Episodi
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Welcome to the latest PRmoment podcast.
On the show today we’re talking to the 3 co-founders of Fight or Flight: Joe Walton, Charlie Meredith-Hardy and David Woodward. It’s Fight or Flights 5 anniversary this year so we’re going to chat about how this independent has gone from a start up with zero income 5 years ago to a business that now has a fee income of over £8m globally, with revenues in the US of approximately £3.7m.
Clients include Oracle, Motorway and Expedia.
Before we start, two pieces of good news at PRmoment this week. The first is that the programme for PR Masterclass: AI in PR is now complete. The PR Masterclass series are hybrid events so you can attend either in person or virtually. The event is on July 3rd and themes include:
Check out the microsite PRMasterclasses.com for all the details including the speaker line-up.
The other vital bit of information is that The Creative Moment Awards are now open for entries. Do check out all the categories for 2025 at the microsite creativemomentawards.co.
The early bird entry deadline is Friday 16th May.
Here’s a flavour of what Joe, David and Charlie discussed with PRmoment founder Ben Smith.
Joe, David and Charlie reflect on how the UK B2B PR market is at the moment.
Why the UK B2B market has had a challenging last 12 months.
What size of budget do Fight or Flight’s target currently, in the UK and US?
Why did Fight or Flight launch in the US so early in its life cycle?
The reasons for a B2B tech PR firm to launch in the US are obvious but how have Fight or Flight managed to get £3.7m revenues in about 3 years? Why has Fight or Flight succeeded where others have failed?
“We made some very big senior hires (in the US) out of the gate”
“We hired the right people, we went in hard, we went in senior and it's paid off.”
In the early years the positioning of Fight or Flight centred around the opportunity for creativity in B2B communications. David reflects on whether that has worked, or whether the growth of the business quickly outgrew the positioning?
“If you look at the points of difference in the agency world. Quite few of them are not defendable”
“A little bit less than 5% of the B2B market is doing truly brave creative work. The work that takes you out of your comfort zone and builds fame.”
For B2B PR firms, is one of the challenges the relative low seniority of some in-house B2B communicators?
“We are seeing quite a few consumer PR folks coming into B2B.”
Fight or Flight have grown quickly? Everyone wants to grow quickly but it’s a difficult thing to do. Joe, David and Charlie tell us how they did it.
“People often ask us, ‘Do you wish you did it earlier?’ My answer is: that we did it at exactly the right time.”
What were the challenges of such fast growth for a PR firm?
Are Joe, David and Charlie optimistic or pessimistic about the state of UK tech at the moment?
Where is Fight or Flight likely to launch next?
“People tend to forget the danger of doing nothing.”
As “three, white, straight founders from the home counties” how did Joe, David and Charlie approach the need for Fight or Flight to have strong DE&I credentials?
The implications of AI for the media, PR firms and in-house teams are significant. Where is Fight or Flight on the opportunity: threat spectrum?
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Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.
This is our quarterly bonus podcast, where we chat about Rajar’s latest results. For those of you who aren’t aware of Rajar - it was established in 1992 and operates the single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom
Raja publishes the listenership figures each quarter, which is good for insight for PR, curious about how the public engages with radio and how the market is performing.
On the show today, we have Alex Blakemore, senior producer & newsroom daily editor at Markettiers, who will discuss the latest Rajar results for Q1 2025.
Before we start, two pieces of good news at PRmoment this week. The first is that the programme for PR Masterclass: AI in PR is now complete. The PR Masterclass series are hybrid events so you can attend either in person or virtually. The event is on July 3rd and themes include:
How to Integrate AI into your PR WorkflowThe impact of AI on JournalismAI as a content production toolIs LLM optimisation PR's biggest opportunity of our lifetimes?How will AI impact the agency business model?The legal implications of AI in your communicationsHow to move from AI experimentation to implementationCheck out the microsite PRMasterclasses.com for all the details including the speaker line-up.
Here are some of the highlights from what Alex and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:
Some headline stats:
Radio Weekly Reach is now 50m, 87% of UK adults, Live Radio Hours – Weekly stay strong at 20.5 Hours
TV Hours – Weekly watching (Barb April 2025) 16hrs
BBC Share of Radio Listening 43%
BBC vs Commercial Reach – Weekly
BBC – 31.3m
Commercial – 39.8m
Heart is now the UK’s biggest radio brand by listeners- overtaking Radio 2.
Commercial Stations on the Rise
TalkSPORT UP from 3,253,000 to 3,506,000
Heart Network UP from 10,058,000 to 10,192,000
LBC News UP from 974,000 to 1,013,000
Times Radio UP from 604,000 to 622,000
GB News Radio UP from 468,000 to 559,000
BBC Stations on the Rise
BBC Radio Berkshire UP from 34,000 to 48,000
BBC Radio Newcastle UP from 215,000 to 234,000
BBC Radio Scotland UP from 745,000 to 827,000
BBC Radio WM UP from 185,000 to 194,000
BBC World Service (UK Reach) UP from 1,184,000 to 1,210,000
Trends and Insights for PR folks:
1. News and speech content holds value
LBC News, Times Radio, and GB News Radio all saw meaningful increases, especially in total hours. This suggests a sustained demand for news-driven formats, particularly in uncertain political and economic conditions.
