Digital Download Podcast |
Digital Download Podcast |
The Digital Download Podcast is a show about digital communications strategy, social media marketing & the internet. Each week I discuss a specific area of digital media with an expert in their field.
My Business Very Nearly Cost Me My Home
In 2006 I quit my secure, salaried job in a PR agency to set up a business selling luxury pet accessories. Three years later and I was just a few short weeks away from losing my house and being declared bankrupt. The pressure and stress...
06 December, 2023
Screen Time, Burnout & techtimeout
The average person spends the equivalent of one entire month per year looking at their phone. They check it an average of 58 times per day. Overall screen time is at an all time high of 12 hours per day. And the impact on both...
22 November, 2023
Need to Know: The Impact of Technology on the Future of PR
In the face of changes in the way Google works, how artificial intelligence is making inroads into copywriting and data analysis, the decline of conventional media and developments at X (formerly Twitter), the communications industry is coming under increasing pressure to adapt. Technology has a...
08 November, 2023
Need to Know: Google Analytics 4 for Communications Pros
The introduction of Google Analytics 4 this summer was not exactly a surprise. Google had given several years’ warning that Universal Analytics would stop collecting data and that users should begin the transition to GA4 sooner rather than later. But being forced to use it...
25 October, 2023
Need to Know: The Future of Social Media
Social media is now 15 years old and communications consultants are grappling with a series of fundamental issues related to a brand or organisation’s use of social networks. While platforms implement updates on an almost daily basis, the bigger picture around whether a company should...
11 October, 2023
Need to Know: Sustainable Business Communications
Barely a day now goes by without a new climate milestone being broken or another extreme weather event wreaking havoc somewhere in the world. But while the causes of climate change are widely acknowledged, the solutions are complex. While we as individuals can take action...
27 September, 2023
Need to Know: The Impact of AI on Communications
Artificial intelligence is ushering in a new era of effective intelligent and convenient communication. At least, that’s what ChatGPT would have you believe. But while the market for AI tools has exploded over the last few months, many of those working within the communications industry...
13 September, 2023
‘Need to Know’ season trailer
After a much longer than anticipated hiatus, the Digital Download podcast is back. And we’re diving back into the digital communications world with a series of shows intended to catch you up on the latest developments. This season features topics including the profound impact of...
06 September, 2023
Climate Crisis: What Are Communicators’ Moral Obligations?
As the UK sweltered through record high temperatures this week, climate misinformation went into overdrive. Recent reports show high levels of greenwashing and non-existent impact assessments of organisational climate initiatives and, quite simply, this has to change. This week Paul is joined by Laura Sutherland...
20 July, 2022
What do Consumers Want from Brands in 2022?
With social justice, the cost of living crisis, war in Ukraine, COVID, the environment and the US Senate dominating the news agenda, there’s an awful for consumers to take in. So when it comes to the brands they love, what do they really want to...
06 July, 2022
Metaverse Marketing: Hope or Hype?
Should brands get involved in the metaverse, or just ignore it? What even is the metaverse?! This week Paul is joined by blockchain developer Holly Atkinson and experienced digital strategist James Whatley to address all the publicity around the metaverse with the aim of demystifying...
22 June, 2022
How to Be Yourself on Social Media
Have you noticed the volume of people trying, and failing terribly, to be their authentic selves on LinkedIn recently? This week Paul is joined by PR consultant and business owner Antonia Taylor to discuss why the benefits of being yourself are greater than ever, why...
08 June, 2022
Personality Goes a Long Way: The Importance of Brand Voice
What brands say and how they say it has come increasingly into focus in the last couple of years. So why do so many companies suck so badly when it comes to having a distinct personality of their own? This week Paul is joined by...
18 May, 2022
Facebook Advertising: The End is Nigh
Facebook ads used to be brilliant for reaching highly segmented niche audiences and for creating a positive ROI. But not anymore. Interest targeting doesn’t work like it used to and conversion costs have escalated. This week Paul is joined by CEO of Threepipe Reply Farhad...
04 May, 2022
Why Do You Still Have a Facebook Page?
