Why you should consider indirect competitors

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When building out your PR strategy, a seemingly obvious tactic is to monitor rivals in your industry. The mistake here is thinking that your only competitors are those creating the same products or service as you, when in reality it goes far beyond that. 

Indirect competitors, often operating in different sectors or catering to different customer needs, offer unique insights and opportunities that can fuel innovation, growth, and long-term success in your PR. 

So what kind of indirect competitors are there? When should you be watching them? 

Same strategy, different products 

Particularly in PR, it’s important to look at competitors beyond your products and services. What are some of your core values or engagement tactics? Who are you competing with in this arena? 

For example, outdoor clothing brand Patagonia and automotive clean energy company Tesla function in totally different industries — but both of their customer consumer strategies revolve around environmental sustainability. 

Therefore, they would be considered aspirational competitors because they share this same value. Let’s say they are both aiming to enhance sustainability messaging in their media coverage. By monitoring each other (and other brands with similar values), they are able to see how the conversation is evolving, what the benchmark is and build out a target media list based on publications their competitors have been featured in for sustainability reasons. 

Same needs, different brands 

Have you considered how your customer needs may align with totally different brands? This is also an opportunity to branch out your competitor analysis.

For example, both Apple and Peloton provide leisure and entertainment to customers — while otherwise being totally different services. Hypothetically, say both brands released products around the holiday period. Given that entertainment is a hot topic during the season, this would be an ideal opportunity to get a holistic view of who and how brands are mentioned in the wider media discussion.

Expanding partnerships 

Competitor analysis doesn’t always have to be – well – competitive. Indirect competitors can make valuable partnerships. Building strategic alliances with brands that somewhat align to yours can open doors to complementary resources, technologies and established media awareness that would otherwise be out of reach.

Alternatively, you could also monitor who your competitors are already partnering with and how this has landed in the media. Are there any brands or industries you hadn’t thought of before that are proving to be successful?

Situational competitors 

Sometimes your competitors change because of an external factor, such as a crisis. 

Over the past month, Canadian grocery store Loblaws and Dollarama, the country’s most-established dollar store, went viral following a Reddit post about the significant cost difference for the same items at both stores. The story made national headlines, with comments from CTV news on how they’re ‘not direct competitors’ historically but drastic inflation has put them in a competitive position.

If, for example, Loblaws are trying to promote value-for-money messaging in response to the Canadian cost of living crisis – this would now make Dollarama one of their biggest competitors in this area.

Brand personalities 

If you’re trying to promote the media presence of a key figure or spokesperson in your company, how would you like them to be portrayed? How do these aspirations line up with other prominent figures in the media that aren’t in your industry? 

For example, a charity that teaches children how to read aims for their founder to be seen as the go-to speaker on the future of education. There could easily be competitive voices from universities, local governments, etc. – making them indirect competitors. 

Consider your goals 

Gauging your indirect competitors is easy when you know what your media awareness goals are. Consider what aspect of the brand, product, service or spokesperson you would like to promote and how this is being successfully executed by other industries. 

If you’re unsure what to promote, conduct a media analysis to see how you’ve performed so far and identify areas of improvement. If you’re lacking in awareness around one of your core values, turning to indirect competitors you to get a bigger picture of where you line up and generate  ideas for your next possible move.

If you haven’t secured much earned media yet, write a set of key messages – a short list of positions you want your brand to be perceived by target audiences. Once you identify core aspects of these messages, such as values or personality traits, monitor how indirect competitors are being discussed in relation to these areas.

Short on time and need answers fast? Let our team of insights experts do the work for you. Vuelio’s Insights team provides media strategy planning reports that help you identify competitors and learn from their media coverage. Get in touch to find out more. 

Will AI replace PR pros?

Can AI Replace PR Pros? The Writing Prowess of Artificial Intelligence versus Human Creativity

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This is a guest post from Mary Poliakova, PR consultant and co-founder of Drofa Comms.

Mary-Poliakova

Although I’m a professional with more than 15 years in journalism and PR with a corresponding university degree, I never cease to educate myself and improve my professional skills. There is nothing more disheartening than a C-level executive stuck in the past. Thus, I’m currently enrolled in yet another higher education program for business owners. And one of the first lectures I attended as part of this initiative was dedicated to – you guessed it – AI.

Although the concept is as old as advanced tech can go (the 1950s, to be precise), 2023 gave it a new wave of hype. The PR industry is no exception to the trend – professionals ask themselves whether PR professionals should be concerned about recent developments and how creative industries respond to the challenges and moral aspects of generative AI applications. Not to be unfounded, I’d like to add some tangible data to the conversation around AI.

Presenting the Results of the AI Experiment

Recently, the PR and Content teams of my agency conducted an experiment where colleagues from different departments analysed three incognito texts of up to 150 words on the same topic: the role of AI in PR. One commentary was written by a human, a mid-level PR professional, and two were generated by AI. You can read the three texts, the criteria, and the detailed results of the experiment in our blog. But here are the main takes from it.

First, the text written by a human received the highest score. We calculated each short text on a 100-point scale, and the text created by a PR professional got 80 out of 100 points. Two other texts generated by ChatGPT and Notion AI received 76 and 62.4 points, respectively.

Overall, experiment participants noted that AI-generated texts have word-for-word repetitions from a given assignment and wordy sentences. On the other hand, machine-generated texts had a clear structure but lacked smooth, logical transitions from paragraph to paragraph.

As 40% of the correspondents were content writers and editors, all of them agreed that the text written by a human had the highest originality score. They likewise stated that AI-generated texts provided a purely theoretical stand, looking like an explanation to a required task rather than expressing a genuine opinion. However, several participants noted that a text created by a PR professional may have lacked factual argumentation compared to its AI counterparts. So what conclusions can we draw from this experiment?

The Future of AI in PR

The small experiment we’ve conducted leads us to believe that even the most advanced technology cannot exist without a ‘human touch’ to it (at least for now). AI can be of great assistance to the creative industry and PR pos when used cautiously and responsibly. And decent results can only be observed when a human professional knows how to correctly assign tasks to generative AIs. Even then, any written content generated by artificial intelligence must be fact-checked and edited to meet the criteria. After all, AI-generated content is based on the existing one on the Internet. And the risk of plagiarism varies depending on the AI model you use.

Overall, PR professionals should stay tuned for tech developments to test and incorporate effective tools while being cautious about potential changes to regulatory frameworks around artificial intelligence solutions. And executive PR teams must conduct training for managers on how to work with AI tools ethically. I would likewise recommend developing thorough instructions with clearly defined guidelines for using diverse types of advanced solutions in everyday work. The labelling of corporate materials, generated entirely or partially with the help of AI, is also an essential aspect of the ethical utilisation of advanced tools.

After all, I believe AI cannot replace the PR profession, but as it evolves constantly, experienced professionals with the ability to incorporate technologies into everyday work will be in great demand.

For more on how AI could impact public relations, for good or bad, download our white paper with Danebury Research ‘Reputation management: How PR & comms can maintain trust in an AI-assisted future‘ and watch the accompanying webinar ‘The AI Conundrum: Paving the way for the future of comms‘. 

Lessons from the rights and wrongs of health and pharmaceutical communications

Lessons from the rights and wrongs of health and pharmaceutical communications

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There have been plenty of challenges in health and pharmaceutical reporting and communications over the last 30 years, with the last three being particularly tumultuous for those tasked with communicating both complex and constantly evolving news to the public.

At a Vuelio lunch held at the Gherkin last month, Channel 4’s health and social care editor Victoria Macdonald shared the lessons to be learned from the good and bad of her 30-year career covering health and pharma.

Read on for her thoughts on high-profile political flubs you won’t want to replicate, the importance of ensuring any promises made can be met, and just how unhealthy misinformation can be to your audience.

PR teams: prime your spokesperson properly

‘Looking back over the various points in my career and the exciting breakthroughs – the scandals, the pandemics – I would say that Covid was an interesting roller coaster.

‘I was the journalist who asked Boris Johnson if he was still shaking hands. I wasn’t actually trying to catch him out; I was genuinely interested. His reply was so astonishing – “Yes,” he said.

“I am shaking hands,” Johnson added. “Only last night I was in a hospital shaking hands with coronavirus patients.”

‘The chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser went pale as they stood beside him. An hour or so later the Downing Street press office rang to say that of course he hadn’t shaken hands with coronavirus patients.’

Promises must be met

‘My first interaction with the pharmaceutical industry, and whether it was making excessive profits at the sake of people’s lives, was around reputation.

‘I am thinking about a court case in 2001 in which the South African Government won against 39 pharmaceutical companies that had sued because of a provision that would have allowed the production and importation of generic drugs for HIV/Aids. That case was dropped in the end because of national and international pressure.

‘I was there reporting it and it was a momentous day – undermined by the Government actually failing to distribute drugs until they, too, were taken to court.’

Balance celebration with caution

‘There’s news of another Alzheimer drug that can slow cognitive decline by 35%. And the quote was that this could be the beginning of the end of Alzheimer’s disease. The thought is so thrilling and anyone in this room who has seen or is living with family members who have Alzheimer’s knows what it’s like to watch it happening in front of your eyes.

‘This may be too late for our mothers or fathers or grandparents – but maybe it will be ok for us – I hope so.

‘Yet this is another one of those announcements where you have to be so utterly cautious when reporting and communicating it. You want it to be a celebration, you absolutely want it to be the beginning of the end of Alzheimer’s, but you have to tell your audience that there are many caveats.

‘The last thing you want to do is rain on someone’s parade, but neither do you want a relative ringing up and saying where is this drug, why can’t my Mum have it now?’

Inoculate your audience against misinformation

‘That most wonderful moment nine months into the pandemic when the announcement of the first vaccines was made – we had had so many briefings early on in 2020 that no vaccine was in sight and then suddenly there really was.

‘Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the Astra Zeneca vaccine’s reputation had been battered by a toxic mix of misinformation, miscommunication, and mishaps.

‘Yet there were trial problems – and reporting on these was very difficult because you didn’t want to lose the excitement of such an important development, but had to give as much information as possible.

‘There was a real change in communications during the pandemic. At first, Government press offices were slow to get up and going. But it got better very quickly.’

‘Looking back on Covid – so much changed and yet also so little’.

For more about maintaining trust and communicating complex campaigns clearly in health and pharmaceutical sectors, download the Vuelio white paper ‘Medical misinformation: How PR can stop the spread’.

8 things you need to know about the use of AI in PR and the media

8 things you need to know about the use of AI in PR and the media

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Will AI ultimately be a help to us in our jobs, or lead to a Skynet-level humans versus artificial intelligence showdown years in the future? We can’t answer that, but we can tell you how technologies like ChatGPT are already impacting public relations, the media, and politics – both for good and, when applied incorrectly, the not-so-good.

Here is what you need to know about the use of AI in PR and journalism now, taken from our latest white paper ‘Reputation management: How PR and comms can maintain trust in an AI-assisted future’ – download it here.

Want more on this topic? Sign up to our webinar with Danebury Research’s Paul Stallard ‘The AI conundrum – paving the way for the future of comms’ to join us on Wednesday 7 June, 11-11.30 BST.

