An introduction to energy PR

#PRPays – PR and the energy sector

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The CIPR has released the second instalment of its #PRPays series – an interview with Lawrence Slade, CEO at Energy UK. This is accompanied by additional energy content from the CIPR, in the shape of its Energy and Leadership Platform’s An Introduction to Energy PR.

The #PRPays campaign aims to highlight the strategic value of public relations to the business community. The interview with trade association Energy UK follows the first edition with Heathrow’s CEO John Holland-Kaye.

Talking about the importance of PR to Energy UK and businesses in general, Slade is an advocate of well-organised PR teams whether it’s working on the Energy Switch Guarantee, preparing the organisation for a crisis or dealing with the market post-Brexit.

Check out the full interview here:

This interview has been followed by the first publication from the recently formed thinktank the Energy and Leadership Platform. The guide is aimed at educating and inspiring PR and communication practitioners across the world to pursue a career in energy PR.

It draws on the complexities of the sector and the fact that energy PR is not confined to just a few topics. The guide says: ‘Energy communications is never just about oil or gas or power. Geopolitics, capital markets, international trade, environmental cost and protection, engineering/technology (amongst many other issues), resettlement and local culture also need to be considered.’

The short guide is split into three main areas – strategy; building, rebuilding and maintaining trust; and community engagement – and is a must read for anyone working in or with the energy sector around the world.

Ella Minty, co-chair of the Energy Leadership Platform said: ‘The energy sector is at a significant crossroad – the demand for cleaner, cheaper energy is considered a given in the developed economies while in the less fortunate regions of the world a lightbulb is considered a luxury.

‘An Introduction to Energy PR’ marks the beginning of our journey to demonstrate the value of Public Relations as a strategic management function in the Energy sector, and the significant benefits strategic communicators can bring to build bridges across the complex energy stakeholder profile.’

Facebook news

Facebook launches Community News Project to fund local journalists

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From January 2019, Facebook will be facilitating the recruitment of paid trainee journalists as part of its Community News Project.

The social network has pledged £4.5 million for the project as a donation to National Council for the Training of Journalist (NCTJ). The scheme will fund 80 new UK journalists over two-year period. Recruits will be trained up by the NCTJ before joining local and regional newsrooms across the country. Contracts for the new recruits will be held across a partnership of regional publishers including Reach, Newsquest, Archant, JPI Media, and Midlands New Association.

A focus of the project will be to fund trainees from different backgrounds, reflecting diversity across local communities. Another major focus will be to place recruits in areas affected by local newspaper cuts. NCTJ chief executive Joanne Butcher said: ‘The goal here is to encourage more reporting from towns and villages who may have lost their local paper or beat reporters to ensure these communities benefit from high-quality journalism.’

Roles will be added in addition to current reporters, not as a replacement. And although the scheme does not guarantee a job at the end, trainees will expand their skills and provide valuable input across busy regional and local press outlets.

Archant content director Laura Adams said the initiative, ‘aligns with our core objective, which is to engage with our communities, be reflective of them and have our reporters on the ground to be able to do that job effectively’.

This is the first time that Facebook has put money into local journalism in the UK, and the scheme will sit alongside the BBC’s Local News Partnership, which has provided some 140 local democracy reporters to newsrooms across the UK.

New community journalists joining newsrooms is a great benefit to PRs. These trainee journalists are going to be open to speaking to PRs, hearing about the latest news stories in their area, looking for leads and ready to build new relationships.

Ready to reach the right journalists? You need the Vuelio Media Database.

Fake news and facts

FAKE NEWS: tackling disinformation in society

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Thanks to Donald Trump, ‘fake news’ is what people typically think of upon hearing the phrase ‘disinformation’, though in reality it covers a whole host of sharing false information, from misconstrued comments to propaganda.

At the recent newsrewired event, a panel of disinformation experts discussed its impact on news today. The session covered both sides of what makes disinformation spread – newsrooms not verifying information before publishing as well as audiences sharing information they are unsure is real.

BBC’s Alistair Baker Coleman thinks the responsibility to verify falls on publishers, platforms and tools, saying: ‘People don’t have time to check if something is true’.

Many publishers already have a process for confirming information is correct and factual, but now people are turning their focus towards platforms and tools where content is being shared by individuals.

The major social media platforms continue to implement techniques for spotting and removing false and malicious content, but these are far from perfect and not nearly comprehensive enough to tackle fake news completely.

Tom Phillips of Full Fact believes that there should be more focus on the end user and there is a need to show people how to trust. Phillips suggested that a toolkit helping people understand when to trust, and when not to, could assist in curbing the spread of disinformation.

A piece of information has very few ways of being right and infinite ways of being wrong, and it’s now so easy to access and share that the wrong information can quickly become the ‘accepted’ information. Accurate or not, if people are seeing content they agree with, or even strongly disagree with, they are more likely to distribute it on social media or across private messenger services.

Aoife Gallagher of Storyful thinks that teaching children from a young age could be the key, she said: ‘Students need to know how to spot disinformation and navigate the internet’. There was a general consensus that education about fake news, and the dangers of spreading it, was currently lacking but rolling out education for the masses is a huge job with questionable results. What is clear is that disinformation is now an undeniable part of our society.

An element not introduced to the discussion was the role PRs and comms professionals can play. They have the ability and the power to help set the record straight, providing authoritative expert analysis and opinion and help both the media and audiences with the truth.

Ready to reach the right journalists with the truth? Find out more about the Vuelio Media Database.

