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Food & drink forecast: 2023’s biggest trends

February 21, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Communications, Media, Food Media Database, Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

This is a guest post from Hatch Group’s senior account manager Emily Boswell.

At the start of a new year brands, marketeers and other industry professionals all start to look towards what lies ahead. At Hatch, we have already seen a whole host of predictions for 2023 trends focused on AI, the economy and across different sectors and the food and drink industry is a sector with plenty of opportunity to adapt, change and grow in 2023.

Unfortunately, as we enter a predicted recession, the cost-of-living crisis looks set to have a huge impact and specifically upon the Food & Drink sector, with rising costs and less disposable income to treat ourselves. With this in mind, we can expect this to underpin many of the trends across all industries. Consumers will not only be looking to save money, but with the climate crisis ever at the forefront of the news, they will also be considering more and more the impact that their choices have on the planet.

As experts in the food and drink sector, Hatch is here to forecast some of the key trends we expect will shake up the food and drink industry this year.

Value for Money

With the cost-of-living crisis going nowhere fast, value for money is key in 2023. We anticipate that people will be eating out less, and instead opting for homecooked meals.

Therefore, we expect to see people prioritising more affordable meals and ingredients, as they look for ways to reduce the cost of their shopping basket.

It doesn’t stop there though, through our work within the consumer tech sector we’re seeing that consumers are increasingly looking at their cooking products too and considering how they can save money on their ever-increasing energy bills. For example, slow cookers and air fryers are flying off the shelves thanks to their low energy usage credentials.

The tinned fish revolution

Yes, really. With the cost of living making consumers rethink their usual habits, shoppers will be constantly looking for ways to spend less on their weekly shop. One of the most expensive items in consumers’ shopping trollies is protein, meaning shoppers will likely start to look for cheaper alternatives. The answer? Tinned fish.

This is a trend that is also being driven by TikTok. In 2022, we saw an increasing number of videos going viral on the platform, showing aesthetically-pleasing fish charcuterie boards, which many are recreating at home. In fact, sales of canned seafood shot up by 10% in the US last year – something we expect to see here in the UK this year.

Conscious choices

Consumers are moving more and more towards planet conscious and sustainable choices and we’ll see a greater focus placed on plant-based and environmentally-friendly options in the coming months

At Hatch we work with food and drink producers across a range of different products from frozen peas and cheese, to wine and rum and we’re seeing lots of consumers making changes with their diets, to opt for products that have lower carbon footprints that are better for the environment. For example, smashed peas on toast has become a popular alternative to the traditional smashed avocado, as consumers have become more aware of the impact avocados have on the environment.

With this shift we will continue to see more plant-based food alternatives on the shelf. However, these won’t be confined to just supermarket shelves – we’re seeing an increase in the number of plant-based fine dining restaurants, and an increase in Michelin stars being awarded to restaurants for their plant-based meal innovation.

New alternatives for non-dairy milks

Following on from these conscious choices comes a new wave of non-dairy milks.

Non-dairy milks such as almond milk and oat milk have been soaring in popularity in recent years. However, with consumers awareness around the massive environmental impact of almond milk, we’re likely to see more non-dairy alternatives becoming popular in 2023.

In fact, we’ve already seen new milks such as sesame milk and pistachio milk becoming popular. Pistachios require half the amount of water to grow than almonds, and sesame milk requires an astounding 95% less water – the perfect alternative for environmentally-conscious shoppers!

A nod to nostalgia

90s fashion isn’t the only thing set to make a return. With consumers facing challenging times currently, there’s going to be a greater demand this year for nostalgic foods that consumers can find comfort in. We constantly see posts on social media clamouring for the return of chocolate bars that are no more (R.I.P. Mars Delight) and original recipe Sunny-D and it looks as though brands are starting to pay attention.

Think back to the favourite foods from your childhood, such as hot dogs, old-school cereals, or pick and mix sweets – these are the types of foods we expect to see returning to supermarket shelves this year.

And over in the US, we’re even seeing the likes of McDonalds introducing Adult Happy Meals, to cater to this nostalgic consumer.

English wines

English wines have been soaring in popularity recently, with sales doubling in the last two years alone and English wines starting to be recognised at wine producer prestigious award ceremonies.

At first, it’s all been about English sparkling wines, however now that people are trusting that we Brits do in fact know how to make good wine, we’ll see more demand for English still wines too.

This year in particular is likely to see an increase in English red wines. 2022 saw England’s joint hottest summer in records going back to 1884, leading to an excellent harvest for Pinot Noir, and generally creating excitement from many winemakers across the country.

Plant-powered pasta

Pasta is universally loved, and a staple for many home-cooked dishes. However, as consumers look to make healthier choices with their diet, we’re likely to see shoppers exploring healthier pasta alternatives. Enter, plant-based pastas.

The perfect option to increase our vegetable intake, plant powered pasta is expected to be a big trend in 2023, and while everyone’s heard of courgetti, expect to see the likes of sweet potato pasta, spaghetti squash, chickpea fusilli and even yellow pea penne becoming popular this year.

Paper drinks bottles

As consumers look for more sustainable products, they’re holding brands to a higher standard than ever before.

The environmental impact of glass bottles is coming more into focus for consumers, and brands are having to respond. Thankfully, some drinks brands, such as Greenall’s Original London Dry Gin, Green Man Wildwood Vodka, Gyre & Gimble Coastal Gin and Avallen Calvados, have found the answer in paper bottles. Usually made from recycled paper, these bottles have a considerably lower carbon footprint compared to their glass equivalents.

Emily Boswell is a senior account manager at Hatch Group, with over six years’ experience working across a number of food, drink and FMCG brands. Experienced in both B2B and B2C press office, social media, and activations, Emily’s client portfolio has included brands such as Fentimans, Black Sheep Brewery, Puerto de Indias gin and Yes Peas!.

For more from the Food & Drink sector, read our previous posts on how the big six UK supermarkets are faring with their cost-of-living messaging in the media, as well as how to pitch to journalists writing about food and drink with related stories and information.

6 tips on fighting medical misinformation

6 pointers for PR professionals tackling misinformation on the front lines

February 20, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, Politics, Health, Communications, Media, PR Club, Public Affairs Media Database, Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, Political Services, PR, Political Database, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

Misinformation, disinformation and fake news is highly contagious and harmful, especially in the field of health. Effective PR and communications can help fight the spread and protect the public from its impacts.

Our latest white paper ‘Medical misinformation: How PR can stop the spread’ features guidance for comms professionals tasked with educating and informing, with advice from medical, healthcare and pharmaceutical practitioners working in-house, agency-side and within the media.

Take note of these six pointers from the paper, and download the full report here.

1. Be vigilant with AI tools

‘A key challenge this year will be the threat of generative AI and combatting misinformation, particularly online. However, it is an area for opportunity and growth – the harnessing of tech to provide data rich intelligence that can underpin PR activity.’

Matt Wilson, media and public affairs manager for the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)

2. Stay transparent

‘Transparency of production, transparency of bias, transparency of any kind that goes into news organisations’ production or production values should be better communicated with consumers.

‘When you go into a shop, you pick up a piece of food and it has the nutritional information on the back so that you can decide whether or not you want to eat it. If we had better signposting within news organisations to help us understand how the piece was created and why it was created, it would help us better pick quality content as consumers.’

Jodie Jackson, founder of the News Literacy Network (find out more about the network in this ResponseSource interview)

3. Allow open conversation to avoid mistrust

‘Although witnessing medical misinformation being spread can be frustrating, especially as a healthcare professional, it is important to remain understanding as to why some people may hold irrational beliefs. Mocking them for having these views, or suffocating any conversation around them, can lead to a further level of distrust between the general public and professionals within the pharmaceutical industry, which can further fan the flame of misinformation.

‘It is important to target misinformation with education and critical thinking – after all, social media regulation will not stop misinformation from being spread in the long-run, as people will find other ways to do this. Changing the way people take in information and educating them on how they can validate information before believing it directly must happen, too.’

Carolina Goncalves, superintendent pharmacist at UK pharmacist Pharmica

4. Pay close attention to inequalities and bias still within the health sector itself

‘As a health journalist, I’ve become increasingly interested over the last five or so years in issues around health inequalities, gender bias and medical misogyny.

‘In 2018 I started my blog Hysterical Women to bring together women’s stories and experiences in one place. It particularly explores some of the dismissive and disbelieving attitudes that women can encounter when seeking healthcare – the idea that we’re being “hysterical” or “hormonal”, or that our symptoms are “all in our heads”.

‘I hope to move that conversation forwards – beyond simply curating experiences to actually looking at the underlying reasons, highlighting some of the campaigns around the gender health gap and exploring what the solutions might be.’

Sarah Graham, writer and author of ‘Rebel Bodies: A guide to the gender health gap revolution’ (read more about Sarah and her work in this interview)

5. Go beyond the physical to gain and retain the attention of your audience

‘Re-evaluate your assumptions about what people will engage with. Mental health is a big concern, for example – so consumers may be more likely to engage with content about mental wellness, compared to physical wellness.’

Helen Fitzhugh, associate director, Healthcare at Kaizo PR

6. Be responsive to international events to fight fake news

‘One advantage we have on misinformation is that it rarely falls out of the blue – it tends to spike in response to unfolding events. Extreme weather events, global conflicts and public health crises are all areas where misinformation can thrive. We’d recommend keeping an eye on countries that have elections coming up, too.’

Shayoni Lynn, founder and CEO of Lynn

Download ‘Medical misinformation: How PR can stop the spread’ here.

Trends in financial journalism PRs need to know about

Trends in finance journalism PRs need to know about

February 14, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Communications, Media Media Database, Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Andrew Strutt

Everyone in the UK has been impacted in some way by the cost-of-living crisis that has rumbled on for nearly a year now. From energy bills to mortgage payments to the interest rate; it has all been increasing in price. This has put a massive strain on households and forced people to look more closely at their budget and savings.

It has also, understandably, gained a lot of attention from the media with national newspapers, broadcast media and consumer titles all keen to cover the impact on the general public and give advice on how to cope during these difficult times. We decided to find out what journalists have been researching within this area by looking at requests for the Personal Finance category on the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service over the last few months.

Personal Finance has really increased in popularity. Between October and November, we saw a 27% increase in the number of requests for this category and between December and January, an even bigger rise of 39%. Overall, over 3% of all requests have included the Personal Finance category in the last four months.

It also corresponds with ‘Cost of living’ being a regular top key phrase. Since September, at least 2% of all enquiries on the service each month have included these words within their request. If we look at requests just within the Personal Finance category, then 11% of all enquiries from journalists have included this phrase.

Many requests have looked to get case studies, with several of those coming from broadcast outlets such as 5 News and ITV News. One looking for a single person struggling to pay the bills due to the cost of living and another wanted to find out the impact of the crisis on students. If you have any clients with first-person accounts of how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting their daily lives, then there should be plenty of opportunities to get these featured.

National newspapers like The Sun, The I paper and The Daily Star have also sought to cover this topical issue. These enquiries have been more for general information covering budgeting for a wedding, free fitness activities and what customers can do to help pubs avoid closing early, to name but a few. Meanwhile, trade titles such as HR magazine have wanted more practical advice, like how to avoid payroll issues in the cost-of-living crisis.

Despite ‘cost of living’ being such a popular phrase in the media and on the enquiry service, the top keyword within the Personal Finance requests in the last four months has been ‘finance/financial’ appearing in 21% of all the enquiries.

Requests with these keywords have tended to look more for a spokesperson or expert and covered both consumer and trade titles such as Raconteur, Money Marketing, Closer, Global Finance and Money & Finance magazine. They have looked for finance/CFO expertise, personal finance experts, financial advice and for a money/finance expert. All of these give a great chance to get clients who are experts in their field featured in leading magazines and websites.

