INFLUENCE Q1 2021

INFLUENCE Q1 2021 influenceonline.co.uk

FOR SWITCHED-ON PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONALS

DIGITAL EXCLUSION ADAPTING TO AN INCREASINGLY TECH-DEPENDENT WORLD

Extraordinary year, extraordinary people

The Excellence Awards 2021 are open for entries.

Enter your campaigns, projects and people by 23 March for the ultimate industry recognition.

Find out more ciprawards.co.uk/excellence

INFLUENCE CIPR Tel: +44 (0)20 7631 6900 Fax: +44 (0)20 7631 6944 Email: membership@cipr.co.uk President Mandy Pearse FCIPR Chief executive Alastair McCapra Editor Rob Smith robs@cipr.co.uk CIPR EDITORIAL BOARD Avril Lee MCIPR Bridget Aherne Chart.PR MCIPR Dr Jon White Chart.PR FCIPR Louisa Bartoszek MCIPR Valentina Kristensen MCIPR Niki Wheeler MCIPR Scott Guthrie MCIPR Lisa Townsend MCIPR INFLUENCE Published on behalf of CIPR

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Tel: +44 (0)20 7323 1931 Email: influence@ darkhorsedesign.co.uk DARKHORSE TEAM Content director Ken Ashcroft Account director Gill Hart Creative director Mike Carney Executive director Robin Maryon Publishing director Tim Coleman Proofreader and copy editor Evan White evan@darkhorsedesign.co.uk ADVERTISING AND PARTNERSHIPS Mark Lawes +44 (0)20 7323 1931 influence@darkhorsedesign. co.uk The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR). All information is correct at the time of going to press. The inclusion of adverts in this magazine does not constitute CIPR endorsement of the products and services concerned. © Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR). All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without prior agreement of CIPR. Please direct all requests to Darhorse Design in the first instance.

WELCOME When you successfully pass your driving test, are you done with learning to drive?

o often we can be fixated with milestones we can be taken by surprise when, the next day, things seem pretty much the same. You still have to keep training, to keep learning and practicing.

I don’t know about you but I felt pretty fixated on the end of 2020.

That once that year was put to bed we could start getting back to normal. Obviously just a lingering thought on that would reveal it as nonsense, but since then I have wondered whether focussing on something arbitrary is what got many of us through a tough time.

Now that we’re well and truly in the 2021 mire, it can feel like there is less to focus on.

Yet with some reflection we can take the lessons of the last 12 months and set our sights on what we will do when we emerge from the other side of COVID-19.

Whether it’s the creative process, talent development or recruitment, almost all aspects of running a team have had their lessons to learn over the last 12 months. We’ve been speaking to industry leaders about what has changed since March 2020 and what might remain the same and what will change again over the next 12 months.

There are some really interesting perspectives and you can find that on page 29.

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PR and Parenting in a Pandemic A CIPR parent resourcewith competitions and more) (including a PR-themed children’s activity

Children’s Activity Pack

pack

Child Activitren’s y Pack

One thing that seems certain to remain is the amount of time we spend online. Indeed, while we have spent much of the last year in a digital world, that has only been a continuation of a trend.

However, while digitalisation has made lives easier in many respects, we have to be aware of those for whom it has had the opposite effect. Particularly those who rely most heavily on the public sector, such as older people, those on lower incomes, and those with disabilities, who have the potential to be excluded because of a lack of digital literacy. Our cover feature this edition looks at what organisations are doing to make sure that no one gets left behind – and how communications professionals can help. You can find out more on page 20.

Speaking of cover features, the next edition’s splash will be a little different. Take a look at our new PR and Parenting in a pandemic resourse below to find out more…

ROB SMITH Editor, Influence

PR AND PARENTING IN A PANDEMIC CIPR has published a new resource aimed at supporting those caring for school-age children, with advice on how to talk to employers about challenging situations and advice for employers on how to best support their staff, particularly during the pandemic. It is free to download and includes articles, advice, and even a PR-themed children’s activity pack including a competition to design the next cover of INFLUENCE.

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INFLUENCE / Q1 2021 / issue 21 / cipr.co.uk

MAG IN A 7 MINUTE

ANATOMY OF A CAMPAIGN Behind the scenes of La Perla’s successful digital venue.

CONTRIBUTORS

STEPHEN HOLROYD P7

‘Out of adversity comes opportunity’

HELEN CRANE P20

Living in the digital world - for better or worse

EMMA DUKE P11

Democratised internal communications

ANNIQUE SIMPSON P26

Understanding behavioural science

SAM BURNE JAMES P16

Honouring PRs and PR for the Honours

HUGH THOMAS P36

A star doesn’t always shine bright

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

Reasoned response, angry disagreement, applause...

We want to hear from you on our social media channels: @InfluencePRMag influenceonline.co.uk info@cipr.co.uk

CIPR PARTNERS

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While digitalisation has made lives easier in many respects, we have to be aware of those for whom it has had the opposite effect. Particularly those who rely most heavily on the public sector, such as older people, those on lower incomes, and those with disabilities, who have the potential to be excluded because of a lack of digital literacy.

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HAS COVID DEMOCRATIZED INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS? Comms professionals are finding new ways to keep colleagues in the loop as we transition from offices to online platforms.

ROB SMITH, EDITOR

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PR FOR THE HONOURS Demystifying the often obscured and misunderstood process of getting nominated for an Award.

20 DIGITAL EXCLUSION

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CHANGING BEHAVIOUR A helpful nudge from the world of behavioural science.

The importance of digital services continues to grow, but it is vital that no one gets left behind. The tech needs to work for everyone, or many users will be denied access to what they need most.

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CAN DOESN’T MEAN SHOULD A bit of star power can go a long way – often a little too far.

IOD SCOTLAND’S VIRTUAL AWARDS In-person events might be out of bounds for now, but that shouldn’t stop us celebrating our successes.

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12 MONTHS ON: HOW HAS COVID-19 CHANGED PR? For better or worse, the pandemic has forced us to think on our feet. But which changes will stick around?

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VIRTUAL PITCH How to ensure that important Zoom meeting goes off without a hitch.

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CBD: DEATH BY REGULATION The CBD industry walks along a tightrope of restrictions, regulations and public perceptions.

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GET OUT YOUR OWN WAY Overcoming confidence barriers is the first step in unlocking your full personal potential.

52

BACK STORY Contracts may seem dull, but that small print can sometimes pack a real punch.

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Help when you need it most.

If you have fallen on hard times as a result of the pandemic and it feels like there is nowhere to turn, iprovision may be able to provide financial assistance to help.

Learn more about iprovision and find out how to apply for support today. cipr.co.uk/iprovision

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS – cipr.co.uk

ANATOMY OF A CAMPAIGN

Virtue in the virtual When lockdown led to the quick cancellation of brand events and experiences, one agency took the party to the people.

BY STEPHEN HOLROYD

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ANATOMY OF A CAMPAIGN f the many motivational quotes to have been thrown around during 2020, there can be few as pertinent to the PR industry, indeed to any industry, as this from Benjamin Franklin: ‘out of adversity comes opportunity’.

A global pandemic is unlikely to have been at the front of Franklin’s mind when those words were uttered, but the point behind them could hardly be more reflective of the innovative ways that businesses of all shapes and sizes have set about pivoting and adapting to the enormous challenges thrown up by the spread of coronavirus.

For Perfect Cartel, a brand experience

PROACTIVE PAY OFF Perfect Cartel’s proactivity paid dividends when they were contacted by La Perla’s PR representatives, Purple PR. A global press trip to Bologna was planned around the 25th anniversary of La Perla’s best-selling Maison line and the launch of a new capsule collection – Maison Rainbow and Maison Metallic – but the onset of COVID-19 meant that any such events were a no-go. As a result, Perfect Cartel were invited to pitch ideas for a digital version of the event aimed at

and event production agency specialising in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle industries, that opportunity came in the form of an unexpected brief from luxury Italian fashion brand, La Perla.

“When lockdown hit and events were forbidden we lost the majority of the projects we were working on at the time,” reflects Perfect Cartel Founder and Managing Director, Claire Berry. “So we knew we had to adapt very quickly.”

One of the first things Berry and her team did was to create a digital experience of thought leadership for clients and other agencies that needed to innovate and amplify their messaging during lockdown.

“It was a cathartic experience as anything and good for our team morale,” says Berry.

“But we wanted to reach out to the PR industry and give something back, stimulate conversation and spread a positive

engaging influential industry press in an exciting and innovative way. “That’s when we came up with the concept of Villa La Perla.”

Charged with creating a digital storytelling device that could pull together a variety of engaging content formats, Villa La Perla provides the visitor with a journey through a virtual space and ‘rooms’ to explore.

To virtually recreate the same ‘real life’ experience that attendees would have had in Bologna, press contacts were gifted an accompanying marketing pack that comprised not only the key La Perla products to see and feel, but a negroni making kit and a luxury antipasti hamper.

Access to a SoundCloud DJ set from New York-based Blu De Tiger brought the party vibes to recipients’ homes.

Says Berry: “This was about us recreating the event online and making the digital

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message that there was still lots of great opportunities for brands to engage with their audiences.”

space an at-home experience, merging a sensual encounter with a branded virtual platform.

“The Villa itself was inspired by the traditional buildings found in the Bologna region where La Perla’s ateliers are based, but the production process and sensual touchpoints were the same as a physical event – only living digitally and sent to guest’s homes instead of them being in Italy.”

VIRTUAL VILLA In essence, Villa La Perla becomes a digital venue and, much like any good party, visitors are welcomed as they arrive by a video with La Perla’s Creative Director, Alessandra Bertuzzi.

As they explore (or scroll through) the venue’s different floors, a range of experiences, interaction points and content assets are made available as the rooms build around a creative journey that involved almost 250 hours of storyboarding from an illustrator handpicked by Perfect Cartel.

“Everything about the experience and the aesthetic had to align with the La Perla brand so a huge amount of effort and detail was poured into getting that just right,” says Berry. “Each of the layers had to be brought to life, from the garments moving when you hover over them to the micro animations around the villa itself. We partnered with a brilliant creative technologist and UX/UI development team with experience in luxury e-comms to make this happen.”

As an agency rooted in brand experiences and events, creating a bespoke digital platform was something of a departure for Berry and her team. In fact, Villa La Perla represents a first for both agency and client alike. “We’re not a digital agency, but we wanted to recreate the sort of events we do for so many clients, only this time in a virtual form,” says Berry. “This is the first time we’ve done anything like this, and it’s

IMAGES © LA PERLA

a first for La Perla too.”

She continues: “We’ve learnt a lot, particularly how some of the critical path stages are actually backwards from creating a live event, and it’s been challenging: we had a three-month turnaround and had to create the storyboard before any of the campaign imagery had even been shot.

But I’m super proud of what we’ve been able to achieve.”

POSITIVE PRESS The response from global press to both the Maison collections and the Villa La Perla experience proved positive, with coverage secured from a wide range of influential publications and editors.

