Gary is the founder of CoverageBook, AnswerThePublic and the new (free) PR measurement tool ‘CoverageImpact’.

We discuss how the last 15 years of working together in marketing and the last 10 years of Gary being a successful software founder in the PR industry has led to the launch of this new PR tool.

In a time when PR budgets are being cut and in-house teams are admitting its often down to lack of confidence in measurement, Gary believes its time for a step-change in the way the industry showcases PR activity outcomes. He also believes this should be accessible to everyone and not just those that can afford high-level measurement and analytics support...

Could this new free graph-generator tool that showcases PR outcomes be the answer to the PR industry’s biggest problem? Listen this interview and make your decision!

www.CoverageImpact.com

Special Guest: Gary Preston .

In this fascinating podcast chat Steph and I explore why this is; from pivot table and design skills to senior management experience being involved, we delve into what PR measurement needs to be a success in 2024.

Steph Bridgeman is the founder of ‘Experienced Media Analysts’. As well as help many teams win PR measurement and AMEC awards, Steph helps arm agencies and in-house teams with outcome insights that help them prove value and retain and grow PR budgets.

As well as win the awards Steph is also on the board of AMEC (association of measurement and evaluation of communications) so its safe to say, she in totally immersed and in the know on measurement!

She shares her opinion on where we’re at as an industry, but also gets practical on what we can do to improve processes, including;

Providing clear examples of what outputs and outcomes are and the difference between metrics

Exploring the word ‘Impact’ and what should and shouldn’t be included as a metric there

Steph shares how teams should review technology and how to cut out what’s not needed

And finally how to find hidden gems of skills around your organisation that can help analyse and visualise results.

Special Guest: Steph Bridgeman.

In this episode of the PR Resolution Podcast, Stella and Bev discuss a current campaign that is making change; Bev shares how the ‘Stop TUI from profiting from dolphin cruelty’ emerged as an issue, how the content is reaching a wide audience and how the result of audience engagement is encouraging a major corporate to make change to their products.

Bev also shares how her global team works with media. How they have adapted processes to work with modern media change & their dedication to responding to animal news and journalists requests in less than 60minutes.

They cover the campaigns that have made the biggest impact and have helped save animals, the components and how the team measure them, especially when the biggest KPI is often changing international tourist trends.

Bev also shares her insight on the challenging financial climate for charities right now and how World Animal Protection are making efficiencies that all PR teams can take inspiration from.

Special Guest: Bev Boyle.

The music artist.

How does the involvement of a track in a PR campaign, advert, or TV show affect the artist?

What does it mean to the target audience?

Can it make or break an artist?

In this episode, Stella Bayles interviews Jelena Grozdanich, director of film and television at Columbia Records to find out.

Jelena explains how, just like brands, artists also have audience objectives & how the right partnership can be very powerful for both parties.

She shares the benefits of working with new artists and how finding a match of niche interest points between both parties can be mutually beneficial as often ‘niche interest points’ = a passionate and very engaged audience.

Jelena explains the changes to her role as the music industry has changed and what she expects to see emerge in the next 5 years.

Whether you’re a music PR or are interested in having music as part of your marketing strategy this episode is for you.

Timestamps
3:44 - Do you have an audience strategy for your artists?
7:29 What kind of difference or impact have you seen by placing an artist on a particular show or a particular game?
10:33 How important do you think it is for a brand and artist to be aligned?
15:27 Use of music on TikTok and Instagram
17:23 How do you measure whether a partnership has been successful?
26:00 Where do you see the industry developing in the next 5 to 10 years?
29:00 What do you do to maintain the work and life balance?

Special Guest: Jelena Grozdanich.

We talk about the moment Martin made his career-defining decision and why he and the charity have never looked back.

We cover the changing media landscape and how Martin’s journalism background and skills have shaped the way his team operate as a newsroom.

Martin shares the Cancer Research UK overall objective and how that flows into his team’s strategy and KPIs.

He also talks about the importance of budget scrutiny in the charity sector and the work his team does in-house in order to make the most of the donations made to Cancer Research

Martin also shares some of their memorable campaigns that PR delivers so well; educating and raising awareness of prevention and treatments to help people live longer and better lives. And ultimately Beat Cancer.

Special Guest: Martin McGlown.

I’m interviewing two people who’s deep understanding of music & culture has led them to work on brand partnership deals that have built reputation and grow businesses.

I’m joined by ex-Head of Global Music at Coca-Cola, Joe Belliotti and Rebecca Jolly who is a global business consultant focused on growing business through culture.

