Elle-Linton-Featured

Fitness Blogger Spotlight: Elle Linton, Keep it simpElle

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‘I feel like blogging opens me up to a world where I get to discover so many things, and sharing that journey of discovery is great,’ says Elle Linton of Keep it simpElle.

Read about the highs (tight knit community) and lows (thigh gap trend) of the fitness community and where Elle hopes to see improvement in 2020.

How did you get started with blogging about fitness?
After graduating from University (in Exercise Science) I found myself in a sport-related desk job. I was lucky enough to have a colleague who was active and encouraged me to take part in a project where I would be teaching fitness classes. That project grew and from it came the opportunity to be involved with various fitness events centred around the London 2012 Olympics. There was so much going on, I needed a way to share it all and hopefully get others inspired to get involved, so I started my blog.

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What’s your favourite thing to post about on your blog?
Personally, I love the variety that blogging brings and I enjoy creating all the content that I share. My main goal is to ensure the content is useful and has longevity so that gives me lots of room for creativeness. I feel like blogging opens me up to a world where I get to discover so many things and sharing that journey of discovery is great – be it the latest fitness technology, a new event or the latest superfood.

What are your tips for getting back into an exercise routine after the festive season?
I would say it’s pretty much like getting back to exercise at any point in time; starting a fitness routine from what probably feels like scratch can be difficult. The hardest part is starting so take that first step, be it booking into class with a friend for extra accountability or signing up for Parkrun or a Breeze ride. Once it’s done, you’ll be more motivated for your next workout. My other suggestions would be to make small changes, one at a time and to set yourself a goal with enough time to make success more likely.

What makes the fitness blogging community different (and better!) than others?
The fitness blogging community is a small world! Although I enjoy being a part of it, like most other industries it does have its flaws especially when it comes to diversity. I’d like to think, though, that brands and PRs working in fitness would want to be leaders in championing diversity and inclusion so I’m excited to see the landscape grow and change over 2020 to welcome a more diverse community.

Weirdest fitness trend you’ve tried/heard about?
I’m not one for trying trends, but I have seen a fair few things floating around on Pinterest and Facebook! The hip exerciser tool which promises to create a thigh gap and give you buns of steel has to be the winner for weirdest fitness trend, though! I’ve also seen resistance bands seem to be growing in popularity… I’ll be giving them a second chance in 2020!

What are the best songs to have on your iPod to get you fired up to work out?
If there is one thing I pride myself on when teaching, it’s always having a banging playlist! Here are a few of my current favourite tunes:

• Megan Thee Stallion, Big Ole Freak
• Lizzo, Tempo ft Missy Elliot
• Billie Eilish, Bad Guy ft Justin Bieber

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Who are your fitness inspirations?
My biggest inspirations come from day-to-day life rather than looking to professional athletes. I’m a big fan of @laurabiceps, who is a London-based fitness coach specialising in strength training. I get a lot of running inspiration from people I know and follow on Instagram like @livdmc and @megerecooper. Cycling is pretty similar too… there are so many inspiring women out there including @anneleenbosma, @holly_seear and @ayesuppose whose journeys I follow avidly.

How do you work with PRs and brands?
I’ve really enjoyed working with brands and PRs over the years especially as influencer marketing has evolved. I’m always open to ideas, especially ones that can be tweaked to fit my brand and audience better. I created a page on my blog to share my media kit and upcoming editorial themes so any brand or PR can see what I have coming up and if they have an idea to work together they can easily get in touch.

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For PRs looking to work with you and your blog, how would you prefer they approach you?
Email is definitely the easiest way; personalising it goes a long way, too. Direct messages on platforms like Instagram and Twitter can easily get filtered or just lost in the build-up meaning I won’t see them or respond as quickly. I’m always happy to chat on the phone, too.

What other blogs do you read (whether fitness-related or not)?
Currently I’ve been enjoying katykicker.com for finance related tips, thecuriouspixie.co.uk for travel inspiration and thephdrunner.com for running.

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PR measurement

How to make PR measurement relevant for your clients

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This is a guest post by Laura McReynolds, PR Account Manager at Missive.

As an industry, we’re more accountable than ever, but we can also measure and demonstrate our business impact more clearly than ever before.

Establish what matters
Step one: ask your client what matters to their organisational reputation and target audiences. It’s a simple step, but it can be easy to get swept up in the next big idea or interview opportunity without really thinking about what impact you will have on organisational objectives and how your work will be measured in the end-of-year review.

It’s difficult to make anything relevant to a client if you don’t know what is important to their business. Having a conversation to establish what success looks like before planning activity is vital. Not only will it help you track the right metrics, it also shows your client that you’re on their team and you’ll be able to help them have demonstrable impact to their key stakeholders.

Business objectives should lay the foundation for your PR and communications strategy. If the client wants to attract new customers, outline a process where you can track how many customer leads come in from PR activity. Ask for access to their sales team data and their Google Analytics before starting so you can suggest realistic KPIs around an increase in lead volumes, for example. Or if they want to increase their share of voice against competitors then set up to track media mentions and use SEO tracking to understand when the brand is searched for with a key term versus its competitors.

PR and social media are increasingly overlapping and this is good news for measurement. Online communications are easier to capture, track and analyse than offline, so the PR industry should be seizing this opportunity.

Measure for measure
The good news is that there is a plethora of tools available to help crunch the numbers and make them meaningful. As a basic starting point, media monitoring tools to capture media mentions and analyse sentiment, website analytics to help you put numbers against website traffic driven by links in media coverage, and social media analysis tools on the social media platforms themselves to determine reach and interactions.

It’s a numbers game
Goalposts – famously – move, and your client’s business aims can change throughout the year. Being outside of their business means you might not hear about it until it’s too late. It’s your job to make sure you use your results and approach to evaluation to keep PR relevant.

Regular reporting on the KPIs you agreed is a great way of aligning PR to strategic objectives – and also understanding which communities, messaging and results are most important. For example, finding out if the new CEO is actually far more interested in reaching the investment community ahead of a fundraiser than he is in getting in front of industry executives. Knowing this might have you pivoting from trying to secure a speaking slot at a tier one trade press event to calling up TechCrunch or activating a targeted LinkedIn campaign.

Measuring diligently and consistently is the best way to showcase your knowledge of what matters to your client’s business and prove the impact your work can have. A robust approach to measurement will help you embed with key stakeholders in a business and ensure you get the credibility, budget and recognition that you deserve.

Measure the success of your campaigns with Vuelio media monitoring and report on your activity with Canvas – keep on top of the coverage that matters to your clients.

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The evolution of PR and communications for You are The Media

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It was a great pleasure to join Mark Masters for the You are the Media (YATM) podcast to discuss what lies ahead for the communications industry. If you haven’t come across YATM before it’s a treasure trove of inspiration for how to create content that inspires engagement regardless of whether you’re a PR, marketeer or in-house comms pro. It also reinforces one of my guiding principles that building an audience rests on a magic mix of being useful and entertaining.

Understanding the future for PR and communications starts with reflecting on where we were. Ten years ago, I was starting up a PR agency and spending my time trying to meet anyone who could be vaguely relevant for lunch or a drink. Face to face meetings to gossip and spot opportunities took nearly all my time – albeit too often leading to lasting hangovers that definitely reduced productivity the next day.

Fast forward to today, and as I discussed with YATM, one of the biggest shifts I’ve seen is in the evolution of how the industry approaches connections. Relationships remain vital but your network today has to be more diverse. Rather than a black book dominated by journalists at individual titles, the most successful PR and communicators are those who have networks representing the many audiences that engage with any organisation. Beyond knowing print, broadcast and online media, it is now vital to know politicos, influencers and those publishing in a constantly evolving social media landscape.

