PRmoment Podcast

In our twice-yearly review of the UK PR market PRmoment founder Ben Smith catches up with Warren Johnson.Warren founded W Communications in 2009. It now has global revenues of £25m and a headcount of 200, with 120 in London at W, 40 at its travel PR specialist Lotus, 25 in Singapore, and 15 in New York.Do check out the agency and in-house programmes for our new education programme PRmoment Leaders.PRmoment Leaders is our new subscription-based learning programme and community, built by PRmoment specifically for the next generation of PR and comms leaders to learn, network and lead.Thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.1. 30 mins Warren reveals why and how he has just sold his business, W Communications, to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT.)“It’s a government-backed business structure designed to help business owners pass on their business, realise some value from it…and pass it into the hands of the next generation.”11 mins Warren discusses the performance of the PR market for H1 2024.“It’s a bit of a slog. The economy is still pretty weak. There is a lot of nervousness client side.”“Productivity is poor. The Brexit impact is ongoing.”“We (the UK) are managing our decline not very well.”“A lot of the top agencies are doing a great job of land grabbing from other industries.”20 mins Why Warren worries about UK PR’s productivity.“Hybrid working has run its course…10% of the UK PR industry lost their jobs last year. If those people were all productive I just don’t believe they would have lost their jobs.”“I don’t know a single agency which hasn't reduced their headcount in the last 12 months.”“Hybrid working reduces productivity…in specialist roles, I can see how it can boost productivity in generalist roles, I question its value.”“At pace is how I build my business…I just think not being around each other breeds legacy behaviour. All businesses need to re-invent themselves at a quicker pace and if you can’t work together to do that, you will become obsolete.”

Welcome to our H1 Recruitment Year in Review PRmoment Podcast, where we discuss the PR job market with Dean Connolly, founder and PR recruitment director at Latte.We look back at the talent trends in PR for the first half of 2024. The last six months have seen a significant change in the PR recruitment market. Dean tells us the top 3 reasons why PR people leave their jobs and reveals the latest PR salary bands.If you’re interested in keeping an eye on the best jobs that are out there each week, do make sure you subscribe for free to PRmoment’s Top 10 PR Jobs updates each week.Finally, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.Here’s a summary of what Dean and PRmoment founder Bes Smith discussed:2 mins Dean updates on the state of the PR talent market right now.“There’s still a shortage of talent…agencies are still struggling to hire.”“We’ve (Latte) had our best two quarters ever.”“We’re up 6% on the number of jobs coming through, year on year.”“PR tech talent remains really in demand.”“We’re seeing a real decline in the volume of tech PR talent pool at account manager level.”10 mins The top 3 reasons PR people leave their jobs: 1. lack of career progression, 2. Salary, 3. company cultureDean reveals Latte’s PR salary bands for 2024 (To confirm this was a London-centric survey.)16 mins “Consumer (salaries) have caught up with corporate in the past few years and that’s really a sign of the fight for talent.”“PR salaries in tech have remained steady.”“There are a lot more redundancies happening in-house…they don’t (tend) get absorbed into the agency landscape.”20 mins A discussion on the demand for greater specialist talent within PR firms.

On the PRmoment Podcast, we interview UK public relations leaders, and today, we’re chatting with Alec Samways, CEO and founder of Splendid.Splendid is an independent consumer PR firm based in London. Its fee income is over £6 m. Splendid was launched in 2004 and so celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.Here's a summary of what we talked about:2 mins Alec reflects on the consumer PR market in London at the moment.“We’re seeing way more opportunities at the moment.”“The process has become really, really protracted. We’re waiting on ten decisions at the moment.”6 mins Alec tells us when the UK consumer PR market started coming back.7 mins Splendid is one of a handful of independent PR firms in the UK that has made multiple acquisitions in the last couple of years. Alec tells us why Spendid decided to start buying other businesses.“We won 3 big pitches in one year, all in one year…So I said to my head of finance: ‘Is there a better way?’”“It was a reaction. It was about controlling growth.”15 mins Splendid has bought Riot, Kingdom Collective, and DIY. Alec talks us through how those deals come about.“Intuitively, PR has to be the authentic channel because we are the ones that earn it. We don't buy it. Do (outside) people see us that way? No.”“I’ve always felt the answer is strategy and measurement.”28 mins Alec talks us through the life cycle of Splendid. Where did it start, what have been the ups and downs and where are you now?“The last five years (for Splendid): Rock & roll with a plan.”29 mins Splendid has had a good couple of years. It has outgrown the consumer PR market over the past five years.30 mins Was the COVID period a necessary step to allow Alec to simplify his business?37 mins Alec describes himself as an inverted snob. What did you mean by that?41 mins How does Alec look back on 20 years in business?44 mins How many people has Spendid employed in the 20 years?47 mins “Praise in public, constructive criticism in private.”