Over 20 initial pieces of press coverage across global target markets, including the UK, US, Asia, Italy, France, Middle East and Russia, were mostly in-depth news features in which the entire article focused on La Perla, the Maison collections and the Villa La Perla experience. This included extensive coverage in such heavyweight publications as Vogue, Marie Claire, Grazia, Harpers Bazaar and Cosmopolitan. A long list of smaller product placement galleries and warm leads, particularly in one of La Perla’s key markets of China, were also created.

In each case, the coverage focussed on the product story telling around Maison’s history and craftsmanship, as well as highlighting La Perla as a brand finding innovative, digital ways to communicate and connect amid the pandemic.

“To see how well both the collections and the Villa La Perla digital experience were received, enjoyed and mentioned by the global press was really exciting for us,” says Berry.

Sameera Hassan is Chief Marketing & Customer Engagement Officer at La Perla.

For her and the La Perla brand, COVID-19 has driven the discovery of new ways to communicate and engage without relying on face-to-face contact.

“The biggest opportunity from leveraging

a virtual experience was the sheer global scale of press and consumers we were able to reach,” she says. “From China to the US and from Italy to the UK, everyone logged into the experience simultaneously on one day, something that would have been incredibly difficult to coordinate in a physical environment.

“We received great anecdotal feedback from both the press and consumers, who said they loved learning about La Perla and the Maison collection through a new digital experience. One editor even declared Villa La Perla ‘a whimsical work of art’.”

A DIGITAL FUTURE If 2020 was a year of opportunity born from adversity, then going digital was undoubtedly the way to make the most of it. Across industries, businesses from every sector have moved online quicker than ever before, harnessing the power of digital storytelling alongside social media to amplify their brand message. This was true pre-COVID of course, but lockdown has driven a sharp focus on the importance and power of immersive, experiential content and campaigns. “It’s only going to get bigger,” says Berry. “Our clients have always expected us to challenge their thinking, but we’ve got to go further and challenge them with actionable, relevant and future-focussed ideas. COVID has forced agencies like ours to change our approach to campaigns

so it’s crucial that we stay innovative and adaptable.”

The success of Villa La Perla in bringing La Perla’s history and collections to life through an immersive experience is likely to pave the way for more of the same in the future. Says Hassan: “Even before the pandemic, there was a growing importance for luxury brands to break through into the digital space – it’s where the consumer is increasingly spending their time.

“But despite COVID, and even after we’ve recovered from its impact, digital will be pivotal for luxury brands to capture consumers both existing and new.”

SPOTLIGHT ON SUSTAINABILITY With technology advancing at an unrelenting pace, Berry sees more opportunities emerging, particularly as a post-COVID world turns its attention back to the other big issues of our time, such as climate change.

“Sustainability is a key issue for any business and I can see a real shift to digital events taking place in the fashion industry,” she says. “We’re all going to be held more accountable for our carbon footprint so being smarter and using more advanced tools to communicate with our audiences will be fundamental.

“And with 5G on the horizon there are massive opportunities ahead – it’ll change the face of how brands and agencies create ever more immersive online experiences.”

INFLUENCEONLINE.CO.UK Q1 2021 9

Let’s talk.

If you are struggling with the impact of the pandemic and would like someone to talk to, please call the iprovision mental health hotline.

There’s a friendly voice there for you 24/7.

cipr.co.uk/mentalhealthhotline

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INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS AND THE BOARD

INSIDE STORY

Has COVID Democratised Internal Communications?

Has working remotely actually made it easier to communicate with employees? Emma Duke examines the ways in which internal communications professionals have adapted and learnt.

BY EMMA DUKE

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INSIDE STORY have only attended one Zoom quiz this year. I’m not very competitive, and two small kids make it challenging to focus on anything for more than five minutes. The pandemic changed the way we were able to interact in so many ways, in so many parts of our lives, but when the Edelman Trust Barometer came back saying the source people trusted the most was their employer communications, it clarified the vital role of Internal Comms professionals.

On 1 April this year I launched a new, merged division for Oxford University Press. We had been planning that launch since the previous September. We had put a lot of planning into it, a lot of messaging, technology and content work… and then in mid-March everything changed. I considered announcing the cancellation of the launch to 2,500 employees based across the globe. In a world where their attention was now focused on the safety of themselves and their families, where they would be able to buy food and pick up medicine safely, surely this wasn’t a priority for them?

I was very wrong. We had a massive sign-up rate and were deluged with questions. Our managing director and our comms team did an excellent job of reassuring people, answering their questions and connecting them… and the feedback was incredible. Our colleagues in China, having dealt with the situation for months by then, were able to provide advice and pass on lessons learnt. Our employees were able to connect with each other more than ever before. We had a common experience and an opportunity to engage.

This format shouldn’t have been new to us. We have access to good technology and are a strong team, but the realities of pre-pandemic work meant that, if you were based in a large office where the CEO or an MD is also based, you had more access to them. Likely, you will have been in the room as they gave their livestreamed presentation, and at a time that worked for your working hours. You might have used Yammer occasionally, but you were surrounded by colleagues and friends in the office.

Conversely, if you were based in a smaller office around the globe, or part of

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the sales team, you would likely need to dial in to a call early or late in your day, you would need to ask your question (either by email or on an app) in a situation where you couldn’t read the rest of the audience, or where you might not know other audience members. How would this question go down with the CEO? Would they even answer it? What will people think of me?

This (quite specific!) example got me thinking about the impact the pandemic has had on employee engagement tools, principles, and practices. Has the pandemic actually helped us do our jobs? Has it forced us to implement the two-way communications channels and environments we’ve all been talking about for years?

Olivia Calvert, Head of Global Communications, Workplace from Facebook told me recently: “In March, overnight, companies sent their employees to work from home and most didn’t know when they’d return. For many, this posed a huge problem – how would they keep in touch with their staff? And I’m not talking about white collar workers sitting behind their Mac books drinking coffee in East London. I’m talking about frontline workers – nurses, retail staff, flight attendants. These groups traditionally don’t get company mobile phones or even have work email addresses. A few weeks in, it was clear an intranet or newsletter or mass BCC email job wasn’t going to cut it.”

Like many, my organisation sped up the roll-out of technology support such as Microsoft Teams. Yammer engagement soared. Calvert also said: “We saw a huge increase in interest. In a handful of months we shot up from three million to five million monthly paid users, and are still seeing steep growth. We also saw our average sales cycles shorten and go from a few weeks to a few days.”

Technology suddenly became crucial to enabling employees to access important information and connect with colleagues. Increasingly, the focus of Internal Comms teams became community management and how to increase open rates for important emails from leadership.

Julie Chakraverty, from Rungway, suggests this was where we were going wrong.

“There are real barriers to people absorbing outbound communications:

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS firstly, a lack of time to read emails, then some confusion on behalf of the employee – ‘if I’ve got a question, who do I ask?’.

Finally, and most importantly, there’s a confidence issue. If you look and sound different, you don’t want to raise your hand on certain issues.”

CAN YOU HEAR ME? Johnathan Tetsill from Feedback Films credits Communications professionals for listening better during this time: “Those elusive but important watercooler moments were not happening in the office anymore, but on Yammer or Workplace for all to see.

Comms professionals started looking at what their people were talking about and needed support with.”

But are we listening hard enough? The ability to ask questions of leaders on an equal platform – never mind where you’re based – has helped, as have enterprise social networks, but what about the quieter voices in the organisation? What does this new world of internal comms mean for inclusivity? Chakraverty adds, “The idea that you’ve said in your values that you’re transparent, and that the world will just follow you, is just daft. If you really want an inbound comms mechanism, a way for comms teams to really understand what answers people want answering, you need to make anonymity possible. That way you can really touch the topics that are at the beating heart of the company.”

IT'S HARD TO READ AN EMAIL FROM A SIGNALLING BOX...

While anonymity might make it easier for employees to speak up on sensitive subjects, how has communications changed for employees who weren’t office-based? Pippa Arthur-Van Praagh, Head of Product Adoption at Reward Gateway, says “For companies who have a mix and have some employees still onsite (in factories, warehouses and shop floors etc.), they’re not as able to 'attend' or access all of the great content and communications that’s occurring online.”

At Network Rail, the majority of employees working are dotted across the country’s rail network. Laura Cosby, Internal Communications Manager, comments, “Briefings from team managers are crucial. It can sometimes be a challenge to engage our frontline colleagues when INFLUENCEONLINE.CO.UK Q1 2021 13

INSIDE STORY

CLEAR COMMUNICATION WITH FRONTLINE COLLEAGUES IS NOW MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER.

they work across the region, and often on shifts. Our staff are key workers, so during lockdown they continued to go into their work locations, and these briefings took on another level of importance. “Based on feedback from colleagues, Cosby and her team set up one-to-one phone calls with senior leaders, increased the frequency of virtual leadership calls to give more opportunity to engage with the business, and gave office-based staff “an insight into the reality of frontline roles with a video series of interviews with maintenance and operational colleagues.”

VIDEO KILLED THE KEYNOTE STAR Johnathan Tetsill from Feedback Films echoes the importance of video in profiling and including employees in communications: “We have been persuading clients to take a user generated content approach to decentralize comms for years. The effect COVID-19 has had is quite amazing. Our clients created engaging content that people actually wanted rather than top-down comms that people found irrelevant. Building conversations amongst people who didn't usually get involved in internal communications but also let comms identify key people within the business (influencers) that could be relied upon to start engaging conversations.”

Video as an internal comms channel isn’t new, but it took on a new form this year. From getting a glimpse into the CEO’s living room, to regular 14 Q1 2021 INFLUENCEONLINE.CO.UK

Has the pandemic forced us to implement the two-way communications channels and environments we’ve all been talking about for years?

appearances from children and animals, none of us have been able to separate work and home life as we normally would (I recently chaired a panel session for 200 employees before realising my washing was hanging out behind me the whole time). But having everything on show has helped leaders establish a level of authenticity never reached before, continues Tetsill: “No longer could CEOs get agencies in, storyboards made, and 37 versions of

one film produced. Comms people could actually say: ‘No, that's not going to happen, you have to film yourselves’.

By doing this, CEOs made themselves much more human, but it also nudged them into communicating directly via their phones with their people.”

A recent survey by the Institute of Internal Communications asked members what areas they expected to see the biggest changes/improvements in focus within organisations as a result of the pandemic. Health and wellbeing and manager and leadership comms were both at the top. If we are to take lessons from this experience into 2021 and a future with a vaccine, surely the increased inclusivity of our channels would be at the top of our priorities?

When the world fell into crisis this year, as professionals we adapted, got better at listening and opened up, and we facilitated more trustworthy dialogues between leaders and employees. Many of us had our budgets cut, but we got creative, finding new and more efficient ways to engage and motivate our teams.

If a new normal is established any time soon, it will still be very different from our pre-COVID lifestyles: far more flexible working practices will necessitate more flexible employee communications, engaging staff in different ways, at different times and using new platforms. The internal comms response to COVID-19 fills me with faith that we’ll be able to achieve that, and with it, a better experience for our audiences.