1) A pro: AI is supporting the work of journalists (and helping the bottom line)

‘Over the last few years, we have seen the use of AI increasing because it’s valuable to support the journalists in different areas; in news gathering, in news production, but of course most importantly with the audience and the way in which you can enhance that and raise revenue.’
Charlie Becket, founding director of Polis and leader of the LSE Journalism and AI project

2) A con: AI could hinder the work of journalists to inform when applied incorrectly

‘We have to think about where we can use those tools, and when we shouldn’t. One of the things I want us to do is to demonstrate where our articles are coming from. People are using AI and putting together information without that source to show where that information came from.’
Jo Adetunji, editor at The Conversation

3) PRs need to be ready to fight AI-assisted PR disasters

‘We cannot escape conversations around ChatGPT at the moment – any activist or online troll could use that technology to spread all sorts of content on social media to trash the reputation of a corporation. If you are a bit more sophisticated, you could use deep fakes to impersonate senior figures in business to create a PR disaster. For a listed company, bad actors could move their share price.

‘And I am not making this up. The Eurasia Group has forecast this as a possibility in 2023. PRs must be aware of the reputational challenges posed by actors harnessing tech for malicious ends.’
Thomas Barton, founder and CEO of Polis

4) AI may not revolutionise comms, but it could streamline the way we work

‘Although ChatGPT is expected to continue to revolutionise the way we do PR and marketing, I still believe it won’t lead to smaller teams and massive layoffs.

‘Instead, the tool will further streamline PR processes to help PR professionals become more productive. So, the tool will only get better at proofreading your press release, refining your PR pitch, and helping you come up with ideas for a PR brainstorming session or social media posts. The tool will also get better at ensuring consistency across your PR (and marketing) material.’
Chris Norton, founder of B2B PR agency Prohibition

5) Entry-level jobs in the creative industries could disappear

‘Probably in lots of different sectors it is the ‘bottom rung’ that will be impacted — people who have just started their job.

‘I’m sure it’s the same in PR as in journalism — when you start out, you’re doing the unglamorous jobs. That work could be done better by AI, potentially. The bottom rung could be in a difficult position.’
William Turvill, associate editor for Press Gazette and media correspondent for the New Statesman

6) An increase in AI assistance means a need for more personalisation and authenticity (AKA humans)

‘With the rise of AI-generated content, storytelling will become even more relevant. Increased AI-powered content production will create more content, which will be more general as AI is not incentivised to be bold. This means personalised, unique voices will become more powerful, as it will help companies stand out from the crowd.’
Jan Bohnerth, CEO of Life Size

7) In the absence of regulation, PRs must hold themselves to account

‘Everything’s happening so fast — there needs to be big thoughts about regulation. At a firm level, there’s a lot you can do with making sure you don’t rip people off.’
Helena Pozniak, independent journalist writing for the Telegraph, The Guardian, the Institution of Engineering and Technology as well as various universities and specialist sites

8) Don’t be alarmed, but be realistic about the impact AI will have on you and your work going forward

‘I saw someone tweet that AI is going to kill us all in five years. I’d be so wary of any bold claims like that, because there is so much money behind this stuff, in doom-mongering or overexaggerating.
‘Future prediction is always a murky area — that’s something I would be hugely vary of.’
Amelia Tait, freelance features writer for outlets including The Guardian, New York Times, Wired, the New Statesman, and VICE.

Download the full Vuelio and Danebury Research white paper here.

Check out what you also need to know about the impacts of fake news, shared in our previous webinar with Polis’ Thomas Barton ‘Why we need to take online misinformation and disinformation seriously’.

Vuelio webinar on misinformation

The fight against fake news is not lost: How PRs can combat misinformation and disinformation

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‘I don’t think we’re in a post-truth world yet, but we need to act now to avoid that worst-case scenario,’ believes Polis Analysis CEO and Founder Thomas Barton.

In our webinar ‘Why we need to take online misinformation and disinformation seriously’, Thomas shared the problems we face as a society with fake news, predictions for how it could impact politics, business and health, and the vital role of PR practitioners in the fight for truth.

Watch the full webinar here.

What can PRs do to fight misinformation, disinformation and fake news?

1) Report misinformation whenever you see it

This isn’t about surveillance mindset – this is simply about protecting the health of our public debate and discussion. Just as you would point out incorrect information around the table at the pub, you should feel a responsibility to call out something that could undermine trust online.

This is about proactively taking action to have content taken down when you come across information that’s untrue.

It’s important to remember this isn’t about undermining free speech – it’s about preserving the quality of our free speech. That means any discussion we’re having should be rooted in the facts.

2) If a client mistakenly shares misinformation, speak up quickly

As we know, content spreads fast. False information being shared on social media for a couple of hours is all it takes to have a pernicious effect on misinforming individuals. The best thing a PR professional can do in this situation is to flag that false information has been published, take it down, and then ensure the company or client understands to be more rigorous with its fact-checking before publishing anything.

We all have a responsibility to ensure that we fully understand what we’re publishing and that it’s based on facts when we put content online.

For more on how to handle a PR problem spreading across social media and in the press, check out advice from our previous webinar ‘Should you speak up or shut down in a PR crisis?’.

3) Challenge trusted institutions and authorities when necessary

We all have a responsibility to raise concerns even about a trusted organisation.

This is where legislative solutions are useful. If you’ve got an institution of a certain size, with a certain platform, something like the Online Safety Bill could provide an opportunity to ensure they abide by the same duty of balance as traditional broadcasters.

That combination of a top-down legislative and bottom-up educational approach in media literacy is crucial.

4) Recognise the risks emerging technologies bring

Technology, by definition, is disruptive; it’s always going to be a double-edged sword. Advances in AI are welcome and can bring all sorts of efficiencies to various industries, including PR and journalism. But there are risks involved.

Malicious actors could run misinformation campaigns by using software like ChatGPT to pump out deliberately false information across social channels. Spreading misinformation was an issuebefore AI, but the problem we face now is the increase in proliferation across the online space.

5) Back calls for extra accountability from social media giants

There has been a shift in accountability from social media companies recently, and that’s because they have done little-to-nothing for a long time in this space. Pushes from regulators and political institutions mean these social giants are now taking more ‘voluntary’ action.

The European Union passed the Digital Services Act (DSA), which compels social media companies to provide more transparency on how their algorithms work – the EU has shown that it’s willing to take steps. But despite this, the big social media companies aren’t taking it seriously enough.

This Wild West approach where we have no regulation and anything goes is simply not sustainable – legislation is necessary for these companies to take their responsibilities seriously.

6) Train new PR recruits to question content

There are workshops out there – from The Guardian and The Times, for example – on how to identify content that’s false and misleading, instilling more general critical thinking skills. Other resources can show you the difference between a headline that’s fake or true; how you can look at the originality of sources; how to do a reverse image search if you’ve got a doctored image; and determining the intent of the source. This is all housekeeping and hygiene practices we can instill in those early in their career.

Our focus is on education right now, because if those in school can develop their critical thinking skills, they’ll be better equipped to deal with these challenges at work. But we need to think about bringing these resources into current workforce environments, too.

7) Remember we aren’t in a post-truth world yet

There are people that have already succumbed to their echo chambers and only read content that re-enforces their own existing biases, but the fight is not lost.

There’s still an opportunity to fight false information with the facts – the problem is that we haven’t taken any action yet.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak always talks about the importance of teaching Maths– really, we should be talking about the importance of digital literacy.

The US government is preparing for a polarised society in 15 to 20 years, so we still have some time to deal with this problem. But we must act fast to fight back and take the necessary action now.

For more on Thomas Barton’s work with Polis Analysis, read our previous interview ‘The fight against misinformation, disinformation and fake news is just beginning’.

Find out how big brands including Coca-Cola, FIFA, and British Airways have dealt with PR crises in our webinar ‘Speak up or shut down: The value of proactive PR in a crisis’ and track your own company and clients’ reputations in the press with Vuelio Media Monitoring.

What is SEO PR? Why using a combined Digital PR and SEO strategy is the key to success

What is SEO PR? Why using a combined Digital PR and SEO strategy is the key to success

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Good content and outreach are the foundation of digital PR and SEO, so it makes sense to formulate a combined strategy to help drive traffic, increase visibility and generate valuable publicity for your content.

In this article, we’ll explore how Digital PR and SEO can come together to form an integrated SEO PR strategy and the benefits of bringing these disciplines together to accelerate success online.

What is SEO?

SEO, short for Search Engine Optimisation, refers to the process of driving organic traffic from search engines to your website, using a set of practices designed to get your content to rank better in the SERPs (search engine results page).

Most people discover content online from organic search results, so a good SEO strategy is key for driving traffic to your website.

Google’s algorithm is responsible for determining where pages rank for a specific search query, and this is dependent on how compliant pages and content are with Google’s ranking factors.

To optimise your content to rank highly in search engines, you’ll need to consider:

1. Keyword research

Keyword research is the vital first step when optimising your content for SEO purposes. Paid SEO tools such as SEMrush, Moz and Ahrefs provide extensive keyword data, covering everything from competitor analysis, gaps in your keyword research and keyword difficulty to help you make informed decisions when finding keywords to target in your content.

However, free platforms such as Google’s Keyword Planner and Google Trends are also valuable for finding relevant keywords. You’ll still find essential insights like search volume to help you select the higher-priority keywords that will help you drive traffic, but paid sites offer more data to ensure you utilise the right keywords for your content.

2. On-page SEO and page structure

On-page SEO is the vital optimisation stage. Once you know which keywords you’re targeting and you have your content written up, on-page SEO techniques are essential if you’re hoping to drive traffic and get your content ranking highly in the SERPs. On-page SEO includes:

Header tags
Structuring your content with appropriate header tags. This not only makes your content more readable for both users and search engines, but gives you the opportunity to highlight your primary and secondary keywords. The H1 on your page should also include the primary keyword and acts as the main title at the very top of your page, while H2s and H3s mark the following subheadings.

Page title and meta description
A page title and meta description are the first element of your content users will interact with in the SERPs, giving them a chance to preview the subject of your content as a snippet, ultimately influencing whether they engage and whether your snippets attract clicks. Beyond that, a well-structured page title and meta description, including your keywords, will indicate to crawlers and search engines what your page is trying to rank for.

Keywords
So, now you’ve done all your keyword research and selected the most relevant phrases with significant search volume, using keywords doesn’t stop at your header tags. Using your keyword throughout the body of your content is essential for indicating to both users and search engines that the entirety of your content is relevant and adequately answers the search query the keywords are targeting.

While the first section of your content is arguably most important for engaging the user and keeping them reading on to lessen the chance of a high bounce rate, using variations of your keyword throughout you can signal to search engines what your content is about, helping you rank higher in the SERPs for your primary keyword.

However, using keywords in the body of your content will only be effective if you avoid keyword stuffing. Only include your keywords if it feels natural and purposeful, as search engines like Google can pick up on the relevancy of keyword use, and black hat SEO tactics often do more harm than good.

Images and videos
Using visual aids on the page works alongside your content by enhancing your overall message and engaging the user by splitting up large chunks of text that would appear weighty. According to Search Engine Land, web content done right should be designed for skim reading, as it’s found that online audiences ‘scan through it in order to find quick visual cues that will help them get the information they want. When they see something that appeals to them, they’ll stop and read more thoroughly’.

But, beyond ensuring your content is user-friendly and readable, optimising your images and videos with relevant file names and alt text helps to boost both SEO and accessibility. From an SEO perspective, descriptive alt text helps Google understand your image and how it relates to your content.

Internal and external links
Internal and external links with optimised anchor text focused on relevant keywords are vital for your content to rank highly in the SERPs. The first step is to understand the difference between internal and external links.