2. Online and smart speaker radio listening have hit record levels demonstrating changing listening habits as more people opt to tune in via connected devices like laptops, mobile phones and smart speakers. Total online listening to all radio has reached a record high of 28.5%. As part of that, smart speaker listening has also hit record levels, now accounting for 17.6% of total listening, up from 16.6% in the same quarter of 2024.
3. Because of choice, radio networks and stations need to know their audience - Older audiences are spending more time listening. Classic hits and news-led services performed especially well, with older listeners helping drive growth in total hours. Stations like Boom Radio, Greatest Hits, and BBC Radio 3 are examples of this pattern.
The strongest percentage increase in weekly reach belongs to Heart Musicals, which increased by 61 percent, from 134,00
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In the fourth episode of the season — recorded during Mental Health Awareness Week (12-18 May, 2025) — Elizabeth Howlett, editor at PRmoment and Dean Connelly, founder of Latte Recruitment are joined by Nick Morey, co-CEO at Dynamo PR who explains how taking a counselling skills course improved his leadership skills.
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Ben Smith and Jack Peat discussed Taylor Herring's report, "News is Dead. Long Live the News," focusing on PR's adaptation to evolving newsroom structures and social media's transformative role in news generation and distribution. The report highlights the need for platform-specific content strategies, emphasizing authentic, visually engaging content tailored to algorithms and social newsroom preferences, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach. Next steps include further exploring the implications of these trends and developing tailored PR strategies for different social media platforms.
Details
Taylor Herring Report Overview: Ben Smith and Jack Peat discussed Taylor Herring's report, "News is Dead. Long Live the News," which examines how mainstream publishers' editorial teams are structured and whether PR teams are adapting. The central premise is that PR firms are slow to mirror changes in modern newsrooms. They also discussed upcoming PRmoment events, including the PR Masterclass on AI in PR.Social Media's Transformative Role in News: Jack Peat highlighted social media's shift from a news distribution platform to a source and generator of news. They emphasized how social media upends every stage of the news cycle, with user-generated content playing a significant role.Evolving Relationship Between Publishers and Social Media: Ben Smith and Jack Peat explored the change in how publishers view social media, from using it for traffic to their digital platforms, to becoming a central source of news and audience engagement. They cited examples of publishers prioritizing social media channels with growing teams and significant investments.Platform-Specific Content Strategies: The report revealed that different publishers excel on different platforms. This highlights the need for tailored content strategies rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to PR. The success of publications like Lad Bible and Joe on TikTok and the Economist on X exemplify this.The Algorithm's Influence on Content Creation: Jack Peat noted that algorithms, rather than editors, are increasingly important, requiring PR to tailor content to specific platform algorithms. Editors, however, remain crucial in understanding their publications' voice and how to optimize content for their target platforms.The Shift from One-Size-Fits-All PR: The discussion emphasized the end of the "one-size-fits-all" PR content era, as social news desks seek authentic content tailored to their specific platform and audience. Sending lengthy press releases without visual assets or opportunities for the social news teams to create their own content is no longer effective.Types of Video Content Sought by Social Newsrooms: The podcast explored the type of video content preferred by social newsrooms; it’s authentic, live-in-the-moment content, often shot on camera phones. The idea of providing "B-roll" footage that social newsrooms can then tailor to their own platform's style was suggested.The Growing Importance of Creators in Newsrooms: The conversation highlighted the shift in newsroom staffing, with a growing emphasis on creators who possess deep platform-specific knowledge rather than traditional journalism training. This trend is driving a change in the relationship between PR and publishers.Publishers' Evolving Commercialization Models: The discussion included the evolution of publishers' commercialization models on social media, moving from legacy platforms that rely on ad revenue and referrals, towards platforms like TikTok and Snap that use a "walled-garden" approach, and finally to the trend of publishers owning their audiences through subscriptions rather than renting their audience through advertising. -
In the third episode of the monthly Career Edit podcast, Dean Connelly and Elizabeth Howlett discuss The Ultimate Talent Attraction Guide, created by Latte in partnership with PRmoment.
The pair run down how to attract and retain talent in the PR sector, and some of the issues surrounding this. Additionally, Howlett and Connelly talk about April’s people moves.
1 mins: Howlett thanks the PRmoment podcast sponsors PRCA, reminds listeners about:
Creative Moment Awards’ earlybird entryThursday Club networking sessions sponsored by 72Point Media (follow Ben Smith for more information)The highly-anticipated return of the PR Masterclass: AI in PR2 mins: Connelly opens up discussion for April’s people moves:
Thuli Weerasena and Kara Buffrey, both senior PR’s in the hotel and restaurant team at W Communications launching digital-first PR agency CHOMPLauren Williamson moves from associate director at MHP Group to ThreeSixtyJack Rodgers, the former press strategist for the Green Party joins Amnesty International as media and PR managerLouise Mason-Rutherford has moved back to Burson Buchanan as partner, after stints at Blakeney and Citigate Dewe Rogerson8 mins: Connelly and Howlett dive into The Ultimate Talent Attraction Guide. Connelly explains that he spoke to winners of The PRmoment Awards 2025 to find out how they are attracting talent.
