Press and Bloggers - Vuelio

BEAST – a New East London Magazine

May 29, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Journalist Spotlight Media Database, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Christina Pirilla

BEAST is a new magazine catering for an East London audience. Focusing on lifestyle topics, from restaurant reviews to quirky days out, BEAST is now working towards its first printed issue.

We caught up with Nicky Acketts, creative director at BEAST, who told us about launching the new East London lifestyle magazine, going back to basics and always being up for an adventure…

Can you tell us a bit about the recently launched BEAST magazine? What makes it different from other publications?
BEAST hopes to reflect the pulse of East London, sparking discussion around shared passions and providing an aspirational and invigorating guide to the area. Bringing together communities, local business and those visiting the area.

What are the main challenges when getting a new magazine up and running?
Our main challenges are ensuring we can deliver high quality content within budget and initially to encourage advertisers to take a leap of faith with a new brand.

What do you enjoy the most about your job? What are some of the more difficult aspects?
My mind is constantly buzzing with ideas. I’m a proactive person who’s keen to not miss an opportunity or adventure. Whether it’s supporting and introducing others or jumping on the next exciting thing for us to feature, I like to keep moving. I love meeting people and hearing their story; There are so many incredible people making their mark out there.

It’s important to have an end plan and to be specific about what your product or service is and does.

How do you engage your audience? Does social media play a significant role?
Social media plays a big part nowadays, but I don’t believe it’s the be all and end all. I believe in getting back to basics. People have become adept at screening out the bombardment of digital marketing messages that can become irritating and annoying, therefore they don’t see anything. So, we have an uncluttered, stylish and calmer approach, and I think people will actually engage in the things they find of interest.

Where do you hope to take the publication in the future?
We’d like to take BEAST nationally, if not globally. We definitely have our eye on NYC!

What type of press material are you interested in receiving?
We encourage ideas and collaboration, whatever the subject matter. The more weird and wonderful, the better.

[testimonial_view id=19]

Nicky and BEAST are both listings on the Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, vloggers, journalists, editors and opportunities.

The GDPR Made Simple

May 25, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, GDPR, PR PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

Our latest white paper, The GDPR Made Simple, is now available online.

The GDPR is the biggest shake up of data protection law in the last 20 years, and will affect every country in the EU (yes, including the UK – even after we leave).

We’ve seen lots of content and guidance online, but unfortunately not everything seems to give a clear picture of what the GDPR means for you and what you need to do to comply.

The GDPR Made Simple aims to cut through the noise, simply spelling out what the GDPR is, what it means for your day-to-day practices and how you can easily comply with the GDPR.

The GDPR comes into force on Friday, but it’s unlikely everyone will be fully compliant by then. What’s important is being able to show you’re making the right effort to understand the Regulation and implement best practice across your business.

This white paper covers:

What the GDPR is, and what types of data it includes
When you’re a Data Controller and what that means your responsibilities are
Individual’s rights and what they mean for your data processing
What a lawful basis is and why you need to have one
How to work with Subject Access Requests

One of the most fundamental parts of the GDPR is knowing what it is and understanding your obligations for compliance. That means you can’t give a third party responsibility for complying with the GDPR, which is why guides like this are so important.

Humans still needed – CIPR research reveals the impact of AI

May 23, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

The CIPR’s #AIinPR panel has published research revealing the impact of artificial intelligence on the PR industry over the next five years. For now, it looks like humans and their jobs are safe.

The #AIinPR panel was launched in February to explore the impact of AI on public relations and the wider business community. This new research, led by Jean Valin, principal of Valin Strategic Communications, is the first comprehensive assessment of the impact of AI on PR skills. The panel wanted to determine how much AI was already used in public relations and how fast it is evolving.

The first stage of the research was to establish what skills and abilities are needed to practice public relations. Adapting the Global Alliance Global Body of Knowledge, which describes 50 skills, the CIPR created the following diagram:

It then used its crowdsourced list of PR tools and an independent panel to determine which of these skills could currently be replaced by AI:

The research found that 12% of the skills are currently complemented or have already been replaced by AI in today’s market.

It carried out the same process to determine how this will change in five years:

The research predicts that 38% of skills could be complemented or replaced by AI in five years, but key human traits, like empathy, trust, humour and relationship building, cannot be automated.

Valin said: ‘We need to emphasise education, experiential learning and continuous development of these very human traits that are valued in our profession.’

The report draws on the CIPR’s State of the Profession 2018 survey, which says the most common PR activities are copy writing, strategic planning and social media relations. The research says that even social media relations, the discipline that can be most improved by AI, will still need human skills, such as editing, sensitivity, emotional intelligence and applying good judgement and ethics.

As such, AI looks set to improve public relations practitioner’s roles and make their lives easier without replacing them in their work.

Valin said: ‘AI is about to massively change our lives. The public relations profession needs to keep up. We need more experience with these tools and more critical reviews to learn how best to use them and their limitations.’

Stephen Waddington, chair of the CIPR Artificial Intelligence Panel, said: ‘The CIPR is publishing the paper with intention of starting a debate on the issue. We’d welcome comments and challenges to the analysis. We’d also welcome approaches from any other organisations around the world that are working this area.’

Andy McNab replaces Iain Dale at Biteback

May 22, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

Biteback has announced that managing director Iain Dale is stepping down after ten years in the role. He is being replaced, albeit not directly, by bestselling author and former SAS soldier Andy McNab.

Dale, who presents LBC’s weekday drive time show and writes top football blog West Ham Till I Die, is stepping down to, ‘concentrate on his broadcasting career’. He said: ‘Now is the right time to hand over the baton while I concentrate on my radio and TV work and do more writing.

‘I am delighted that Andy McNab has accepted the role and that Biteback’s further growth and development will be supported by Andy’s considerable talents and experience.’

Andy McNab, real name Steven Mitchell, is a former SAS soldier who rose to fame with his autobiography Bravo Two Zero. He has since published a number of autobiographical works about his time in the SAS, fiction books including the Nick Stone Missions series, and worked on Hollywood films such as Heat.

McNab will take on an advisory role to ‘grow and expand the company’s publishing programme’. He said: ‘When I was approached to become involved in Biteback, the opportunity to make Biteback’s range of books more accessible to a wider audience was irresistible. It is a great company with huge potential, and I am looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together.’

McNab is not new to publishing; he previously co-founded the Mobcast e-book platform, which was sold to Tesco in 2012, netting McNab around £1m.

Biteback specialises in political and current affairs titles. Its authors include a broad range of media and political figures, including Trump’s former press secretary Sean Spicer, whose insider book ‘The Briefing’ will be published in July.

GDPR and bloggers: what are the rules?

May 22, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, GDPR, PR, Blogger, Blogger Spotlight Media Database, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

John Adams of DadBlogUK.com recently wrote a guest post for us proposing the need for a blogger association. As part of the subsequent conversation on Twitter, bloggers said some topics, like the GDPR, needed to be better clarified for bloggers (something an association would be able to do).

At Vuelio we’ve been doing a lot of work around the GDPR, telling the comms industry what it means for them and what they might need to do. You can read our white paper, guide, listen to our webinar, and see answers to frequently asked questions part one and two.

Here, we’ve put together some questions bloggers might have about the GDPR, with answers below:

I’m only a hobbyist, does the GDPR apply to me?
The GDPR applies to anyone who is collecting and using EU citizens’ personal data. It doesn’t matter if you’re a full-time blogger or work for free.

What’s personal data?
Anything that can identify an individual – whether it’s on its own (an email address) or combined with another piece of information (a job title and a company). So, if you’re collecting names, emails, personal preferences and anything else that could identify people, then you’re processing personal data.

Am I Controller or Processor of this data?
The GDPR splits responsibility of data into Data Controllers and Data Processors. Controllers decide how data is collected/managed/used and Processors do what they’re told by the Controllers to process the data in a lawful way that’s compliant with the GDPR.

So, if you’re running a competition, starting a newsletter or doing a giveaway, you’re deciding what information is collected, how it’s stored and what you’re using it for. You’re a Data Controller. Your processors will most likely be software platforms you use, like your web platform, your host and your email platform.

Can I get someone to sort this out for me?
No (sorry). The GDPR is your responsibility. If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that you need to understand your own obligations and compliance with the GDPR. Guides like this can only ever be guides – you need to understand why your data processing is compliant with the GDPR, and if you don’t (or it isn’t) you probably shouldn’t be processing data.

What kinds of areas am I processing personal data?
Possibly (but not limited to): newsletters, competitions, giveaways, comments, analytics tracking (if it includes identifiers like an IP address), inbound and outbound emails through your email platform, PR/brand contact sheets and invoicing information.