Internal links direct to a target page on your site, increasing engagement by providing users with a call-to-action where they can follow up on further information about a particular topic. As well as that internal links also help to direct crawlers around your site, helping search engine bots navigate your site and find other related pages. On the other hand, external links point to another website – linking to trustworthy material that helps to back up your content from an authoritative source improving your content’s credibility.

When using internal and external links, it’s also essential to optimise your anchor text to ensure users and search engines understand what the webpage you’re linking to is about and how it relates to your content. Anchor text, or link text is the clickable text of a link within the body of your content; it’s typically displayed in blue and underlined. Using keyword-rich anchor text that’s relevant, natural and varied will help your content rank.

3. Building links to your content

Link building is arguably one of Google’s most significant ranking factors in SEO. As mentioned in the above point outlining internal and external links, relevant links pointing out from your content to authoritative sites can help to position the article as trustworthy in the eyes of Google.

The other side of that, however, is that other websites can also link to your content, positioning it as an authoritative and expert source of reference – in SEO, these are called backlinks. An easy way to think of a backlink is as a ‘vote of confidence’; the more backlinks you acquire from credible sites, the higher your content can rank in the SERPs.

Acquiring backlinks are where traditional PR techniques come to play, as outreach is a common theme for both PR and SEO. While creating high-quality content means you’ll increase the chance of your article being found and linked to organically, SEOs regularly practise outreach for link building to promote the article and ask relevant people, bloggers, organisations or websites to link to your content.

Knowing this, the natural affinity between PR and SEO is apparent. Backlinks are one of the most fundamental elements of successful SEO, and Digital PR methods can aid this enormously.

What is SEO PR, and how is it different to traditional PR?

Aided by the knowledge of SEO foundations, it’s time to apply all you already know about Digital PR with SEO techniques to build your SEO PR strategy.

Now more than ever, PR and SEO are being thought of less as separate disciplines but as intrinsically linked due to their shared requirements for success – high-quality content and credible and authoritative media coverage or backlinks.

So, what is SEO PR, and how can it be understood? In short, SEO PR isn’t too dissimilar from traditional PR. SEO PR is still centred around creating high-quality content or campaigns and pitching to media to secure coverage but with the bonus of SEO-optimised content stemming from keyword research and on and off-page SEO tactics to generate organic traffic and discoveries from the SERPs.

SEO PR shouldn’t be considered a replacement for traditional PR methods but as PR and SEO working together and complementing each other for even greater success within campaigns, content and coverage.

However, one key difference is how PR and SEO professionals track the success of content and campaigns and the metrics they measure. While traditional PRs measure content success using metrics such as volume, reach, media opportunities, social engagement, and sentiment, SEOs measure organic traffic, keyword rankings, search visibility, revenue, sessions, and bounce rate.

The beauty of Digital PR and its primary focus on online forums is that PRs can use SEO metrics to measure the success of their online campaigns, all while propelling the reach of their content through SEO optimisation. On the flip side, SEO benefits from quality backlinks and general brand awareness – strengthened and supported by Digital PR expertise.

Top ways to implement a SEO PR strategy as a Digital PR professional

So, now you know how to optimise your content using SEO techniques, it’s time to combine what you already know about Digital PR and SEO to implement your winning SEO PR strategy.

Below, we’ll explore the synergy of PR and SEO to weave out the top ways you can actualise your combined strategy as a Digital PR professional:

Better understand your target audience with keyword research

The best way to guarantee your content creates a buzz and becomes a newsworthy piece picked up in the media is by directly appealing to your audience and what they’re currently talking about online.

With keyword research tools, as previously discussed, you can find out which keywords your audience is interested in and the volume of the search queries surrounding a specific subject.

Once you have a better idea of your audience, the topics of interest, and the keywords they’re using to discuss the subject online, you can tailor your word usage to reflect your target audience and become more aware of the media outlets your target audience are likely to engage with.

Target sites with a high Domain Authority (DA)

Domain Authority (DA) is a metric devised by Moz to measure how authoritative a site is. Websites are given a score from 1 – 100, 100 being the best possible score and a greater probability of ranking highly in the SERPs.

Link data is the principal determiner of an authority score. Sites with a large amount of high-quality external links will have a higher DA, and smaller sites with fewer external links pointing to them will have a lower DA.

With this in mind, it makes sense to consider the DA of sites you’re outreaching as part of your SEO PR strategy. Use SEO tools, such as Moz and SEMrush, to factor in a site’s DA when compiling your media outreach hit list, as a backlink from a website with a high authority score is an SEO PR win.

PR link building: focus on building high-authority backlinks through Digital PR campaigns

As we all know, PRs are experts in outreach, which is why Digital PR and SEO work together so well. Once you’ve compiled a list of relevant websites with high DAs, it’s time to start the SEO PR outreach effort to ‘earn’ high-authority backlinks.

Digital PRs are specialists in media relations, pitching and press release distribution, making them experts in outreach and acquiring links – something many SEOs describe as one of the hardest parts of the job.

In SEO, for a backlink to be considered high-authority, the links must be ‘earned’ and not paid for, meaning obtaining links from sites with high DAs, such as the BBC or Forbes, is a challenging endeavour that can often take time.

Digital PRs have the expertise of putting time into researching journalists and knowing how to grab their interest with a tailored pitch, making Digital PR link-building essential to successful SEO.

So, is SEO PR the future for Digital PR professionals?

The natural synergies between Digital PR and SEO make both disciplines invaluable to the other. By using these SEO techniques, PRs can optimise their content to increase visibility across search engines, drive traffic for your brand and monitor the success of Digital PR campaigns. On the other hand, SEOs can utilise the expertise of Digital PRs to acquire high-quality backlinks to increase the authoritativeness of a website.

While SEO PR isn’t a replacement for traditional PR techniques, it embraces the natural link between Digital PR and SEO that professionals can combine to form a strategy that brings substantial success.

For more guidance on SEO best practices, download our white paper.

How have the UK media been covering industrial action in the travel sector

Trends in UK journalism: How is the media covering industrial action in transport?

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In the last few months, the news headlines have been dominated by the ongoing strikes across different sectors. Nurses, train drivers and Post Office workers have been among those calling for wage increases to match the rises in inflation.

One of the sectors calling for industrial action that has probably impacted the most people is the transport industry. Regular train strike days have affected commuters, airport and passport office strikes have altered holidaymakers plans, while bus and taxi drivers have also taken action.

We decided to take a look at what newspapers and broadcasters have been requesting and researching on this topic via the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service, alongside other subjects trending in the media.

Sign up to start receiving requests from the UK media direct to your inbox with the Journalist Enquiry Service.

There are 25 categories in total on the Journalist Enquiry Service but we’re honing in on four that are most relevant to the transport industry: Transport & Logistics, Motoring, Travel and Public Sector, and Third Sector & Legal.

If we look at all four categories over the last six months, 61% of the journalists sending requests are staff while 21% are freelance journalists. There is then quite an even spread for the media types they are coming from. Trade/business/professional media just comes out on top with 30% of the total requests, with consumer media just behind on 29% and national newspaper/current affairs on 23%. Journalists sending requests in these categories have mainly been looking for information for an article (36%), with enquiries for a spokesperson or expert next on 28%, review products on 12% and personal case studies on 10%.

This gives us an overall picture, but we can delve further into each category and see what media types and publications are sending requests. Firstly, we will look at the Transport & Logistics category. 47% of requests in this category came from trade/business/professional media titles. These included the likes of Logistics Manager, Industrial News and BizClik.

There was also a request from Future Rail magazine looking for the ‘rail industry trends for 2023’. The majority of the journalists sending requests in this category were also looking for information for an article (48%) with 30% asking for a spokesperson or expert. This provides ample opportunity for PRs to get experts and information featured within the trade media.

National press journalists are the next biggest users of this category with 23% sending an enquiry. Newspapers like The Daily Telegraph and The Times used the service. The nature of the requests varied quite widely with an I paper journalist looking for information on how to handle travel disruption, a Daily Star reporter looking to speak to a female pilot in the airline industry and a MailOnline writer asking for case studies around the ULEZ expansion.

This gives lots of opportunities to get clients featured in national press across a variety of different angles. There is also a fair amount of broadcast media journalists sending requests in this category with 12% coming from the radio & television media type. This has included the likes of ITV News, 5 News and GB News. Mainly, they have been focused on covering the strikes, either looking for locations to film at or case studies of commuters/people affected by the industrial action.

The Motoring category differs from Transport & Logistics, with national press journalists being the biggest users (42%) here over the last six months. This has included titles such as The Sun Online, The Independent and Metro. Requests have not focused specifically on the industrial action, but instead looking for an expert on petrol stations (for The Mirror Online) and case studies of slashing car insurance by buying a dash cam (for The Sun).

Consumer media is the second biggest media type within the motoring category, on 26%, with titles like Parkers sending requests, followed by trade media on 13%, with outlets such as Automotive World and Car Mechanics.

One of the keywords that comes up within the motoring category over the last six months is ‘EV’ or electric vehicle. This has occurred in over 4% of requests within this category. EV Magazine, Saga Exceptional, Verdict and ITV News have been among those looking for information and expert comment within this area. Any clients with expertise in this field could therefore be featured in consumer, trade or broadcast news.

The Public Sector, Third Sector & Legal category is not specifically aimed at the transport industry but a lot of requests around topical issues such as the strikes mean that journalists will select this category to get different viewpoints.

It’s mainly been used by trade titles over the last six months, with 53% of all requests coming from this media type. This has often been focused on the sustainability angle with ‘sustainable’ as a keyword appearing in 4% of all enquiries across all four categories we’ve focused on. Open Access Government, for example, was looking at sustainable development in the UK transport sector and achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

National press journalists are second in this category with 21% of all requests coming from them. The Daily Express, PA Media and Reuters all sent enquiries in the last six months. The vast majority were looking for a spokesperson or expert, which was the most popular enquiry type on 48%, followed by information for an article on 36%.

The Travel category is usually more consumer-facing and therefore it’s little surprise to see consumer media as the biggest user on 45%. Titles like GoodtoKnow and Pick Me Up! have sent enquiries around industrial action and strikes, but generally these enquiries are geared more towards holidays and tourism.

Overall, the keyword we saw most frequently across all four categories was ‘import’ which appeared in over 4% of the total requests.

‘Environment’ cropped up in 3% with ‘customers’ back on 2.5% and ‘strike’ at just over 1%. ‘Road’, ‘train’ and ‘rail’ all finished at around 1% with ‘airport’ and ‘aviation’ in about 0.5% of all the enquiries.

Depending on what you or your client has to offer, there are opportunities to get featured across all of the various media types. Experts on the transport sector and sustainability and information and case studies around the strikes and imports and exports are just some of the areas that you can look to target.

For more on how the UK media are reporting industrial strikes action in the travel sector, read our Vuelio Insights report ‘On the right track – which train companies are derailing negative press?‘. 

Want to start receiving requests from UK journalists with detailed information on what they want from PRs? Check out how to make the most of the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service. 

PR predictions for 2023

5 predictions for PR in 2023

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This is a guest post from Chris Norton, founder of B2B PR agency Prohibition, former University lecturer, author of “Share This Too” and his social media training blog.

The PR landscape is changing at a fast pace. New PR approaches are coming up every day and PR professionals have to always think outside the box to run effective campaigns.

In light of all this, there are a few overarching trends that are expected to have ripple effects across the public relations field. They are, ultimately, expected to shape the public relations landscape in 2023.

