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| Latest News: More predictions, quango PR outrage, media ownership news, more BK fun |
| Blog Review: The importance of stories in social media PR, how to pick a PR agency |
| Ask The Unicorn: Do you need a public relations degree to work in PR? |
| Well Quoted: Oliver Rawlins, Head Of Corporate And External Affairs for BBC Worldwide |
| Useful Distractions: Enjoy a bit of human Tetris |
London, £35k
Join this growing PR agency with an enviable list of big-brand clients. You will be responsible for providing an efficient and professional support service for the company, including assisting one of the Directors. In addition to this, there is a real opportunity to take ownership of building the agency's brand, and this job would therefore suit someone who has an eye for design and attention to detail, coupled with first rate organisational skills.
This is a young company, with aggressive growth plans, and the role has real scope to grow in line with the company's expansion. You will be the first point of contact for clients, set up and maintain filing systems, manage supplier accounts, oversee the company's book keeper, keep personnel records and manage the Director's diary. You will also take ownership of the website and manage marketing events.
Strong PA/Exec Assistance experience is required, preferably in a fast paced marketing communications agency environment. You must have advanced PowerPoint skills, a proactive approach and be able to work independently. This role will suit a self-starter with a creative approach to solving problems.
To apply for this role send your CV and covering letter to jobs@unicornjobs.com quoting reference SS54
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PR Manager,
Corporate Comms
Exeter, £35k - £55k
Leave London behind for the beautiful South West. This FTSE 250 company is looking for a PR Manager to develop a corporate and financial PR strategy. You will manage two external PR agencies, identify campaigns, organise media training for senior members of staff and manage a Communications Executive. You should have previous FTSE 250 or large corporate firm experience, be adept at crisis management and have a can-do attitude. Ideally you will have previous experience of managing a team and excellent project management skills.
To apply, send your CV and covering letter to jobs@unicornjobs.com quoting reference SS55.
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Director, Financial PR
London, £100k+++
This financial PR consultancy are looking for a Director to join them at their London HQ.
Managing a team of 15 people, you will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the agency and play a crucial role in the company's growth. You will need to have strong leadership skills and not be afraid to roll up your sleeves. Successful candidates will operate at a senior level and deliver counsel to a variety of clients. You should come from a consultancy financial PR background, preferably a well-known and successful agency.
This role is earmarked to progress into an MD position fairly swiftly so there is significant career progression on offer along with a generous salary and benefits, including options.
To apply, send your CV and covering letter to jobs@unicornjobs.com quoting reference SS51.
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Communications Officer, Public Sector - Environment
Hertford, £24k - £27k
Join the Environment Department at this county council and play an active role in the communications team.
You will work to deliver internal and external communications projects across all services in the department including highways, economic development, climate change, forward planning and waste management. Your responsibilities will include event management, providing relevant stories for the departmental newsletter and drafting copy for leaflets, posters, websites and exhibition panels. You will also work closely with the corporate press office to offer support to external media relations activity. You must have previous experience working on public sector campaigns, ideally in environment, and of taking a lead role in communications projects. Strong writing skills and an eye for a story are essential.
To apply, send your CV and covering letter to jobs@unicornjobs.com quoting reference SS50.
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Senior Communications Officer, Public Sector - Environment
Hertford, £30k - £34k (two-year fixed contract)
This county council is on the hunt for a Senior Communications Officer to provide direction to external PR agencies, including developing briefs and managing budgets.
You will provide internal and external communications support and advice to the environment department, with a particular emphasis on waste management. You will implement stakeholder engagement activities, provide relevant stories to the departmental newsletter, represent the council on external committees and manage other members of the team on specific projects. This is a varied role and you will be expected to provide briefings at all levels including senior management on often sensitive and contentious issues.
You should have previous public sector experience managing complex campaigns with varied stakeholder engagement. Ideally you will also have experience of environmental work. You must be able to manage a variety of projects through to completion on time and within budget.
This role is a two year fixed term contract. To apply, send your CV and covering letter to jobs@unicornjobs.com quoting reference SS49.
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Communications Editor, Health/Beauty/Pharmaceuticals
Weybridge, up to £50k
Join this high street name and help to shape their key messages. You will be responsible for drafting internal and external publications, preparing press releases, drafting speeches and interviews, managing a regular flow of articles for business publications and updating intranets and websites. The successful candidate must have a keen interest in current affairs, strong previous experience as a copywriter and excellent writing skills. Attention to detail is key. Knowledge of French or Italian will be an advantage.