What does the GDPR say I must do when using this information?
You must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. There are six, but it’s likely you’ll consider one of three: consent, legitimate interest and contract.

Consent: This basis is all about giving individuals real choice and control. There are specific rules about consent, especially how clear you make the consent so people know what they’re agreeing to up front.

Consent must be a positive opt-in, so you can’t make people opt-out by unticking boxes. They must be actively choosing to agree to whatever it is you want from them.

In all cases, you must make it clear why you’re collecting their data and what their data is being used for. So, if they’re signing up to a newsletter, the data is being used to send them your content – that’s a simple explanation. But, if you’re then using that data to give it to partner brands or sell lists to certain PR agencies, that’s more complicated and you must make it explicit on the sign-up form.

This also includes the stages of processing and storage, and you must explain they will have a clear means to opt out at any point (and give them a clear means to opt out from any comms you send them). Not everything has to be written on a consent form; you could write detailed information in your privacy policy and link to it. But when in doubt about what to include, include it – it’s better to have too much information than not enough.

Legitimate interest: This is the broadest basis for processing personal data and you may use it when someone would realistically expect you to process their data for a particular purpose. For bloggers, this might be analytics tracking or storing emails with personal data in your inbox. You need to work out your legitimate interest and it must be weighed against the rights and freedoms of the person whose data you’re processing. You must publish this and direct people whose data you’re processing with a legitimate interest to it. One possibility is writing out the legitimate interest explanation clearly in your privacy policy and then linking it from emails.

You must also give a clear means for people to opt out at all times, should they exercise their right to do so.

Contract: Sometimes you have to process someone’s information to fulfil a contractual obligation. This would apply for invoices and billing, but you still need to document that this is the basis you’re using. If you’re using contract as the basis, processing must not exceed what would be reasonably expected by the other party (so you can’t sign someone up for your newsletter because you’re billing them).

Do I have to tell everyone that I have their data and how I’m using it?
Yes, but that doesn’t mean you should be sending people emails to ‘reconsent’ (if you do, you could be in breaching PECR, which is a whole other post!). If you’re processing data under legitimate interest, you must still tell people you have their data and it’s being processed on the basis of your legitimate interest.

What if someone wants to stop me processing their data?
Unless you have a good, legal reason to continue processing their data (which would be in your legitimate interest), then you must comply. Your data storing platform should have a means for you to remove them without removing all of their details (so you don’t accidentally re-add someone who requested removal).

What if someone wants to know what data I store on them?
This is called a Subject Access Request (SAR) and you have 30 days to comply. You have to let them know about ALL the data you’ve processed that pertains to them – including information from your email platform, inbox, CMS, any spreadsheets and anywhere else you’ve used or stored their data.

Do I need records of what data I have?
Probably, though it’s different for different sized companies (see below). Records should include what data you’re collecting, your lawful basis, types of processing, security measures and granular details like how and when you obtained someone’s data. This is useful if someone wants to know what data you have on them.

I don’t process data very often, do I need to keep records?
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is responsible for policing GDPR compliance in the UK. The ICO states that if you have less than 250 employees, you only need to keep records for processing activities that:

Are not occasional
Could result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals
Involve the processing of special categories of data or criminal conviction and offence data

What about breaches?
If you find out that the personal data you hold is subject to a breach (it’s been hacked into or you’ve left a logged-in laptop on the train) then you MUST report it to the ICO within 72 hours. If it’s an accident and you generally have good processes in place to comply with the GDPR, then the ICO will look more favourably on you. If you’ve not got any evidence you’ve considered the GDPR or processed data lawfully, then the ICO has the power to fine you up to £17m. Yikes!

What if I’m collecting data for a third party, like a brand or PR agency?
This must be clearly explained in your privacy policy – the GDPR is all about people knowing how and why their data is being used.

What about the platforms I use?
You are responsible for ensuring you’re using only GDPR-compliant platforms. Check your terms, email any help desks you have and find out how they’re complying with the GDPR. If they don’t seem right, or aren’t being helpful, shop around – this is important and all companies should be taking it seriously. At Vuelio we’ve taken our responsibility as both a Data Controller and a Data Processor very seriously, and communicated this to our clients and the industry we work in. We believe every software company should be doing the same.

Want to know more? The ICO’s website may help or you can tweet us and we can do our best, but remember – you must understand the GDPR and you are ultimately responsible for complying.

Five Things: No influencers, New Look, Yanny, Lil Tay, and Zuckerberg and Leveson

May 18, 2018/0 Comments/in Five Things, PR Pulse, PR, PR News, Social Media, Blogger, Blog Awards Media Analysis, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

So much has happened that choosing Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed this week has been like deciding who will accompany Meghan Markle down the aisle, except we didn’t end up with Charles.

1. No Influencers Allowed

The Vuelio Blog Awards are back, back, back! The biggest night of the year to celebrate bloggers is taking place at the Bloomsbury Big Top in London, on 30 November. Blogging’s best will be dressed to the nines enjoying live circus acts, fine dining and the greatest award ceremony on earth (probably). As part of the launch we have just one rule, which thankfully most bloggers seem to agree with: No Influencers Allowed.

2. New Look New Price

New Look were in trouble this week after being accused of having a ‘Fat Tax’. It was revealed that larger clothes (in the same style) were more expensive than their smaller version. A shopper spotted a pair of trousers in its Curves range, which were 15% more than a pair in the main collection. The story created a mini storm as many believed it was a tax on being fat, while others thought it was reasonable to charge more for using more material. New Look has said it is now reviewing prices and added: ‘We are proud of the ranges we offer to our Plus Size customers and value all customers, no matter what their body shape or size.’

3. Yanny or Laurel?

Is it Yanny or is it Laurel? Different people hear different things and like ‘The Dress’, it’s divided the internet. Obviously, it’s Yanny, but some still insist on saying they hear Laurel. The Kardashians are debating it and Trump’s presidential team (including Trump himself) even joined in. You can decide for yourself by listening to the clip in the tweet below:

Survey: Yanny or Laurel?

Reply with MOR TAG@delavinkisses @mor1019 #MORPinoyBiga10 Pretty Boy by Kisses Delavin pic.twitter.com/jgrpTfq4w3

— Kissable_Apple (@KD_Aaapple) May 17, 2018

If you want to be really freaked out, check this out:

Think the Laurel or Yanny thing is weird?

You can hear the words ‘Brainstorm’ or ‘Green Needle’ based on which word you think about. Try it.pic.twitter.com/7TrS9XNhNR

— George Aylett (@GeorgeAylett) May 17, 2018

4. Lil Tay

If you haven’t heard of Lil Tay, fair enough, but the nine-year-old ‘flexer’ has nearly two million followers on Instagram. Posting pictures and videos showing off her extravagant wealth, Lil Tay hit the news this week, not for being under age on Instagram (which says all users must be over 13), but instead for allegedly causing her mother to leave her job as a realtor. It turns out Lil Tay and her mother were using the boss of the real estate company’s car as well as houses they were selling as the backdrop to the videos. The mother seems to have been directing and filming, but the move has seemingly backfired. Whether Lil Tay now has enough momentum to support the family through Instagram remains to be seen.

5. Zuck and Leveson out (again)

Last week we reported that the second part of the Leveson inquiry was voted down in parliament. This week we can report that the second part of the Leveson inquiry has been voted down in parliament. Yes, again. The Lords sent it back hoping the slim margin from the last vote could be overturned, but the Government were victorious once more (by an increased margin), so it looks like Leveson II has been well and truly defeated.

A few months ago, it was announced that Mark Zuckerberg would not attend the UK’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee meeting to answer for Facebook, instead sending CTO Mike Schroepfer. The Committee have tried again but, once more, Zuckerberg has declined the invitation. As if to rub salt into the wound, a day later he accepted an invitation to meet the representatives of the European Parliament on a trip that will also take in French officials. It’s not clear why the UK has been snubbed in favour of its European neighbours.

Did we miss anything? Let us know on Twitter @Vuelio.

No influencers allowed – the Vuelio Blog Awards 2018

May 16, 2018/11 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Blogger, Blog Awards PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

The Vuelio Blog Awards are the biggest celebration of bloggers in the UK. Taking place on 30 November 2018 at the Bloomsbury Big Top in London, this year’s event promises to be even bigger and better than ever before, and there’s only one rule – no influencers.

Bloggers, vloggers, Instagrammers, tweeters, Facebookers, YouTubers, writers, content creators, makers, editors, publishers, photographers, directors and small business owners – all are welcome to the greatest night of the year. So are PRs, comms pros, practitioners, officers, creatives, account managers and copywriters.