One of the words mentioned in those requests above, ‘money’, also performed well in the Personal Finance category between October and February, featuring in 19% of all requests. Again, numerous requests were looking for experts but there was also a focus on getting information about saving money. These varied from saving money on a renovation, saving money when doing laundry plus general requests around saving money over Christmas and in the January sales.

‘Saving/savings’ also performed well as a keyword too, appearing in 7% of all Personal Finance requests. National titles like the Daily Mirror and Daily Express submitted requests with these keywords as well as consumer titles such as Woman’s Own and Real Homes.

Within the cost-of-living crisis, one of the major concerns for people has been the rising energy bills and that has been reflected on the service with ‘energy’ as a keyword in 8% of all Personal Finance requests.

The Express.co.uk looked for an energy bill expert to report on gas boilers possibly being banned while The Daily Mirror wanted a case study of someone that invested in green energy years ago and is now seeing the benefit.

The other issue that has arisen over the last six months or so has been with mortgage rates increasing. ‘Mortgage’ as a keyword was in just over 3.5% of the enquiries between October and February as journalists look to get information on the latest rates as well as expert opinion from mortgage brokers and advisers. Requests came from titles including City A.M., The Daily Telegraph and Property Investor.

There has also been a lot of concern over pensions and the triple lock and with the cost-of-living crisis, some people have been forced to come out of retirement due to financial uncertainty. ‘Pension’ and ‘retirement’ both performed well as keywords at 7% and 2% respectively. Titles including Pensions Expert and The I paper were looking for experts and advice on pensions while Law360 and The Sunday Times asked for case studies of people coming out of retirement.

Keywords such as ‘banking’, ‘insurance’, ‘investment’, ‘inflation’ and ‘interest rate’ were all present in at least 2% or more of all Personal Finance requests. This shows there is plenty of opportunity to get clients featured in prominent outlets, whether they specialise in mortgages or pensions or insurance.

Overall, within the Personal Finance category, 46% of all the requests in this period were looking for a spokesperson or expert. Personal case study was the next most popular choice at 27%, followed by information for an article in third on 24%. The requests were dominated by National Newspaper/Current Affairs outlets with 46% from them and Consumer Media second on 29%. Trade/Business/Professional Media was third on 14% with Radio and Television fourth on 5%.

With energy companies due to hike their prices up in April, the cost-of-living crisis is unlikely to be going away anytime soon. That means journalists will be covering this issue closely, needing advice and experts to comment on what this will mean for consumers. The knock-on-effect is that people will have less money in their budget and will need to make savings, meaning these keywords will continue to appear in requests and provide more chances to get clients out in the media.

To receive relevant requests from the UK media straight to your inbox, find out more about the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service.

For more, find out why it can be more effective than #JournoRequest and the right way to reply to journalist requests.

Making crypto less cryptic: What is coming up in crypto finance

February 13, 2023/0 Comments/in PR, Communications, Media, Influencers Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

Cryptocurrency – despite all of the excited/trepidatious reporting about it in the media, and the celebrities who saw opportunity and quickly got involved – is still very early in its development as a finance option. With increased regulation of crypto assets and stable coins being proposed and heavily pushed for by politicians and regulatory bodies in the UK, crypto is a sector filled with as much uncertainty as potential.

Either way, knowledge of this space is not just a ‘nice to have’ for those in the finance sector; anyone who read the news of last year’s FTX collapse – clients, consumers or colleagues – could have questions about what is on the way and how to prepare.

Journalist and PR expert Olivier Acuña regularly reports on the crypto sector – here, he shares what 2023 will bring, how the comms sector can work with crypto clients and what is needed to build reputation and trust within and outside of the industry.

Trends coming up in crypto finance this year

‘I firmly believe that one of the biggest trends we’ll see in crypto this year has to do with the machine economy, or the decentralised smart device and machine network connectivity. This Web3 or crypto category holds great potential for mass adoption. Crypto and blockchain are still quite complex topics for about 80% of the population, however the vast majority of us understand what smart devices are and therefore seek to regain user data ownership, which has been monopolised by the Big Tech firms for about two decades.

‘Today, we are surrounded by over 40 billion smart devices and machines as well as trillions of sensors. Combined with AI, and blockchain, the machine economy could grow to about $13 trillion by the end of this decade/the beginning of the next.

‘So, while we expect the world to have a population of about 10 billion by 2030, by then there will be some 125 billion smart devices worldwide, that if connected to the Web3, would imply mass adoption, even adoption of many who do not understand they are using crypto and blockchain, but instead simply know they are benefiting from innovative technologies, which in essence would be true.

‘This year, we will also see further adoption of NFTs. Over 40 of the top 100 brands are already using NFTs for customer loyalty, engagement and rewards. This will continue to grow this year. We will also see more governments announcing digital currencies or centralised cryptocurrencies. And with that, we should also see further regulation as an urgent response, among others, to the Luna Terra, FTX, Celsius, Voyager and BlockFi dramas.’

Crypto companies differ from ‘traditional’ finance brands

‘This is a nascent industry. It is still widely run by young and very talented technologists who are passionate about what they develop, innovate and release. They have yet to fully understand and embrace marketing and PR. They have yet to understand the need to stop boasting about their technology and start humanising what they do to simplify their products and services so that a wider audience understands what they are delivering.

‘In my personal experience, I find this industry to be far more fast-paced than any other I’ve worked in as technology today is evolving at lightning speed. It is exciting and very interesting as there is tons to learn, but also a bit stressful because you have to keep up with daily changes within the industry.

‘There’s no doubt that blockchain technology will improve our lives. Many of us have yet to understand how. But the fact that you can regain control of your data, privacy and finances, is exhilarating. But with greater control, comes greater responsibility and understanding as, let’s remember, blockchain is about decentralisation, which means, for example, that if I opt out of banks because I want 100% control over my assets, I am not responsible for how I protect those assets, where I store them and how I transfer, send, withdraw, spend or save them.

‘There’s not a day that goes by without learning of a new blockchain use case or solution.’

Growing and maintaining reputation in the wake of the FTX collapse

‘The FTX and other crypto firms collapse in 2022 was a seriously loud wake up call. Yet the majority of the world’s population do not understand that those collapses had nothing to do with the technology itself, but rather with people who lack ethics and are unscrupulous. In 2022, people failed crypto, not the other way around.

‘Yes, it was a setback and yes, it did affect the Web3 (crypto and blockchain) reputation, but with information and education, more and more people understand that these types of issues affect all industries. The number of British businesses at risk of going bust rose by more than a third at the end of last year, according to a report by consultancy Begbies Traynor.’

Working with the media to gain coverage and engage consumer bases

‘I am a journalist by profession since 1984. I use that experience to shape and mould our IoTeX content in as appealing and captivating stories as possible. As a reporter, I had to pitch stories to my editors hoping to get some exposure to my writings. As a PR specialist, I work with the different team members to gather all the information and analyse it to compare it with what is currently dominating the news across the Web3 space. For this research, there are aggregators and top tier news outlets you need to investigate to find out which ones would be more likely to want your story.

‘In brief, I have to reiterate the importance of simplifying and humanising the information to make it more digestible by readers of diverse news outlets. If you cannot explain what you are trying to say in your press release or other content within the first 50 words, then you must go back to the drawing board to find out what the core of your story is before you pitch it to your media contacts.

‘It is hugely important to check databases or use Google to find out which news outlets and writers are covering the information you want to pitch. It is much easier to get a media placement if you know in advance who writes about the story you have.’

For how the UK media covered the FTX collapse, and changing attitudes to cryptocurrency, read our report. Completely new to Web3? Check out our quick explainer of all-things metaverse here.

Get help with pitching the right stories to the right journalists by downloading our Vuelio white paper How to pitch to journalists and find reporters covering crypto on the Vuelio Media Database.

How to be flexible: 4 ways to rework work

February 13, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Communications, PR Club Stakeholder Engagement, PR Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

The last UK lockdowns are long past, so what happens now when it comes to how we work? Firms like Goldman Sachs called staff back into the office, while other organisations are fully embracing hybrid patterns for their workforce.

With Government-enforced at-home working behind us, now is when employers and employees have the opportunity to take stock and rework how they work for healthier, happier and more effective outcomes.

For the Vuelio webinar ‘Work, Life and Balance: The PR challenge of 2023’, Hera Comms founder and managing director Anna Geffert, Atom Bank’s head of PR and communications Robbie Steel and Natwest Group’s assistant director, communications and engagement Sarah Beber shared the choices being made in their own companies and what is working for them.

‘Like many organisations, we’re still finding our feet,’ says Sarah.

Read on for ideas on what could work for you:

1) Take time to rethink how you work

‘The pandemic changed the way we think about flexible working,’ shared Sarah Beber about the changes that had to happen at Natwest Group.

‘Prior to COVID-19 there were a number of us who worked flexibly, but there were areas and teams where it would not be seen to be the “done thing”. Then COVID forced it on us. There were definitely people who had never considered it, who were suddenly doing it and loving it. We are still finding our feet; finding what works and what doesn’t.’

2) Find new ways to connect with your colleagues

‘There are lots of conversations about how to make the most of the time in the office and how people can stay connected,’ shared Sarah.

‘Our team at Natwest are spread out – if I’m in the office, a lot of them aren’t. We’re still trying to work out what is best for us and how to stay engaged. All the tried-and-tested channels are no longer tried-and-tested, not when you’re physically and mentally in different places – it’s an added layer of complexity and I imagine it is the same for many people.’

3) Evolve corporate culture to fit

‘I’m not sure the four-day week would have happened had COVID-19 not happened,’ admitted Robbie Steel, who shared how Atom Bank moved to a four-day working pattern successfully. Could a four-day week work for other organisations now the world of work is changing?

‘There are so many companies offering this now,’ said Robbie. ‘One challenge is the culture piece – you lose a lot of togetherness and the social part of work. At Atom, people mentioned that it wasn’t the same after the height of the pandemic. That is one area we’re trying to get back into the office culture.’

4) Like working from home? Just don’t forget the benefits of face-to-face office time

‘Now we’re seeing what flexible working can really do – what the pitfalls, dangers and benefits are,’ said Anna Geffert.

‘Junior people, just out of university, can really struggle teaching themselves to do their job while working from home – it is very difficult to teach newly-graduated people through osmosis; you learn so much being in-office. I’ve seen this from other agencies, also – there is a huge skills gap at the moment. Some new employees are not as developed in skill set as you would expect from someone three years qualified.

‘There has to be a happy medium. I’m in office three days a week – what is called a ‘TWAT’, I think! I haven’t heard of anyone doing full-time in-office, or purely flex.

‘I think it is dependent on sector, on business culture, and if you can physically do that. In finance, you can’t have the tech at home; there are sensitivity and privacy regulations – I get that. But there has to be a conversation. And that conversation will become tricky. People could start losing out on promotions if they aren’t in-office. How can you make sure people aren’t unfairly treated just because they weren’t there? They miss the boss saying “Do you want to go for lunch?” or when clients are in.

‘That’s the danger we are now seeing and need to be aware of.’

Watch the full webinar ‘Work, Life and Balance: The PR challenge of 2023‘ for more on the future of work and the impact of the last few years on the PR and communications industry.

Quite like working from home, either full-time or flexibly? Remember to keep it professional on work calls – here are pointers on video call etiquette, with warning stories of high-profile inappropriate video call filters and childminding fails from the early days of the pandemic.

Waste Not, Want Not – How brands can help combat food waste with effective PR and social media campaigns

February 9, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Communications, Media, Food Media Database, Media Analysis, PR Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

This is a guest post from Alex Halls, account director at Hatch.

