PR Recruitment Crisis

Doing things differently – how to tackle the PR recruitment crisis by growing an agency from the ground up.

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This is a guest post from Alex Blyth, managing partner of design agency PR specialist Red Setter.

‘Hire people smarter than you,’ is a truism of business management. Variously ascribed to everyone from Steve Jobs to David Ogilvy, Richard Branson, and… err… former Leeds FC manager Howard Wilkinson, it always seemed like sound advice to me, so I followed it for years.

In the early days of Red Setter I interpreted it to mean I should hire experienced PR professionals. So that’s what I did. I hired people who’d been at the biggest agencies or who’d held senior in-house roles. However, with our tenth anniversary on the horizon, and our team of 20 now known globally as the go-to people in our brand design niche, I’ve realised I was wrong.

Like many people, I’ve done a lot of thinking during the pandemic. One conclusion I’ve come to is that we need to stop hiring senior people. We need to do things differently and grow our team from the ground up. In 2021 we’ve brought in four account executives, and one journalist in her first PR role.

It’s transforming our agency for the better, and has left us relatively insulated from the highs and lows of the recruitment market many agencies have struggled with this year. Here’s the why and how of we’re doing it.

Less gambling, more learning
In the early days, the allure of those senior hires is clear. You’re buying in expertise, credibility and perhaps above all else confidence. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve learnt a huge amount from many of those people. Our agency wouldn’t be where it is today without them.

But it’s not always the ‘here’s a job spec, client base, and large salary, now off you go’ scenario that many might hope for. Especially in a highly-niched agency like Red Setter, there is a lot to learn – about the brand design sector, our clients, our media, and the very specific way of working we’ve developed over the years. We’ve learnt that we need to invest time in training joiners on all this, regardless of how much experience they’ve had.

Those earlier in their careers are typically very open to learning. They rightly demand it. They’re in the habit of it. They come with a fresh perspective, unencumbered by what was hard-won expertise elsewhere, but which here can be limiting assumptions. You also tend to avoid high salaries, recruiter costs and organisational disruption by bringing in people earlier in their careers.

You then need to make sure you deliver the learning and development they expect. We’ve had to reshape our agency from one that was focussed solely on client delivery to build in space for workshops, on-the-job coaching, and ongoing conversations around progression. We’re building a set of sessions and materials for joiners, we’re growing education skills in the team (involvement, not lectures!), everyone from account manager up has development and coaching of colleagues in their KPIs, once a week we meet as a company to share expertise, team members have been on external courses ranging from a Guardian masterclass on what journalists want to a day workshop on vocal confidence. In our weekly catch-ups, each team shares not only a highlight but also something they’ve learnt. We do a lot but it’s still very much a work in progress.

That’s just the learning aspect – we’ve also had to find new sources of this raw talent. We’ve set up an annual internship programme with the University of Sussex. The first on it is now a valued member of our team, and recently gave a talk to this year’s PR students about life in our very specific type of PR. We’re doing more and more with the University and hope to expand the internship programme in 2022.

Right time, right approach
It’s not easy, but we’re discovering benefits far beyond our original intentions. A culture of learning is adding to our skills and knowledge at all levels. That makes us not only better able to deliver to our clients but also more inspired in the work we’re doing together. And as the PR talent pool dried up throughout 2021 it was far less of a problem for us that it would have been.

I don’t think this approach is right for everyone. Larger, more generalist agencies can bring in more transferable experience. When you’re starting out, you probably need to hire expertise in key areas – we wouldn’t be able to do this if we didn’t have an experienced, talented, senior team already in place. But for us right now it feels like the right approach.

Does it mean we’ll never employ at a senior level again? Never say never. And does it mean that Jobs, Branson and Ogilvy were all wrong? Of course not. The people we’ve hired this year might be less experienced than me, but I’m pretty certain they’re also smarter than me. I’m looking forward to seeing that smartness grow into expertise over the coming years.

For more on the importance of mentoring and investing in PRs early in their career, catch up on our interviews with A Leader Like Me’s Advita Patel and the Taylor Bennett Foundation’s Melissa Lawrence. 

In need of a central hub to keep track of your internal and external stakeholder relationships? Find out more about Vuelio’s Stakeholder Management solutions and book a demo here. 

Combating COVID

Communications and Combating the Omicron Variant

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This is a guest post by Louise Flintoft, associate director at Onyx Health.

The UK’s public health is in a precarious position. We’ve all seen in the news that the Omicron COVID-19 variant has been identified as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization.

At the time of writing, there are still a lot of unknowns about the new variant. However, early indications are that it is likely to be more transmissible than the dominant Delta variant and that our existing vaccinations are less effective against it.

In response to the uncertainty, the Government has announced a series of new measures to reduce the spread of the new variant. These currently include compulsory facemasks for public transport and retail, expanding the booster jab programme to all UK adults, new requirements PCR tests and isolation for people entering the country, and ten-day quarantine for people in contact with an infected person

The last cycle of lockdowns and compulsory COVID-19 restriction prompted one of the biggest acts of civil obedience in our peacetime history. With new restrictions looming, the Government will need to communicate behaviour change again to avoid a potential crisis. At Onyx Health, we are healthcare communication specialists and have some ideas about how we use the power of PR to re-engage the public.

Fighting COVID-19 fatigue
Let’s be honest; we’re all sick and tired of the pandemic. The success of the Government’s initial vaccine rollout and the removal of official legal restrictions earlier in the year had led many people to conclude that it was mission accomplished. However, the threat has never gone away, and it risks getting worse again.

One of the biggest dangers from a public health communication perspective is that complacency, and an unwillingness to take the potential new threat seriously, derails the effectiveness of the new rules. Re-engaging the public will be essential to make the latest changes work in practice. There is also a balance to be struck between taking things seriously and avoiding mass panic. This needs a strong, emotionally resonant message that the public can connect with.

Encouraging people to get masked up and booster jabbed to save Christmas can link behaviour change to a shared desirable outcome. Last Christmas was tough for us all. We all want to make this year’s festive season better than the last.

Helping our healthcare heroes avoid a winter crisis
The NHS is always close to the nation’s heart, but this is especially true during a public health crisis. It is arguably the closest thing we have to a national religion. During the first lockdown, the weekly clap for healthcare workers brought the nation together to thank those frontline staff who risked their lives to help us through the pandemic.

Today, the NHS faces a perfect storm of a new COVID-19 variant, the seasonal spike in winter flu cases and a general public fed up with the pandemic. Calling on people to follow the rules to help our healthcare heroes has the potential to reconnect people with that shared sense of solidarity we saw at the beginning of the pandemic. People may be willing to go the extra mile to help those who got us through the COVID-19 crisis by caring for our friends and loved ones.

Accelerating booster jabs and getting people doubled dosed
The booster jab programme was originally targeted at the elderly and vulnerable to increase their immunity to COVID-19. This week, the Government announced that it will be extended to all adults over 18 in the UK. Problems beset the initial rollout of booster vaccines for complex reasons, including the rollout’s speed, limited uptake, and confusion over eligibility. The expansion of the programme magnifies the scale of the communication challenge.

There are specific audience demographics that require specialised targeting. Increasing the immunity of those most at-risk through medical education is a key priority. We need to reach out to the elderly, vulnerable and underrepresented groups using community groups, local champions and NGOs to foster grassroots engagement and build trust from the ground up.

Another big issue is getting younger people doubled dosed. The figures show that people aged 25-29 are more vaccine-resistant and statistically less likely to have taken up the offer of a single or double vaccine dose. Targeting young people through viral content, social media influencers and pop-cultural icons provides part of the answer to create a generational mindset change. Getting through the latest stage of the pandemic requires a renewed collective national effort; as communicators, we need to do our bit.

Keep track of the conversation in the media with Vuelio’s Media Monitoring services and our sister brand Pulsar’s series of social listening solutions. 

Adult Social Care

Is the Government’s latest white paper on adult social care reform enough to help the sector?

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After much anticipation, the Government quietly published its adult social care proposals last week. The Putting the Heart into Care White Paper included headline announcements such as £300m to develop the housing for the elderly sector as well as details on the Government’s £500m investment in the social care workforce.

The reforms promise to create a care system that will give people a greater choice and independence and give the people who work in social care better routes for career progression. Introducing the reforms to Parliament, Minister for Care Gillian Keegan said: ‘Today’s White Paper is an important step on our journey to giving more people the dignified care that we want for our loved ones, setting out important changes that will last for generations and stand the test of time.’

Any indication of reform to the sector is welcome, given the intense capacity and workforce issues seen in recent years. However, many critics have accused the Government of not going far enough.