Hijacking christmas

How to hijack Christmas

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The John Lewis Christmas advert has been a cultural phenomenon ever since a little boy couldn’t wait to present his parents with a mystery box in 2011. In recent years, it’s appeal has drawn increased competition from both traditional and new competitors all vying to be the season’s best. This year, the competition is as fierce as ever but now it’s the imitations, parodies and hijacks of the John Lewis [JL] advert that are stealing focus.

What are the benefits of a parody?
Due to the status of the JL advert in society, anything that is a pastiche, or at least alludes to it, has more chance to attract attention, allowing relatively low budget campaigns to ride the JL wave.

This is clear in a majority of the highest profile parodies that have come to light, including this single image from Lidl:

Topping 25K likes on Twitter alone, the image has everything – Christmas-themed border, a pun that works with Lidl and the JL advert and messaging that pushes the budget-friendly angle Lidl is famous for.

Parodies also work as part of existing campaigns. Iceland, who broke ranks early in the Christmas advert stakes and managed to gain a huge amount of coverage for its ‘banned’ advert, has since been maximising its palm oil/orangutan angle including this simple tweet:

In-house hijack
While everyone from Pizza Hut to Frank PR has made use of JL advert, perhaps the greatest parody of all comes from John Lewis’ sister brand, Waitrose. Part of its #TooGoodToWait campaign, Waitrose is hijacking the hijacks with this TV spot:

By showing awareness that brands parody the JL Christmas advert, Waitrose is effectively ‘giving permission’ for all other parodies while taking a friendly swipe at the JL ad’s place in society. This is a tactic Waitrose has used before but never so explicitly.

It also shows that the brands are very much linked, which is something they’re keen to promote as evidenced by their first joint advert in September.

Parodies and pastiches are a great way to make tight budgets go far but require quick, reactive teams. Being able to see what’s trending, especially among your competitors, allows you to join in the conversation as it happens, rewarding smart PRs.

Find out how Vuelio Media Monitoring can help stay up to date with your sector and keep an eye on your competitors.

As a special bonus, because it’s not a parody as such, here’s Twitter’s take on a John Lewis Christmas:

SRM

One size doesn’t fit all – why CRM isn’t right for stakeholders

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Customers, staff, the board, suppliers, influencers, government, councillors, the public, shareholders, owners, managers. All are stakeholders, all need to be managed by you and your company. But they don’t all require the same service or input, which is why we have HR tools, CRMs – Customer Relationship Management – and SRMs – Stakeholder Relationship Management.

What’s the difference?
Customers, or service users, have a distinct set of needs that you seek to satisfy – and your CRM manages this process from start to finish. Staff, similarly, enter into a specific contract with the company and both sides have expectations of what’s required.

In the comms industry, ‘stakeholders’ covers those external to the business who can influence and affect your activity or strategic ambitions. Influence of this kind can come from a particular position or interest, for example, an MP or local councillor may sit on a committee that can influence the policy underpinning the success of your project.

It can also include support from specific community groups or a charity sector that is essential to create momentum behind a key ambition for change.

It is the link between a stakeholder’s influence and your objectives that makes stakeholder management unique. The landscape never stays still; with a new day, issues can come and go, bringing new stakeholders to the fore and making others redundant, which creates new opportunities for engagement.

The distinctions between customers and other stakeholders are clear, yet many organisations continue to use CRM software to manage their stakeholder relationships. This can create a loss of momentum and, ultimately, a loss of quality ‘memory’ that could support your evolving strategy for many years to come.

SRM software, on the other hand, is designed to focus on the influence an individual or organisation has on your objectives, supporting your chosen method of stakeholder modelling and evolving with your engagement activities.

SRM vs CRM

  • CRM is often implemented to provide automation and transparency around key commercial and service driven processes, such as sales pipelines, managing service agreements and linking to finance departments
  • SRM is a communications tool at a heart, supporting targeted relationship management including viewing a single stakeholder in multiple ways, depending on the project or issue
  • CRM often has a concluding objective: a sale, renewal or delivering a service
  • SRM tends not to conclude because managing reputation with stakeholders is continuous, evolving with your organisation
  • CRM has a strict activity type, one organisation to one organisation, even when there may be different personnel points in the process the customer is viewed as one.
  • SRM can view stakeholders as a group, such as an alliance or committee. One individual can be considered to have several ‘hats’, thus seen as a stakeholder for many different scenarios.

Ready for a market-leading SRM? Find out more about Vuelio. 

PRCA national awards

Taylor Herring dominates another industry Awards

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Another PR Awards ceremony, another incredible performance from Taylor Herring. The creative agency picked up six awards at last night’s PRCA National Awards 2018, adding to the 21 wins and highly commendeds they’ve already achieved this year.

Other big winners from the night include the small, medium and large consultancies of the year, awarded to Talker Tailor Trouble Maker, Fourtold and Hope&Glory respectively.

There’s also a special mention to the winner of the Vuelio-sponsored Public Sector, Value for Money Awards, won by the agency Kindred for its Invisible People – Telling the World About Modern Slavery campaign and the In-house team at MHRA for its FakeMeds campaign.

Tin Man, the agency that joined Vuelio for the How to create an award-winning campaign II webinar, was highly commended in two categories, including one for its #ISeeMore campaign with the IET.

Across the night, 42 winners were announced in 30 categories – the full list can be viewed online.

The Awards are a celebration of both the industry and the PRCA. Francis Ingham, director general of the PRCA, proudly announced that the association has welcome 222 new corporate members in 2018.