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PR MANAGEMENT onours scandal exposed’ screamed an indignant MailOnline headline last July, on a piece outlining several consultancies’ work putting clients forward for OBEs, Knighthoods and the like.

Every so often, national media turn their attention to those firms on the PR industry’s fringes which claim to assist in securing gongs. These sometimes showcase unprofessionalism and consultants’ economical use of the truth, but also regularly point out that such consultancies aren’t breaking any rules.

And while they might be embarrassing for the celebrities or business leaders sometimes exposed as employing such firms, the reality is that the supposedly scandalous revelations are of work closely resembling the award entry writing work (which is bread and butter for many PRs).

Honouring PRs H – and PR for the Honours Getting nominated for an honour or award is simpler than you think – but the process could do with some more PR.

BY SAM BURNE JAMES

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The tone of those pieces reflects national media’s disdain and mistrust of PR, but it also illustrates that the British honours system retains, at best, an air of mystery and inaccessibility. At worst, it is viewed as an establishment stitch-up, in which backs are scratched, money talks, and shady lobbyists pull strings.

Despite how the media might portray it, PR as an industry has little skin in this game: several leading practitioners confessed that they wouldn’t know where to start if their client was pining for a gong, not that they had ever been asked.

Fortunately, Influence is here to help.

The simple answer is go to gov.uk/honours, read the guidance document, fill out the form, and send in at least two supporting letters describing why your client or colleague deserves recognition (selfnomination is not allowed).

Not all recipients go through the exact same formal route – departing Prime Ministers can bequeath honours on exit, for example. Similarly, it’s hard to imagine the Honours and Appointment Secretariat sat around waiting for someone to sort out paperwork for Captain Sir Thomas Moore and Marcus Rashford MBE, for example.

And with Blair’s “cash-for-honours” scandal still a relatively fresh memory, most lists include recipients assumed to be beneficiaries of (ahem) political favour.

But Mark Llewellyn-Slade, founder of the consultancy Awards Intelligence, says that such recipients are “insignificant in percentage terms”, with 1,000-plus people honoured in most New Year’s and Queen’s Birthday Honours lists.

Awards Intelligence charges between £4,900 and £40,000 (plus VAT) for getting citations and supporting letters – at least two letters, and sometimes as many as 20 – ready for judging. Its 17-strong team also advise on the system’s less-publicised ins and outs – the fact that you can nominate someone and later provide a further update letter, for example.

July’s Mail piece quoted a “Cabinet Office source” suggesting such services were “damaging” to the system’s reputation. Llewellyn-Slade disagrees.

“The honours system is a publicly accessible process,” the former Bell Pottinger and Weber Shandwick consultant says. “The world is full of experts. If your son or daughter wants to learn to drive, you can teach him yourself

or you can get an expert driving instructor who will probably do a better job. If you have a legal issue you can represent yourself or you can get an expensive solicitor. Is it unfair that some people can afford it and that other people can’t? I don’t know.”

He also acknowledges that some clients see honours as a means to an end, commenting: “People tell us that getting an honour is the best piece of PR and marketing they can do.”

But he insists his firm would never exercise the more questionable tactics of lobbying committee members or politicians.

“We do not lobby. It’d do more harm than good I think, I don’t think committee members want tapping on the shoulder,” he says.

The Cabinet Office concurs. “All nominations are independently factchecked, validated and assessed, regardless of the source,” a spokesperson says. “They are then presented to the independent honours committees in the same format, for the same scrutiny.

Nominations are reviewed by these committees, and then their recommendations are put forward to the Main Committee, Prime Minister and ultimately HM the Queen.”

That process regularly takes more than a year. “I know of one or two examples of people who have been put forward and have been waiting a long time – or are still waiting – because the checks really are quite rigorous,” says Pagefield founder Mark Gallagher, who says he has added his support to honours nominations in the past, but never as a paid service.

“I think the honours system as a whole is incredibly good at applying the right tests and filters,” he says, arguing that while some inappropriate nominations slip through the net and attract criticism, they are a “very tiny number overall”.

Not everyone is as charitable. Naheed Mehta MBE is a freelance communicator, latterly employed by Edelman, who got her honour in 2004 as a senior Government comms practitioner. “The system over the years has I think been very used and abused. I think that started with Margaret Thatcher, when she awarded all the proprietors of newspapers knighthoods.

Then Cameron basically gave a lot of people who had failed miserably at their jobs awards, and then Boris Johnson has

THE AWARDS ON OFFER

COMPANION OF HONOUR Awarded for “major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time”.

KNIGHT OR DAME Awarded for a “major contribution in any activity” which peers would see as “inspirational or significant”.

ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE Commanders of this order (CBEs) are generally honoured for work at national level, officers (OBEs) for more local activities, and members (MBEs) for community work.

BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL Given “for a ‘hands-on’ service to the local community” over a shorter duration of time.

ROYAL VICTORIAN ORDER For people who have personally served the Queen or the Monarchy.

ORDER OF THE BATH For senior civil servants and military officers.

ORDER OF ST MICHAEL AND ST GEORGE Given to diplomats and people serving the UK abroad.

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PR MANAGEMENT

NAHEED MEHTA

used it to get people like [Evening Standard proprietor, Baron] Lebedev into the Lords,” she says.

Mehta acknowledges feeling “a bit hypocritical” saying this, having accepted an award herself. She explains: “I was very much in two minds as to whether to actually take it – and being from an ethnic minority, having ‘empire’ in the wording does make you cringe a little bit. Then I just thought that my mum would be so delighted to go to the palace – and she was.”

Another communicator to receive an MBE is Sandy Lindsay, founder of the agency Tangerine and digital apprenticeship provider The Juice Academy. Like Mehta, she still has no idea who nominated her.

“I was at home with two broken legs when the envelope came. Two of my friends were helping me out and brought me what was a very normal-looking envelope, it doesn’t have a wax seal or gold ink or anything. I opened it and I read it. Then I read it again,” she recalls, saying that it took a moment to process its formal, “olde worlde” language.

Her legs healed and she went to the palace in early 2016. “It was Charlie who 18 Q1 2021 INFLUENCEONLINE.CO.UK

3,500 -

THE NUMBER OF NOMINATIONS RECEIVED ON AVERAGE EACH YEAR (Source: Cabinet Office FOI)

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THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE TO REJECT AN HONOUR EACH YEAR FROM 2015 TO 2019 (Source: Cabinet Office FOI)

gave it to me,” she recalls. “And he was incredibly sweet. It was an amazing day, the soldiers there who run it are all volunteers, they love it, they make you feel so special, like you’re the only person who has ever been there. It was such a special day.”

She was even taught how to curtsy by Michael Ball OBE, when waiting nervously in line with the entertainer. “He said; ‘What’s the matter?’, and I said; ‘It’s alright for you, you’ve just got to bow, I have to curtsy’. And he said; ‘Don’t you know how to curtsy and I said; ‘Well no, why on earth would I?’” More so than Mehta, Lindsay feels able to disassociate with the more questionable aspects of the system. “I know that some people can be quite cynical about it and I’m sure there are people who have ‘bought’ their honour, but if you know you’re the person who has got it for the right reason, there is no higher compliment really,” she says. Lindsay is proud to use the MBE in her personal branding, saying it helps her get speaking opportunities for the academy. “If it means my emails get read more or I get more noticed and

it means I can do more to find work for those kids, why wouldn’t I? I don’t put it on restaurant bookings or use it to jump queues.”

For most PR professionals, their most likely interaction with the honours system is after a colleague gets that “olde worlde” letter, swearing them to secrecy pending public announcement. Russell Hargrave is a journalist who previously held PR roles in several charities. He says he had a strong enough relationship with a senior colleague in one job that they discreetly let him know about their impending gong, buying him time to prepare media outreach.

“You can then talk to journalists in a way that doesn't break the rules, but makes it pretty obvious what you’re talking about: ‘I notice you did this last year for someone who got an honour – what might you say if, hypothetically, I had a colleague in a similar situation?’” he recalls asking.

“As a PR, this is a great opportunity to hit your targets, tell your story and get those positive pieces.”

“We did come across one challenge,” Hargrave continues, “an internal issue – we had a rather left-wing set of colleagues who we worried might have thought that their boss ought to have said ‘no’, so we had to manage that risk.”

Such critics do not pose an existential threat to the system, argues Pagefield’s Gallagher who, although a fan, feels it could be better publicised. "If I had one criticism of the honours system, it would be to make people more aware that that [nomination] process exists, and that it's open to everyone. The fact that it can sometimes feel a bit more closed to many people doesn't delegitimise the system, but certainly the Government could do more to highlight how easy it is to nominate someone,” he says.

With the 2021 New Year’s Honours containing a new award for those involved in the pandemic response, and plenty of NHS staff being recognised, the system might appear in a good place to be right now. But the proportionately small number of questionable honourees, and the relatively small-scale use of quasi-PR services to smooth paths to the palace, will continue to fuel scepticism. It’s certainly hard to see the system ever achieving immunity to criticism.

RECENT PR HONOUREES INCLUDE Jackie Brock-Doyle, executive director, communications, World Athletics, was made a CBE in 2020.

Davina Crole, a Foreign and Commonwealth Office press officer, got an MBE in 2020.

Sheila Mitchell, marketing director of Public Health England, was given an MBE in 2018.

If I had one criticism of the honours system, it would be to make people more aware that the process exists

Mark Ormrod, marketing and comms officer at the Royal Marines Association and Charity, was made an MBE in 2020.

Mike Perls, founder of Manchesterbased agency MC2, became an MBE in 2019.

Jane Shepherd, MD of Shepherd PR and a Department for International Trade export champion, also became an MBE in 2019.

SANDY LINDSAY

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ACCESS DENIED

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For the past year, we have lived much of our lives in the digital world – for better or worse. We are still adapting but, to start with, we need to make sure the technology is accessible to all.

BY HELEN CRANE

INFLUENCEONLINE.CO.UK Q1 2021 21

ACCESS DENIED t is easy to complain about the monotony of working from home, or the overuse of Zoom for family quizzes, but being online has also helped us to access essential services that have become temporarily unavailable to us in “the real world”. People have attended GP appointments over video or live chat, applied for business support using government websites, and attended Job Centre appointments online when they have been made redundant.

Imagine, then, being one of the 11 million people in the UK who – according to NHS Digital – do not have the basic digital skills to use the internet effectively.

Even pre-pandemic, public sector bodies were taking their services and communications online in a bid to improve ease of access and efficiency. But there is a risk that some of the people that rely most heavily on the public sector – for example, older people, those on lower incomes, and those with disabilities – will be excluded because of a lack of digital literacy. So what are these organisations doing to make sure that no one gets left behind – and how can communications professionals help them reach the people who need them most?

Sarah Waddington is the founder of Astute.Work, a management and PR consultancy, and a former president of the CIPR. Last autumn, she launched a new title in her #FuturePRoof series of books which documented NHS communicators’ experience of digital transformation during the pandemic. COVID-19, she says, hugely accelerated the use of digital services in healthcare.