But influencers? I don’t think we’re the event for you.

Our winners from the last three years – from political supremo, Guido Fawkes, and super parent, Slummy Single Mummy to interior design guru, Mad About the House, and fashion goddess, Inthefrow – do many things; they run businesses, they write books, they tell stories and, yes, they influence their audience.

But Spielberg doesn’t call himself a ticket tout, Gordon Ramsey doesn’t call himself a tummy filler and Jessica Ennis-Hill don’t call herself a sportswear seller. When did we stop taking pride in the work we do to focus on the results we create – often for other people?

We speak to the blogosphere all the time and recently we’ve been asking them: what do you like to be called? And do you know what they don’t say? Influencer. Many tell us they’re not influencers or they don’t want to be called influencer.

That’s why The Vuelio Blog Awards don’t require a minimum social follower count to be shortlisted, you don’t have to enter yourself and we will never ask bloggers to secure votes to help them win.

Instead, we bring together a diverse panel of judges, all leaders in their respective industries, who pore over every finalist to determine the winners. They may consider how influential a blog is, but what they’re looking for is quality of content, relevance to the topic, beautiful aesthetics and uniqueness – something that makes a blog stand out against everything else in the field.

That means that when you win, you know your prize is truly deserved because your blog is outstanding. We reward the work you put in because we think this industry is hard, and the very best bloggers, vloggers and content creators deserve to be recognised.

So, if influence is just a result of how awesome you are at your job, the Vuelio Blog Awards 2018 will take place on 30 November at the Bloomsbury Big Top. Save the date.

The UK’s Top PR Blog, PR Examples, has a new owner

May 16, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Blogger, Blogger Spotlight, PR Spotlight Media Database, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

PR Examples was created in 2011 by Rich Leigh, and will be familiar to the industry for listing the best examples of creative PR stunts, campaigns and events. It has also topped the Top 10 UK PR Blogs several times and was recently a finalist at the Vuelio Blog Awards 2017.

In January, Rich sold PR Examples to James Herring, who is the co-founder of top PR agency Taylor Herring. We caught up with James to talk about the agency, which you can read here, as well as Taylor Herring’s acquisition of the top blog in the UK. He told us about the blog’s rebrand, the problem with car and perfume ads and how he sees PR Examples evolving.

What drew you to PR Examples?
I’ve always been a fan of PR Examples, in fact a week or so before it went live, I launched a Tumblr site, called Stunt of the Day, which did kind of the same job. Rich Leigh, who has become a pal of mine, called me up and said, ‘You won’t believe it but I’m literally on the brink of launching PR Examples!’

We both had a keen, geeky, likeminded interest in collecting up great brand work and curating it somewhere. A place where anyone working in comms can dip in to see how different brands are using creativity to land a message or solve a client problem. Rich got in touch at the back end of last year and said, ‘I think it’s time for me to move on’ – his agency has been going from success to success – and for us it was a bit of a no brainer really.

Big credit to Rich for building the foundations of a resource that’s well-used by agencies and in-house teams.

How was the rebrand gone?
The rebrand seems to have gone down well; we modified the logo and some parts of the site – mostly we focused on making it fully responsive so it would work as well on mobile as it does on desktop.

We also paid some attention to the newsletter and had a growth spurt in the newsletter subscribers; we’re now approaching 7,000 which is encouraging. Plus, we have around 60,000 unique readers a month.

Not everyone in the industry is going to be interested in the type of content that’s on PR Examples, so if you work in City PR it’s probably not for you and if you work in Internal Comms you probably have other challenges. We know we’re not for everyone but it’s a fun project.

As an agency, we’ve always started the morning by saying, ‘Who’s seen something good?’ and in our morning paper review, we’ve always been spotting work, campaigns and ideas that might inspire and fuel what we do. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to turn that into a quick 200-word blog to share with our readers.

In terms of the content and contributors, have you changed anything?
Rich is still one of our contributors, though he hasn’t actually been very active of late so I need to name and shame him for that! There are three or four people at Taylor Herring who are regularly blogging at the moment. We change the team working on it from time to time, but we’re also talking to other agencies to get them involved as well: W Communications have put two people forward, as have Frank and Premier.

The end goal would be to have a regular team from a broad range of disciplines and sectors who were regularly contributing. Our next challenge is to index the work so people can easily find stuff. So, if you work in retail and you want to see what creative campaigns supermarkets have done of late, it would be easy for you to find them.

We came up with a groanworthy word for this the other day – a ‘Newseum’ of great creative campaigns.

Ultimately, the thing that makes the work that appears on PR Examples different to what you may see on other trade sites is that it has cut through into through the news cycle or generated good engagement on social.

So, it’s definitely not about beautiful car adverts, which – along with perfume ads – are the worst kind of advertising there is in my opinion.

Why?
OK this is a generalisation but there’s no innovation in car and perfume ads. They live in a weird, vapid, self-obsessed world that is of no interest to anyone but themselves.

We’re interested in campaigns that have cut through into the news cycle and have got people talking. We’re looking for something that’s different or surprising.

Have you got an example?
One of the Chinese National Parks put a shop halfway up a climbing wall on a mountain, which someone from the agency spotted in Metro and asked, ‘Do you think it’s a PR stunt?’ And it was! And, even better, no one had spotted it for that. The story had a mountain, rock climbers and a shed bolted to the cliff face where you can purchase bottle of water or energy bar. A lovely creative idea and that’s what the site’s about. Celebrating cool ideas.

With other agencies contributing, will you ever get to a point where you stop them writing about themselves, if it’s too advertorial?
I think people are generally self-aware on that kind of content. No one feels comfortable blowing their own trumpet. We’re interested in the inside story – how you came to the idea, the barriers and challenges. That’s what would make it different. We, at Taylor Herring, need to work out how we’re going to do that too. We have to resist the temptation to talk about ourselves too much but I think we’ve managed to tread the right side of the line so far.

We’d actively welcome agencies or in-house teams to write a first-person, inside track account of what the campaign was like to work on.

Is PR Examples driving business to Taylor Herring? Is it making money like your other site The Poke?
It’s not been built to drive business to Taylor Herring – in fact the link is hard to find. It’s buried at the bottom of the FAQ page. The discipline of scouring the internet every day to find creative work is very valuable to us and our daily work. Analysing and scrutinising those kind of projects gives you a good insight into what does and doesn’t work.

Our video production company, St Mark’s Studio, has become the temporary sponsor of the site because we’re hoping other agencies, in-house teams and brands might need some help creating low cost entertaining video content. Which is what St Marks is set up to do.

We originally took on PR Examples because we thought it might be a good fun thing to do and we are in the business of being fascinated by creative comms.

Currently St Mark’s is sitting in that sponsor slot. However, there are enough service providers in the industry that could potentially step up and help us meet the running costs. It would be nice to think our newsletter could have a sponsor and we could work with companies on native content editorial, things like that.

PR Examples, at this scale and with its number of page impressions, is quite easy to manage.

We decided we’re not going to try and monetise it for the first 12 months, we’re just trying to make it good.

If people like it, we might be more ambitious.

Final Word?
We are actively looking for new contributors – so interested parties should get in touch. They can blog as little or often as they want to.

A Spotlight with Top Wedding Blog, Love My Dress

May 16, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Blogger, Blogger Spotlight Media Database, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Merryn Williams

Love My Dress is written by Annabel Beeforth and was recently ranked in the top 10 UK Wedding blogs. Created after Annabel’s own wedding in 2009, Annabel not only helps couples create their own perfect day but also writes about the importance of love and the value of marriage.

We caught up with Annabel to talk about the success of her blog, the Royal wedding, using social media, working with brands and the wedding blogger industry.

What makes your blog successful?
I think it’s a few things, but broadly it’s our consistent approach to the story and not just the images. In a world that is so image driven, we have always understood the need to tell the story too and our readers are constantly feeding back how much they appreciate this. We have always taken pride with the sensitivity with which we handle every wedding we share. We’re incredibly privileged to have been allowed access into these intimate moments in people’s lives.

Secondly, closed Facebook groups have had a phenomenal impact on the relationship we have with our readers. We have a really close connection to our audience now – this connection has helped us develop trust so that when we need to gain feedback or survey the community, time and effort is given willingly. Without realising it initially, we were creating a community of Love My Dress ambassadors in establishing these groups. We absolutely love being able to dip in each day and catch up with our reader’s wedding plans.

Also, we’ve always shown absolute loyalty to the wedding industry. My husband is a graduate in fashion design and formerly had his own design business. It was back in 2000, when social media wasn’t a thing, and having been through that experience with him has, I believe, given me a deeper insight into the challenges faced by small design/artisan business owners. He has also taught me so much about craftsmanship, the quality of design etc.

