In this episode I interview the person that has inspired me the most in my career; Gary Preston.

Gary is the founder of CoverageBook, AnswerThePublic and the new (free) PR measurement tool ‘CoverageImpact’.

We discuss how the last 15 years of working together in marketing and the last 10 years of Gary being a successful software founder in the PR industry has led to the launch of this new PR tool.

In a time when PR budgets are being cut and in-house teams are admitting its often down to lack of confidence in measurement, Gary believes its time for a step-change in the way the industry showcases PR activity outcomes. He also believes this should be accessible to everyone and not just those that can afford high-level measurement and analytics support...

Could this new free graph-generator tool that showcases PR outcomes be the answer to the PR industry’s biggest problem? Listen this interview and make your decision!

www.CoverageImpact.com

Special Guest: Gary Preston .

In the 25 years Steph Bridgeman has been working PR measurement, the world, media consumption and data has changed. But at a time when technology and data is abundant, why are we hearing of PR budget cuts and team struggles with proof of outcomes?

In this fascinating podcast chat Steph and I explore why this is; from pivot table and design skills to senior management experience being involved, we delve into what PR measurement needs to be a success in 2024.

Steph Bridgeman is the founder of ‘Experienced Media Analysts’. As well as help many teams win PR measurement and AMEC awards, Steph helps arm agencies and in-house teams with outcome insights that help them prove value and retain and grow PR budgets.

As well as win the awards Steph is also on the board of AMEC (association of measurement and evaluation of communications) so its safe to say, she in totally immersed and in the know on measurement!

She shares her opinion on where we’re at as an industry, but also gets practical on what we can do to improve processes, including;

Providing clear examples of what outputs and outcomes are and the difference between metrics

Exploring the word ‘Impact’ and what should and shouldn’t be included as a metric there

Steph shares how teams should review technology and how to cut out what’s not needed

And finally how to find hidden gems of skills around your organisation that can help analyse and visualise results.

Special Guest: Steph Bridgeman.

It's January 2024, offcially back to work. But before you dive into your next campaign its important to consider focus and development for the year. What do you as an individual, your team and as a collective industry need to work on to move forward and succeed this year?

I have enlisted the help of PR powerhouse Stephen Waddington to help us do exactly this. So grab a coffee and listen to this 30 minute episode of the PR Resolution to set your 2024 off to the best start possible.

Stephen Waddington (AKA Wadds) is the Founder and Managing Partner of Wadds Inc. which is a professional advisory firm that helps agencies and communications teams with planning, strategic decision making and execution.

He is fully immersed in the UK and Europe PR industry; he's been the President of the CIPR, has held senior positions at global PR and marketing agencies Ketchum and Metia Group. He is the co-founder of Socially Mobile, a not-for-profit PR school and is also a current PhD research student at Leeds Business School investigating the contribution of public relations to management.

It's safe to say Wadds has a clear view on the state of play in Public Relations and what could happen in this year, 2024.

In this interview, we look back at 2023 and how the economy and government decisions affected the industry.

We talk about marketing and PR budgets, how we responded and how agencies were affected.

Wadds talks about the alignment we have as an industry with senior business leaders and the areas that hold us back; including truly understanding business and how PR communicates success. As well as highlight the issues, he also explains what we can do to improve these areas.

Wadds highlights PR talent, diversity and inclusion as an area that did move on slightly in 2023 but also needs a lot of work within teams and as a collective.

As well as some 2024 predictions, our conversation outlines areas of focus that will help you individually and as a team to aim high, better sell success and as an industry raise credibility a more senior level in 2024.

Special Guest: Stephen Waddington.

In this episode Stella interviews Carla Boyd, Senior Social & Content Marketing Manager at Cineworld Cinemas 

Live from the Cineworld London Head Quarters they delve into influencer relations and why Cineworld UK has decided to switch nearly all of their communications to working only with social influencers over journalists.

Carla explains how the essence and the feeling of cinema is being brought to life by the social influencers they’re working with, which traditional comms struggles to portray the same magic. 

