The PRCA.
    A quick mention about the relaunch of PRmoment. If you take a look at PRmoment.com, you'll see a brand new design with lots of new features, hopefully, easier navigation and also the launch of our new subscription training service for senior folks within agencies' PRmoment Leaders. Do take a look and let us know if you like it. 
    Thanks also so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
    Here is a  summary of what Jo and Laura and PRmoment founder discussed:
    2 mins Jo and Laura talk about what a modern, integrated approach to B2B communications looks like.
    6 mins What are the priority channels for most B2B communications?
    “Your company blog or your website should always be your priority channel.”
    14 mins A discussion of the rise of influencers within B2B markets
    17 mins Is creativity used less in B2B markets because communicators are more risk averse, or is it because of budget?
    “Creativity is a critical part of B2B PR…You need to stand out from the crowd. 
    …B2B buyers are usually bombarded with information.”
    20 mins Why is creativity important in B2B PR? 
    21 mins Laura gives some examples of how Google Cloud uses creativity in its B2B campaigns.
    28 mins How to craft your B2B campaigns to reach multiple objectives, including impact on sales.
    31 mins Does creative content drive more sales in Google’s experience?
    38 mins Bearing in mind how specific the target audience is, are B2B campaigns easier to measure?
    41 mins As in-house communicators, what is the role of the PR agency in B2B markets? To what extent do you look for creativity in your agency partners in B2B?

    • 42 min
    Global Women in PR's Annual Index charts the progress towards gender equality in the PR workplace

    Global Women in PR's Annual Index charts the progress towards gender equality in the PR workplace

    Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast. 
    On today's show, I’m chatting with Charlotte West, executive director of corporate communications at Lenovo, and Jo Patterson, UK MD at Zeno.
    Today, we’re discussing the findings of the Global Women in PR Annual Index, a research programme that aims to measure the status of women working in PR and communications worldwide.
    Before we start, we should pay tribute to GWPR co-founder Angela Oakes. Angela sadly passed away after a brief illness last year but her legacy of helping to change the landscape for women working in our industry will go on.
    Here are some topline findings from the report:
    Flexible working has become an accepted normLevels of flexible working have been maintained since this time last year and are anticipated to stay.Women continue to see progression and promotions slower than men, and boardrooms continue to be male-dominated.According to the report, half of female PR professionals globally have experienced harassment or inappropriate behaviour at work. But before we start, a quick plug for our latest webinar launch. The topic is “How to track the success of an earned media campaign." Tickets are free, and we’re putting this one on in partnership with our good friends at Carma. T
    Also a quick mention about the relaunch of PRmoment. If you take a look at PRmoment.com, you'll see a brand new design with lots of new features, hopefully easier navigation and also the launch of our new subscription training service for senior folks within agencies' PRmoment Leaders. Do take a look and let us know if you like it. 
    Thanks also so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
    Here is a summary of what Charlotte, Jo and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:
    3 mins The report reckons PR professionals expect to be working remotely for an average of 2.5 days a week, a slight drop in comparison to 2022 (3 days.)
    What remote working policies have Charlotte and Jo established at Lenovo and Zeno, respectively?
    “At Lenovo, the corporate guide is in the office three days a week.”
    6 mins A discussion of how remote working changes the culture of work - for better and for worse.
    “At the moment, the 2-day working week in the office is working well for us (Zeno).”
    9 mins Jo talks about the impact of flexible working for women working in PR.
    11 mins How has flexible working changed the culture at Zeno?
    20 mins “Most people in PR don’t have a work-life balance. What we can’t lose is work-life flexibility.”
    Some stats from the Global Women in PR Annual Index
    “The benefits of working flexibly continue to be regarded positively amongst PR professionals. With regard to well-being, seven in ten (75%) feel it helps employees maintain their mental well-being and four-fifths (82%) feel it helps maintain a healthy work-life balance, up from 77% in 2022.
    “75% believe flexible working allows women to have a family or take on caring responsibilities and still progress in their careers; up slightly from 71% last year. Whilst 74% agree that it helps retain female talent (increasing from 68% in 2022).
    A third (32%) believe that flexible working helps women progress into the boardroom.”
    23 mins Does flexible working slow down or speed up the PR careers of women?
    27 mins What does the next generation want from work? Is the generational divide amongst work-based teams becoming more pronounced?