He also made the call for fewer industry bodies, praising the decisions of the MAAG, ICCO, LG Comms and the APPC to join with the PRCA. He said: ‘We can best stand up for our industry if our industry has one clear voice. There is a need and a desire for collaboration and consolidation of membership bodies. There are quite simply too many small tents. There needs to be one big one.

‘The PRCA tent can and must and will grow bigger in the best interests of our industry. And we will work relentlessly over the coming years to achieve just that. So, here’s my big offer – come with us, and together we will make our industry even greater.’

For those in the room, the rewards were clear, but particularly for one agency. Welcome to 2018: the year of Taylor Herring.

 

Vuelio were delighted to sponsor the PRCA National Awards 2018, particularly because it gave us the opportunity to make cup phones – check out the team from Taylor Herring making good use of them:

Steph and the Spaniels

Pet blog spotlight: Steph and the Spaniels

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Stephanie Walton is the blogger behind Steph and the Spaniels, which was recently named in the Top 10 UK Pet Blogs. Charting the adventures Steph has with her husband and two spaniels – Severus and Lily (Always) – Steph and the Spaniels is known for its beautiful aesthetics and for showcasing the best of dog-friendly UK. We spoke to Steph about how the blog has changed, the joy of loving dogs and how lifestyle brands can become dog-friendly.

How has your blog changed from when you first started?
I started blogging around nine years ago so it has changed a lot; it’s grown and changed as I have. Now being a very dog-friendly lifestyle blog, it really is a large part of my life.

Just like our passions and hobbies change, that’s what has happened to what I’ve shared. I’m also sharing the fact I’m a 30-year-old fur mum.

Steph and the Spaniels

What’s the best thing about being a pet blogger?
The community is lovely, as well as the ease of it. Like I mentioned, what I blog about is literally my everyday life with the dogs, our travels tips for others or what we wear. I love that it’s such a diary for me to look back over.

How conscious are you of the animal’s personality as opposed to your own when writing?
It’s not the dogs’ personality at all actually, I think it’s very important to showcase a dog’s life and that isn’t without the owner. It’s a lifestyle blog with a dog-friendly topic, so it’s all about our spaniel life, both human and hounds. Of course, I showcase what the dogs like and want to be sure my readers get to know them too.

Steph and the Spaniels

What’s better cats or dogs?
I’ve not owned a cat, so I can’t say which is better. It’s such a personal opinion, and I’d never take that away from a cat owner – as only they know.

I know I adore my dogs, I’d do anything for them because they make me so happy and all I want to do is make them happy. They make me a better person, they get me out adventuring and exploring and they make me passionate about something.

Steph and the Spaniels

Did you have a pet growing up?
I did, we had a lovely show cocker called Megan. She no doubt started my love for spaniels.

We also got Alfie and Tilly, our family dogs while I was still living at home. Sadly, Alfie has now passed but we love having Tilly over and inviting her on our adventures too – she loves being with Sev and Lily.

What’s the best top tip you have for pet owners?
That’s a hard one! I have so many. But I think enjoy them, let them love you and be loved. Have fun with them and get to know them, they have so much to give.

Steph and the Spaniels

How do you work with PRs and brands?
In many ways, we really love campaigns with substance and that can really get us creating fun and interesting content. We love being able to collaborate with pet brands, as well as lifestyle brands that we can bring a dog aspect into, as it shows how important pets really are to everyone.

What are the best collaborations you’ve worked on?
Again, such a hard question because we’ve had some wonderful collaborations.

Our travel work is amazing, it gets us out and exploring and holidaying with your pets is so popular now too, so sharing that is great for my readers.

Being able to work with brands we love is so exciting and such a proud feeling.

We’ve adored working with Barbour and Haven Holidays particularly this year, but every collaboration we are thankful for and so excited we get to create content to share.

Steph and the Spaniels

What other blogs do you read?
I love reading dog-friendly blogs, any lifestyle and travel blogs too. I’m a big blog reader and I love finding new pet blogs like mine. I enjoy reading everyday life and snippets into travelling with your dog or day to day life like walks and outfits.

Reach-the-right-influencers-with-the-Vuelio-media-database

ResponseSource

Are you struggling to secure media coverage?

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The Journalist Enquiry Service turns the pitching process on its head – journalists reach out to PR and comms professionals for help with articles, reviews, case studies, spokespeople, locations and celebrities.

Following our acquisition of ResponseSource, we are delighted to host a webinar with a detailed introduction to the market-leading Journalist Enquiry Service, showing how easy it is to use and how quickly it can secure you coverage.

Sign up to the webinar here

The Journalist Enquiry Service is used by all the national press outlets, key trade and consumer titles, leading bloggers and websites, and popular broadcasters – all of them looking for help right now.

Whether it’s a legal expert to discuss a breaking case, a fashionista who knows the royal wardrobe inside out, product suppliers for national gift guides or a filming location for an international interview – the Journalist Enquiry Service has thousands of requests and gives PRs the opportunity to easily earn coverage while building new relationships.

It’s also the PR’s secret weapon – a shortcut to reaching leading journalists at top publications and outlets.

In this webinar introduction, we will give a detailed demonstration of the Journalist Enquiry Service, show how easy it is to use and how you can customise your experience to maximise your exposure. We will also explore the different kinds of requests that journalists send and show you ways to increase your national press coverage.