Former MD at Mixmag and now MD at new generation media company Woo from ITV, Rebecca has extensive music media experience and has teamed up with music brand partnership expert Joe Belliotti on new book ‘How Music Grows Brands’.

Its the first of its kind and is already an Amazon Best Seller, the book helps PR and marketing teams bring music into strategies and connect with audiences in a way that will drive business. It also helps all parties in the partnership navigate the modern music industry so artist, label, brand and media all benefit.

Our interview covers; How having music as part of your brand strategy is measurable, the difference music can make to a brand’s reputation and and how to navigate shared objectives.

Whether you’re in an agency, a brand team, label side or artist, I’m confident this episode will be hugely helpful!

Special Guests: Rebecca Jolly and joe belliotti .

I interview global head of data and analytics - Allison Spray alongside PR Agency One MD James Crawford.

James and I co-wrote two chapters in a recent PRCA paper; ‘Data literacy in PR’. We looked at how to use tech to build confidence and improve data use as well as a chapter on how to build a ‘data culture’ in your team. It was the latter chapter that Allison Spray’s team at H&K was noted as a great example of hiring in data expertise alongside training PR practitioners.

In this interview, we go behind the scenes and get into the detail.

I find out how Allison has increased confidence in data across all H&K teams

We reveal the data team’s interesting recruitment process and the mix of skills and sector-specific backgrounds Allison looks for.

Allison and James share how they work with clients to gain the data and tech they need upfront

Allison also shares tips on how to get started, whether you’re a small team looking to up-skill or planning to to build a data team within an agency

Since the H&K data and analytics team has developed and established the agency has won the most amount of awards ever in a year. Coincidence? or does increasing PR confidence in data work? I’ll let you decide…

Special Guest: Allison Spray.

Amar spent time at data-football specialists, Squawka. He worked in-house at Budweiser as Head of global football content and then at West Ham United where, as Head of Content, he helped the club grow its audience to a global level across multiple platforms.

Now at MKTG as Vice President of content and communications, Amar and has team are experts at understanding fans on a deeper level and often on a large global scale.

In our chat we explore the latest MKTG research ‘modern fan decoded’ and how a change in fan behaviour in the last few years has changed the sport and entertainment industry.

We talk about the rise in sports professionals and football players specifically being more influential in 'cause awareness' and therefore brand's activity around them.

We look at what generation of fans are more receptive to brand engagement and why the younger generation are demanding more, not just in their experience but how they expect the brand to operate and do better in the world.

This interview is full of wisdom and practical tips on collecting insight and behaviour measurement too.

You can watch the video of this interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RqaB_uF1jZU

Follow Amar's sports marketing newsletter and on Twitter:
https://thesportsmarketeer.substack.com/
https://twitter.com/amarjourno

Special Guest: Amar Singh.

Held in November its the perfect time to learn and refresh your approach ready for new KPIs in a new year.

There are just over 4 weeks of events and content releases from AMEC (Association of Measurement & Evaluation) members and most are available for free to all.

In this special episode of the PR Resolution Podcast I interview the Global Managing Director of AMEC; Johna Burke.

• We share the best of the month and what not to miss!
• Johna explores common PR measurement challenges you might be facing and directs you to the best resource to fix it
• Johna shares the trends in measurement & highlights from AMEC award entries this year

For the full calendar:
https://amecorg.com/measurement-month/measurement-month-2022-events/

For further help on measurement go to:
https://resolution.coveragebook.com/

Special Guest: Johna Burke .

This year is very different. Nearly all lead-up stories have been negative; covering the human rights issues, corruption, timing and infrastructure problems.

So what does this mean to the huge World Cup audience? How does this affect the associated brand sponsors? Are there the same news-jacking opportunities for non-official partners?

I interview one the world’s leading experts in sports marketing and brand partnerships; Andy Sutherden to find out.

The former head of International Brand Consulting at CAA (Creative artists agency) and ex global head of sport partnerships and marketing at H&K Strategies, helps us navigate the change in comms strategy, reputation, activation and measurement of one of the most controversial worlds cups in history.

Our interview covers;

• The benefits and pitfalls of the £50billion Sponsorship industry
• How you should prepare for crisis around this & future World Cups
• The Danish sponsor Hummel’s shirt launch & the conflicting stories that have been buried around it Plus
• Andy share his prediction on why several coincidences around this tournament may have set a new template for all future World Cups.