We are constantly trying to innovate. We’ve just spent months recreating our wedding directory from scratch and believe that our resource will set a new precedent for directories of its kind.

There are a lot of market forces at play right now that are making it difficult for many businesses to find their groove and thrive in our industry – showing these businesses support when they most need it is absolutely vital. For example, the full impact of Brexit has yet to seen but it’s going to have a potentially enormous and damaging impact on many small businesses in our industry – boutiques, for example, relying on shipping in designs from overseas; the import taxes and duties could end up crippling their cashflow. I’m absolutely passionate about supporting our industry and the wealth of creative and entrepreneurial talent within and I think this passion shows through in Love My Dress.

Also, the efforts we are making to increase the diverse nature of our site content is becoming increasingly more important. It’s a timely comment given the imminent marriage of a member of the Royal family to someone who is mixed race, but inclusivity and representation of women/people of colour on sites like ours is SO important in 2018. It’s absolutely not acceptable to have to scroll and scroll the Instagram feed belonging to a site like ours to find a person of colour.

You would be surprised how many major wedding publications/sites/Instagram feeds have no representation of women or people of colour on their Instagram feeds at all. We are working really hard to make those who feel marginalised within the wedding media world feel more included. This doesn’t just extend to people of colour but people with disability and LGBQT community too.

What’s your favourite part of a wedding?
The ceremony always gets me. These are intimate moments in people’s lives and how they choose to use the ceremony to publicly commit their love to another both fascinates me and fills my heart.

What’s your favourite kind of wedding?
I generally avoid the term ‘theme’ like the plague when it comes to weddings! It just isn’t a word that aligns with the way we present weddings to our readers – feels all a bit too ‘fancy dress’.

My favourite weddings, however, are always the most honest ones – the ones where the couple tailored the day as a true reflection of themselves and who didn’t overlook the reason they were marrying in the first place. I love intimate family weddings – children running riot, joy and laughter captured on camera in natural, non-posed fashion. They are always my fav.

How many weddings have you been to?
Actually, not that many! The last one I attended was in 2012! It was that of a disabled bride who documented her wedding planning journey through Love My Dress. It was an absolute joy and pleasure to be there on the day to see her exchange her vows with her fiancé.

Has wedding planning changed with the rise of social media?
Social media is the perfect platform for those seeking wedding inspiration as it’s so visually driven, but it can be a bit of a double-edged sword. Having so many ideas so easily accessible on screen can be both wonderful and utterly overwhelming at the same time. In fact, I personally feel the whole scene is rather saturated.

Pinterest and more so, my fave, Instagram, have revolutionised the way couples are planning their wedding. Many couples are finding suppliers through Instagram which is why it’s so important we show love and support to our clients through this powerful social media platform.

How do you work with brands and PRs for your blog?
There are, in my view, a small handful of excellent wedding PRs in the UK and I think that on the whole, most of them now realise that sites like Love My Dress don’t work in the same way a traditional print outlet would – we can’t, or at least, we don’t, offer free editorial. We’ve worked really hard to build our social following and create a site that is read loyally and believe that is worth paying for. But when the PR gets it, it can be a marriage made in heaven. We’ve worked with some absolutely wonderful clients thanks to successful partnerships with some great PRs. On the whole, PRs have, in our experience, provided access to an artisan/independent part of the market that we take great pride in supporting – artisan jewellers and independent dress designers for example.

What are the best campaigns you’ve collaborated on?
Jenny Packham, Pronovias, Goldsmiths, Emmy London for H Samuel Jewellers.

What do PRs always get wrong?
I think these days there really isn’t room for the kind of mass, depersonalised mail out that will always inevitably get binned. I will always take time to read a tailored PR pitch and respond, even if it means the pitch was unsuccessful. If it looks like the PR has made an effort to get to know us and truly consider the brand match with their client, then I appreciate that. Emails that arrive with a ‘Hi!’ or ‘Hello,’ and no name are always a big turn off as it suggests no effort has been made to get to know us. Why should we take any time considering and responding if this is the case?

What do you call yourself (blogger/influencer/content creator etc)?
To be honest I’ve been trying to veer away from the terms ‘blog’ and ‘blogger’ for a couple of years now because I don’t believe they truly reflect what we do now. We were definitely blogging back in 2009/10, but these days, we’re editing our own online platforms, creating content, establishing brand partnerships and innovating as best we can as we continue to pave a path that has never been trodden before.

I more often than not refer to myself as Editor – but even then that doesn’t truly capture the full extent of my role. Though the term ‘influencer’ sometimes irks me, I will use that too because I think in today’s social media vocabulary, most people understand this represents a site or individual with a significant following in their niche, which we undoubtedly are.

What other blogs do you read?
The Pool (though sometimes it’s editorial approach to weddings and lack of support for the wedding industry leaves me feeling really unhappy), A Playful Day, Blogtacular and Me and Orla.

Annabel and Love My Dress are both listings on the Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, vloggers, journalists, editors and opportunities.

AI and ethics

May 14, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, social media marketing, PR Media Analysis, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

Artificial technology has been in the news recently, for all the wrong reasons. Google naively showed off the functionality of its new Duplex AI, while NtechLab has announced a new product to identify ethnicities (unfortunately not a joke).

Google Duplex
Google Duplex is a new AI assistant that can handle tasks over the phone. That’s right, Duplex is able to make phone calls and book appointments on your behalf. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, showed the assistant off at its I/O developer conference, including a recorded example of Duplex calling to book a haircut:

In the clip, Duplex is shown to be indistinguishable from a human on the phone. The crowd, unsurprisingly, loved it – even whooping when the AI sounds most human saying ‘Mmm-hmm’ to acknowledge a point made by the hairdresser. It’s not surprising, this is Google’s I/O developer conference – for these people, super advanced AI is a great achievement.

Unfortunately for Google, a number of people and news outlets have now raised concerns over not being able to tell the difference between people and computers.

What Google failed to mention is that the AI would identify itself, so the person on the other end of the phone would know it was chatting to a robot – but even that throws up questions and concerns.

What if the AI doesn’t understand a question it’s asked, or an accent? How many times is a vendor likely to repeat themselves or reword queries if they know they’re talking to a machine? And what does it say about society that people are now getting machines to book haircuts on their behalf?

Google suggests it can be used by businesses to automatically take bookings, though how many people want to call up to book a table at a restaurant and be handled by a machine?

There’s also concerns over the data Duplex gathers on individuals – for this to work you have to tell Google an awful lot about what you want booked, when, when you’re free, alternative times for the appointment, the details of what you’re booking and why. Under the GDPR, if this data is processed by Google then you have to be informed – imagine the conversation with your AI assistant if they have to explain all the ways the data will be used!

Recognising ethnicity

The other ethical AI story is even more concerning. Russian NtechLab is a group of experts in the field of deep learning and artificial intelligence; the website states they ‘like to invent algorithms which work in unconstrained real-life scenarios’. The only listed product so far is a facial recognition tool.

It’s the ‘coming soon’ section that raises concern, with a product called ‘ethnicity recognition’. There’s no further information, but the image suggests it will identify people’s ‘ethnicities’ based on their faces. It’s not clear why this would EVER be needed, nor how it could ever be accurate.

As Forbes points out, it’s amazing that these companies are able to create such tools, without seeing the ethical issues that are more obvious to those that don’t work in tech. Socialogist Zeynep Tufekci said: ‘Silicon Valley is ethically lost, rudderless and has not learned a thing’.

Artificial intelligence is not bad, it makes all of our lives easier every day and, as the CIPR’s ongoing #AIinPR study shows, it’s of great benefit to the PR and communications industry. When developing AI functionality, companies need to consider their responsibilities towards data subjects and clients. The GDPR comes into force on 25 May and the automation of data, for the benefit of AI, will be under more scrutiny than ever before. It’s hard to see how an ethnicity recognition tool will pass the new stringent regulation requirements.

As for Google, the whole company is built on AI and for the most part, people are not concerned. Where Duplex has fallen down is by being too real. We’re not in Blade Runner* – society just isn’t ready for a world where it’s impossible to distinguish between computers and people, fiction and reality. At least, not yet.

*Insert your own favourite popular 80s’ sci-fi film here.

4 Instagram lessons from the Conservatives

May 14, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, PR Club PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

Last week it was revealed that Conservative MPs had been briefed on their use of Instagram. A comprehensive presentation covers everything from downloading the app to specific dos and don’ts, but what can this guide teach the PR industry?