Sign up to this webinar to learn:

  • The types of journalist requests that are submitted
  • How the Service helps you build relationships
  • Why the Journalist Enquiry Service will become your new secret weapon
Frank Marr

7 tips for creating an award-winning campaign

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Planning your PR and marketing campaigns for 2019? AM+A Marketing and Media Relations has picked up two awards in 2018: the Campaign Challenges Award at the PRCA Dare Awards and the Arts, Culture or Sport Campaign 2018 at the CIPR Excellence Awards – both were for its work on the Paisley UK City of Culture 2021 campaign.

Here, the agency’s managing director, Frank Marr, reveals seven tips for creating an award-winning campaign, from developing a cross channel strategy to improving your web ranking.

1. Campaign Creativity
The most effective campaigns are often down to the creative process. Ideas can come from anywhere and anyone. Once an idea is there it’s just a matter of strategically managing it. Using creativity to build brand stories and memorable content is a key way to entice your customers.

2. Campaign Strategy
It’s vital to have a clear outline of how a creative idea can be brought to life – whether it’s the development of a new product or a seasonal celebration. You should always start with a timeline of asset creation, media communication and which platforms you need.

3. In-house & Freelance Team Assets Creation
Decide which assets will be required from an exciting video and imagery to infographics and promotional material. Consider cross-platform social media material, signing up influencers and managing data capture with tracking links.

4. Improving Web Ranking: AdWords & PPC
If the creative campaign focuses on a new package, there are often opportunities to get a competitive advantage by reviewing low performing or non-existent AdWords. Look at how your organisation can boost its web ranking by creating new search engine terms.

5. Press Office, Contacts & Media Trip Programme
Whether you’re planning a short campaign or a 12 to 24 month promotion, communicating the right messages to gain the media’s attention is key. Make sure you’ve planned your media lists, media assets and a campaign timeline. If you’re doing a product launch or exclusive event, make sure you get the media to the right place at the right time, considering when you want the publicity to appear.

6. Social Media Campaign & Owned Online Content
Find stories around your campaign that aren’t necessarily commercially oriented but do create a story that benefits the reader. From your owned content, you can implement a strong tone of voice on social media, engage with influencers and promote campaign messages. Pre-plan your budgets for targeted posts, core target audiences and geo locations.

7. Sales & Results
Measure Google Analytics, monitor online engagement and tweak content as you go to maximise brand reach and monitor the scale of publicity.

AM+A can be found sharing PR and marketing tips on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

Ready to make an award-winning campaign? Find out how Vuelio can help.

Creative shootout

Are you creative enough to save the planet?

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The Creative Shootout competition is back for 2019 and is now open for entries. Agency teams from all marketing disciplines are being called on to show off their creative talent to tackle plastic pollution.

For this year’s awards, and tapping into the current zeitgeist, The Creative Shootout has teamed up with A Plastic Planet (APP). Known for launching the world’s first Plastic Free Aisle, the non-profit social impact movement will be challenging agencies to come up with a campaign to help it achieve its singular goal; dramatically reduce the use of plastic to package our food and drink.

Check out the campaign video below:

Agencies have until 30 November to submit their 60-second creative entries via www.creativeshootout.com. Entries must convince judges that the agency is creative enough for the competition and will only be ‘consumed’ a maximum of 60 seconds – whether it’s visual, video, showreel, app, audio, written, a simple email or even a cake.

From there, entries are shortlisted to eight finalist agency teams, who go on to compete in the live head-to-head Final at BAFTA on Thursday 24 January 2019.

As with the 2018 Live Final, where Raw London was victorious with its ‘Any shape – any size’ campaign for FareShare, teams will be given a brief on the day from APP – and then have just four hours to turn it into the most creative campaign possible.

After the four hours, teams have just ten minutes – and the daunting prospect of a huge live audience – to present their campaigns. The winner is announced on the night and will get to see their idea come to life.

Bragging rights as ‘the UK’s most creative agency’ are also up for grabs.

Vuelio is delighted to once again be sponsoring The Creative Shootout and will be providing the live finalists with an on-the-day Canvas for inspiration and intelligence to help them shape their campaigns. Last year’s finalists used this Canvas to help shape their campaigns for FareShare. .

Johnny Pitt, founder of The Creative Shootout, said: ‘The Creative Shootout champions the UK’s best creative talent in a real, live and yet supportive environment. It’s like no other awards. And plastic pollution affects every single one of us, and will do for generations. The creative industry can really help.’

APP co-founders Sian Sutherland and Frederikke Magnussen added: ‘We’re just two self-confessed plastic addicts who have spent the last two years trying to reverse what we are all collectively doing to our oceans, our land and ultimately to our own health.

‘If you work for a creative agency, now is the time to stand up and be counted as one of the army of passionate people and experts standing up for the public who want the choice to buy food and drink that isn’t wrapped in indestructible plastic. Get your entries in and we’ll see the best of you at the Live Final on 24 January.’

The Baking Explorer

Baking blog spotlight with The Baking Explorer

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The Baking Explorer is Kat Buckley’s Top 10 Baking Blog. Running since 2012, The Baking Explorer promotes achievable bakes that are both delicious and fun to make. Covering a huge variety of recipes, Kat also creates dairy-free baking and has a loyal vegan following. We caught up with Kat to find out how the blog has evolved, the best collaborations she’s worked on and what PRs need to know.

How has your blog changed from when you first started?
I’ve been running The Baking Explorer for over six years now and it’s come a long way in that time! My photos are considerably better, the recipes are clearer and better laid out, I’m vegetarian now and I make vegan recipes too occasionally – overall it’s more user friendly, veggie-friendly and easier to find delicious treats to make at home!