Carla shares the how talent selection is key to the success; how and her team’s selection of mid-tier passionate content creators has paid off; as their content is connecting the brand with important audiences from families to hard to reach young adults.

Stella asks Carla to talk through their process, from sourcing the right influencer partners, the deal set ups, briefing and of course measurement and evaluation.

This interview is packed full of tips for anyone aiming to work with social influencers now or in the near future.

Special Guest: Carla Boyd.

In this episode Stella interviews the Chief Executive of the CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) Alastair McCapra.

They talk about FTSE 100 businesses and the lack of PR expertise in executive leadership teams and on boards in the UK.

Alastair and Stella explore the reasons for this; including reputation management being viewed as a ‘when it happens’ scenario right through to senior opinions on the financial value of PR.

Alastair Shares examples of what can happen when PR and reputation isn’t being considered at board level and the risks businesses face financially.

This episode is relevant to PR people in all sectors. It’s full of advice from Alastair and the CIPR on what you and your team can do to raise awareness of the importance of corporate reputation management in your organisation and with your clients.

Together we can raise the profile of PR at a senior level where it belongs.

Special Guest: Alastair McCapra.

Bev Boyle, who is the Global Head of Media at World Animal Protection, plays a pivotal role in shaping the narrative around animal welfare on a global scale. She's at the forefront of crafting media campaigns that not only raise awareness but also inspire action.

In this episode of the PR Resolution Podcast, Stella and Bev discuss a current campaign that is making change; Bev shares how the ‘Stop TUI from profiting from dolphin cruelty’ emerged as an issue, how the content is reaching a wide audience and how the result of audience engagement is encouraging a major corporate to make change to their products.

Bev also shares how her global team works with media. How they have adapted processes to work with modern media change & their dedication to responding to animal news and journalists requests in less than 60minutes.

They cover the campaigns that have made the biggest impact and have helped save animals, the components and how the team measure them, especially when the biggest KPI is often changing international tourist trends.

Bev also shares her insight on the challenging financial climate for charities right now and how World Animal Protection are making efficiencies that all PR teams can take inspiration from.

Special Guest: Bev Boyle.

How healthy does your agency feel? Are there uncertainties around budgets? Are some of your retainers switching to projects? Is your pipeline flowing or in need of some work?

If your agency finances are feeling like a challenge right now you’re not alone.

Research has confirmed that PR budgets are being reduced. Data gathered in June 2023 from the world’s 100 most powerful communicators (Provoke 100 research) found that there has been a drop in public relations investment in the past 12 months of more than $1bn, from $4.8bn to $3.7bn. 

Although agencies can’t control client budget decisions, there are efficiencies that can be made in how fees are managed and how agency finances are protected.

To help guide you through this tricky time, Stella is joined by agency Chief Finance Officer Simon Collard. With over 30 years experience as an Agency CFO, Simon is an expert as safely guiding agencies to larger margins and consistent profitability, whatever the industry climate may be.

Stella first met Simon at digital PR and marketing agency Propellernet. Alongside a talented management team, Simon lead the agency to triple margin, quadrupled the revenue and generated 10x more profit. All without pressure on staff; the agency won Best Place to work in the UK 8 years running during this period of growth.

In this interview Simon shares his wisdom on;

• Pricing and fees; Should PR be time or value priced? Or should we charge by output and outcome bonuses?
• The importance to demonstrate the problems you are solving for your client, always.
• Resilience; how to build it and where conscious over-servicing fits in.
• ‘Profit vampires’ and how to deal with them.
• Why the profit and loss sheet is a lagging indicator to an agency’s health & noticing negativity in the P&L means it could be too late
• Numbers; The % of revenue you should spend on people, and cost per person
• And the golden key in all agency profitability; time and resourcing and the best ways to manage it.

Special Guest: Simon Collard .

In episode 40 Stella interviewed Rebecca Jolly and Joe Bellioti; the authors of best-selling book; ‘How Music Grows Brands’. They discussed the benefits music can have on a brands business but what about the other side of the partnership?

The music artist.

How does the involvement of a track in a PR campaign, advert, or TV show affect the artist?

What does it mean to the target audience?