“Barriers put in the way of digital transformation in terms of investment, or IT, or bureaucracy, or simply because it was in the ‘too difficult’ box – these were addressed immediately because of the nature of the pandemic,” Waddington says.

Examples include the COVID-19 test self-referral platform, which is used by tens of thousands of people every day, and improvements to the NHS App where people can book appointments and order prescriptions.

However, it would be remiss not to mention the NHS Track and Trace App, which has been fraught with problems. An Institute for Government (IfG) report, Digital government during the coronavirus crisis, says the app, which took months to launch, “shows that technology alone is no substitute for a well-designed service with a clear purpose.”

Other public bodies have responded quickly to the crisis, too.

“HMRC built three new services in a matter of weeks that did the opposite of what the department normally does – paying out money, rather than taking it in,” the IfG report says.

Of course, there are challenges when dealing with such a comprehensive digital overhaul – particularly when it comes to avoiding exclusion. “When you are doing something like a digital overhaul, you have to take absolutely everyone on the journey and they have to understand what is happening and why,” says Waddington.

NHS Digital says people are more likely to be digitally excluded if they are older, in a lower income group, unemployed, disabled, living in social housing or homeless.

Older people are a particular concern. According to data published by the Office for National Statistics in August 2020, 96 per cent of households in the UK had an internet connection.

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ACCESS . . .

D E I N DE

Having the right data about people and how they use public services is vital, because it allows digital services to be targeted at the right people and tailored for ease of use

But for households with one adult over 65 years of age, this fell to 80 per cent.

Designing effective digital services for older people can be done, however. The Department for Work and Pensions’ “Get Your State Pension” tool has processed 700,000 pension claims since it was launched in March 2018, and customer satisfaction ratings have never fallen below 95 per cent. One of the reasons it was a success was that departments worked together, pooling data sources, which meant three in five claimants could complete the process without intervention from DWP staff.

Making services user-friendly is something communications teams are well-placed to help with, according to James McCollum of agency Barley Comms. McCollum is currently working on charity The Good Things Foundation’s “Make It Click” campaign, which is aimed at giving people who only use the internet in a limited way the skills they need to succeed in the workplace.

“The best role comms can play is being able to look at the full user experience,” he says. “It’s not just about compelling people to sign up, but asking what you are offering and why it is valuable.”

But how do we find people with limited digital skills in the first place? Having the right data about people and how they use public services is vital, because it allows digital services to be targeted at the right people and tailored for ease of use. It also helps communicators find people who might struggle online and offer them support.

Caroline Latta is a former in-house NHS communications professional who now runs her own business, Stand, advising public sector clients on major service changes. “If we are to identify the people who may be most affected by change, we need to know about them when plans are being formulated,” she says.

Clearly there are GDPR implications here, but Waddington says that public sector organisations such as the NHS generally deal with these quite well. “One of the key things is that they know their confidential data is going to be kept safe and secure,” she says. “That has been at the heart of everything the NHS has done in making sure people feel fully informed and confident that what is being done is for the best.”

Public bodies have a legal duty to ask people who use services their gender, age, postcode, and whether any of the protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act apply to them – but people are not obligated to provide it, and can be reticent to hand it over.

“If we explain why that information is important, it helps public sector organisations plan better,” says Latta. “We can formulate better engagement and involvement plans that fit the best way of engaging with that community.”

This might mean using offline methods to communicate with limited users of the internet about service change – and that is fine.

“It might be as simple as writing to people: we might write to them with a survey, we write to them with an offer for getting involved in a telephone interview,” Latta says.

McCollum also used some less mainstream marketing tools as part of Barley’s campaign to attract limited digital users to Make It Click's skills workshops and resources. As part of the campaign McCollum and his team profiled limited users to find

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ACCESS DENIED out what their needs were. Some of the groups identified included young people who were not in education, training or employment (NEETs), mums returning to work who may have fallen behind with current technology, and small business owners who usually traded face-to-face but needed to promote their services online during the pandemic.

“Targeting limited users can be a challenge as they don’t give away a lot of information online,” he says. “It is important to use avenues outside of the traditional routes to go down, and to think about who else could reach them on our behalf.” For example, when trying to reach small business owners, Barley connected with the Federation of Small Businesses to get the campaign included in its email communications, and also used radio adverts. “They might not be seeing our stuff on social, but they are reading their professional email,” he says.

Barley also used peer-to-peer communications, making videos with people who had used the Make it Click tools and getting them to “tell their transformational story to other limited users.”

R UN E US T FO NO

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Targeting limited users can be a challenge as they don't give away a lot of information online

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D

If you want to engage with people who aren’t digitally literate in the long term, helping them to learn could be the best way.

Pre-COVID, Latta would run large-scale public meetings where health service users would give their views on proposed changes. Since then, many events have been taken online – and she says this had the positive effect of broadening participation and improving transparency. This has also been seen in other sections of the public sector, such as local authority town hall meetings.

When she was commissioned to run an online focus group with young mums, Latta was concerned that some would not be comfortable using a video call, as most had not worked during the pandemic. She decided to run an informal session where they could chat over a coffee and learn to use Zoom.

“If you want to reach people, and you want people to feel comfortable taking part, you need them to understand the technology,” she says. “There’s not necessarily a big cost to it, it is more about time.”

To properly communicate the benefits of digital transformation, communications staff might also need to brush up on their own skills.

At Barley, McCollum works with charity clients, some of which experienced fundraising challenges during the pandemic. To reduce their costs and engage better with stakeholders, many in-house communicators needed to improve their own digital knowledge.

“A lot have had to upskill in-house, and I think that is one of the big transformations,” he says. “You will see lots more people working at charities who are more proficient at using digital tools.”

He says this could include anything from being confident posting on social media to shooting video footage.

In the end, communicating digital change comes back to three PR basics.

The first is bridging the gap between your organisation and the public. “The PR function helps that two-way mechanism to take place, and to make sure the organisation is really listening,” says Waddington. Communicators, she says, should gather feedback from people which can then feed into the design of digital services.

Second, it will require well-defined goals. “It comes back to what our strengths are: planning, having a clear purpose around major projects, and knowing what can and can’t be influenced,” says Latta.

Ultimately, though, it is about knowing your audience. “The engagement methods we deploy, whether they are digital or non-digital, have to be fit for the target audience,” Latta continues.

As the public sector forges ahead with its digitisation push, it is vital that it keeps this in mind.

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INSIGHT

Changing behaviour the healthcare way Deep down, we’re creatures of habit.

But the kinds of messaging we use can help shape these habits – and create more useful ones.

BY ANNIQUE SIMPSON

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ew public incidents have united PR professionals in amusement and bemusement more than the UK government’s messaging on COVID-19.

Conflicting instructions; counterintuitive colour choices; confusing phrases and categories – the list of comms faux pas from No. 10 are enough to have even the hardiest industry expert running for the hills.

But PR folk aren’t alone in their frustrations. Social psychologist Stephen Reicher went viral on Twitter last May after accusing the government of ignoring the advice of its own behavioural science advisory group, SPI-B. If No. 10 is indeed refusing to listen to Professor Reicher and his SPI-B peers, it’s missing a trick. When it comes to changing behaviour, the predictive power of behavioural sciences like health psychology are arguably unmatched.

But what do the scientists recommend?

F

A LITTLE NUDGE GOES A LONG WAY According to nudge theorists Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, humans sometimes need protecting from our propensity to make poor, self-harming decisions. By subtly manipulating our decision-making environment, governments and organisations can ‘nudge’ us towards the most personally beneficial option without blocking the other choices.

Message framing nudges have long captured the attention of health psychologists, with messages focusing on the positive features (or gains) of a target health behaviour being shown to be highly persuasive.

For example, a 2018 study found that more people used a hospital hand sanitiser dispenser when it was next to a poster with the gain-framed message “40 per cent more hand hygiene, 40 per cent less hospital infections”.

According to theorists, gain-framed appeals are most effective for encouraging

behaviours which lower our risk of ill health, like condom use and cleaning our hands. As humans tend to be risk-averse, especially when thinking about gains, we’re more likely to adopt these low-risk health behaviours after reading positivelyframed messages.

Our desire to seek risks is thought to increase when we think about potential losses. Loss-framed messages have been shown to be more effective than gainframed messages for promoting health behaviours which come with a high risk of revealing health problems, like breast self-examinations.

HELP CREATE SELF-HYPE When Dorothy Gale urged Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion to “believe in yourself” in the 1978 film The Wiz, she probably wasn’t thinking about health psychology. But the power of self-efficacy, defined as a strong belief in one’s ability to perform well in difficult circumstances, is as true for changing health behaviours INFLUENCEONLINE.CO.UK Q1 2021 27

TITLE as it is for locating a brain, a heart and the nerve.

According to social cognitive theory, self-efficacy drives behavioural change in several ways. It motivates people to solve their problems; to feel more committed to their decisions; to expect positive outcomes from their actions and to spot supporting opportunities in their environment.

Four factors are thought to boost selfefficacy, including verbal persuasion, which involves listening to stories of how others like you have successfully met similar challenges and being reminded of your own skills and past successes.

Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign is a great example of self-efficacy in action.

The initiative harnesses the power of verbal persuasion – from its videos showcasing everyday women beating their exercise demons to its poster app which allows women to star in their own This Girl Can campaign.

Since launching in 2015, the multiaward-winning initiative has convinced over 2 million women to get more active.

A 2018 study found a positive link between the campaign’s content and participants’ intention to exercise. The researchers attributed their findings to the campaign’s use of “non-idealised depictions of women exercising”, hinting at the importance of self-efficacy principles in the campaign’s success.

HARNESS THE POWER OF INFLUENCE As social creatures, our behaviour is largely influenced by our interactions with others. So it’s no surprise that psychologists have spent the past 70 years trying to understand how and why social influence happens.

Conformity, one of the more common forms of social influence, occurs when a person changes their behaviour to fit in with the majority group because of real or imagined pressure from others.

This can happen in one of two ways.

With normative social influence, conformity is driven by a desire to be liked and accepted. We go along with informal or formal social rules to avoid being rejected by the majority.

Informational social influence is our tendency to look to others who we believe to be better informed about a present situation for guidance on what to do.

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We tend to default to experts during times of uncertainty or during a crisis.

However, their influence diminishes if we deem them to be untrustworthy or incompetent — something that Prime Minister Boris Johnson knows all too well. After the story of his former advisor Dominic Cummings’ alleged lockdown breach broke in May, public confidence in the government’s handling of the pandemic dropped by 0.5 points.

There was also a similar decline in reported compliance with government guidelines.

The legacy of Cummings-gate appears to live on, with 47 per cent of people citing the lack of government officials following the rules as a reason to personally ignore them, in an Ipsos MORI poll published last October.

But all may not be lost. According to scientific advisory group Independent SAGE, which counts Professor Stephen Reicher as a member, the government can boost public compliance and confidence by switching to precise, evidence-based messaging.

And with such sound advice, it’s not only No. 10 who could stand to benefit from listening to what behavioural scientists have to say.