It isn’t that ‘old’ behaviours such as lunching with a journalist aren’t important, they just have to go with investing time to talk with those who are becoming just as important as the media to reputation build and management. And this shift in focus goes hand in hand with the transformation in how the industry reports on success. Again, just as it is no longer enough to ‘only’ know media it is no longer enough to ‘only’ report on coverage reach or sentiment. We have to understand how to track, analyse and report on the multiple ways the content we create has impact – from web traffic, click throughs or interactions. This is an opportunity to align PR to marketing which, if we get right, will deliver growth by opening new budget streams.

We ended our conversation talking about the biggest mistakes made with PR and communications by senior decision makers. Answering this made me feel every one of the 19 years I had worked in the industry because I can remember discussing the majority of these at the start of my career. That PR too often is seen as a one-off transaction rather than a sustainable investment that adds value over time. That PRs are expected to create compelling, effective content without insight into customer or product needs. And finally, that understanding ROI is vital but too often PR budgets don’t allow for the depth of research needed. If there is good news it is that these themes are now front of centre for nearly every organisation – and that technology, by enabling real time management of vast data, has the potential to at last solve them.

A huge thanks to Mark and YATM for having me on the podcast.

Listen to the podcast here.

PRCA Economic Barometer

PRCA Economic Barometer finds renewed optimism within the busy UK PR industry

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Results from the latest Economic Barometer show that a majority of PR leaders are optimistic about the wider UK economy for the first time since the 2016 EU Referendum, and that agencies are busy when it comes to new business.

Tracking industry confidence on a quarterly basis, the PRCA Barometer gathers opinion from agency owners and managing directors. In the 2019/20 Q4 report, revealed today, positive responses outnumber the negative for the 39 respondents:

– Net optimism for leaders’ own consultancies +43 (up from +21 in 2019)
– Net optimism for the wider PR industry +38 (+12 in 2019)
– Expectations for hiring +54 (+22 in 2019)

Other positives from this quarter’s Barometer include PR client budgets sticking at the same level (56.41%) or increasing (5.13% significantly and 28.21% marginally) and no respondents reporting a significant decrease.

38.46% of agencies describe themselves as ‘busy’ when it comes to new business, and 25.64% as ‘very busy’ (Reassuringly, no agencies taking part responded with ‘Very quiet’).

‘Our industry has always been optimistic about its future growth. But that optimism has been overshadowed in recent years by uncertainty about broader economic conditions,’ said PRCA director general Francis Ingham on the findings. ‘Happily, those clouds of concern appear to have been blown away.

‘For the first time in nearly four years, the PR industry is optimistic about the wider UK economy. To me, this is a pivotal moment, as economic uncertainty recedes, and overall confidence returns.’

Read more about the PRCA’s Economic Barometer here.

Lucy Edwards Paddle Pedal Pace

Fitness Blogger Spotlight: Lucy Edwards, Paddle Pedal Pace

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Get to know one of our top 10 fitness and exercise bloggers – Lucy Edwards of Paddle Pedal Pace. Having completed 25 triathlons at the current count, Lucy also recently qualified to represent Great Britain at the European Age Group Championships. Learn more about her journey from self-confessed ‘gym bunny’ to endurance athlete in our Blogger Spotlight.

How did you get started with blogging about fitness?
I started my blog in September 2013 as I had some time off between jobs and wanted a new project to keep me busy. I was inspired by other fitness blogs which I’d been following and decided I wanted to share my own thoughts and experiences.

What’s your favourite thing to post about on your blog?
I enjoy writing race recaps as it’s fun to relive the experience, celebrate the achievement and cement the memories in my mind. I’m told that my race recaps are useful for other people when they are choosing or training for a race, as it lets them know what to expect on the day.

What are your tips for getting back into an exercise routine after the festive season?
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself and ease back in gradually. It’s better to build up slowly than launching into a demanding regime in January which you won’t be able to sustain throughout the year. If you do have some big fitness goals for 2020, I’d recommend finding a coach or personal trainer to help you structure your training towards those goals.

What makes the fitness blogging community different (and better!) than others?
Honestly, I feel like the community has changed a lot over the years. Many of the original fitness bloggers who started around the same time as me have now closed down their blogs or moved in a different direction. I know a lot of bloggers who are feeling disillusioned with the influencer landscape currently. Having said that, there are still a few fitness bloggers who are passionate and knowledgeable about creating quality content.

Weirdest fitness trend you’ve tried/heard about?
Swimrun sounds crazy and I’d love to give it a go! You race in teams of two, alternating between trail running and open water swimming, but you don’t get changed for each section so you run in your wetsuit and swim in your shoes! It started in Sweden as a drunken bet (like many of the best ideas)!

What are the best songs to have on your iPod to get you fired up to work out?
When I’m doing a tough session on the Wattbike, I tend to listen to metal like Slipknot, Korn, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine. Stuff I listened to when I was a teenager!

Who are your fitness heroes/inspirations?
I’m not hugely inspired by pro-athletes or celebrities – I find everyday people more relatable. Members of my triathlon club who are balancing training with work, families and a social life are my inspiration (particularly those who have got young children).

How do you work with PRs and brands?
I’ve worked with PRs and brands on a variety of campaigns including product reviews, press trips, sponsored content and social media promotion. I’m happy to consider any ideas for collaboration as long as they are relevant to my audience.

For PRs looking to work with you and your blog, how would you prefer they approach you?
Contacting me by email is fine. I always prefer when the PR has researched my blog and personalised their approach, rather than sending a blanket email about something which is completely irrelevant.

What other blogs do you read?
My friend Lisa’s blog Fat Girl Fit as she’s so passionate about cycling and a big inspiration.

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PRCA-Climate-Change

PRCA joins Advertising Association Climate Action Group to address climate change

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The PRCA has joined the Advertising Association, working in partnership with ISBA and IPA, to address climate change issues.

The Council will co-ordinate the efforts of the collection of creative industry organisations within two groups – the Climate Action Steering Group (CASG) and the Climate Action Working Group (CAWG).

Chaired by Advertising Association vice chair and EVP and general manager of Unilever UK and Ireland Sebastian Munden, the CASG is made up of representatives across the industry including the Marketing Society and The Marketing Academy. From March, the group will focus on initiatives to meet goals instituted by the UK Government across media, marketing and advertising. The three initial areas the CASG will focus on, alongside the CAWG group, are:

1. A report measuring the UK advertising industry’s carbon footprint and how it can be reduced
2. Developing options for collective industry action to encourage use of sustainable products, services, behaviours and messaging in advertising
3. Support of the ASA’s plan to explore how advertising regulation can aid with climate change concerns

‘Advertising accelerates behaviour change and can be a real force for helping drive sustainable growth and social good,’ said Advertising Association chief executive Stephen Woodford on the importance of the formation of the groups. ‘With ideas like this and many, many more, we have the opportunity to make a massive impact through the right action over the years ahead of us.’

‘Public relations and communications professionals have the power to shape public consciousness on climate change. But we also have a responsibility to ensure our own organisations operate responsibly,’ said PRCA director general Francis Ingham. ‘Our industry can make a genuine impact on this issue. As the world’s largest PR membership body, the PRCA is proud to be joining the Advertising Association’s new initiative.’

Interested in the industry’s work on climate action? Contact the Advertising Association via [email protected] for more information.

Facts, Fakes and Fast News

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The latest YouGov poll shows trust in the British media to tell the truth has declined, and less than half now believe BBC news journalists are honest and impartial. How can journalists restore public trust in the media? 

The rise in user-generated content and the dominance of search engines are shaping the news landscape with mainstream media now competing with inauthentic sources. While the European Commission and the UK Government have taken steps to tackle the spread and impact of online disinformation, fake news is a perennial concern for journalists with false stories spreading faster than ever on social networks. 