The Baking Explorer

Why baking?
I was inspired to start my blog by The Great British Bake Off. I loved the challenge of baking new things and feeding my friends and family with my creations. I still get the same buzz from creating a new recipe and seeing people enjoy it.

The baking explorer

How do you make your blog stand out?

I always try to be creative and come up with fun recipes for my audience to try themselves at home and showcase my style of baking.

What’s the best bake you’ve ever made?
My favourite cake of all time has to be my Chocolate Guinness Cake with Baileys Buttercream, I make it every year for my birthday.

What one thing should PRs know about you?
I’m vegetarian and I don’t drink tea! I get a lot of emails about tea as it goes so well with cake but sadly I don’t drink it.

What are the best collaborations you’ve worked on?
I really enjoyed a recent collaboration I did with Berry Gardens where they sent me some of their amazing UK grown cherries and I made a White Forest Cake with a cherry & kirsch jam – it was divine!

Do you think bloggers need their own industry association?
I think we are well regulated at the moment in terms of making it clear when we’ve been paid to advertise a product, as it’s so important for the audience to make an informed decision.

What other blogs do you read?
Mostly other food and baking blogs! I have a lot of blogger friends in the community so I’m often checking out their recipes.

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Pay to Play

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Is your influencer marketing a hit? Or are fake followers plaguing your results?

Whether you want to be brilliant with bloggers or great on the gram, finding real influencers who can help you produce real results, is a real issue. With influencer fraud on the rise, and some bloggers charging thousands for a single post, it’s never been so important to prove the ROI of your campaign.

Our webinar focuses on the ethics of influencer marketing and we are joined by digital strategist and former Ketchum digital director, Scott Guthrie. Scott knows why it’s not all about the numbers and will explain how you can collaborate with the right influencers in the right ways.

Pay to Play webinar header

The Money Shed

Finance spotlight with The Money Shed’s Jonathan Gutteridge

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Jonathan Gutteride writes The Money Shed, a leading money-making blog that was recently ranked in the Top 10 UK personal finance blogs.  A community and forum sharing and tips and tricks to make money from home, The Money Shed has grown a huge loyal audience and made them thousands of pounds. We spoke to Jonathan about how the blog has grown, why making money is better than saving and why he never has to contact PRs.

How has your blog changed over time?
Its tone has grown a lot. At the start I wanted it to be about how to improve your life by saving money or doing online work for pennies but it is very much a site that tells people those things are a waste of time and instead you can make your life easier by doing well-paid work online!

How much do you plan your posts in advance?
Not at all. Maybe five days or so! I’ll think of an idea on Monday and write the content on Friday! I don’t make blogging the long drawn out, overthought job that I see a lot of bloggers seem to relish.

What’s the biggest takeaway from the Autumn Budget for our personal finances?
Do you know I’ve not even watched the budget! I think at 37 I’m just immune to it all now and just wait until one of the budget changes impacts me directly!

Is it more important to save money or find new ways to make money?
Make money without a doubt! Why scrimp and save and cut corners on your lifestyle when you can instead just earn extra money and live a better life.

How do you work with PRs for the blog?
They contact me, we agree a price and the content goes up. I can’t even think of the last time I reached out directly to a PR as I guess after five years, The Money Shed has enough clout and authority that they want their content/backlinks on there.

What campaigns have you collaborated on that were really good?
I’ve done one for Universal in Orlando that was a good look at if the costs of theme parks are really worth it. I’ve worked with everyone from HSBC and Aviva to Quidco and Risk Free Matched Betting Firms. They all want to tap into the loyal Money Shed readership!

What’s best practice for working with PRs?
Set your budget expectations from the start! If you charge £250 for a pre-written post then make that clear at the beginning as if they can’t pay that then you are just going to waste your time going back and forth with them.

Do you think bloggers should have their own industry association?
Hell no! Blogging is far too varied for some kind of ‘bloggers union’. Every niche works so differently we wouldn’t be able to agree on anything!

What other blogs do you read?
None specifically but if I see your content come up on tweetdeck and it’s around blogging/money/starting a business etc. I will more than likely give it a click. I find 99% of my new content through social media.

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The future of social media for comms

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The way that PR and comms teams are using social media channels is changing, with more focus on paid campaigns and less on customer service.

Last week, the PRCA’s Digital PR and Communications Report found that the majority (55%) of marketing budgets is now being spent on paid social media advertising. Buffer’s 2018 State of Social survey found that businesses using social media advertisements are more than twice as likely to report social media marketing as ‘very effective’, which, on top of algorithm changes, may be why brands are more eager to spend more on social.

Social media being used for customer service had its biggest drop, to 35% this year – 11% down on 2017 and 21% since 2015. But it’s not just the way social media is being used, there’s also been changes in who is creating the content and where it’s being posted.

Who is creating social content?
Over 57% of respondents said their social media content is created by the PR and comms departments, an increase of 12% from the last two years. Dedicated social media teams are down by 28% from 2014, at just 12%, showing the move to more mixed-role responsibilities in PR. In the CIPR State of the Profession survey this year, social media relations was rated as an activity undertaken by 54% of respondents, 65% of those in non-managerial roles. This shows that it is definitely still an integral part of comms.

What are the biggest challenges?
The PRCA found that both lack of staff and lack of time have increased as reasons why brands are not using social media. Lack of budget and fear of attack from campaigners also remain high.