Subtly manipulating our decision-making environment can nudge us towards the most personal beneficial option without blocking the other choices.

12 MONTHS ON...

MATTHEW WARING / UNSPLASH

12 months on: how has COVID-19 changed PR The past year has changed PR extensively. The question now is which changes will stick going forward?

BY JONATHAN OWEN

months ago, the pandemic which has wreaked havoc across the globe was in its infancy.

On 9 March last year, in a statement issued after a meeting of the government’s COBRA committee, Boris Johnson’s main advice was very much ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ in tone At that point, four people in the UK had died from COVID19 and the prime minister’s mantra was telling people to wash their hands.

Just two weeks later, the mood had not so much shifted as somersaulted, as a

12

grave-faced Johnson told the British public that daily life as they knew it would cease – with the nation plunged into lockdown. The rest, as they say, is history.

By the middle of January this year, more than 100,000 people in the UK had died from COVID-19, and confirmed cases had exceeded 3 million. This human toll has been accompanied by a socioeconomic cost that has yet to be fully realised.

The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated comms to unprecedented levels of importance – and scrutiny – with the recognition of the need for clear

communication during a time of crisis.

When it comes to the key pillars of PR teams, there have been changes so profound that the way in which work is done has been changed beyond recognition – characterised by a digital remote workplace replacing the traditional office.

Here we look at what has changed over the past year in terms of creativity, talent development, recruitment, diversity, home vs office working, and the new ways of working that are likely to remain long after lockdown is over.

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12 MONTHS ON...

One of the biggest problems of the past year has been how to sustain the creative process in a period where people have been living and working in isolation.

Despite the rise of digital platforms to fill the gap, the creativity that results from people working and socialising together has suffered.

There have been various attempts to tackle the problem. Some teams have taken a more organised approach than they would have done before. Others have tried to maintain some degree of socially distanced working to bring people together.

Ben Caspersz, founder of Claremont Communications, says: “When it has been legally allowed to do so, we have been getting together, we’ve hired spaces for small groups to get together, and it has made all the difference.”

This human interaction has complemented digital tools such as Slack, which he describes as having been “absolutely key for everything” and whiteboard software packages such as Mural that help in “visually mapping things out.”

But tools can only go so far, according to Francis Ingham, director-general of the PRCA. “There is something definitely lost about the spontaneous creative moments that occur when you are in an office... it’s one of the driving forces pushing agency heads in wanting to go back to a face-to-face environment in a physical office.”

For some agency bosses, the pandemic has prompted a rethink of how they approach creativity. Paul MackenzieCummins, managing director of Clearly PR, says: “A major development of the pandemic situation has been the need 30 Q1 2021 INFLUENCEONLINE.CO.UK

confines to work within can challenge you harder to think outside the box, but the payoff can be more rewarding and impressive.”

People don’t need to be in the same room to be creative, argues Stuart Lambert, founding partner at Blurred, and a former creative director at Weber Shandwick.

“That process of spending some time to have your own thoughts, bouncing them off your creative partner, and building it iteratively, can actually be done very easily over email so in a weird way this COVID year might have demystified some of that and shown creativity doesn't suffer at all.”

A major development of the pandemic situation has been the need for organisations to make creativity an everyday habit for everyone in the business – fostering a culture of innovation whereby people feel empowered to be their most curious and inquisitive selves, every day.

PAUL MACKENZIE-CUMMINS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CLEARLY PR

BEWAKOOF / UNSPLASH

Creativity

for organisations to make creativity an everyday habit for everyone in the business – fostering a culture of innovation whereby people feel empowered to be their most curious and inquisitive selves, every day.”

It’s a pragmatic point of view, based on “looking at how things are currently being done and continually asking if there is a better way of doing them. And being encouraged to try these things.”

Andrew Bloch, founder of Frank who is now an independent consultant, says that there are still ways people can get together whilst adhering to restrictions on movement and socialising. “I’ve been doing meetings on park benches, walking down the street, actually going out and seeing the real world.” In his view “it’s a bit too easy to fall into that habit of zoom becoming the default method of communication.”

In some teams creativity has flourished despite, or perhaps because of, the unprecedented events of the past year.

Sabrina Gomersall, head of client services at 90TEN, says: “I think we are more creative than before. Having some

Talent Development

ANDREW NEEL / UNSPLASH

The past year has denied those starting their careers the benefits of learning through osmosis and developing skills through working with colleagues.

Unofficial learning on the job, a mainstay of PR, has largely disappeared. This is prompting mounting concern over the impact on a generation of new entrants into the profession who have had to go it alone during lockdown.

Gomersall sums up the problem: “It’s hard as junior team members aren’t able to learn as much by observing as we are working remotely.” This means that extra time and effort is needed, with feedback “more important than ever.”

The business of how to nurture people who are not in the same room as you is one of the top concerns that agencies and in-house departments have, according to Ingham.

“You can’t really prosper in a completely remote environment, and a big part of that is the talent development piece. You can put people on formal training, but

You can’t really prosper in a completely remote environment, and a big part of that is the talent development piece. You can put people on formal training, but what you’re missing is the gentle informal nudge of being next to somebody.

SABRINA GOMERSALL, HEAD OF CLIENT SERVICES, 90TEN

what you’re missing is the gentle informal nudge of being next to somebody.”

Lambert admits to having concerns over the junior staff at his agency. “We’ve been really conscious about how this will have affected them without them even knowing it, in terms of lost opportunities to learn just by osmosis.”

That kind of informal learning on the

job “cannot be replicated virtually so I do worry about junior talent and how much they will have lost, without knowing it.”

The issue has been one of the hardest things to deal with during the pandemic, and affects both senior and junior staff, says Jo-ann Robertson, chief executive at Ketchum. Although the agency has a learning and development programme, the “take up has definitely dropped because one of the things that we didn’t anticipate with people working from home is that things that used to take five minutes in the office now take about half an hour from home.”

Robertson adds that where before she would be able to quickly approve things during a walk through the office, now people schedule half an hour over a Zoom call. This means the time people have has “shrunk considerably.”

She says: “As we look at what some of the longer term changes may be, being able to support people to drive learning and development in a virtual world is one of the biggest challenges.”

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12 MONTHS ON...

Recruitment

Thousands of people have lost their jobs over the past year, due to cuts affecting both agency and in-house teams. One in five (19 per cent) PR practitioners have been furloughed or made redundant, according to the 2020 PRCA PR and Communications Census.

A glut of senior, over-qualified people has entered the job market, due to the combination of job losses and freelancers seeking more job security. In what is a buyers’ market, the competition for jobs is fierce.

The traditional route of clandestine coffee meetings and interviews has fallen away over the past year, with candidates having to sell themselves over Zoom rather than in person.

Rohan Shah, managing director, Reuben Sinclair, says that companies are set up now to recruit people remotely. “Clients still have a preference to meet candidates, there is still trepidation in the marketplace from hiring people without meeting them, so I think you’re going to have two camps – people who will insist on meetings and some people who will totally adapt to this new way of working.”

He says that recruitment has started to recover after initially dropping by 80 per cent during the first lockdown. “At the beginning the drop in recruitment was down to the pure uncertainty of everything and people just stopped hiring.”

Shah adds: “We are starting to see an increased volume of activity, so we are running at about 80 per cent of our normal activity now.”

The problems of integrating new people into teams when everyone is working in isolation mean that more importance is being placed on how they are brought on board.

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We are starting to see an increased volume of activity, so we are running at about 80 per cent of our normal activity now.

ROHAN SHAH MANAGING DIRECTOR, REUBEN SINCLAIR

Mackenzie-Cummins says: “Greater attention will be afforded to how PR and Comms teams onboard new people. Virtual onboarding was a new thing for all of us,

but being done so remotely meant that new starters missed out of the natural conversations that take place across the desk or coffee machine – those aspects that play an important part in forging staff relations and supporting their new colleagues with help and support.”

Having the right fit is increasingly important. Gomersall says: “For candidates who do come through to interview, culture more than ever seems to be a key decision factor, and learning how they can integrate even though their teams are remote.”

Remote working is no longer questioned in the way it once was, and a major spin-off of this is that recruiters can cast their net far wider. As Ingham puts it: “We now recruit talent regardless of where people work.”

He predicts that there is going to be a major shift to having a lot more of the PR workforce based outside London, and that recruiting people on the basis of talent rather than geography is something that will stick.

The pandemic has brought focus to staying afloat, with several agencies already having gone under in the past year and others facing an uncertain future once the furlough scheme comes to an end.

Fighting for financial survival was set to see diversity fall down the list of priorities – until the Black Lives Matter movement which erupted last year in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.

This has “turbo charged” the move towards greater diversity, according to Fenella Grey, chair of Porter Novelli. “It’s now just about delivering with actions as opposed to just talk,” she says. “And it’s hard, there’s a fear factor of getting it wrong.” Remote working complicates things, she adds. “If you’re recruiting from more diverse backgrounds, then more support and nurturing and inclusivity is required, and that’s sometimes difficult if you’re not sitting next to the person all the time.”

Some agencies, such as Launch, freely admit that diversity has had to take a back seat during the pandemic.

Juliet Cameron, the agency’s chief operating launcher admits: “We have all had to make tough decisions this year, we have all had to prioritise and focus on getting the business in a good shape and keeping it there.” When it comes to diversity, “we haven’t had the bandwidth to focus on it in the way that I personally would, was before and certainly will do again.”

PR hasn’t covered itself in glory in tackling diversity – more than nine in ten in the industry are white, according to CIPR’s latest state of the profession report.

Robertson is frustrated by “a lot of jumping on the bandwagon, so people

new blood from diverse backgrounds.

Darryl Sparey, co-founder of Hard Numbers, says: “My worry for the diversity agenda is because it’s harder to meet new people and get out there and all the rest of it, because times are tough, people will revert to hiring the people that they know and that is doing nothing to improve diversity in our sector.”

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Diversity

talking about diversity, saying it is a priority with no real evidence of progress.”

She adds: “When I joined the industry 19 years ago there was lots of talk about diversifying the workforce and 19 years later we’ve made almost no progress.”

The BLM movement has “prompted a rethink among agencies as to how diverse and inclusive they really are as an employer versus how much they think they are,” according to MackenzieCummins.

There has been a noticeable rise in clients requesting diverse shortlists, and help with diversity policies, in the wake of BLM, according to Shah. But he says: “There’s a risk of tokenism across some agencies, whereby they might request a shortlist of diverse candidates, but how much deeper does that go? Are they providing a fair and just recruitment process to allow those diverse candidates to be accepted into a role?”

Others warn that the economic situation has seen some people hand out work and opportunities to old friends and contacts rather than investing in

If you’re recruiting from more diverse backgrounds, then more support and nurturing and inclusivity is required, and that’s sometimes difficult if you’re not sitting next to the person all the time.

FENELLA GREY CHAIR, PORTER NOVELLI

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12 MONTHS ON...

The biggest change over the past year has been the enforced explosion in home working – something that has been talked about for decades yet was achieved almost overnight through necessity.