Our webinar, Facts, fakes and fast news discusses how journalists can debunk disinformation and to help regain trust in journalism. Joining the panel are Professor Charlie Beckett, Director of Polis and the LSE Truth, Trust & Technology Commission Department of Media and Communications, Alan Meban, Director of FactCheckNI and Alastair Brian, fact checker for the Ferret.

facts fakes and fast news

EU Copyright

Industry welcomes EU Copyright Law update

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The Government’s decision not to implement the EU Copyright Directive in light of the UK’s upcoming departure from the EU has been welcomed by the CIPR and PRCA.

The reforms, required to be implemented by EU member states by 7 June 2021, will see accountability for breaching copyright placed on companies that host the distribution of offending content – publishing companies, PR agencies, digital video networks and more. Negatives raised by those working in the media included the possible stalling of online engagement and the stifling of opinion on current events – the main tools of both journalism and public relations.

The move away from implementing the EU Copyright Directive in the UK, judged ‘a step backwards for internet freedom’ by the CIPR and a threat to ‘the core principle of access to information’ by the PRCA, is a positive for the PR industry and the media at large.

‘Users of copyrighted content have an obligation to the right-holders but these reforms are not the answer’, said CIPR CEO Alastair McCapra. ‘They are disproportionate to the benefits they will derive, fail to solve the issues around copyright online while negatively impacting internet-based businesses and the way we all use the internet.

‘We welcome the Government’s decision on this matter and would now urge them to publish details of how the UK intends to manage digital copyright whilst protecting against piracy.’

‘The Government’s decision not to implement the Directive is a huge relief for communications professionals in the UK,’ said PRCA head of communications Koray Camgoz. ‘In its current form, the Directive threatens paralysis on creative businesses that rely on the freedom and democracy of information on the internet.

‘We will always fight the corner of PR professionals threatened by these draconian laws and will continue to campaign passionately against the Directive on behalf of our members in Europe.’

Read the full statements on the decision from the CIPR and the PRCA, and click here for more on the impact the EU Copyright Directive and Article 13 could have on how news is shared and reported.

Creative Shootout winners 2020

Empathy, estate agents and a homeless epidemic – The Creative Shootout 2020

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Last night The Creative Shootout took over Picturehouse Central for the live final, which saw eight agencies take to the stage, pitching for homeless charity Crisis.

Crisis is well-known for its hugely effective Christmas campaign with a mission to end homelessness for good. The brief it brought to the agencies competing in this year’s Creative Shootout set out to challenge their creative minds and shift the perception of Crisis being a Christmas charity to one that works all year round. Focusing on 18-34-year olds, the campaign ideas were required to galvanise the public and shift their belief that ending homelessness is an impossible goal.

At lunchtime, the teams were presented with the brief and given just four hours to come up with a stand-out campaign before pitching their ideas in just 10 minutes to an audience of 350 PR professionals and creatives.

The pitches ranged from renting out doorsteps and sofas on Rightmove to FleishmanHillard Fishburn’s ever increasing bank of real-life stories about homelessness 365 days of the year. Wavemaker and Alpaca came up with campaigns that tapped into the needs of ‘Generation Rent’ utilising popular housing websites such as Zoopla and Spareroom, while Fever PR took it to the next level creating their own estate agents, Fauxtons, with real-life pop-up venues around the UK.

Empathy played a big part in all the campaign pitches with Haygarth using the shocking fact that a family is made homeless every 13 minutes and asking the public to give up just 13 minutes of their time to help those who are homeless, from hairdressers offering free cuts to partnering with footballers to donate 13 minutes of their wage.

TracyLocke came at the brief from a different angle and based its campaign around the idea of treating homelessness as a virus outbreak; they even gave it a Latin medical name, ‘Profugo Populus’.

Asking the audience to observe the flag at the start of their pitch, the team from Grayling took inspiration from a place that has ended homelessness: Helsinki.  With a clever tag of #FinnishTheCrisis and using the Finnish people to share their story of how they got rid of homelessness, they created the idea of the world’s first digital march, spreading the message across media sites, news and partner websites.

Taking home The Creative Shootout crown for its heartfelt and moving pitch was Epoch Design. This was its first time entering the competition but the campaign to give the homeless back their voice won the judges over. Engaging directly with a millennial audience, Epoch Design put the ‘invisible’ to the forefront with open mic nights with only homeless performers and a podcast channel that would give them a voice.

Epoch Design will get to run its winning campaign with Crisis as well as a range of partners and Crisis’s existing agency network.

We are proud to show our continued support for this fantastic event, which encourages creativity across the industry. Well done to everyone who took part and congratulations to Epoch Design!

Felicity-Hannah-Twitter-thread

How to pitch to freelancers

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Able to switch up topics, formats and focus quickly, freelancers are useful people to know when you’re a PR with stories you’d like to be translated and told. No editorial calendar, but also no time for calls, freelancers pitch and write, pitch and write. As journalist Felicity Hannah pointed out in her Twitter thread covering tips for PRs, freelancers require a very different approach to staffers.

We’ve gathered more tips from the freelance journalist community on how they work and – very importantly – how you can become a contact they like to see in their inbox.

1. Give freelancers time to get a commission
‘Now I’m freelance, I much prefer being approached with story ideas and interview opportunities, rather than straight news stories that I’m very unlikely to get commissioned on such short notice! Also, I know it’s been said before, but please get in touch by email – I’ve seen it, and if I don’t reply immediately, it’s because I’m busy. Plus, it can be awkward to speak on the phone when I’m working down the pub…’

Carly Page covers the technology sector and can be found tweeting @CarlyPage_. Check out her work at clippings.me/carlypage.

2. Personalise your approach for each freelancer and know what they write about before you get in touch
‘When PRs get in touch, it’s always more effective if they have looked at the kinds of publications I’m writing for and pitch something appropriate (it sounds obvious but I get so many press releases completely unrelated to any publication I’ve ever written for). I also really appreciate – and find most useful – press releases that are tailored to individual writers (rather than a general mailout). And, unless there is something new/timely about the story, I won’t be able to cover it. If a story is truly interesting, pull out what makes it timely to cover and let me know about it – I won’t necessarily have time to search it out myself (and as the thread points out, freelancers only get paid for words they write!).’

Mandi Keighran writes for travel, design and lifestyle publications. Find her on Instagram @mandikeighran and more about her work is on her website mandikeighran.com.

3. Face-to-face meetups are still a thing
‘I always like putting a face to a name and meeting up with PRs to gain a deeper insight into their brand, discussing key products and ways of working together too. I’ve always found this helps me build fruitful relationships with PRs. Also, email is always the quickest way to catch me over phone calls!’

Lauren Carbran is an award-winning journalist who writes about fragrance, beauty, lifestyle, kids and parenting, health and wellness. She can be found on Instagram @laurencarbranportfolio and @laurendaniellequinn and on Twitter @LaurenCarbran. For more about her work and to get in touch, visit her website laurencarbran.com.

4. Get in touch early if you’re pitching to a freelancer who writes for print
‘Understand how far in advance print works. I often get press releases for events taking place in a few weeks pitching for the inflight print titles I write for – most of which will have already gone to print! Get in touch earlier rather than later for the best chance of a story finding a home in print.’

Mandi Keighran

5. No one has time to chat about a press release
‘I do agree with Felicity Hannah’s point that there is no need for PRs to follow up on press releases if they haven’t heard back – personally, it’s either of no interest or I have filed it for future use. Although, I know a lot of people don’t even read their emails!

‘For me though, email is the way forward and was the way I worked on House Beautiful, too. When I was at Hearst, I rarely logged into my phone, and not many staffers do – no one has time to chat about a press release. It used to annoy me when PRs contacted me on my personal mobile at work too, especially when you are in an open plan office, although that has changed now that I am freelance. It does sound mean, but unfortunately, it’s really all down to lack of time.’

Alison Davidson is a freelance interiors and lifestyle editor, stylist, content creator, copywriter and blogger. More about her and her work can be found on her website alisonaddingstyle.com.