Food waste is a huge issue in the UK, with an estimated 10.2 million tonnes of food ending up in the bin every single year. That’s enough food to feed the entire population of London for a whole year. Of this, it is estimated that 7.3 million tonnes are ‘avoidable’, meaning it could have been consumed had it been managed better and let’s be honest, we’re all guilty of it.

It’s not just a waste of perfectly good food, it is also a drain on resources and terrible for the environment. It is estimated that the carbon footprint of food waste in the UK is equivalent to that of 18 million cars on the road. According to the United Nations, if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States.

With an increasing number of environmentally-conscious consumers and an ever-worsening food waste problem, it is important that brands use their platforms to step in and help combat the issue. One of the most effective ways to do this is through PR and social media campaigns. These campaigns can be used to raise awareness about the issue, share information about the impact of food waste on the environment, educate and encourage consumers to make changes in their own lives.

Education

The key to any change is through education and it is no different in the fight against food waste. According to a report by WRAP, households are responsible for 60% of the UK’s food waste, so it is clear there is an issue that starts at home.

An effective way to combat food waste is by utilising recipes that incorporate leftovers and help people make the most of food they have in the fridge by providing inspiration and techniques to use up and preserve food.

The rise of subscription services like Hello Fresh and Mindful Chef have meant that people are only getting the amount of food they need in, and menu planning is a great way to reduce food waste. But we’ve all been in the shop when we’re hungry and bought far too much.

In a cost-of-living crisis, it is even more important that we plan meals, and brands have a real opportunity to create inspirational content that can help give people the tools and techniques they need to fix the issue at home.

We’ve seen over the last few years the sheer amount of food-related content on social media and that’s growing even more with the rise of TikTok – so my number one tip, if you’re a brand in this sector and you want to do something to combat food waste, is to get your apron on and start inspiring your consumers with tasty, easy-to-follow and engaging recipe content. If you wanted to take this on the road, you could look at doing a zero-waste street food van or pop up café to get your tasty dishes in the hands of potential customers and engage directly with your target audience. There are loads of ways you can expand on it, but at the heart it is about education and inspiration.

At Hatch, we work with the British Growers Association on the Yes Peas! Campaign to promote the benefits of frozen peas and shine a light on the industry. It’s tempting to just whack peas on the side of your plate and have done with it, but what Yes Peas! does so brilliantly is hero the ingredient and make it the star of the show through recipes. It’s needed as well, as the average person eats around 9,000 peas every year.

Yes Peas! also educates consumers on the wider environmental benefits. Peas are by far the most environmentally-friendly veg in the UK; we’re 90% self-sufficient as a nation, there’s little to no waste as the pods are utilised in different ways and any that don’t fit the grade are used in animal feed. Peas go from field to frozen in around 150-minutes, meaning little supply chain wastage.

But it’s not just recipes that help to educate the consumer. Research, white papers and other helpful content e.g. downloadable meal planners and weekly menus can also play a huge role. Simple tactics like this can be an incredibly cost-effective way to make a difference.

Shock Tactics

A tried and tested strategy when it comes to affecting real change through marketing strategies is the implementation of shock tactics. By highlighting the staggering statistics of food waste and the impact it has on the environment and global food security, brands can create a sense of urgency and use it to motivate consumers to take action.

Images of overflowing landfills and the devastating effects on the planet can be a powerful way to get people talking about the issue.

You may remember a campaign a few years ago when WRAP showed how much food a household wastes in a year:

This has worked in the past for other environmental causes like littering, plastic waste, ocean pollution and so on. People find it hard to visualise numbers and figures in their head, so showing them in a simple way can make a big impression and make for a great impactful stunt (the only issue is make sure all the food doesn’t go to waste just for the sake of your own stunt, or you’re just adding to the problem).

Partnerships

Another way brands can look to target food waste through their PR and social media activity is by partnering with like-minded charities, organisations and people. This not only helps to support a good cause but builds a positive reputation for the brand. Food waste charities redistribute nearly 50,000 tonnes of food each year, making them a crucial ingredient in the fight against food waste, and well-known chefs and food writers have been campaigning for years on the issue.

A fantastic example of this in the UK is the food waste reduction campaign ‘Too Good To Go’, which is supported by major supermarkets, restaurant chains and independents. This campaign focuses on reducing food waste by making surplus food available to consumers at reduced prices through an app, and has helped to divert tonnes of food that would have otherwise been heading to landfill.

Partnering with influencers and celebrities who have a vested interest can also help elevate your PR and social campaigns. However, it is important that you remain authentic and seek out partners who genuinely care. At Hatch we often say consumers have the best bulls**t detectors around and with growing skepticism around influencers, you don’t want to get it wrong.

People like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who has been a prominent campaigner against food waste for many years, would be the perfect face of a food waste campaign for a brand looking to gain additional cut through, utilising his name, expertise and genuine passion for the cause would prove a beneficial strategy.

Sustainable Practices

That said, it is not just about raising awareness and educating consumers, it’s also about encouraging them to take action themselves. One way brands can do this is by using their own supply chain to reduce food waste. According to a report by the Carbon Trust, food waste in the supply chain accounts for 33% of all food waste in the UK.

By implementing sustainable practices such as composting, reducing packaging, and using more efficient production methods, brands can help to combat food waste at the source and set an example for others in the industry to follow.

Setting sustainability targets and committing to achievable goals is a great way to lead by example and can form the basis of any key messages and strategy when launching a marketing campaign to combat food waste. A strong proactive and reactive press office function, which shares these key messages and utilises expert stakeholders to comment on these issues, is a brilliant way of raising awareness of your brand and its commitment to combating food waste.

After all, you have to get your own house in order and practice what you preach to be taken seriously. We’ve seen so many people accused of greenwashing or offering empty promises, so with any activity of this nature, it’s important it’s authentic.

Conclusion

A successful PR and social media campaign can have a huge impact, helping to raise awareness about the issue, educate consumers on how to reduce food waste at home, and encourage people to make changes in their own lives. By utilising data and insight, brands can make changes in their own supply chain that can reduce food waste and improve sustainability. There are loads more tactics brands could use as part of their strategy, but hopefully this sparks some inspiration and helps you in the fight against food waste.

Alex has over six years’ experience in PR working across a range of B2B and B2C clients in FCMG, Food & Drink, Sport and Lifestyle sectors.

Interview with Logistics Magazine editor Matt Harrington

An industry on the move: Logistics Magazine editor Matt Harrington on what is happening in logistics

February 8, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, Journalist Spotlight, Media Media Database, Media Analysis, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

Supply chain issues, the cost-of-living crisis, fluctuating fuel and energy prices – the logistics sector is facing its share of challenges this year.

Helping to keep the sector informed of what is on the road ahead is Logistics Magazine, which goes out to over 23,000 Logistics UK members and senior businesspeople in the logistics sector each week.

‘In my seven years as Editor, I have never ceased to be amazed at the truly dizzying array of issues that interest our readers, from the Northern Ireland Protocol to tyre husbandry – and everything in between,’ says Matt Harrington, covering an industry that has had to be increasingly flexible over the last few years, with more change on the way:

‘Before COVID-19, Logistics Magazine was a monthly membership journal, which was chiefly distributed as a print title. Following the pandemic and the widespread shift to digital news consumption, it has evolved into a searchable online web portal. In its first two years, our digital portal received more than a quarter of a million visits, quickly becoming an essential repository for news and views on the industry.’

Read on for insight from Matt on the trends coming up for logistics – sustainability, shifting perceptions and innovation.

How has the logistics sector changed since you’ve been covering it?

In the seven years that I have been covering the industry, logistics has undergone a transformation. Previously something of an invisible sector, first Brexit and then the COVID-19 pandemic shone a spotlight on the industry like never before, leading to a much greater appreciation by the general public of how integral the logistics sector is to their daily lives.

The other big development is decarbonisation – seven years ago it was perceived to be something of a niche or side issue. Now, with the deadline for ending the sale of petrol and diesel vans just seven short years away, I would argue that decarbonisation sits at the very top of the industry’s agenda.

How do you see the impact of supply chain issues evolving over the next few years in the UK and beyond?

The IMF recently issued a warning that it expected the UK to be the only major economy to shrink in 2023. So, we’re in very uncertain times, not just for logistics but every business sector in the UK economy. Logistics has a reputation for being adaptable and resilient, and given that many areas of the sector, such as food retailing or supplying pharmaceuticals to hospitals, are essential services it seems reasonable to assume that the industry will weather the coming storm better than most. However, logistics will not be immune from any wider economic slowdown, so it’s likely that it will not continue to grow at the same pace.

What are the biggest trends for the logistics sector this year?

The scarcity of skilled workers continues to be a significant issue for the logistics industry. While we may be on the cusp of a recession, the labour market remains extremely tight in the UK with a dearth of skilled candidates.

In the autumn of 2021, the sector faced an acute shortage of HGV drivers. Now that crisis has eased, but the problem has shifted to a shortage of mechanics and technicians. That’s partly because many mechanics have C+E driving entitlement so can command a higher salary as a driver. This follows the law of unintended consequences – where plugging a gap in one part of the sector leads to shortages elsewhere.

So, we must battle for talent with a number of other business sectors, many of whom may appear more superficially appealing to a younger demographic. That’s why Logistics UK, in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, launched the industry-wide Generation Logistics campaign last year – to help shift perceptions of the sector.

Are logistics companies doing enough to incorporate net zero goals into their planning?

Getting ready for decarbonisation is going to be a key challenge for 2023. Businesses need to make it integral to their future planning and ensure they have the finance available to fund new vehicles, new technology and new infrastructure. If they need to upgrade the electricity supply to their depots, they also need to secure the necessary agreement with their landlord. And if they are thinking of taking a new warehouse, they need to consider whether it is futureproofed for a decarbonised fleet.

What information from PRs is useful to Logistics UK and the magazine, and how would you prefer they get in touch?

As the house magazine for a national trade body, Logistics Magazine is unusual in that it already has a ready supply of news stories and features on the key policy issues affecting the sector. For press releases to cut through, they need to be reporting something of wider significance, such as the key finding of a large survey or the launch of a landmark report.

What do PRs need to know about the logistics industry that is unique to the sector – does it have big differences to other industries?

Logistics is a fast-moving industry (both literally and metaphorically). It is also extremely responsive to whatever is happening in the wider economy. Technology and innovation have an increasingly large role to play in the industry’s transformation, particularly in the coming years as efforts ramp up to decarbonise and automate freight activities.

Which logistics companies are doing a good job when it comes to sustainability and environmental considerations?

Many of our 20,000 members place sustainability and environmental issues at the heart of their logistics activities, and many others plan to do so in the near future.

In 2021, Logistics UK launched a Route to Net Zero campaign and was delighted that so many of its members opted to join. They included high street retailers, local authorities, parcel couriers, utility companies, as well as more traditional haulage firms. Businesses of all sizes too – great to see.

Find out more about Logistics Magazine on the Vuelio Media Database – request a demo here.

The future of the NHS Pay Review Body

February 6, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, Politics, Health, Public Affairs Political Services, Political Database Blog Posts /by Helen Stott

Aside from the economy, recent polling suggests that the public considers health to be the most important issue facing the country right now. With the ongoing crisis in A&E departments regularly making headlines, it seems likely that the Government’s ability to turn around the NHS’s misfortunes will significantly impact on its ability to perform at the next general election.

Last week, the Government released its urgent and emergency care recovery plan, pledging to slash waiting lists by creating 5000 more beds, 800 new ambulances and expanding the use of ‘virtual wards’ to treat people from home. However, the announcements have been met by scepticism by NHS leaders who point out the 130,000 vacancies across the NHS and suggest that such pledges are meaningless without the workforce plan to back it up. Saffron Cowdrey, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said that ‘though these new measures are welcome, they are not enough in themselves. We desperately need action to tackle the vast workforce shortages, staff exhaustion and burnout, and the inability to free up capacity by discharging medically fit patients in a safe and timely way’.