Which channels are brands using?
91% of agencies and 94% of in-house comms teams say they use Twitter, followed closely by Facebook. The use of Snapchat and Pinterest has dropped, while Instagram has increased to 56% in-house and 70% in agencies. In the next 12 months 78% of agency respondents expect to use the platform.

Looking at Google Trends, there’s been a decrease in people searching for the term ‘social media marketing’ since its peak in April 2017. Facebook marketing hit its high in February 2011, Twitter marketing in October 2014, and Snapchat marketing in April 2016 – although it’s always been relatively low compared with the others. Instagram marketing is the exception as it continues to grow in search volume.

Social media comms google trends

Social media certainly isn’t on its way out, but brands will need to adapt to make the most of the platforms.

Instagram is up, Snapchat is down. Platforms like Twitch will start to take the limelight as brands search for new ways to reach more engaged audiences. Social will be used more and more as part of integrated campaigns, and paid is likely to be more important than ever.

Ready to plan and implement your social media campaign? Find out how Vuelio can help. 

Rosemary Kind

Pet blogging spotlight with Alfie’s Diary

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Alfie’s Diary is written by Rosemary Kind on behalf of three of her dogs, all diarists and founding members of the Pet Dogs Democratic Party. Sharing their view of the world, the blog has also led to a range of merchandise, four books and been ranked in the Top 10 Pet Blogs. We caught up with Rosemary to find out how the blog has grown into an international phenomenon, writing for different personalities and working with brands and PRs.

How has your blog changed from when you first started?
When we started the blog thirteen years ago, we were living in Belgium and had just got the puppy of my dreams. We only intended to write it for a short time for family and friends to know about all the funny things going on, living abroad and trying to work out what was going on around us.

We never thought then that it would be used to teach English in schools and would start being read by people all over the world! Complete strangers would meet us and know all about our life. Alfie became a celebrity and we just had to keep going. Now we review products, provide advice as well as continuing all the fun things that a life of international travel with a dog entails. Now our commute is between England and Switzerland, but still includes as many amusing situations.

Alfie's Diary

What’s the best thing about being a pet blogger?
We love it when one or other of the dogs receive emails and notes from other dogs around the world. It is great hearing about our readers from the dogs themselves.

How conscious are you of the animal’s personality as opposed to your own when writing?
Very – I write from the point of view of three of my different dogs. I’ve even been asked if different people write it as they can tell the different characters. Funnily enough if you analyse the language it shows up differently too. I’m very in tune with my dogs so if I’m thinking about how one of them would see things, their voice comes quite naturally.

What’s better (and WHY) cats or dogs?
For me it’s dogs. Cats are way too independent, whereas the lives of the dogs and mine are totally intertwined. Where I go, they go… even to the bathroom!

Alfie's Diary

Do you dress up your pets for Halloween?
We’ve struggled to find costumes that fit. As a breed, an Entlebucher is not a standard shape. They are much broader chested than many dogs of their size and longer in the back. Whatever costumes we’ve tried in the past end up looking ridiculous… for all the wrong reasons! Maybe Wilma needs to learn to sew.

Did you have a pet growing up?
It is my only childhood regret that I was not allowed to have a pet. I’m still working on making up for it now. My teddy bears were my substitute, that and every other dog in the neighbourhood that I could get up close to.

Alfie's DiaryWhat’s the best top tip you have for pet owners?
Do your research to find the right pet that fits your lifestyle. Don’t base your decision just on how the animal looks. Getting the right fit will bring years of happiness and it’s worth the effort it takes to do that.

How do you work with PRs and brands?
It has to be a relationship of mutual respect. Both we and they need to achieve our goals out of it. When it’s a good fit then everyone wins. I always try to reply where I am sent things that are relevant to us, but I don’t always say yes. If I’m going to partner with a brand, even for a short time, I need to make sure we can do them justice and that we can give an honest opinion.

What are the best collaborations you’ve worked on?
Recently the best has to have been First Impressions with their bronze resin casting of Alfie’s paw. The end result is amazing, and they were a real pleasure to work with.

Do bloggers need their own industry association?
That’s an interesting question. Yes, it would probably be useful. While some people set out to do this as their profession, many come to it by accidental success and probably are the ones most in need of a support network and advice.

What other blogs do you read?
We dip into all sorts. Whenever we have research to do, both for writing and life in general, blogs can be the perfect place to find information. The internet age is great for finding that whatever you are facing for the first time, someone has been there before you. I do look through the Vuelio lists too as in every category there are some really interesting blogs to read.

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Baking Blog Spotlight: Holly Jade, The Little Blog of Vegan

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The Little Blog of Vegan is the leading vegan baking blog written by Holly Jade. Ranked in the top 10 UK baking blogs, The Little Blog of Vegan was started after Holly suffered health issues and decided to switch to a vegan lifestyle. We caught up with Holly, who told us about working with her favourite companies through the blog, the joy of coffee-flavoured baking and her favourite blogs to read.

How has your blog changed from when you first started?
I started it a few years back when i was struggling physically and wanted to be creative while at home. This was at a time I decided to go vegan too. Since then, its become a business for me, working with companies all around the world, making cakes and bakes for parties… it’s a dream come true!

The little Blog of vegan

Why baking?
I’ve always loved baking since I was around four years old (back then I think I just liked making a big mess in the kitchen – ha ha!). Now I have a strong passion for everything baking and cooking. I love to see how you can create a beautiful dessert/dinner from scratch! Plus, it’s really fun!