I’ll take you through five main PR predictions for the year 2023 so you can tap into them for PR success. Let’s get started!

1. More Prevalent Use of ChatGPT

Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022, the hype about the tool has raged on. That isn’t about to change in 2023. After all, tech giant Microsoft has inked a $10-billion deal with the startup, vowing to incorporate the technology into Bing. Also, Google has declared a Code Red in response to the release of the tool. All these developments only mean one thing: we can expect a better ChatGPT and more similar tools to crop up in the near future.

Although ChatGPT is expected to continue to revolutionise the way we do PR and marketing, I still believe it won’t lead to smaller teams and massive layoffs.

Instead, the tool will further streamline PR processes to help PR professionals become more productive. So, the tool will only get better at proofreading your press release, refining your PR pitch, and helping you come up with ideas for a PR brainstorming session or social media posts. The tool will also get better at ensuring consistency across your PR (and marketing) material.

With an increased awareness of the ways an improved ChatGPT can help in PR, expect a more prevalent use of the tool in the field in 2023.

More PR professionals will adopt the technology and similar ones seamlessly into their workflow in 2023. The goal is to not be left behind by their colleagues who have already had the foresight to adapt to changes in the technological landscape early on. I covered how ChatGPT could improve PR processes in much more detail last month here.

2. Growth of Influencer Marketing

There’s no doubt that influencer marketing will continue to grow in 2023. The Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2023 predicts that influencer marketing will be worth $21.1 billion in 2023.

By definition, influencer marketing involves brands tapping into online influencers so they can market or promote the brands’ own services or products. This is an effective strategy since the influencer holds sway. After all, they have hundreds or thousands of followers.

Companies that harness the power of influencer marketing and add it to their PR budgets will create structured systems of sourcing and engaging influencers.

3. Continued Importance of Social Media

One notable PR prediction for 2023 is the continued importance of social media in PR.

Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook allow brands to have two-way communications with their customers and followers.

This helps them build a community of like-minded people around their products and services.

So, businesses won’t just continue to build their brands using social media. In the end, as customer engagement becomes even more important, they will continue to build social communities as well. They will strive further to get more Instagram followers, increase Facebook shares, and boost retweets in the hopes of expanding those social communities.

But Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other major social media platforms won’t be the only ways brands will engage with their customers and prospects.

Brands will tap into newer social platforms like TikTok for brand marketing and social commerce. This is especially so since it has been shown that TikTok is effective as a sales and marketing platform:

Additionally, one of the PR predictions is that owned platforms like social media will be more of a focus for brands than paid media. Around 60% of communicators said that their organisation is placing more emphasis on these.

With this greater emphasis on their own online platforms, brands are also expected to increase their cybersecurity budgets.

4. Greater Focus on Transparency and Authenticity

Audiences are expected to value transparency and authenticity even more when choosing the brands to transact with. As a result, in 2023, brands will be more open with their prospects and customers. Whenever any newsworthy events occur in the company, they will continue to reach out to niche media outlets that will help them reach their target audience.

Consumers will be even more exacting in their standards during a PR crisis. Businesses are expected to admit when things go wrong. They will be expected to communicate the clear action steps they’ll take to solve the problem. With the rising role of technologies that enable quick communication, consumers will expect brand responses in an even more immediate manner.

As brands place more value on transparency and accountability, I expect to see the digital storytelling angle of PR taking the lead in 2023. This will be even more important in 2023 as more people use social media and other communication platforms online. Businesses that continue to refuse to incorporate the use of online channels into their PR strategy will be left behind.

Brands will also share even more personal stories and authentic content. The goal is to establish brand relevance and make their business more relatable to the audience.

This is because as they look back on their interactions with consumers, brands will be more aware that authentic conversations help build strong brand communities. They will also understand that transparency will boost customer trust and portray brands as companies that care about their buyers’ needs.

5. More Targeted and Personalised Messaging

Here’s another one of my PR predictions for 2023: Targeted messaging will be even more important.

Consumers will have an even more heightened awareness of the continued development and growth of technology. As such, brands that don’t use these technologies to tailor their messages to them aren’t likely to make it.

This demand for more targeted and personalised messaging applies to journalists as well.

As it is, journalists don’t only love to see their names on pitch emails. They also want to see that brands are familiar with the work they do and what they represent.

Therefore, we will see more communication pros creating pitches that speak directly to each individual journalist’s niche and interests. In other words, the one-size-fits-all pitch approach will no longer work in the future of PR. Personalisation gives brands a better chance of being published by their target media outlets.

We will also see PR pros and communications teams embracing more diverse media in 2023. Instead of only focusing on traditional media outlets, brands will reach out with their personalised messages to podcasters, video content creators, and YouTubers for coverage.

In Closing

With the public relations landscape constantly changing, public relations professionals have to remain on top of their game to keep their companies afloat. A knowledge of PR predictions can help them do just that.

You learned five of these PR predictions from this article.

The first PR prediction is the more prevalent use of ChatGPT for PR. We will also see the increased importance of influencer marketing and the continued rise of social networks for PR. Expect to see PR pros focusing more on transparency and authenticity as consumers become even more exacting in their standards.

Finally, a more targeted and personal approach will continue to play a critical role as PR professionals pitch, not just to their target consumers, but to media outlets, podcasters, and other content creators.

If you use these PR predictions to your advantage, getting through 2023 will be a breeze for your brand.

For more trends to watch out for in 2023 in PR and comms, check out these predictions from industry experts. 

Ready to start reaching out to the media with targeted contributions? Try the Vuelio Media Database and the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service. 

Why we need to take online misinformation and disinformation seriously

Vuelio webinar: Why PRs need to take online misinformation and disinformation seriously

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Disruptive technologies from ChatGPT to AI image generators are revolutionising the way we share information. While there are many benefits to this new technology, unethical use of AI is also on the rise and fuelling the spread of misinformation in online spaces.

A recent US global trends report found that our inability to agree on what the facts are poses the biggest threat to social trust over the next 20 years. From false content around vaccines to global politics, social media users in the UK are frequently faced with the threat of disinformation.

How can PRs act now on the misinformation crisis?

Our webinar ‘Why we need to take online misinformation and disinformation seriously’ with Polis founder and CEO Thomas Barton on 27 April 2023 from 11.00 – 11.30 BST will explore how the PR industry can mitigate the threat and impact of false information through an effective comms strategy. Thomas will also talk about his work educating on the threat of misinformation and disinformation in UK Government and in schools.

Sign up here to learn:

• How legislation such as the Online Safety Bill and the Digital Services Act provide an opportunity to protect your brand and spokespeople online
• The importance of understanding the use and effects of AI generator tools
• Which audiences are most vulnerable to the impact of misinformation

Can’t join us live? Register and we’ll send you the recording.

Find more information about Thomas Barton’s work with Polis and the extent of the misinformation problem in our previous interview covering the opportunities of the Online Safety Bill and the importance of education.

For pointers on the impact of misinformation in medical communications, download our Vuelio white paper ‘Medical Misinformation: How PRs can stop the spread’.

On the right track – which train companies are derailing negative press? 

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Alongside a prolonged increase in coverage related to industrial action, train companies have been generating more national coverage in other topics too — year on year since the end of COVID-19 lockdown.

National events and crises, like the SNP leadership election and ongoing inflation, have been strong drivers in this increase of transport-related media discussion. As a result, general media interest has grown in lesser known services and smaller, company-related stories that were not otherwise generating national awareness prior to 2021.

According to the International Union of Railways, the British train sector only managed to ‘get back on track’ from COVID 19-related losses in 2022 — the Department for Transport (DfT) reported ridership as high as 95% against pre-lockdown figures.

Key Takeaways

  • Throughout Q1, Merseyrail received the highest positive and lowest negative coverage compared to competitors.
  • Avanti West Coast were a prominent feature in two of the top five news stories so far in 2023.
  • Tourism acted as a consistent source of positive coverage for Eurostar, with a particular focus on money-saving tips from families visiting Disneyland Paris and Germany.
  • When not reporting on industrial action, media interest gravitates towards examples of ‘value-led’ customer service that reflects sustainability, diversity, and inclusion.
  • ‘Reliability’ has been the most-used term used in national headlines since 1 Jan, with significant attention around Avanti West Coast and the companies that make up Govia Thameslink Railway.

Despite this slow but steady success, new challenges are arising — particularly in regards to climate goals, industrial action and ticket costs — that could quickly undo the state of economic recovery that was lost throughout the pandemic. According to independent watchdog Transport Focus, less than half of passengers feel railways deliver value for money, meaning coverage around fares and customer service will continue to be in the spotlight.

Share of Voice

 

*Data shown above was collected between 1 Jan – 1 Apr 2023 and reflects all national news coverage mentioning UK train companies in the headline or body of text. The final six companies above received the highest volume of coverage overall.

Throughout the measured period, Merseyrail received the highest positive and lowest negative coverage compared to competitors. The company’s most popular positive story was in relation to its long-awaited , which was covered by national news outlets between 22 Jan and 2 Mar 2023.

However, coverage took a slight dip between 3 – 14 Mar when all new trains had to be temporarily withdrawn due to a ‘software issue’, but negative coverage remained lower than the initial, positive response to the launch. Suzanne Grant, Commercial Director at Merseyrail, was quoted in 57% of regional and local coverage on this story, commenting that the introduction is ‘going well’ and that it’s ‘not unusual to have to make some adjustments’ with new trains entering service.

Overall coverage for Avanti West Coast, Caledonian Sleeper and ScotRail was more negative than not, while Eurostar had a relatively balanced sentiment score across the board. Over 85% of Eurostar’s positive coverage was accrued between 23 – 28 Jan, when new Brexit-related passport rules created delays that meant trains were ‘forced’ to run with empty seats. Eurostar bosses were quoted stating how this doesn’t align with the ‘huge demand’ the service now gets as the ‘greenest form of travel’ – a descriptor used in 52% of coverage.

 

Top Themes

*Data shown above was collected between 1 Jan – 1 Apr 2023 and reflects all national news coverage mentioning UK train companies in the headline or body of text.

Between 1 Jan to 1 Apr, industrial action wasn’t always the most popular topic of media interest. But in the second week of January, health and safety became the leading concern due to an attack in Paris that took place near the Gare du Nord Eurostar railway hub, though the company was mostly mentioned in headlines rather than the body of the text.

In the third week, national discussion around record-breaking fare prices was introduced and stayed of interest until the first week of February. UK rail minister Huw Merriman was quoted in 69% of this coverage, stating that the rise was ‘capped well below inflation’ and was ‘delayed’ coming into force. ScotRail was the most-mentioned company in relation to this theme, but in a more positive light when it was announced that peak fares are to be ‘axed’ for six months to encourage train travel.

During the last week of January, Brexit-related travel complications became of interest due to the aforementioned Eurostar passport incident, while the topic as a whole became a wider point of international journalistic study in the four weeks that followed.

Tourism coverage was consistent throughout the study period and supported Eurostar in diluting negative coverage each month. The most common story type was money-saving tips for families who are planning trips to Disneyland Paris or Germany.

Top Stories

*Data shown above was collected between 1 Jan – 1 Apr 2023 and reflects all national news coverage mentioning UK train companies in the headline or body of text. Top stories are calculated by volume and unique visitor reach combined.