To apply, send your CV and covering letter to jobs@unicornjobs.com quoting reference SS52.
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PR Manager, Health/Beauty/Pharmaceuticals
Weybridge, up to £45k-50k
This giant in health, beauty and pharmaceuticals is looking to strengthen their external communications team in the UK by hiring a PR Manager to develop their press relations.
This is a key role in the group communications team, you will be responsible for responding to press enquiries, preparing feature articles, co-ordinating press relations activities, managing external PR agencies, monitoring competitor activity in the press and drafting articles and interviews for business publications. You should be educated to degree level with an interest in current affairs. Previous media relations experience, attention to detail and strong writing skills are essential for this position. Knowledge of French or Italian will be an advantage.
To apply, send your CV and covering letter to jobs@unicornjobs.com quoting reference SS53.
So, how about a little more speculation about what 2009 - recession and all - holds for the world of public relations? Well, despite reports of recruitment freezes and possible job cuts at marketing and comms agencies around the world, the Public Relations Consultants' Association, who have questioned their PR Leaders Panel on this topic, is generally upbeat about the year to come.
They report that over 60% of the PR consultancy chiefs they spoke to reckon their turnover will grow or remain the same in the next year, while 50% are confident their profit margins will be unaffected or improve because of the recession.
Commenting on the results, published last week, PRCA director Francis Ingham told reporters: "Many clients have become more cautious about committing budget in the current climate. We are seeing the lag from pitch to conversion to commencement increasing and a shift from retainers to project work. However all of this should be put in context and the PR industry has performed fantastically over the last five years in spite of inconveniences such as [new employment legislation like] TUPE".
Obviously keen to encourage those contolling budgets in-house to continue to invest in PR, the PRCA's press release also quoted Nexus PR's Jonathan Choat who warned clients at large that: "Excessive caution is the death of spontaneity and robust marketing, both of which are as important now as when the economy was growing. Companies who invest in their reputation and profile will see it pay dividends".
Ingham, meanwhile, warned clients against using the recession to try and negotiate cheaper fees out of the consultants and agencies they employ. He said: "Clients who find agencies are willing to drop their rates should question why the agency is willing to do so and whether the quality of work will be affected. Before taking on a consultancy you should request confirmation that it is a well run and viable business. PRCA members have to go through the Consultancy Management Standard, for example, ensuring that their business models are sustainable".
More Mystic Meg style predictions, and PR Week has also been busy asking various agency chiefs for their views on the year ahead.
First up, agency types from the financial PR sector who, echoing views expressed by PR Week's own editor in his previously reported opinion piece for the Guardian, admit the first half of 2009 is going to be difficult, but predict that later in the year things should improve as the City starts to recover from the collapse that preceded and caused the wider recession.
They quote Alex Sandberg of business communications agency College Hill, who reckons difficult trading conditions, especially in the retail and financial services sectors, will impact on clients and their PR agencies alike, creating a climate that will "sort out the men from the boys". However, more optimistically, he adds: "The markets will get stronger at some point during the year. The FTSE looks to have bottomed out and some UK funds are starting to buy again now. Once the equity market starts moving, it will allow good companies a little more flexibility to start using the markets again".
That, of course, should lead to new corporate transactions, and probably a flurry of mergers and acquisitions, all of which are good news for the financial PR sector.
Next, public sector PR, an area of the industry some reckon will be safest given the government's seeming intent to spend its way out of recession.
That said, there is a consensus that while government agencies and their like may continue to spend as much on communication campaigns as before the credit crunch, the need to demonstrate success will be greater as taxpayers - and opposition politicians - more closely scrutinise expenditure. This, the experts say, means agencies must get better at building measurement methods into their original pitches, and at following up campaigns with some serious evaluation.
PR Week quotes the boss of Geronimo Communications, Laura Oliphant, who agrees with this viewpoint, saying: "The pressure will be on agencies to be accountable, demonstrate the impact of their campaigns and to ensure best value for money". Amanda Duncan of the Red Consultancy agrees, but doesn't see the increasing importance of evaluation as either a bad or tricky thing, saying: "There is real scrutiny with regard to how public money is spent on communications, but this simply means targets, measures and evaluation must be built into a campaign from the outset to demonstrate return on investment".