On the opposition bench, Labour’s Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall argued that the White Paper has ‘utterly failed to deal with the immediate pressures facing social care, as we head into one of the most difficult winters on record’. She also continued Labour’s attack on the social care cap which will cap personal care costs at £86,000. Labour voted against the measure as they argue it will still leave people with unaffordable care costs.

The Liberal Democrat’s Daisy Cooper said that the measures laid out are ‘incredibly thin’ and will not address the problems with fragmentation and integration between the NHS and care. Meanwhile, Philippa Whitford has called for the Government to follow the lead of the Scottish National Party in Scotland and introduce a national care service.

Much of the criticism of these reforms is focussed on the lack of additional funding which the sector will see. This is despite the Health and Care Levy, announced in September, which will raise £36.5bn for the health and social care sector over the next three years. As most of this money will initially be spent on addressing the waiting lists in the NHS, the proportion to be spent on social care is only £5.4bn. Moreover, with £3.6bn of this funding being spent on the social care cap, the remaining funding for investment in the sector is just £1.7bn over the next three years.

The Health and Social Care Committee Chair Jeremy Hunt argued that the funding set out in the White Paper doesn’t even give enough funding for local authorities to carry out their core responsibilities, let alone give them enough to deal with demographic change and national living wage increases. He highlighted that the Committee had called for a £7 billion-a-year increase by the end of the Parliament to address the current challenges. This was echoed by the Health Foundation which has argued that the reforms will ‘feel like hollow words without the money to deliver it’. The Think Tank has suggested that additional funding of around £7.6 billion in 2022/23 is needed, rising to £9 billion in 2024/25.

There are some positive notes for what is included in the reforms – ADASS have said that although the sector needs more funding, the White Paper is a good foundation for reform with ‘strong values and principles’. Likewise, Skills for Care have welcomed the workforce components of the reforms, including the investment in professional development processes. ARCO has also praised the White Paper’s attention on developing the specialist housing sector.

Overall, although the White Paper doesn’t contain anything particularly contentious for the sector, there are concerns that it does not go far enough to address the long-term challenges, particularly on funding and within the workforce. With this, the sector can expect more proposals in the coming months. A standalone strategy for people with dementia and their carers is planned, as well as an Integration White Paper which will set out measures to improve the join up of care in local areas.

Vuelio’s weekly Friday morning political newsletter Point of Order shares insight and opinion to help public affairs, policy and comms professionals stay ahead of political change and connect with those who campaign on the issues they care about. To find out more or contribute, get in touch with Vuelio Politics.

Successful email campaigns

How to build strong foundations for a successful email campaign

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Elliot Ross, Email Evangelist, Taxi for Email (a SparkPost company), discusses the foundation of a successful email campaign, and it all starts with your messaging.

How’s your inbox looking? If you are anything like me you receive dozens of emails every day, a good chunk of which you don’t have the time or the inclination to open, let alone read.

The question of how to get your branded email messages opened has been focusing the minds of marketing managers for well over two decades now. As the number of emails people receive has increased, so marketers have been forced to adopt ever more cunning ways of securing an opening. But why is it that we read some emails and consign others to the junk folder?

In spite of what some gurus claim there is no magic formula to getting your brand’s emails opened. There are however some golden rules to follow which will maximise your email’s chances of success and set you on the path to becoming an expert at creating the right branding and messaging for your emails.

Begin with a strategy rooted in your brand’s values
Before you even think about sending your first branded emails you need to ask yourself a few questions. Why am I sending emails as opposed to engaging on other platforms? What am I hoping to achieve? And most important of all, what does success look like?

There are five key things to consider when you are setting out your strategy:
1. What are your email goals? Think about what you want to achieve from the emails you are sending and whether email really is the right channel to help you reach that goal.
2. Who is your audience – your subscribers? What email clients do they use? What’s the support for these devices/web clients?
3. What is the one thing you want your reader to do after opening your email? This is another key place to ask yourself if email is the right channel to use?

Think about the timing of your email send. Don’t just guess when the best time to send your email will be. Look back at previous send data and make a decision informed by this previous data. 5. Outline success measures before you start. Tracking things like downloads, clicks, opens, and revenue is great, but consider setting up A/B testing for different copy or segments.

By detailing the above into an overarching strategy before you start sending your emails, you can make creative emails whilst not going off-track with the email’s overall purpose – keeping you emails in sync and recognisable to subscribers.

What kind of language are you going to use?
The most important factor when writing copy for the email is that the wording should be authentic and reflect your brand. If you work for a B2B company whose target is senior executives write in an appropriate way for that audience. Authenticity is essential for building trust and ensuring that people know that what you are saying is legitimate.

Being able to personalise email content could also help build up authenticity and trust. Is there a way you can address an individual that takes into consideration the data you already have on them? Optimising your email by making it relevant to specific audience groups will also help. Think about geographical regions, types of customers, customer preferences, etc. That way you can deliver relevant messages to either audience as opposed to one blanket email.

Remember what your email’s primary role is too. Do you want it to be informative and supportive in building a relationship between you and your customer or are you more focussed on seeking instant clicks through to your website?

The winning formula for effective email design
Creating an email strategy also encompasses working on design guidelines. These are not just helpful for designers, but anyone involved in the email process. Guidelines can be a huge time-saver and enable you to produce high-quality emails without spending too much time going back and forth with your designer. You will need to consider ideas around fonts, colours, spacing and dimensions to keep your emails recognisable with your readers.

Ultimately the two key principles of email design are:
· Create something that is both beautiful and functional that will entice your recipients into reading to the end.
· Create a design that reflects your existing brand values, which are then consistent across every communication you send.

The answer? Use an email design system (EDS), where you can set up structured templates that empower your designers creatively, but at the same time enable them to work quickly and efficiently within set boundaries.

Once the structure is agreed you can work on the design elements and start to bring in other elements of your brand, such as bespoke imagery or illustrations, GIFs and embedded videos.

Consistency is king and the importance of branding
No matter who is making and sending your branded emails, they should always be consistent, even if you work with dispersed teams who are responsible for creating emails for different products or services.

Unless it is the first email you have sent, it won’t be seen by your reader in isolation. They will have seen and interacted with your branding on other platforms, so in order to strengthen your brands perception, your email design needs to be consistent with these.

Creating a library of assets your team can use to speed up email creation whilst adhering to consistency will help. If you have a core EDS for all parts of the business, updating brand assets will be much more manageable and spotting anomalies will be far easier. You could also look into building a set of sub-templates for each product or service within the brand, with altered footers, contact details and logos, so anyone creating an email will have the elements they need to create something aligned with the brand.

Navigating the minefield that is dark mode and accessibility, and how to get it right
One of the biggest challenges for email designers is to create striking emails that also work in dark mode – the extension that helps you quickly turn the screen (browser) to dark at night-time.

To ensure your emails adapt to recipients using dark mode, you may want to consider using transparent PNGs and add a white outline around elements in your EDS. You will want to think about designing your default images for dark mode, such as social icons, logos, link colours etc. and how they’re going to contrast with the dark background.

You will need to think about accessibility too. Smaller text and thin fonts might enable you to pack more into your email, but if short-sighted readers can’t see what you have written then you have wasted your time. It is also imperative to avoid walls of text. If the copy looks too cluttered, try to split it into a few paragraphs.

Summary
Preparation, strategy and messaging are everything to an email marketer – giving customers a consistent experience regardless of where they see your brand. And if you can construct creative, yet stringent guidelines you will save yourself and your design team so much time.

Email isn’t a website, but it is a good opportunity to replicate key website aspects such as navigation and CTA style. The chances are, if someone has seen your website you will be retargeting them at multiple touchpoints. And email needs to sit within the brand framework to offer users the consistency they would expect.

Find the right journalists, influencers and high-profile people in politics to target with your upcoming campaigns with the Vuelio Media Database – find out more and book a demo. 

How to get inclusion right in PR and comms

‘How do we get this right?’ – accessmatters with The Unmistakables’ Asad Dhunna

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‘How do you introduce yourself? Listing jobs and experiences, what that does is put a mask up over who I am as a person’ – for our latest accessmatters session, The Unmistakables’ Asad Dhunna talked how ‘not fitting in’ was a spark for him create space where everyone can.

‘Throughout my life, I recognised I didn’t really fit in. Right from Primary School. At home, my family pronounces my name in the Hindi way, so who I am in the world and who I am at home is different, automatically.

‘I did languages and people were like, “Shouldn’t you be doing Sciences or Maths?” It’s what people expected me to do. When I got to university, I had people say “Obviously, you’ll do accountancy” or “You’ll do law – something that’s expected of someone like you”. I realised by that they meant “Asian” or “of Indian heritage”.

