Mark Wilson

The full story, first. Please watch below a small sample of what we’re about.

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Oh, this complaint from Jay Rayner resonates. So far today, I've binned a lot of irrelevant (or downright unintelligible) press releases including: • "Challenge Group Signs MOU with China Henan Aviation Co., Ltd. at Air Cargo China" • Some quotes from a man who does estate planning about Tory and Labour tax policies (sent to me twice within four minutes) • "GlobalStar Announces Partnership with Qondor to provide platform to streamline M&E operations" (no idea what any of that means) • "Colchester business UKRadiators.com targets rapid growth with refinancing deal" (lovely, but I've never written about radiators) • One about Helsinki "transforming the way congresses are organised" • Another about how "leading biopharma company GSK has transformed its digital patientcare experience with adesso" (am I bothered?) • And "Tanabe Consulting Reveals: Approximately 80% of Japanese Companies Expanding or Intending to Expand Overseas Operations" ( 🤷‍♀️ ) I write about global social enterprise and social investment, small farmers in the UK, and occasionally foster care. Journalists often work in small, under-resourced teams. The more time we have to spend cleaning the crap out of our inboxes (usually sent by big, well resourced corporates), the less time there is to find the best untold stories (featuring the people who don't have the money to spend on PR companies). Please, PR industry, make it stop!

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I spoke with Alison Jones for her The Extraordinary Business Book Club podcast. I talked about the process of turning CEO Secrets, a digital video series by a journalist, into a good old-fashioned book! If you want deep dives into the world of business book publishing and the writing process, then I recommend this series. There are good recent episodes with Corey Keyes and Louise Brogan to check out.

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How do you make the news when you're not actually that important? Ask Ed Davey. The Lib Dems could have easily been lost in this election campaign. No poll suggests that the party has a real shot of being anywhere near Government, Brexit has receded as an issue, and there are plenty of "small party fireworks" going on with Reform and the Greens. But they haven't been lost at all - and have actually gained some vote share. Here's how the strategy has worked. 🥉 Situational awareness. Lib Dem strategists know this is not an election like 2010 where they could decide the Government. They know that the media could easily squeeze them out of stories as a consequence. Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer will always get some airtime simply by being the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition - the leader of the fourth largest party simply doesn't have that same right to coverage. 🏄‍♂️ Be good TV. The best way to counter getting squeezed out is to create media moments so intrinsically visually interesting that any editor won't be able to resist including them in a story - whether as a photo or as a clip. See Ed Davey bungee jumping today, or kayaking, or doing an interview on a fairground ride. Most politics imagery is fairly boring - men in suits talking - so the media are always on the lookout for something fresh, and Davey has delivered it. 🧡 Don't lose your heart. There is a risk to overdoing step two - becoming a clown, someone who will nakedly do anything for attention. Some may argue Davey has crossed that line, but I think he's stayed just shy of it. Part of that has been integrating messaging within the stunts: Today he asked voters to 'try something they haven't tried before' and vote Lib Dem before bungee jumping. More important has been a less flashy video the party released of Davey caring for his disabled son and talking about how this drives him. The big stunts hook viewers in; the personal narrative gives them something real to connect with. It might not win you an election, but it will certainly keep you from irrelevance.

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Hands up... who owned a pocket diary from Letts or used a Letts Revision Guide to cram for their studies? John Letts invented the pocket calendar over 200 years ago using the most cutting-edge technology of the time - the Gutenburg Press. Even Queen Victoria used one. Today, I'm delighted to say that GingerPR Ltd is going to be leading communications for LettsGroup as the family dynasty continues to innovate using its unique incubator methodology to invest in slightly more modern tech businesses to solve society’s most pressing challenges. Intrigued? Talk to me to find out what the Letts Family did next.  #greentech #blockchain #artificialintelligence #ai

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A good read as always from Tom Harper, our head of media relations Europe at APCO, highlighting the challenges news orgs face at a time of limited resources and an era of misinformation and fake news...turbocharged by AI.

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There are few whose names are more synonymous with the UK #PR industry than Matthew Freud. He pretty much invented the concept of networking... Anyone in our industry - or with an interest in politics, the cult of celebrity or the power of the media - should listen to this podcast from When it Hits the Fan with David Yelland and Simon Lewis (you can find it on BBC Sounds). There's so much to unpick, but one fascinating claim Freud makes is that reputation - which the PR function is responsible for - can increase the value of a business by 50%. He argues that if you have two identical, publicly listed companies but one is more 'widely admired' than another, it would command a 100% premium. A powerful statistic. Why don’t PR or communications budgets reflect this? We’ve tended historically to be the poor relation to marketing in terms of spend. Reputation should be the biggest priority for the C-suite; whether that's ensuring the workforce (internal comms) is clear on the values and vision of the business; or sending out the right messages to the market. Also, a good reputation means current and prospective customers will respect, value and aspire to connect with the business. You don't have to be a celebrity or politician to care about reputation - every business should be ensuring that everything they do reflects the values they want to adhere by - whether that's through their #ESG reporting, their #socialmedia community or their #mediarelations. Does the PR industry have a reputation crisis of its own?