Industrial action looks set to intensify as we head further into 2023. Ambulance workers, nurses and physiotherapists at NHS trusts across the country will all be going on strike at some point this week. Furthermore, there is a high probability that the junior doctors’ ballot closing next week will deliver a mandate for strike action and the BMA is planning to hold an indicative ballot of consultants later in the month. Yet there is little sign of a resolution to the disputes in the immediate future. Negotiations with the health unions have failed to lead anywhere due to the Government’s refusal to talk about pay. When pressed, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other senior Government figures have pointed to the fact that pay is decided by the independent NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB).

However, unions have disputed the true independence of the NHSPRB, and are refusing to submit evidence this year until their industrial disputes are resolved. Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite, said the NHSPRB is ‘long past its sell-by date’ and ‘a willing partner in working to the Government’s pay cuts agenda’, pointing out that the Government still dictates the boundaries within which pay offers must lie.

Given a chance to respond to these allegations while being questioned by the Health and Social Care Committee early last week, chair of the NHSPRB Philippa Hird defended the pay review body’s neutrality and commitment to taking into account all the evidence. She gestured to the fact that in two recent years, the NHSPRB actually recommended pay rises higher than the Government’s remit. This is true: in 2022 the Government said it would be willing to offer NHS staff a 3% pay rise and the NHSPRB ended up recommending 4.8%. However, this is a much smaller jump than the 19% the Royal College of Nurses are asking for – a rise they argue is necessary to counter over a decade of erosion in real terms pay.

Members of the Select Committee were astonished to hear that the Government has missed the deadline to submit evidence to the NHSPRB, delaying any future pay rise to past April. When he was questioned on the subject later that day, Health Secretary Steve Barclay insisted that his Department would be submitting evidence as soon as possible and delays were ‘to make sure that the evidence best reflected the wider economic circumstances’, hinting that an significantly improved pay offer would be on the table – though whether it will be enough to end the dispute remains to be seen.

For regular updates on what is happening in UK politics and public affairs, sign up to our weekly Point of Order newsletter, going out every Friday morning.

The role of social media in PR: Know its risks and how to tackle them

February 6, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Communications, Media, Social Media, PR Club Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, PR Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

This is a guest post from Mary Poliakova, PR consultant and co-founder of Drofa Comms.

PR and media professionals know the power of social media, with 93% of public relations professionals following journalists on social platforms and 83% of reporters leveraging Twitter for their professional work.

While social networks are accessible to everyone, they inspire confidence by offering a fast and straightforward channel of communication. However, there is also a flip side of the coin. Exploiting social media’s vulnerabilities can lead to massive disinformation campaigns, the rapid spread of fake news, as well as other dangerous trends.

Social Media’s role in an individual’s life

Before we dive deep into social media’s risks, it’s important to revisit its role in our lives and its four primary functions.

The first is the mass media function, which includes generating personalized newsfeeds through sophisticated algorithms. Social media is also a news-producing machine that serves as an information source for many.

Secondly, it is a powerful channel that can greatly influence different aspects of our lives. This aspect of social media is what empowers influencers, celebrities, and other well-known people with increased authority over financial markets and the economy. There are many examples of this phenomenon – from the relationship between Donald Trump’s Twitter-heavy days and stock price falls during his presidency to Elon Musk’s market manipulation allegations.

Thirdly, it is a huge book of reviews and suggestions. Thanks to feedback and suggestion functions, users are increasingly turning social media platforms into review platforms of different services, companies, websites, and more. In fact, while 51% of a survey’s respondents stated they trust other consumers more than they do brands, another 40% feel that an influencer’s promotional activity is the most likely way to convince them to purchase a product.

As the fourth function, social media is a communication channel with “powers that be,” as it is the easiest way to stay in touch with your favorite bands, artists, or political figures. Following a person’s pages and commenting on their posts makes you feel connected to someone who doesn’t even know about your existence. There is even a term for these one-way friendships with famous people called parasocial relationships.

Fake news and the algorithm dilemma

Over the 20 years I’ve spent in journalism and PR, I have learned that the power of media can be misused to manipulate others and change public opinion in important matters. Considering the easy accessibility of social media and the massive activity among its use cases, these dangers are even more substantial than for traditional media.

Fake news is a perfect example in this field. From the infamous US presidential election of 2016 and the UK’s Brexit referendum to COVID vaccine hoaxes, false and misleading information can spread like wildfire on social media platforms. And fake news continues circulating among users even in the current geopolitical turmoil.

Misleading information remains a problem despite tech companies like Meta‘s and Google‘s unsuccessful attempts to tackle this challenge. Below, you can find one of Elon Musk’s first statements after becoming Twitter’s new CEO and owner after buying the company for $44 billion. Even after 16 years of market history, combating the spread of fake news remains a core issue of the social media platform.

At the same time, the social media landscape has an algorithm dilemma. While platforms leverage state-of-the-art AI and ML for moderation and recommendation, bad actors can exploit their designs to promote extremist content or amplify one political side at the expense of its opponents.

PR and marketing specialists know firsthand how to manipulate the audience’s minds – targeted ads are a perfect example of that. And this issue is so substantial that many countries have launched their own initiatives to combat manipulation on social media (the EU has proposed one of the most advanced legislations in this field).

Thus, anyone with the necessary resources can control public consciousness, influencing consumer demand. And social media is a massive channel for manipulating consumers’ opinions. But what can be done about it? And who is responsible?

It is our job to combat misinformation

First of all, the one who stands behind a social network is responsible for its operation and all the problems and challenges taking place on the platform. Mark Zuckerberg’s opening statement before a joint Senate Committee in April 2018 serves as an excellent example.

That said, I firmly believe that journalists and PR professionals should also bear responsibility. Simply put, this means that it’s also our job to combat misinformation and fake news in the digital realm.

Every social network has its own rules. Now, the task of Public Relations professionals and journalists is to raise the issue of verification and fact-checking. As social networks are more than a cool PR tool, we need to develop uniform rules and norms.

As the collective consciousness is very easy to be manipulated, it is a task with a huge responsibility. Thus, we must dedicate more time to discussing this problem within our professional community and with our speakers.

Furthermore, we must treat all information critically. Before writing a story based on a Twitter post, review who shared it, when it was published, and under what circumstances. With only a little more work, we can effectively combat fake news, minimizing the spread of misleading information.

Mary Poliakova has more than 10 years of experience executing successful PR campaigns for FinTech companies, and more than 15 years of experience as a journalist.

Regulation in the wake of the FTX collapse

January 30, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, Politics, PR, Communications, Media, Public Affairs Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, Political Services, Political Database Blog Posts /by Ingrid Marin

In April 2022, John Glen, then Economic Secretary to the Treasury, made a big commitment to make the UK a global hub for crypto business. On the same day, HM Treasury published its response to the consultation on the regulatory approach to cryptoassets and stablecoins. The response outlined the Government’s intention to bring stablecoins, where used as a means of payment, into the regulatory perimeter. The rationale for doing this is that certain stablecoins have the capacity to potentially become a widespread means of payment including by retail customers, driving consumer choice and efficiencies. The Government also confirmed that it will consult on regulating a wider set of cryptoasset activities, in view of their continued growth and uptake worldwide.

The Government also conducted a Call for Evidence on the investment and wholesale uses of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in financial markets.

The Government recognised the substantial benefits and transformative impact that could be delivered by DLT when adopted in Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs). In April 2022, the Government confirmed it is developing an FMI Sandbox to support firms wanting to innovate.

The Government has also consulted on plans to give the FCA more powers to regulate cryptoasset promotions. In its consultation paper the Government said it intended to act to ensure the appropriate regulation of cryptoasset promotions through secondary legislation.

Recent events since April 2022, in particular the failure of FTX, has lit a fire under the push for tailored rules for the market. Rebecca Driver, Member of the Financial Services Consumer Panel, said that the collapse of FTX reinforced to her the idea that if the product is creating the same sort of risks that you have in other spheres, it should be regulated in the same way or at least in a comparable way.

During a Treasury Committee oral evidence session Andrew Griffith, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury said that given the failure of FTX, part of the future for the crypto asset industry in 2023 is getting regulation right ‘not to have no regulation or to bake it in fully, as if this is already an established market and a fact, but to get that balance right.’

He emphasised there are measures in the Financial Services and Markets (FSM) Bill that will make way for crypto to be regulated in the UK. The Bill brings stablecoins, into the scope of regulation when used as a form of payment, paving their way for use in the UK as a recognised form of payment.

Clauses 21 and 22 and Schedule 6 extend existing payments legislation to include payment systems and service providers that use digital settlement assets, including forms of crypto assets used for payments, such as stablecoin backed by fiat currency. This brings such payment systems within the regulatory remits of the Bank of England and the Payment Systems Regulator.

Clauses 65 and 8 clarify that the Treasury has the necessary powers to regulate crypto asset activities within the existing financial services framework, as extended by this Bill. This will ensure that HM Treasury is equipped to respond to developments in cryptoassets more quickly and ensure that HM Treasury and the regulators can update the cryptoasset regulation as international standards are developed. Moreover, the effect of these two clauses, is that Government has the flexibility to introduce regulation in an agile way using secondary legislation; including appropriate regulation of cryptoasset promotions (Clause 65(2))

To foster innovation, Clauses 13 to 17 and Schedule 4 enable the delivery of financial market infrastructure (FMI) sandboxes, allowing firms to test the use, the applications, of new and potentially transformative technologies.

When asked about FCA’s views on crypto asset regulation, Sarah Pritchard – Executive Director for Markets at Financial Conduct Authority – said the FCA is working to support the introduction of rules on financial promotion. While the FCA has not confirmed the final set of rules for how that will operate, they have said that we can very much expect them to take a similar approach to the new rules they confirmed for high-risk investments back in August 2022.

As mentioned previously, the Government has said it intends to launch a consultation on its regulatory approach to a wider range of cryptoassets. The explanatory notes to the FSM bill as introduced in the House of Lords, state that ‘the Government intends to launch a consultation on its regulatory approach to wider cryptoassets beyond stablecoins used for payments, including those primarily used as a means of investment (such as bitcoin) later in 2022’. In January 2023, Andrew Griffith confirmed that the Government will be coming forward with two consultations in a matter of weeks. One about the general regulatory approach to crypto-assets and the other about a sovereign central bank digital currency. Implicit within that is that the Government are probably not going to be legislating in 2023 on further regulation.

On the FSM Bill, Andrew Griffith noted that he hopes that it will be done by Easter. The FSM Bill was already debated in the House of Commons and had its second reading in the House of Lords in early January.

While the Government proposed a staged and proportionate approach to regulation, one of the main criticisms during second reading of the FSM Bill in the House of Lords was that, while the Bill brings crypto in the regulatory environment and allows for further regulation in the future, it seems like a missed opportunity not to regulate further.

Alison Thewliss similarly thinks the Government is falling behind, mentioning that Europe has recently implemented its markets and crypto assets regulations—MiCA. Responding to her Andrew Griffith said that MiCA covers some but not all the areas they would aspire to cover. He argued that when they will come forward with the consultations they will talk about other activities.

For how the UK media covered the FTX collapse and what it means for the cryptocurrency space, read our report using insight from Vuelio Media Monitoring.

What impact has TikTok had on food and drink

How has TikTok impacted Food & Drink content and how will it dominate in 2023?

January 30, 2023/0 Comments/in PR, Communications, Media, Social Media, PR Club, Influencers Media Database, Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, PR Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

This is a guest post from Hatch Group‘s social media lead Jack Moore.

I’m going to start this piece with an apology. I’m about to use a word that might cause you to roll your eyes, sigh or even shake your head, and for that I’m sorry. The last three years in the Food & Drink industry have been unprecedented. There, I said it.