With offices out of bounds for most of the past year, homes have become the new workplaces: great news for those living in large houses with space for a home office, but a very different proposition for those without the luxury of a spare room to work from.

And the obvious savings made through not having to travel to work, with the costs that entails, are countered by concerns over the mental wellbeing of people working in isolation for months on end.

For all the pros and cons, the genie is out of the bottle in terms of people being able to work from home. There is no longer a debate over whether it can work, as the past year has proven. The big question going forward is how much of this will be a temporary state of affairs and whether the traditional office is really a thing of the past, or merely having a hiatus.

One thing is certain, there is no one size fits all solution and flexibility will continue to be the order of the day.

Many PR firms are looking at having a mix of home and office working in the long term. One example is Weber Shandwick, which recently announced a flexible working policy based on working three days in the office and two days remotely.

Ingham says: “We are not going back to the way we were.” He thinks a three-day week in the office will become the norm.

This view is echoed by Bloch, who says: “The future undoubtedly will move towards being more of a hybrid model.”

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working that you can’t get when you are working virtually.”

He adds: “For our business we’ll be looking at maybe two days a month, maybe three days a month that people can work from home tops. But that’s it because it’s very hard to maintain a company culture when it’s all remote, I think people bounce and feed off each other, and people enjoy meeting up with their colleagues because their colleagues are friends as well, and it’s important to have that physical environment for people to connect more effectively.”

It’s very hard to maintain a company culture when it’s all remote, I think people bounce and feed off each other, and people enjoy meeting up with their colleagues because their colleagues are friends as well, and it’s important to have that physical environment for people to connect more effectively.

PAUL MACKENZIE-CUMMINS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CLEARLY PR

LAURA DAVIDSON / UNSPLASH

Home vs Office Working

Robertson comments. “We have had smart working for three and a half years, we don't have core hours, people don't have to be in the office, the rules are that as long as you put your team and your clients at the heart of the decisions you make, we don't care where or when you work.”

Some of the rhetoric around the end of the office has been “overblown”, comments Lambert. He thinks that after normality resumes, within a couple of years “this will be a distant memory and I think old routines will creep back in.” Lambert adds: “The idea that the office is dead is for the birds, there will still be offices. What I think has changed forever is the idea of flexibility.”

However, not everyone is ready to consign the traditional office to the dustbin of history just yet.

Mackenzie-Cummins says: “I’ve always been against the idea of working from home. I was a freelancer for seven years and I worked from home, and there were times when it was very difficult. And in an office environment there is a way of

Paul Mackenzie-Cummins' predictions for PR in 2021...

1. BRAND PURPOSE WILL DOMINATE MARKETING AND COMMS THINKING

2. CONTENT MARKETING WILL LIKELY TAKE CENTRE STAGE

Brands and businesses are increasingly being judged by consumers on what they say and do, and how they behave.

Central to this will be a degree of expectation on brands and businesses to show how committed they are to environmental and social responsibility causes. This commitment will need to be authentic – any attempt to ‘brandwash’ will backfire.

The pandemic showed us that consumer purchasing decisions are no longer influenced by the hyperbole that a brand or business propagates. Rather, the need to show they know their arses from their elbows, instead of telling the world what they think their market wants to hear, will be crucial to improving revenues.

3. DATA WILL PLAY A MAJOR PART IN EACH CAMPAIGN

4. INFLUENCER MARKETING WILL FILTER INTO THE B2B SPACE

'Fluffy’ PR in its traditional sense is on the way out, and will be replaced by the increased use of metrics to determine tangible results.

Synonymous with consumer comms, corporates have their key figures too, and savvy PR and comms firms will look to adapt the influencer marketing approach and apply it in the B2B world.

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NOT SO LUCKY STAR

Can Doesn't Mean Should Bringing a big name to the table isn’t always the home run that it might at first seem.

BY HUGH THOMAS

ow do you name a restaurant concept? Best not ask Jack Whitehall.

In September 2020, the actor and comedian co-launched his pop-up FoodSlut at Provisioners restaurant near Tower Bridge, leaning into London’s enlightened food scene with ‘super slutty bone marrow gravy’, ‘Slutty Burgers’, and the option to ‘slut it up’ with extra hot sauce.

Food Twitter didn’t quite embrace the idea. ‘Derogatory term for women but making it branding, Jack?’ food writer and editor Helen Graves weighed in.

‘I’m so bored of people confusing being a w***er with being edgy,’ wrote farmer James Whetlor. And my favourite, from broadcaster and Telegraph writer Debora Robertson: ‘Please shut up, close up, and go away you ludicrous child’. These were the more family-friendly responses.

FoodSlut (not to be confused with LA import Eggslut) is one of a spate of celebritybacked entries into the hospitality industry within the last couple years. There’s also Mark Wahlberg’s now defunct Wahlburgers,

H

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Lewis Hamilton’s vegan burger chain Neat, and Ed Sheeran’s Bertie Blossoms, which Times critic Marina O’Laughlin described as ‘demented’.

Some are questionable, some may do more harm than good. In an industry already suffering from damaging attitudes towards the women within it, you can see why something with a name like FoodSlut could be problematic. Partly due to a failure to modernise, many restaurant kitchens rely on the brigade system – a hierarchy of prep cooks at the bottom, and exec chefs at the top. As the term suggests, the brigade system was founded on military rank of authority, which doesn’t lend itself well to managing people in already hot, loud, chaotic kitchens.

Women are more often on the receiving end than men. Stories – at least, the ones that are reported – include: staff making bets on who can make the new girl chef cry first; choosing not to wear skirts or dresses to disincentivise guests from getting handsy; a chef hitting a female member of staff almost daily, ‘leaving their mark’ on them; male staff watching female staff while they change clothes or shower

after a shift. Surveys tell us these cases are being reported more and more in recent years.

‘Hopefully,’ FoodSlut co-founder Marcus Petty-Saphon tells me, ‘people understand we are using it in a way to describe a certain type of food and not to cause offence.’ I hope the risk they took was worth it.

Risk, though, is certainly part of the equation when expanding your brand into new areas. Celebrities may realise it late, but some sort of emotional investment matters most. ‘I have nothing against celebs opening up bars and restaurants,’ Goya Communications’ Sara Al-Ali tells me. ‘But, say, when footballers open restaurants, it tends to be style over substance, and lacking in soul.’

Perhaps you see it in your industry – celebrities dipping their toes in when they don’t know the temperature of the water. Before she founded hospitality communications firm Tonic, Frances Cottrell-Duffield worked in fashion and sport PR. She recalls a model who wrote a cookbook. ‘But that was a passion project – not just putting her name to

something. There are these exceptions, but the biggest issue with celebritybacked ventures is they have another life, and this as a side hustle is hard to get a good quota of your time or longterm vision.’

In many cases, a ‘sleb-injected venture ‘introduces’ a concept already flogged shirtless by someone else, just with a recognisable name holding it together.

With its dude food pastiche, FoodSlut didn’t come to the party with anything new. But then again, maybe that’s okay.

Because, through luck or good judgement, FoodSlut’s pop-up arrived between national lockdowns – a juncture when people were craving the comfort of sloppy burgers, fries by the trough, and carby blankets of ragu pappardelle. Foods like this stir up memories of simpler, safer times. Or at least when we weren’t in the middle of job losses, life losses, and an economic crisis. One study notes that, during lockdown, Brits’ consumption of ‘tasty treats’ – if you’ll pardon the vagarity of the term – was up 34 per cent.

As a pop-up, something like FoodSlut isn’t intended to last beyond a few weeks.

I remember, from early in my food journalism career, a chef telling me: ‘If your restaurant’s gone three years in London, you’ve done well.’ Throw a celebrity’s name in there randomly, and expectations might have to be lowered.

‘I never think with something like this that there’s longevity,’ Cottrell-Duffield says.

Even in hospitality though, one does come around every now and then. In 2018, Rick Astley opened a pub in Shoreditch with Danish indie brewery Mikkeller. A bit gimmicky, yes, but the singer claimed their portfolio had helped him fall back in love with beer, and even ended up brewing a ‘Northern’ lager with them. The same year, rapper Loyle Carner teamed up with Street Feast and British Street Food as part of his mission to teach kids with ADHD how to cook. Having grown up with the condition, and an affection for cooking, he appreciates culinary energy sometimes needs a bit of guidance.

There’s that emotional investment I was talking about. James Blunt’s restoration of Chelsea’s The Fox & Pheasant, which is on the Campaign for Real Ale’s list of historically significant pub interiors, is another one. 16 years his own local, Blunt

RICK ASTLEY AND MIKKEL BORG BJERGSØ RAISE A GLASS TO A SUCCESSFUL CELEBRITY INTERVENTION.

In many cases, a ‘sleb-injected venture introduces a concept already flogged shirtless by someone else, just with a recognisable name holding it together.

bought the building before pub company turned real estate hoarders Greene King could sell it off, likely to an offshore property developer wanting to turn it into unaffordable flats.

In Blunt’s case, his fame is fairly irrelevant – though what it did to his bank account certainly helped – to the general group his pub serves. To enter into new territory, to present to new audiences, on little else but the thin promise of a recognisable name. Hear me out, but it reminds me of a famous line from Jurassic Park: When certain people are – to reappropriate Jeff Goldblum’s quote – “so preoccupied with whether or not they can, they don’t stop to think if they should.”

Hugh writes about food and beer and has contributed to Time Out, Great British Chefs, Zagat, and many more besides. hughlthomas.com

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SMOKE AND MIRRORS

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CBD DEATH BY REGULATION The CBD industry continues to jump through a frustrating number of hoops to remain legal, but the liberalisation of cannabis law seems close at hand.

BY HUW PRYCE

he cannabis industry has undergone significant changes since the beginning of this century. Back in the 90s, there was barely a legitimate trade at all. Even the cultivation of hemp bred to be nonpsychedelic was illegal in many countries.

As any cannabis campaigner will tell you, hemp is a hugely useful crop. The plant’s famous recreational element, however, provided the lever for its prohibition.

For decades, in the UK and much of the rest of the world, even research into its therapeutic elements could not be conducted.

While it is still illegal to produce cannabis in the UK, except under strict conditions, it’s easier to grow low THC hemp. This ‘wiggle room’ between hemp and cannabis, has led to a burgeoning industry providing the nonpsychedelic element cannabidiol or CBD. It is illegal to sell CBD products as medicinal; the sector must walk a borderline path between medicine and snake oil salesmanship without wandering into either.

Despite this, however, cannabidiol has found its way into many products, and the sector has grown to a sizeable lobbying group.

This newfound respectability is fragile, however.

Cannabis is not yet viewed as a hill to die upon by MPs and ministers, and the industry is keen to both safeguard and enhance the reputation of CBD and practices around it. Sian Phillips, MD of the Cannabis Trades Association (CTA) is the one responsible for this. Recently, she recruited Welsh Police & Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones as a patron to the professional body.

Phillips is concerned with the many hoops her sector must jump through to remain legal. “CBD has become an ingredient in health foods and in creams and balms.