    • 52 min
    The Global Creativity Review: February 2024

    The Global Creativity Review: February 2024

    Welcome to our February Creativity Review. Here, we are talking about the best bits of PR creativity we’ve seen this month.
    On the show today are:
    James Gordon-MacIntosh, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at Hope&Glory
    Leila Mountford, Partner, Creative Director at Portland
    Kim Allain, Creative Lead, MSL UK
    To remind the listeners of the only rule of our global creativity review, our creatives are not allowed to choose their own work!
    This is part of our regular series of creativity reviews, 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.

    A quick mention about the relaunch of PRmoment. If you take a look at PRmoment.com, you'll see a brand new design with lots of new features, hopefully easier navigation and also the launch of our new subscription training service for senior folks within agencies' PRmoment Leaders. Do take a look and let us know if you like it.

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

    Here is a summary of what Kim, James, Leila and your host PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:
    4 mins Lush Saltburn Bathbomb
    You can read more insight on what made this campaign a creative bit here. 
    6 mins Michael Cera and CeraVe
    You can read more insight on what made this campaign a creative bit here.
    12 mins Uncommon’s Ratboot
    You can read more insight on what made this campaign a creative bit here. 
    15 mins Taylor Swift mania in Australia sees the release of  ‘Tay Tams’ to celebrate 60 years of the iconic treat
    19 mins MSCHF’s Global Supply Chain Handbag
    You can read more about this campaign here.
    23 mins Kitchen roll supplier Plenty gives couples a chance to win a wedding.
    Does kitchen roll need a purpose?
    27 mins Hello Down There: Martin Scorsese directs Squarespace Super Bowl ad
    You can read more about this campaign here.
    32 mins PETA’s Dangerous Leather Warning to the public
    You can read more about this campaign here.
    35 mins Dove’s “It’s Hard Knocks Life” campaign.
    39 mins Changing Narratives' Campaign Challenges Racial Stereotypes
    41 mins An Ordinary bottle floats down the Thames.
    You can read more about this campaign here.
    45 mins Aldi’s Rogue Vogue

    • 47 min
    The review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in UK PR: February 2024

    The review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in UK PR: February 2024

    Welcome to our February 2024 Review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch, where we will discuss the biggest, most seismic pitch wins and mergers and acquisitions that the PR sector has seen in 2023.
    Andrew 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 co-founder and managing partner at PR agency Frank, before stepping back in 2020 to found Andrew Bloch & Associates.

    A quick mention about the relaunch of PRmoment. If you take a look at PRmoment.com, you'll see a brand new design with lots of new features, hopefully, easier navigation and also the launch of our new subscription training service for senior folks within agencies' PRmoment Leaders. Do take a look and let us know if you like it.

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

    2 mins Andrew talks us through this month's biggest PR pitch wins in the UK:

    Tortilla, the Mexican fast food restaurant,  appoints PR agency Houston.
    Orlebar Brown - a luxury swimwear brand owned by Chanel - appoints PR agency W.
    Bolt appoints PR agency Boldspace
    Burger King appoints PR agency The Academy
    Versuni (Philips brand owner) appoints PR agency Smoking Gun.
    (Ketchum continues to partner with Philips. Tin Man continues to handle global comms.)
    Heineken’s trade PR goes to food and drink  PR specialist Fleet Street
    Ballantines Whisky appoints Pangolin on a global brief.
    M&C Sport and Ents retain the global music brand strategy brief and Firstlight Group handle corporate comms.
    Four Seasons appoints Red - replaces PRCO after a 30-year client-agency relationship.
    Greggs appoint That Lot for a social media brief.
    Santander appoints two agencies - Lansons Team Farner for its consumer PR and MHP for its public affairs work.
    eToro appoints Lansons/Team Farner on a combined corp and brand brief.
    British Gas appoints Smarts for a consumer PR brief. (Working alongside BCW)

    “If there is a lack of long-term client commitment you have to adjust your cost base accordingly. The great agencies do that.”

