Charlie Kitcat

The 2024 PRWeek UK Pay Gap Report has a lot to unpack. Beyond the lack of progress on gender and ethnicity pay equity, the biggest surprise is that the largest PR agencies have never shared their data. At Woodrow, we believe transparency is how we raise the bar—for ourselves and the industry. While looking closely at our own operations can be daunting, it’s necessary. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made—transparent salaries, clear career paths, and a commitment to inclusivity. But we know we’re not perfect. Participating in PRWeek UK's Pay Gap Report, alongside People Like Us, is how we stay accountable and push the industry forward. This could be one of the last Pay Gap Reports before ethnicity pay gap reporting becomes law. With the new Labour Government’s pledge, larger firms will soon be required to report. Let’s hope this changes the landscape, and that pay inequities are taken seriously across the industry. Check out the full report in the comments 👇 #FuturePositive #DEI #PayGapReport #EquitablePay

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⏳ Just 4 days left to make your voice heard! We're calling on all Black PR and comms professionals to share your experiences. Together with PRWeek UK and Opinium, our One Step Forward Two Steps Black survey aims to uncover the truth about inequities, celebrate successes and set a new standard for our industry. Back in 2020, nearly half of Black communication pros told us they’d never received an internal promotion. We want to know if things have changed. Are you being hired, recognized, and rewarded fairly? Your input is crucial to shaping meaningful recommendations for change. The survey is anonymous and takes just 6 minutes to complete. 🔗 Hit the link below to participate and help us pave the way for a more equitable future in PR and comms. 📅 Remember, the survey closes this Friday, 28th June 2024. Let's make a difference together! ✊🏾 https://lnkd.in/eM--X-Fs

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Back in 2020, nearly half of Black communication professionals reported never having received an internal promotion. That's shockingly dismaying! As a 100% BME-staffed agency, we encourage every Black PR professional to join the survey. Let's see what progress (hopefully) has been made, and most importantly, affect change!

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We’re finally able to share this exciting news - huge thank you to everyone who has supported us so far - from big organisations, to founders who gave up time to have a coffee with us over the last few years. Marketing Engine helps marketers prove what they do works. Not just the Google search ads at the last click, but the daily actions which drive success at each touchpoint from PR to brand to media buying. If you’ve ever struggled to tell the story of your marketing results despite having all the data and spending hours on the planning, this platform is for you. We’ve been there, and we’re looking for more people out there who feel like this to help us shape the roadmap for Marketing Engine. If you’re interested in testing the platform and being part of the campaign to put the trust back into marketing, DM me or Kieron Goldsborough 🤓 #martech #startup #marketing #teesvalley Business Tees Valley Tees Valley Combined Authority Innovation SuperNetwork Ignite Accelerator The Thinking Digital Conference Innovate UK Thank you Insider Media for the coverage.

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To echo the rest of the UK - "how is it August already?" 🤔 We've been seeing a lot of PR requests coming in mentioning the 'C' word too, but we're trying not to think about that just yet🎄 ... As usual, here is a round-up of what we got up to in July: 🚀 We onboarded some lovely new clients, and had the pleasure of expanding our work with a number of our existing clients 🚀 We helped one of our B2B clients achieve a record month, with 193 leads, and regain position 1 for one of their core keywords (double win!) 🚀 Our PR Lead Becca Tee was featured in business publication Corporate Vision talking about how you can leverage PR to increase your search rankings (see here: https://lnkd.in/eWDZkeB2). 🚀 We're working on a secret creative marketing campaign... but can't reveal any more details on that just yet 🐝 #business #digitalmarketing #marketing

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Are brands spending too much on social? I was very glad to be joined by EssenceMediacom UK's Richard Kirk and Olga Zaitseva to chat through their latest research, which found that UK advertisers could be spending up to 3x more on paid social than is optimal. Meanwhile, AV channels (including TV, cinema, and online video) might be getting less than they deserve. We unpacked the details and discussed what is causing advertisers to overspend on social and underinvest in other channels. Said Kirk: “We’re starting to see multiple pieces of research all pointing in quite a specific direction. And I would hope that those things combined start to lend real credence to this idea that maybe the industry has gone too far in one direction and needs to correct.” Listen on The Media Leader UK here or wherever else you get your podcasts: https://lnkd.in/etcS3PVX