Do your Facebook Page posts regularly get next to no engagement? Do the same posts on other networks perform considerably better? Do you sometimes question whether your audience is even seeing your posts? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these, you should consider deleting...
20 April, 2022
Media, Celebrities & the Balance of Power
Influencers have changed the nature of celebrity and the power dynamic of the media for good. Individuals now have the ability to impact the narrative around stories, and brands have to fully understand how to ensure they work in harmony with the press. This week...
06 April, 2022
Wikipedia for Business
Wikipedia is an anomaly for marketing professionals; a fiercely moderated bastion to neutrality on the internet that public relations and marketing professionals have failed to crack. And yet, especially for large companies and high profile individuals, it can be extremely important when it comes to...
21 March, 2022
NFTs. WTF?!
NFTs have become ubiquitous over the last six months, with everyone from Snoop Dogg to Gary Vaynerchuck extolling their virtues. As ‘the next big thing’, marketers have more than a passing interest. And yet most are struggling to get their heads around the implications of...
07 March, 2022
PR Survived the Pandemic! Or Did It?
Back in the summer of 2020 as the world got to grips with COVID-19, PR leader Gini Dietrich made a bold prediction on this podcast that the public relations industry would not survive the pandemic as a standalone discipline. 18 months on and we’re revising...
21 February, 2022
How to Futureproof Your Career for 2022
2021 has been a struggle for many in the communications industry, with the ongoing pandemic coupled with evolving working processes and increasing demand on new knowledge and skills. Coasting is no longer an option for a successful career in marketing and public relations. In the...
07 December, 2021
3 Key Challenges for Public Relations in 2022
The public relations industry has rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic far quicker and stronger than many predicted it would. It is arguably in better shape now than it was two years ago. But the impact of the pandemic on the business world means that challenges...
01 December, 2021
Tackling Sustainability & Avoiding Greenwashing
COP26 has thrust climate change and sustainability into the boardrooms of every single marginally responsible company around the world. While Governments have a critical role to play, the spotlight is increasingly on business to step up to the plate. The job of the communications sector...
24 November, 2021
The Downsides of Personal Branding
Personal branding is a big thing in 2021, with much written on the significant business value of having a strong online presence and reputation. But among all the hype, no-one ever talks about the drawbacks of becoming ‘known’. In this episode of the Digital Download...
10 November, 2021
Maybe It’s Time to Quit Facebook
The Wall Street Journal’s coverage of whistleblower Francis Haughen’s leaked documents from inside Facebook make for fascinating and at times very disturbing reading. Among the core findings are the way the Facebook algorithm promotes division, how Facebook has a ‘white list’ of elite users who...
03 November, 2021
Is Share of Search the Missing Link in Comms Measurement?
Share of search has been used in the advertising industry for years as a way to prove a causal link between advertising and business results. It follows the line of thought that one of the first things a person does if they become aware of...
27 October, 2021
The Most Popular Metrics in PR in 2021
Measurement has been a monkey on the public relations industry’s back for as long as anyone can remember. But sometimes it helps to look at where the industry is now compared to where it was a few years ago and to determine whether progress is...
20 October, 2021
What Does it Take to Build and Market an App?
Do we need an app? It’s something that’s now heard very often in marketing circles, as if building, maintaining and marketing an app is the easiest thing in the world. But the technical complexity of ‘an app’, not to mention the competition for app space...
13 October, 2021
Is Digital Connectivity Bad for our Mental Health? [rebroadcast]
The last two years are starting to take their toll on us. Stories of struggling with the relentlessness of social and economic unrest are common, and motivation can be harder to come by than a full tank of petrol at the moment. On World Mental...
10 October, 2021
Trolling & Online Abuse: Enough is Enough
The online abuse targeted at Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after England’s Euro 2020 final defeat was sickening. And yet it was entirely predictable, and is the latest in a long line of serious trolling incidents involving public figures. The social networks seem...
14 July, 2021
Socially Mobile: Helping PR Practitioners Increase Their Earning Potential
In the last few years the lack of diversity in the public relations industry and the over-indexing of private school-educated practitioners has come under increasing scrutiny. However, not much has changed. A new charitable PR school project called Socially Mobile aims to tackle this. Focused...