9 mins: “You don’t have a business without people especially when you work in PR when you’re competing for clients.”
Connelly runs through big mistakes when creating an employer brand, starting with the job interview process.
12 mins: Why the benefits package is so important
“Benefits have become so important and people are becoming more aware of the value of benefits.”
16 mins: “The best benefit I’ve seen…”
17 mins: The importance of selling the opportunity to the candidate
19 mins: “Talent attraction is down to the touch points someone has with business.”
20 mins: Howlett and Connelly briefly touch on flexible working as a benefit
22 mins: The rollback of DEI and talent attraction
“You just need to be honest about where you are with it.”
32 mins: Keeping in contact with your new recruit to ensure they don’t ghost you on day one
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Welcome to our review of PR pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch. Here we discuss the biggest pitch wins and mergers & acquisitions that the PR sector has seen in April 2025
Andrew is the lead consultant - PR, Social, Content and Influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR and a partner at PCB Partners, where he advises on buying and selling marketing services agencies.
Before we start, two pieces of good news at PRmoment this week. The first is that the programme for PR Masterclass: AI in PR is now complete. The PR Masterclass series are hybrid events so you can attend either in person or virtually. The event is on July 3rd and themes include:
How to Integrate AI into your PR WorkflowThe impact of AI on JournalismAI as a content production toolIs LLM optimisation PR's biggest opportunity of our lifetimes?How will AI impact the agency business model?How to build and scaling AI-powered PR toolsThe legal implications of AI in your communicationsThe intersection of PR and AI for in-house communicatorsHow to move from AI experimentation to implementationCheck out the microsite PRMasterclasses.com for all the details including the speaker line-up.
The other vital bit of information is that The Creative Moment Awards are now open for entries. You can see all the categories for 2025 at the microsite creativemomentawards.co.
The early bird entry deadline is Friday 16th May.
Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
Here’s a summary of what Andrew and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:
Here is this month’s run down of the biggest PR pitch wins in April 2025:
“Brands are hiring for what agencies can do, they are less fussed about who the agency is.”
Here is a link to Ben Smith’s podcast with W’s Warren Johnson that was referred to in the show.
Toyota and Lexis GB appointed Hope&Glory - Another big win for the UK consumer independent PR firm, it's a strategy and creative development brief.
Heineken UK appointed Blurred – Oversee corporate social impact strategy.
Tik Tok appointed Ready10 – Consumer PR for TikTok and TikTok Shop amidst security and content moderation concerns.
Tesco appointed Pretty Green and Tin Man – New creative agency roster for consumer PR.
Russell Hobbs/Remington appointed B The Communications Agency – PR, influencer, and social media for a 3-year contract.
Dunelm appointed Tin Man – Consumer and influencer PR to increase brand awareness.
Channel 4 appointed Mischief – Launching TV series, including Handmaid's Tale final series.
Plaidis Global appointed The Romans – UK savoury portfolio PR.
Aperol appointed Manifest – Global PR and influencer strategy.
Trip.com appointed Rooster – UK and European PR for online travel service provider.
Heathrow Express appointed Splendid – Retained PR agency following a project on language masterclasses.
Mountain Warehouse – Work and Class – Integrated communications account to inform customers globally.
Michael Page – Words+Pixels – Consumer and B2B PR to raise the profile of the global recruiter.
LNER – Brands2Life/Mischief/One Green Bean – Creative roster for the train operating company.
Sky News – Mu
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Welcome to the latest PRmoment podcast.
On the show today we’re talking to Heather Blundell, the UK CEO of Grayling. Heather joined Grayling in late 2023 after a brief spell at Ketchum as deputy UK CEO. Before that she’d headed up Weber’s Manchester office and been part of the leadership team at Weber in London.
On the show today we’re going to talk through Heather’s career story, from her time as a trainee at Edelman, which she describes as “like SAS training” through to her MD role at Grayling today.
Grayling has global revenues of £40m with about half of those in the UK. It has 30 offices globally.
Clients include Visa, Birmingham Football Club and Grindr.
Before we start, two pieces of good news at PRmoment this week. The first is that the programme for PR Masterclass: AI in PR is now complete. The PR Masterclass series are hybrid events so you can attend either in person or virtually. The event is on July 3rd and themes include:
How to Integrate AI into your PR Workflow
The impact of AI on Journalism
AI as a content production tool
Is LLM optimisation PR's biggest opportunity of our lifetimes?
How will AI impact the agency business model?
How to build and scaling AI-powered PR tools
The legal implications of AI in your communications
The intersection of PR and AI for in-house communicators
How to move from AI experimentation to implementationCheck out the microsite PRMasterclasses.com for all the details including the speaker line-up.
The other vital bit of information is that The Creative Moment Awards are now open for entries. You can see all the categories for 2025 at the microsite creativemomentawards.co.
The early bird entry deadline is Friday 16th May.
Here’s a summary of what Heather and PRmoment founder discussed:
3 mins Heather on the current health of UK PR would you say?
“The agency model and way of working is continuing to evolve.”
“We’re seeing clients be cautious.”
“Pitching is more aggressive than ever.”