To meet the need to fit this product into a legal framework, it was granted Regulated Food status. The law around Regulated Foods is complex and one aspect of the CTA is helping members with compliance. We have teams offering legal advice to ensure members stick to the rules. Perception of our products is fragile in the public mind, and in that of lawmakers.

“There’s no single regulatory body in the UK for cannabis. Changes in regulation can quite often happen swiftly and seemingly unannounced.” The CTA exists to ensure fulfilment by its members, reducing any negative impact and reputational damage to both the industry and business owner alike.

A major problem facing the industry is one increasingly common in the modern world; misinformation. In addition to the old Reefer Madness propaganda of the War on Drugs, a “miracle cure” trope threatens to obscure the real medical and therapeutic gains. A major task ahead is to impose clarity.

The boundary between medicine and health food is of increasing significance. In the UK, the pharmaceutical route to respectability opened the door to liberalisation, with high profile cases such as that of Billy Caldwell The Boy Who Changed the Law (Influence Q1 2019)

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SMOKE AND MIRRORS highlighting the unique efficacy of the drug for certain conditions.

It is now legal to prescribe full spectrum cannabis containing the psychedelic element, THC, in the UK, and in December 2020 the WHO voted narrowly to remove cannabis from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, paving the way to further possible reforms. Instances of prescription are still low in the UK, and restricted largely to private medicine prescribed by consultants. For the most part, the NHS is not getting involved.

But private prescriptions are expensive. Groups such as The Sapphire Foundation have been set up to assist sufferers who lack sufficient funds, through profile-raising public events and fundraisers. Others such as End Our Pain exist to lobby and campaign for further relaxation of prescription practices. End Our Pain’s website opens with a letter to send to your MP. Neurologist and cannabis advocate Prof. Michael Barnes is upbeat but frustrated with the current situation: “Only hospital consultants can prescribe, not GPs, which I think is a pity… I think GPs would be very good prescribers.

Basically though, it’s the reluctance of the deeply conservative hierarchy of the medical profession… it’s going to take a lot of effort to get them to change their minds that this is actually a safe and efficacious medicine.

I’m not saying it’s totally safe, I’m not saying it works wonders for everybody, but it’s a very good medicine.”

The WHO ruling has shortened the odds. “In the coming year we’ll be looking to persuade the UK authorities to

Cannabidiol was formally drawn into EU Regulated Foods status in 2018, subjecting the supplement industry to food safety regulations.

Brexit has seen a change in the regulatory bodies, and Novelty Foods are now known as Regulated Foods, as responsibility for legislation passes to the UK. This change represents an opportunity for a review of the rules, for which a lobbying agency would be a key element.

However, suppliers wishing to export to EU countries must still comply with EU Regulated Food specifications and register all products with both the UK and EU authorities.

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look into the classification, with an eye to cutting through some of the red tape…”

Even the psychedelic aspect of cannabis has undergone an element of rehabilitation, with decriminalisation of recreational use becoming increasingly fashionable internationally.

Stephen Oliver of Canna Consultants, which serves the whole cannabinoid industry, including the recreational sector, at an international level, says “We’re reaching the end of a century of prohibition.”

“Politicians, civil servants, from medical practitioners to school children need to be educated on a plant that has been stigmatised in history” The three sectors of the industry have convergent goals. The medics seek to broaden research and prescriptive powers, to exploit the still unexplored chemistry of the plant. The supplements sector is concerned with avoiding further legal restrictions on its remit. The recreational industry, or at least the more respectable end of it, wishes for decriminalization or legality.

Image management, lobbying and influencers will all have a significant role to play going forward. The industry is gaining ground in its search for support. CTA Patron Arfon Jones isn’t alone in his support for a change of tack. The website of the Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group quotes The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform and former party leaders Baron Hague and John Major on its front page, all calling for liberalisation of cannabis law.

Own your next move.

If you’ve been made redundant or you’re looking for work, the CIPR Employability Support Hub is packed with advice and resources to help.

• • • • • • •

Coping with redundancy CVs and interviews Personal branding Mental health Going independent Peer support Financial help

cipr.co.uk/employability PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS – cipr.co.uk

Get out your own way Developing our individual confidence is the key to overcoming barriers to progress.

BY LAURA SUTHERLAND

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IKON/SERGIO INGRAVALLE

OPINION PIECE

’ve worked in public relations for almost 20 years, across most sectors and many industries. It’s amazing how much we have to learn about a new industry, and how much of this information we have to retain and develop in order to help businesses and organisations overcome challenges. It’s true that we are one of the only strategic functions which needs a 360-degree overview of an organisation.

Public relations professionals have a knack for spotting people problems because we know that we need to maintain good business culture to attract and retain both talent and business, and that a good reputation speaks for itself.

However, we can probably agree that many of us who run our businesses/ agencies have a case of ‘cobbler’s children’: We don’t shout enough about our own achievements, do our own PR, because we’re so busy doing it for other organisations. But why is that the case?

We talk a lot about imposter syndrome in our industry. I think that’s a long way of saying “lacking confidence”. If you had confidence, you could overcome what you were struggling to stand up to, and you’d have more faith in yourself – but of course that’s easier said than done!

I first identified that I was standing in my own way of achieving what I wanted to because I felt like I didn’t have much to shout about, that I was just doing what I do. I’ve often felt that those who do shout about their achievements do so in poor taste, and it made me shy away from even thinking about going beyond my blog and email.

I also felt that the same voices were speaking, and it became boring. I didn’t want to be someone who was always quoted, always in the PR news bulletins, and I didn’t want people to get bored seeing my name.

As an industry, we’ve been in danger of the ‘louder voices’ taking over everything from senior positions, industry leadership roles, voices of authority on podcasts, guest speakers at events – it was yet another moment when I realised that our industry needs people who think differently, who have different experiences, who are seriously passionate about their thing and who don’t do stuff just to be liked. But the

I

trick is to help these hidden voices make themselves heard.

There are ways to grow in confidence, proactively help yourself, and get out your own way. Firstly, I think we all pretty much know when we’re struggling and when we’re stagnant. But it’s at that point we need to look to understand why we’re struggling. What’s the thing that won’t let you progress? Identifying this barrier – external or internal – is the first step in overcoming it.

My next suggestion is that no matter what stage in your career you are at, and no matter your specialism, I think everyone

There are ways to grow in confidence, proactively help yourself, and get out your own way

needs a mentor. Having had one in the past myself, and more recently having developed the CIPR’s Progress scheme and my own development and coaching plan, I know it can make the difference between ‘going for it’ and letting opportunities pass you by. Even now, in the current climate when so many are looking for jobs after redundancy, having a mentor can be the sounding board you need.

Often when I speak to mentees, it’s all about giving yourself permission to do what you want or need, and having a plan to get there. Confidence comes from encouraging yourself to make that bold

move, to take a calculated risk or to stand up to someone who isn’t being fair.

Everyone will have their own techniques to help them cope and manage certain situations, and it’s getting to know these situations and how to cope with them that can help you progress. You need to really analyse yourself at these points in time.

It’s also fair to say that over the years, I’ve been privileged to have been sought out for numerous roles, so I’ve been used to people coming directly to me with opportunities. Or, if I look at client work, I’ve always had my books filled by referral and repeat business. But I’ve learned that you can’t wait for someone to make the first move. It’s not impolite to make a move and be bold with it. It takes confidence, but it gets you places, and faster too! It’s also how you grow a business, if that’s what you’re trying to achieve. There are some great examples of people doing this right now, with a clear proposition and faith in their business model.

Thinking and acting like an entrepreneur is what gets me up in the morning. It gets me excited about opportunities, it allows me to dream and to experiment, but it also needs me not to think of failure when things don’t work out. Just because something hasn’t gone to plan first time doesn’t mean it never will. Test, tweak, try and repeat! Don’t give up after the first hurdle. We’re made of strong stuff, us PR pros.

I’m pleased to say that, more recently, I’ve moved out of my own way, and I’ve embraced change, upskilling, constructive feedback and so much more. I’ve even created my own platform (other than the blog) – my podcast, People Buy People – so that not only can I share my thoughts, but I can give other people a platform too.

It’s not about PR news, it’s more about the people who work in public relations and communication, and those who need a little help to build their confidence. This article is itself one other way that I’ve pushed myself to address my nervousness around sharing my thoughts about a challenge many professionals in our industry face. Building your confidence takes time, but it pays in dividends.

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Scotland’s

virtual

awards

IKON/IAN MURRAY

IoD

VIRTUAL AWARDS

Virtual events are going from strength to strength. Here’s how IoD Scotland rose to the challenges posed by celebrating remotely.

BY ROB SMITH

hat important meeting with a new client is coming up. Or perhaps it’s an appraisal with your boss.

Or your in-laws.

What should you wear?

Business casual? A tie? A suit?

Or just stick with the onesie you’ve been hanging out in since March?

It can be pretty difficult to judge the dress code when you’re sat in your spare room. What is connecting you to the other end of the webcam?

It is hard to think of an area of business which has been more affected by the new way of ‘meeting’ than events. Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck early last year, the industry has seen a wave of cancellations and downsizing.

Those special evenings of celebration had become just another Zoom call after a long day of Zoom calls. Standing out from the screen time was a big concern for the team organising the Institute of Directors Scotland’s 2020 Director of the Year awards.

“I know when it all started, meetings from kitchen tables were normal and happening everywhere but I was really keen to have the feel of an in-person event,” says Joyce Lamond, director of First City Events, who spent hours watching every kind of online event possible to get a feel of what worked and what didn’t.

The Director of the Year Awards (DoY), in which leaders from across Scotland are recognised across 21 categories, is one of two key events on the IoD calendar, the other being the annual twoday conference held at Gleneagles Hotel. The DoY campaign is split into three activity phases: shortlist announcement, the run up, and the night itself.

COVID had a knock-on effect for each of these.

From early 2020 it had seemed clear that a delay was inevitable. Lamond and the team at Clark, who were providing PR support and social media support, were quick to start considering alternatives, bringing their timetable forward so they could consider all options thoroughly.

By early March, there was still no official guidance for the events industry and the team were unsure what route to take.

“We kept on going into April hoping that it would be an in-person event. But the judging took place in early April and from then it moved very swiftly to a virtual event,” recalled Lamond.

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VIRTUAL AWARDS While the details and format of the virtual event were being worked out, the messaging around the changes needed to be just right.

Award ceremonies are a highlight of the year, and during the first national lockdown, taking away something to look forward to could have added to the general sense of doom and gloom.

Fortunately, the ‘all in this together’ spirit was on the rise in the country and the community was very understanding.

“There was a change in the way people were behaving around that time,” says Kirsten Paul, account director at Clark. “There was a lot more empathy and people were taking more care of each other and that came through here as well.”

SPONSORS Attracting sponsors is a key part of running any event, and can be the difference between breaking even or making a loss. While the backers of the DoY were understanding of the special circumstances, the team were keen to give added value to both sponsors and finalists.