23 June, 2021
Courage as the Key to Great Leadership
In the last year leaders have had to make difficult decisions, push through very uncomfortable situations and be resilient when things got really tough. More than 50 such people launched new PR agencies at a time when the world was in turmoil, while others had...
09 June, 2021
Podcasting for Business: Worth the Effort?
Podcasting continues to go from strength to strength, with over 180% more monthly downloads in 2020 than in 2019 according to Chartable. With demand at an all-time high, creators are launching more shows than ever before, and many businesses are wanting in on the action....
26 May, 2021
Boohoo: No Trust, No Ethics, No Problem
In the last 9 months, fashion retailer Boohoo has been investigated for modern slavery, been accused of making people work with no social distancing during lockdown, and been found to price the same garments at significantly different prices across its different retail brands. These are...
12 May, 2021
PR and the Hybrid Office
During the last year communications agencies and marketing departments everywhere have adapted to remote working and a virtual business model. But while for most it has been a bootstrapping exercise, for others it’s been second nature. As a result, debate and speculation about the future...
28 April, 2021
Is Comms Measurement Finally Coming of Age?
During the pandemic the thorny topic of public relations measurement and evaluation has taken a back seat to things like, well, survival! But now that the business world is creating new ways of working and new methods of marketing, it’s back on the radar. Effective...
14 April, 2021
Clubhouse: Next Big Thing or Much Ado About Nothing?
Clubhouse is being heralded as the latest breakthrough app in the social media world. Despite still being in beta, invite-only and not yet available on Android, the app reached 10 million weekly active users by the end of February. Critics, however, are yet to be...
31 March, 2021
Screen Time & Tech Addiction: How Worried Should We Be?
Over the last year, the amount of time we have all spent on screens has grown significantly. It’s been less of a choice and more of a necessity. The average adult now spends around four hours per day on mobile devices or TVs, and two...
17 March, 2021
Dealing with Redundancy in Marketing Communications
In the last year 10% of marketers were made redundant due to the impact of COVID-19 and another 13% were put on furlough. The latest data from the Office of National Statistics showed a record 395,000 redundancies in the UK between September and November 2020,...
03 March, 2021
The Evolution of Content Marketing
Content marketing started to take off as an independent discipline in the mid 2000s as social media provided a new way for information and websites to be shared quickly and easily at low cost and at scale. A lot has changed since then, and perhaps...
17 February, 2021
The Future of the Internet
The internet and digital communications technology has become fundamental to our way of life in the last year. A fast and reliable broadband connection has been vital in feeding ourselves, entertaining ourselves, educating our children and continuing to work during the pandemic. We’re not going...
03 February, 2021
The Big Question: What Can We Expect from 2021?
In the final show of the year, five senior figures in the marketing communications industry discuss what 2021 may hold in store for brands, agencies and individuals. We discuss technological adoption, behavioural change, brand purpose, diversity, innovation, agency start ups, social media and a whole...
25 November, 2020Reflections on What 2020 Means for Marketing Communications
The COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest on either side of the Atlantic, Brexit, a vitriolic US Presidential election and mass redundancies are what 2020 will be remembered for. And while the human cost has been massive, with 50 million cases of coronavirus and over one million...
11 November, 2020
Podcast Analysis & Outreach Just Got Simple
Until now, podcast discovery, research and outreach has been an arduous task. Trying to find relevant podcasts in a specific topical niche has largely been a manual job, while publicly available listener statistics and analytics have been non-existent. However, a new service for marketers and...
28 October, 2020
Latest Trends in the Digital Consumer
At this time of year thought leaders start predicting what will happen in marketing communications over the next 12 months. But most of those predictions are based upon opinion rather than data. That criticism cannot be levelled at the likes of Global Web Index, which...
14 October, 2020
Social Media, Scandal & Selling Records
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Transvision Vamp was one of the most popular alternative bands in the UK, with a number one album and five top 20 singles. No stranger to controversy, lead singer Wendy James was renowned for her rebellious and straight-talking...