8.30 mins Heather started her PR career at Edelman. Looking back, is that where she learnt how to be good at PR?
“There was a high level of expected excellence. I’ve tried to emulate that throughout my career. It was a high challenge, high support culture.”
15 mins How did Heather make the move from Edelman in London to Weber Shandwick in Manchester?
16 mins Heather talks about the role Colin Byrne and Jon McLeod played in her becoming MD of Weber Shandwick Manchester aged 29.
“Agencies must be a meritocracy, not a test of longevity.” Ben Smith
19 mins How Heather and her team turned around the fortunes of Weber Shandwick in Manchester to have a fee income of about £5m and 40 odd employees in 2014.
24 mins Heather and Ben reminisce about the PR legends that were Colin Byrne and Robert Phillips.
Here is the link to the PRmoment Podcast with Colin Byrne, referenced in the show.
28 mins Why did you leave Weber to go to Ketchum?
29 mins What did Heather learn from her time at Ketchum?
31 mins Heather on why she moved to Grayling.
“Grayling is the first PR firm I’ve worked at where the UK business is bigger than the US. That makes a difference.”
Here is the link to the PRmoment Podcast episode with Sarah Schofield reference on the show.
35 mins In some ways, the defining trend of the l
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How will Trump's tariff chaos impact UK public relations ? PR’s H1 Review 2025 with W Communications founder Warren Johnson On the PRmoment podcast.
Every six months or so I like to catch up with Warren Johnson from W Communications to talk about the financial state of UK PR.
And as Q1 is done and dusted, Trump is having endless fun throwing tariffs at the global economy, and we've just finished the agenda setting PRmoment Awards season: now seems like a good time.
And before we start, do check out the homepage of PRmoment. We’re entering our pre summer golden events period and there is a LOT going on. We’ve got webinars, lunches, networking and face to face conferences and events.
Everything is on the PR Calendar, which you can access from the homepage of PRmoment but do check out our next webinars:
In an Era of Global Doubt: How can Brand Communications be Optimistic? On 29th April. This webinar is free to attend.
And Creative Moment Creative Campaign Case Studies on 30th April, tickets are £35 + vat
Thanks to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors, The PRCA.
Here’s a summary of what PRmoment founder Ben Smith and Warren discussed:
1.30 min How does Warren see the impact of Trump's Tariff Tax on public relations?
“We are going into a tariff era… He’s trying (misguidedly) to shift the burden of tax from income tax to tariff tax. Anyone who has studied economics knows that is not going to work.”
“The randomness of them is going to sow quite a bit of economic uncertainty.”
“I fear that just as we were starting to see quite an encouraging financial year ahead of us, I think many of us had a strong Q1, I fear that we’re going to slip back into the great inertia post Covid.”
4 mins Warren, PR’s resident economist (he did an economics degree) gives us his insight into why tariffs are unlikely to work from an economics perspective.
6 mins What are brand communicators likely to do about Trump?
“Whilst there are opportunities there will be unexpected threats as well. I’m not sure where comms will net out.”
“I don’t think we’ve (PR) had more than 6-8 months to have a really good run at things since 2020."
8 mins Warren reviews a very good Q1 performance for UK PR.
13 mins Is the PR new business market still busy?
14 mins Warren on the margin pressure currently experienced by agencies?
“Constant procurement overreach, to the point of bullying.”
Paid media briefs: how is paid media supporting editorial ideas?
15.30 mins What PR services are clients buying?
“Loads of influencer and a bespoke blend of integrated marketing services. I haven't seen a press office brief for 3 or 4 years.”
19 mins Warren on the evolution of paid behind earned media creative across multiple channels, including media owners.
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For those of us who've worked in PR for looong time, there were 3 things you could rely on in public relations:
There would be someone at every measurement conference who couldn’t resist the mention of AVE to start a fight/push their personal brand. There would be an endless analysis of the pluses and minuses of PRs 2 UK trade bodies. This would take up an inordinate level of discussion amongst UK PR people.And 3, the B2B tech PR sector would keep growing.Then 2022 happened. And all of that changed.
We’ll leave an analysis of PR’s trade bodies conversation and AVEs for another day but today on this show we are going to chat with Hoffman CC Group’s Dan Miles about a very interesting report he’s recently authored discussing the impact of the tech recession on B2B tech marketing.
B2B tech PR grew pretty consistently for about 20 years from 2000 to 2022. There were obviously a few downturns and bubbles bursting during that time but the PR B2B tech sector proved very resilient through all of that. Until 2022.
I only know 3 B2B tech agency side PR guys, who when talking about 2022-24, don't lean back in their chair, take a sharp intake of breath and look to the ceiling!
It was a properly tough period. But do we really understand why? Downturns happen, they are part of professional life, but in B2B tech marketing this was a 2 year period like no other.
And as the B2B tech PR sector wasn't used to recessional downturns, it was especially hard. Perhaps B2B tech PR wasn't ready for the pain?
Today on the show Dan Miles is going to try to explain to what happened, why it happened and what comes next for the B2B tech PR market.
Just to say, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA
4 mins Dan on why he decided to write this report?
7 mins Dan talks us through the methodology for the report: 400 in-house folks surveyed across B2B tech marketing and PR.