Whether you’re working on a World Cup campaign now, thinking of using it as a hook OR into the game, brands and fans this episode is for you!

Special Guest: Andy Sutherden .

From humble beginnings of group of 14 dads getting together for a play date with their kids, ‘Dad La Soul’ is now a globally recognised Community Interest company that connects over 2.5k dads through art, tech and music events & in turn helps them beat loneliness, and live happy lives.

Dad La Soul attributes a lot of its growth and success down to PR, and specifically their PR & social impact report that has become popular among funders, partner stakeholders and volunteers.

In this podcast interview Dan shares;

• How PR has helped build their network, attract new funding and sign up volunteers
• Why Dad La Soul was recently namechecked in parliament
• How proving social change from PR coverage for non profits and charities is essential
• How a PR report can be adapted into a heavy-hitting social impact report

This podcast is essential-listening for anyone working in-house at agencies specialising in charity, non-profit or community interest movements.

Its has useful tips for anyone targeting parents, and its also definitely an episode for all the dads out there!

Also see:
The measurement webinar: 'How to prove social impact from PR results'


Stella is joined by data analyst and communications measurement expert Kristian Foged to find out how to prove PR efforts contribute to overall charity objectives. Whether you are trying to increase donations, source funding or attract volunteers through PR, this webinar will give you the tools you need to tell your success story. Follow Stella on Twitter @stellabayles

Special Guest: Dan Flanagan .

Links:

• The Dad La Soul social impact report

So, in this episode I catch up with the original founder of our PR tech; Gary Preston to share the details with our listeners first!

We start with our journey; our agency pasts, and the measurement and reporting experiences that led to the birth of CoverageBook.

Gary shares his aims for the second version of the platform; making every PR practitioner ‘an accidental analyst’ and how he hopes confidence in measurement will return with credible metrics and simple reports.

He talks about industry measurement as a whole and compares to his experience in digital marketing. And why some PR software claims of attribution and artificial intelligence is having a negative effect on measurement learning and development.

Yet with the right confidence, he believes by 2023 digital marketing teams will be coming to PR to learn how to showcase and measure their work in a credible way….

Listen now to find out more ;)

Special Guest: Gary Preston .

If you thought using infographics in PR activation had its day, think again. Brian and his team recently helped a NBA player secure a $64million deal by reshaping the way the US media thought about him, all through data visualisation.

It doesn't end there; Now Sourcing only use infographics to secure coverage for their clients on the biggest US news sites every week and they drive awareness, SEO impact and big organisational impact.

I ask Brian to share their secrets; how they win the attention of journalists, how they secure links and what metrics they use in reports that keep client stakeholders wanting more.

I also find out where Brian believes visual comms is going and if PR and SEO still has some relationship building to do...

Special Guest: Brian Wallace.

Hayes Initiative, a certified LGBTQ-owned and operated public affairs firm, was recently recognized with an honorable mention at the 2021 PRWeek Awards for “Best in Public Affairs”. This was for their work with Time's Up, a charity that supports victims of sexual harassment, and specifically those involved in the Harvey Weinstein case.

Anthony has worked with charities, presidential candidates, members of the U.S. Cabinet, governors, elected officials, law enforcement officials, and high-ranking health and legal professionals… It’s safe to say he has experience in high-pressure and controversial comms.

Anthony shares how PR professionals can bring crisis techniques into every strategy and how to ensure we, as an industry, are not known for fake-news or misinformation.

This episode is for everyone in PR.

Special Guest: Anthony Hayes .

Stella and Sarah explore representation in Public Relations, from an inclusivity perspective on the communicators side but also our responsibility in truly understanding, connecting and relating to the public.

As well as curating the FuturePRoof books, Sarah Waddington is managing director of Astute communications, an agency in the north of England. Sarah also led the CIPR's gender policy for many years, improved social mobility within the UK PR industry and is now on the advisory board of The Blueprint, which is part of BME PR Pro mentoring scheme.

The discussion explores:

• Diversity and representation in Public Relations
• How organisations can attract, retain and nurture diverse talent
• How PR can truly connect and relate to the public
• Ethics in communications & how much responsibility lies with practitioners vs. media and social platforms

Special Guest: Sarah Waddington .

With 20 years' experience working in emergency services communication, Amanda Coleman is the former Head of Corporate Communications for Greater Manchester Police. During that time, Amanda managed the public communications during significant crises including the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017 and riots in 2011. Public feeling insights were key to build the stages of communication.