Published by the BBC, the guide is obviously quite simple in places (MP friendly) but there are key lessons that are always worth reminding ourselves of. Not only does Instagram have a ‘younger audience’, an obvious attraction for the Conservatives, but it also gives a chance to show ‘you are a real person who people can relate to or be inspired by’.

1. Context
One such ‘real person’ is defence secretary Gavin Williamson (of ‘Russia should go away, it should shut up’ fame), who was an early adopter of Instagram. He appears twice under the section ‘Good examples: people’ section, showing both ‘to-camera smiling shots’ and ‘context seen in the photos’ at an event.

Context is vital for any photo posts and the more that can be squeezed into the picture, the less work your caption has to do. Captions are much less likely to be seen let alone read, so for Instagram, the picture MUST paint a thousand words. Bear that in mind when creating a post, you may understand what event you’re at because you’re there, but if it isn’t obvious in the picture, the post won’t succeed.

2. Be playful
Another ‘Good examples’ section but this time for objects. The presentation uses Sam Gyimah’s Christmas post as an example of how to create ‘unique content’ that’s ‘playful’:

Christmas red box just arrived. Not quite what I asked Santa for #christmastime #christmas #christmasholidays #instagood #insta

A post shared by Sam Gyimah (@samgyimahmp) on Dec 22, 2017 at 10:45am PST

Instagram is a young platform and it’s a social platform. Being serious or formal is not really social’s style (with the exception of, perhaps, LinkedIn), so users should try to see the lighter side of life and have fun when creating posts. This is particularly relevant for corporate accounts or senior execs; if they want to appeal to the board or their investors, then social – and especially Instagram – probably isn’t the place.

Another way to be ‘playful’ according to the presentation, is making use of emojis and stickers. It highlights a post from Sir Peter Bottomley, who used the #TBT (throwback Thursday) sticker on an historical picture of him campaigning with Margaret Thatcher.

It may feel unnatural to used such ‘playful’ items in your communications but remember this is about appealing to the Instagram audience. If you want to make friends in a Missouri truck stop, you probably wouldn’t go in dressed like, or talking like, Jacob Rees-Mogg. Instagram is the same – if you want to reach people on Instagram, be more like people on Instagram.

3. Engage
According to the presentation, ‘High engagement = higher chance of attracting more followers’, which is true. It then gives specific examples of engaging, including: reply to comments, like comments, tag people in the text and include your location.

This is basic advice but it’s true. If you want to organically grow your following on Instagram, then comment on other people’s posts, like posts, follow other people, post regularly, engage with people that comment on your posts and generally be an active member of the Instagram community. It takes a lot of work and time, but being big on Instagram can make that work pay off.

4. Don’t post press releases
Instagram is not your newsroom, so it’s not a place for lengthy prose or adverts. The presentation highlights the types of posts that should be used sparingly, including James Cleverly’s quote when appointed deputy chairman of the Conservative Party:

I’m delighted to have been appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party

A post shared by jamescleverly (@jamescleverly) on Jan 10, 2018 at 3:44am PST

As the BBC points out, Cleverly seems to have heeded the advice and now his posts are more informal.

A beautifully designed advert or company quote next to a portrait of your exec may look good in magazines or on your website, but once again it’s about context (think about Jacob Rees-Mogg at the truck stop).

Instagram is a place for beautiful photos of people, places and objects. It’s not a place for text-filled images or obvious graphic design.

Be you
The Conservative advice may be simple but it’s good. If you want to succeed on Instagram, be personable, be real and be you. Or, don’t be on Instagram.

Five Things: Leveson II, Klout, This is America, Martin Sorrell and #FuturePRoof

May 11, 2018/0 Comments/in Five Things, PR Pulse, social media marketing, PR, PR News Media Database, Media Analysis, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

This week’s Five Things includes the demise of Leveson II and Klout, Childish Gambino’s This is America, the return of Sorrell and the launch #FuturePRoof.

1. Leveson II – the sequel that refuses to start

Leveson II, the second part of the Leveson Inquiry, was already stopped by culture secretary Matt Hancock (“Are you on Matt Hancock?”), at the beginning of March. Now the Government has won a narrow victory against a Labour move to force it to start. Ed Miliband tabled the amendment to the Government’s data protection bill but it was narrowly defeated by 304 votes to 295.

Ed Miliband’s impassioned speech highlighted David Cameron’s previous promise for Leveson II to be carried out. Refusing to give way to other MPs, he also said it was a matter of honour for all politicians and asked the Government, ‘How dare you?’. Hancock responded: ‘The choice isn’t between doing something, and nothing. It is between doing something, and something better.’

Following the defeat, Tom Watson chose not to push for a vote on section 40, which in part would have required publishers to pay legal costs of both parties in disputes no matter what the outcome. This is clearly flawed as both Leveson-backed IMPRESS and press-made IPSO already allow for low-cost resolution.

There’s already suggestions the Lords will push the amendment back to the Commons for a second vote as the first was so close. We might not have seen the last of Leveson yet.

2. Out of Klout

What’s your Klout?* Is a question that many people working in social media asked each other seven years ago, but recently your Klout score has gone the way of your follower count on Google Plus. One of the most popular ways of measuring influence online, Klout was founded in 2009 by Joe Fernandez, who apparently built it to get a job at Twitter. It was bought by a private company, Lithium, in 2014 for $200m and on 25 May it will be no more.

25 May, I hear you say, isn’t that date significant for another reason? Why, yes. But amazingly, Lithium failed to mention the GDPR as a factor in Klout’s demise in the official statement. Apparently, Klout no longer meets Lithium’s long-term strategy.

Incidentally, Klout has been used as one of the many metrics that makes up the Vuelio Influencer Score, but thankfully we use such a broad range of complex tools that the loss of Klout will not have a detrimental effect on our unique measurement. You can read more about our influencer rating here.

Klout, on its own, has been criticised over the years for its algorithm which has, on occasion, rewarded questionable people with more influence than others. The secrets of the algorithm may have been forced into the open by the GDPR, but now we’ll never know.

3. This is America

It’s hard to know where to begin with Childish Gambino’s (aka Donald Glover) latest release, This is America. To call it a song is insufficient; the music and lyrics are powerful but that power pales into insignificance when compared to the video:

Articles and essays have already been written on this overnight cultural phenomenon (it’s on 75 million views in under a week). Discussions about the video’s ‘hidden meanings’, from his confederate trousers and Jim Crow references to the Charleston church shooting and ‘Death’ riding a pale horse, have filled social media and the digital press. It’s particularly pertinent following Kanye West’s recent comments that slavery was ‘a choice’.

It also follows Black Panther, which itself was itself a cultural shift but in a Hollywood/Marvel superhero kind of way. What Childish Gambino has done means so much more. It’s a violent, compelling piece of art, that continues to produce meaning with every watch, and it will fuel sections of the commentariat for weeks to come.

4. Martin Sorrell to ‘start again’

If only Klout would stick around, we’d be able to measure Sir Martin Sorrell’s when he ‘starts again’. That’s his vow this week, after abruptly leaving WPP. As reported by the FT, Sorrell was speaking at the technology conference in New York and said: ‘I’m not going into voluntary or involuntary retirement.’

As he never had a non-compete clause with WPP, Sorrell is free to set up a competitive ad company and target some of the $16bn business he helped build up over the last 33 years. He already has an idea for a new ad agency model, he said it would be: ‘more agile, more responsive, less layered, less bureaucratic, less heavy’. This is particularly surprising considering WPP’s hugely complex set up has been credited to Sorrell, and he was described as the only person capable of keeping it all together.

Sorrell said he would not wait long until he made his next move, so expect the new agency launch to appear in a future Five Things.

5. #FuturePRoof 3

Sarah Hall, agency owner and CIPR President, has released the third edition of her hugely popular #FuturePRoof series this week, a special edition marking the 70th anniversary of the NHS. Titled The NHS at 70 with Lessons for the Wider PR Community, the book features 25 chapters from 25 contributors, all of whom either work in or around comms at the NHS.

The health service is one of the UK’s most-loved institutions but is currently facing huge problems in terms of service delivery, funding and staff shortages. The book puts communications at the heart of the solution, championing best practice and excellent innovations to inspire the NHS to carry on fighting the good fight.

#FuturePRoof is also hugely inspirational to the wider communications industry with lessons across every communications discipline from internal comms and employee engagement to using new technology and measuring campaign results.

Find out more about #FuturePRoof online.

What did we miss? Let us know on Twitter @Vuelio.

*Me? My Klout score is 46 and I’m an expert in Blogging, Public Relations and Communications. And Buzzfeed, apparently.