8 mins Why was 2022 - 2024 a perfect storm for tech marketers? Do we know why that tech recession happened?
“11,000 tech companies laid off 260,000 members of staff between 2022 and 2024.”
“Hiring freezes meant there was a sense of having to do more with less.”
11 mins How quickly did the tech PR market go from “Yep, we’re alright”, to: “We’ve got a problem.”
13 mins Why did the tech PR sector suffer so badly compared to other areas of public relations?
20 mins How bad was the B2B tech PR downturn?:
How many PR people got laid off?By what percentage did budgets decrease?Do we know how many tech PR firms went out of business?How long did the hiring freezes last?How long did the short term, “get sales in” activity last? What were these short term objectives/ tactics?28 mins What was the B2B tech PR sector like to work in during that time?
“It got to the point in 2024 when you couldn’t rust the brief. Because you didn't know whether the brief would be completely changed part way through the process or if the person (giving the brief) might disappear entirely!"
32 mins In terms of the recovery, we’re a bit beyond the green shoots stage aren't we? When did the B2B tech PR market start to turn?
“It took until March this year (now) for us to be approaching bullish about growth.”
35 mins Has the B2B tech market come out as a different thing, doing different things?
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In the second episode of the monthly Career Edit podcast, Dean Connelly and Elizabeth Howlett are joined by Jo Carr, president of Women in PR and co-founder CCO at Hope & Glory PR to discuss how PR leaders can support more women into senior roles.
Additionally, Howlett and Connelly talk about Axe + Saw's recent appointment of Hannah Sharrat who joins the agency as associate director, having previously worked at Ogilvy PR UK.
1 mins: Howlett and Connelly intro themselves, thanking the PRmoment Podcast sponsors PRCA and directing listeners to keep their eyes peeled for more webinars and masterclasses on PRmoment's site.
2 mins: Hannah Sharrat appointed as associate director at Axe + Saw
"It can help move the agency into the next level of growth"
"The amount of Ogilvy employees commenting on the [Linkedin] post saying they will miss her..."4 mins: The hot topic of the month following CIPR's Missing Women In PR, is on how to get women into more senior PR positions.
"Women are progressing up to associate director level and then a big shift happens"
6 mins: Connelly gives his insight into recruiting women into senior roles7 mins: Carr discusses CIPR research and talks on why "some people don't see the problem"
13 mins: If women are being overlooked for legacy projects, should we base pay on what people have achieved?
14 mins: Carr outlines solutions and things leaders can do immediately to push change
21 mins: What can male leaders do if they recognise the senior team isn't diverse enough and feel uneasy? -
Welcome to our review of PR pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch. Here we discuss the biggest pitch wins and mergers & acquisitions that the PR sector has seen in March 2025
Andrew is the lead consultant - PR, Social, Content and Influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR and a partner at PCB Partners, where he advises on buying and selling marketing services agencies.
Before we start, do check out the homepage of PRmoment. We’re entering our pre summer golden events period and there is a LOT going on. We’ve got webinars, lunches, networking and face to face conferences and events.
Everything is on the PR Calendar which you can access from the homepage of PRmoment but do check out our next webinars:
In an Era of Global Doubt: How can Brand Communications be Optimistic? This webinar is on 29th April. This webinar is free to attend.
Also check out this Creative Moment Creative Campaign Case Studies webinar on 30th April, tickets are £35 + vat
Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
Here’s a summary of what Andrew and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:
PITCH WINS
Papa Johns appoints The Romans – culture-first PR and social retained account; 6-figure brief to elevate brand creativity.Café Direct appoints Tin Man – UK PR and social for ethical coffee brand, Tin Man further expands its food division.Horlicks appoints Tangerine – Influencer and social brief for Kids Chocoland, targeting parents.Uber Boats appoints PC Agency – Global brief to promote London river bus service, including electric ferry launch.Sudocrem appoints Brazen – Extended PR, influencer, and social content to broaden audience reach.Stock Spirits Group appoints The Remarkables – EU brief for product launches, international expansion and ESG commitments.MGM+ appoints Academy – UK/EU retained agency for streaming platform's brand and content campaigns.Verify Me appoints Academy – Age verification tech provider; brief includes US and Europe expansion.O&CC appoints Brandnation – Integrated PR, influencer, marketing, and creative brief for retail brands.Segway Navimow appoints Sprekley PR – Launch of X3 robotic lawnmower with Paris event and product reviews.Molton Brown appoints PC Agency – Hotel amenities PR to increase hotel placements, B2B and B2C focus.Tristan Capital Partners appoints Duet London – Launch of Sicilian Ave in London as dining and social destination.Health Shield Friendly Society appoints Midnight – B2B brief to position as leading employee health benefits provider.SunLife appoints Third City – Raise awareness of financial services and promote new brand image.Love Finance appoints WPR – Paid social creative across TikTok and Meta for brand awareness and lead gen.The Brain Tumour Charity appoints Evergreen PR – GP education campaign to support faster brain tumour diagnosis.Capgemini appoints Fleishman Hillard – Global comms agency for integrated support and brand reputation management.Serco appoints MHP – Strategic and corporate comms brief for outsourcing company working with governments.Experience Oman appoints Finn Partners – PR and marketing to enhance awareness of Oman's tourism.M&A activity
Together Group acquired experiential tech agencies, Imerza and Visualisation One – expanding service lines in the luxury market with VR and game-engine tech.Sauce Communications buys a majority stake in The M Collective – creating The Sauce Collective, a luxury lifestyle PR and digital agency with 50 FTEs.Finn Partners acquired Rice C -
Welcome to the latest PRmoment podcast. Today we’re chatting to 2 of The PRmoment Awards jury chairs Alison Clarke and Michael Murphy to get a chairs perspective on the jury day.