    “We don’t do this for fun. There is no point running an agency that doesn't make any money.”

    16 mins Andrew talks us through February's M&A activity:
    Faith Brand Communications is acquired by Fantastic Media
    SEC Newgate acquires a 70% stake (over five years) in Athens HQ V+O Group.
    Real Chemistry acquires Avant Healthcare.
    Havas acquires b2b marketing specialist Ledger Bennett
    Cognito, an independent global PR agency, has completed the majority acquisition of its German operation Cognito DACH.

    • 25 min
    Did anyone read the PR ethics code? A discussion about the PR ethics with Mary Beth West and Trevor Morris

    Did anyone read the PR ethics code? A discussion about the PR ethics with Mary Beth West and Trevor Morris

    Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.
    Today, we’re talking PR Ethics, basically because Mary Beth West, who is a senior strategist at Fletcher Marketing PR in the US, has funded research by the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE), which compares and contrasts 24 global ethics codes of PR.
    On the show today, Mary Beth is going to talk through some of the themes of this research. 
    Today’s podcast also sees the return of the finest voice radio voice in PR - Trevor Morris, who I suspect will bring some practical thoughts on the real-world implementation of PR ethics codes. Trevor and his co-author Simon Goldsworthy wrote the book Public Relations Ethics.
    A quick mention about the relaunch of PRmoment. If you take a look at PRmoment.com, you'll see a brand new design with lots of new features, hopefully easier navigation and also the launch of our new subscription training service for senior folks within agencies' PRmoment Leaders. Do take a look and let us know if you like it. 
    Thanks also to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
    Here is a summary of what Trevor, Mary Beth and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:
    2 mins Do published ethics codes serve a critical role in public relations? 
    “Of all the ethics codes in PR…accuracy and honesty were the values that were universal.”
    “There are other elements of codes that are not universal, such as guarding of conflict of interests. “
    “AI is another one that is not dealt with in codes.”
    “PR ethics codes are an important benchmark. You have to have them… But the reality is that very few people have read them.”
    “When they do get used it’s often after the event. When something has gone wrong.”
    “For the codes to be effective, they need to be memorable. Shot, sharp and memorable.”
    6 mins Mary Beth talks us though the differences in PR ethics codes globally.
    “Another element of this white paper was to determine how old some of these codes are. There is a prominent code here in the US, which is a very good code. But it hasn’t been updated in nearly 25 years.”
    9 mins What are the compliance gaps in global PR ethics currently?
    “Of the 24 ethics codes we evaluated, 20 of them had an order to comply with the code to be a member. Only 13 of the codes, however, say that they are enforced.” 
    “Only 6 of the codes made it easy to submit an (ethics) complaint.”
    “Only 2 of the 24 codes offered whistleblower protection mechanism.”
    11 mins “Very few PR people have ever been prosecuted for anything related to their work. There are far more lawyers and accountants that run into those kinds of problems.”
    13 mins “Trust is fundamental to the career of a PR person. If you lose that trust, it is potentially career-ending.”
    14 mins To what extent does PR have an ethics problem?
    “I think we have a lot of ethics problems in this industry. When you look across the full scale of all of the different acres in which communication can be manipulated to mislead.”
    “There is a danger that the codes start to behave like a priest, that you must never say anything that is not 100% transparent. And I don’t think that is possible.”
    “Ethics codes are not a silver bullet. If a public relations profess&

    • 35 min
    How do find your organisation's reputation North Star? With Delphi's Ellie Thompson and ZOE's Danielle Restivo

    How do find your organisation's reputation North Star? With Delphi's Ellie Thompson and ZOE's Danielle Restivo

    On the show today, I’m chatting with Delphi co-founder Ellie Thompson and ZOE’s communications director, Danielle Restivo, about how to find your organisation's reputation North Star.
    Ellie was previously CEO at Harvard. She launched Delphi alongside Louie St Clare and Pete Marcus in May last year.