6. Make freelancing easier
‘I’d say it’s definitely better to email freelancers, rather than call. There’s nothing worse than fielding calls from PRs that start with a vague, ‘I was wondering if you’d had the chance to have a look at the press release I sent over?’ when your inbox in full of releases. The big difference is that freelancers aren’t being paid a salary to take the time out to answer the call. If your email goes unanswered, absolutely follow up a couple of times or even use Twitter. We definitely need stories and ideas as much as staff writers, and good PRs can make our jobs so much easier.’

Rosie focuses on health and wellness, food and travel, celebrity profiles and real-life stories. She can be found tweeting @RosieHopegood and more about her work is on her website rosiehopegood.com.

Find the right freelancer for your very timely, very focused, very email pitches with the Vuelio Media Contact Database.

Laura Sutherland

PRCA appoints Laura Sutherland as PRCA Scotland Group Chairman

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PRCA has appointed Aura PR chief and #PRFest founder Laura Sutherland CMPRCA as its Scotland Group chairman.

Laura will work with national coordinator Wilma Littlejohn MPRCA and vice chair and ORE Catapult head of communications Lee Madigan on the committee.

‘Lee and I are really looking forward to working with Laura,’ said Wilma. ‘The new strategy in Scotland will be to expand upon how we engage with our members and other trade organisations to benefit the wider PR and communications profession.’

With work across the CIPR at a UK national level and her work with PRCA at Scottish national level, Laura will focus on the coordination of activity across various membership organisations across Scotland. To start: a survey to better understand the needs of Scottish members concerning professional development, ethics, leadership and strategy.

‘Let’s crack on with being more brave, committing to professional development and pushing the Scottish industry forward,’ said Laura of her ambitions for developing what the PRCA has already achieved in the area. ‘The opportunities are huge and we shouldn’t waste any time in achieving our full potential.’

PRCA director general Francis Ingham MPRCA added: ‘As everyone who has been to #PRFest over the years knows, Laura Sutherland is a one-woman PR dynamo! We’re delighted that she is our new Scotland chairman and looking forward to further strengthening our offering to Scottish members’.

Laura is a previous winner of the PRCA Dare Award for PR Consultant of the Year (for 2018 and 2019). More on her appointment, and the Scotland Group, can be found on the PRCA website.

2020 Travel PR Trends

The biggest travel & tourism trends of 2020

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This is a guest post by Frank Marr, Co-founder, AM+A Marketing & Media Relations.

A New Year means a new set of trends that will define travel and tourism. AM+A’s team of industry experts give their predictions for the biggest 2020 travel trends to look out for…

Conscious travel and its effect on supply chains
As environmental concerns continue to dominate the public conscious, they will increasingly impact 2020 travel trends. Consumers want to reduce their carbon footprint and are expecting organisations to do more to help them with this.

The Guardian newspaper made a 2019 climate pledge and encourages readers to consider the environmental impact of their holidays. EasyJet now offsets carbon emissions by operating with a net-zero carbon flights across its entire network. Expect to see organisations increasingly considering their own supply chains and how they can better support the environment and local communities.

Tech travellers: Digital decision-making
2020 will see travellers put more faith in the hands of technology when it comes to holiday decision making processes. 59% of global travellers want technology to offer them ‘wildcard’ and surprise options to introduce them to something entirely new. 46% will use an app making it fast and easy to book activities in real time while travelling and 44% will use an app that allows them to pre-plan activities in one place.

AI is now at a place where it can offer new, exciting experiences to consumers based on preferences, previous trips and other key factors. Watch out for Hopper, Airbnb and Google Trips to all make big waves in this area during 2020.

Second City Travel Boom
Another way that destinations are seeking to combat over-tourism is by helping focus on alternative locations. The consumer desire for such experiences is also rapidly increasing. Expedia has seen a 200% rise in interest of Vinicunca (Rainbow Mountain) instead of Machu Picchu, highlighting an ‘alternative bucket list’ mindset.

According to Booking.com, 54% of global travellers want to play a part in reducing over-tourism and 60% of travellers are keen to have access to a service that recommends destinations where an increase in tourism would have a positive impact on the local community.

Embracing JOMO (The ‘Joy Of Missing Out’)
2020 has seen wellness, sustainable and responsible tourism all emerge as ways to combat over-tourism, and travellers are increasingly looking to get away from the generic for authentic experiences that evoke lasting emotions and connections with their travel.

A Sustainable Travel Report released by Booking.com last year stated 87% of travellers wished to travel sustainably and The 2018 Global Wellness Tourism Economy study predicts wellness tourism will be worth $919 billion by 2022. Forget the ‘fear of missing out’ – 2020 is all about the ‘joy of missing out’.

Greener, slower, deeper travel in 2020
We live life at a dizzying pace, and in 2020 reducing the speed of life, and specifically how we travel, will be more on the minds of global travellers than ever before. Booking.com claims 61% of travellers are looking to take a longer route to experience more of their journey.

Booking.com also suggested 62% of visitors want to go on a trip where transportation was part of the experience. This is evidenced by a 64% rise in consumer interest in taking historical train journeys such as the Flying Scotsman or Orient Express

Another factor to consider is the growing environmental concerns surrounding flying – 2020 will see an increased number of travellers snubbing short haul flights for train travel, specifically among Millennials and Gen Z.

To join a free training course on Sustainable Leadership Management featuring AM+A’s Frank Marr click here. Want more on travel? Check out the UK Top 10 Travel Blogs.

Sarah Barthet

Travel, Luxury and Lifestyle Blogger Spotlight with Sarah Barthet, Dukes Avenue

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Blogging about travel and luxury on Dukes Avenue has been Sarah Barthet’s ticket to freedom. Needing an outlet outside of her work in the corporate and male-dominated field of finance, Sarah started her blogging journey in 2018 and has now made it her full-time career.

Find out how time in the finance industry can help with becoming a successful blogger (the pitching and networking skills help) and what kind of experiences writing about luxury can bring.

How did you get into blogging and what does it mean to you?
I began my blogging journey in early 2018. I had heard about blogging before, but I had no idea that you can actually make a career out of it. I had been feeling unfulfilled by the world of finance for some time – the excitement I had for it ten years ago just wasn’t there anymore. Travelling and luxury goods have always been a passion of mine. Travelling specifically was something I knew I wanted in my adult life, but I was first introduced to luxury goods when I was 18. At the time, I worked in a perfumery while I was studying for my undergrad degree in economics. When I learned that blogging could be a viable career option, I started planting the seeds to make this my new career path. It wasn’t until July 2019 that I felt ready to say goodbye to finance and become a full-time blogger and content creator.

Blogging has been my ticket to freedom and it was my creative outlet in a world that was so corporate and male-dominated. I am now free to be myself, free to work on projects I am actually passionate about and free to create my own working hours. I’m also now my own boss – and you cannot put a price on that feeling.

Sarah Barthet Dukes Avenue

In what ways does your background working in finance influence you in your role as a blogger?
While I no longer enjoyed working in finance towards the end (just because I knew where my passions lay and it wasn’t in stock markets!), I am actually very grateful for everything I learned and experienced in those ten years. I had always worked within investor relations and business development, and that also meant that I initially had to prepare monthly newsletters, update the firm’s website, create pitchbooks and communicate any firm updates to investors or fund databases. As my career progressed, I eventually began travelling to meet with investors, to attend conferences and to present the firm I was working for at the time. The funny thing is I do all of these things now. I write a weekly newsletter for my audience, I set up and run my website single-handedly, I create and use my own pitchbooks. I also attend industry conferences, network and instead of pitching to investors, I now pitch to brands.

Being in the corporate world for so long meant that I went into this new role with a set state of mind. I treat this like a business, not a social media popularity contest. I have a system for emails and for diary management; all of my work is done with contracts and a high degree of professionalism is incredibly important to me. Ultimately, I want the star of this show to be my brand, Dukes Avenue, and I want the brands that I work with to expect a high level of quality from the work I produce.