Avanti West Coast was the only company to appear twice on the top stories chart throughout the study period. Both were closely linked, with the first covering cancellations tied to ‘record-low’ reliability ratings in an analysis by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The term ‘reliability’ has been used negatively in 468 national headlines since September last year, but saw a significant peak between 21 Jan – 5 Mar 2023. Southeastern, Govia Thameslink Railway (which consists of Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express) and TransPennine Express were also mentioned as being ‘unreliable’ in a collective 82% of this national coverage.

The second story covered a statement released on 20 Mar by the DfT on the government website, declaring that Avanti West Coast (AWC) was granted a six-month contract extension after seeing ‘significant improvements’ in service, with cancellations falling from almost 6% to 4.2%.

Between 20 – 26 Mar, 102 national and regional news sources and 58 train and transport media outlets covered this announcement. While trade publications were relatively neutral towards the news, national sources were 42% more negative. The term ‘rewarding failure’ was used in headlines by ITV and The Guardian, which was paraphrased from public statements given by Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, and General Secretary of the ASLEF union Mick Whelan. On the other hand, Financial Times and The Telegraph did not expose the more critical perspectives and chose to only focus on the successful statistics.

Transpennine Express

Around the same time, issues around contract termination were also of peak interest for AWC’s sister company Transpennine Express. This followed announcements by PM Rishi Sunak that the service was also at great risk due to high cancellation volumes. This coverage spanned much further than AWC, as the first article on the matter was released on 25 Jan but the conversation didn’t die down until 6 Mar.

Caledonian Sleeper

Between 24 – 28 Feb, the Caledonian Sleeper made headlines following an announcement by Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth, stating the train service will soon be switched to public hands — like ScotRail only last year.

This story emerged not long after a highly syndicated piece by The Telegraph, which reported an analysis showing that every passenger on ‘Nicola Sturgeon’s Caledonian Sleeper’ was costing taxpayers approximately £95. These statistics were repurposed in 122 other local and regional articles following this report, over 85% of which were across Scotland and Wales.

The most effective ways of demonstrating value for money

It’s no surprise under the current economical climate that the term emerging across all coverage is ‘value for money’ and relative dissatisfaction across the British Government and public. When not reporting on industrial action, the media appears to most often opt for coverage related to better fares and ESG topics — primarily sustainability goals, staff treatment, and health and safety.

Leveraging any achievements in these areas can be a great way to build positive media awareness at a type of prolonged industrial crisis. Benefits pay off even when the achievement is not relative to the issue at hand— for example, when Eurostar used the passport crisis to comment on how it’s the ‘greenest’ and most sought after way to travel, overall sentiment evolved from mostly neutral to positive until the story died down.

Between 27 – 31 Mar, South Western Railway (SWR) got a brief but highly prominent peak in national, well-received coverage when it proactively announced the launch of the UK’s ‘first ever Intersex-Inclusive Pride train’, a design that was created to ‘show support and solidarity for LGBTQIA+ customers, colleagues, and community at large’. As a result of this press release, SWR produced the most positive and prominent national coverage related to train service compared to competitors for the entire five-day period that followed.

Both examples demonstrate how positive contributions to ESG topics, primarily in sustainability, diversity, and inclusion, are a sure-fire way to overshadow negative coverage even briefly. While these investments may not be a long-term solution to crisis-related media discussions, they do bring awareness to the value-led service customers over the course of 2023.

Want to know more about this data or how media insights can support your PR and communications? Find out more.

The future of the media

What PR and comms needs to know about the future of the media

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The media industry is constantly changing – to prepare for the future, PR and comms will need to change alongside it.

How is the UK media looking to the future? Here are key takeaways from The Society of Editors’ Media Freedom Conference – panels covered the importance of investing in mental health, rebuilding trust with audiences and holding power to account.

1) Mental health coverage matters

Journalists are under increasing pressure, with smaller editorial teams with responsibilities across a variety of formats. This, combined with the topics and issues that they have to cover, can put a real strain on their mental health.

Headlines Network founder and co-director Hannan Storm advised the creation of a culture in newsrooms where journalists feel safe to talk mental health.

Suggestions included regular ‘town halls’, where colleagues can share resources, or Google hangouts. Leaders were advised to openly share any problems they have faced themselves to show empathy and vulnerability with their staff. Also, wellbeing workshops or sleep clinics can be a big help at relieving stress and fatigue from the job.

2) Rebuilding trust with audiences

The rise of misinformation has caused audiences to lose trust in news providers and outlets – the future of news depends on rebuilding this. Sky News deputy head of newsgathering Sarah Whitehead shared the broadcasters’ introduction of more Q and As in an effort to open the door to the audience. Welcoming audience involvement via social media allows to public to tell their truth and call out disinformation.

Freelance journalist Abbianca Makoni shared that there is more trust in local reporters, as people see them out in their communities regularly covering local stories. Young people are keen to see more collaboration between the national and local press as a result.

It was also advised for newsrooms to be as transparent as possible about their procedures and processes, admitting when a mistake has been made.

As shared by Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) chief executive Charlotte Dewar, journalists value being held to account. There is a willingness to learn and change, and hopefully regain trust and respect as a result.

3) The future is multi-channel

Publishers now offer print products, a website, a podcast, newsletters, a YouTube channel and much more besides.

Polis founder director Professor Charlie Beckett believes the future of news will be found in data, which will be passed to journalists to distil down to what will interest and engage their audience most.

This increase in the number of places that publishers are sharing their content means there is a huge amount for audiences to consume. Professor Beckett said that abundance could therefore be the biggest problem for the media and possibly result in news avoidance. Ultimately, though, it will be a good thing for people to have a healthy news diet that they are in control of.

VICE World News senior news reporter Sophie Smith-Galer feels it is important that the media adopts a future proof ethos. VICE has done this by focusing on more agenda setting stories and building expertise in silos/fields that aren’t being covered by the bigger news outlets. The audience are therefore more likely to seek this out as it is content they will not find anywhere else.

How PRs can help with this? Give journalists something they can use to retain and build their audiences, rebuild trust and make the most of all the channels at their disposal.

For more on how PRs can help journalists in the fight against misinformation, read our previous interview with Polis’s founder Thomas Barton: ‘The fight against misinformation, disinformation and fake news is just beginning‘. 

Media attitudes towards AI journalism

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Following the rise of ChatGPT, Metaverse and NFTs, the ways in which publishers engage with AI and other tech innovation has rapidly evolved over the past few years. While profit and data preservation are some of the proposed benefits, job security and misinformation are some of the biggest concerns in the sector.

Key Takeaways

  • Among the 2.5k articles analysed over the study period, 38% mentioned job losses and 32% mentioned concerns around misinformation.
  • Several trade and regulation bodies from around the world have released media statements around the risk of revenue loss tied to AI.
  • Approximately 12% of coverage explored how the Metaverse can pose several profitable opportunities for publishers, whereas 15% mentioned how AI bots run the risk of overriding paywalls.
  • The publications discussing AI in relation to publishing were wide-reaching: 36% were general news outlets, 30% were tech outlets, 20% business and finance and 14% publishing.

In 2021, Microsoft president Brad Smith told a US congressional hearing that tech companies had ‘not been sufficiently paying media companies’ for the news content that helps fuel search engines like Bing and Google.

Flashforward to 2023 and Microsoft’s ChatGPT competitor, Sydney, is under as much scepticism as other AI chatbots in the publishing industry. Trade and regulatory bodies are sharing their concerns with the press on a global scale — Danielle Coffey, VP at News Media Alliance, described the launch of such services as ‘highly problematic for [our] industry’, adding that there’s ‘no revenue coming back to news publications’ unless specific agreements are to be put in place.

What themes are leading the conversation?  

*Data shown above was collected between 1 December – 20 March 2023. 100% equates to all content discussing progressive technology in relation to the publishing sector (2,433 articles). Publication types focused on general/PR news, tech/publishing/business and finance publications.  

Over the past four months, the leading topic of conversation across all publication types has been AI-generated content. Forbes predicted ‘AI in the publishing industry’ as one of the major trends of 2023, while What’s New in Publishing (WNIP) reported that AI as a whole will become ‘an essential and necessary media tool’ that could ‘significantly improve efficiency and effectiveness’.

Another common theme has been Web3. As the core concept of Web3 is decentralisation, discussion in the press has been largely focused on how journalists can use this to get more direct recognition and reward for the work they produce.

NFTs play a central role in the structure of Web3, which has already been adopted by several publishers. Pearson, Time, Le Parisien and The Economist are some of many to have received international coverage last year for their successful experimentation with the digital currency.

AI models in publishing

The second-highest topic of conversation across all publication types has been the launch of ChatGPT, the new OpenAI model, as well as the competitor bots that followed.

The vast capabilities of such technology has taken the potential of AI-generated content to a whole new level – an opportunity that has not been discussed positively across creative trade publications.

Job Losses and fake news

Among the 2.5k articles that the Vuelio Insights Team analysed over this study period, 38% warned the risk of job losses that could come from AI in publishing. Coverage has remained consistently high since 22 Dec 2022, with a slight increase when OpenAI released Jasper in February — a business-specific, subscription-based model that can be tailored to strategic needs.

An additional 32% of media coverage expressed concerns over misinformation and lack of transparency if human journalists are replaced; Toby Walsh, Professor of AI at UNSW Sydney, was quoted in a WNIP article warning publishers that excess discretion has been a ‘trigger for bad behaviour in tech spaces’ many times before.

Similarly, Paul Deegan, President and CEO of Trade Body News Media Canada, was quoted in a high-reaching Wired article, saying that they and other trade groups are ‘very concerned about the role this revolutionary technology, which has the potential to do good, can play in the exponential proliferation of misinformation’.

Profitable Opportunities

Approximately 12% of coverage explored how the Metaverse can pose several profitable opportunities for publishers, whereas 15% mentioned how AI bots run the risk of overriding paywalls.

What are the top stories?

Specific to publishing, the leading story since December has been about job losses as AI evolves. Coverage has been consistent over this time, as new studies looking into the reality of the risk begin to emerge.

Coverage peaked between 27 February – 4 March when German media group Axel Springer publicly announced its belief that AI will be making ‘major cuts’ to journalism in the near future. Several quotes from CEO Mathias Doepfner, in an internal letter to employees, were mentioned in 62% of the 93 national and regional articles that covered this story. One of which described AI a having the potential to ‘make independent journalism better than it ever was – or simply replace it’.

Within the body of the text, approximately 90% of these articles referenced how Buzzfeed have been trialling AI as a content creation tool. This came after the news publisher was widely mentioned in the press between 24 – 28 January, declaring AI will ‘enhance’ both its content and quizzes.

AI-Narrated Audiobooks

Slightly more unique in comparison, Apple made national headlines between 4 – 8 January when it ‘quietly’ launched its new audiobooks read by text-to-speech AI software.

The term ‘quietly launched’ was used in 79% of coverage across all publication types, while an additional 10% mentioned it in the body of the text. Apple describes the new ‘digital narration’ feature on its website as making ‘the creation of audiobooks more accessible to all’, by reducing ‘the cost and complexity’ of producing them for authors and publishers.

Alongside Buzzfeed’s content ‘enhancements’, this was the only other top story to have a high positive/neutral sentiment and a low negativity score.

Excess Submissions

Between 21 – 26 February, prestigious science-fiction magazine, Clarkesworld, was mentioned across national and international news headlines when it had to close writing submissions due to unprecedented volumes of bot-authors. 92% of this coverage mentioned that in February alone, it banned nearly 500 bot-authors from submitting again.