‘That feeling of not fitting in carried on – I lived in Germany for a year and people would ask “Where are you really from?”

‘I went to work in marketing and comms. I had a push and pull – push of family saying “Really, you could get a job in a bank”. And I was thinking, do people like me belong in this industry; should I be here? In the early days of my career, I was trying to use “not fitting in” as a value rather than as a bad thing. Then I started to realise, as I became a leader, that people didn’t look like me, or have my experiences.’

The Past
The way the communications and media industries have tried to welcome people from communities and backgrounds other than the predominantly white, middle-class, university-educated and heterosexual mould has often been very well-intentioned, but not quite right.

‘Back then, people were starting to use “ERG”, “LGBTQ”, “BAME” and set up networks. I had this funny moment of people asking if I wanted to be part of the BAME or LGBTQ network – I thought I didn’t quite fit into either of these. And then someone told me about the word “intersectional”…

‘How do we make the industry more inclusive? People that look like me are more likely to set up a shop on the high street than set up an agency – I set up The Unmistakables.’

The Present
The world has had to change since the pandemic, forcing conversations that have previously been avoided or given short-shrift – businesses are having to do the work.

‘Having conversations with clients now: “how do we get this right?” – inclusivity is treated really differently today. The pandemic and George Floyd’s murder made us all sit up and engage with the conversation. Partly because we were stuck at home and we were all going through the same experience. The brutality towards marginalised communities and the systems in place made us confront that privilege is in how we live. Society has been structured in ways that doesn’t benefit all.

‘We realised the only way we could help with inclusion was an “inside-out” approach – campaigns backed by more inclusive cultures. Marketing and comms is what we see in the world, how we are communicated to and how culture evolves. And within businesses, how do employees feel with their inclusion levels? You might be really good at your job, but you might not feel included. We spent a lot of time trying to work that out.’

The Future
The Diversity & Confusion Report, released by The Unmistakables this year, found that people are more comfortable taking about death than topics like race and sexuality at work.

‘Language is always changing – people don’t know how to talk about this. 40% of professionals in our industry are afraid to use the word “black”. Why? There are political nuances with that term, so some people don’t feel comfortable using it. People are also afraid to use the terms “gay” or “disabled”. One-in-six fear that they could lose their job if they use the wrong terms. If you’re in marketing and comms, fear is the biggest thing that stops creativity.

‘We also found that people would rather use the wrong term than say what they mean. We hear “diversity” a lot – our question to those we work with is, what do you mean by “diverse”? Is it background and class, sexuality, race? I always like to encourage people to see what’s inside of that word.

‘We’re at a time where we’re rethinking a lot and we don’t want to go backwards. There’s a curve of change, and not everyone is going to be on top tomorrow, but we’ve got an opportunity to think how we want to do things differently.’

For more from our accessmatters sessions with The Unmistakables’ Asad Dhunna, read his five tips for creating inclusive campaigns.

Find influencers and media professionals to work with on your upcoming campaigns with the Vuelio Media Database and keep track of your stakeholder relationships with our Stakeholder Management services – find out more here.

Anouska Leon and Rebecca Wagstaffe

PRCA relaunches Business Development Group

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The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) has relaunched its Business Development (BD) Group with co-chairs Rebecca Wagstaffe of 3 Monkeys Zeno and Anouska Leon of Richmond & Towers.

The relaunched group will aim to help PRCA members with business development activities by sharing materials on best practice, insight and opinion. Part of this will be its 7 December inaugural event with partner Ingenuity to explore the evolution of business development within the last 18 months as well as how agencies can make sure their channel strategy is right for attracting new business. Tickets for the free event can be booked here.

New co-chair Rebecca is the Head of Business Development & Marketing at 3 Monkeys Zeno, helping its European offices.

‘When it comes to agency growth, business development has always acted as the thread that ties together a company’s functions or departments,’ said Rebecca. ‘Coming out of the pandemic, our role as experts needs to be more sharp-focused than ever and I am very excited to co-chair this group, helping hone skills and best practice to develop the brightest minds in business development across our industry.’

Co-chair Anouska began her career in corporate sales before making the move into the creative industries. She moved to Richmond & Towers in 2014. Of the importance of the BD Group, she said:

‘Agency growth is always a top priority, but the last two years have shone a spotlight on Business Development like never before, proving once again that it is the lifeblood of agencies. During uncertain times, the going gets tough for BD professionals and the last 18 months threw a few curveballs our way with everything on Zoom, clients and prospects working from home and navigating the sensitivities of ‘selling’ during a global pandemic.

‘The inevitable consequence is ever more stringent procurement processes, budgets that need to ‘work harder’ and a focus on delivering tangible ROI.  I’m thrilled to have been invited to take up the position of co-chair of the PRCA Business Development Group during such an exciting period of change.’

Ingenuity’s CEO and founder Chris Kemp sees lots of opportunity for PRCA members:

‘As part of Ingenuity’s ongoing relationship with the PRCA, we’re thrilled to be working closely with the leading PR and Communications trade association to help their agency members understand the true potential of new business and B2B sales & marketing. We’ll be exploring the themes that are consistently of relevance to business development professionals, and to their agency’s growth potential.

‘Having worked with hundreds of leading agencies in our 16 years, and running 160+ pitches annually, we’ll be collating insights from both sides of the fence to deliver workshops around best-in-class agency shop windows, what brands are truly looking for in their partners, how to win pitches virtually and the evolution of effective channel strategies. This also coincides with a new chapter for our Events (link), of which PR, Social and Content will continue to be a focus next year.’

More information on the Business Development Group can be found here on the PRCA website. To book tickets for the 7 December event, find out more here.

To keep track of your business development, try Vuelio’s Stakeholder Management solutions – book a demo.

Cabinet Office

What the Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle means for the UK political environment

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Lucy Grove and Charlie Campion from the Vuelio political team take a look at the Shadow Cabinet reshuffle. 

Labour leader Keir Starmer surprised us with a reshuffle this week, beginning with the resignation of Cat Smith, who had continued to serve as Shadow Secretary of State for Young People and Democracy under Starmer’s leadership, following her appointed to the role by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Nick Thomas-Symonds has been removed as the Shadow Home Secretary having served in the role since Starmer’s victory in the Labour Leadership Election last year, but having come under some criticism for his performance in the role, has been moved to serve as Shadow International Trade Secretary. He has been replaced in Shadow Home Secretary by Yvette Cooper, who has returned to the role having previously served in the same position under the leadership of Ed Miliband. The former Chair of Home Affairs Select Committee has received some acclaim for her scrutiny of Government during her stint in the role including an exchange with current Home Secretary Priti Patel on the lack of up-to-date figures related to COVID-19 and border issues in July 2020. The MP for the marginal seat of Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford will arguably add some experience to Keir Starmer’s senior leadership team, where few have had the opportunity to serve in government.

Lisa Nandy will see her portfolio switch from meetings with foreign dignitaries to a role more focused on local communities and government. The co-Founder of the Centre for Towns and active campaigner for towns and communities will be a popular choice with social media users who turned her passion for towns into an internet sensation during the 2020 Labour Leadership Election. The MP for Wigan has long taken an interest in local government repeating her calls for a ‘functioning bus network’ and will shadow Michael Gove as the government rolls out its Levelling Up agenda.

Ed Miliband retained a quarter of his former post, moving from the Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to the newly-created position of Shadow Secretary of State of Climate Change and Net Zero. Although not having a direct opposite in Government makes it unclear who Miliband will be shadowing, the creation of this role indicates a commitment from the party to one of the most central issues plaguing Government, particularly after a last-minute compromise at the COP26 summit. The appointment also acknowledges Miliband’s passion for the topic, demonstrated in his challenge to Boris Johnson over COP26 ambitions.

There was movement in store for Wes Streeting and Jonathan Reynolds, who took on the roles of Shadow Secretary for Health and Social Care and Shadow Secretary for Business and Industrial Strategy respectively. Streeting, the Member of Parliament for Ilford North, has been an MP since 2015 having taken the London seat from the Conservatives in an upset win, he then went on to serve as Shadow Secretary for Child Poverty. Meanwhile, Reynolds is moved to the Business and Industrial Strategy role having previously served as the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary.

The reshuffle also saw Cardiff Central MP Jo Stevens move from her previous role shadowing Nadine Dorries, the recently appointed Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to return to the Welsh portfolio. She replaces Nia Griffith, MP for Llanelli, who has now taken a step back from frontbench politics.