What are the most enjoyable aspects of running a blog?
Learning all the time. Whether that’s about different brands I would never have been exposed to previously or learning about this new industry I find myself in. I also love that I can steer which way this business moves and that is not something that I could do previously. I’ll also admit that being my own boss is pretty amazing, even though it means that I now put so much more pressure on myself.

What are some of the challenges you face?
Being a one-(wo)man band. I find myself having to be a writer, photographer, photo editor, student, social media manager, SEO analyst, web developer, business development manager and Pinterest expert. Among all of these things I also need to travel, attend conferences and network. To fit all of this in within a 24-hour day is extremely challenging and I definitely do not get as much sleep as I would like or need. I hope that by the end of the year I will be able to expand my team so that I can offload some of these tasks to people that are actually much better qualified to do them, so that I can focus on writing and content creation.

What makes the luxury travel and lifestyle blogging community different (and better!) than others?
The blogging community overall is one of the best things about this. Everyone is so supportive of one another and happy to share tips and tricks picked up on the way. To me luxury is all about the experience – experiences like jet skiing around a tiny island in the Caribbean, like running around in a sunflower field or exploring hidden waterfalls when there are few others around. It’s discovering new or under the radar brands that have been crafted with such finery but are not mainstream. That to me is true luxury lifestyle and why I decided to make it my niche.

On another note, I also want to be as authentic as possible. I only blog about things I have actually experienced, and admittedly my career in finance allowed me to do this. Had I not have had this career in finance, I probably would not have had the pleasure of staying at some hotels, or visiting some countries, or buying certain luxury goods. In a world of Instagram contrivance, being genuine is incredibly important to me.

Sarah Barthet 3

How do different social channels feed into your blog?
Pinterest is probably the channel that feeds into my blog most. People use Pinterest to find things to do, try or buy, and that means that it is a great segway to the blog. Ultimately, I always want my articles to be answering a question that the reader has.

In terms of social media, I would say Instagram is the only social media app I spend much time on, and it definitely is useful for directing my audience to the blog – but definitely not as much as good SEO or Pinterest.

How do you decide what content to focus on?
I try to mix it up across a number of content pillars, with an overall theme of luxury lifestyle. To me that means travel to new places (think travel guides and hotel reviews), trying new restaurants, fashion and beauty reviews and lastly, I also include the odd article on career advice – because after all, a successful career (in whatever industry) is needed to do all of these things (at least for most of us).

Where is your favourite place you have travelled to?
My favourite holiday destination, hands down, is Tobago! There is nothing I didn’t like about it! From the people, to the food, to the beaches. There are so many other places I enjoy though like the UAE, Oman and – of course – pretty much anywhere in Italy.

What are the best collaborations you’ve worked on?
I feel lucky that despite being relatively new to all of this, I have worked with some amazing brands. In the hospitality space, these include hotels such as the Park Hyatt and the Hyatt Regency, the Kulm in St. Moritz and the Grand Hotel Kronenhof in Pontresina. I have also worked with some incredible beauty brands such as Sothys Skincare, Manos Gerakinis Parfums, Great Lengths and so many more.

Do you accept press releases?
If the press release relates to anything in line with the Dukes Avenue brand, I will generally reply and enquire as to whether there is a way that we could work together going forward.

Do you have a good relationship with PRs? What advice would you give to PR professionals who want to work with you?
I do! A lot of the work that I am getting (and offered) lately is through my relationships with PR professionals. My advice to PR firms is to reach out via email or my website! I love making new connections and always prefer face-to-face meetings to start the relationship.

What are your future plans for your blog?
So many! In the short-term, my plan is to build out the blog and expand the team so that I can spend more time on learning about new destinations, hotels and products and step away from the backend part of the business. This will allow me to create even more content for readers.

In the long-term, I want Dukes Avenue to become a brand with a mark of quality in the hospitality, fashion and beauty space. I have many plans in my head that I have had for years, and will reveal all when the time is right! I’m a long way off from where I want to be and I’m excited about where I’ll be this time next year.

Image credits: hair styling @sophiethomashair and photography @misslittleemily1.

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Father Fitness Paul Stainthorpe

Fitness Blogger Spotlight with Paul Stainthorpe, Father Fitness

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If you’re yet to find your inspiration for getting fit, get to know Father Fitness blogger Paul Stainthorpe. Heavy child car seats sparked his journey, and blogging on exercise and healthy days out with his family keeps him going. The Rocky IV soundtrack helps as well, so if you’ve found that you’ve lost ‘the light of self-control’ when it comes to staying active, read on and remember that ‘the cave that holds you captive has no doors’…

How did you get started with blogging about fitness?
When my little boy was born, I was really out of shape. I struggled to carry his car seat through the house and he wasn’t getting any lighter! I had always been an active person all throughout school and college. It was only when we moved into our own place that I let things slide and so the birth of my child got me exercising again. I started blogging as a way to keep me motivated. If I put something out there, I had to keep it up and so far, so good.

What’s your favourite thing to post about on your blog?
I like to blog about family days out, especially ones with lots of walking and fresh air. I promote a clear mind as I believe it leads to clearer decisions. I also love to write honest blogs where I may have been struggling. These seem to get the most interaction; I think readers like the honesty and the fact I’m bridging the gap between an unfit dad to a fitter dad.

What are your tips for getting back into an exercise routine after the festive season?
If you’re using the New Year to start afresh, take it slow and don’t put yourself under too much pressure. No one is judging you and small goals are better than unrealistic ones. Find yourself a sport or an exercise you enjoy, too – you’ll be more likely to stick to it. I’ve been weight training for over 23 years and I love it. There’s something out there for everyone, you just need to find it.

What makes the fitness blogging community different (and better!) than others?
I’ve been a part of the fitness blogging community for quite a few years now. Some have come and gone but I’ve always tried my best to be extremely supportive. Especially the male bloggers, because they seem to need the most encouragement. I can’t really answer the question though because we all blog about our experiences and our own individual journeys, hoping that something connects with our readers.

Weirdest fitness trend you’ve tried/heard about?
Probably the vibrating plate. I was so sceptical of this, but I believe it actually worked! Incredible when you think about it.

What are the best songs to get you fired up to work out?
I love the Gladiator soundtrack – ‘What we do in life, echoes in eternity!’ Some Rocky IV tunes are normally on my playlist, along with Pink.

Who are your fitness heroes/inspirations?
This might sound strange but no one you guys will know. I will take my kids to school and I’m surrounded by parents who are on their own fitness journey. You can see them looking fitter and healthier each week. These are the people who inspire me.

How do you work with PRs and brands?
I have a standard fee which includes a blog post, photography and I share it via all my social channels. I can also produce videos and work on solely social media campaigns if required.

For PRs looking to work with you and your blog, how would you prefer they approach you?
The emails that stand out are the ones that state my first name and mention something specific about me. It proves they’ve actually read my blog and I see these emails as being serious about working with me.

What other blogs do you read?
I read my wife’s blog Mutha Fitness, although she hasn’t blogged in a little while – I must get on to her! I also enjoy reading my friend’s blog Hoyles Fitness – he’s another honest blogger and we’ve supported each other for many years. We made an eBook together called ‘The Ultimate Father Fitness Programme’ (shameless plug, but check it out here).

Fitness Spotlight with Annie Brooks, Tales of Annie Bean

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Don’t feel downhearted if you’re still struggling to get back into a fitness regime after the festive season – blogger Annie Brooks from Tales of Annie Bean is here to help you get your routine back on track.

Fitness blogging is now Annie’s main passion after getting into triathlon training with her partner (and co-blogger) Nick following her time in the fashion community. Having found her fit, the active blogger is an expert on finding the right sport and the right soundtrack for getting set to sweat…

How did you get started with blogging about fitness?
Believe it or not, I wasn’t really into exercise. I did a fitness class now and again but I wouldn’t call it a big part of my life. I started blogging as a fashion blogger, actually… like most people! But when I was diagnosed in later life with epilepsy, I decided to do a triathlon to raise money for charity. My husband was an iron distance triathlete and I thought I could do the triathlon as my challenge and that would be it. That sort of backfired because I completely fell in love with triathlon! I got far more active because of it, so not only was I racing, I was also trying new sports and activities. I decided to document it all and move into fitness.