The PRmoment Awards have 5 judging streams incorporating 6 juries across one day. So there are 30 odd jury sessions, of about an hour across 5 different judging streams.
Each stream has an experienced chair to make sure everyone behaves and on today’s show we have 3 of the 5 chairs. Me, Alison Clarke and Michael Murphy.
As a chair it’s an exhausting day. At the end of it I need to open a cold beer and go and sit in a dark room!
But that need for counselling aside, it always seems to me that as chairs we have some wonderful insight from the juries that we then don't share with anyone. And today we’re going to put that right with a PRmoment Podcast on "The Chairs' Perspective."
Clearly we can't talk about who won or give away any campaign specifics because some of that detail is confidential but standby for a whole bunch of insight from inside the PRmoment Award juries.
Thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
The PRmoment Awards Manchester sold have sold out but you can still register for the waiting list. The PRmoment Awards in London still have some tickets available. But time is short. The event is on Thursday March 27th in London. The Manchester awards are a week later.
Michael and Alison, welcome to the show.
Here is a summary of what Alison, Michael and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:
2 mins Michael and Alison explain what the PRmoment jury process is.
7 mins How do Michael and Alison like to chair the sessions? It seems the chairs have their own chairing styles - there’s no one best way of doing it!
11 mins The chairs agree that passions and arguments can run high amongst the judges.
12 mins Michael and Alison compare the type of work coming out of the consumer agencies, compared to the B2B and tech agencies
17 mins A discussion about whether PR charging enough for its work
19 mins How did the type of work coming out of big agencies and small agencies compare?
20 mins Alison and Michael reflect on a really strong year in Manchester and The North this year.
22 mins For people entering the PRmoment Awards in 2026 - what advice would Alison and Michael give?
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Welcome to our review of PR pitches and mergers and acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch. Here we discuss the biggest pitch wins, mergers a d acquisitions that the PR sector has seen in February 2025.
Bloch is the lead consultant PR, social, content and influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR and a partner at PCB Partners, where he advises on buying and selling marketing services agencies.
He launched Andrew Bloch & Associates in 2020 and Big Dog Talent in January 2025
There’s a couple of new webinars that have gone live including The World's Greatest PR Research, which is a new topic, where we highlight the insight of some of the best PR related insight we’ve seen recently.
Also now live is our free to attend Why PR has an attention advantage on social with the folks from Tangerine.
Tickets are now available for both The PRmoment Awards shows, including the London Ceremony at Park Plaza Westminster on Thursday 27 March 2025 and the Manchester Ceremony at Manchester Hall on Thursday 3 April 2025.
Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
Here’s a summary of what Bloch and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:
This month's run down of the biggest PR pitches:
Linkedin appoint Ketchum
Nomad Foods appoint Burson
Husqvarna appoint Burson
Hello Fresh/Green Chef appoint John Doe
Field Doctor appoint Shook
IFIT+ Nordic Track appoint Shook
Ordnance Survey re appoint Markettiers
Autotrader appoint Hope & Glory
The Growth Foundation appoint Words+Pixels
Disaronno appoint Mercieca
Oxford Landing Wines appoint Frank
Gu appoint Tin Man
Radisson appoint W
Utility Warehouse appoint Here Be Dragons
Travel Supermarket appoint JBH
This month's biggest M&A activity in public relations
Stagwell merged Hunter and KWT Global
Connect Group (Strategic Comms) acquire majority stake in Linco, an Edinburgh based Public Affairs
Publicis acquire BR Media Group
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Today, the PRmoment Podcast has launched a new series, The Career Edit. Co-hosted by PRmoment’s editor Elizabeth Howlett and Dean Connelly, founder of PR recruitment firm Latte, the series will delve into the biggest debates surrounding the world of work and recruitment within the public relations industry.
Connelly and Howlett’s combined expertise in PR, recruitment, HR, talent and retention allows the pair to take an unflinching look at some of the main bugbears and barriers agency leaders and PR practitioners face.
In this first episode, the duo discuss the latest people moves of February 2025 (accurate at the time of recording), before moving on to the month’s Valentine’s Day themed hot topic exploring why recruitment is a lot like dating.