How do you make your blog stand out?
I work 24-7 on my website and try to make it friendly for everyone to visit, vegan or non-vegan. I have a strong passion for food photography too, even though I only really picked up a camera around three years ago.

The little Blog of vegan

What’s the best bake you’ve ever made?
Ooh, from people telling me and from what I tasted myself, I think it’ll have to be my Biscoff cake! It went down a storm.

What’s the best bake you’ve ever eaten?
To be honest, all of my cakes are my favourite! I’ll just have to go with anything with coffee in it: Y-U-M!

Holly Jade

What are the best collaborations you’ve worked on?
I think that would have to be working with companies such as Kitchenaid, Smeg, Wilton… just a few of my favourite companies that I’ve had the privilege to work with!

Do you think bloggers need their own industry association?
YES!!!

What other blogs do you read?
I mainly read food blogs for writing inspiration. My favourites are: Deliciously Ella, Minimalist Baker and The Loopy Whisk.

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Channel 4 in Leeds

Did Leeds agencies win over Channel 4?

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Channel 4 has announced its new headquarters – outside of London – will be based in Leeds, ending a lengthy pitching process and fierce competition. Leeds defeated many other cities, including Manchester, Cardiff and Birmingham, to be named the new home of some 300 Channel 4 staff – but how much of this was down to the creative agencies, PRs and marketers who banded together for the All in. Leeds campaign?

All In. Leeds was launched at the beginning of September by Leeds Council and over 50 agencies as a collective effort to showcase creativity in the region. Initially presenting a ‘love letter’ to Channel 4 – thanking them for prompting the creation of All In. Leeds – at the campaign’s heart was a manifesto that aims to shape the future of the creative sector in five areas: education, community, talent & diversity, businesses and creativity.

All five manifesto pledges are linked by the agencies’ desire to work together, as a collective, for the greater good of creativity in the city and region.

This collective undoubtedly played a part in the city’s victory, as Channel 4 said, in its official announcement, that Leeds is home to ‘a thriving digital industry and a strong digital talent pool’, which will help support Channel 4’s new Digital Creative Unit.

Alex Mahon, chief executive of Channel 4, said: ‘Leeds put forward a compelling and ambitious strategy for how they could work alongside Channel 4 to further build the strong independent production sector in the city and develop new diverse talent from across the region. Locating our National HQ in Leeds enables us to capitalise on a strong and fast-growing independent production sector in cities across the North of England.’

The move is a huge opportunity for agencies outside of London and signals a potential shift in the future of the media landscape. Channel 4 was forced into this decision by the Government, and it may now open the floodgates for more regionally-diverse media representation across the country.

Good news, perhaps, for the three Leeds-based PR agencies that are big enough to appear on PRWeek’s Top 150 – the industry’s barometer for PR success – but maybe a concern for the 122 that are London-based. A surge in regional PR offices is now likely, as PRs look to remain close with decision makers and stakeholders increasingly spread out across the country.

This is all opportunity for PRs, but perhaps the biggest opportunity is the results that can come out of working together. All In. Leeds showed how simple it is to work together and how many common goals competing agencies have. It’s a reminder of the power of the existing collectives in industry – the CIPR and PRCA – and a reminder that PR is buoyant and strong in its own right.

Congratulations Leeds, we’re excited to see what’s next.

Miss Darcy's Adventures

Pet spotlight with Miss Darcy’s Adventures

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Miss Darcy’s Adventures is written by May Wong and was recently ranked in the Top 10 UK Pet Blogs. Covering life in the city as a dog, Miss Darcy is joined by little brother George to tell tales of the exciting places they visit and the new friends they make. We spoke to May about how the blog has developed over time, why dogs are better and how brands can work with the blog.

How has your blog changed from when you first started? 
When a friend pointed out to me that Darcy had sabotaged my Facebook because I was posting all the things that Darcy and I did together, I thought it was time to give Darcy her own voice; thus began the blog. It was simply a diary of things we did together as we manoeuvred the challenges of living in London with a dog.

I’m often out and about and I didn’t think it was fair for to leave Darcy at home while I go about my daily chores. When I started asking around, I soon realised there are places where I can take her to – restaurants (not just pubs), shopping and travels, in the UK and abroad. I decided to use the blog to share our knowledge and adventures, and to encourage others to do likewise. Over the last five plus years of blogging, we have continued to search for dog-friendly places and address all the issues of travelling abroad. Along the way we have also gained friends in many places, some as far away as Australia and Asia.

I am often asked why we do not monetise our blog, it’s simply because we don’t want to compromise what we choose to write. As we got more involved with the dog world, especially adding a rescue into our mix, we choose to support dog causes – whether rehoming a dog or using our broad reach to help raise money for causes – but I always continue to encourage others to do everyday things with their dogs. Today we find London so much more dog friendly than when we started five years ago.

Miss Darcy's Adventures

What’s the best thing about being a pet blogger? 
Knowing that it brings a smile to our reader’s day. We often get messages from them to say how much our stories make them smile, and there are times we make them cry. Either way, it connects with people’s emotions.

How conscious are you of the animal’s personality as opposed to your own when writing?  
I write through Darcy – it is her blog, so it is her voice, her thoughts, her view of the world.

What’s better (and WHY) cats or dogs?
DOGS! Because they are much more attuned to us humans. They are there when we need them, and what better thing to do than to have a walk with your dog. Can’t do that with a cat.

Do you dress up your pets for Halloween? 
Yes, here’s Darcy as Paddington Bear and George as a spider!