What’s your favourite thing to post about on your blog (training tips, reviews, experiences)?
I love to share all of those things, but mainly my personal experiences. The whole point of a blog for me is the personal side, and the writer’s perspective and their views. I know that’s what I’d read other blogs for.

What are your tips for getting back into an exercise routine after the festive season?
Firstly, don’t be too hard on yourself because everyone has a break over Christmas and often we do over-indulge. I don’t like to think of the festive season as a setback, but instead of working on the physical side you’re actually working on the mental health side. Having time to unwind, catch up with loved ones, and switching off from the normal routine can’t easily be achieved any other time of the year. So, appreciate it.

Next? You pick up where you left off, but the last thing you do is stress out over how many Quality Streets you’ve consumed, or how many extra helpings of your Auntie’s bread and butter pudding you had. It’s happened, so draw a line. I’d start by slowly reintroducing your routine, if you exercise four times a week, start with two then bring it back to whatever your normal sessions are. You’ll get it back.

What makes the fitness blogging community different (and better!) than others?
As previously mentioned, I used to do fashion blogging many years ago now, and I always felt that bit more intimidated. Perhaps I’ve just grown up, but I do find the fitness blogging community to be so friendly, inspiring and helpful! We all know how hard it is to train for races, juggle full-time jobs and blog… so we’re all on the same page.

Annie Brooks 1

Weirdest fitness trend you’ve tried/heard about?
I know it is a ‘thing’, but Dog Yoga. I mean, how can anyone feel mindful when there are cute dogs everywhere, and if I took mine she wouldn’t be practising her downward dog (she does actually do that), she’d be more interested in the other dogs!

Annie Brooks 3

What are the best songs to get you fired up to work out?
Honestly, people are going to judge me based on my musical taste here. I’m mildly trapped in the 80s and have a ridiculous love for 80s’ hair metal! My top 5 are…
1. Motley Crue – Kickstart My Heart.
2. ACDC – Thunderstruck
3. Rick Springfield – Jessie’s Girl
4. The Clash – Should I stay or should I go
5. ZZ Top – Gimme all your lovin’

Who are your fitness heroes/inspirations?
Lucy Charles, Scott Jurek, Angela Naeth, Jenny Jones and Aimee Fuller.

How do you work with PRs and brands?
It varies, to be honest – I sometimes work on blog content with them or via video creations. I only work with brands and on campaigns I am truly passionate about, though.

For PRs looking to work with you and your blog, how would you prefer they approach you?
Drop me an email, pick up the phone – just a nice personal message reaching out.

What other blogs do you read?
Huge fan of all the blogs on the Fitness & Exercise UK Top 10 and actually read the majority of them already. But I must admit I’m quite the YouTube girl, especially when it comes to trainer reviews.

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Creating content inhouse

How to start creating content in-house

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2020 is the year for in-house content creation. In 2019, a third of marketing teams surveyed by Canto and Sapio Research were planning to reduce agency spend and start sourcing internally.

If you’re one of the nine in 10 comms directors surveyed by Speak Media who still struggle with putting content together, getting started is going to be the hardest part. Skip the stage of staring at a blank Word doc and get straight to writing/filming/surveying with this advice from PRs already content with their content creation.

Content can come from anywhere… but surveys and suggestions are a good place to start
‘We’ve had success doing research pieces from surveys but also received coverage just by making sure that we’re watching what’s going on across media outlets and seeing what comments and added value we can offer. Suggestions from the team are crucial though, you have to have that buy in from the wider business. That’s when you get someone from an area completely unrelated to content and marketing come to you with an idea.’
Cartridge People SEO manager Andy Davies

There’s no such thing as a bad idea
‘I know its cliché, but it’s true. In our ideation meetings, we encourage people to be as adventurous and as wild as possible with their thoughts. There have been times where someone has suggested something that they thought was a ridiculous idea, but it ended up being one of our top performing campaigns due to its originality and wackiness.’
Liberty Marketing digital PR executive Emma Hull

‘We have a very healthy attitude towards ideas and never shoot them down early on, which I think is key to making people feel confident about sharing. Even if they aren’t gold, some ‘bad’ ideas can lead to greatness after a discussion. The truth is that if we established an atmosphere where only great ideas are expected to be shared, then there wouldn’t be much getting said. Instead, we never write off ideas and it’s that approach that can get us the best ones – even if it is after some tinkering.’
Add People senior content and off page SEO specialist Jack Bird

Watercooler walks: talk to people outside of your own team
‘Communicating content ideas to the people in your business is arguably more important than when you’re looking to talk to journalists. Other teams can act as that first set of eyes and offer insights that don’t just look at how it can help build the brand. There are techniques to try and help that idea sharing, such as the 6-3-5 method, and this is one we’ve found useful.

‘Regular meetings and shared sheets can be a good way to formalise things, but we’ve found that just by talking to other departments, even in passing, makes sure that everyone is aware of the type of content that’s being produced.’
Andy Davies

Make the most of the people and the skills you have around you
‘While you can utilise other sources, nobody knows your brand like you do and if you have in-house content writers, they will understand your business better, which pages are more critical and to add internal links to, how to add in your business goals or call-to-actions. There is a lower level of research required with inhouse content writers and the costs are far lower when writing in bulk.

‘The length of content required now is vastly higher than years gone by. We also need to not just look at the question we’re trying to answer when our audience arrives from Google, but their follow-up thought-track and predict their next questions, so they don’t return to Google for another search. This requires a lot of research around the subject area and associated questions, customer intent, as well as truly understanding our target audience and building out personas. This would be very difficult to do from outside and really requires staff members that are fully enveloped into our system and writing all day to help our content strategy.’
The Stag Company SEO expert and senior digital marketer Tom Bourlet

‘There are obvious advantages to creating your content in-house. Of course, these people already work for you and are already paid by you, so you don’t have to worry about allocating a budget for external work. Additionally, your staff already know the industry because they’re in it. They’re experts in the subject (hopefully!) and understand your client base.’
Carrington Communications junior PR account executive Leah Benthin

Created something great? Don’t just share it once
‘All too often great content is used once by one team and then gets left in the proverbial drawer, never to be seen again. This is such a waste. If good content is produced, I personally like to “wring it dry”. It should be used across multiple teams (where relevant) and also reused across different mediums too. For instance, there is nothing to stop a brand taking snippets from a longer whitepaper and turning these into social media posts, or likewise using some of that copy to draft an opinion article. They could even use that same copy to hijack the news agenda in a reactive comment, which can be distributed to the media. Doing this will not only mean you get far more eyes on that content, but will also guarantee a consistent voice, tone and message across multiple channels, too.’
Tribe PR MD and founder Holly Pither

Check what’s working
‘We use Google Analytics to look at the actual traffic and engagement of the blog, whereas Majestic is also used to look at the Trust Flow and Citation Flow, and Rank Checker to review rankings for longtail. As for content campaigns, we measure the success of these by making note of any links we have built.

While authoritative and trustworthy links are important to a website, coverage without a backlink is still a positive. It has become increasingly hard over the past twelve months to ensure that sites are linking back to a website as a lot of publications refrain from doing so as they think it is ‘harmful’ to their own site or they restrict this SEO benefit to affiliates.