Welcome to our review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch. Here we discuss the biggest pitch wins and mergers & acquisitions that the PR sector has seen in June 2024.Andrew is the lead consultant - PR, Social, Content and Influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR and a partner at PCB Partners, where he advises on buying and selling marketing services agencies.Andrew launched Andrew Bloch & Associates in 2020.Before we start,a reminder that the final entry deadline for the Creative Moment Awards is coming up on Friday, June 28th. So you need to get a wriggle on if you’ve got good creative work that you want to enter this year.Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.Here’s a summary of what Andrew and PRmoment podcast founder Ben Smith discussed:“It feels like confidence is building and returning, especially in the consumer sector.”5 mins Andrew updates us on Jumnes biggest PR pitch wins:  The Academy wins Fullers London Pride Alfred wins Perfect DraftHere Be Dragons wins Koppaberg Premier win Wireless Festival - (Live Nation)Tin Man win Blue Light CardStakked and Munch win Netflix Buying London Cast and separarelty KabutoW win Extreme EHatch win British CyclingTin Man/Lucky Generals win EDF“This was an integrated pitch where the client wanted the PR agency and the ad agency to come together at the outset to create a campaign that had earned at its heart.”The Earnies win The Royal Academy of Engineering Brand Nation win reebok Wild Card win Ask Italian - TrunkBBI win MoonpigUnlimited Group win National Highways Coolr win BritvicPitch win global brief for les MillsMischief MHP win PringlesShook win SoareThe Heard - Monster EnergyGolin win Unilever 36 mins This month’s M&A run down:Pagefield sells to PPHC Candid (a Netherlands-based marketing and comms group) acquires Houston PRLewis acquires Tayburn

Welcome to the PRmoment June 2024 iteration of the Global Creativity Review collection. In this series, founder of PRmoment Ben Smith joins a host of PR industry creatives to discuss, and sometimes dissect, the standout creative moments of the month.  This is the audio version of the Global Creativity Review: you can watch the video version, with all the campaign/work films on PRmoment's YouTube Channel.The Global Creativity Review is produced In partnership with our sister title Creative Moment.The only catch? Guests are not allowed to choose their own work. Speaking on this review:Kat Thomas, founder and chief creative officer at One Green Bean Lora Martyr, executive creative director at Taylor HerringOlivia Mushigo, senior creative at Good Relations Not got time for a whole podcast? Don’t worry, here is the TL/DR discussion points for time-pressed listeners:1 mins: Sweethearts - Situationships by Tombras 5 mins: Heineken - Pub Museums (Ireland) 13 mins: NUFC x Sela - Unsilence The Crowd21 mins: Red Bull - Flying Through London’s Tower Bridge 29 mins: Burger King - 70th Anniversary, Old Flames 32 mins: Heinz - Reviews For Naturalisation in Brazil 39 mins: Just Eat - More Beef Than Kendrick and Kanye 40 mins: Dove - Mom Experience Translator ToolThis is part of our regular series of creativity reviews, so if you like what you hear, look back at the PRmoment Podcast archive on iTunes or Spotify to listen to more creative ideas.You can watch previous episode of The Global Creativity Review on PRmoment’s YouTube channel.