Many thanks to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
2 mins: Connelly and Howlett discuss notable PR people moves from February 2025
Siobhan Shea-Simonds joins Headland from Teneo. Comments from Kerry Parkin, founder and CEO at Sway and Ed O'Brien, head of issues and media management, global corporate affairs team at KPMG.Guto Harri, former director of comms for Downing Street under Boris Johnson becomes PR advisor for Oxbridge Boat Race Nerissa Chesterfield, former director of comms at 10 Downing Street under Rishi Sunak, moves to Chelsea Football ClubEva Omaghomi, who spent 17 years as King Charles' senior advisor, has launches her own agency, Forster Jones & Associates.8 mins: Why recruitment is like dating
9 mins: Connelly discusses how to trust your gut
“The reality is our gut feeling is coming from data, and we need to solidify what that is.”12 mins: Howlett opens conversation around what to say on job interviews to find out about the company culture
16 mins: Connelly talks on how to spot the green flags
“It shows emotional intelligence when someone is honest about challenges in the business.”20 mins: Howlett compares job interviews to meeting the parents for the first time
23 mins: How do you break up with your employer and still be friends?
30 mins: Can PRs call out toxic workplaces without making it worse and risking professional reputation?
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Welcome to the latest PRmoment podcast. Today we’re chatting to the PRCA’s Interim CEO Sarah Waddington about her plans for the organisation.
In January this year Sarah was appointed to the role, having been appointed to the board of the organisation in 2023..
Sarah is about a month into the role but in that time the PRCA has joined the CBI, launched a PR Pitch guide and Ketchum has rejoined, having left back a couple of years ago.
In a moment of gorgeous irony, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
Do check out the programme for our next webinar on “The World’s Greatest PR Research.” It's on 19th Mar 2025, starting at 3:30PM UK time.
In this exclusive webinar, PRmoment editorial team have picked the best PR research they have seen in the past 12 months.
Sarah welcome to the show
1 mins What is the role of a modern trade association?
6 mins What is the business model of a trade body? What are the revenue streams?
7 mins What would you say are the priorities for the PRCA currently?
“Member value is number one…we’re aware agencies and in-house teams have faced difficult times in the past few years…My priorities: the fee structure. We’re doing a piece of work at the moment to make sure that is fit for purpose and reflects the market.”
8 mins Which regions around the world does the PRCA operate in?
11 mins There is a huge diversity and variance of what PRCA members want from a trade body, does that mean it can try and do too much, and become too complex an organisation?
13 mins What do PRCA members tell you they want from the organisation?
15 mins How many people does the PRCA employ now? How many members does it have? Agencies? In-house? Individual?
16.30 mins Both UK PR trade bodies (The PRCA and the CIPR) made a loss in the last financial year. Why does Sarah think that is?
“The economy hasn’t really picked up…Anybody who is a member of an industry body right now, is looking at their subs and saying ‘what am i getting for this?’ It’s alright paying subs when life is good and margins are high. It is right when that is scrutinised."
21 mins It's obviously early days in Sarah’s leadership stint at the PRCA but what are her ambitions for the organisation?
“Right now it’s (about) consolidation and financial stability.”
“If we’re looking at the fee structure, there is clear growth to be had from the regions.”
22 mins Sarah has been involved with the leadership of the PRCA and before that the CIPR. So she knows your way around PR professional associations. Broadly is she in favour of leaner organisation or an expansionist strategy?
Sarah also updates us on PR’s forever question: The PRCA/CIPR merger.
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Welcome to the latest PRmoment podcast. Today we’re chatting about some new research that looks at the impact of earned media on ChatGPT’s content.
On the show to talk about this is Darryl Sparey, the MD and Co-Founder of Hard Numbers, a PRmoment award winning communications consultancy.
Hard Numbers is predominantly an B2B PR firm, working with clients like BT Group and Nebius AI, but also with consumer clients like PDD, Roadchef. It has around 20 staff, and a fee incoming approaching £2m.
Unlike many agency founders, Darryl spent much of his career in business development. After ten years running sales and marketing for Precise (now Onclusive), he moved into digital marketing, running the London office of a Search Engine Marketing agency. He then moved into PR as a board director of Hotwire.
Thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
Here’s a summary of what Darryl and Ben Smith spoke about:
2 mins Darryl talk to us about the approach you took for Coverage to Capital 4 in terms of the methodology?
4 mins What content sources does ChatGPT use?
“Editorial content drives 61% of ChatGPT's content.”
5 mins What was the impact of earned media overall? And by the criteria you set, so: quality, trust, innovation and value?
8 mins Owned media was the second biggest source of data for ChatGPT.
11 mins What were the other most used sources of information about a company?:
Earned MediaOwned mediaCustomer review sites and ratings,Industry awards and lists12 mins What sources of media does ChatGPT not use?
14 mins What are the implications for this report for PR?
15 mins What are the implications of this report for publishers and journalism?
16 mins The irony of LLMs being built on journalistic content from a publishing business model that they might destroy.
20 mins What are LLMs for PR professionals? Another channel? Or more than that?
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Welcome to our review of PR pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch. Here we discuss the biggest pitch wins and mergers & acquisitions that the PR sector has seen in Jan 2025
Andrew is the lead consultant - PR, Social, Content and Influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR and a partner at PCB Partners, where he advises on buying and selling marketing services agencies.
Andrew launched Andrew Bloch & Associates in 2020.
There’s a couple of new webinars that have gone live including The Worlds Greatest PR Research, which is a new topic, where we highlight the insight of some of the best PR related insight we’ve seen recently.
Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
1 mins Why Andrew is feeling optimistic about 2025.
2 mins This month's round up of PR’s biggest pitch wins:
The Children’s Society appoint Smarts
Oxfam appoint Hope & Glory
Adidas Manchester Marathon appoint PHA
Sport in Mind mental health charity appoint Work in Class
Remy Cointreau appoint LX
Bella + Duke (pet wellbeing) appoint Aisle 8
Napo Pet Insurance appoint Munch for PR – Flabbergast for Social media
Generator (global hospitality brand) appoint Munch and Flabbergast
Grenade appoint Tin Man
For Goodness Shakes appoint Rooster
National Lottery Operator (Allwyn Group) appoint M&C Saatchi
Alton Towers appoint Smoking Gun
Holocaust Memorial Day appoint Atalanta
Hublot (LVMH) appoint W
Yo Sushi appoint Earnies
Budweiser brewing Group appoint Hanover.
Air Canada appoint PC Agency
Government Digital Service appoint Four
24 mins This month’s run down of M&A in public relations:
Stagwell set to acquire Unicepta
Stagwell acquire Create Group
Marketbridge (US marketing firm) acquire April Six – Part of Mission Group (listed holding company)
Cavendish acquire Deryn
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Today on the PRmoment podcast we’re discussing the results of Global Women in PR’s Annual Index with Zeno UK MD Jo Patterson and Charlotte West Lenovo, vice president global corporate communications and board director of the Lenovo Foundation.
976 Female PR professionals around the world took part in the survey.
Before we start don’t miss our next PR Masterclass: The Intersection of Data, Planning and Measurement. Attend this PR Masterclass to hear from experts on the latest techniques, tools and case studies about the use of data in modern communications.
Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
Here’s a summary of what Jo, Charlotte and Ben Smith discussed:
3 mins Jo talks us through the top line findings from this research.
“Things are getting worse, not better for women in the workplace.”
“The sentiment for flexible working amongst employers is in decline.”
“51% of women working in PR globally have experienced harassment.”
5 mins Jo talks about the different forms of harassment of women at work.
“Seniority is no guarantee of protection (from harassment.)
“The most common source (of harassment) is people’s immediate bosses.”
“56% of the women who experienced harassment didn't report it.”
12 mins Charlotte talks about the steps she takes to ensure harassment doesn't take place in her teams.
13 mins Lots of very high profile, very successful, almost always white men are behaving badly currently. Is this increase in the number and profile of poor male role models impacting the level of harassment of women?
19 mins Jo and Charlotte talk about global flexible working trends in PR, from an employee perspective.
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Welcome to the PRmoment podcast, with editor Elizabeth Howlett and founder Ben Smith and we’re talking all things measurement and data.
Ben has been putting together PR measurement and analytics conference programmes since 2009. So he’s been an interested observer of that intersection for 16 years, so it's safe to say Ben understands the players, the bluffers and the issues when it comes to PR data, analytics and measurement.
No matter where you are on the PR data, analytics and measurement journey, you’ll improve your understanding of this dynamic and innovative area of communications of you attend PR Masterclass: The Intersection of Data, Planning and Measurement on 6th Feb. Both virtual and face to face tickets are currently available.
If you want to hear from experts on the latest techniques, tools and case studies about the use of data in modern communications - then this is the PR Masterclass event for you.
Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
Here is a summary of what Ben and Elizabeth discussed:
2 mins PR and measurement - it's a long story and Ben talks us through why.
8 mins Ben talks about 15 years of putting together PR Analytics programmes and what the key issues and themes need to be.
9 mins Ben reminisces a period of when PR people were searching for a silver bullet measurement solution.
11 mins Ben gives a shout out to AMEC’s Integrated Measurement Framework.
13 mins Ben gives a run down of the speakers and themes for PRmoment’s upcoming PR Masterclass: The Intersection of Data, Planning and Integration.
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Today on the PRmoment Podcast we’re talking to Louise Findlay-Wilson, managing director, Energy PR.
Louise founded Energy PR 29 years ago. It’s a £1.1 m fee income business with 11 employees.
Energy PR is a generalist PR firm with a specialism in digital PR, so the SEO and link building side of things. Current clients include InnovateUK, the New York Toy fair and Trooli.
We’ve just launched our PR Masterclass: The Intersection of Data, Planning and Measurement. Attend this PR Masterclass to hear from experts on the latest techniques, tools and case studies about the use of data in modern communications.
Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.
Here’s a summary of what Louise and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:2 mins Louise talks about the digital PR market at the moment?
5 mins There were already more journalists than PRs and the SEO community has planted itself of PRs front lawn and that seems to have impacted the already imbalanced ratio of journalists to PRs?
10 mins What is the likely impact of AI on search?
“The zero click economy coming out of Google is a challenge for a lot of companies everywhere.”
15 mins Will the Google: SEO community dance continue forever?
17 mins Louise talks about the timeline of Energy PR between the first 15 years and the second 15 years - the first phase she kept the business relatively small, the second phase saw her grow the business.
“In the first phase I had one foot on the accelerator and one foot on the break.”
“Phase 2 I concentrated on growing it and recruited a fantastic deputy MD in Susannah Morgan.”
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