#FuturePRoof: a journalist’s perspective of NHS comms

May 11, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, journalism, PR PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

Following the launch of the third edition of #FuturePRoof, a special edition focusing on healthcare comms to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS, we are discussing what wider lessons can be learned by the comms industry. In this post, we look at Denis Campbell’s contribution – A Journalist’s Perspective: The Good and Bad of NHS Comms.

Denis Campbell is the health policy editor of the Guardian and the Observer, so he spends a lot of his time writing about the NHS and working with the comms professionals within it. Campbell starts his chapter by pointing out the dilemma of writing such a piece in his position: ‘Why would I say anything at all, lest even a smidgeon of criticism alienates those whose goodwill, determination and professionalism I routinely rely upon?’

He goes on to explain that while most comms officers are ‘superb’, some are ‘unhelpful, unbecoming of their profession and… ultimately damaging to the NHS’. The chapter is important to #FuturePRoof because it’s an honest external opinion given for all the right reasons – to help improve the practices of the NHS.

Campbell breaks down his views, which are clearly lessons for anyone working in communications in any industry:

Be honest and accessible
For Campbell, the NHS needs to be honest about its troubles and not just follow ‘the Government’s fantasy version of events’. This is a broader lesson for comms – honesty builds trust and trust builds relationships, which is the foundation of good PR. When working with the media, if you lie, there’s a good chance they’ll find out the truth and that story will then be much harder to manage.

Campbell’s experience of NHS comms is clearly hit and miss. He writes: ‘I marvel at the effort senior managers and clever PRs put into coming up with entirely irrelevant answers. Do they think that will stop the story appearing?’

If a journalist is asking for information, chances are they have discovered there may be a story in that information. If you block them, it doesn’t mean the story goes away, it just means the journalist has to dig deeper. When presented with tricky media questions, finding out what the journalist is doing and why they want to know certain things, should be a priority, because you’re still allowed to form your answers in the most appropriate way to make your business look as good as it can in the circumstance.

But even if the journalist gives you nothing, don’t stonewall investigations; if it’s delaying the inevitable, be honest and make it part of the story you want to tell.

Have guiding principles
The NHS Constitution has seven principles that guide the NHS in all it does. Campbell is most interested in the last one: ‘The NHS is accountable to the public, communities and patients that it serves… The system of responsibility and accountability for taking decisions in the NHS should be transparent and clear to the public, patients and staff.’

He believes NHS PR practitioners should be bound by this principle – but what about organisations without principles? Many have cultures, objectives and aims – lots of offices display these proudly for all to see. But do we consider them when we’re doing comms? Comms is the voice of the company and should be key in developing company culture, ensuring it informs the way all communications is carried out.

If internal culture doesn’t match external culture, neither will survive for long and ultimately, you’re the bridge between the two.

Working together
Campbell is clearly in favour of the NHS and is keen to see it working in the best way it possibly can. But as PRs and comms, we often think of journalists as the enemy and we suspect they’re out to trip us up. Campbell acknowledges this but is reassuring: ‘NHS PRs’ background and talents lie in communicating. So why not spend more time and put more creative energy into communicating what their bit of the NHS does and who the staff are that make that possible?

‘Why not trust journalists much more to do a decent job and not be so suspicious all the time?’

If we all worked together, were honest and transparent, wouldn’t our industry be a better place, communications run more smoothly and improve the quality of public conversation for all parties?

What do you think about Campbell’s chapter? Can we do more to work together with the media, or do we risk losing control of the story? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter @Vuelio.

#FuturePRoof: The NHS at 70 with Lessons for the Wider PR Community, is highly recommended for both NHS comms pros and anyone else working in comms. It is available online.

#FuturePRoof: Cultural Graffiti and Sanctioned Dissent

May 9, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, PR News Media Database, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

The third edition of Sarah Hall’s #FuturePRoof, which focuses on communications within the NHS, launched yesterday. The 25 chapters, from 25 authors, provide key insight to both the inner workings of the NHS and to best practice in the communications industry. In this post, we’ll be looking at the chapter by social leadership consultant Julian Stodd, and what comms can learn from cultural graffiti and sanctioned dissent.

Stodd argues that in society, graffiti is ‘a voice that is claimed, not granted’. In our organisations there is ‘cultural graffiti’, which is when opinions and views are shared without fear of consequence. This ‘graffiti’ resides solely on social.

For the NHS, this is perhaps a more obvious phenomenon – sometimes anonymous, often critical but generally constructive doctors, nurses and patients discuss the NHS on social, outside their ‘formal’ space. Sometimes this grabs national headlines, the #ImInWorkJeremy hashtag was used widely when the health secretary criticised doctors for ‘not working seven-day weeks’.

Cultural graffiti is also apparent in other organisations; social has become the platform for office grumbles, unfiltered company news and customer complaints.

Stodd says that formal power doesn’t reach social spaces, ‘where cultural graffiti is scrawled and shared’. As such, organisations cannot control them and instead need to understand ‘social leadership’ and its fuel: reputation.

Social status is based on reputation, which on social is granted by communities. What’s significant is that social leaders don’t necessarily have formal power or any authority in traditional societal structures, so social leaders are easily overlooked or, worse still, underestimated.

Jack Monroe is a prime example – the budget food writer who won her Twitter libel case against Katie Hopkins, often has to explain on Twitter how, despite her social reputation (she has 126K followers), she still struggles to make ends meet. Her social fame and influence obviously does not translate to formal structures, but her social status is unquestionable.

So how does an organisation manage cultural graffiti?

Stodd says organisations need to listen and learn, which is simple enough. But more than that, he says as with real graffiti, organisations should sanction dissent. Graffiti artists know there are places they’re allowed to work, certain shops or spaces where graffiti has been allowed. For Stodd, organisations need to sanction cultural graffiti and understand the stories being told, wherever they’re being told.

We all know that social is the dominant force of storytelling in our society and it should be part of every comms professional’s strategy. Just because Wetherspoons closed all of its social accounts, that doesn’t mean it is exempt from cultural graffiti. The fact it no longer seems to care what’s happening on social could be a big mistake, as staff, customers and suppliers are free to discuss the company and tell their own stories.

Communications is all about telling the story you want to tell and if you lose control of the storytelling process, you lose control of the story. If we take the time to understand cultural graffiti, and how others tell our story, we can regain control of the conversation.

Do you listen to and understand cultural graffiti in your organisation? Or do you think it’s better to ignore the dissent? Let us know on our social space: @Vuelio.

#FuturePRoof: The NHS at 70 with Lessons for the Wider PR Community, comes highly recommended and is available online.

Kindness, convenience and joy: Curiously Conscious

May 9, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Blogger, Blogger Spotlight Media Database, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

Besma Whayeb is the author of Curiously Conscious, the ethical lifestyle blog that was recently named in the Top 10 UK Green Blogs. Focusing on sacrifice-free ethical living, Besma writes about everything from natural make up to renting clothes. We caught up with Besma to talk about sustainability, working with brands in a beneficial way and technology connecting the green community.

What makes your blog unique?
My blog focuses on ways to live kinder that are convenient and add joy. It’s about being ethical and eco-friendly without making sacrifices!

Will we ever live in a fully sustainable world?
I don’t believe it’s possible to be 100% sustainable, however, there are so many ways we can get close to that. Renewable energy, electric cars, and better distribution of resources will accelerate us to a more sustainable world.

What are the biggest eco/green trends that we should all be aware of?
With Fashion Revolution Week just finished, there was a lot of talk about plant-based leather alternatives, and demanding transparency from fashion brands. Food-wise, more brands are moving towards sustainability rather than vegan/plant-based niches. And beauty is all about harnessing the power of plants to produce makeup that looks good and nourishes skin.

How is technology helping us be more environmentally aware?
Technology has been a brilliant way to connect the green community – no matter where our specific interests lie – and has seen ethical and eco blogging really grow.

Who do you think has the most responsibility when it comes to the environment (individuals/industry/media/government etc)?
Industry can make the biggest, and quickest change, but it’s hard to encourage whole businesses to move away from a focus on profit to also consider people and the planet. It’s why I write to inspire individual changes, and call on brands to take note – our demand for ethics will encourage the supply of better business practices.

How do you like to work with PRs and brands?
I’m particular about the brands I work with, as I’d like them to really benefit from featuring on my blog or social channels. In this way, I like to form relationships with PRs or Brand Reps, and work on a series of posts or sponsored content that is created specifically to achieve a campaign’s aims. I respect they understand their brand’s strengths, and they respect that I understand my audience’s preferences.