Once our content campaign has been pushed, I check whether it is also being talked about on social media, too.’
Emma Hull

Still not sure about getting started with creating content in-house? If you can write an email, you’ve got the skills already
‘If you’re working in PR, then chances are that you’ve already written some of the hardest content around – emails. There are thousands of articles dedicated to writing the perfect one – hell, even just a decent subject line. With words such a valuable currency and attention spans so fleeting, it takes a lot of practice and talent to write a good message. That’s why I’m willing to bet that if you’re confident about writing emails, then you should at least have the confidence to try your hand at longer content pieces. Trust me, they’re a lot more fun.’
Jack Bird

Measure the success of your campaigns (whether sourced outside or in-house) with Vuelio media monitoring – find out more here.

Sadiq Khan

Defending public relations from its ‘bad PR’ problem

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‘Too often, our industry is a soft-target for lazy attacks by those who lack an understanding of what public relations entails.’

The response from PRCA head of communications Koray Camgoz to last week’s City A.M. piece on Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s increased press office spend – reportedly £920,967.95 on communications officers in 2018-19 – will probably have resonated with anyone working in PR who’s had to explain their job to people unfamiliar with the industry.

At Vuelio, we hear the complaint a lot from our PR community that the industry is misunderstood and unjustly painted in a negative light, despite recent drives towards more transparency across the communications discipline.

Outdated notions of desperate grasps for publicity, unfocused ‘spray and pray’ mail merge campaigns and badly-timed phone calls persist particularly for journalists, who’ve probably had their own bad experiences with PRs.

Portrayals of morally questionable and Machiavellian PR people on TV and film haven’t helped – think Ab Fab, Siobhan Sharpe or Colin Farrell in Phone Booth when he says: ‘I lie to newspapers and magazines who sell my lies to more and more people. I am just a part of a big cycle of lies.’

This controversy was stirred up again by the report of a 26% increase on the Mayor of London’s press operation. For Koray, the negative interpretations are due to a misunderstanding of the aims of PR: ‘The article suggests Khan is ‘“more concerned about PR than policy”’, but what many fail to grasp is that you cannot have effective policy unless you understand the people you’re trying to reach’.

‘PR professionals play an essential role in helping businesses to understand these parameters. Our practice is not obsessed with publicity as has been reported – it encompasses a range of disciplines that are integral to any professionally run businesses.’

Defending public relations against decades of, well, bad PR is a big task, particularly when it intersects with politics (another oft-maligned career choice). Chapman Poole director Andy Poole feels there is a natural connection between the two communities: ‘Khan’s increased press office spend is hardly surprising. If anything, investing more in PR is a savvy move. He’s competing in a world of politics where the value of personality and reputation has become the ultimate currency’.

Andy continues: ‘The likes of Johnson, Corbyn, Trump and Sturgeon have all polarised public opinion and sentiment, and their personalities have played a large part in this. How often do you hear someone talk about politicians now, making comments like; “‘I like their policies, but don’t like them as a person”. Khan gets this. He knows ‘“personality”’ is just as important as what he’s saying and what he stands for.’

Increasingly, transparency and authenticity are expected from politicians and any public figure, business or service. In spite of its reputation for smoke and mirrors, the reality is that PR has evolved and is now more focused on highlighting bigger ideas around ethics and moral standpoints. This function of public relations is still overlooked or invisible to the public (as good PR often is).

For business expert Erica Wolfe-Murray, there’s good reason for the dim view: ‘PR and lobbying teams paid by large conglomerates have been seen time and again to reinforce vested interests that we know are bad for us, our health, the environment. Tobacco, sugar, fast-food, oil, fracking. These industries have used PR extensively to promulgate stories that science has long since proven deleterious. Is it any wonder that the industry is regarded with cynicism?’

‘Transparency, honesty and global responsibility’ is what Erica believes the PR industry must prioritise in order to overhaul its reputation – if not a rebrand in line with the evolution of audience engagement.

Erica continues: ‘Perhaps the term ‘public relations’ should be retired. I infinitely prefer the term ‘communications’ as it is about just that – communicating. In the past, PR was a one-way street. Your release, story or interview went out to a selected publication or platform as the intermediary between you and the public. Now public figures and businesses can have a two-way intimate dialogue with their fans, their critics and the customers – for everyone else to see.’

This back-and-forth dialogue between subject, PR and public has never been more transparent, yet PR is still often called ‘the dark side’ by journalists and much of its positive effects go unrecognised. For Stone Junction’s Richard Stone, the best defence is the work itself: ‘PR has the power to raise Governments, change the course of nations and build businesses, from scratch, into global players. The importance of PR should require no defence; you can topple or grow a business with a tweet if it’s done correctly. As professionals we need to hold ourselves to the strictest standards and deliver useful work using the budget we have — then the value of our labour will be obvious.’

The City A.M. piece on Sadiq Khan’s PR spend is not the first negative take on PR expenditure, and it won’t be the last. Koray Camgoz rightly summarises the value of investing in public relations in his response: ‘Ultimately, PR professionals build trust between organisations and their stakeholders by delivering honest, timely and accurate information to those who need it’. And so say all of us…

Anne-Gregory-AIinPR

CIPR #AIinPR report urges preparation for ‘the fourth industrial revolution’ of artificial intelligence

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Robo-PRs aren’t on their way to take over public relations agencies across the globe, according to the speakers at the launch of the CIPR’s #AIinPR Panel report at The Alan Turing Institute this morning. That our industry should still prepare for other possibilities of machine learning and AI (beyond cyborg comms experts) was urged by Chair Kerry Sheehan, co-author Professor Anne Gregory and Drs David Leslie and Bertie Vidgen.

The nature of our work will change over the next five years as the technology we use gets smarter – so how can PRs prepare for the unavoidable impact of AI?

One main takeaway of ‘The Effects of AI on the Professions: A Literature Repository’ for PRs is the increasing importance of ethics. How will we use all the new data we’ll soon have at our disposal, and where should we draw the line?

‘A positive – AI is free from bias,’ said Professor Anne Gregory on the automated data gathering and content generation that will soon be possible. ‘We have to govern ourselves, however. We call ourselves “ethical guardians” – we need to keep asking ourselves those tough questions. Just because we can, should we?’

Anne highlighted a future of people ‘AI-empowered’ and those who’ll be lacking, with PRs – reassuringly – being in a ‘privileged position’. Alongside the bonus of its access to new tech, PR is made up of people with skills that AI can’t duplicate. YetShe said: ‘Social and emotional skills – crucial in our profession – are going to be more important’.

For Anne, communication is what will put PRs ‘at the heart of strategy’ – translators of context and experts in meaning-making when it comes to reams of meaning-free numbers and statistics. This is encouraging for anyone who has picked PR as a career, certainly, but drastic changes are still on their way.

A big topic of discussion was that a whole rung of the PR career ladder – entry-level positions – will likely be taken away by machine learning. How we as an industry will look after and continue to nurture young PR talent needs to be prepared for within agencies, now. ‘The jury is out on whether AI will replace all our jobs,’ said Anne. ‘That it is going to change the nature of work is indisputable’.

Perhaps the most important key point from the launch of the #AIinPR report is that PR needs to start practicing what it preaches. ‘PR talks a good game, but doesn’t listen to itself’, said Kerry Sheehan of PR’s tendency to promote, publicise and then ignore useful reports and studies… such as the one being launched. AI will change the nature of work, across all industries. It will bring in new questions around ethics not yet covered by GDPR regulations, and spark new discussions around regulations and equality (can AI really be completely unbiased? We’ll find out)

PR is in a position of privilege as technology will continue to change how the world of work looks, but also a position of great responsibility.

‘This report doesn’t advise how to navigate the use of AI,’ admitted Anne, ‘But it is designed to enable direct access to a suite of resources for readers to inform themselves.’

‘PR has a vital societal and organisational role to play in the debate on AI but it needs to better prepare itself with practitioners upskilling to work smarter and faster in their roles but also becoming equipped to advise on AI adoption and deployment within organisations and business, and to its stakeholders and society,’ said Kerry. ‘It is our role to no longer debate on our own swim lanes – we must help drive business and organisations forward. This report is the first step in that preparation and I am delighted our partners such as CBI, The Alan Turing Institute and the UK Government Office for AI are supportive of our work.’