In this episode Stella and Amanda discuss;

• Why exploring risk is the best crisis preparation

• Understanding how your communication is landing with the public during a crisis and post, in recovery

• Who should be responsible for crisis communications

Crisis comms is now arguably the most important area of PR in 2020. Whether you have your plan in place or just beginning to explore, Amanda’s advice is gold-dust.

Special Guest: Amanda Coleman .

Whether it’s uncertainty, mistrust, frustration or comradery, understanding the way we, the public are feeling has never been so important in Public Relations.

In this episode I speak to Stephen Waddington. Wadds is an advisor and consultant on communications, he has led the CIPR and authored multiple PR books including #BrandVandals, ShareThis and Brand Anarchy.

He has spent over 25 years understanding the public and the most effective way organisations should understand and interact with audiences, build trust and grow by improving techniques and technologies.

Wadds and I discuss:

• How PR has understood target audience
• How to understand the public, and not just the media that influences them
• How it is possible to track public feeling
• Where surveys, social and search listening fits into this

This is the first podcast in a series I’ll be running on public feeling insight. Get in touch with thoughts and ideas @StellaBayles @Wadds

Special Guest: Stephen Waddington.

In this episode I'm joined by news experts from 72Point, part of SWNS Media Group which is an independent press agency working directly with major news-desks in the United States and the UK.

I interview Daniel Johnson-Kim and Rick Maughan, Heads of Editorial and Media Liaison at 72Point Inc, New York, to discuss the changes at the major news-desks and how to sensitively navigate them.

Together, Daniel and Rick have more than 20 years experience in working with news desks in both the UK and USA. As well as Daniel being an ex journalist, designer and editor at The New York Daily News and News Corp, he and Rick now work alongside journalists and PR teams to help shape brand comms into news.

We cover:
How journalists are working during lock-down
How to be a resource (not a nuisance)
How to adapt sell-in tactics
Tips on how to navigate news-desks

Special Guests: Daniel Johnson-Kim and Rick Maughan.

It’s been predicted that during the pandemic Amazon has experienced sales of $10,000 every second, day and night!! wow.

Just before the pandemic was announced, I met Jim Hawker, co-founder of agency PR & marketing agency, Threepipe to find out about a new growth area for them; Amazon optimisation.

It’s not a common skill-hire or PR service we talk about in the industry so I was keen to hear more.

In this podcast interview Jim explains why
Threepipe built a whole department just to focus on Amazon activity for their clients

• How their PR tactics adapt in an Amazon strategy
• Why Amazon is the new Google for FMCG brands
• Where brand reputation comes into play in a new way
  
• Why being bold IN TRYING new techniques doesn’t just build your clients business it can build an agency too

This podcast was recorded just before COVID-19 hit in the UK and US, yet the insights Jim shares couldn’t be more relevant right now.

Special Guest: Jim Hawker .

In this episode I interview Shanna Apitz, the Executive Creative Director and head of innovation at Hunt Adkins, a paid media specialist agency in Minnesota.

Having developed her career in the paid media space, Shanna has helped hundreds of US brands grow their business through interactive and integrated campaigns.

I wanted to find out how a leading paid agency approach earned media, where Shanna thinks paid and PR fit in the marketing mix, how the two specialisms should work together, and how powerful an integrated campaign can be for a business.

Special Guest: Shanna Apitz.

That was until I interviewed Rich Leigh and Will Roberts at Radioactve Talent in December 2019. After that meeting, the marketing mix completely made sense!

I went to their office to find out how they're bringing years of influencer and publisher knowledge from PR and merging it with Will’s expertise in online affiliate and revenue share deals.

If you haven't heard of affiliates before, don't worry. The guys explain exactly how the process works for agencies, brands and influencers.

Rich also also explains why, as a PR agency founder he is branching into this new growth area and why it's making their current clients very happy.

You get, Tinder for Cows!

In this episode, I interview Doug Bairner, the CEO of Hectare, an agriculture technology business along with his PR agency lead, Jon Lonsdale at Octopus Group to find out how their working relationship formed an international campaign.

I uncover how a CEO really views marketing and what he wants in terms of ROI. Why a consumer creative from a b2b agency worked so well and why having PR throughout a business can have such a positive impact.

Special Guests: Doug Bairner and Jon Lonsdale.

In this episode I get two opinions. Scott Guthrie, an influencer marketing consultant share his views on the industry. Lucy Piper, a 19 year old PR consultant from TalkerTailorTroubleMaker also shares her and her friends experiences of following influencers throughout their teenage years and now working with them in PR.