As if to prove that point regarding the greater need for evaluation in public sector PR, the Taxpayers' Alliance has criticised the amount of money being spent on communication activity by government funded bodies like the Office Of Fair Trading, English Heritage, The Passport Service and The National Institute For Health And Clinical Excellence.
The have just published a report on PR expenditure at 32 public bodies in the financial year 2007/2008, ie before the recession really began to take hold. They report that the collective comms spend at those bodies was up by £10 million to £52.7 million. Contributing more than most to the rise was the Passport Service, who expanded their in-house PR team from 17 to 56 in that financial year, and the National Institute For Health, who added 40 new comms staff and increased its PR budgets by 14% to £4.4 million.
The Tax Payers Alliance reckon that if you take the PR spend trends of the 32 organisations they managed to get figures for and apply them to all 1,162 public bodies currently operating in the UK, that the combined PR spend of the quango sector could top £1 billion.
Needless to say, the Alliance is not impressed. Their Policy Analyst Ben Farrugia told reporters: "Quangos should spend less time talking about what they are doing and more time doing the job that they are paid to do. Some quangos have legitimate reasons to spend on communication, but far too much goes on expensive public relations and spin. Given the size of the quango state, the UK taxpayer is footing an enormous and unnecessary bill for PR".
While it's not clear whether PR budgets have grown, shrunk or stayed the same at government-funded bodies in the current financial year, ie since the impact of the credit crunch on the wider economy has become more apparent, it seems certain organisations like the Taxpayer's Alliance are going to be scrutinising such bodies' communication spend more closely as the recession progresses. Agencies working for those bodies may need to justify their fees not only to their clients, but to the world at large as well.
There's been a lot more chatter in media circles over the future of public service broadcasters like ITV, Channel 4 and Five.
As previously reported, the UK media regulator OfCom is currently reconsidering the 'public service obligations' of the terrestrial commercial broadcasters because said broadcasters claim it is increasingly difficult to fund public service programming through advertising and sponsorship. ITV simply want to reduce their public service obligations, while Channel 4 want help with finding new sources of income, to supplement revenue from advertising and sponsorship.
One proposal that has been suggested by some for making Channel 4 more commercially sound is for it to merge with rival Channel Five. It wouldn't be the easiest merger in the world, because Channel 4 is state-owned while Five is in private ownership (it's owned by Bertelsmann's RTL Group). But those that advocate the merger do so on the basis that if C4 shunted its mainstream shows onto Five it would create a hugely profitable commercial channel that could subsidise C4's public service programming. There would also be economies of scale on overheads.
One supporter of the proposal is BBC chief Mark Thompson, which isn't too surprising given he seems to be supporting all proposals other than the one preferred by Channel 4 bosses - giving C4 a cut of the licence fee. Writing in the FT, Thompson said: "Consolidation [of Channel 4 and Five] could offer the prospect of both short and long-term benefits: immediate cost savings and an increase in scale in key markets from advertising sales to programme acquisition, but also the chance for a smaller number of larger players to focus on credible and affordable digital plans. If the goal is sustainable PSB [public service broadcasting] beyond the BBC in the long term, consolidation may be part of the solution".
But Channel 4 boss Andy Duncan is opposed to the proposal, possibly even more so now Thompson has given it his support. Speaking at an event organised by the National Endowment for Science, Technology And The Arts, Duncan said such a proposal was "trying to fix the problems of the future with the solutions of the past", adding, "It makes no sense whatsoever to imagine that merging a not-for-profit publicly owned broadcast business with a for-profit, privately owned broadcaster is going to solve the fundamental structural problems we are all facing. Mixing oil and water doesn't work. It just makes a mess".
OfCom is expected to give its initial thoughts on the various proposals put forward by interested parties regarding the future of public service broadcasting this week.
The same OfCom report is expected to suggest giving ITV plc complete ownership of the breakfast TV franchise on the terrestrial channel otherwise occupied by the broadcaster's flagship station ITV1.
Breakfast television on the third terrestrial TV channel has always been operated by a separate company to the rest of its ouput - since 1993 that's been GMTV. As one of the channel's most lucrative time slots in terms of advertising revenue, and with ITV boss Michael Grade demanding OfCom act to help his company better compete in the increasingly competitive TV advertising market, it's thought OfCom will propose that the breakfast slot franchise be merged with the franchise for the rest of the channel's air-time and then be awarded to ITV.