    Danielle has had in-house experience in senior roles at the likes of Linkedin, SAP, Google and Vodafone. She joined ZOE as its communications and PR director in 2023.

    The central premise behind the subject for today’s show is that if reputation were prioritised where it should be within organisations - communications directors would be the CEO’s best friend. And currently, in the main, they are not.

    So today, we’re going to chat about the reasons for this - who’s at fault, and hopefully, we’ll touch on some suggested solutions for any comms directors out there who can empathise with this issue.

    Before we start a plug for our latest webinar launch. The topic for this one is “How to track the success of an earned media campaign." tickets are free, and we’re putting this one on in partnership with our good friends at Carma. The event is promoted on the homepage of PRmoment.

    A quick mention about the relaunch of PRmoment. If you take a look at PRmoment.com, you'll see a brand new design with lots of new features, hopefully easier navigation and also the launch of our new subscription training service for senior folks within agencies' PRmoment Leaders.  Do take a look and let us know if you like it. 
    Thanks also so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
    Here is a summary of what Ellie, Danielle and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:

    2 mins Why do organisations need a reputational North Star? 
    “A reputation north star gives you your reputational requirement…It gives you absolute clarity. …It’s a living shifting thing.”
    “It’s about what reputation we need if that’s what we want to achieve as a business.”

    4 mins What is the difference between a Reputational North Star and your comms team’s objectives?
    6 mins Do many companies try to define their reputational North Star?
    7 mins How should companies define their reputation North Star?
    10 mins Your North Star Gap: How far away is your organisation’s reputation from your reputation, North Star?
    12 mins Do you think too many in-house comms teams get beaten down by the day-to-day?
    15 mins How have we got to a place where, for some organisations, comms doesn’t play a leading role in an organisation's reputational management?
    20 mins To what extent is the in-house comms role a process of internal stakeholder management?
    24 mins Danielle explains ZOE’s reputational North Star.
    28 mins How can communicators make the shift from brand awareness amongst their target audiences to a good reputation?
    32  mins For some comms teams, there is an increasing emphasis on impact on sales. To what extent is this a product of reputation, and to what extent should a comms team take a shorter-term lead generation approach?
    39 mins Ellie’s theory of Reputational Capital: Your reputation is like a bank account. You will have to make deposits into it and withdrawals from it. But don’t go into your overdraft!
    46 mins What are the attributes of a successful in-house comms team?

    • 49 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
43 Ratings

43 Ratings

John Higginson ,

Great podcast

Great informative podcast for our industry. Lots of attention paid to subject matter. Looking forward to coming on as a guest.

Farzana Baduel ,

Brilliant podcast for PR pros

Insightful guests interviewed by a skilled and curious podcast host.

Kudos. Love the podcast 🙌🏽

Grand56u ,

Essential listening

If you work in the comms business and want to stay ahead of industry trends and insights this is the podcast for you. A rare chance to listen in on the great and the good of the PR industry imparting their wisdom. Essential listening I’d say.

Top Podcasts In Business

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
DOAC
The Martin Lewis Podcast
BBC Radio 5 Live
A Book with Legs
Smead Capital Management
Making Money
Kindling Media
Big Fish with Spencer Matthews
Global
On a Mission Podcast
Ellie McKay

You Might Also Like

When It Hits the Fan
BBC Radio 4
Desert Island Discs
BBC Radio 4
The Rest Is Entertainment
Goalhanger Podcasts
THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST
ADAM BUXTON
The Media Show
BBC Radio 4
Changes with Annie Macmanus
Annie Macmanus