Prepare for the upcoming impact of AI on your work: read more about ‘The Effects of AI on the Professions: A Literature Repository’ here. Want more about the future of PR? Check out our write up on the incoming rise of VIs (virtual influencers) and lessons from last year’s CIPR National Conference on ‘Preparing for the Digital Future’.

Sam Ajilore

Music Blogger Spotlight with Sam Ajilore, That Grape Juice

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‘That Grape Juice is effectively a site for music fans by music fans. We aim to inform, but also entertain in equal measure’. Here to entertain and inform us on music blog That Grape Juice, is Sam Ajilore who started the website as a hobby in 2007 and now draws in music fans across the world with in-depth features and interviews.

Read on to find out what makes the music sector such an interesting space to blog in, whether The Voice is still a good idea for new musicians and what lyric comes after ‘Hello’…

How did you get started with writing about music?
In school! My sister would always buy Urban magazines such as Essence, Pride and S2S – all of which I’d pick up and get lost in. The stories, the interviews, the reader feedback. It was such an immersive experience.

So, when blog culture had its initial boom in the mid-late 00s, I had a firm grasp on my Pop cultural palette and knew what the tone and approach of my site would be if I ever had one.

As history has it, I did launch That Grape Juice in 2007, but initially as a hobby. So to be here chatting with you, 13 years later (especially for this feature), is an honour!

What’s your favourite thing to post about on That Grape Juice?
At this point, it’s definitely original content! Celeb interviews, in-depth articles and editor round tables, as well as exclusive stories. Sure, the ‘trending’ finger-on-the-pulse stuff is the key driver (as is the case for most sites), but we have really realised the value of cultivating content people quite literally can’t find anywhere else.

What makes That Grape Juice different than others?
A few things! That Grape Juice has a distinctive tone of voice. It’s rooted in fact and is reliable, but it can also skew cheeky and get involved in the conversation it’s igniting.

Unlike pure celeb or gossip platforms (which I do enjoy, too), we also cater to the niche that are interested in music sales, industry trends and the behind-the-scenes happenings. Put simply, those who (like me) pick up a CD and get lost in the credits: who wrote what song, which label released it, so on and so forth.

That Grape Juice is effectively a site for music fans by music fans. We aim to inform, but also entertain in equal measure.

Mainly, though, I’d say it’s our emphasis on sparking discussion and debate. Humbly speaking, our comment section is popping! Which is something I’m really proud of; especially at a time where so much of the pop cultural dialogue has shifted to social media (an arena we also enjoy solid engagement in, too).

Do you think shows like The Voice and Britain’s Got Talent are still a good route into the music industry for wannabe musicians? What are the pros and cons?
I think it depends. On one hand, we live in such a DIY time that it totally makes sense for someone to appear on shows of this ilk – if the simple goal is exposure to acquire a bigger audience and leverage that towards a long-term plan. Winning, from that angle, would essentially be a bonus.

Yet, given how few stars are being churned out by such platforms these days, it does beg the question of whether it’s more valuable investing time and resources in direct-to-consumer approaches such as YouTube and playlisting on streaming services.

Ultimately, there are multiple ways of breaking in. The one consistent necessity though is having a DIY mentality. So, rather than waiting for a show to make one a star or dropping one song on YouTube with no strategy, it’s about having a plan. If it doesn’t work, then hatch another, then another and then another. Whatever the approach, acts today have to take agency over their careers if they want to advance.

Do you see the increase in the intersection of tech with music as a good thing – VR shows, holograms of musicians who are no longer with us?
I think it’s too soon to tell. I’m a tech geek at heart and a lover of spectacle, so I’m super intrigued about the elevation of the live music experience. At the same time, there are definitely ethical points of consideration that make it tricky terrain.

Beyond the growing fascination of reviving those who’ve passed away, I’d much prefer to see such technology used to cultivate exciting concert experiences for acts that are still here. Like a ‘Live In Your Living Room With _______’.

What was the first song/album you bought (and would you still listen to it)?
I honestly can’t remember! Much of my childhood was spent hounding my mum to buy us singles from Our Price, Virgin Megastore and HMV. By the time I was old enough to do so for myself, net culture meant anything you wanted to listen to was at your fingertips. Cornerstone albums for me, though, are Thriller, Janet and The Emancipation Of Mimi.

Favourite song lyric of all time?
Too many to name! But, I do find it fun watching what people follow with when singing the word ‘Hello…’

It’s pretty 50/50. Either Adele (‘…it’s me’) or Lionel Ritchie (‘…is it me you’re looking for’).

How do you work with PRs and brands?
On the PR front, it’s everything from content (hundreds of press releases a day), to arranging interviews, live reviews and original features.

With brands, it tends to be sponsorships and event coverage.

For PRs looking to work with you and your blog/website, how would you prefer they approach you?
We love working with PRs; it’s pretty much one of the most integral parts of our operation.

I think first it’s imperative those reaching out know the platform they’re contacting. For example, trying to solicit a feature for a heavy metal band on That Grape Juice is unlikely to yield fruitful results. While something of the pop or urban skew is much more on-brand.

I also find myself much more inclined to reply to personalised emails rather than the generic ‘Dear Sir/Madam’.

What other blogs do you read (whether music-related or not)?
I find myself super into lifestyle blogs of late. Randomly, interior design blogs, too.

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Jo-Middleton

Slummy Single Mummy to share the Untold Stories of parenting bloggers

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Award-winning parenting blogger Jo Middleton has launched Untold Stories – a space on Slummy Single Mummy where parents can anonymously share the issues they struggle with.

Finding a balance between public and private as a blogger sharing her parenting life, Jo’s aim with the section is to create a ‘safe, non-judgemental space for support and feedback’. As a popular blogger in the sector – number one in the Top 10 Mummy Blogs – Jo provides advice on food, money, love and travel alongside family life, as well as answers to other issues she faces in her Rants section. The parts of life that don’t fit neatly into these topics is what she’s now hoping to cover.

‘As a writer in a public space there is always a balance between sharing enough to connect with people and keeping enough private that you respect other people’s privacy,’ said Jo, of the difficulties of balance in blogging and parenting. ‘Talking to other parents and parent bloggers recently I’ve found that it’s not just me that finds this hard.’

‘What I’ve decided to do is create a space for people to anonymously share their stories – the sort of stories that we normally keep to ourselves but that shape our lives.’

With the pressures of sharing a successful family life now extending beyond those blogging or vlogging as a parent and to anybody with a social media presence, the less than perfect elements and vulnerabilities that come with modern life can be harder than ever to share with honesty. When even those with carefully locked-down Facebook profiles for close family rarely share authentically, online spaces for parents to ask questions and find others with the same issues, anonymously if needed, are increasingly important.

‘For me, as a parent using social media, it’s not so much that I don’t WANT to share the less Instagrammable parts of my life, it’s that I don’t feel able to because everything I share is accessible by my children,’ said Jo. ‘I’ve loved how the more “real” side of parenting has become so much more talked about online, but it’s normally focused on parents of younger children and can tend to be a little tongue in cheek, a bit more – “fish fingers for tea again lol!”

‘For me it feels like there’s a real gap in this kind of content but for parents of older children, because we are much more restricted by what we can respectfully share. This is the issue for me, that as much as we all want to be honest, sometimes you just can’t. Having spoken to several parent bloggers with teenagers I know they feel the same.

‘I’d also like to dig a bit deeper than the daily grind and pick out some trickier topics that might not otherwise be spoken about. Ultimately parenting can be a lonely business and I want other parents to feel like they’re not alone, that other people are experiencing the same struggles.’

Believing there to be a gap online between what information is available and genuine support for parents, Jo is open to suggestions about subjects as well as contributions for Untold Stories. More about the launching section can be found on the Slummy Single Mummy blog here.