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast. I’ve been looking forward to this one. We’re chatting with James Wright, the global chairman of Havas PR.James is one of a decent number of British PR folks who have moved to Australia. Havas PR has had a good run globally and in the UK over the past few years. Global revenues are reported to be $236 m in 2023, up 5% on the previous year. Havas PR has 1600 employees globally.Before we start, a plug for our new subscription training service for senior folks within agencies, PRmoment Leaders. The programme of activity, including the tutorials, is now underway. If you're interested in learning more about this bespoke training programme for agency leaders, we’ll include the link in the show notes.Also, do take a look at our latest PR Masterclass: PR and AI, which will be held on July 2nd in London. At this one event, 12 experts will give 10 Masterclasses on PR & AI. Face-to-face and virtual tickets are available.Finally, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.Here is a summary of what James and I discussed:3 mins James talks us through the recent growth of Havas’s PR revenues.“Some markets are going really, really well, some markets are sluggish this year.”“2023 was a very good year for us.”“Havas Red started at $19 m in 2019, now $57m. Part of that is through acquisition. A great deal of that is organic.”4.30 mins James talks us through the shape of Havas PR. Where do Havas Red, H/Advisors and One Green Bean fit together?“We’ve gone from having 28/29 PR brands to 5 or 6.”“Our global PR group is now Havas Red. It now exists in 19 markets, soon to be 20 and 21 before the end of the year.”8 mins How does PR fit into an integrated offer within Havas? What type of work and what channels is PR responsible for?“The strategy for Havas Red was to continue to own the earned but now to earn the owned…Over time, we have put social content and data solutions at the centre of our agency. In the US, when we started, only 3% of our revenues were social content. It’s now 40%.  In the UK, it's a similar number.”“For me, the concept of earned has changed from earned coverage to earned conversations.”“Ad agencies just aren't set up to fast turnaround content.”22 mins “The UK has been a massive success for us since we started in 2019 with just a few hundred thousand pounds to where it is now. The team there, led by Rachael Sansom, have done a phenomenal job.”24 mins PR revenue-wise, Havas seems to have outgrown your holding group peers, albeit from a lower base.24. 30 mins Does the Havas PR group follow the broad revenue model of most other international PR firms? Are the bulk of the revenues in North America?25 mins What’s it like doing a global role from Sydney? Does James ever sleep?“Sydney is the only place in the world where you can live a world-class lifestyle and do world-class work.”28 mins James talks about the Australia PR scene in Australia.“Consumer confidence is super low at the moment.”“We hub some of our global accounts from here now. They just love the talent here.”31 mins James talks about Havas’ approach to digital technology.36 mins How big does James want Havas PR to get to? “There is a very good opportunity in the next five years to break the $300 m mark.”37 mins

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast. On the show today, I’m chatting with Jim Hawker. Jim has returned to PR. We lost him to performance marketing for ten years, but he’s now back amongst old friends. But it seems he’s still criticising us!Over the past three months, Jim has been on a bit of a tour de force around the PR sector, assessing its digital credentials in the context of his ten years working mainly in performance marketing.Today, he will give us a critical report on the state of digital in PR firms.Jim is the co-founder of Threepipe Reply, which he started in 2004. Threepipe was an interesting case study for PR because it transformed itself from a traditional PR agency to a fully integrated brand and performance agency with 90 experts in PR, data and analytics, paid media, SEO, creative, and social channels. This was achieved by merging the original Threepipe, a PR and organic social agency, with a paid media agency before acquiring a creative agency and then an SEO agency. Specialist teams were built across data science, marketplaces and retail media channels.In 2019, Threepipe was acquired by Reply, a global technology consulting firm. Jim left the business in April 2024.Before we start, a plug for our new subscription training service for senior folks within agencies: PRmoment Leaders. The line-up of speakers for the first semester is now complete and even if I say it myself - it’s almost perfect!Also, do take a look at our latest PR Masterclass: PR and AI. We've filtered out the snake oil salesman, the bluffers and the AI dead ends to create PR Masterclass: PR & AI.At this one event, 12 experts will give 10 Masterclasses on PR & AI.Finally, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.Here is a summary of what Jim and I discussed: 5 mins Does PR still have a digital problem? 9 mins What does the digital offer for most PR firms look like now?“PR agency’s digital offer is still quite shallow”“One of the things I always found odd was that people gauged your success by the number of people you employ, which I always thought was crazy. The aim wasn't to have a bigger Christmas party every year. The aim was to build profit and margin protection.”12 mins Should PR firms be building their own tech?17 mins How digitally curious are most PR people?“The only way we were able to do it (bring in a greater range of digital skills into the agency) was through an acquisition strategy… it was a safer strategy.”20 mins “One of the benefits of having a lot of paid media running through our agency was that we ended up having really close partnerships thiet eh technology platforms…the only way to get that is to spend money through them… Which meant we had a lot more access to insight.“The net result of that is that your platform understanding becomes much deeper.”23 mins Jim talks about how PR firms need to link attribution modelling and consumer behaviour to PR activity. “I think the budget is going to end up going up the funnel, rather than further down it.”