ITV plc already owns 75% of GMTV, with Disney owning the other 25%. But the merged franchise arrangement would allow ITV to not only take complete ownership of the lucrative breakfast time advertising revenues, but also to reduce operating costs because the breakfast programme producer (and its sales house) would no longer have to be run as a separate company.
It's not clear how the proposals would work, whether Disney would have to be compensated, nor what would happen in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where GMTV currently broadcasts, but ITV do not own the main third channel licence (they are owned by STV and UTV respectively). It's also not clear what the arrangement would mean for the programmes currently broadcast in the GMTV slot, though the current female-orientated programming is popular with both audience and advertisers so is unlikely to change, and its thought ITV would have to continue GMTV's commitments to news programming in the week and children's programming at the weekend.
A former KGB agent who became a billionaire after the collapse of communism in Russia is set to buy a controlling stake in the London Evening Standard. After intitial reports in the Media Guardian, it's now been widely reported that Alexander Lebedev will buy 76% of the paper, with current owners Associated Newspapers retaining the other 24%.
It is not clear what affect the acquisition would have on the capital's only news-stand evening title. Lebedev has said he has no interest in controlling the editorial position of the paper - and even if he did it is unlikely that would mean any bias towards the increasingly controversial Russian government, as Lebedev is widely regarded as a "semi-opposition" figure in his home country. He also has a stake in Novaya Gazeta, one of the few Russian newspapers that is critical of the country's political leaders. However, it is thought the new ownership could see the Standard move away from the political influence of sister title the Daily Mail, and become less right wing. Though it is likely to continue to be supportive of Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Commercially speaking, the deal could give the Standard just the boost it needs in an increasingly competitive market. The Standard has been hurt by the growth of the internet - which gives office workers an alternative source of daytime news - and the free newspapers available to evening commuters. Associated, of course, have their own free evening title in the capital, London Lite, launched in response to rivals News International entering the freesheet market with The London Paper in 2006. The relationship between sister titles London Lite and The Standard has always been interesting because it means Associated is competing with itself in what is already a difficult market in terms of ad revenues.
Assuming Lebedev is sitting on as much cash as is thought, and he is willing to throw a bucket of it at the Standard (and it looks like he is, he's quoted as saying "as far as I'm concerned this has nothing to do with making money, there are lots of other ways... this is a good way to waste money"), the new owners could try and drive the London Paper out of business. It's not clear if Lebedev gets London Lite as part of his Standard deal - though an obvious tactic to take on the London Paper is to merger Lite and Standard and make the more weighty evening paper a freesheet.
Whatever, if this deal goes ahead there's some interesting times ahead in the London newspaper market.
Burger King's US marketing department have been doing a good job of grabbing newspaper headlines of late.
As previously reported, late last year there was global media coverage of the fast food chain's decision to launch a fragrance for men that smelled like meat, and subsequently more reports after animal rights group PETA launched a rival spray that smelled of rotting carcases (reports which, while in theory promoting the vegetarianism cause, won BK some column inches too).
The latest BK publicity campaign centered on dumping rather than winning new friends (not that I'm convinced the 'Flame by BK' meat perfume would win you many new friends). Burger King encouraged customers to drop friends from their Facebook profiles in return for free Whopper burgers. Whereas the dropping of friends on Facebook doesn't usually get publically announced via either the dropper or droppee's Facebook profiles, when people were 'defriended' via this promotion those people being dumped were alerted on their Facebook pages that they had been "sacrificed for a free Whopper".
While Facebook encourages developers and even brands to add new functionality to their social network, this one wasn't welcomed by the social media firm, who said it breached users' privacy expectations. A spokesman for the company said: "We encourage creativity from developers and brands using Facebook Platform, but we also must ensure that applications follow users' expectations of privacy. This application facilitated activity that ran counter to user privacy by notifying people when a user removes a friend. We have reached out to the developer with suggested solutions".
Despite Facebook coming forward with solutions, and presumably having scored the media coverage the whole campaign was aiming for, Burger King decided to close down rather than adapt the promotion. Having posted the message "Whopper Sacrifice has been sacrificed" on the promotion's website, a spokesman for the fast food chain told reporters: "While Facebook was a great sport, they did ask for changes that would have resulted in a different approach to our application, counter to what we developed. Ultimately, based on philosophical differences, we decided to conclude the campaign and chose to 'sacrifice' the application".