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It's been confirmed that three of Seven's top brass, Kurt Burnette, Melissa Hopkins and Lewis Martin are leaving the business amid a raft of redundancies. This is a seismic changing of the guard at Seven, especially with Kurt and Lewis who joined in the 90s and have both built outstanding teams and left incredible legacies. Kurt has been a widely-respected figurehead at Seven for as long as I've been covering this industry, and Lewis has led one of the most successful sports media operations in this country. Mel joined more recently and appeared to be doing a great job revitalising Seven's digital and brand marketing efforts. The reality is Seven – much like others – have struggled with a weak and volatile ad market for a while, and are under constant market pressure to find profits in conditions where they simply do not exist. Time will tell if sweeping out several of your top operators to improve the short-term P&L proves to be a wise medium-to-longer term strategy. I look forward to what's next for Kurt, Mel and Lewis.

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You never think you need a crisis plan until you need a crisis plan. Here's a little overview of how we helped Avid during a technical issue with their software. If you're now remembering that you don't have a crisis plan in place, drop me a note to see if we can help you out.

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With lots of news talk about change, corruption and concerning memory problems (plus, a certain football match up and coming) swamping the headlines, I’m steering away from politics (and sport) and this week I’m sharing a different kind of news looking at lavender fields… Yes, in The Times yesterday as one of their pictures of the week they shared a fabulous farm in Chichester, West Sussex, opening their doors for one week only every year to share the rows of glorious lavender lined fields of purple delight for visitors to walk, dance, tip toe and bask in the beautifully colourful and scent indulgent, insta worthy blooms… Lordington Lavender is open for 5 days from the 10th — 14th July for patrons to enjoy the fragrant flowers of the family run business with every lavender row weeded by hand… The owner diversified after herding dairy cows and in 2002 decided to change product altogether by using their 10 acres for the Provence-style Mailette lavender… It just goes to show knowing when to pivot and how to strategise in business is so important — in this case, diversification was the key to their growth…. 👉What position changes have you seen in a business or brand that you feel is worth a mention? 👇Share with me below in the comments… 👉PS. What a great business name ‘Lordington Lavender’ too don’t you think? #newstalk #businessdiversification #content #copy #businesscopy #growth

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❌Sorry we are CLOSED!❌ Have you ever tried to make a last-minute purchase to be met with these words ⬆️ and you end up walking away frustrated and annoyed? When a new client reached out late in the day yesterday needing a fast turnaround for a radio commercial, it would’ve been easy to say “sorry I’m closed”, but that wouldn’t have provided a very good service would it? I pride myself on being able to offer a quick response with a fast turnaround and provide a trustworthy and reliable service. This is why I don’t have set working hours. So I can help you turn those last-minute projects round quickly, without having to keep you waiting for my “opening hours to open!” Do you have set working hours? P.S. If you walked into a shop 10 minutes before they closed and tried to purchase something but the staff told you that they can’t process the sale as they’d already closed the tills,is that good service, bad service or staff just wanting to finish early?🫣 #workinghours #mondaytofriday #businesshours

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EXPERTSOURCES is ‘where journalists find people with expertise.’ Use www.expertsources.co.uk if you’re : Ø  A Journalist or Media Professional looking to increase your opportunities by quickly and easily finding real experts in real time; Ø  An Expert looking for the potential of gaining media exposure to further enhance your reputation, and revenue; www.expertsources.co.uk EXPERTSOURCES – ‘Where Journalists find People with Expertise.’ #Publicity #Media #MediaProfessionals #Journalist #Journalists #MediaExposure #Revenue #PR #PublicRelations #Expert #Experts #Charity #University #Business #Journalism #Editorial #Podcast #Vlog #Magazines #TV #Radio #SocialMedia #ROI #Business #StartUp #Entrepreneur #Success #BusinessSuccess #Revenue #YourDream #Reputation #Journalism Photo by Carlos Gil on Unsplash

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2024 - the year of elections everywhere…with impacts on broadcasting. The British Labour Party if it wins next week, plans to “work constructively with the BBC and our other public service broadcasters so they continue to inform, educate and entertain people, and support the creative economy by commissioning distinctively BRITISH content.” Sounds like a sensible policy for the UK. In ireland, political parties must ensure RTE also commissions distictively IRISH Content, especially in its entertainment and popular factual genres, not just news and current affairs. Ents. and popular factual/formats are the most exportable and valuable genres to build capacity for the indie sector. One way to ensure precious Irish tax payers monies are not needlessly exported and opportunities to leverage capacity & sustainability are missed; is to have a public register of shows/formats that are bought in/reversioned (irishified) with the cost of the foreign owned format Licence, its minimum Licence term (1,2,3 season orders) & commercial Holdbacks specified. RTE, in its new iteration, needs to stop short term shoring up of ratings at the expense of coming up with its own original shows in the relevant genre. Reporting this would be revealing as to where spend lies. It shouldn’t have to be, but incentives to innovate original winning IP need to be put in place. It should be core and part of RTE’s DNA and mandate. Otherwise what’s the point and long term future?