Miss Darcy's Adventures

Did you have a pet growing up?
Not really. My father had a couple of birds but they were his pets. We had some goldfish but they all eventually died. My sisters and I have always wanted a dog but it was too much work, etc. So as soon as we all grew up and had our own homes, we all got our own dogs.

What’s the best top tip you have for pet owners? 
If you want to involve your dog in your daily life, start doing things with them early on. They will adapt easier and as soon as they see there’s nothing to worry about when they are with you, they soon trust you in all situations.

Miss Darcy's Adventures

How do you work with PRs and brands?
PR agencies and brands approach us for influencer campaigns – we only accept requests and invitations if they fit our brand and if we like their products/services. We understand a lot of times this is a less expensive option for the brands and if it doesn’t hurt us to help promote their wares and brands, we would happily do so in exchange of goods/services. But we forewarn them that we would only write and post positive experiences. If we don’t agree with the products/services, we will not review them.

What are the best collaborations you’ve worked on?
I can think of three that I really enjoyed working with, mainly because of their products. The first was Cloud7 – we like their products and they are generous in offering us products we love. The second is Hindquarters because we love their unique and excellent leads and collars, and we have them in almost every colour and we do colour combinations! And I feel very privileged to have the chance to work with Indre Cukuraite of Amarcord Photography who takes the most beautiful dog portraits and has published a book of her photography.

Do bloggers need their own industry association?
Not sure about this. For me this is a personal venture and not so much for business purposes. If there is one, I would probably look into it.

What other blogs do you read?
The Lon Dog and Marcel Le Corgi.

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Twitter likes

Will Twitter replace the ♡?

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Social media sites continue to hit the headlines for not tackling fake news, especially since research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that fake stories spread faster than the truth on Twitter.

In response, Twitter recently released updates to its rules covering fake accounts, distribution of hacked materials, and the way it handles the enforcement of its terms. Twitter will now use more in-depth ways to identify and remove fake accounts. These include spotting inauthentic activity, stolen or stock profile photos and accounts sharing misleading information. Aliases for previous offenders will be found faster, and action will be taken on anyone claiming to have hacked information.

In addition to these changes, The Telegraph reported this week that Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey said he was not a fan of the heart-shaped ‘like’ button and would be removing it ‘soon’. Twitter clarified that there are no immediate plans to get rid of the feature, however, it is rethinking aspects of the current service with hopes of improving the quality of debate.

The Twitter like replaced the star-shape ‘favourite’ in 2015 and provides a quick way of acknowledging a post or keeping track of content you want to come back to. When multiple people like a post, the Twitter algorithm sees it as more popular and pushes it out further in timelines and notifications.

Usually the aim of those posting fake news or unsuitable material is to get it shared and viewed by as many people as possible. Therefore, techniques like using bots to manipulate likes helps the content reach further.

Twitter users and brands shouldn’t worry too much about the demise of the like. If Twitter was to remove the button there is likely to be a replacement option. The company has already been testing a Bookmarks feature – letting users privately save Tweets for later – and alternatives similar to Facebook’s reaction buttons could also be a way forward.

Many users are unhappy with the news, but luckily journalists are on hand to provide Twitter with advice to save the situation:

Can Twitter find a way to allow users to express their feelings towards a post, while preventing inappropriate content from spreading? Let us know what you think @Vuelio (but please, no likes).  

Ladder Talent

Sarah Stimson launches Ladder Talent

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Sarah Stimson, former CEO of the Taylor Bennett Foundation has today launched a new consultancy that aims to help businesses in the creative industry develop their talent and become more diverse.

Ladder Talent will work with agencies and organisations working in the comms, digital, brand, marketing and other creative discipline industries to tackle the diversity issue and build strategies to recruit, retain and develop employees.

Sarah spent 11 years as CEO of the Taylor Bennett Foundation, which provides PR internships, mentoring and training to BAME graduates and students. She will be joined at Ladder Talent by trainers and executive coaches from the media and communications industry to deliver training, coaching and management development programmes.

Sarah Stimson

They include Lisa Quinn, who was previously communications director at HearstUK; Catherine Grinyer, director of Big Voice Communications; Evadney Campbell, co-founder of Shiloh PR; and Russell Goldsmith, founder of Audere Communications.

Sarah told Vuelio that throughout her time at the Taylor Bennett Foundation, she met several companies and employers who shared common problems, including the struggle to develop and retain talent. Sarah believes that if you develop talent, that talent is more likely to stay with you, so both issues are linked by their solution.

Ladder Talent will focus on these core areas while also working with clients to promote diversity of every kind, from ethnicity and gender to age, social mobility and disability. As we know from the PRCA Census for 2018, diversity is still woefully lacking in the industry, particularly at senior management and board level. One of the services this may lead to is a diversity audit, giving a company a clear sense of where they are now and highlighting the areas that need to be improved upon.

Commenting on the launch of her new venture, Stimson said: ‘I am incredibly excited to combine my passions of helping organisations to improve diversity, and developing talent for the creative industries. I’ve brought on board a group of very talented trainers and coaches and we’ve developed some exciting programmes to help businesses tackle the myriad challenges they face in creating a diverse workforce with the skills and abilities to thrive and succeed.’

Sarah will continue to sit on the board of ELATT as a charity trustee, and of Workio as Chair of the board and non-exec director. I will also carry on running my blogs PRcareers.co.uk and stimsonsarah.com and is planning a second edition of ‘How to get a job in PR.’

She can be contacted about services through Ladder Talent via email.