30 September, 2020
How to Use UGC to Build Trust & Affinity
Brilliant user generated content is seen by some marketers as the holy grail. UGC can create greater engagement, build trust and affinity, and provide endorsement for other marketing activities. Above all, 60% of consumers think that user generated content is the most influential form of...
16 September, 2020
Calling Communicators: Action not Words
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations was founded in 1948 and currently has around 10,000 members. In common with most organisations, the CIPR has had to adapt rapidly to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is being looked to for guidance by the...
02 September, 2020
The Disruptors: Take Control of Your Own Destiny
In part two of a duo of shows focused on the communications professionals who are shaking up the industry, we discuss conventional agency models and their limitations, selling results not time, the importance of transparency, ditching the pitch process, and taking responsibility for change rather...
19 August, 2020The Disruptors: A Template for the Future of Communications
On the last episode of the podcast, we discussed how the public relations industry is under serious threat from the pandemic. In this show we outline a template for the future that will ensure that communications agencies not only survive, but thrive. There is a...
05 August, 2020
PR Won’t Survive the Pandemic
Public relations is at a crossroads. Years of failing to adequately address the measurement issue, ignoring associated disciplines like SEO and a steadfast refusal to understand the viewpoint that PR is a tactical function rather than a strategic discipline have created a position where the...
22 July, 2020
The Power of a Growth Mindset in Marketing
The last 4 months have played havoc with us as individuals, both physically and mentally. In the marketing industry we’re having to create or adopt new business models, tactics that used to work no longer do, and in some cases we’ve lost our jobs. In...
08 July, 2020
How to Beat Imposter Syndrome
It is estimated that 70% of people experience feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt and of being a fraud at some time in their career. And in marketing, where it’s easy to compare yourself with others’ creativity and knowledge, incidence of imposter syndrome may well be a...
24 June, 2020
Beyond COVID: Ecommerce & Online Behaviour
During 2019 the global ecommerce industry grew by 18% to almost $3.5 trillion. In 2020, with a worldwide rolling lockdown in place, online sales have rocketed further. Amazon’s groceries business has boomed, and in March it announced that it would hire an additional 100,000 staff...
10 June, 2020
Beyond COVID: Influence Comes of Age
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, articles started to appear that predicted the end of influencer marketing and the death of ‘influence’. They were prompted by reports of content creators using their positions for privilege during COVID-19 and the fact that influencer jobs had...
27 May, 2020
Beyond COVID: Redemption of the Social Networks?
Just a few short months ago, social networks were coming under intense fire for, among other things, data privacy, toxicity and their negative impact on mental health. The reputations of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were at an all-time low. But recently, things have changed. Since...
13 May, 2020
Beyond COVID: The Future of the Communications Industry
After the dotcom crash of 2000, 9/11 in 2001 and the global financial crash of 2008, COVID-19 is the fourth major economic crisis in the working lives of many senior communications practitioners. But arguably unlike any of the crises that have come before it, the...
29 April, 2020
COVID-19: Business Continuity & the Human Imperative
As marketing communications agencies and in-house teams struggle to get to grips with the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, business continuity has leapt to the fore. 77% of PR firms around the world are expecting a loss of earnings as a result of the...
15 April, 2020
Five Years in Business. But for How Much Longer?
Covid-19 has knocked the marketing communications industry for six. Projects and campaigns have been cancelled left, right and centre, leaving many in-house teams on pause and many agencies and freelancers with plummeting revenue. Although it’s only a matter of three weeks since the economy collapsed,...
01 April, 2020
The Future of Messaging for Business
Use of private messaging apps like WhatsApp, Messenger and Telegram have boomed in the last few years. As long ago as 2016 they were more popular than social networks, and with the recent announcement by WhatsApp that it now has 2 billion users, it’s very...
18 March, 2020
Toxic Tabloids, Sick Society & Taking Responsibility
On 15th February UK TV presenter Caroline Flack took her own life, after years of being hounded by the tabloid media. Between September 2019 and her death, The Sun, The Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror published 120 articles about her, ranging from salacious gossip...