Where is this discussion happening?

Between December 2022 and March 2023, the pros and cons of AI in publishing has been widely discussed across general news, publishing and tech publications.

WNIP drew on the widest array of topics and demonstrated the largest diversity of authors, while Fintech Times came closely behind but focused most of its efforts on Web3 and NFT content.

Overall, 36% were news outlets, 30% were tech outlets, 14% publishing and 20% business and finance.

What does the future of AI journalism look like?

On 20 December, shortly after the ChatGPT launch, Bloomberg described the service as ‘just another Silicon Valley effort to churn out mediocre, disposable content’. Between trade regulation bodies and international news outlets, the overarching opinion towards AI as a tool for content creation appears largely pessimistic. We can see this reflected in the sentiment of the top stories, where 3 out of 5 have a negative sentiment score above 70%.

A few months later, on 9 March, Press Gazette was one of many to continue echoing this opinion in an article that started with ‘ChatGPT just got fired’. The piece outlined the extensive misinformation that emerged when AI chatbots were tested as a journalist replacement.

Given that most of the technologies leading the conversation are in their early stages, the ways in which they will impact the publishing industry will likely continue to be of interest in the press as major innovative steps emerge within each of them. For example, OpenAI officially connected ChatGPT to the internet only six days ago, taking its learning abilities to a whole new level.

Tech publications are strongly encouraging investors and other media sources to begin thorough research into Metaverse and Web3 at the very least. While both may lack the necessary software right now, it is widely speculated that more evolved models of the future will generate ‘substantial economic value’ for all media types.

Want to know more about this data or how media insights can support your PR and communications? Find out more.

What has the UK media been requesting from PRs

How are national press and broadcast news using the Journalist Enquiry Service?

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The headlines across national newspapers and news broadcasts have been dominated in recent months by the cost-of-living crisis, numerous strikes in different sectors, the Russia/Ukraine war and the fallout from Prince Harry’s book ‘Spare’. However, plenty of other stories have made their way into the UK news cycle, and many start with a request sent by a writer via the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service.

What exactly have national press and broadcast journos been looking for recently? Below we take a deep dive into the main categories that our users have been interested in and the keywords that we are seeing most frequently. Read on to see how you can get your expert coverage or the best place to get that case study out.

Sign up to start receiving requests from the UK media direct to your inbox with the Journalist Enquiry Service.

Firstly, we will have a look into national newspapers as journalists from these titles use the service more frequently than broadcast – 26% of all requests in 2022 came from national press. Outlets like The Daily Express, PA Media and The Daily Telegraph also regularly feature in our top ten outlets sending requests from month to month.

We looked at all the requests sent from the start of November until today and the category with the most enquiries was Women’s Interest & Beauty, representing 11% of all national press requests. This proves particularly popular with the tabloid papers as The Sun, The Daily Express and The Daily Mail all feature in the top five outlets sending requests for this category.

National press enquiry types

In terms of what they are looking for within this category, it tends to be for products to review or feature on their website. This varies from lipsticks and eyeliners to new beauty treatments and jewellery and fashion accessories. There are also requests around men’s beauty and grooming including requests for face creams and beard shavers. This presents a great opportunity to get client products featured in national newspapers or on their websites.

Often picked alongside the Women’s Interest & Beauty category is the Health category, which was the second most popular and made up 10% of the total requests from national newspapers. The Daily Express was again among the top senders with journalists from The i paper and Metro also sending numerous requests for health stories.

The trend here is more for spokespeople and experts and for case studies. A lot of requests are for doctors and GPs to give medical advice on certain conditions and there are frequent requests as well looking for case studies for people with certain conditions or illnesses. Both provide avenues to get clients and experts national press coverage.

The Health category also features several strongly performing keywords with ‘fitness’ appearing in 4% of all national press requests, ‘diet’ in 2% and ‘wellbeing’ in just over 1%. Again, this is often linked to enquiries for experts such as nutritionists, psychologists, mental health experts and sleep experts. This also links to the strong performance of both the Food & Drink and Leisure & Hobbies categories as they both received around 6% of the total national press requests.

Men’s Interest finished as the third most popular category. As we touched upon earlier, men’s grooming and beauty were part of these requests along with many around men’s health and also fashion too. This also links into the strong performance of ‘fitness’ as a keyword with requests for personal trainers and male gym instructors.

Fourth on the list for national press categories is Personal Finance which links into another key phrase that we have mentioned often in our monthly reports, which is the ‘cost of living’. This appeared in just over 3.5% of all national press requests with associated words like ‘energy’ on 3%, ‘bills’ on 2% and ‘mortgage’ on 1%.

This category attracted different national press outlets with both The Daily Telegraph and The Times featuring in the top ten. The type of enquiry did vary but a lot were looking for finance experts to give advice on ways to make savings during the cost-of-living crisis. There we are also enquiries for energy experts to provide analysis of the rising gas and electricity bills. Plus, mortgage experts to provide suggestions for what first-time buyers should do and those looking to renew their mortgage during increasing interest rates.

There has also been requests from the national press looking for case studies to find out how families are coping during the tough economic times and also to provide information on what businesses can do. This gives lots of scope to push out information and experts around personal finance.

The bigger news stories over the last few months have created a bit of traction on the Journalist Enquiry Service. ‘Strikes’ appeared as a keyword in 1% of all national press requests as papers like The Independent and Daily Mirror looked to cover the issue by getting case studies. ‘Royal’ was in around 3% with The Daily Express and The Guardian among others looking for royal experts to cover news around Prince Harry and Meghan and the Royal family in general. However, there have only been a handful of requests around the Russia/Ukraine war.

The focus for broadcast journalists using the service has been quite different with the most requests going to the Business & Finance category. 7% of the total requests from broadcast were for this category with 5 News and ITV News sending the majority.

These have tended to be for case studies and most often looking to speak with businesses that have been affected by the cost-of-living crisis. Just over 8% of the total requests in broadcast included the key phrase ‘cost of living’ and over 7% were for ‘energy’. This shows a much greater need from broadcast outlets to cover this issue and a great chance to get your clients featured on television, speaking about how their business has been impacted – especially in regard to rising energy bills.

Broadcast media enquiry types

They have also dedicated more coverage to the strikes as well and ‘strikes’ as a keyword appears in 9% of the total requests from broadcast. This also links into the strong performance of the Public Sector, Third Sector & Legal category which was the fifth most popular for broadcast journalists. All three of the big broadcasters (BBC, Sky and ITV) appear in the top five outlets here.

These enquiries were again focused mainly on getting personal case studies and seeing how businesses and people were being affected. The majority of requests were for the rail strikes but broadcast contacts were also covering the nurses strike, the teachers, Royal Mail, ambulances and buses. With more strike action likely in the coming months then this should present more opportunities for television coverage.

The more consumer related categories of Food & Drink and Women’s Interest & Beauty both received 6% of the total broadcast requests, placing them second and third overall. The Food & Drink category was used quite frequently for Steph’s Packed Lunch, whereas the Women’s Interest & Beauty category had several enquiries from This Morning.

Again, several requests were for case studies, providing opportunities for people to feature on the show. However, we saw more enquiries looking for products. This varied from health and fitness gadgets to make up and fashion items to new chocolate and sweet brands. A good chance to get products featured on two well established daytime shows.

The Health category had around 6% of all the broadcast requests and finished as the fourth most selected. ITV and 5 News were again sending regular requests in this category along with GB News and BBC Radio 4.

Personal case studies were the main focus of requests looking to cover issues around social care and also around illnesses such as Strep-A. There were also several requests for experts as well, looking for medical experts to give advice and information.

Overall, while the media coverage may seem to focus on certain issues, there is room and opportunities for products, experts and case studies to get coverage on both national press and broadcast media for a variety of topics and matters. The news cycle is difficult to predict but the cost-of-living crisis looks set to rumble on, along with strike action. We are also starting to see more requests around ‘TikTok’ which as a keyword appeared in 1% of all national press requests and just over 1% of broadcast requests. Therefore, any experts or info around the media app could be vital to journalists in the coming months.

For more on how the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service can help with getting your stories into the UK media, read our previous how-tos: 

No PR budget? No problem – using the Journalist Enquiry Service to gain coverage as a small business

How to tackle vague requests from journalists

6 reasons to stop searching #JournoRequest and try the Journalist Enquiry Service

 

Are delivery companies seen as ‘green’ in the press?

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Alongside many other major industries, such as pharma and public transport, delivery and logistics companies are having to amend the structure of their operations in the face of the climate crisis.

British news outlets have recently started looking into the green strategies of established companies like Evri, while newer and more sustainable companies such as CitySprint are emerging in response to the call for action. 

Over the past few months, several new service developments have launched across the delivery and logistics sector that demonstrate clear, target-based initiatives in support of climate action.

National media sources have expressed continued interest in reporting on the sustainability efforts of well-known companies, while recently picking up stories from smaller start-ups too.

Key Takeaways

  • Deutsche Post DHL group have produced the highest volume of positive coverage throughout Q1, while coverage for Freightliner and Ocean Network Express (ONE).
  • P&O Ferries had the second-highest Share of Voice, but several negative stories made national news and ultimately diluted positive coverage.
  • Two leading delivery and logistics companies reaped the benefits of partnering with Sky Media.
  • Alike to the pharma industry, companies with additional environmental accreditations and awards are proving to have more of a positive relationship with the press than otherwise.

Which companies are getting the most climate-related coverage?

*Data samples were collected from 1 Jan – 14 Mar 2022. Coverage represents all national/regional online news and trade-related publications discussing climate action from delivery/logistics companies functioning in the UK (663 articles in total).

Throughout the first quarter of 2023, Deutsche Post DHL Group received the strongest share of voice overall in relation to sustainability coverage. This was due to several national headlines in relation to climate efforts, which often cited the ‘record sum’ that the business invested in digitisation and sustainability.

ESG targets were heavily praised in 46% of its coverage, with some headlines claiming they ‘walk the talk’ in green-focused growth. The group has also been significantly mentioned within the conversation about CO2 parcel labels, a net zero initiative in Germany that the UK is considering adopting.

Significant highs and lows for P&O Ferries

Whereas Deutsche Post DHL group coverage was over 80% positive, P&O Ferries have had much more significant highs and lows.

Between 10-14 January, the company’s press release about saving ‘85,00 tons of carbon emissions’ performed well across trade-specific publications.

In March, the company were left ‘red-faced’ when they discovered hybrid ships could not be plugged in at Dover or Calais ports. This was the most prominent and high-reaching story for P&O Ferries, leaving their reputation in a much more vulnerable state than its competitors.

Industry partnerships with Sky

Between 28 February and 8 March, Royal Mail and Unipart Logistics both reaped the benefits of climate-related work with Sky Media.

On 1 March, Sky announced the purchase of 11 new Mercedes-Benz eVito electric panel vans, as part of its net zero 2030 drive. As a repair and customer service partner for the company, Unipart Logistics’ Head of Fleet Rob Hannam was quoted in 62% this coverage – which mostly spanned across auto and other trade publications. Even though Unipart were not the core focus of the coverage, this has been its highest quality brand coverage in relation to climate efforts this year.

On the other hand, Royal Mail recently gained coverage around its ‘Footprints’ campaign encouraging UK consumers to send parcels in greener ways. The advert was a product of winning £250,000 in broadcast coverage as part of Sky’s Zero Footprint Fund. Sonia Sudhakar, MD of Marketing and Digital at Royal Mail, was cited in 38% of this coverage stating how they’ll continue to ‘campaign for the entire industry to empower customers and help tackle climate change’.