Former Shadow Secretary for Justice David Lammy has been promoted to the Foreign Affairs brief opposite Liz Truss. Albeit a slightly surprising appointment, former barrister Lammy is a powerful speaker and will be well placed to hold the Government to account on a challenging foreign policy landscape. Following his appointment, he said he looks ‘forward to setting out Labour’s vision for a values-led foreign policy’. Working alongside him will be Shadow Cabinet Minister Preet Gill, who has been in post since September 2020.

Some quarters were perhaps left surprised as Dr Rosena Allin-Khan wasn’t moved to a more senior role in the Shadow Cabinet, especially with Jonathan Ashworth vacating the Health portfolio. The MP for Tooting in South London has been touted as a rising star in the Labour Party and while she saw no promotion in this reshuffle she will continue to attend the Shadow Cabinet in her role as Shadow Minister for Mental Health.

Peter Kyle, the MP for Hove, joins the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He was previously Schools Minister and replaces Louise Haigh. Another member of the 2015 intake, like Wes Streeting, he upset the Conservatives turning a 4% Conservative majority into a 3% Labour Majority before winning a 30%+ majority in the 2017 and 2019 General Elections.

There were rumours that Wes Streeting was on the cards to take over Shadow Secretary of State for Education from Kate Green after his appointment as Shadow Schools Minister in 2020 and his long history of being an active voice in education. Phillipson, the former Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is the first MP representing a northeast constituency to be Shadow Education Secretary since Pat Glass, who held the role for two days in 2016 and has spoken about the poor outcomes for young people in her area. Conclusions could be drawn here about the parallels between this and the Government’s ambitions for levelling-up education.
Jim McMahon has become the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, moving from the Transport portfolio. He has been the MP for Oldham West and Royton since 2015 having previously served as the Leader of the Council.

The reshuffle also sees Emily Thornberry stay in the Shadow Cabinet, but she returns to her role of Shadow Attorney General, despite rumours of her ending up in home affairs. She brings expertise from her substantial work in the legal profession before entering Parliament as a barrister to the role.

Steve Reed moves from Shadow Secretary for Communities and Local Government to justice. His first shadow ministerial role was in home affairs from 2013-2015, providing some background to the role, as well as having been commended for his work establishing the Co-operative Councils Network, which sought to transform local public services prior to his election. Although he hasn’t worked as a lawyer, like his predecessor, Reeds’ background publishing includes spells with the Law Society. Following his appointment, he reminded Twitter of his work introducing Seni’s Law to secure justice for mental patients.

Lucy Powell moves from Shadow Secretary of State for Housing to her new role shadowing Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries. She takes on this role following a brief period as Labour’s front-bench housing spokesperson, which some argued lacked a strong campaign against the Government’s actions over the leasehold scandal. Powell has relevant experience for the appointment, introducing the Online Forum’s Bill way back in 2018, arguing unregulated ‘echo chambers’ on social media are allowing the online spread of abuse, including racist conspiracy theories, revenge porn and illegal trading. Despite achieving cross-party support, the Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament.

Jonathan Ashworth has held previous shadow cabinet positions for the Department of Health and Social Care, for which he served longer than any other Labour politician, as well as the cabinet office. He will be shadowing incumbent Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey, who welcomed Ashworth to his new job, stating that the two have a ‘shared mission to improve the quality of life for millions of people in this country’.

Also noteworthy, Angela Rayner kept her former roles in the November 2021, but nonetheless hit the headlines as the reshuffle coincided with her long-planned speech on Labour’s plans to clean up politics at the Institute for Government. Papers reported that the deputy leader appeared blind-sided, while sources close to the Labour leader said Ms Rayner was told a reshuffle would be taking place.

Louise Haigh was moved from being Northern Ireland’s Shadow Secretary of State a week after being criticised by some for suggesting the UK Government should remain neutral in the event of a border poll. Upon her appointment she said she was looking forward to ‘getting stuck into the Tories on behalf of communities who have been sold out by their transport betrayal’.

Vuelio’s weekly Friday morning political newsletter Point of Order shares insight and opinion to help public affairs, policy and comms professionals stay ahead of political change and connect with those who campaign on the issues they care about. To find out more or contribute, get in touch with Vuelio Politics.

Alex Silver

PR Interview: Alex Silver, director of Alex Silver PR

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Moving from a career as a Junior Sister in the Casualty Ward to beauty PR extraordinaire probably isn’t the most common way of getting into comms, but it’s led to 25 years of industry success for Alex Silver and her beauty, celebrity and digital agency Alex Silver PR.

Having started her business from her kitchen table, Alex has been at the forefront of many star-studded events, red carpet moments and headline campaigns over the years. Alongside a passion for building start up brands into household names, Alex also happens to be the publicist for some well-known and long-established clients (including Dame Joan Collins, no less).

Read on for the lessons she’s learned on building strong relationships with the media, why inclusivity is so important for success, and what to do if your client hasn’t been behaving quite as they should…

What are the main lessons you’ve learned through your career?
Always have a plan B! Things can change with the drop of a hat so having a backup option and being able to think on your feet is essential in PR.

It’s not a done deal until the papers are signed – contracts and agreements can still fall through, even at the last stages of negotiations.

Credibility is everything – bringing credible experts to a campaign is like gold dust.

Don’t skip the venue recce. Even if you’ve been recommended a venue by a reputable source, I always recommend popping down to map out your event – you don’t want any nasty surprises on the big day.

How do you think the pandemic has changed comms, and are the changes here to stay?
Well, we’ve certainly all mastered the art of zoom-events, but joking aside, I believe the pandemic has helped shape a modern communication approach in many ways. Many companies (including press houses) are still testing the water when it comes to their new hybrid working arrangements, and I don’t think we’ll fully see the outcome of this until the dust from the pandemic settles.

In the meantime, communications should accommodate both in-person and online arrangements across meetings, events, launches, briefings and so on. Journalist contacts have shared that they enjoy online events as they don’t lose precious time travelling to/from venues and a recent influencer poll that we ran showed a 50/50 split in their popularity.

Celebrities are being increasingly held to account for bad behaviour/outdated views – what approach would you take with a high-profile client that runs into trouble with this?
Crisis management is at the core of many PR campaigns, whether you’re working with a celebrity or not. The art of addressing issues in a sensitive, effective and timely manner is an art that takes a carefully thought-out strategy.

It’s a case-by-case issue but sometimes it’s simply best to hold up your hands and apologise. Education and information on the topic at hand is key here – why has this caused upset and how can the talent become informed on this so that this doesn’t happen in the future.

Which high-profile celebrities/politicians/brands do you feel have really great PR teams (apart from your own clients, of course!)?
People change teams often and can make a blunder at any point so it’s hard to say, however I did see something recently that I was impressed by! At the end of October, Chief Exec and Founder of Spanx surprised employees with two first-class plane ticket and $10,000 each to celebrate the company’s $1.2billion deal with Blackstone. The announcement was filmed live on Instagram and showed employees crying with happiness. The news was quickly shared around the word on national news sites such as The Independent, Good Morning America, MSN and the New York Post. I think this was a very clever, effective, and of course, generous communication strategy. It certainly grabbed the headlines!

Which campaigns have you seen from big brands that have made you think ‘I wish I’d worked on that’?
I really loved the recent Dove Self Esteem Project. The campaign aimed to bring light to young people’s self esteem and help to raise awareness of the pressures that social media puts on developing minds. With a 15-year-old daughter, this really resonated with me and I’d loved to have been part of this campaign with Dove’s aim to have helped a quarter of a billion young people with educational courses by 2030.

Over your time in the industry, how have things improved for women practitioners?
Working within the beauty sector, the industry is saturated with women so, luckily, I haven’t felt being female ever held me back. I understand this is a big contrast to other sectors and that while some areas have drastically improved, there is still a lot to be done in order to close the gender equality gap.

What more needs to be done to make the industry more inclusive and welcoming, on gender, race and class?
An inclusive workplace culture is essential for a strong workforce of empowered employees. It needs to come from the top and I think the more people in power address these issues, speaking about them openly, the bigger changes we’re going to see. There’s so much that can and needs to be done. Everything from integrating inclusivity into core company values to building trust by encouraging a culture of frequent check-ins and creating safe spaces. There are small changes that everyone can do, no matter their company structure, and I think smaller companies need to incorporate this as much as larger ones.

How do you maintain good relationships with journalists?
Do your research! Journo friends often share frustrations at being pitched stories and items that would never fit within their column space. Keep up-to date with what your target journos are writing so that you can make your communications relevant and targeted. Building relationships is a hard balance in today’s climate; journalists are under more pressure and time constraints than ever. A catch up over zoom/coffee, carefully curated pitches and developing events/mailers that will attract attention, all go a long way.