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I wrote a Hallam blog about how PR can help 🤝 build credibility 🤝 for your business. Trust-building within the digital realm has never been more challenging. Research shows that less than 50% of UK consumers trust businesses—a trend that has been declining over the past decade. Here are my main takeaways: 📔 71% of consumers admit trust significantly influences their purchasing decisions, with 63% trusting businesses prioritising transparent communication. ❣ PR lies at the heart of trust-building, requiring active listening, message alignment with audience values, and prioritising authenticity. 📈 Having a good PR strategy can boost your customers' trust in your products 🌟 Benefits of digital PR include raising brand awareness, boosting SEO efforts, and positioning the brand as an industry expert. What do you do to build trust with your potential customers? Keen to hear your thoughts too Jo O'Reilly, Georgia Gadsby March, Tom Bestwick, Rebecca Collins, Iona Jess Townsley just to name a few of the experts I know in this field Please have a read if you want to understand how PR lies at the heart of trust-building and demands a strategic approach for success. https://lnkd.in/efcwnFxf #DigitalPR #PR #OnlineCredibility

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The reason the Pay Gap Project by People Like Us and PRWeek is so inspiring, is that it doesn't just help agencies and the industry as a whole to be aware of their gender and ethnicity pay gaps - it makes them accountable for improving them. It's lamentable, then, that it's a project ignored by all of the biggest agencies in the country — certainly last year none of the biggest 20 agencies by revenue contributed (cc BRUNSWICK PUBLIC RELATIONS LLP Edelman, Hill & Knowlton, FTI Consulting, Havas, Weber Shandwick, Teneo, Freuds Group Ketchum Ogilvy BCW Global etc etc etc). So, if you work at one of those giant agencies, or any agency that doesn't contribute their pay gap reports — talk to your boss today. Send them a link. The deadline has been extended until August 27th. If they feel there's a risk to sharing their pay gaps, maybe we need to make them aware of the risks of not sharing them. The more agencies that get involved, the more we can accelerate much-needed changes in our industry. Manifest Group will, as it always has, contribute. Doing so has helped us to be publicly accountable, and focused on prioritising the right actions. It's also helped us feel our DE&I efforts are part of a bigger movement across the industry — learning from and being inspired by our peers' progress. It's not a competition. It's a collaboration. #dei #paygaps #prweek #peoplelikeus

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Our MD, Jordan Greenaway, recently wrote for PRWeek UK, exploring how recent stock market woes could impact the UK's PR sector. In his article, Jordan outlined: 💼 As IPOs in the UK tumble, so do opportunities for PR agencies that support corporate briefs. ⬇ Moreover, with fewer companies going public in London, fewer will base themselves here, which risks denting London's reputation as a global hub. 🌍 PR agencies facing the prospect of reduced business will have few options but to look at global growth, downsizing, or hoping that the city’s financial woes start to reverse. You can read the full article on PR Week here: https://lnkd.in/ebdcDFe5

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We're about to have an election in the UK. One of the main talking points of this political cycle has been how many people get their information, not from debates or manifestos, but through analysis on political podcasts. It got me thinking about what makes a "good" political podcast, the difference between audio and TikTok, and how I feel about the role of podcasting in this controversial and sensitive space. During this process, I came out with another takeaway: Podcasts wouldn’t be the phenomenon they have become without politics. The industry likes to point to the success of true crime as the catalyst for podcasting’s mainstream popularity. But speak to some of the hosts who have made it big in the last five years, and they’ll point, often begrudgingly, to Joe Rogan as the reason they can make podcasting their full-time career. You might take umbrage with this for moral reasons. Fine. I switched to Tidal when Rogan was bought by Spotify. But the political divisions we see in society have been easily capitalized on by political podcasts across the ideological spectrum. If the aim is to create a vacuum where only one ideology exists, why not start a podcast? Not all political podcasts are nurturing polemical silos. Many attempt to at least understand where the other side is coming from. And while they risk offending everyone and satisfying no one, there is bravery in championing a bipartisan approach. In my recent list for Podcast Review, I chose a range of shows that occupy different positions on many things, but they share a common theme: curiosity towards difficult issues. What is your favorite political podcast? https://lnkd.in/eKCy7Cxb