04 March, 2020
Running on Empty: Business Challenges, Burnout & Signs of Recession (part 2) [S5 E11]
2019 has been a tough year for many in the communications industry. Uncertainty around the economic outlook has placed additional stresses on business leaders, and there are worrying signs for 2020 that mirror what was seen before the 2008 financial crisis. This episode of the...
11 December, 2019Running on Empty: Business Challenges, Burnout & Signs of Recession (part 1) [S5 E10]
2019 has been a tough year for many in the communications industry. Uncertainty around the economic outlook has placed additional stresses on business leaders, and there are worrying signs for 2020 that mirror what was seen before the 2008 financial crisis. This episode of the...
04 December, 2019
Preparing for Digital Technology in 2020 [S5 E9]
Digital transformation is a phrase that is misunderstood by many, and yet the thinking behind it is critical to the success of organisations large and small. With the pace of change getting ever faster and a new decade nearly upon us, planning for change is...
27 November, 2019
Customer Loyalty is Dying [S5 E8]
Conventional marketing tactics no longer work like they used to. Consumers don’t want to be controlled or sold to. Social media engagement is down across the board. And two thirds of your marketing is happening without you. In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast...
20 November, 2019
The Future of Global Social Media [S5 E7]
Facebook states its mission as connecting people the world over. But while social networks are capable of overcoming the technological barriers to achieving this, there are still mountains to climb when it comes to cultural and societal challenges. In this episode of the Digital Download...
06 November, 2019
Can Social Media Help Tackle Homelessness? [S5 E6]
There are now 100 million homeless and displaced people in the world, and the issue is becoming a major problems for most countries and cities around the world. The World’s Big Sleep Out is a charitable initiative that aims to change that by encouraging 50,000...
30 October, 2019
Digital Minimalism, Data Privacy & Cryptocurrency [S5 E5]
Over the last ten years it’s become increasingly clear that data is the new gold. While the likes of Google and Facebook make money from selling data, new technologies like blockchain and cryptocurrency have sprung up built upon the foundations of data. Getting to grips...
23 October, 2019
Problems with Public Relations [S5 E4]
The public relations industry has a love/hate relationship with the public relations industry. Its own biggest supporter and yet its own biggest critic, the cyclical nature of many of the debates drives some of those who’ve worked within it for many years to distraction. One...
15 October, 2019
How to Use Content Marketing for PR [S5 E3]
Content marketing has become associated with inbound marketing and sales funnels, with communicators in danger of being swamped by advertisers when it comes to the use of creative content. But there is an alternative school of thought which says that public relations is the ideal...
08 October, 2019
How to Handle Misinformation in a Crisis [S5 E2]
Fake news and propaganda have existed for decades, if not centuries. But with social media algorithms reinforcing confirmation bias and with the advent of deep fake technology, misinformation has reached unprecedented levels. As a result, trust has plummeted and corporate crises are becoming ever-more common....
01 October, 2019
Is Social Media Broken, Or Are People Broken? [S5 E1]
The world is seemingly in crisis, with social and political upheaval having dominated the news agenda for several years. Much of the blame for this is laid at the feet of the social media giants, notably Facebook and Twitter, for creating platforms that fragment society...
22 September, 2019
#MHAW19 Is Digital Connectivity Bad for our Mental Health? [S4 E10]
In 2019 we’re all hyper-connected. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and dozens of other apps compete for our attention on a daily basis. Those working in the communications industry are, arguably, more exposed than most given the nature of our jobs. So what affect is this...
14 May, 2019
The Differences & Similarities Between PR & SEO [S4 E9]
PR and SEO have been converging for many years. While each has large areas that are distinct to that discipline, there is a huge crossover in goals and skills. And yet many communications professionals still struggle with the concept of authority link building and with...
01 May, 2019
The Opportunities & Challenges of Voice Technology [S4 E8]
Smart speakers are the fastest adopted consumer technology in history. Faster even than smartphones. The current use case is around routine activities like voice calling, playing music and accessing news headlines, but digital voice assistants are widely expected to take on more and more complex...