It can be hard for people in PR to keep a healthy work/life balance – how do you manage this (If you do…)?
While there’s definitely a work-hard, play-hard culture in PR, I think it’s about striking balance in all areas of your life. I like to get up earlier in the week so that I can have a bit of ‘me’ time, I’ll kick off with a run around Primrose Hill with my puppy Bella or a yoga session. In the evenings you’ll either find me catching up with a friend over a cocktail (or two) or unwinding with my latest book in an aromatherapy bath. My advice? Find what works for you and block out that time for yourself!

What do you think the big trends will be for comms and PR in 2022?
Honesty, transparency and sustainability. Gone are the days when we printed out press releases and posted them out in thick paper packages! Journalists, influencers and celebrities are rightly conscious of the packaging brands are using. It’s the PR’s job to advise on the most sustainable, eco-friendly ways of gifting and sampling products. This is a theme I expect to see become even more prevalent in 2022 with brands delivering what consumers are striving for – products which don’t harm the planet in their making. Online sharing of files and information is here to stay. In the same vein, while gifting can be a super effective way of communicating new launches, USPs and brand values, items should be considered, useful and something that the receiver will actually want or use. We’re increasingly seeing brands choose to give a charitable donation in the receiver’s name and I think this is another trend which might grow in popularity next year.

Authenticity is also a big theme in beauty. Consumers are highly informed on ingredients, ethos and social purpose. PR communications need to be carefully structured to authentically convey what the business stands for. I believe this movement for transparency, equality and positivity will continue to snowball in 2022. Good PR teams will set out guidelines and continue to learn, grow and adapt as the year progresses.

Monitor how your brand or clients are faring in the media with Vuelio Media Monitoring and get deeper analysis from our Insights team – find out more here.

Reflections on COP26

Reflections on COP26 from the House of Lords

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The House of Lords podcast episode ‘What comes after COP26’ interviewed two members of the House, chosen because of their great interest in the environment: Baroness Bennett who previously led the Green Party, and Baroness Parminter, Chair of the Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee.

There were reflections on the successes of the summit, with Baroness Bennett commenting on the significance of fossil fuels and coal’s inclusion within the COP declaration. The conference saw the creation of a coalition made up of 190 countries committing to phase out coal power as well as pledges from the G20, Japan, Korea and China to end overseas finance for coal generation. However, environmental NGOs and activists said commitments on coal were not sufficient. Both peers called for the Government to sign up to the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, a coalition built by Costa Rica and Denmark to facilitate the phase-out of oil and gas production. This push for stronger action from the UK Government was one call amongst many from Baroness Bennett and Parminter.

Despite the UK Government presenting themselves as the pioneers of climate finance, Baroness Bennett expressed disappointment over the failure to secure the $100b global finance target while Baroness Parminter called for the Government to re-establish the 0.7% aid budget. Baroness Bennett said it was essential for enough funding to be raised to pay ‘reparations’ to the world’s poorest people who will be the worst affected by climate change despite not causing it themselves. She and Baroness Parminter reiterated the points made by many at the conference, that rhetoric about saving our future misses the point that many countries are feeling the effects of climate change now, from which they must be protected.

Baroness Parminter criticised the Government for failing to embed climate change across Governmental departments, with no clear plans drawn up to achieve this in the Net Zero Strategy. She argued that the Government is failing to hold its own Departments to account, as seen with the trade deal with Australia, cutting Air Passenger Duty for domestic flights and failing to include policies for home insultation in the Heat and Buildings Strategy despite an urgent need to decarbonise the UK’s housing stock.

There was some optimism during the episode, with both peers highlighting the increased momentum behind environmental issues within the House of Lords with some unlikely characters joining the movement. Baroness Bennett gave the example of the sewage amendment, calling for stronger action against water companies and storm overflows in the Environment Act, which had been tabled by the Duke of Wellington, a hereditary peer.

With a growing consensus in both Houses that the climate crisis must be prioritised, Baroness Bennett emphasised the importance of public engagement, arguing that the ideas at COP26 came largely from civil society rather than the leaders sat at the negotiation tables. Agreeing with David Attenborough’s focus on young people at the summit, both peers put a spotlight on young people for driving change. However, Baroness Bennett concluded by saying that unless the way the society and economy is restructured through full system change, we will not be able to meet our targets, arguing that ‘you can’t have infinite growth on a finite planet’.

5 tips for creating inclusive PR and communications campaigns

5 tips for creating inclusive campaigns

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Our latest accessmatters session focused on inclusivity and featured Asad Dhunna, founder and CEO of The Unmistakables. Recognised as a marketing industry changemaker and thought leader, Asad shared his experiences as someone who ‘didn’t quite fit in’ and decided to help with creating spaces for everyone.

Here is just some of the advice Asad shared for bringing inclusion into organisations and campaigns to represent and engage every audience out there…

1) Make space to make change within your organisation
Asad spoke about the importance of ‘inside-out inclusion’ – ensuring your own team is inclusive will build inclusive-thinking into your work, right from the start. Even the upcoming Christmas party brings opportunities to think about making changes for the better:

‘In my team, we’ve been talking about the Christmas party – the organisation of that can rely on what we’ve done previously – but how and who will feel included?

‘Take the time to ask yourself and not rush. If an event is centred around alcohol, will everyone be comfortable, will people feel safe? Create some space to think about this – how do we do things differently now?’

2) Market to your leadership team, too
‘If leadership don’t see a problem with inclusion at your business, show and frame it in a way that will be in line with what they’re thinking about.

‘If you work for an agency – you need to win new business. More and more, clients want to know what businesses are doing about this. If you’re taking a stance, this will attract new clients.

‘If you’re selling, how do you reach more people? If it’s a charity, how do you reach more donors. There is always a link between the bottom line and D&I.’

3) Support your organisation with long-term thinking
‘In marketing, we get addicted to the dopamine of “we’ve done something!” But how do you make inclusion a strategic priority?

‘Do a vision-setting exercise – what are the metrics we’d use as part of that? The sceond thing is to set those metrics, what are the KPIs? Ask, when we work with boards, is this a recurring item?

‘Because the change takes time and we live in an attention-deficit world, we want everything tomorrow. But we need to celebrate the small wins – we’re getting there. That helps keep the energy up.’

4) Avoid tokenism by amplifying the right voices
‘One way to avoid tokenism in campaigns is to define what we mean by ‘representation’– representative, of what, of where? If you’re targeting a certain demographic, is what you’re doing representing them, or the people you’d like to buy the product. How do you bring those people into the process?

‘Ask yourself what kind of representation you’re striving for. Is everyone on the team aligned on that? How does casting sit with the brand and who you’re trying to reach?’

5) Tell authentic stories
‘I think sometimes in the campaign development process, people can get attached to trends, and the latest influencers. It’s crucial to strip it all back – what’s the story? Who is telling it, and do they have the right to tell it?’

‘A past HSBC campaign I was involved in centred on transgender and nonbinary people being able to change their account details. They weren’t the first bank to do this, but their campaign told the story of Stuart, the person training employees on this. We didn’t put lots of bells and whistles on it – some people were going to hate it, because they hate the issue, but others would really love it. That’s how you do the authentic bit – tell the story.’

Find out more about our accessmatters here and catch up on some you may have missed this year in our round-up of previous sessions with industry thought leaders including Manifest’s Julian Obubo, The Social Mobility Foundation’s Sarah Atkinson and Taylor Bennett Foundation’s Melissa Lawrence.

Central Bank Digital Currency

Exploring the possibility of a Central Bank Digital Currency and recent statements from the Bank of England

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UK authorities are currently engaged in a process of research and exploration to examine the opportunities and implications of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). CBDC would be a new form of digital money issued by the Bank of England to be used by households and businesses for their everyday payments needs. It would exist alongside cash and bank deposits, rather than replacing them.

Earlier this year, the Bank of England and HM Treasury (HMT) initiated the joint CBDC Taskforce to coordinate the exploration of a potential UK CBDC. The Bank also set up the Engagement and Technology forums to engage a broad range of stakeholders from across the economy, including consumer groups, think tanks, businesses, academics, financial institutions and technology experts.

Two weeks ago HMT and the Bank of England announced the next steps on the exploration of a UK CBDC. In 2022, HMT and the Bank will launch a consultation which will set out their assessment of the case for a UK CBDC, including the merits of further work to develop an operational and technology model for a UK CBDC.

Central bank digital currencies have become a hot topic with the steady decline in the use of cash and the rise of digital currencies. The Telegraph reported that Bank of England’s Deputy Governor for financial stability Sir Jon Cunliffe said that cash is going to disappear, as he backed the creation of a central bank digital currency. Speaking on The Swap podcast, Mr Cunliffe said the rise of online commerce and the popularity of contactless credit cards was already squeezing the use of cash. He said authorities would need to adapt to ensure there was always a prominent state-backed financial system in the future.