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The PR Week award nominations have been announced this week (big PR industry awards) And, as usual, the big agencies with the big budget clients are forefront. I’m not taking away the work they do, because often it’s brilliant. But they usually have massive budgets and a team of people working on them. What these awards overlook is the incredible small business owners who are using PR too. The ones who are using it to grow their business, highlight their expertise, connect with new audiences and get known for what they do. Some of the results from the businesses I work with speak for themselves. - What about my DIY PR Member who's about to announce (another) huge retail partnership that's a result of her Christmas PR activity from last year? - Or the member who is now stocked in Liberty after the buyer spotted them in a magazine - Or the member who is now paid to speak as an expert in their field, having joined The PR Set with no experience in her sector - Or the member who used PR as part of her marketing strategy for her book launch (that hit the best seller charts) - Or my 1-2-1 Accelerator client who secured a six page feature, has been featured in several top tier titles, created new revenue streams as a result of her PR and collaborated with some mega brands - Or the member who used her brilliant PR in her very successful crowdfunder campaign. (which resulted in her being overfunded) -Or the member who has consistent PR over the past 8 months and is growing her business month on month -Or my 1-2-1 Accelerator client who hit the ground running launching her business and being featured in several key publications as well as creating content for a large platform - Or the member who delivered her first TedX Talk -Or the member who has done so well building his profile as a lead name in his industry, he's now doing workshops at the most prestigious festivals, working with corporate clients and has his own column in a magazine (and so much more) They don’t have the budget to enter these awards (and they shouldn’t either as it’s not going to do anything for their business)... So here is The PR Set’s award to all you amazing businesses who are smashing their PR. I see you and I’m proud of you!

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Summer’s so close, you can almost feel it! Well, you can if you ignore the icy wind 🥶 And the obligatory April showers ☔️ 🔹🔸🔹🔸🔹 If you’re looking for inspiration for your summer content marketing, I may have just the thing. My Content ideas for Summer 2024 blog post is now updated and live with all the dates, links and ideas you need. If nothing takes your fancy, there are links to three more blog posts at the very bottom of the page. Collectively, these posts contain almost 250 content ideas that can be adapted for marketing most businesses. 🔹🔸🔹🔸🔹 And if you need help with your content strategy, planning, SEO or article-writing — say my name three times into the mirror and I shall appear* https://lnkd.in/eyZJ25u6 *I won’t. Actually, I think that’s from Candyman. But you can send me a DM and that will work just as well.

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Every now and then I'll drop the TOV bomb into a meeting. I can guarantee that this is met with confusion at least 8 times out of 10. "Is that an accounting term?" a head of marketing asked me earlier this year. Nope. It stands for tone of voice. So here's a quick run-through of what they are and why every brand needs them. 𝘛𝘖𝘝'𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 📝 TOVs are your brand’s identity and persona packaged up in words. Think Oatly, think Innocent smoothies, think Nike. But they are just relevant to B2B, as they are to B2C. TOVs are quite distinct from your firm’s house style, which will generally be based on a well-known set of guidelines, such as the Guardian style guide or the Economist style guide. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 🤔 💡Because words don’t come easy...to many …(note the reference to the cheesy 80s classic). It means your communications will remain consistent. By referring to the TOV you can ensure that everyone in the organisation from top down can stay ‘on brand’. They can also be sent out to any external contractor you use, and send a strong message that you know what you’re about. As a freelancer myself, I really appreciate a slick set of TOV guidelines, especially on rebrands. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 🤔 💡That’s the slightly trickier part and requires a team brainstorming effort which distils your brand values into a tonal toolkit. Your brand’s TOV should reflect your company culture. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 🤨 💡Well if you want to sound distinct, stand out from the competition and ensure that there is consistency across departments, yes you definitely do. HTH.🙃👋🏼 If you’d like some further guidance on how to formulate your brand's TOVs do get in touch. #legalmarketing #contenttips #Mondaymorningthoughts

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Imagine policy campaigns delivering a brand-like experience. 🤔 My thoughts on this 👇 There's an unspoken rule in #EUcomms: stay safe, stay within the lines, and avoid anything 'silly'. Policy makers and other decision makers, when they see a policy campaign—rather than, let’s say, an ad for the latest Samsung phone—they’re not looking for entertainment, curiosity, or memorability. Also, notoriously short attention spans stretch to read all the tiny text and long jargon. Right? 😏 When it comes to a general audience (of which policymakers and other decision-makers aren’t a part, OBVIOUSLY 👀), they’re used to brands (and often, extremist political messages from many platforms) that speak directly to their needs and make them feel seen—even if extremist political messages are just lies. So, why do we keep playing it safe in the #EUbubble? This approach doesn't work anymore, especially at a time when we need to engage more than ever. It hasn't been working for a long; we just could get away with it. Recently, I attended a webinar on the #Draghi report. It warns that Europe’s economic growth risks stagnation if we don’t act swiftly and a slow and painful decline. Draghi calls for a new mindset—massive investments, a shift in how we approach innovation, and a real urgency in making Europe competitive again. Yet, this urgency feels at odds with how we communicate in policy campaigns. Instead of bold narratives, we stick to the script. But what if we took a page from a different sector? Nike’s Most Recent Campaign: “Winning Isn’t For Everyone” 🏅 Nike’s campaign, “Winning Isn’t For Everyone”, captures the raw drive of athletes willing to push themselves beyond their limits. It’s not a message that tries to please everyone—it’s direct, unfiltered, and speaks to a mindset about striving for more. Now, imagine if EU policy campaigns could evoke a similar feeling. What if, instead of talking about economic policy in dry terms packed with charts, we framed it as a shared journey—a collective challenge to build a better future? For example.. Draghi’s report emphasizes the need to accelerate decarbonization, urging the EU to spend up to €800 billion annually on clean energy. But how do we make this investment feel personal to citizens? Imagine real-life stories of families seeing their energy bills shrink thanks to new green technologies or small towns becoming hubs for renewable energy, improving their day-to-day lives. It’s about framing policy as a collective effort with tangible benefits. TL,DR? If you want your policy campaigns to actually move the needle and REALLY stand out, do the outrageous 👇 ⏰ Make It Personal: Focus on the real-world impact, like job creation in green sectors. ❤️ Find the Emotion: Facts matter, but stories that touch hearts will last longer. 👥 Create Belonging: Make citizens feel like part of a movement, not just recipients of information. Time to bridge the gap Margaux Demeyer