What are your favourite campaigns or collaborations that you’ve been part of?
I enjoyed being a Brand Ambassador for Yushoi last year; my posts were centred around finding balance, which is something I really encourage. I also found working with Fat Face was incredibly popular, especially with their organic cotton ranges, which shows how much demand is out there for ethical high street brands. And a personal favourite has to be visiting MacDonald Hotels’ Monchique Hotel & Spa in the Algarve – a truly five-star experience all round.

What do you call yourself (blogger/content creator/influencer etc)?
I’m a blogger first, but I think the term influencer is better considering the amount of work that goes into my social channels is equal to the time spent writing.

What other blogs do you read?
Other than my fellow bloggers in the Top 10 Green Blogs list, I love The Good Trade, Make It Last and Simply Liv & Co.

Besma and Curiously Conscious are both listings on the Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, vloggers, journalists, editors and opportunities.

Around the world with the TraveLynn Family

May 8, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Blogger, Blogger Spotlight Media Database, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Merryn Williams

The TraveLynn Family is mum Jenny, dad Jason and boys Arthur (four) and Ezra (two). They travel around the world, truly embracing a global sense of wanderlust and living abroad. We caught up with Jenny who told us about the misunderstood safety of travelling with young children, planning school around travel and working with PRs and brands.

What makes your blog unique?
I write about adventure family travel with young kids. My boys are just two and four years old and already they have been hiking in the Nepalese Himalaya, meditated with monks in Thailand, slept on overnight trains in India, and walked alongside giraffes in Malawi. As parents, my husband and I try to push the boundaries of family travel and are on a mission to dispel the myth that adventure travel needs to wait until the kids are older.

Before the kids came along, my husband and I were avid intrepid travellers and we soon realised that we only had to adjust are travel style slightly to continue our passion. In fact, I am currently writing this from the shores of Lake Malawi! We’re six weeks into a four month overland trip through Africa in a Land Rover Defender with roof tents. We started in Johannesburg and are making our way through Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana. Before this, we were living in India and called Bangalore our home for a year. We moved for my husband’s work and took advantage of all the new travel adventures possible on our doorstep; including Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand and as much of India as possible.

How does ‘regular’ family life fit around travelling?
We still have a bedtime routine, battle tantrums, and negotiate the never-ending demands from our kids. We are still very much a regular family. Travel just creates a different backdrop to the challenges of parenting life, and offers different sensory playgrounds and novelties as we investigate new places together. Where we are perhaps different from your regular family is that we prioritise travel and take every available opportunity possible for adventure.

How are/will the kids be schooled?
My kids are not yet of schooling age, so thankfully we don’t yet have to negotiate term dates. As we’ve been living in India and now on a long-term travel adventure, they haven’t really experienced the nursery/pre-school system that so many kids have in the UK. However, we have playdates whenever and wherever possible, always stop for a playground, and I also have a bag of crafts, LEGO and magazines that comes everywhere with us. We find that our boys learn so much on the road from all the different experiences and social interactions. Plus, with all the quality family time together while travelling, we find they blossom.

However, come September, our eldest will be starting school. It will then be an interesting ball game managing our love of adventure family travel around the restrictions of term time. We’re still just working all that out.

What’s your best advice for people thinking about going travelling with families?
Don’t wait. These early years flash by so quickly in a sleep-deprived blur. Do something amazing that will create everlasting memories. Just travel slow, always have snacks handy, and take lots of photos.

What’s the best thing/place/experience you’ve had as a family while travelling?
This is a tough one as we really have so many amazing experiences to choose from. I could say it is reaching the summit of Poon Hill at 3,120m in Nepal, watching the sun rise over the Taj Mahal, or witnessing a herd of elephants bathing in the wilderness of South Africa. However, the best ‘thing’ about family travel for us is time. It’s the time to be on our own schedule, time not distracted by other commitments, time to just simply share day by day experiences together. Some of my fondest memories of this current trip in Africa is watching the boys put on a ‘show’ in the evenings by the fire, races into the sea after a long day on the road, or just snuggled in our tent together reading a book. It’s the time to actually stop and appreciate the little things.

Is the world a scary place with such young children?
Not at all. We find that travelling with young kids breaks down those barriers with strangers. People are often inquisitive of the boys and want to chat to us; even the hardest haggler in India cracks a smile with the boys around. It’s truly wonderful seeing the world through their eyes. Things can go wrong when travelling and the boys are completely oblivious to them. If anything, they normalise stressful situations.

Where haven’t you been that you still want to visit?
Oh, so many places! We are yet to explore much of the Americas. There’s still so much of Europe; Scandinavia and Greece have been on my list for far too long. And Antarctica – the ultimate adventure destination.

What should PRs and brands know about you?
I keep it real and push the boundaries. Adventure travel with kids so young of course has its challenges, but I want to inspire my readers to take on those challenges and reap the rewards.

What’s the best collaboration you’ve work on?
I’ve recently been collaborating with Malawi Tourism to demonstrate Malawi as a safe and wonderful destination to travel with young kids.

What do you call yourselves (bloggers/content creators/influencers etc)?
I prefer travel blogger or travel writer.

What other blogs do you read?
I’ve made some wonderful friends through my blogging journey so far. It really is a such a supportive network. Other family travel bloggers I follow from the UK include: Wandermust Family, Globetotting, Go Live Young, Mini Travellers, Mummy Travels, Tin Box Traveller, Travel Mad Mum – there are so many to mention!

The TraveLynn Family is listed on the Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, vloggers, journalists, editors and opportunities.

#FuturePRoof: The NHS at 70

May 8, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, PR News PR, Comms, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

The third edition of #FuturePRoof launches today and documents communications in the greatest of British institutions – the NHS. Edited by Sarah Hall, agency owner and CIPR President, this edition of #FuturePRoof is a unique insight into every level and type of comms taking place in one of the world’s largest employers.

Titled, ‘The NHS at 70 with Lessons for the Wider PR Community’, the book features 25 essays written by a broad range of stakeholders, from those at the coalface enacting plans to those on the outside looking in.

It not only explains and recommends best practice for anyone working in any part of communications in the NHS– including real-life case studies with genuine results – it also delivers genuine insight and inspiration for the wider comms industry.

What’s the best way to engage disparate sub cultures within an organisation? How can new technology help change public attitudes? How do you measure the success of any of your campaigns?

#FuturePRoof delivers answers to all of these questions and more – always using the NHS and the brilliant people who work within it to provide lessons for the wider PR community.

Even the few niche NHS-specific elements are fascinating to an outsider; did you know emergency departments see more people in summer than winter?

This is the third crowdsourced book in the #FuturePRoof series, edited by top 10 PR blogger Sarah Hall. She said: ‘As you’d expect the book is once again jam packed with expertise from a forward-thinking cohort of comms leaders and advisers, striving to reinforce the strategic value of public relations within their organisations.

‘There are some very clear take outs and perhaps the biggest lesson for management teams, communicators and the wider public relations community is to embrace transparency, invest in skills and use real people to lead debate.’

The contributors for the book are, like millions of people in the country, hugely in favour of the NHS, and healthcare that’s free at the point of delivery. Though that doesn’t mean the book ignores issues within the organisation, rather it highlights how creative ideas can solve issues why comms professionals are best placed to turn the NHS’s fortunes around.

Sarah said: ‘The book comes at a critical point in the NHS’s history. The organisation is a living breathing case study of comms innovation as it manages competing political agendas and stretched budgets, while communicating ever more frequently with an increasing number of people with complex needs.

‘How its many teams join forces to implement one approach at scale is a pressing challenge as the face of healthcare as we know it changes radically.’

It goes without saying that this book is a must for anyone working in NHS comms, but more than that, everyone in communications (whether public affairs or public relations) can benefit from having #FuturePRoof on the shelf. We’re huge fans and we know you will be too.

#FuturePRoof is available in hard copy and on Kindle via www.futureproofingcomms.co.uk.

Five Things: Cambridge Analytica, Sainsbury’s, Elon Musk, Wright Stuff and Kanye West

May 4, 2018/0 Comments/in Five Things, PR Pulse, journalism, PR, PR News Media Database, Media Analysis, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

HAPPY STAR WARS DAY. This week’s top five things you shouldn’t have missed includes Cambridge Analytica’s demise, Sainsbury’s PR mistake, Elon Musk’s sales call, the end of The Wright Stuff and the latest Kanye Kontroversy.

1. Farewell Cambridge Analytica

Just when you thought a company had really got to know you, it files for bankruptcy. Cambridge Analytica, which was at the centre of the recent Facebook data scandal, has commenced insolvency proceedings. The official statement blamed ‘unfounded accusations’, which led to it being ‘vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas’.