"I had a reasonably heated, but friendly, debate with a friend of mine in PR, who comes from more of a journalist background than me [mine is chemistry], about how social media means that PR types now have less in common with journalists.
In simple terms [cos that's all I can do], my argument went:
- The future of PR is about taking the lead in social media.
- Social media is creating conversations and engaging with people, not writing releases and doing sell-ins.
- Ergo, to be good at PR you need to be good at engaging with people and having authentic conversations, which isn't typically journalism skills.
His argument went:
- Stop being such a geek and go the damn bar.
- Brands still need to tell their stories in interesting and informative ways, even with Facebook and all that malarky.
- Journalism is still the best profession for telling stories that inform, entertain and educate.
- Ergo, PR needs similar skills to journalists.
We agreed to disagree. I went to the bar and then showed him my iPhone light saber application".
All this said, The Opposite Direction's Robin Wilson subsequently changed his position slightly, recognising the importance of 'story ideas' in social media PR - ie social media PRs still need to think like journalists to a certain extent. Click here to find out how and why in the full blog.
"It is a New Year and marketing budgets are obviously going to be a little tighter this year than previous. You have looked at your current PR agency and are beginning to wonder whether you could make a saving there by getting rid of that expense and just advertising. A bold move which on paper may save you tens/hundreds of thousands a year but before you do please read my blog on why PR should be the last thing you should cut.
Instead of jumping straight in maybe you just need to look at the agency you are currently working with and ask yourself if they are the right partner for you at this moment in time. Selecting a PR agency is a process which if done well can reward your company in many ways but also requires thorough preparation from your side. By investing a little time into your preparation you could save yourself a lot of headaches at a later stage if things don't go well.
Here are ten points I feel you should ask both yourself and your potential partner when looking for a new or evaluating your current PR agency".
You can read Paul's first five tips here, and the next five here.
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I'm about to graduate and want to work in PR. My degree is in history - do I need to go and do a PR-based masters course before looking for work? |
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There are quite a few degrees and post-grad qualifications in Public Relations, and whilst they are a good introduction to the industry they are not essential for a career in PR. What they can offer you though is your first taste of PR work experience. Many of these courses require a work placement element and this will always look good on your CV. But remember, most PR recruiters do not specifically look for a PR qualification. More important are a good class of degree (subject is really not that important), strong writing skills and an interest in the industry. Some degrees do naturally lend themselves to certain areas of PR. If you have a degree in sciences for example, you may find you are more naturally drawn to healthcare PR where an understanding of scientific information is important. But what ever your academic background, our advice for budding PR professionals is the same: get some work experience under your belt, brush up on your writing skills and get your CV into tip-top condition. Enthusiastic candidates with a passion for communications and the media will go far – PR degree or no PR degree. |
If you have a work-related question, Ask The Unicorn at info@unicornjobs.com
What was your first PR role?
I joined the drama press office [at the BBC] for three months which turned into six and that became a year. Each division in the BBC has its own press office and I eventually moved across to entertainment.
But then you left the BBC?
Yes. After a year, I joined Weber Shandwick where I worked in corporate communications for two years. I dealt with clients like Nestle, Coca-Cola and Walmart/Asda. Then in the winter of 2005 I came back to the BBC to be the manager of corporate and external affairs for BBC Worldwide.
How did an agency compare to in-house?
I could not go back to agency. The big problem with working in an agency is that you are removed from the action. You can only give advice to a client based on what they tell you, which is often not much. If you want to influence X you need to work for X directly. Great people work in agencies, but it's not for me.
Would you advise a graduate to start in an agency or in-house?
My advice would be work for a good company whether in-house or agency. There is little worse in the world than working for a bum PR company. If you don't believe their story you are in a bad place to communicate their message.
Find out more about Oliver's career and get some tips about how to find work at the BBC by reading the full interview here.
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This interview was done by Avani Patel and Elaina Ifill as part of the Brunswick Internship Programme, run by Unicorn Jobs. Find out more about our interns and student contributors here. |
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Quite how long it took them to film this I don't know - a lot longer than the two and a half minutes it will take you to watch it. Still, it will be a fun two and a half minutes, and your enjoyment might just justify the time the Game Over Project invested in making this in the first place. Well, it might. Anyway, go enjoy a bit of human Tetris! You can see it here.
Once you've watched it, do check out the other 'Original Human' arcade game videos in the Related Videos box.
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