You’ll have no doubt seen this written a million and one times since 2020, but it’s an inescapable fact that they have. I’m not going to go into detailed analysis on how and why as they’re well documented, but the landscape has shifted in nearly every facet of the industry. From the very real staffing and supply chain difficulties facing restaurants, bars and manufacturers across the UK, to the more nuanced change in consumer behavior and the social media landscape for marketers working in this space.

For the latter, the rise of TikTok has presented some incredible opportunities and challenges for Food & Drink, but how has it impacted the industry since its rise in popularity and what can you expect in 2023?

TikTok’s Impact

The relationship between Food & Drink and social media is certainly nothing new. When Instagram first grew in popularity the feed was littered with flat lay pictures of the last meal your friends enjoyed or later down the line, boomerangs of you and your friends clinking your cocktails together. TikTok however has added a new dimension to this relationship.

This isn’t the content you’ll find on TikTok. First and foremost, the channel is an entertainment platform, so content needs to entertain, educate and inspire. This isn’t unique to TikTok by any stretch but it’s certainly the channel where if your content doesn’t do this, you will see the lack of reach or engagement.

To highlight the impact the platform has had on Food & Drink, let’s focus one specific area; reviews. This isn’t the only genre of content in the sector, but it is one where TikTok’s impact is magnified.

Reviews

Restaurant, bar or product reviews are nothing new, everyone is a critic. Before TikTok, a Facebook review on your page or an Instagram post about the service at your bar would only reach a limited audience. That doesn’t diminish the importance of a good or bad review on those channels at all, but TikTok’s algorithm works in a slightly different way to these platforms so the potential for your brand to be seen by fresh eyes is even greater.

TikTok doesn’t necessarily show you content from accounts you follow as a priority, it looks for content it thinks you’ll enjoy. So, if you’re into trying out the latest restaurant or bar experiences, you better believe that TikTok will show you the best video reviews to whet your appetite.

Keith Lee, a US-based TikTok food reviewer, recently catapulted a floundering Las Vegas pizzeria to stardom with one video sharing his positive review of the food and service at Frankensons. Overnight, the pizzeria’s phonelines were ringing non-stop, and people from as far away as Iowa (a three-hour flight) were visiting for a taste.

This is an extreme case with a fantastic outcome. Not every TikTok review will help you become a viral sensation, but Keith’s authentic and honest review shows that people put trust in creators on TikTok and their opinions, enough trust that they’d hop on a flight to get a slice.

But beware, there is a downside. It might be too soon to say if Frankensons will become a mainstay of the Las Vegas food scene, a must-visit attraction for tourists, but my guess will be that once the hype has died down it will be somewhat business as usual for Frankensons. Much like the content trends on TikTok, another restaurant will rise as one fades into the background again. And all this is before we even get into negative reviews, but honestly that’s a whole other piece. Suffice to say, these can be just as impactful as Keith’s Frankensons review, but without the positive outcomes.

TikTok in 2023

So, what about this year? How is TikTok going to dominate the food & drink space? And most importantly what can you do?

TikTok has arrived. It’s no longer an emerging platform and its impact can already be seen both positively and negatively across the industry. I don’t see that changing in 2023 compared to 2022, but as even more people download the app and begin to consume content, you might see that impact intensify. The things that made TikTok a great place for users will still be important and arguably more so as the platform becomes more saturated. Entertainment, education and inspiration.

So, what can you do? For those creating content for their own channels, be reactive to trends that are suitable for your brand. Not all of them will be so don’t be afraid to skip over some of them. Provide value to your audience. When they watch your video, what is in it for them? Content that focuses on selling your product won’t work here.

If you’re not creating content for your own channel, there’s still ways to play in this space. There are so many authentic and entertaining content creators on TikTok, 2023 is the year to utilise them. Opening a new venue? Invite creators to the launch and let them capture their experience to share with their audience. Got a new product? How about working with the numerous recipe creators to inspire people to make something with your product.

TikTok is littered with opportunities for those in the food and drink sector in 2023, the only real question is which ones should you pursue.

Jack is the social media lead at Hatch Group and has nearly a decade of experience in social media, working with global and national brands to deliver creative and strategic social media strategies. Hatch is a PR, social media and activation agency with offices in Leeds and London. Founded in 2008, it works with clients across food, drink, sport and FMCG.

22 Valentine’s Day Social Media Post Examples for Brands

January 26, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Communications, Media Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

This is a guest post from Bottle PR‘s lead creative Laura Santillana.

Are you just a brand standing in front of a follower asking them to love you?

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, love is in the air and chocolate is in the aisles. It’s also the perfect opportunity for brands to get in on the love fest and connect with their audience in a way that’s both creative and heartwarming.

If you’re a brand looking to create a buzz on social media this Valentine’s Day, you’ve come to the right place. Bottle PR have rounded up 22 examples of Valentine’s Day social media posts that’ll make Cupid himself say ‘damn, that’s clever’. From punny graphics to inspirational messages, these examples will give you the spark you need to create posts that’ll make your audience swoon.

Create Valentine’s Day cards

It’s time to spread the love, and what better way to do it than with the sultry tone of your brand? Not only will you be building brand awareness and recognition with content that’s as unique as your brand, but with followers sharing, commenting, and reposting, you’ll also be setting hearts aflutter with increased engagement on social media.

Host a V-Day giveaway

Social media competitions and giveaways are the ultimate way to get your followers’ hearts racing (and thumbs scrolling), with Valentine’s Day being a great seasonal hook to wrap them around. Encourage them to like, comment, and share, and watch as engagement on your channels soar. Not only will you be boosting your brand’s visibility and reach, but you’ll also be giving your followers a sneak peek at the goods you have on offer. So, let the games begin and may the best follower win.

Celebrate self-love

Valentine’s Day is not just for lovers, it’s for self-lovers too. By encouraging your followers to prioritise self-care and wellbeing on this holiday, you empower them to take charge of their own happiness. Not only will this foster a positive association with your brand, but it also opens the door to connecting with a wider, more inclusive audience. Go ahead and give your followers a gift they can truly appreciate – the gift of self-love.

Share a smile

Who says Valentine’s Day has to be all lovey-dovey? Throw a little humour into the mix to humanise your brand. Share a meme, or create some light-hearted Valentine’s Day antics, and suddenly you’re more relatable than a heart-shaped pizza. Just make sure the humor fits your brand’s tone of voice and you include your key brand codes so everyone knows it’s your brand behind the lols when they inevitably share it.

Shareable quotes

Quotable, much? Nothing says ‘we understand you’ like a perfectly curated quote that hits your followers right in the heart. Get your audience feeling all the feels by sharing quotes that strike a chord with them. And don’t just grab any old quote off the internet, make sure it’s tailored to your target audience and fits with your brand’s tone of voice.

Roses are red

Feeling a little lost in the Valentine’s Day shuffle? When in doubt, keep it simple. The colour red is often associated with passion, energy, excitement, and – you guessed it – love. If none of the above feels suitable to your brand or audience, a simple pop of red or pink gives a nod to Valentine’s Day while enabling your brand to continue with its regularly-scheduled content.

And there you have it, a plethora of Valentine’s Day social media post ideas that will make your brand stand out like a red rose in a field of daisies. Whether you’re punning it up, promoting self-love, sharing memes, or painting the town red, these ideas are sure to make your followers fall head over heels for your brand. So, grab a glass of wine and get to planning, Cupid’s got nothing on you.

For finding the right influencer for your social media campaigns this Valentine’s Day and beyond, check out the Vuelio Media Database (and make sure they are definitely right for your brand with these pointers on picking your brand ambassadors wisely).

What is coming up for the energy sector?

What is in store for the energy sector this year?

January 25, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Communications, Media Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

Mid-2022 was a fraught time for the energy sector as Ofgem demanded companies do more to help customers struggling to pay their bills and keep their homes heated. Energy brands had to do better when it came to honouring their responsibilities to the public and communicating the support available.

With 2023 promising to be another financially-difficult year for many, here is insight on what is to come as well as how to plan and communicate clearly from industry experts Sherwood Power CEO Alex Hunter, SunGift Solar founder Gabriel Wondrausch and Williams Nicolson director Claire Foster.

Will supply/demand issues ease in 2023?

Not likely, says strategic communications and change management consultancy Williams Nicholson’s Claire Foster:

‘The pandemic put pressure on supply chains; logistic disruptions, and soaring energy prices have contributed to shortages and spiralling transport costs. Against this backdrop, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated the situation adding additional pressure to the already unpredictable global trade landscape.

‘Globalisation, as we know it, is over. The frequency and severity of climate events persist and demand a survival strategy focused on autonomy, resiliency and risk management. A joined-up plan to cool a hot planet would benefit everyone, but leaders are more focused on their domestic territory right now.’

Sherwood Power is a renewable energy storage company that works with businesses to help them switch to renewable energies – its CEO Alex Hunter agrees that 2023 is going to be incredibly difficult for fuel and energy businesses:

‘The current issues with supply and demand are unlikely to change dramatically in the near future, and these are particularly difficult for fuel or energy-intensive businesses (such as manufacturing, data centres, delivery and logistics, etc.). Amid growing concerns about energy security and the ongoing rise in energy prices, we’re expecting to see more businesses make significant investments into renewable energy in 2023.’

Where things start to look more promising is increased public interest in sustainable and renewable energy… but this also comes with challenges:

‘From our perspective, we’re seeing that supply issues are easing,’ shares SunGift Solar’s Gabriel Wondrausch.

Experiencing an unprecedented surge in enquiries over the last year, the solar, storage and electric vehicle charger installer was hit by the challenges of supply and demand.

‘While certain components remain in short supply, the situation has certainly improved.

‘In fact, we’re currently deploying at our highest levels ever thanks to having an adaptive strategy in light of supply-related challenges.’

What do energy brand communicators need to know now?

‘It’s essential to keep clear lines of communication with customers from the outset, while clearly managing expectations from the first contact,’ advises Gabriel.

‘As a great deal of conflict can be avoided if people are prewarned as much as possible that there may be delays with their product or service.’

Alex advises action: ‘As investment in renewable energy becomes more common practice, companies that are not embracing renewables might find that they have to justify their inaction to their consumers – consumers that are increasingly concerned with both the rising cost of goods associated with fuel prices and the environmental impact of non-renewable energy.

‘We may also see more companies lending their voice to lobbying efforts, calling on Government to make it easier for businesses to invest in renewable energies, for example, by incentivising investment through tax breaks or access to low-cost finance schemes.’

On-going initiatives, incentives and goals are also advised by Claire Foster, co-author of The Williams Nicolson Trend Index:

‘Consider how your business can sustain success amidst a turbulent economy.’

‘Social impact encompasses long-term solutions and the overall longevity of your business. It is not necessary to reinvent the wheel, but a reassessment in production is needed as inflation and supply chain disruptions are expected to continue to rise’.

Key responsibilities for companies communicating change and possible risk to consumers?

Remember what is important to your business, says Gabriel:

‘Ongoing supply and demand issues have led us to go back to our mission statement and values.

‘We’ve remained customer-centric, inviting customers to partake in our survey to get an idea of how best we can improve our service in such challenging circumstances. This feedback has been taken forward and put into good, practical use in terms of improving procedures.

‘A few of the things we’ve prioritised with comms: working on our tone of voice, refining our customer journey, and being clear and concise in our communications. We’ve also established targets for response times to customers, in order to reassure them in the event of their installation being disrupted.’

‘The next two years will be painful so we must all play our part to make it a little less so for each other,’ adds Claire.

‘We don’t know what we don’t know. Companies must ask questions and share the answers.’

For more on the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on PR and communications, download our white paper ‘Communicating the cost-of-living crisis… A guide for charities and the third sector’.