23 April, 2019
Does Lush’s Decision to Ditch Social Media Stink? [S4 E7]
UK high street retailer Lush’s announcement that it is to close its branded social media accounts was met with reasoned agreement from some industry professionals and by relentless incredulity from others. It is a decision that has proved highly controversial in marketing communications circles. In...
17 April, 2019
Understanding the Influencer Potential of ASMR [S4 E6]
ASMR, or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response to give it its full name, has been gaining lots of attention from marketers over the last few months. But what are opportunities? Are ASMR artists influential? And what actually is it? In this episode of the Digital Download...
10 April, 2019
To Blog or to Podcast: That is the Question [S4 E5]
Both podcasting and blogging have been around for nearly thirty years. But whereas the former has undergone a huge resurgence due to developments in mobile technology and 4G, the latter is in decline as readers switch to more immersive forms of content. Both still hold...
02 April, 2019
The PR-Pocalypse: One Year On [S4 E4]
A year ago I wrote a rather controversial blog post titled ‘The Four Horsemen of the PR-Pocalypse’ that outlined four key threats to the communications industry. I asserted that the prevalence of fake news, an influencer bubble, declining content visibility in both social and traditional...
27 March, 2019
Employee Advocacy as a Route to Social Media Success [S4 E3]
As users turn away from public social networks to using private groups and dark social media, reaching those people with branded messages is becoming more and more difficult. In accordance with this, employee advocacy is on the rise, with an increasing number of companies focusing...
19 March, 2019
Is Artificial Intelligence All Just Hype? [S4 E2]
Artificial intelligence has been variously painted as the next big thing, the technology that will all-but-kill communications and the development that will increase efficiency and productivity exponentially. But where does the truth lie? Is AI all just hype? Do we really need to bother with...
12 March, 2019
Are we Witnessing the Beginning of the End for Facebook? [S4 E1]
Facebook has taken a battering in the last few months from the media, from marketers and from legislators. And yet on the face of it, users don’t seem to care that much. Or do they? In the opening episode of Season Four of the Digital...
05 March, 2019
[S3 E12] What To Really Expect in Digital in 2019. Probably.
In the final episode of the Digital Download Podcast of the year, I welcome back Arment Dietrich CEO and Spin Sucks head honcho Gini Dietrich to review the last 12 months and look ahead to the next year. We analyse some of the predictions we...
05 December, 2018
[S3 E11] The One Where I’ve Got Something To Say
The public relations industry is one of the most insecure professions around. They might be universally despised, but traffic wardens believe in themselves more than PR people. In this episode of the Digital Download podcast I address some of the conversations driving the industry over...
28 November, 2018
[S3 E10] Where Digital PR is Headed in 2019
Every year the PRCA Digital PR report throws up some unexpected findings from the world of digital communications, and this year is no different. Among the headlines are that although PR teams are controlling more social and digital media activity, they’re less confident in measuring...
21 November, 2018
[S3 E9] How to Tackle the Diversity Issue
Diversity is a hot topic in the public relations and communications industry. But while issues such as the gender pay gap and mental health receive a lot of attention, other issues such as racial equality, sexual orientation and disability do not. In addition, the industry...
14 November, 2018
[S3 E8] Link Building for Communications Professionals
The convergence of public relations, social media and SEO is nearly complete, and one area where the lines are now completely blurred is that of authority link building. And yet PR professionals still question their ability to build links that impact search rankings and are...
07 November, 2018
[S3 E7] How Digital Is Transforming When & Where We Work
Advances in digital communications technology over the last few years have made the ability to work from anywhere at any time a reality. Whether it’s automated processes or a greater ability to share information quickly and effectively, the world of PR work is changing rapidly...
31 October, 2018
[S3 E6] How Digital Has Impacted Journalism
It’s no secret that the media has changed beyond all recognition in the last ten years, with print circulations down by 50% and digital news sites struggling to turn a profit. As a result, the symbiotic relationship between journalists and public relations professionals has become...