When asked about his statements during a recent House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee session, Sir Jon Cunliffe said they will continue to make cash available for as long as there is demand for it but the fact is that the use of cash in transactions is declining pretty sharply. Cash is now not usable for all transactions in the economy as a general purpose settlement asset; some 30% of transactions now happen through internet shopping, and of course you cannot use cash for that purpose.

He noted they need to address the question of whether, ‘as cash declines and it becomes less useful for the way in which people live their lives in a digital economy, we should replace it with a public asset or we should depend entirely on the private sector to provide the money that is circulating in the economy’.

Lord Skidelsky expressed his concern that the customer or the user of money is being asked to adapt to the demands of technology without having much of a say in how they make their transactions. He added ‘if no one in the end accepts cash any longer, cash will not be used’. Governor at the Bank of England Andrew Bailey emphasised that it is not their intention to remove access to cash from the consumer, not least because, from all the evidence that they gather, there is a section of the population that continues to rely on cash and wants to continue to rely on cash. He added that some of that section of the community is the more vulnerable part of the community, and it is important that they continue to meet that need. Sir Jon Cunliffe reiterated that as fewer people use cash, the question is whether they should have an alternative that doesn’t come from the private sector.

For more on traditional finance versus digital, catch up on the latest from the Vuelio Banking Comms Index, measuring Share of Voice across a mix of traditional and challenger banking brands.

Global ethics data

PRCA AND ECI collaborate on nation-specific ethics insight

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The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) and Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI) have rolled-out their collaboration on nation-specific ethics and compliance data, featuring commentary and insight from PR industry experts.

The data, pulled from the ECI Global Business Ethics Survey (GBES), will form country-specific fact sheets to be published over the following months. Each will highlight five key metrics: ethical culture strength; pressure to compromise ethical standards; observations of misconduct; reporting misconduct; and retaliation perceived by employees after they report misconduct.

The countries to be profiled are Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. With the mix of data and insight, the PRCA and ECI hope to start conversations on, and the adoption of, ethical management and strong standards across the global PR and comms industry.

ECI CEO Dr. Patricia Harned, who also serves on the PRCA Ethics Council, said:

‘Findings from the GBES provide indications of the strength of efforts by organisations to reduce wrongdoing and to promote integrity. To that end, we are pleased to partner with PRCA to distribute these profiles, and we hope that they will inspire authentic conversations in workplaces around the world.’
PRCA Director General Francis Ingham also commented:

‘The PRCA is committed to a truly global remit of elevating standards in the PR industry and beyond, inclusive of diverse nations and cultures, and with an understanding that PR ethics dialogues should not transpire solely through a Western construct. We share ECI’s commitment toward a data-centric approach, and the PRCA is most pleased to partner with the ECI team on this particular project, in service to the PR industry worldwide.’

The publishing of country-based GBES data with PR insights will begin this month and continue through the first quarter of 2022. The PRCA and ECI are also set to field GBES among PR/Communications professionals in 2022, with the results expected to be shared by April 2022.

With future GBES research projects, ECI aims to expand the quantity and diversity of data sets, with global inclusion. Find out more about the research here.

The AI and Big Data Readiness Report

Artificial Intelligence: Huge potential but the PR industry needs to know more

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The Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ AIinPR Panel report ‘AI and Big Data Readiness Report – Assessing the Public Relations Profession’s Preparedness for an AI Future’ has found that while the industry sees potential in artificial intelligence and Big Data, practitioners still have limited knowledge on the associated technicalities.

Set up to provide an overview of public relations’ preparedness for AI and how the industry can protect itself against its potential dangers, the report found that:

· 41.5% of PRs claim to understand what AI as a technology means but don’t consider themselves technically-minded
· Over one in three (38.9%) of the PR practitioners taking part in the report feel ‘excited’ about AI, while 3.9% feel ‘overwhelmed’
· 30% are familiar with the tech but wouldn’t feel confident applying this know-how to their job
· One in five professionals (20.7%) feel very comfortable using data and analytics as part of their work compared to the 8.2% who feel comfortable using AI
· Around one in five practitioners are familiar with the relevance of both AI and Big Data on comms and PR.

While a large number of PRs have limited knowledge of artificial intelligence and low confidence in using it (43.2%) in comparison to the much smaller number (13.9%) who feel ‘very comfortable’ with it, the report shows that the industry is optimistic and ready to learn – the issue will be knowing where to begin.

‘There is clearly a mix of optimism and fear in the PR industry with regard to AI – excitement at the potential and possibilities, and concern that the role of the practitioner will be eroded away,’ said CIPR’s AIinPR Panel Chair Andrew Bruce Smith.

‘There is clearly a willingness to learn and adapt – but knowing where to start and a lack of time, training and skills seems to be putting a brake on progress. However, doing nothing is not an option either. AI is already impacting every aspect of PR from strategic planning to writing content. Anyone who wants to have a valued and meaningful career in PR in the coming years should pay great attention to the implications and recommendations from this report.’

The #AIinPR Panel’s AI and the Professions’ report, which warned of the dangers of sleepwalking towards the inevitable changes coming up in the use of tech, was published two years ago now – its co-author Professor Anne Gregory believes not much has changed since then:

‘Unfortunately, nothing has really changed. The knowledge and skills that have been acquired, driven partly by the COVID 19 pandemic, have been largely tactical. We need to get a strategic grip and determine for ourselves what our enhanced role and contribution can be in the organisations we serve. Otherwise, others will make the decision for us and it won’t be in our favour.’

Find more information on the CIPR AI in PR Panel here on the website and check out our overview of 2019’s AIinPR Panel report here on the Vuelio blog.

6 stats on diversity from PRCA's UK PR and Communications Census 2021

6 stats on diversity from PRCA’s UK PR and Communications Census 2021

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This year’s PR and Communications Census from the PRCA has encouraging numbers when it comes to industry growth and the potential for even more next year. But how do we make sure all the important metrics are even better by the time November makes its way back around?

We’ve gathered some of the key points on diversity and representation from 2021’s report – make note of the numbers that need boosting as we head towards this year’s end and 2022’s beginning…

1) The industry is mostly female… but the pay gap isn’t in their favour
Non-binary gender identities aren’t included in this year’s census, which splits gender by male and female. The report concludes that in the UK PR and comms industry, 67% are female and 33% are male. As with almost every other industry known to humankind, this doesn’t mean women get paid more – in fact, they continue to be paid less, comparatively. The gender pay gap in our industry is lower than last year’s 14.8% in March and 21% in September, reaching a low of 12.7%. That’s going in the right direction, but isn’t quite there yet – 30% of those polled said ‘no’ when asked if their organisation was doing enough to address this gap.

2) The industry is mostly white… and the pay gap is in their favour
74% of the PR industry identify as ‘white British’, 13% as ‘other white’ and only 13% as ‘non-white’. While this is a 2% increase since last year, the ethnicity pay gap in PR is still shocking – a discrepancy of 16%. The data also shows the impact inequality on general wellbeing – those who identify as white are 10% more likely to rate their organisation as good or very good. On trust in the working environment, non-white respondents were 10% more likely to respond negatively when asked if there is a line manager they could confide to on mental and workplace wellbeing.

3) Overall, there are (slightly) more LGBTQ+ people in the PR workforce this year
The number of LGBTQ+ practitioners in PR and comms is higher than last year, but still lower than the national average. The majority (84%) of the current workforce identify as heterosexual, with only 5% identifying as gay or lesbian and 4% as bisexual (which has increased by 3% since 2020). Around 1% of those who took part in the census use another descriptor, and 6% prefer not to disclose their sexuality.

4) PR isn’t representative with disability yet
Around 5% of practitioners that took part in the census this year identify as disabled. While this is an increase of 1% since last year, there is far to go until our workforce truly reflects the audiences we aim to fully connect and engage with. For more on this, check out our interview with Disability@thetable host Mark Webb and PRCA Equity & Inclusion Advisory Council (EIAC) co-chair Sudha Singh from earlier this year.

5) Social mobility is a bit stagnant
To get an idea of social mobility among UK PR professionals, the census asked respondents to describe the main income earner in their household while growing up. The majority (40%) described the main earner as occupying a higher managerial, administrative and professional role. 25% grew up with a household earner in an intermediate managerial, administrative and professional role, while just 2% described them as casual and ‘lowest grade’ workers, unemployed with state benefits only, or state pensioners. On education, which is another key factor for determining mobility (as explained by The Social Mobility Foundation’s Sarah Atkinson in this accessmatters session), 27% have a Master’s degree and 74% have an undergraduate degree.