How the pandemic changed our trust: what does it mean for health communicators?

January 25, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Health, Communications, Media Media Database, Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, Stakeholder Engagement, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

This is a guest post from Helen Fitzhugh, associate director, Healthcare at Kaizo PR.

In the past two years, consumers have been bombarded with public health information on an unprecedented scale. Over the course of the pandemic, we’ve charted consumers’ changing attitudes to sources of health information to understand who they do – and don’t – trust.

Our research reveals a number of important considerations for health comms professionals.

After surveying 500 UK consumers, we found that trust in some sources of health information had dropped significantly since 2020, with independent experts and government health advisors plummeting in the ratings.

Consumers also have shorter attention spans, consume less print and online news from traditional media outlets, and are less likely to question health information – even if it goes against government advice.

Consumers suffering from ‘health messaging fatigue’

Who would have thought, before March 2020, that we’d all become experts in virology? After living through daily updates on transmission rates, mutations, and clinical trial results, it is no surprise that we began to switch off – BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) data shows that people turned to TV channels for news at the start of the pandemic and then turned away as it progressed.

The emotional stress of the pandemic may be to blame. Media consumption affects our mental health – negative news can cause distress and anxiety. People may have been avoiding pandemic news because they felt it was damaging their mental wellbeing.

Our survey found that the biggest health worry for respondents this winter was their mental health, with 39% singling this out as their top concern – ranked above Covid, colds and flu. This is particularly interesting given the headlines on the ‘twindemic’, which – you might assume – would push respiratory viruses to the front of people’s minds.

Consumers may be avoiding health news to protect their own mental wellbeing – or simply because they have had enough of virology lessons. Whatever the reason, it poses a real challenge for health comms professionals who need to engage with a disengaged audience.

Radical redistribution of trust

In 2020, consumers were quick to lose trust in a source of health information – for example, 70% would not trust information that did not come from a qualified healthcare professional. This figure has now dropped to just 51%.

Likewise, two years ago, 44% said that they would lose trust in health information that went against official advice. This has fallen to 23%.

These figures suggest that it is harder to lose consumers’ trust. This may not be as beneficial as it sounds: quite the opposite. If consumers are less likely to question the source of their health information or its accuracy, it is easier for misinformation to proliferate.

Who is in and who is out

As in 2020, healthcare professionals (HCPs) continue to be the most trusted sources of information: almost half (47%) of our respondents said they would rely on their GP, doctor, or nurse to provide them with trustworthy information to make decisions about their health.

However, as it is increasingly difficult for some people to see their GP, new information sources are plugging this gap. In 2020, only 5% of respondents said they would rely on a local pharmacist for health advice – our latest survey showed that this had jumped to 20%. Established healthcare charities and organisations, such as the British Lung Foundation, are also following this trend – with trust in such bodies up at 20%, from 9% two years ago.

The pull of independent scientists and experts has however dropped since 2020 – falling from 49% to just 29%.

So, how can you get your message across?

Revaluate your assumptions about what people will engage with. Mental health is a big concern, for example – so consumers may be more likely to engage with content about mental wellness, compared to physical wellness.

Health information that is presented as alarmist could be a big turn-off – tone matters at a time when people want to protect themselves from sources of anxiety.

Trust has shifted or consolidated. HCPs remain high on the trusted sources list, but with GP availability increasingly a challenge, consumers and patients need an alternative. Trust in pharmacists and the third sector has increased, so think about how you can tap into these sources to tell your story.

Clear, trustworthy health information saves lives and reduces the burden on the NHS – but only if you can get people to pay attention to it.

Read the full report by Kaizo PR here.

For more on trust in the health, medical and pharmaceutical space, read these posts with overviews and advice from Pharmica’s Carolina Goncalves and Lynn’s Shayoni Lynn.

Trends in UK journalism: what is happening in retail?

January 24, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Communications, Media Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Andrew Strutt

The retail sector, like many during this cost-of-living crisis, has been severely impacted. Christmas retail sales actually held up better than many expected, thanks in part to the World Cup, but analysts are predicting a tricky few months ahead as people look to save the pennies after the festive period.

But how are the media covering the current challenges that the retail sector is facing? From the on-going economic issues to fast fashion and sustainability, journalists are always looking for new angles to cover the important topics within retail. We had a look back over the last few months on the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service to see what has been trending and what is coming up.

Sign up to start receiving requests from the UK media direct to your inbox with the Journalist Enquiry Service.

Since October, the Retail & Fashion category has represented 6% of all requests on the service. This makes it the seventh-best performing category, out of the 25 to choose from, and the second most popular among our users in terms of trade/professional options with only Business & Finance receiving more enquiries. It also saw a boost in the number of requests between September and October, rising by nearly 6%.

Despite being more of a trade category, the journalists selecting Retail & Fashion tend to come from Consumer Media, with 38% from that media type. National newspaper/Current Affairs is next on 22% with the Trade/Business/Professional media back on 9%. Nearly a half (48%) of the journalists submitting an enquiry are staff journos, with freelance journalists back on 18%.

In terms of what they are looking from with their requests, 35% are after review products with 23% looking for information for an article and 16% wanting a spokesperson or expert. The high number here for review products can be attributed to a large amount of Christmas requests in the period we are covering (October to December) and bloggers and consumer journalists often look to cover fashion trends for the festive period and look ahead to the new year.

When we look at the keywords and phrases that have been used within the Retail & Fashion category, ‘cost-of-living’ appears in nearly 3% of all these requests. A number of enquiries come from broadcast media with news providers such as ITV News and 5 News looking for filming locations and retail businesses on how they are coping with the cost-of-living crisis. This provides a great opportunity to get clients featured on national news and highlight how the economic downturn is affecting the retail sector.

National newspapers have also been looking along a similar line, wanting to find case studies about the impact on small businesses with requests coming from the Metro, The Daily Express and The Times. Plus, enquiries from trade titles such as The Grocer, including ‘Christmas in a cost of living crisis – impact on grocery/food and drink shopping’.

The cost-of-living crisis is a very immediate trend and concern for the retail sector but one that has been affecting this area in the longer term has been the rise in online retail and retailers. ‘Online’ was our top keyword in the last three months, featuring in 12% of all requests in the Retail & Fashion category.

This figure might be skewed slightly, as many come from online publications. However, we have seen requests from trade and national press titles around this. A journalist at Industry Dive was looking to ‘profile two businesses about online payments’ offering a good opportunity for any case studies. While the Daily Mirror looked for the ‘best boxing day sale offers – online, high street retailers and supermarkets’. This is, of course, more of a seasonal request but does contain another two keywords in ‘sale’ and ‘high street’. The former made up nearly 3% of the Retail & Fashion requests while the latter was in just over 1%. Again, ‘sale’ might appear due to the timing we are looking at with Christmas and then the January sales.

Another couple of time sensitive key phrases were ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’ which combined appeared in nearly 2% of the total requests. These were mainly looking for products to review and information on the best deals out there. Journalists will often look in advance for this, especially if it is going to be a feature in their publication, so requests can be from September and into October.

Despite the economic downturn, ‘luxury’ was the second most used keyword on the service as it appeared in over 6% of all requests. The majority of these were looking for products to review or to include as competition prizes but that still presents a good chance to promote a client’s brand. There were also a few looking for spokespeople on the luxury retail industry including this one about the ‘present and future of luxury industry’.

Finally, another more recent trend from the retail sector has been sustainability. This applies both to the fashion industry, moving away from the era of fast fashion, and supermarkets and the food industry, trying to reduce single use plastic and encourage recycling. ‘Sustainable’ as a keyword has been in 2% of all requests from October to December.

Requests around this keyword have focused on spokespeople or experts in this field from a variety of consumer, trade and national titles. This has included Natural Health, The Times, PA Media and The Grocer. Several have asked specifically for a sustainability expert and with environmental issues often at the top of the news agenda, there are bound to be more requests of this nature. Therefore, a great opportunity to get coverage in the media.

Topical issues such as the cost-of-living crisis, the rise of online shopping and the focus on less waste and more sustainability within retail look set to continue. While other requests around the retail sector can be seasonal, as seen with Christmas and Black Friday. Notable events such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day are approaching and journalists will be keen to get information and case studies around the impact on retail.

Find more information about the benefits of the Journalist Enquiry Service here and find more tips on connecting with retail journalists in our white paper How to pitch to journalists.

The no-nonsense guide to PR and comms in 2023

January 23, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Communications, PR Club Media Database, Media Monitoring, Stakeholder Engagement, PR Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

This is a guest post from The Media Foundry’s associate director Kat Jackson.

It is still January and we’ve all been inundated by the 2023 predictions; the good and the bad. We’re all braced for impact – but is it helping anyone to really prepare?

So, instead, let’s look at things practically, and with a promise of no overuse of the words ‘tough’ and ‘resilience’. Here is how PR and comms professionals should be approaching the year, avoiding all the hyperbole.

1. Make sure the foundations are solid

Check them regularly. There is a reason why the admin, the structure of PR accounts is (by and large) universal. They are tried and tested tools to keep clients updated on progress and regularly reminded on the value you are adding to their work. You make their lives easier. If you aren’t, check in and ask why, and if something needs to be switched up.

2. Do more, with less

It is a simple, uncomfortable fact. Most businesses will tend toward the frugal. Budgets will be stretched. But there are also instances where comms can be treated like a tick box – release done, coverage in, move on. Not always the best policy. Content concepts can keep coming back, certain themes will have a longer shelf life which can be explored in different ways. Marketing should always ask itself if there is still room for further delivery. Challenge those you think could be trying harder. Push for better. Take a good hard look at the service and see what could be improved. Longstanding work can become somewhat rote to even the most dedicated – but complacency this year is a risky strategy.

3. Ask the right questions

Will this make the boat go faster? I used to have a client who had this hung on the office wall. It is an old adage from Olympic rowing success, and it is a good one. How will this comms strategy help the business to grow, sell, improve performance? If that can’t be explained beyond ‘awareness’ – well, there is your answer. We’re already talking to people who have put a pin in PR because the big creative ideas had woolly success criteria. They won’t be the only ones. The right questions do go further though. What more could we be doing to help the client? Do we know what else is going on within their walls – and can our advice assist?

4. Mess with the bull, get the horns

PR is not always known for its transparency. But obfuscation and vague thinking will get short shrift. This is true at any time, but it is doubly so when the recession is on the horizon. Big thinking and grand creative ideas are great, and there will always be a place for them. But are they really what the brand needs right now? ‘Yes’ is a fine answer. ‘No’ can be equally necessary.

5. Remember the value of what we do

Yes, it might be hard to put a figure on sometimes. But it remains true that effective PR can be one of the most cost-effective ways for companies to market, and one of the biggest gaps to fill if it is lost. For example, there is no business quite as motivated for their comms than one facing an unexpected crisis without advice. There will be cases where a smart SEO push or a mass ad campaign may bring more immediate benefit to a business – that is all in the mix, it is how marketing works. The essence of PR is simple communication; who the client is and what they do. Facilitate a dialogue. You can still bring people together, even when everyone is feeling the crunch. Sometimes that is when it matters most.

For more trends to watch out for this year, check out these 15 trends to plan for in PR and comms in 2023. And need more ideas for effective measurment to prove the value of your work? Here are seven ways to measure your content.

Getting to the truth of the matter on misinformation

January 19, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, Politics, PR, Communications, Media, Public Affairs Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, Political Services, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

‘The way social media platforms are designed and are growing in power is making it easier than ever before to spread misinformation like wildfire,’ believes Shayoni Lynn, CEO and founder of multi-award-winning behavioural science consultancy Lynn.