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"Easy Apply" function is a job seekers worst enemy.... Here's why: 1) It encourages people to apply for roles they aren't qualified for. 2) A flood of unqualified applicants means your relevant application will get lost in the abyss. 3) You spend hours on cover letters and tailoring your CV to often not even have your application reviewed only to receive a generic rejection email weeks later. More than ever the market is congested with candidates, make your application stand out and be specific.. Any other comments or thoughts add in the comments #standout #candidatecongested #marketingrecruitment #csuite #commercialhires

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One step forward two steps Black? We want to hear your experiences of what it’s like to be Black in PR and comms today. Together with PRWeek UK and Opinium, we are opening our One Step Forward Two Steps Black survey to uncover inequity where it exists, recognise successes in creating a diverse pipeline and retaining talent, and crucially - to provide a benchmark for the industry to make change. The inaugural One Step Forward Two Steps Black survey in 2020 found that almost half of Black communication professionals had never received an internal promotion, with talent having to move to a different agency or company to rise up the ranks.  Has progress been made? Are you having a more equitable experience? Are you being hired, recognised and rewarded for your contributions? We need to know so we can shape recommendations to drive change. The anonymous survey takes just 6 minutes to complete. Complete the survey here: https://lnkd.in/eM--X-Fs Kamiqua Lake (nèe Pearce) Founder of UK Black Comms Network says "As the old adage goes: what gets measured gets improved. The industry's focus continues to be on attracting Black talent into entry level roles. We want to understand what progress our industry is making on this and how organisations are rewarding Black talent within their companies."   You can read more in PR Week here: https://lnkd.in/ewPJbcE4 Special thanks to Eliza Wiredu Rhoneece Patterson Priya Minhas

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Exactly 17 marketers told me what they think about in the coming UK junk food ad ban. It might tackle childhood obesity a bit maybe - but here's what it will more likely impact... 👇 1. Some critics argue children don’t actually watch much linear TV or ads anymore but are influenced by social media content, which the ban does not address. Are TikTok mukbangs the next focus? 2. Loopholes in the ban exist. Brands can circumvent it by advertising healthier options, or going full own brand advertising (minus product) or they can carpetbomb post-watershed slots. 3. Advertisers may be pushed to different media like outdoor, podcasts, and radio, which are exempt from these specific restrictions (although sites like TfL have their own sensistivies). 4. Agencies feel hard done by and that they are getting the blame of this crisis. I'm not as quick to let them off the hook but do acknowledge that it is one of many causes of childhood obesity - not the singular cause. 5. The ban is seen as a PR move by some, with doubts about its actual impact on obesity rates. 6. Industry experts call for broader solutions, including better education on nutrition and involvement from fast food companies in promoting healthier eating habits. On The Drum today: Contributions fromGary Revill, John Triner, Sam Shaw, Ayesha Gardiner, Josh Aldersey-Clarricoats, Matthew Charlton, Jonny Tennant-Price, Tom Ghiden, Jay Topham, Ben Norman, Jenna Russell, Jeff Bowerman, Barney Worfolk Smith 🦩, Wander Bruijel, James Kirkham, Lee Baring, Annie Little. Of course, if you're one of the three people in the industry we didn't ask about this, let's get talking in the comments. #HFSS #Food #Advertising #Regulation #Policy #UK #Government

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