On the PRmoment Podcast, we catch up with UK public relations leaders and today we’re chatting with Current Global CEO George Coleman. It’s a timely discussion as we seem to be celebrating a few PR firm birthdays recently, so this is the latest in our unofficial “Birthday” Series as Current Global celebrates five years of existence!Current Global was born out of Weber Shandwick. It now has a reported fee income of over £35 m and about 300 employees globally, with about 30 in the UK.It describes itself as a multidisciplinary PR firm that works in corporate, healthcare, technology, and consumer sectors. It’s an interesting example of a pretty young PR firm coming out of a holding group (in this case, Interpublic) and doing quite well. Over the past five years, most of the holding groups have mainly concentrated on merging their PR firms, not launching new ones!Clients include Microsoft, Novartis and FedEx.If you're listening to this podcast, it probably means you are interested in updating yourself on the challenges and opportunities that the future of public relations will offer. With that in mind, do take a look at our latest PR Masterclass: AI in PR. It’s a cracker!Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.Here is a summary of what George and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:2 mins Is Current Global one of those large, mid-sized global PR firms that many of our listeners might not have heard of?3 mins George gives a brief history lesson on how and why Current Global came about.“For us, it (the merger) was a positive, forward-looking move.”“If your reason to merge is to save money, that is a more difficult brief.”10 mins George talks about what it’s like being a global CEO of a PR firm based out of London, when the US is the largest market for Current Global.“40-50% of my time is billable…I love the job… It’s less about operations and the admin and more about doing great client work.”18 mins George reflects on the challenge of running a PR firm across global markets. “Culture is an expression of connection.”21 mins How have the complicated geo-political environment and the complicated societies that we seem to now live in impacted the type of work that PR firms do?“There seems to be an ongoing process of polarisation in public discourse fuelled by social media. Traditional media plays less of an influential role in creating that common ground, that understanding. A lot of our discussions are becoming more polarised, more tribal…We (society) can’t even agree on facts."“Communications sits in the middle of that.”25 mins Brands face a challenge in leading conversations at the moment in this era of increased polarisation.27 mins “The importance of what we do has never been greater.”28 mins George reflects on how he thinks AI will impact the PR agency model over the next 18 months.“There are two ways AI is going to transform public relations…”“We’ve had ten years where search has been king. With AI, that dynamic changes.”35 mins What do global PR clients want currently?38 mins Why George believes that we’re seeing a fundamental change in the PR agency: employee relationships. 42 mins George talks about the need for the PR sector as a whole to make its communications more accessible, reminding us that much of the tech you already have access to can transform the accessibility of their communications to a broader r