24 October, 2018
[S3 E5] Collagin: From PR Stunt to Dragon’s Den
There are good PR stunts and there are bad PR stunts. The good ones create a massive groundswell of publicity and awareness that can help to propel a brand’s fame and reputation to a new level. The bad ones float something large down the Thames…...
17 October, 2018
[S3 E4] Future Proofing Your Career in Communications
There is no escaping the march of technology and the impact it is having on our professional lives. And yet some more senior PR and communications professionals are running scared when the simple fact is that we all have to embrace change to remain relevant. In...
10 October, 2018
[S3 E3] Fake News! How Misinformation is Impacting Communications
Last week Brewdog came under fire for a story that turned out not only to be untrue, but that came from a hard-to-identify source. It is the perfect example of the challenges facing brands in a post-Trump, post-Brexit world where misinformation holds as much if...
03 October, 2018
[S3 E2] Nike, Kaepernick and the Use of Brand Archetypes
When Nike published its latest advertisement featuring racial injustice campaigner Colin Kaepernick, it sparked a torrent of abuse for the brand from those who disagree with Kaepernick’s stance. It also prompted an outpouring of admiration from supportive consumers and marketers alike. To say it is controversial...
19 September, 2018
[S3 E1] Emerging Technologies in Communications
In the opening episode of Season Three of the Digital Download podcast, we take a look at some of the emerging technologies that digital communications professionals need to start paying attention to. Using Gartner’s Hype Cycle as a reference point, communications technology expert Neville Hobson...
12 September, 2018
[S2 E11] The Importance of Humanity in a Digital World
In the final episode of Season Two of the Digital Download podcast, we take a look at some of the major themes to have emerged from the show during the last three months. MD of Carrot Communications and co-founder of Polpeo Kate Hartley and I...
19 July, 2018
[S2 E10] It Doesn’t Pay to be an A**hole
Hard rock band Halestorm won a Grammy Award in 2013 and is about to release its fourth album in nine years on Atlantic Records. Lead singer Lzzy Hale is one of the most popular and likeable frontwomen (or men) on social media, where she is pretty...
10 July, 2018
[S2 E9] The Immense Value of Online Communities
The word ‘community’ is often misused by communications professionals, many of whom fail to grasp the fundamental nature of community and how to leverage it. But when deployed strategically, with a clear purpose and focus on the members not the administrator, online communities can provide...
04 July, 2018
[S2 E8] No More Bullshit: The Value of Brutal Honesty
There’s a lot of corporate rubbish spoken in and around the PR industry. From over-elaborate brand statements and communications jargon to pseudo-propitious CSR initiatives. Companies and brands hide behind walls of carefully constructed marketing initiatives that present a polished veneer instead of what really goes...
27 June, 2018
[S2 E7] The Lowdown on B2B Influencer Marketing
B2B influencer marketing is a discipline that, far from being in its infancy, has not reached the maturity of the consumer sector. While the latter is plagued with Instagram and YouTube ‘stars’ who flog their supposed influence to the highest bidder, the B2B sector is...
20 June, 2018
[S2 E6] Give a Robot a Cuddle: A Review of Digital Download Live 2018
This episode of the Digital Download podcast was recorded live at Digital Download Live 2018. The event presented a challenging set of developments for the communications industry that necessitate ensuring you are up-to-speed with technological change, namely fake news, a potential crash in influencer marketing, the...
13 June, 2018
[S2 E5] The Secrets of Ultimate Instagram Creativity
Instagram is arguably the most creative of all of the social media channels, and yet so many brands, companies and marketers struggle with how to utilise it. While many corporate accounts are dull and predictable, there are individuals using Instagram to build their personal brands...
06 June, 2018
[S2 E4] Why Inbound Could Finally Prove the ROI of PR
Public relations has had issues with measuring return on investment for, arguably, the entirety of its life. Competitive disciplines such as digital marketing, advertising and SEO have mopped up business for little other reason than PR has struggled to prove its worth. A new methodology,...
29 May, 2018
[S2 E3] How Artificial Intelligence is Impacting PR & Communications
The CIPR’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) panel has published new research revealing the impact of AI on public relations and communications practice. It highlights where AI is already impacting skills, predicts the impact on the profession in the next five years and makes interesting and, depending on...