“When we knew that the event was going to at least be delayed we were keen not to lose momentum,” says Lamond. “Ordinarily we would have a six to eight week turnaround between the shortlist coming out and the awards taking place but that was extended to about four months.”

The extra time did not go to waste. The finalists in each category were asked to produce one minute videos sharing what it meant for them to be a finalist – sponsors were also invited to make videos, an added bonus that was not in the original agreement.

These were then ‘drip fed’ per category over a number of weeks complementing the wider social activity that the IoD was doing as a membership organisation.

THE BIG NIGHT While the social team at Clark were keeping up the awards’ momentum, Lamond used the extra time to develop a programme for the online event that would keep guests engaged.

To keep the feel of an in-person event that Lamond was aiming for, the team recreated the stage with host, BBC Scotland presenter Grant Stott, in a studio linked via the big screen to all 54 finalists via Zoom.

Now you’ve read the dreaded Z word, you might be thinking that the awards would have been little more than a virtual presentation – but you would be wrong. The feeling of being there was not just reserved for Stott, as Lamond explains: “The finalists had this lovely gift box delivered to their homes. There was a cocktail glass for their bespoke cocktail, a menu card which had all the ingredients for the dinner produced and prepared 46 Q1 2021 INFLUENCEONLINE.CO.UK

The finalists had a lovely gift box delivered to their homes including a cocktail glass, menu card, candle for ambience, biscuits for cheese and chocolate.

by an Edinburgh chef and shared via a masterclass video. There was a candle for ambience, biscuits with cheese, and even chocolates that complemented the cocktail.

“It was the awards in a box.”

While it caused the AV team a few sleepless nights, Stott was even able to interview the winners live – and while plenty of evening dress was on display, one winner couldn’t resist revealing it was the first time he’d collected an award in his socks.

All of this created a very social atmosphere, with the finalists chatting in the Zoom room and sharing pictures on social media of their dinners and cocktails – evening dress included.

“Our digital manager set up shop in the office and live-tweeted results, and encouraged people to share selfies from their homes of the dinners they had made, their tuxes and ball gowns,” said Paul. “Because it was virtual it just exploded.

People wanted to show that they were engaged with this event.”

With congratulations flowing and selfies snapped, the awards trended in every city across Scotland for more than two hours, leaving the team ‘gobsmacked’.

Finalists and viewers took to Twitter to encourage and congratulate each other in ways that are not so easy when sat at different tables.

“People have been wanting good news,” said Paul. “One of the biggest things to have come out of the pandemic is that people are on each other’s side. They’ve got their back.”

The success of the event was reflected in the coverage. Despite the media environment being saturated with news about COVID, the event achieved 29 pieces of media coverage, comparable with years that had less packed news agendas.

The feedback from finalists was positive, with many saying how it has opened their eyes to what an online awards ceremony can achieve.

Whether awards are able to be in-person again this year or if we still are able to give acceptance speeches in our slippers, or perhaps some combination of the two, the lessons learned in the pandemic will surely present more opportunities for the events industry.

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

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The virtual pitch:

How to get it right

Good tech can only get you so far. It’s what you’ve got to say that will seal the deal.

BY GUY CLAPPERTON

t’s been months. Business has been slow, and yes, there are vaccines that may start to allow us to pitch and engage in person during 2021, but we’re really not sure when. So, we’re stuck pitching for new clients over Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or whatever other system you or your prospective client prefers.

You can make the most of it, though.

You can fiddle with your camera settings and put a green screen background in, but if you haven’t covered the basics it’ll fail. Independent PR person Jenny Hodge picked up a bit of business under lockdown and believes the rules haven’t changed: “Do your research, be prepared, make sure you have comprehensive notes on the company, spokespeople and products to hand.,” she says. “And be confident about your own experience.”

That said, like a lot of people, Hodge has a dislike of watching herself on screen. This is why one of my favourite features in most versions of Zoom is “hide self view” – you’ll find it in the top right hand corner of your picture where there are three dots; it will hide your picture from you, so self-consciousness should be reduced immediately.

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Picture is important, so a better webcam than the one that came with your computer may well be an idea. If you have a digital SLR with an HDMI slot, it will almost certainly be usable as a webcam with the addition of a tripod at a decent height. Search for software that allows your computer to take a feed from your exact model. If you have the right lens you can then play with focus and depth, and look super-clear.

Mind you, there’s research out there to suggest people think they’re seeing a better picture when the sound improves. So, if you’re restricted in terms of funds, you may be better off buying a better microphone and selecting it as your input when you’re on calls. A lot of PR is about presentation; the prospective client will want to see and hear that you look and sound slick.

This is increasingly important in an environment where, as Frank Smith of Context PR points out, clients now expect some face-to-face contact over video earlier in the relationship than they previously might have. Based in Macclesfield, he points out that a team presentation in London would previously have lost four days’ work and £1000 in travel costs, whereas it can now be done over Zoom for half an hour of everyone’s time from anywhere. It’s a mistake to treat it as an ordinary phone chat, though. “With an online pitch, you need to make a conscious effort to build rapport and inject energy into the conversation,” he says. “Once the energy levels drop, you’ve had it.

That goes for everyone on the call not just the senior people. So, everyone has to make a contribution and a dry run is essential, as you would do in a face-toface pitch.”

A lot of PR is about presentation; the prospective client will want to see and hear that you look and sound slick.

It’s tempting to throw everything into a swish animation in a presentation to keep people engaged.

I have the battle scars from this; something that looks elegant and smooth at your end can look jerky and awkward once it’s squished through your Internet connection and that of your prospect. Livening things up a little is good — maybe introducing bullet points individually if you’d normally just have one slide with them on — but for more elaborate animations, remember your recipient might not see the same fluency.

Related point: Windows and most of the app technologies are updated often with a view to increasing functionality and security, which is a good thing. If you’ve just updated, remember to check all of the settings you’d lovingly built up, like which microphone or camera is your default and whether your videos’ sounds will be shared. Bitter experience tells me the Zoom pixies will cheerfully rip up any settings you’ve changed and make you start again, and if you don’t know, you could end up with silent playback at the other end.

This is all getting a bit negative. As Frank Smith points out, there are positives. You can be pitching to someone in South Africa just as easily as to someone in Chelmsford in the virtual world. Depending on the services you offer, this can be a huge opportunity.

The time zone rather than geographical distance is now your only barrier.

Zoom and other systems offer virtual backgrounds without a physical green screen, but it involves the computer doing a lot of processing. Some laptops will just give you an error message saying they are not powerful enough. Physical green screens are great, but make sure you’re well-lit with something like a halo light, or if money is tight, the torch on an old phone. Be sensible: I have a corner desk, and had a roll-up green screen behind me until my wife whispered the words “fire hazard” into my ear.

If you take only one thing away from this brief article, though, then it should be that it’s up to you to engage with people through the technology rather than expect the gadgets to do all the lifting. “Cut back on the words, bring some warmth into it — be human despite the lack of face to face,” says Gina Hough of MCC International. “And make sure that you have feedback for them on how to improve their situation — a media audit is always very well received.”

So content was king the whole time. Who knew?

Guy Clapperton runs the CIPR course on virtual presenting. He has been coaching media clients over Skype initially and now whatever the client wants since 2010. See www.remotemediatraining.com for info.

50 Q1 2021 INFLUENCEONLINE.CO.UK

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INFLUENCEONLINE.CO.UK Q1 2021 51

THE BACK STORY How To Spring Clean Your Client Contracts

hile it’s clear to everyone, including me, that no one is ever eager to invest time reviewing their standard contracts, the EU’s recent experience with its vaccine supply contracts is a timely warning to us all to get on with this task. If you have (even partly) managed a dry January or a Veganuary, then could this be your next challenge?

W

FOLLOW THE MONEY Look at the less convoluted clauses and follow the money. The key terms will usually be: Price: ask yourself “what, is the price for the services, when will we be paid, and when and who can change the price?”

The right to change the price may be clearly marked or it may be in a slightly less obvious place. Pay attention to any clause headed “Renewal” (it may say that the contract will automatically renew on a specified date on the same terms, which will include price) and to the clause headed “Variation”, which will deal, unsurprisingly, with variation and may apply to price.

Length of Contract/Term: whether the contract is profitable or unprofitable, the next issue will be “how long are we both tied to this contract?” Look for the answer in clauses headed “Term”, “Notice”, “Termination Provisions”. Confusingly, the length of the contract is called its “term”, and the clauses in the contract are also its “terms”.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG THAT I CAN FORESEE? Consider what else, in broader terms, may go wrong. If you have a great business idea, fantastic staff and your company is very profitable, could a client copy your business? To prevent this you will need clearly drafted clauses dealing with confidentiality, prohibiting poaching of employees and prohibiting competition.

There are limitations on how long and 52 Q1 2021 INFLUENCEONLINE.CO.UK

how wide the non-competition clause can be, but you can at least aim for a sensible level of protection.

You can also approach this issue with a clause clearly defining what intellectual property belongs to your company and expressly specifying that a client can only use it for limited purposes.

you can ensure continuity of the supply of your services in the event of another crisis.

WARRANTIES An important current trend in contracts is to include clauses asking clients (and suppliers) to confirm that they do not breach laws on modern slavery, money laundering and sanctions. Whilst this will not be enough in itself to protect you if the statement does turn out to be false, it’s not a good look to be out of step with up-to-date practice.

INDEMNITIES There is a very human tendency, particularly when busy, to skim over things that are tedious, convoluted and use unfamiliar words. Most people would put “indemnities” in this category. However, they can be extremely dangerous. Indemnities will deal with matters such as who bears the cost if something goes wrong and a third party sues. Do not inadvertently agree to bear all the costs of third party claims as these can be very substantial.

THE UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS The pandemic has shown how unpredictable the future can be. Many companies have been reaching for their contracts to see what flexibility they have, both with supplies to their business and with delivery dates, when hit with unprecedented levels of disruption and staff absence.

The clause that may help in these circumstances is the “force majeure” clause. These often state what will happen in the event of industrial disputes, failure of utilities, acts of God, war, fire, flood and storm. However, they usually don’t cover pandemics.

In the future, if you are a key supplier to a client, you may find them taking a more practical and proactive angle to potential disasters by asking for a contract clause requiring you to provide copies of your business and IT disaster recovery plans, so that clients have the assurance that

LAST BUT NOT LEAST Finally, you may wonder, what is the position if clients click to accept your standard terms without actually reading them? Here there is some good news.

The Law Commissions has indicated that click acceptance of contract terms is “almost certainly” likely to mean that they are binding, even where the consumer is not obliged to scroll through the website terms before clicking to accept.

Please note that this article is for general information and interest only and should not be relied upon as providing specific legal advice. If you require any further information about the issues raised in this article please contact the author.

By Julia Weeks, an associate in the corporate team at Goodman Derrick LLP, the London law firm.

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Introduction to speechwriting.

New course

CIPR Trainer Kayode Akinola reveals the magic ingredients of a successful speech. Watch the video and learn more from Kayode at his virtual speechwriting course on 31 March.

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Click to watch