For this PRmoment Podcast, something completely different. It’s one of those shows I thought I might have to do one day but I hoped that day would never come.On today’s show, Daney Parker reflects on 15 years as PRmoment’s editor. If you haven’t heard already, Daney is leaving her role as PRmoment editor.So today - it’s her running for the hills goodbye show!Daney and I started PRmoment back in 2009 when we were both, shall we say, between jobs. We didn't know each other, and I think it's fair to say we both took a punt on each other, and it’s worked out.Today, Daney, who has written well over 1,000 articles about public relations, will look back on her time as a journalist covering public relations to reflect on where PR has come from and where it might be headed!Before we start, take a look at our latest PR Masterclass: PR and AI. It’s a cracker! Tickets are on sale now from the PRmoment homepage.Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.Here’s a summary of what Daney and I discussed:2.30 mins Daney talks about why she is leaving PRmoment and what she is up to next.“When people die, you have to look after yourself and your family. Because it is upsetting.”“You have to accept that life isn't always happy and joyful but you have to strengthen yourself and nurture yourself. It’s important to do that during difficult times.”“I love writing, words have always been my thing…it’s very important to give yourself a creative output.”6 mins Daney talks about how she felt as the editor of a start-up PR mag that no one had heard of when PRmoment started back in 2009.“Marketing Week made the whole editorial department redundant.““It’s been nice to focus on PR. It’s one of the most interesting sectors. It’s also a sector that is thriving. Compared to above the line advertising, which is a completely different beast to when I started my career.”“It’s a fascinating industry and it evolves all the time.”12.30 mins “Looking back, I’m a bit surprised we managed to pull it off!”17.30 mins What makes a good features journo different from a news journalist?“It's not such a craft news journalism, it’s a skill… you have to be ruthless as a (good) news journalist. If you get a good piece of information from a friend, you’re going to use it. And you might lose a friend.”21 mins Daney reveals her favourite ever PRmoment columnist in the last 15 years.“I have to say, Francis. He was scurrilous. Which is always interesting…He was prepared to upset people.”23 mins Was the demise of the PRmoment column Hacked Off Flack the beginning of Cancel Culture?27 mins Daney reflects howPR is different now, compared to 15 years ago.“Do people work harder now in PR? They certainly drink less.”31.30 mins As a journalist, how was it writing about public relations?“PR generally does a very good job. Of course, there will always be some teething problems. But every journalist is different.” “Journalism is quite stressful and PR people are a good scapegoat.”

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.This week, we’re talking to Louise Jenkins, co-head of Edelman Data and Intelligence, EMEA, about the UK results of The Edelman Trust Barometer 2224.If you’re listening to this podcast and you’re a senior member of a PR agency team, our subscription training service, PRmoment Leaders, was built for you. It features a new educational syllabus that will help develop and retain your senior team members while preparing them to lead your business and drive future growth.Containing 11 learning and networking elements, the PRmoment Leaders subscription package has been designed to flex around busy teams and individual learning styles.Also, thanks to our PRmoment Podcast sponsors, The PRCA.Here is a summary of what Louise and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:1.30 mins Louise talks us through the headline results of the Edelman Trust Barometer for 2024.“The UK results are a heightened version of the global results this year.”“We’ve seen big drops in the scores for the (UK) Government and media, which has plummeted the UK to the very bottom of the trust index.”3 mins The trust scores of the UK institutions.4 mins Why is trust in the UK’s institutions the lowest since 2018?6 mins Louise discusses how low trust scores impact behaviour.“NGOs are in the distrust scale.”“The erosion of trust in NGOs has been a long-term trend.”11 mins Louise discusses why trust in the media has dropped by 6 points.“People are telling us that the UK Government is an ineffective agent of positive change, (suffers from) corruption, bias, does not have a vision of the future that they believe in and serves the interests of some, not everybody.“The extent of how those attitudes have increased year on year is huge.”“Is there are hypotheses that trust in democratic governments is always likely to decline over time.”16 mins Louise discusses the trust scores of different types of media.“For PR planners out there, it's kind of as you were.”21 mins How does the UK’s trust score fair internationally? A selection of global country trust scores across the four institutions.“It’s shocking to me that the UK is at the absolute bottom of the 38 markets that we surveyed.”25 mins What’s a good trust score for a country?“For a country (like the UK), you’d want to be at the top end of a neutral trust score (so upper 50s)”26 mins How do we explain an authoritarian state like China having such a high trust score?27 mins Should we be worried that the world's largest democracy, India, has a trust score within 3 points of China?28 mins Louise discusses the high trust scores that the UK public has in their employers.31 mins Most consumer media face the tough economic reality that they are still chasing page impressions to satisfy an advertising-driven model. This means they often create populist stories, which is not a good model if you want to retain the trust of your readers/viewers. Louise and Ben discuss the worrying results of this strategy from a trust perspective.33 mins Have we seen AI impact the trust scores of the institutions of trust yet?