22 May, 2018
[S2 E2] How Brands Can Exploit the Podcasting Boom
Podcasting has undergone a massive resurgence in popularity over the last couple of years, and the boom shows no signs whatsoever of slowing down. In fact, with Google entering the fray listening could as much as double in the next two to three years. Communications professionals,...
15 May, 2018
[S2 E1] How to Use Digital Media to Become Known
Personal branding is a term that few people like, but that many people understand the huge value of. We all have a personal brand, whether or not we like it or whether we understand what it is. In the first episode in Season Two of the...
09 May, 2018
[S1 E12] Defeating the Four Horsemen of Communications
In early March I wrote a blog post entitled ‘The Four Horsemen of the PR-pocalypse’. It outlined four key threats to the public relations industry, each of which represents a threat but in combination could quite possibly wipe out large swathes of agencies, freelancers and in-house communications...
28 March, 2018
[S1 E11] Cutting Through the Digital Communications Bulls**t
You know how sometimes you read the latest thoughts of a social media guru and get swept away by the wisdom they impart? You know how sometimes you can read two contradictory articles and be convinced by both of them? There’s a lot of rubbish...
21 March, 2018
[S1 E10] How to Exploit Photography in Social Media
We’ve all got mobile phones with 8 or even 16 megapixel cameras on them. And we all know that imagery is vital when it comes to social media marketing. Which means we have the ability to fill our Instagram profiles without having to go anywhere...
13 March, 2018
[S1 E9] Everything You Need to Know About GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has caused much confusion within the communications industry around the responsibilities of different parties and who needs to do what in order to comply. Very few seem to have any clarity and, rather like the movie franchise, it’s all...
07 March, 2018
[S1 E8] The Impact of Digital on Internal Communications
Internal communications is an area of public relations that often gets missed when digital technology is discussed, largely because the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are all external-facing. But innovation in IC is arguably greater than outward-facing communications channels, with the likes of Office...
27 February, 2018
[S1 E7] Answers for Modern Communicators: a Q&A
Contemporary PR and communications professionals face a challenging but exciting time. The explosion of digital technology, questions over ethical practice, the data revolution and the evolution of both internal and external facing digital platforms has prompted as many questions as it has provided answers. In...
21 February, 2018
[S1 E6] What You Need to Know About Website Design
Website design is normally overlooked by communications professionals as ‘the thing that the geeks do’. But if we want our campaigns to fly in an increasingly digital and mobile world, we have to understand some of the basics of website development and web browsers. In...
13 February, 2018
[S1 E5] How to Effectively Manage a Social Media Crisis
Barely a week goes by without one company or another attracting the ire of the mob on Twitter and Facebook. Brand trolling seems to have become an acceptable way to behave, causing no end of problems for the unwary and ill-prepared. In this episode of...
06 February, 2018
[S1 E4] How Voice Recognition is Impacting PR & Comms
2018 has been labelled by some as ‘the year of the smart home’. Driven by the adoption of Google Home and Amazon Echo, voice recognition promises to transform not only the way we interact with the internet of things but also the way we use...
30 January, 2018
[S1 E3] How to Maximise Influencer Relationships
When the White Moose Cafe published a scathing review of vlogger Elle Darby’s request for a free five night stay in return for a positive YouTube review, the ensuing storm captured the attention of the world’s media. There are strong arguments to be made on both...
23 January, 2018
[S1 E2] What Does the Future Hold for the PR Industry?
Public relations had a turbulent year in 2017. With a perceived lack of self-confidence and new technologies such as artificial intelligence, messaging bots and voice recognition looming on the horizon, the industry faces a potentially defining 12 months ahead. In this episode of the Digital...
17 January, 2018
[S1 E1] What to Expect in Digital Communications in 2018
To stay ahead of the game in digital media, you have to be informed about what technological and best practice trends are developing. You can only prepare for what you know. In the first ever episode of the Digital Download podcast, I talk to leading...
08 January, 2018