Can it make or break an artist?

In this episode, Stella Bayles interviews Jelena Grozdanich, director of film and television at Columbia Records to find out.

Jelena explains how, just like brands, artists also have audience objectives & how the right partnership can be very powerful for both parties.

She shares the benefits of working with new artists and how finding a match of niche interest points between both parties can be mutually beneficial as often ‘niche interest points’ = a passionate and very engaged audience.

Jelena explains the changes to her role as the music industry has changed and what she expects to see emerge in the next 5 years.

Whether you’re a music PR or are interested in having music as part of your marketing strategy this episode is for you.

Timestamps
3:44 - Do you have an audience strategy for your artists?
7:29 What kind of difference or impact have you seen by placing an artist on a particular show or a particular game?
10:33 How important do you think it is for a brand and artist to be aligned?
15:27 Use of music on TikTok and Instagram
17:23 How do you measure whether a partnership has been successful?
26:00 Where do you see the industry developing in the next 5 to 10 years?
29:00 What do you do to maintain the work and life balance?

Special Guest: Jelena Grozdanich.

In this episode I’m joined by Martin McGlown who was once a crime journalist at the London Evening Standard newspaper and went on to head-up media relations at the world's leading cancer charity; Cancer Research UK.

We talk about the moment Martin made his career-defining decision and why he and the charity have never looked back.

We cover the changing media landscape and how Martin’s journalism background and skills have shaped the way his team operate as a newsroom.

Martin shares the Cancer Research UK overall objective and how that flows into his team’s strategy and KPIs.

He also talks about the importance of budget scrutiny in the charity sector and the work his team does in-house in order to make the most of the donations made to Cancer Research

Martin also shares some of their memorable campaigns that PR delivers so well; educating and raising awareness of prevention and treatments to help people live longer and better lives. And ultimately Beat Cancer.

Special Guest: Martin McGlown.

Margo Neely is the Chief Creative Officer of Neely & Daughters a New York based start-up business consultancy. She is also the creator of the Neely Air TR-808 “Disturb the Peace” drum machine shoe concept: a digital tap shoe (of sorts) that allows the user to create digital beats and rhythms with movement. 

This interesting breadth of experience has a one key point in common; PR. and specifically how PR coverage helps attract investors and gains funding.

Margo experienced this first hand when her concept design of the sneaker that made music with movement, had stayed static as an idea for years until it went viral. Through the vast amount of exposure and engagement Margo was able to gain the attention of investors and engineers she’d only dreamed of years before.

Margo now shares her PR to investment strategies with start-up businesses and charity organisations so they can do the same.

This episode is absolute gold for any organisations that need to raise funding. It’s also a brilliant example of the true power of PR.

Special Guest: Margo Neely .

Due to its success ‘Secret Cinema’ isn’t so secret anymore. The London-based entertainment company that specialises in immersive film events now has fans throughout Europe and has recently launched in the US.

The magic of the immersive performances has led to a cult following. But how much of the following is driven by PR and marketing and how do they retain and grow that audience?

Stella Bayles interviews Simon le Grice the new VP of Marketing at Secret Cinema to find out!

Having originally come from a performance marketing background Simon is very results driven and although he has been in the Secret Cinema role for just four months (at the time of interview) he is already making an impact. He is building a team and is on the search for strategic agency partners both in the UK and US.

Simon shares his vision for a successful growth and retention marketing strategy. He tells me how he sees the best ways for owned, earned and paid to work together and the very important role for PR.

Because of Simon’s focus on audience growth he shares how he doesn’t appreciate ‘meaningless data’ in reports from agencies such as ‘reach’. He discusses how highly he values PR, not just because of the brand awareness it delivers but because of huge the impact it can have on SEO traffic.

He has a message for comms agencies not reporting on SEO and a more positive one for agencies that specialise in events in the US…;)

This episode is full of insight from the client we all want! This one is not to be missed….here’s Simon!

If you're inspired by Simon's marketing approach and would like to try adapting your PR reports to include meaningful data such as estimated views and SEO metrics try https://coveragebook.com/

Special Guest: Simon le Grice.