Thanks to the pesky media reporting on the one-way-mirror-equivalent of corporate transparency, ‘virtually all’ of the company’s customers and suppliers have been driven away. There are now questions being raised about whether Cambridge Analytica, or its staff, will rise from the ashes and continue to operate in the shady world of political profiling.

As for Facebook, the social giant seems to have managed to leave the scandal behind – its earnings and results do not reflecting a company in crisis. However, with plans to get into the online dating game – where the level of processed personal data is extraordinary – the data issues may not be over.

2. We’re in the money!

In PR whoopsie of the week, Mike Coupe, CEO of Sainsbury’s, was filmed singing ‘We’re in the Money’ from the musical 42nd Street. He was, at the time, waiting to be interviewed by ITV about his company’s proposed £10bn merger with Asda.

As reported by the Guardian (which, incidentally, is serving up sidebar ads for Waitrose next to the story), Coupe expects Sainsbury’s to make £500m in extra profit from the deal. In a follow-up statement from the company, Coupe is quoted as saying: ‘It was an unfortunate choice of song, from the musical 42nd Street, which I saw last year. And I apologise if I have offended anyone’.

Straight-faced, a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: ‘We all know these songs stay in your head. To attach any wider meaning to this innocent, personal moment is preposterous.’

Preposterous.

3. Elon Musk being Elon Musk

Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, took the unusual move of agreeing to let a YouTuber ask a question during an earnings call. Gali Russell is an NYU grad student and retail investor who owns 54 shares in Tesla, which he says is ‘pretty much my entire portfolio’. He tweeted Musk with the backing of 150 shareholders to see if he could ask a crowdsourced question; Musk replied, ‘Ok’.

Musk used the YouTuber to avoid answering standard earnings-call questions from analysts about business and finance. While he was saying, ‘Boring bonehead questions are not cool. Next. We’re going to go to YouTube. Sorry, these questions are so dry. They’re killing me,’ Tesla’s share price was tanking.

Russell’s questions focused on tech and Musk encouraged him to ask more and more – in total the YouTuber managed 10 while on the call. This approach may be appropriately quirky for Elon Musk but it’s a misstep in terms of company PR – the analysts were unimpressed and still suggest Musk’s optimism for the company’s success is unfounded.

4. No more Wright Stuff

Matthew Wright, host of Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff, has announced he is stepping down from his role after 18 years. The weekday mornings current affairs programme is one of Channel 5’s flagships and the channel has confirmed the show may continue with a new name and presenter.

Wright blamed the demands on his personal life and said he and Mrs Wright, ‘pass like ships in the night’ as he goes to bed at 7pm and gets up at 3am. BBC’s media editor, Amol Rajan, paints a different picture. The former audience researcher on the programme said: ‘Matthew Wright always said to me that he would stop presenting The Wright Stuff when it stopped being fun.

‘Recently, it stopped being fun.’

He blames the fact the show’s production moved to ITN, which brought huge changes and meant ‘its jovial and fun spirit struggled to make the transition into a new culture’.

Whatever Channel 5 decides to do, come the end of June/early July, there will be a two-hour Matthew Wright-shaped hole in the schedule.

5. Kanye West

He may be an international superstar but surely Kanye West’s greatest achievement is now appearing on his second Five Things post – two weeks in a row! Last week we were discussing Kanye’s controversial opinions getting him into trouble after he praised President “We are both dragon energy” Trump. This week, Kanye has upset everyone during an interview with TMZ, by claiming slavery was a ‘choice’.

Kanye said: ‘When you hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years?! That sounds like a choice. You was there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all. It’s like we’re mentally in prison. I like the word ‘prison’ because ‘slavery’ goes too direct to the idea of blacks. Slavery is to blacks as the Holocaust is to Jews. Prison is something that unites as one race, blacks and whites, that we’re the human race.’

After he explains this radical viewpoint, TMZ staff member Van Lathan piles into Kanye for ‘not thinking’. Kanye tried to clarify his views on Twitter (where else!). I can’t believe anyone missed this, but if you did – here’s the video:

The number 1 green blog in the UK: Make Wealth History

May 3, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Blogger, Blogger Spotlight Media Database, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Jake O'Neill

Jeremy Williams writes the Top UK Green Blog, Make Wealth History. Covering a whole range of environmental and sustainable issues, Jeremy believes that true change comes from the people. We spoke to Jeremy about the latest in green innovations, global environmental trends working with PRs.

What makes your blog unique?
I’m curious about lots of different things, so the blog is a fairly unusual mix of sustainability, development, politics, architecture, green tech and all sorts. And I focus on solutions. There’s plenty of bad news out there, and I’ll cover that, but I want the blog to inspire people to action rather than make them depressed about the state of the world.

Will we ever live in a fully sustainable world?
Yes, although there are two ways to end up in a sustainable world. One is to design it and shift towards it deliberately. The other is to wreck things so badly that industrial civilization becomes impossible. I’m a big advocate of the first approach, naturally.

What are the biggest eco/green trends at the moment that we should all be aware of?
For a long time, people have been predicting that renewable energy would fall in price until it became cheaper than fossil fuels, and then the shift could really accelerate. We’re at that point right about now. Look out in a couple of years’ time for a similar moment when electric cars cost the same as petrol ones.

How is technology helping us be more environmentally aware?
I’m a big fan of smart meters that allow us to see how much energy we’re using in real time. It definitely makes me more aware of what I’m using and how I can reduce it. I also really value phone apps that help me to identify birds, trees or wildflowers.

Who do you think has the most responsibility when it comes to the environment (individuals/industry/media/government etc)?
Responsibility is shared, but if you think about it, businesses won’t move unless the Government tells them to, and Government won’t move unless the voters call for it. So, it’s up to us to kick up a fuss.

How do you like to work with PRs and brands?
I’m fairly choosy about who I work with, as I often have to critique corporations or bad business practice, and I don’t want to be a hypocrite! But I do have regular book reviews and host affiliate links for books.

What are your favourite campaigns or collaborations that you’ve been part of?
I’m an ambassador for Kiva, the microfinance charity, and I love being able to point people to what they do.

What do you call yourself (blogger/content creator/influencer etc)?
I call myself a writer and campaigner if I’m talking about my broader work, as I also write books and research reports and all sorts of other things. But I’m happy to call myself a blogger when I’m talking about the blog.

What other blogs do you read?
There are lots that I check in on occasionally, but I’ll give a shout to Carbon Brief, Circulate News, From Poverty to Power and The Climate Lemon as some of my favourites.

Jeremy Williams and Make Wealth History are both listed on the Vuelio Database, along with thousands of other fantastic bloggers, journalists, editors, MPs and SpAds.

Make your lives greener with The Green Familia

May 2, 2018/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Blogger, Blogger Spotlight Media Database, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Merryn Williams

Brenda Cuby is the author of The Green Familia, the family-focused eco blog that recently ranked in the Top 10 UK Green Blogs. We caught up with Brenda who told us about becoming more eco-friendly, society’s collective responsibility and working with brands.

What makes your blog unique?
We are aimed at those who wish to make green changes to their lives one step at a time.

Will we ever live in a fully sustainable world?
We need to believe in this and hope that by encouraging everyone to make changes that this will become a reality.

What are the biggest eco/green trends at the moment that we should all be aware of?
There is a shift in the plastic-free movements and this will keep pushing for those changes to be further followed through. The use of electric cars is something that is coming with all the major car companies now investing in this. As our natural supplies erode, we will see more people taking an interest in this area.

How is technology helping us be more environmentally aware?
Technology can be a big help with apps on your smartphone to help you control your heating, encouraging us all to be more eco-friendly.

Who do you think has the most responsibility when it comes to the environment (individuals/industry/media/government etc)?
We all have a collective responsibility to stand up and be counted. Individuals, by making changes to their buying habits, will force industry to make the changes needed. The media has a huge part to play and if they can showcase the valid and good reasons as to why we should all be turning our focus to a more ethical way of living then that is great, but again they will only do this if their paymasters i.e. industry, come on board. The Government should lead by example, if they made the changes needed to their departments it would soon filter down.

How do you like to work with PRs and brands?
I love to receive content from them that is unique and fits my audience, so I like them to work with me and not just send me any old press release.

What are your favourite campaigns or collaborations that you’ve been part of?
There have been many small Kickstarter companies like Ohyo bags through to the big companies like British Gas.

What do you call yourself (blogger/content creator/influencer etc)?
I call myself an ethical blogger.

What other blogs do you read?
My Zero Waste, The Rubbish Diet, Moral Fibres and Eco Thrifty Living to name a few.

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