While Royal Mail have launched several green initiatives this year alone, coverage appears to fall short. Compared to other organisations in this sector, the service has published less sustainability-focused press releases to the public; which could be a contributing factor towards its smaller media presence than competitors.

Growth of ESG discussion in general news sources

References to ESG in news sources has grown rapidly since the pandemic, which in turn speaks to the growing interest in this term from the wider public, as shown in the Google search data — as web searches grow, so have media mentions and vice versa. We have seen this in the pharma industry, where the public demand for better sustainability comms has been widely discussed over the past three years.

Last week, WSJ reported that companies working to promote ESG in the workplace have proven to outperform their peers through improved innovation, higher sales growth and profitability, while those that are slow to adapt will face increasing regulatory and reputational risks.

Top Stories and Sentiment 

*Data samples were collected from 1 January – 14 Mar 2022. Coverage represents all national/regional online news and trade-related publications discussing climate action from delivery/logistics companies functioning in the UK. Sentiment figures represent all coverage generated in relation to the relevant brands.

While Deutsche Post DHL Group maintained the strongest share of voice, Freightliner and Ocean Network Express (ONE) achieved the strongest ratio of positive coverage overall. This was due to a partnership between the two companies that allows Freightliner to travel using biodegradable oil, purchased by ONE.

This headline was widely distributed across national news publications from 22 to 28 February, while 68% of trade publications cited ONE Director Simon Parsons as ‘hopeful’ to further expand green networks throughout the UK moving forward.

Over 90% of coverage was due to the release of research detailing opportunity in the UK to electrify 95% of rail freight operations by the 2040s. While volumes were low against competitors, CILT received the most prominent media mentions; mostly discussed across transport-specific publications, CILT was mentioned in 96% of headlines.

Despite being one of the biggest public delivery services in the UK, Evri has had the least positive coverage in relation to climate efforts. The company has been active in its sustainable initiatives, such as e-cargo bike deliveries, but overall media interest has been low. This is likely due to the onslaught of negative coverage that emerged at the same time in other areas of the business. During this analysis period, media attention was focused on concerns around labour rights; which massively overshadowed positive initiatives.

The company has shared several climate-related press releases, but were released during or after negative news emerged. When enduring a PR crisis, our research suggests that timing is key — the media are much less likely to pick up positive stories following a negative spike.

Sustainability is no longer an optional investment

Overall, it seems that the media consensus is that sustainability is no longer secondary to profitability across delivery and logistics. Rather, it is ‘viewed as a driver of future growth’ as cleaner transport options are being taken ever more seriously.

Nancy Hobhouse, Head of ESG at Evri, reported to the press that ‘businesses who have a sustainable purpose, or a robust sustainability strategy, are outperforming competitors’, while Richard Cook, Fleet Director at DHL added that “customers are increasingly environmentally conscious and will hold businesses to high standards of sustainability, making it a critical focus”.

Media interest around net zero targets are not going away any time soon and journalists are particularly interested in reliable claims. Deutsche Post DHL Group, which has outperformed competitors in the way of sustainability coverage, has recently joined the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) which helps companies to make clear and actionable climate strategies.

Across Vuelio Insights’ wider crisis research, we have found that companies who have additional accreditations, awards and initiatives (i.e., SBTi) are more likely to maintain positive media interest than those who have not, all the while reducing the risk of greenwashing allegations.

In recent years, sustainability has become a necessary investment that could greatly impact shareholder prices if neglected. From e-scooters to hybrid ships, efforts across the sector are clear and are more abundant than ever.

Want to know more about this data or how media insights can support your PR and communications? Find out more.

Access Intelligence

FT names Access Intelligence one of Europe’s fastest growing companies

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Vuelio parent company Access Intelligence has been recognised as one of Europe’s fastest growing companies in the FT 1000, a yearly ranking by the Financial Times and German data platform Statista. The FT 1000, now in its 7th edition, ranks the 1,000 companies in Europe that have achieved the highest percentage growth in revenues.

Access Intelligence is an AIM-listed tech innovator, delivering high quality SaaS products that address the fundamental business needs of clients in the marketing and communications industries.

‘Understanding audiences has become essential for organisations across industries and geographies: we’re seeing that need grow every day, as more and more of our clients put media insights, reputation and audience intelligence at the center of their strategy,’ said Joanna Arnold, CEO of Access Intelligence.

The group powers the world’s most relevant brands across regions and industries: with over 6,000 clients worldwide, Access Intelligence helps clients like Apple, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, the UK House of Commons, HSBC, Twitter, and the Australian Government understand their audiences and monitor the media landscape.

The evolving Access Intelligence portfolio includes Isentia, the market-leading media monitoring, intelligence and insights solution provider; Pulsar, the audience intelligence and social listening platform; Vuelio, which provides monitoring, insight, engagement and evaluation tools for politics, editorial and social media in one place; and ResponseSource, the network that connects journalists and influencers to the PR and communications industry.

PR Club

Should you speak up or shut down in a PR crisis?

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A reputational crisis is on the horizon for your brand or client – what do you do next? Should you set up a press conference to get ahead of any criticism heading your way, or wait for things to blow over? Should you address the matter at hand, or draw attention elsewhere?

In the Vuelio webinar ‘Speak Up or Shut Down: The Value of Proactive PR in a Crisis’, we explored three examples of short, medium and long-term crisis to uncover PR approaches that are proven to work.

Watch the full webinar here. 

Read on for insight on why timing is pivotal in a crisis, the necessity of being proactive over reactive and data on what worked for brands including FIFA, Coca-Cola, Hyundai/Kia, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Samsung Biologics.

Approaches to short-term crisis: 2022 FIFA World Cup

A recent much-reported crisis was the Qatar-based FIFA World Cup of 2022, which was surrounded by political controversy and human rights concerns. As a result, brands and public figures who chose to participate in the event were met with widespread disapproval from the public and even boycotting of products and services.

To measure this, Vuelio Insights compared how each partner for the event handled the evolving crisis and their overall performance in the media throughout November and December of 2022.

FIFA World Cup 2022 brand coverage

This Share of Voice chart for the FIFA partners shows how proactive each was with their write-ups in the UK media.

Throughout the event, Adidas, Hyundai/Kia and Visa were the most proactive, utilising a diverse range of messaging tactics. While they addressed human rights in public statements, they drove more awareness towards positive ESG actions that were unrelated to the event.

Hyundai/Kia’s ‘Goal of the Century’ campaign focused on sustainability, becoming one of their strongest sources of coverage throughout the event. Why this worked so well – this was also the time of COP27 and tied in to positive ESG efforts.

Not quite as successful was Coca-Cola, which released its ‘Believing is Magic’ campaign very early on, only vaguely referencing social solidarity and human rights. This did not make any significant reference to the crisis itself and therefore resulted in much stronger negative sentiment in related reporting.

Timing is key with proactive outreach – Coca-Cola’s messaging was released so early that related media interest died down by the time the company started to receive event-related criticism.

Qatar Airways, Wanda Group and QatarEnergy were almost silent throughout the entire period and it shows in their volume of coverage. Not only is their Share of Voice lowest, the reporting that did focus on them mostly consisted of passive criticisms on who they are and what their ethics may be.

Wanda Group’s approach was interesting. The brand had previously released a successful ‘Women First’ campaign for the 2018 World Cup. For 2022, in contrast, it released nothing, and positive sentiment for the brand dropped by 56%. Coverage this time around was ‘who are Wanda Group and do they even care about human rights’, without any public statements to mitigate negativity.

Staying silent will not always reduce media awareness of problematic issues and can mean less control for a brand when crisis arises.

A diversity of brand positive messages, addressing the crisis and perhaps other ESG concerns, can be a powerful tool for diluting negative press.

Approaches to medium-term crisis: 2022’s UK airline strikes

The airline industry took a hit last year due to strikes, cancellations, oil prices and the war in Ukraine.
From January to June 2022, the Vuelio team explored how UK airlines responded to the extended criticism across print, online and broadcast media. Here are the common threads among those who performed well in the press:

Airline crisis coverage in 2022

This chart demonstrates the peaks in coverage for travel brands throughout this period – BA and Ryanair, who were the least proactive and most reactive, had the least control over negative peaks in coverage.
Similar to Coca-Cola during the World Cup, TUI demonstrated mid-range control over negative coverage by pushing proactive statements from its executive Fritz Joussen, but were otherwise less vocal when it came to press releases and social messaging.

While most brands here faced significant peaks and falls in crisis coverage, Virgin Atlantic maintained a ‘low and controlled’ approach throughout – despite being equally effected by all of the same issues.

Virgin Atlantic successfully navigated this crisis with regular, proactive campaigns and diverse messaging tactics and it shows in the resulting consistently low and controlled coverage.

Lessons from this: time your press releases and ensure their messages are diverse, and do not rely on reactivity – the media are much less likely to pick up on positive efforts after negative news has surfaced.

Approaches to long-term crisis: Pharma and net zero targets

Net Zero targets within the pharmaceutical industry are a long-term crisis in the making. At COP27 in November 2022, pharma companies were tasked with putting visible and actionable climate strategies in place or risk their operational licences.

The Vuelio Insights team measured all international climate-related pharma coverage between 1 Nov 2022 – 9 Jan 2023 (approx. 13,700 articles) – here are the commonalities in in coverage among the most prominent companies.

Pharma net zero coverage

These Share of Voice charts show that the UK produced the strongest volume of coverage throughout this period.

Due to such a large event, most brands were generating international media interest as journalists sought out their climate strategies leading up to and following COP27. The reality of pharma-related carbon footprints was a huge discussion in the media, which created urgency throughout the industry to begin communicating green initiatives.

The top stories and sentiment were largely positive among the majority of the most prominent brands – most of their top stories are positive or neutral.

Pharma net zero coverage

While 13,700 articles surfaced throughout our study period, one specific headline emerged again and again as a top headline – ‘Seven CEOs announce effort to curb emissions in healthcare’. This emphasises the benefits of partnering up with other brands who may be suffering under the same crisis. This approach served the seven pharma brands involved in diluting negative coverage about pharma’s carbon footprint.

Showing just how impactful accreditations can be for brands also was Samsung Biologics – its top story during this period was its Terra Carta seal of approval for sustainability. This displayed a tangible and reliable effort backed up by external recognition – negating any possible accusations of ‘greenwashing’ or ‘wokewashing’.

Doing research on how you can enhance your reliability as a trusted brand – be it via awards or accreditations – is really worthwhile for boosting media awareness in a crisis.

Want to know more about Vuelio Insights and media monitoring? Find out more here and here. 

Getting ready for Web3

Getting ready for Web3: Interview with Citizen Relations’ deputy managing director Jules Day

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Web3, ChatGPT and all-things AI-assisted and generated are big news in the communications and creative industries right now, and the Citizen Relations team has been paying attention to changing needs in the sector:

‘The volume of work that we’ve been doing in influencer marketing, community building and management and SEO has been growing exponentially,’ says deputy managing director Jules Day on the launch of the agency’s new ‘dComm3’ digital practice.

‘Our clients have experienced the power of integrated digital solutions and there’s a growing appetite to respond to, and prepare for, evolving consumer behaviours’.

Ready to reach the next step of PR and comms evolution? Read on for why brands need to be ready for the metaverse and which companies are already making the most of the opportunities it offers.