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) and Chair of PRCA Cymru, Shayoni was awarded the Mark Mellor Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry at PRCA Nationals in 2022 and included in PRovoke Innovator 25 EMEA. She represents Wales at the UK PR Council, is a founding panel member and Vice-Chair of CIPR’s Behavioural Insights Interest Group and a frequent industry awards judge, regularly speaking on the use of data, behavioural science in communications, and measurement and evaluation at conferences internationally.

Here, Shayoni shares an overview of the misinformation challenge for comms people across politics, public affairs, the media and more – and explains what the sector should be prepared for.

Have you noticed an increase in misinformation in your space over the last few years?

There’s a number of ways of measuring this, and all of them are fraught with difficulty. We’re not academics, we’re practitioners, but we can say a few things with certainty. First, the way social media platforms are designed and are growing in power is making it easier than ever before to spread misinformation like wildfire. Second, a lot of the society-wide factors that increase the spread of misinformation – uncertainty, information overload, crisis – are getting worse. And third, we’re hearing more regularly from our clients that this is an issue which is making it harder to retain their relationships with key audiences.

Are social media platforms doing enough to tackle misinformation?

I think the platforms would be the first to admit that more could be done to tackle misinformation, so that in itself isn’t particularly contentious. Again, there are policymakers and campaigners whose focus is on pressuring the platforms to act more comprehensively, and our job as practitioners is to protect our clients in the world as it is, not as we’d like it to be.

What additional steps should social media be taking?

We’re not in the business of making policy recommendations, but one thing is for sure: transparency is never a bad thing. Transparency about how they are making moderation decisions and transparency about how their algorithms are recommending us content is something that academic researchers have been calling for for quite some time now, and can only help us as a society get to grips with the problem.

What advice would you give to others in your sector for correcting misinformation among the general public?

There are three pieces of advice which should provide a solid foundation for any strategy to fight misinformation.

1) Just because you feel like you need to respond to something doesn’t mean that you should. Social media algorithms are designed to harness our impulses to propel content to the top of more users’ newsfeeds, so in responding to something we might just be exposing more users to it.
2) Just because something is a problem on social media, doesn’t mean it’s a problem with your audience. Social listening tools can be incredibly helpful in detecting potentially harmful information, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s reached our audience or is resonating with them.
3) Finally, it’s not all in your control. Misinformation is spreading because of forces well beyond this current moment – a changing climate, a revolutionised information environment, increasing inequality – and there’s no correction that’s going to fix all of that. By acknowledging this we can focus more of our energy on what we can control, than wasting it worrying about what we can’t.

Are there any particular areas that you feel will likely be the target of misinformation in 2023 PRs should plan for?

One advantage we have on misinformation is that it rarely falls out of the blue – it tends to spike in response to unfolding events. Extreme weather events, global conflicts and public health crises are all areas where misinformation can thrive. We’d recommend keeping an eye on countries that have elections coming up, too.

But the truth is, we know that regardless of the focus of the misinformation, the structure of it will be much the same: it will be pitting in groups against out groups, leveraging social divisions and blaming the world’s ills on a secret cabal of elites pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Does misinformation negatively impact those within the sector as well as the general public?

Absolutely. If your job is to build a relationship between the organisation you work for and your audience, then misinformation should be on your radar. Bad information has the potential to sever this relationship.

For more on misinformation and how the comms industry can help combat the issue, read this interview with Pharmica’s Carolina Goncalves for how it is impacting the pharmaceutical sector.

To help track how your message is received across the media, the political sphere and social media, try Vuelio’s monitoring services.

What went well: what we can learn from the Christmas campaigns of 2022

What went well? Lessons from the campaigns of Christmas past

January 17, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Communications, Media Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, PR, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

Santa’s fizzy drink truck – you know the one – has driven its way back out of town and the broadcast space has put away its tinsel-ified TV ads for another year. How did the big brands do with communicating Christmas 2022 during such a difficult time for their consumer bases?

Excess was out and more mindful messages of personal connection were in – with a tough year ahead for many, 2023 will need the same careful approach. Here is what we can learn from the successes of our recent Christmas past in PR, communications and marketing.

How did the supermarkets do? Nostalgia versus realism

‘I loved the Asda Christmas ad for 2022, but John Lewis really hit the mark and showed that the brand understands people,’ says Aura’s Laura Sutherland of the efforts from UK supermarkets this year.

Asda’s ‘Have Your Elf a Merry Christmas’ provided escapism from the realities of 2022– ‘a moment of joy‘, according to Asda brand communications’ senior director Stephi Brett-Lee – by tapping into fondness for the 2003 Will Ferrell film…

…while John Lewis leaned into reality with ‘The Beginner’, a tale of a foster father hoping to welcome a new addition to his family by learning skateboarding:

‘Asda played on the nostalgic factor and created a highly entertaining and funny ad with Buddy the Elf, but John Lewis got it spot on with another engaging campaign that drew attention to an important cause, started conversation and got the public mood right,’ says Paul McCarthy, general manager at Chantry Place Norwich.

While Asda took note of its consumer base’s wish for a ‘no-compromise’ Christmas with the cheery ad, the campaign at-large did not ignore the situation many were faced with this year. In November 2022, reporting on budgeting for Christmas increased by 486% year on year – adverts, no matter how ‘no-compromise’, had to follow suit. Asda chose to blend fantasy into representations of its real-life stores with expensive SFX, but the campaign also extended out to toy drives in-store and the promise of ‘festive surprises’ for community groups. This added to initiatives the supermarket had already put in place to help the cost-of-living crisis, which have received plenty of positive coverage in the press.

In contrast, the always highly-anticipated John Lewis advert was empty of Asda’s hyper-real bright greens and reds. Instead, it featured concrete skateparks, the odd injury sustained when learning a new hobby and a recognisably-real family living room. A departure from the previous years’ sci-fi-heavy ‘Unexpected Guest‘, the ‘The Beginner’ highlighted human issues instead of ETs, gaining positive write-ups and reaction for its focus on fostering and the UK care system.

2022 was not the year for false-ringing sentimentality or mawkishness – as economic struggles continue for many, 2023 will not be either.

‘Many of the high-street brands that have become synonymous with big-budget Christmas ads took a community/social responsibility approach for 2022 which made sense to me,’ says Robert Bradley, centre manager at Castle Quarter.

‘M&S had the message that by spending with them we were supporting good causes and the John Lewis ad took shopping all together, instead focusing on a foster family storyline. Interestingly though, despite the cost-of-living crisis and more and more people turning to food banks, the food arms of both brands did not shy away from showing large tables heaped with food in their Christmas ads. I personally found the child crying due to missing out on a sausage to be in quite bad taste…’

Another lesson to be learned for comms people – Christmas campaigns can do well outside of television. Eschewing the ‘traditional, multimillion-pound Christmas ad‘ for its 2022 festive effort was Co-op, which instead teamed up with Your Local Pantry and Big Zuu for an Instagram livestream.

Retail – Tales of a ‘Traditional’ Happy Christmas… with some help

Next’s ‘Gifts we know they’ll love’ spot featured standard festive TV ad fare – people opening Christmas gifts (with household name brands inside, naturally) in front of a Christmas tree.

However, its urge to customers to ‘merry everything’ came with the offer of ‘help’ for making Christmas magical. The approach paid off in profits:

‘Retailers like Next did extremely well this Christmas period, reporting “better than anticipated” sales, and great feedback from comms campaigns,’ says Wizz Selvey, Top 100 global retail expert and founder and CEO of Wizz&Co retail strategy consultancy.

‘I always tell my retail clients, whether they are selling D2C or B2B, that the customer and their needs have to be at the centre of EVERY activation. This year customers needed simple solutions to gift giving that weren’t going to cost them dearly. Any retailer who was able to communicate ‘a solution’ to tighter budgets within the cost-of-living rise, would have had brilliant feedback from shoppers. Adding that ‘extra luxury’ element would increase sales revenues even further.’

‘The influx of ‘sadvertising’ this year was a depressing movement, however. As it was such a widespread theme, consumers don’t seem to have really reacted.’

Did shoppers show up for the high street?

Experiential marketing continues to be a safe bet for attracting footfall to physical locations – even when budgets are tighter. East Anglia’s Chantry Place Norwich – home to 90 shops, cafes and restaurants – brought the bright lights from brand ads with reasons for families to visit:

‘In 2022, we had a new Christmas lights scheme at the Centre, with free photo opportunities including a Santa’s sleigh and Trio of Twinkling Trees, plus pop ups returning for the festivities. We worked closely with a local charity Alive UK on a Christmas gift appeal and also had a post box in the Centre, granting wishes for presents as we knew that Christmas would be hard for many.

‘With the recession and cost-of-living crisis, we will continue to offer free events into 2023 for families to enjoy to give them a reason to visit and stay longer with us. We will also continue to be part of our community, working with other businesses and our neighbours at the Centre in a collaborative approach.’

How else can brands and businesses keep the customers coming, for Christmases of the future and throughout the year? As ever – by offering extra.

‘Retail did take a bit hit during the pandemic, but there are certainly sectors that have flourished within that,’ says Wizz.

‘For instance, any brand that has an active omnichannel mix of online, social media and in-store sales. From my perspective, the high street is far from ‘dead’, as so many tabloids are claiming, but there has been an irreversible shift in how consumers research, shop and loyalty following purchase as well. We’re all looking for that something extra!’

For more on purchasing trends during 2022, read our report on which brands were most likely to be gifted second-hand during the festive period. And for trends to plan for in 2023, check out these 15 PR and communications trends.

How to stem the flow of medical misinformation

Turning the tide on medical misinformation

January 16, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, PR, Health, Communications, Media, Public Affairs Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, Political Services, PR, Political Database, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

Misinformation is a growing issue of concern across all areas of the media. Whether shared via social or ‘traditional’ mediums, the spread of incorrect information has had far-reaching consequences on individuals and whole communities across the planet.

It can spread fast. And particularly dangerous – also incredibly catchy, unfortunately – is medical misinformation. On the rise since the early panic-filled days of the pandemic, it continues in conversations between family members and friends who may have misheard something; in niche pockets of influence on platforms like TikTok, Twitter and Instagram, and even on mainstream broadcast news, from high-profile public figures.

How can experts ensure the truth is heard and understood above all of the noise – both well-meaning and more nefarious in motive – being communicated? Pharmica‘s superintendent pharmacist Carolina Goncalves explores the rise of the issue from the point-of-view of the medical industry and how the tide of information can be turned back to the truth.

The increase of misinformation

Medical misinformation has been a global issue, becoming much more noticeable since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and has definitely been prevalent within the pharmaceutical industry.

In the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak during March 2020, US President at the time Donald Trump recommended the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as a preventative treatment against the virus. Health officials quickly advised the public that this was not a suitable treatment and would not offer protection against Covid, however this still led to global shortages of the drug, meaning patients with malaria, lupus and arthritis who required the treatment could not get a hold of it. After Trump’s message, we saw a rise in people searching for hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine and chloroquine phosphate on the Pharmica website, showing the impact of the ex-President’s words had spread globally.

In order for an online or community pharmacy to sell prescription medications in the UK, there are many rigorous standards and regulations from the GPhC (General Pharmaceutical Council) and MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) that must be met, so only pharmacies that meet those requirements and are registered with these two bodies can sell such medications.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the online pharmacy space has grown hugely over the last few years, of which Pharmica has noticed the sharp increase in the number of illegitimate online pharmacies that have skirted the regulations set by the GPhC and MHRA.

An ITV investigation found there were many websites posing as registered pharmacies that were not only selling medication in different strengths to what they were advertising – meaning patients could easily overdose by taking the wrong strength – but were also selling addictive drugs like Xanax, Valium and Ambien without requiring a prescription, as well as allowing people to bulk-buy these medications.

ITV found that these sites also do not carry out consultations or require patients’ medical history before purchasing treatments, and post medication in plain packaging without necessary patient information leaflets.