6) The industry is young
On average, at least. The median age of the public relations industry is 38, according to the census. Meaning there’s plenty of time for those in PR and comms to improve on the numbers included above – let’s get to work…

Read more on the PRCA UK and Communications Census for 2021 here and access the full report on the PRCA website. For more on this year’s trends and how they will form 2022’s, check out data from the ICCO World PR Report. 

An ode to trade associations

An ode to trade associations

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This is a guest post from Emily Wallace, interim CEO of the Trade Association Forum.  

The combination of Brexit and COVID-19 has seen trade associations unequivocally demonstrate their value to the UK business community.

Trade associations have such an important role to play in our economy. They see problems way before they hit the desks of Ministers, providing eyes and ears and an effective early warning system.

Trade associations make policy workable; without trade associations, the Government would have a really hard job implementing policy. Not only do they spend huge amounts of time working on the details of regulation and guidance, but they then push it out to their members and drive compliance too.

Trade associations also drive up standards that protect consumers and businesses, as well as supporting public sector inspection regimes. Trade associations are often driven by a group of businesses that want to differentiate themselves from those in their sector who are cutting corners on regulation, taxation or using low quality materials. They self-organise, set standards, change culture and drive innovation. They prevent a race to the bottom and protect us all in the process.

Trade Associations deliver investment in the skills that businesses actually need. They put in place accreditation programmes, run regular training sessions, develop routes to entry through apprenticeships and vocational learning, support continued professional development, share best practice and reward excellence.

As the pandemic hit, under increasing financial pressures, they stepped up their support to members, to help them to navigate the myriad of changing rules, regulations and government support schemes.

At the same time, many associations had to reshape themselves to be able to operate with a very different financial outlook, as in-person events, awards and other revenue-generating activities were cancelled.

The annual salary and benefits survey of trade associations from the Trade Association Forum lays bare the impact of COVID-19 on UK trade associations. It shows:

Over a quarter of respondents (27%) saw a reduction in staff numbers in 2020

  • The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) was used by just over 50% of respondents
  • 33% report that Covid-19 had affected their ability to increase staff pay in 2021, and 29% that they had not awarded or budgeted for salary increases in 2021.
  • 64% of associations are looking to recruit, a figure that has almost doubled from our last survey in 2019 when just 36% of associations were planning to hire
  • Just 8% have or are planning to return to full time office working. 83% will adopt hybrid working and 8% are allowing staff to work from home permanently.

While COVID-19 has provided the most challenging of times for Trade Associations, it is great to see some confidence return and a more positive outlook for 2022. The survey shows the sector embarking on a hiring spree, and recruiters report that demand for communication, policy, and advocacy skills in UK trade associations has increased significantly in the last six months.

The skills required to lead a trade association are a complex mix that require speedy transition from sector champion, to regulatory expert, to event organiser, to marketing manager to PR guru and much more besides. There are a lot of spinning plates, entrepreneurial spirits and oodles of ingenuity that keep all the parts in motion.

While the last year might have been a challenge, trade associations are bouncing back, reinvented, reinvigorated and with an important role for the future.

More information on the Trade Association Forum and the annual salary and benefits survey of trade associations can be found here on the website. 

Vuelio’s political newsletter Point of Order shares insight and opinion to help public affairs, policy and comms professionals stay ahead of political change and connect with those who campaign on the issues they care about. To find out more or contribute, get in touch with Vuelio Politics.

ARCO

ARCO – putting care in ‘housing-with-care’

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ARCO’S new report ‘Putting the care in Housing-with-care’ recentres the role Integrated Retirement Communities can play filling gaps in the social care sector while fostering improvements in care quality.

The report shows that with the right amount of support and backing, Integrated Retirement Communities could boost the capacity of the UK’s social care system and address shortages in the social care workforce. It highlights a lack in the provision of care across the country, particularly for lower and intermediate care needs. With this, it demonstrates that as well as boosting capacity in the social care sector, Integrated Retirement Communities can offer unique packages of care. In particular, the report highlights the many health benefits of retirement communities as on-site care means that people are less likely to need more acute health care, ultimately to the benefit of the resident, and local NHS services.

The report recommends that the Government bolsters the role of Integrated Retirement Communities within the wider social care sector, by setting a firm definition of Integrated Retirement Communities and by giving monitoring duties to local authorities to oversee the delivery of new developments. It also proposes the introduction of a cross-departmental taskforce, which can work on issues across social care and housing by cementing the position of Integrated Retirement Communities within the planning system.

At the report launch, speakers including Damian Green MP, Chair of the APPG on Longevity, Natalie Reed, interim Head of Inspection at CQC and Simon Bottery from the King’s Fund highlighted the current challenges in the social care and housing sectors.

Damian Green MP highlighted that people living in retirement communities are less likely to experience ill health or digression in health. He also spoke about the need for a long-term perspective on the social care sector and said that the upcoming White Paper on social care should provide policy on housing for the elderly. Natalie Reed from the CQC focussed on the high quality of care that is provided within retirement communities and suggested that the care model allows people to live fulfilling and happy lives. Simon Bottery from the King’s Fund also highlighted the evidence around the quality of care in retirement communities and said that people living in them are less likely to experience loneliness or depression. Moreover, Joanna Grainger, Executive Director of Operations at ExtraCare, highlighted that with onsite care, retirement communities’ staff can provide personalised and flexible care.

The Government has already set forward indications of how the social care sector will be funded with the announcement of the Health and Care Levy in September. As the sector eagerly awaits the contents of the White Paper, which has promised to be published by the end of the year, reports such as this will be valuable to policymakers so that the new reforms ensure long term quality of care across the sector.

ICCO World PR Report

Global PR industry profit expectations are almost 50% higher than last year

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The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO)’s World PR Report for 2021 – 2022 shows expectations of high profitability for the industry as well as great positivity for the future.

Produced in partnership with Opinium, the trends, opportunities and ongoing issues highlighted in the report include the impact of the pandemic, mental health, technology, the decline of AVE as an important metric and the growing importance of reputation and CSR.

Key findings from the report include:

– 79% of practitioners cited the pandemic as having an impact on their agency’s client fee income over the last year
– Agency heads pinpoint corporate reputation, purpose, CSR, and strategic consulting as potential high growth trends over the upcoming five years
– Formal mental health and wellbeing support for staff is only offered by 48% of global firms
– While the industry continues to search for new and meaningful metrics to measure success, global AVE usage is on the decline
– The most important technology for PR organisations in the future is Artificial Intelligence, according to report respondents
– Retaining top talent is the biggest industry challenge, according to 52% of respondents
– PR leaders polled in North America, Eastern Europe and Africa had the highest levels of agreement on the difficulties in differentiating between fake news and accurate information

When it comes to recovery following the devastation of the ongoing pandemic, results revealed in the report are good. Expectations of future profitability are particularly high in the United Kingdom, North America and Asia-Pacific, with 95% of all respondents expecting an increase in client income – a rise of 50% from last year’s report. In terms of optimism for the growth of the public relations market, the global average among PR leaders was 7.3 in a 10-point scale.

Where this growth could be triggered, according to respondents responsible for making the big decisions across our industry – IT and technology, healthcare, and financial and professional services. Among these areas of opportunity, the online needs of clients are a main consideration – three of the top four areas PR firms are planning to invest in are digitally-focused (social media management, multimedia content creation and influencer communications).

‘The numbers within this year’s ICCO World PR Report show a resurgent industry, growing again, and having proved that its fundamentals were absolutely sound,’ said ICCO chief executive Francis Ingham. ‘They also show an industry that continues to have the best of both worlds -old school skills are still heavily in demand, but insight, corporate reputation management, and strategic counsel continue to power ahead.

‘Against the backdrop of such positive news, it is of course important to be realistic. Challenges of ethics, fake news, talent, mental health and diversity remain.

‘While our industry is recruiting again at scale, there will be practitioners reading this report who lost their job and who are yet to find a new one; agency owners and managers whose agencies didn’t make it; people who have been scared mentally by this period. But to them, I would say that I hope the picture painted here provides grounds for optimism about the future.’

Find more information about ICCO’s World PR Report, and download the findings, here on the PRCA website.

Planning for a successful 2022 in comms? Check out how Vuelio’s Insight and Stakeholder Management services can help you.

For more data on this year in PR, and what’s coming up in 2022, read our overview of the latest UK PR and Communications Census from the PRCA.