Is still trust in this influencer group, how much longevity do they have and should they be in our marketing plans? Listen to find out.

In this episode, I interview Jerrid Grimm, co-founder of Pressboard on an emerging area of marketing where PR meets paid and editorial stories can be boosted to a bigger audience.

Listen to find out how.

Special Guest: Jerrid Grimm.

In this episode, I interview Elliott Kurjan & Ricky Williams, the duo behind a new agency Wagyu social.

Ricky & Elliott are experts in Instagram influence. They are the brains behind the growth of huge Instagram accounts including Ladbible and UniLad. Elliott is also the meme-king that runs Instagram profile 'Awful Banter'. They know what creates the thumb-stopper moment!

Now working with brands, Elliott and Ricky explain what 'meme marketing' is, how to do it and the huge reach and engagement a brand can expect from this form of communication.

Special Guest: Elliott Kurjan & Ricky Williams .

In this episode, Stella interviews Danny on the development of TV and online video consumption, the change in brand involvement and how audience engagement is leading the change.

Special Guest: Danny Bell .

Katie shares her thoughts on why impressions are a misleading metric in reports and how PR teams can attribute organisational goals to social activity.

If social media is part of your campaigns this year, this episode is gold-dust.

Special Guest: Katie Paine .

The former New York Daily News Editor-in-Chief was once named one of the most powerful people in New York media by The Hollywood Reporter. He has seen the industry go through huge changes and he is now using his unique experience to help PR teams.

Jim talks about the way news consumption has changed publishing, its effect on news teams and knock-on effect to Public Relations.

We talk about the new competition between news publishers and social platforms, why the reach of a story is so important and what a successful story looks like.

Essentially, if news is part of your PR strategy this year then this episode is a must-listen.

Special Guest: Jim Rich .

In this episode, Steve shares how he and his and co-founder Gary’s experiences in the PR industry led to their decision to create Talker Tailor and how they have poured their learnings and experiences (good and bad) into the operation.

Steve shares his views on diversity in Public Relations and why its essential to build freedom into a team.

He also speaks candidly about where Talker Tailor is at now and where he and Gary aim to take the agency in the future.

If you’re looking for an insight into modern PR, want to hear some very real language and a have good laugh, listen now!

Special Guest: Steve Strickland.

Gini sets PESO strategies for businesses as well as trains PR pros on how to build plans, work with clients and measure effectively. She is an expert in multi-channel communications.

In this episode Stella asks Gini what the PESO model is, how it can help achieve business goals, why Public Relations should be leading this activity and how to do go about it.

Gini also shares her thoughts on episode four of the Resolution podcast on how Diageo is using PESO in their PR measurement process.

Listen to the experts view now!

Special Guest: Gini Dietrich.

Stella and James discuss the multi-channel marketing campaigns Diageo run and why measurement of the activity is so key to the business.

Stella finds out how Diageo marketing teams and agencies use a version of the PESO (paid, earned, shared and owned) model to organise and measure activity.

James shares details of how he developed a standardised reporting process to measure and compare success. Including their tool-stack and metrics.

if you’re curious to know how a large-scale international organisation makes decisions on marketing then this is the podcast for you.

Special Guest: James Alexander .

Stella finds out how PR teams can guage how well they're analysing their communications activity and compare with others in the industry through a new free tool from AMEC.

Nicole also shares her fascinating career journey of going from economics to public relations to measurement. And reveals how everyone in PR can develop their own analytical skills.

Special Guest: Nicole Moreo .

Coming from a traditional PR background and now working in software whilst consultaing agencies, Iliyana is an expert in the techniques of Inbound PR. She believes this is more powerful for brands than traditional proctive media relations programs and

In this episode, Stella finds out about Iliyana's journey, why 'Inbound' can be powerful for brands, what activity it involves, how we talk about it and measure success.

Special Guest: Iliyana Stareva.

Stella interviews technology expert Adam Hirsch on the topic. Together they cover how PR teams should be talking to clients and stakeholders about AI, the difference between automation, technology and AI and how Public Relations needs to develop the use of AI in workflow and output.

Adam Hirsch is the current senior vice president of emerging media and technology at Edelman Digital. He is also ex-chief operating officer at Mashable so has extensive knowledge in emerging technologies and how audineces embrace them.

Special Guest: Adam Hirsch.

The PR Resolution podcast will cover hot topics in Public Relations. Stella, promises to dispels the myths and with the help from an expert each episode, will break down the jargon and explain the facts so you're clued up as you hit the office.