The spread of medical misinformation has definitely increased over the last year or two, as social media platforms, health organisations and governments have locked down on fake news and accounts that spread illegitimate health information, but because of how quickly misinformation spreads, there are still ongoing issues.

The social media situation

Since the influx of misinformation that grew from the Covid pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) established a series of principles on how to identify reliable sources of information on social media. It also worked with YouTube to build the COVID-19 Misinformation Policy, as well as guidelines for content creators that aimed to inhibit medical misinformation related to the virus from being spread across the platform. According to WHO, 850,000 YouTube videos that contained misleading COVID-19 misinformation were removed between February 2020 and January 2021.

Most social media platforms have developed one or more strategies to address the spread of misinformation, including softer measures such as warning labels on posts, and harder measures such as content removal and account bans.

While it is clear social media platforms are providing some level of defence against misinformation, there is still concern against the rate of misinformation being spread to wider audiences and how this can be tackled while an active push towards ‘free speech’ is being prioritised. We are still yet to see how Twitter, under its new ownership, finds a balance between these two issues.

What more should social media platforms be doing?

Besides continuing with the policies and steps they are currently taking to stop the spread of disinformation on their platforms, social media platforms still have more they can do to reduce the spread of misinformation, including:

• Adjusting algorithms that amplify social media misinformation so its spread is reduced and accounts that encourage conspiracies are de-prioritised
• Prioritise social media misinformation continuously, not just when it falls under public scrutiny
• Make the closure of bot and fake accounts a regular occurrence, encouraging a platform-wide standard, and also showing that social media platforms are responsive to public demand and public safety
• Work with advertising agencies to inhibit the monetisation of misinformation
• Continuing an active push with leading medical professionals to ensure the information they are circulating is up to date and legitimate

What the medical and pharmaceutical sector do to stop the spread

Although witnessing medical misinformation being spread can be frustrating, especially as a healthcare professional, it is important to remain understanding as to why some people may hold irrational beliefs. Mocking them for having these views, or suffocating any conversation around them, can lead to a further level of distrust between the general public and professionals within the pharmaceutical industry, which can further fan the flame of misinformation.

It is important to target misinformation with education and critical thinking – after all, social media regulation will not stop misinformation from being spread in the long-run, as people will find other ways to do this. Changing the way people take in information and educating them on how they can validate information before believing it directly must happen, too.

When it comes to those who are using misinformation to capitalise on people’s fears and ultimately boost their own status, reporting those accounts to social media platforms and correcting the misinformation can prove useful.

It is important for healthcare professionals, including those within the pharmaceutical industry, to acknowledge that the key priority is always patient safety – profits are a secondary motivation and companies using misinformation of any form to further profits are doing so to the detriment of the patient.

Topics at risk of misinformation in 2023

As new variants of COVID-19 continue to cause infection rates to rise globally – as we are currently seeing with the latest Omicron variant XXB.1.5 – misinformation surrounding the strain and vaccine will likely continue to spread.

Major health organisations such as the World Health Organization, who have been posting on social media platforms about the importance of getting vaccinated, still receive thousands of comments from people stating that they will ‘never get the vaccine’, that the WHO are ‘pushing propaganda’ or that ‘vaccines are just a money-making scheme’.

Closer to home, England has seen at least 94 deaths over the last few months caused by Strep A. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSCA) clarified that around 41% of the deaths were among those aged 75 and over, while 17% of the deaths were from children aged 10 and below. It has been thought that this spike in the bacterial infection is due to a less immunity and a rise in social mixing after the Covid pandemic. It didn’t take long for misinformation around the deaths to circulate, leading to social media posts that firstly implied this was due to the new nasal flu vaccine – and secondly, that Strep A used to be mild but has suddenly become lethal in children. Full Fact, an independent UK fact-checking charity, identified these claims as misinformation.

It is possible that as certain illnesses have resurgences, especially ones that previously had infections peak in times before the prevalence of social media, these may be targets of misinformation.

The fight continues

In the pharmaceutical industry, it is imperative that misinformation is corrected so patients have the right information necessary for making informed decisions about their health, or else it can cost people’s lives.

Misinformation can create further barriers between people getting the necessary medication they need by creating levels of distrust between the public community and pharmacists, making it harder for pharmacists to do their jobs and keep people safe.

For more on the spread of misinformation, download the Vuelio white paper ‘Fact-checking and fast news: Expert lessons for journalists and the media‘ featuring contributions from Channel 4 News FactCheck, FactCheckNI and The Ferret Fact Check Service as well as media academics Professor Charlie Beckett of Polis, LSE and John Murphy, University of Hertfordshire.

EU regulations: The updates, rollbacks and rewrites to be ready for

January 12, 2023/0 Comments/in PR Pulse, Politics, PR, Communications, Media, Public Affairs Media Monitoring, Media Analysis, Political Services, PR, Political Database, Press and Bloggers Blog Posts /by Phoebe-Jane Boyd

2023 is fixed to be yet another busy year in UK politics, not just for those in Parliament but for the PR and public affairs people communicating upcoming EU regulation changes to the public.

Here are some of the big updates, rollbacks and regulation rewrites to be prepared for, with pointers from those in the industry on what to expect.

You need to be ready for… Britain’s relaxing of ‘ring-fencing’ banking reforms

What is it: Back in December 2022, plans were announced for the easing of banking rules that had been instituted following the global financial crisis of 2008. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said at the time of the announcement that the changes will make the UK ‘one of the most open, dynamic and competitive financial services hubs in the world’.

What is on the way: In what Hunt characterised as the use of ‘Brexit freedoms’ to make the UK a more competitive proposition, the proposed package of over 30 changes include a lifting of the bankers’ bonuses cap and the easing of capital requirements for smaller lenders. Regulations holding bankers accountable for their decisions will also be reviewed by the Government, while ‘ringfencing’ rules to keep potentially dicey investment banking from impacting retail operations will be relaxed.

Take note: At the time of announcement, critics warned that the changes could lead to increased risk, while proponents highlighted plenty of opportunity for the financial sector.

You need to be ready for…. requirements of the Digital Service Act (DSA)

What is it: The DSA, originally approved by the EU Council in October 2022, requires large search engines to take responsibility for the content on their websites and servers, with plans for future extensions to large online platforms. Established brands like YouTube and Facebook will be impacted… as will every business and individual that shares content there.

What is on the way: ‘Large digital firms operating in the EU must submit the first set of performance reports to the EU Commission this month as a requirement,’ says Delphine Gatignol, business unit director at Newsback.

‘These companies will face fines if they allow illegal content, misinformation and cyber bullying to go unchecked.’

Take note: ‘As a signatory on the Code of Practice on Disinformation at Newsback, we will be assessing how seriously platforms are fighting disinformation,’ shares Delphine.

‘When it comes to addressing this problem, we recognise that online platforms have their work cut out. The Code was created to provide a framework and set goals to help digital firms fulfil their responsibilities.

‘Our co-signatories, as well as the platforms, include civil society actors, fact-checkers, source-raters and anti-disinformation companies. In the year ahead this smaller group will be holding digital firms accountable and ensuring the Code becomes an effective tool against disinformation.’

You need to be ready for… amendments to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive

What is it: This directive on unfair commercial practices was put in place in 2005 to boost consumer confidence while making it much easier for businesses to trade across borders. It has since been amended to enable easier enforcement, but more changes are to come.

What is on the way: ‘ESG has been shaping the way both organisations and the communications sector evolve – this is one of the policies centering greenwashing and introducing standardised approaches to ESG reporting this year, addressing unclear language about environmental credentials,’ says Sarah Woodhouse, director of AMBITIOUS PR.

Take note: ‘This has been an EU priority for a few years now, but this will be a big year as we prepare for 2024, when the policies for addressing these issues will enter into full force,’ advises Sarah.

You need to be ready for… the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF)

What is it: This ‘multi-criteria measure of the environmental performance of a good or service throughout its life cycle’ will seek to reduce the negative environmental impacts on account supply chains.

What is on the way: The planned update to the PEF will ‘introduce an improved framework for Life Cycle Assessments, that take into account the footprint of products, including upstream and downstream impacts,’ says Sarah at AMBITIOUS PR.

Take note: If your business has a supply chain of any sort, this impacts you. As Sarah warns: ‘The implications will be felt by businesses outside the EU and within not only product and sustainability but also marketing and communications teams.’

You need to be ready for… the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

What is it: Expanding on the existing EU corporate sustainability initiatives on supply chains, the CSRD is a reporting requirement that will cover big large public and private companies meeting at least two of the following criteria: 250+ employees, €20 million or more in total assets or €40 million or more in turnover.

What is on the way: ‘This has started to be applied already, but will be mandatory next year, warns AMBITIOUS PR’s Sarah.

Take note: ‘Companies listed on regulated markets in the EU will be rapidly getting familiar with the rules and preparing to publish info on issues from environment, employee treatment, carbon emissions and human rights this year’.

You need to be ready for… the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the proposed Cyber Resilience Act

What are they: ‘Strengthening the IT security of financial entities such as banks, insurance companies and investment firms’, DORA was put in place to ‘ensure that the financial sector in Europe is able to stay resilient through a severe operational disruption’. The Cyber Resilience Act will aim to boost existing cybersecurity rules to ensure greater security for hardware and software products.

What is on the way: ‘Although it will be a couple of years before mandatory compliance for Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), it will eventually put financial organisations in a much stronger position for handling outages, leaks, unauthorised access and data loss,’ advises Jakub Lewandowski, Global Data Governance Officer at Commvault.

‘Within the highly sensitive information that the financial sector holds, this is incredibly important.

‘DORA lays out detailed requirements on every aspect of cybersecurity – technical, organisational and functional. Financial organisations will need to set up necessary resources, communication routes and, for the first time, we are seeing a whole article within a piece of legislation about backup requirements. With the ever-increasing threat of cyber attacks taking key institutions and even whole countries offline, DORA favours on-premises backup, rather than connection-reliant cloud backup options.

Take note: ‘Preparations to comply with this legislation will involve reviewing legacy IT systems to ensure that they meet regulations and potential investment in new software, so it may be costly in the short term,’ says Jakub. ‘Yet, in the long term, the level of cybersecurity will be raised, limiting attacks, reducing downtime and, according to the EU, saving up to €290 billion annually. Any business which has connections to the EU market will have to comply with DORA’s regulations, so I predict that the UK will soon follow suit with similar regulations. These preparations take time, so work should begin now to ensure compliance in plenty of time for the inevitable conformity deadline.

‘It may still be a while until we have to take decisive action to ensure compliance with the Cyber Resilience Act, as it has just entered the initial consultation process. It is likely to be a year or two before it is finalised and then organisations will be given a 24-month transition period to comply. However, it is never too soon to be aware of upcoming changes. Regularly monitoring for updates will ensure that businesses are prepared for the changes in good time.’

You need to be ready for… incoming changes to flexible working regulation

What is it: ‘Employees are to be given greater flexibility from the moment they commence employment with new legislation that will introduce a day one right for them to be able to make up to two flexible working requests in any 12-month period,’ explains Lupton Fawcett’s Glenn Jaques.

‘A flexible working request can be to work from home, job-sharing, flexitime and compressed hours requests.’

What is on the way: ‘This is a significant change from the existing position, which allows employees to make only one request after having worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks. It is not clear when the legislation will come into effect but employers need to be ready for the changes.’

Take note: ‘The proposed changes make no changes to the existing eight reasons that an employer can rely on to refuse a request. The financial penalty for breaching the flexible working rules is up to eight weeks’ pay but the larger risk comes from an unreasonable refusal, which may result in a discrimination claim. To minimise the risk employers should ensure that they give careful consideration as to alternative options to rejecting a request in order to ensure that employees are fully supported where a request cannot be fulfilled,’ advises Glenn.

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