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Five writing tutorials coming this Friday: 1 Getting covered legally 2 Selling a book serialisation 3 Stuff People Say Part 2 4 Writing Dialogue 5 How important are correct dates? https://lnkd.in/e8FT323B

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Are you a media professional constantly in need of finding the right expert to corroborate your work? www.expertsources.co.uk EXPERTSOURCES is an online platform ‘WHERE JOURNALISTS FIND PEOPLE WITH EXPERTISE’. We have over 7,700 Media Members representing every branch of the media; from regional, national and international TV, radio, newspapers; trade & monthly magazines, conference organisers, blogs & podcasts. Join here in less than 20 seconds FREE OF CHARGE https://lnkd.in/gWTuBX5 and search with keywords related to your topic to find matching keywords from the expert profiles, and then contact those directly when there’s a match! If you’re an expert wanting to further enhance your reputation, and wanting to increase your revenue through potentially gaining valuable media publicity join here https://lnkd.in/dbnVv_m at a greatly reduced fee.  If you’d prefer to pay us via bank transfer, contact us on the Contact Us page https://lnkd.in/dNqkfNh3 USEFUL LINKS: 🌸 Watch Founder Bob Mills in an interview talking about ExpertSources https://lnkd.in/gBJZyHs 🌻 Testimonials by previous and existing Media & Expert members https://lnkd.in/gzxMcmN 🌼 Search Advice - https://lnkd.in/dzPiP74 🌷 Who’s Searching https://lnkd.in/dqWTe9k #Publicity #Media #MediaProfessionals #Journalist #Journalists #MediaExposure #Revenue #PR #PublicRelations #Expert #Experts #Charity #University #Business #Journalism #Editorial #Podcast #Vlog #Magazines #TV #Radio #SocialMedia #ROI #Business #StartUp #Entrepreneur #Success #BusinessSuccess #Revenue #YourDream #Reputation #Journalism Photo by Dan Dumitriu on Unsplash

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It’s almost Friday, and for those of us in the world of PR that means it’s almost time to prepare our weekly updates/reports for clients. There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of the week with not a lot of coverage (or none.. it happens to the best of us!) and panicking that the client might think we’ve done nothing this week. Quick question: are you doing a thorough enough search for coverage? There are so many different ways to search. Some platforms display articles that others don’t and vice versa and, hopefully, this will help you look like the PR superstars that we know you are when it comes to reporting! 💻 We start with Google. But get creative. Don’t just search for your client’s name, search for keywords from your article, your spokesperson’s name, and even product names. If you find an article, paste that headline into Google and see if it’s been syndicated. Google Images can also throw up syndicated articles. And don’t forget to click “repeat the search with the omitted results included” if it pops up at the bottom of the page. 💻 Use other search engines. Bing is my go-to, but you’ve got Yahoo!, DuckDuckGo and many others. I am forever finding new articles on Bing that Google hasn’t picked up. 💻 Pay for media monitoring. We use Meltwater for online, print and broadcast monitoring, but there are many others (we used to use Onclusive).   💻 Find freebie news trackers. I personally LOVE Talkwalker, I find it picks up far more than Google Alerts does. 💻 Pop your url into Ahrefs. At 10 Yetis Digital, we always put urls into content being outreached, whether it’s to the client’s homepage, a product/category page or even a dedicated blog or widget hosted on their site. Ahrefs will show you all the pages on the internet linking back to that particular url. 💻 Search social media like you would a search engine. Really. You’ll be surprised what it throws back. 💻 It also helps to know which sites syndicate so you can check them too. For example, when an article runs on The Sun Online, it’s quite often syndicated onto The Irish Sun, The Scottish Sun and The US Sun. For anyone interested in more tips, I’ve done a few of these type of posts lately… 🍻 Tips for product PR (with some of my fave publications that drive traffic & sales) https://lnkd.in/eizeuEsj 💭 Tips for ideation https://lnkd.in/egtEbJJe Andy Barr Shannon Peerless Sophie Isherwood Zac Reynolds Charlie Gray Hayley Beth Malsom Jacob Frain

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The odds are slim that you’ll be waiting with bated breath today for news from a Westminster Media Forum, but if you work with gambling brands, there’s a lot at stake. There are some phenomenal statistics related to the gambling industry, but the most telling one is that since the inception of the National Lottery, almost half of all adults now gamble once a month. And yet, the Lottery isn’t officially considered gambling, doesn’t come under the jurisdiction of the Gambling Commission, and will get little or no attention in today’s discussions. If they come into play, then last years’ proposals of a statutory levy and a gambling ombudsman may mean the sector has to adapt an awful lot, but it’s a safe bet to say it’ll all mean little to the Lotto. https://lnkd.in/gADP6rfs

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