PRCA PR and Communications Census 2021

Financially buoyant PR industry still has pay gap problem

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The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA)’s UK PR and Communications Census for 2021 has heartening financial results for the industry as a whole, but a clear message that more needs to be done on fair compensation for practitioners.

According to the Census, sponsored and carried out by 3Gem, the PR and comms sector has grown over 6% since last year and has contributed a record £16.7 billion to the UK economy. While 9% of practitioners were furloughed following March 2020, with 2% were made redundant, 69% are back to work full-time, with 26% now working part-time.

The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are clear throughout the findings. Only 16% of practitioners are back to full-time in-office working. When it comes to mental health – a major pressure point within the profession, as shown by the PRCA’s recent Mental Wellbeing Audit – 40% of those polled admitted to suffering from mental ill health.

One long-term problem beyond the pandemic is the industry’s pay gap, which continues to be an issue. The current gender pay gap is 12%, with women earning an average of £48,293, and men an average of £55,312. The ethnicity pay gap is even worse, at 16% – 46% of white professionals earn over £50,000 on average, while just 32% of non-white practitioners earn an average salary of more.

‘I applaud the buoyancy in this year’s Census while welcoming you to the world of Black, Asian, mixed race and ethnically diverse practitioners,’ says PRCA REEB Chair Barbara Phillips.

‘Revenues up? Great! Let’s be rid of the 16% ethnicity pay gap. The PRCA Race and Ethnicity Equity Board has led the way in 2020 and showed everyone how. Employees returning to the office? Great; let’s dismantle the toxic cultures that meant many non-white groups found sanctuary working from home (especially Black women) and are now reluctant to come back to microaggressions and lower pay. It’s great to be back but let’s leave the discrimination behind and instead create psychologically safe cultures where all protected groups are welcomed, then perhaps, we can say our industry is finally moving in the right direction.’

‘While there are obviously many challenges ahead, our industry’s resilience has been verified,’ said PRCA Director General Francis Ingham. ‘Its value has been confirmed. And its future is a fantastically positive one.’

President of Women in PR Anna Geffert also sees great opportunity in the results of the Census:

‘The pandemic has opened the door for a reset – humanising the workplace and providing a real opportunity to place equality and diversity at the heart of our businesses. We are moving in the right direction, but now is the time to accelerate. The industry has proved its resilience and that should give us the confidence to reimagine how we recruit, promote and pay our colleagues; encouraging people from all backgrounds to join our incredible industry. The onus is on us to raise the bar.’

Read the full PRCA PR and Communications Census 2021 here on the website.

Find out more about PRCA REEB in our previous interview with its Chair Barbara Phillips. 

5 PR webinars and online events to catch up on

5 PR webinars and online events to catch up on

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The popularity of webinars and online panels boomed during the early days of the pandemic, and they continue to be extra convenient for those who can’t, or just don’t want to, attend in-person meet-ups and events.

Is that you? Here are five super-useful webinars and online panels for PR and comms pros that are worth a revisit or first-time viewing if you missed them…

Building better relationships between PRs and journalists
While the public relations and journalism sectors rely on each other for the mutually beneficial exchange of information and coverage, it can be a very difficult relationship. Journo Resources’ Jem Collins, national press and freelance journalist Faima Bakar and Freelancing for Journalists’ Lily Canter and Emma Wilkinson offered advice on building useful connections with journos working across a variety of sectors – watch it here or read our summary.

Building better relationships between PRs and journalists

One Step Forward Two Steps Black
UK Black Comms Network partnered with Opinium to conduct the first ever report into the lived experiences, pay and promotion of Black comms professionals – this webinar revealing its findings featured insight and reaction from the network’s founder and CEO Kamiqua Pearce, Opinium Research’s Susan Bello, Black Woman in HR’s Adesse Okojie and Birchwood Knight’s Seri Davies. Sign up to watch it via the UK Black comms Network and check out some of the key findings here.

Statistics on Black communications professionals

Neuro PR: Strengthening the Brain and Brand Connection
Harvey & Hugo PR’s managing director and Leader of the Pack Charlotte Nichols led this webinar on creating lasting impressions on your audience by engaging their minds with neuroscience. No pHd in brain chemistry required – watch and see how you can fire up neuro pathways with your day-to-day PR activities here. You can also read our write-up on the Vuelio blog.

Neuro PR Vuelio webinar

Discovering TikTok and Pinterest data
TikTok and Pinterest – two very different social media platforms filled with useful insight on audience behaviours and preferences. Luckily, there’s one place where you can mine both –the team at our sister brand Pulsar shared analysis of datasets from studies covered by Vogue Business and Elle Décor to demonstrate how to get the most out of data analysis. Sign up to watch here.

Discovering Pinterest & TikTok data

Making Sense of Net Zero – Corporate rewards of being in the climate action driving seat
This New Statesman live event from September featured The Climate Group’s Communications Director Luke Herbert, JLL’s Global Chief Sustainability Officer Richard Batten and Vuelio’s Insights Lead Amy Parry speaking on the risks and rewards for comms and PR teams leading on environmental action. Not only is working towards net zero the right thing to do, it will also future-proof your business. Sign up to watch the full webinar or read our summary of the key points.

Net Zero New Statesman webinar

Find out more about Vuelio’s webinars here.

Ready for more knowledge-sharing? Check out these Vuelio accessmatters sessions covering disability in PR, how to be antiracist and supporting transgender and nonbinary colleagues in this round-up.

6 reasons to stop using JournoRequests and start using the Journalist Enquiry Service

6 reasons to stop searching #JournoRequest and start using the Journalist Enquiry Service

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In need of media coverage for your brand, client or research? Ransacking the #JournoRequest hashtag for asks from UK journalists might seem like a quick solution for finding contacts, but here are six reasons why you should give the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service a try instead…

1. Requests come straight through to your inbox
No searching required – relevant requests from UK journalists looking for contributions for their upcoming pieces (whether products for review, expert comment, statistics or survey results) are sent directly to the inboxes of Journalist Enquiry Service subscribers. And how often requests come through is up to you – sign up for a steady stream of requests as they’re released, or a daily digest of enquiries you might be able to help with.

Screengrab of ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service digest email

2. You’ll receive all the details you need
Sometimes 140 characters just aren’t going to tell you everything you need to help a journalist fill and finish their feature; you need to know exactly what they want, and when for. While you won’t want to read through an enquiry that’s the same length as the article the journalist is writing (nobody has time for that – certainly not the journalist), the Journalist Enquiry Form has enough space for the media professionals using it to be clear on what they want.

Screengrab of Journalist Enquiry Service email

You’ll find which publication they’re writing for, when the piece is likely to be published and more.

3. You can filter requests so they’re relevant to your specific sector
#JournoRequests is a busy hashtag filled with enquiries from journalists writing across almost any sector you can imagine – that’s a very noisy place to navigate when you need to find something useful for you, fast. The Journalist Enquiry Service, in comparison, requires journalists to target their requests to the sectors they’re writing about, right from the get-go.

Journalist Enquiry Service categories for journalists

Working in the Home & Garden comms space? The service has a category for that. After requests from fashion journalists? Retail & Fashion is for you. You can pick the request categories relevant to you when signing up and start receiving enquiries from UK journalists you can help with relevant contributions.

4. It’s secure
DM etiquette and email sharing doesn’t even have to be a consideration when starting a (hopefully long-term and fruitful) relationship with a journalist working in your sector. Once a journalist has sent their request via the Journalist Enquiry Service, contact between you starts through the service’s internal network. Email replies come via [email protected], until you’re ready to share your contact details.

5. You have a set deadline to work to
While there are many differences between those in comms and those working in the media, keeping to strict deadlines throughout the day are a necessity for both. Knowing when you need to get information over to a journalist is a vital part of information easily missed on tweet threads. Requests sent through the Journalist Enquiry Service include the date and time the journalist needs the contributions by, as well as when their piece is likely to be published. When request deadlines are up, they fall off of the system, meaning no confusion – just fresh requests to look through.

6. Journalists at high-profile media outlets use the service
The Journalist Enquiry Service has many different users working across the media landscape. As well as staffers and commissioning editors on national press dailies, there are freelancers writing for a variety of consumer and trade magazines, broadcast journalists reporting for mainstream television and digital channels as well as influencers with swathes of followers across social media. Many who use the service have created useful working relationships – instead of searching for journalist connections across social media, sign up for targeted requests from media professionals who want what you have to offer.

Examples of recent requests sent via the Journalist Enquiry Service

Find more information about becoming a ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service subscriber here.

Already a subscriber? Get the most out of the Journalist Enquiry Service with this piece on how to respond to journalist enquiries as well as these quick tips.

Get started now and track all your mentions across every type of media channel with Vuelio Media Monitoring.