Why do brands need to be ready for Web3?

Simply, brands want to be where their consumers are. We’re in the business of helping them create awareness and consideration and, of course, generating and harnessing advocacy. Increasingly, we also play a role in driving people to purchase.

We see three consumer behaviour shifts that brands should be preparing for:
● The dynamics of communities will change as they shift to more niche, topical and emerging community platforms.
● Web3-forward digital experiences will include extended reality and modern AI integration.
● The dynamics of value exchange are changing and we’re helping brands understand how to work better with the next generation of creators, commerce and exchange online.

How will the international team be working together?

It is a straightforward model – a centralised, specialist function. The 15-plus team comprises digital comms experts in performance content, technology, analytics and experiences. Our account teams will continue to lead their integrated programmes, drawing in specialist support where relevant. We’ve been working closely together for some weeks now, and the beauty of today’s heavy reliance on video conferencing is that we’ve built strong working relationships very quickly.

Why is Web3 more than just a flash in the pan for comms?

I remember launching mobile video technology at Mobile World Congress about a million years ago and the spokespeople working so hard to convince people that we really would watch TV on-demand on our mobile devices. How we humans do things evolves – we’ve already had two iterations of the internet and you can be confident that our expectations of what the internet can deliver, and our role within it, will continue to advance.

From a Citizen perspective, our team sees Web3 shifts in AI, XR and anonymity as substantial drivers of new opportunities for brands.

Which big brands are already doing well with their Web3 strategy?

High fashion and luxury brands have jumped in head-first and generated a slew of programmes. They’re largely in testing mode but are succeeding in earning impressions and buzz.

Our team are huge fans of Nike’s acquisition and partnership with RTFKT in the creation of really interesting and meaningful ‘phygital’ activations. What works so well with their partnership is that it is already well-suited for the category, and plays into existing human behaviour, creating new ways to own Nike coveted products.

I’ve been watching H&M with interest for a while – since spotting my daughter dressing her avatar in H&M in Toca Life, the digital collection landed just ahead of the physical collection and really captured both of our imaginations. H&M has also partnered with Animal Crossing and Roblox, experimenting with virtual garments and, now, using the integrations to focus its comms on sustainability. I’m interested to see what comes next.

Which campaigns haven’t done so well with this so far?

It is hard to judge without knowing brand or campaign objectives – and we wouldn’t like to.

We’ve seen brands creating storefronts in the metaverse, launching Discord servers and adding augmented reality shopping experiences to retail, in many cases they’ve driven plenty of noise but it is difficult to tell if they answered customers’ needs or brought the brands into new demographics in any substantial way. Of course, if those campaign objectives were to test and learn, then the brands may well have found value in them.

How would you advise brands to start with Web3 and determining how it could work for them?

We’d advise brands to start by looking at their consumers’ behaviours to better understand where unmet needs exist. For example, doing a conversation map to show where people are looking for solutions online, or evaluating user intent in search to help determine where we could better show up based on new behaviours. From there, we’d suggest evaluating the wide array of new communities, tech and offerings to help test modern digital solutions to user challenges. Web-next ideas have what all great ideas provide, something of value to real citizens. That remains unchanged.

Metrics and measuring success can already be difficult in comms – how can success be measured with Web3-centred campaigns?

Some examples of the different impact models we’ve been building and leveraging:

● Content effectiveness: if you make no other change this year, start measuring the effectiveness of content by variable. If your influencer content includes a product or a CTA does it perform better? If we include a real person does it change the outcomes? Citizen’s dComm3 practice has built a content effectiveness algorithm that allows us to do better briefing, track outcomes and shift campaign results in a programmatic way.
● Earned SEO: search behaviours are changing for the first time in decades. Gen Zers leverage platforms like TikTok and Instagram for search more than Google. A weight of product searches originate in Amazon. Voice search has become something our kids do. Earned off-page search can drive significant value for a brand capturing share of search and driving inbound links. Start by getting a baseline of search performance and measure against it in earned.
● Earned attribution and econometrics: buzzy, earned-led campaigns don’t just drive headlines and impressions; they can drive demand. The dComm3 team is briefing in against demand and building tagging infrastructures to show the value of earned well beyond standard attribution.

What do you find particularly exciting about the Web3 space?

The possibilities. What will humans adopt versus reject? How will people evolve around the tech versus how the tech will evolve to human behaviour? This is perhaps the most exciting time in the history of the web and we are ready for the opportunities it poses. Tactically, we’re bullish on community evolution. People are going back to anonymous, topical-centred conversations and things like organic community are returning in a way that is truly exciting for communicators and brands.

For more on Web3, read our previous posts on the topic: ‘How to communicate in the metaverse… also, what is the metaverse?‘ and ‘Three reasons to get started with Web 3.0‘.

Interview with The CAN Group's Claire Powell on entertainment PR

‘Brief, brief, brief!’ – The CAN Group’s Claire Powell on providing premier PR for the entertainment industry

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‘I never set out with the desire to be in the industry,’ says media, PR and events expert Claire Powell, founder of The CAN Group.

Claire Powell

‘I started working with an events company, undertaking their marketing, when I was approached to work on a new group that were just starting off called Take That.’

At the forefront of the creative industries for almost three decades, Claire’s start with an 18-month tour with Gary, Mark, Robbie, Jason and Howard led to a series of magazine roadshow tours that gave bands like Boyzone, West Life, Ant & Dec and Peter Andre their big breaks.

‘I’ve had so many amazing moments over the years, and worked with many incredible people and businesses, but what continues to drive me is helping people achieve their dreams. My team and I sit with our clients regularly to discuss their ambitions and wishes, and we create plans to make this happen’.

Read on for Claire’s experiences in entertainment PR, the impact of social media on the industry and her thoughts on 2023’s awards season controversies.

How has the entertainment PR industry changed throughout your career?

To use the word ‘massively’ would be an understatement. Long gone are the days when you would create a plan with the media, because there are so many different platforms and outlets now – covering all is a huge task. Previously, you could make major announcements in special agreements with publications, but with mobile phones and social media, pictures can go all over the world in a matter of minutes which makes it difficult to control and secure an exclusive deal.

How has the growth of social media changed ‘traditional’ PR?

There will always be a need for some of the conventional functions that PR has always offered. Even with more digital approaches, traditional methods will be at the crux of the campaigns and keeping good working relationships with journalists is a must. These are the tools of our trade.

However, there has been change particularly with social media and the rise of influencers, and the general decline in readership of magazines and newspapers. So much news is readily available now at our fingertips, which is really sad for journalists and publishers as we see more and more conventional sources of information fold.

You also work in the beauty space – what are the big differences between the entertainment and beauty spheres, and what are the crossovers?

Entertainment is about creating big story lines and it is very picture-based, while beauty is about the products, the people behind the brand and finding a unique point of difference from your competitors. Both require forward-planning, creative strategy, and thinking outside the box to maximise opportunities and get the best coverage for your client – no matter the industry they are in.

It is never a ‘one size fits all’ approach. We work with our clients to create bespoke campaigns that are right for them, and their end goals.

Crisis comms is becoming even more important – what advice would you give to fellow PRs with clients in reputational trouble?

Brief, brief, brief! Be sure to research what they are walking into and only go to a journalist that understands the client you are talking about. It is about protection. Keep to the truth, the facts and guide your client though this critical stage. So many PR and management companies don’t do this in a carefully controlled way which can lead to more damaging situations later down the line.

What is your take on the controversy surrounding this year’s Oscars nominations – does the PR process for performers during Awards season need to change?

I’ve read about the celebrity guerrilla campaign to endorse Andrea Riseborough’s Best Actress nomination. The film didn’t perform well at the box office, but in the final weeks of voting for the 2023 Oscar nominees, it received endorsement from Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston and Kate Winslet praising the performance.

It is a difficult one to comment about as nobody knows what happens behind the scenes – maybe these celebrities watched the film and really liked it! But with any award seasons, the nominees will campaign and appear on popular talk shows to discuss their excitement for the upcoming events. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if this activity is taking place prior to the nomination announcement.

However, I strongly believe awards should be given upon merit and would like to believe a good performance will prosper, and the award will be given to the rightful winner on the night.

What are the big trends the PR industry should be prepared for over the next few years?

I think the cost-of-living crisis will continue to be an important consideration for everyone.

Customers will be making more considered purchase decisions, and brand or spokesperson communications should be aware of this. You often see a lot of brands and celebrities making tone deaf comments with long-standing consequences to their reputation, often beyond the point of repair.

While agencies need to ensure that their PR strategies reflect their client’s business need, all PR plans need to be flexible and responsive to the client’s market. The past has shown all of us that things can change overnight, so you need to be willing to adapt too.

For more on responsive PR, check out our previous piece ‘Reactive PR: Turning something out of nothing‘. Want to connect with entertainment media? Find out more about the Vuelio Media Database here. 

What is happening in finance

Communicating with finance clients and consumers: Tank’s head of PR Martyn Gettings

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Financial services is heavy in responsibility and regulation – particularly in 2023, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to stretch budgets to breaking point and regulation changes hover on the horizon.

With experience working across the finance services sector – on behalf of mortgage brokers, financial advisers, crypto experts or debt advice specialists – award-winning PR and digital marketing agency Tank is preparing its financial clients for what is on the way.

Just a few of the challenges for this year – the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s new Consumer Duty, the boom of cryptofinance and the consequences of Brexit. Tank’s head of PR Martyn Gettings shares his insight on these concerns and how the industry should be communicating them.

How much has cryptofinance factored into your planning and work this year?

Martyn Gettings, Tank PR

The crypto market offers a real opportunity for PR and communications agencies, with market experts anticipating significant growth over the course of this year and beyond. With regulation on the way as well, crypto is likely to continue its emergence into the mainstream as governments, regulators and more investors get involved.

Tank is already working with businesses in this market, but as it continues to mature, there will be plenty of opportunities with crypto-focused organisations. Crypto is never dull – with so many creative businesses in the sector, it offers some really exciting prospects for agencies.

How are you ensuring your company and your finance clients are prepared for the FCA’s new Consumer Duty?

The new Consumer Duty adds extra considerations to existing rules and principles around treating consumers fairly – but for finance-focused PRs, the key message is that the principles of good, ethical communications remain unchanged. The sector must continue to encourage the highest quality support and guidance for consumers.

In the context of the cost-of-living crisis, it has never been more important for those operating across all aspects of the financial services sector to ensure that their customers are protected. This involves sharing accurate, reliable and useful information in a timely manner.

What will be the biggest potential blocks for companies working towards this, in your opinion?

As with all regulatory changes, the devil is often in the detail, so companies will need to ensure that they are keeping a close eye on updates to the new regulations as it develops through the various stages of consultation.

There is also an additional challenge of multiple regulators operating across similar sectors, which leaves space that could be exploited by inaccurate and misleading information, where firms are not bound by FCA regulations.

Another key consideration in the short-term is the cost-of-living crisis, which has only increased the importance of building trust with consumers – as well as heightening the risks of harmful practices or misleading information.

How can finance-focused organisations engage with audiences worried about their own finances in the current climate?

The key message to our clients is to show that they understand the challenges their customers are facing and make sure that their messaging and tone is building trust and integrity.

We have seen some high-profile examples of companies being exposed by failing to get their language and content right in campaigns about the cost-of-living, but the brands that can educate and inform consumers with relevant and helpful information will be the ones that come out of the current crisis with the most trust and integrity.

This is where clarity on brand strategy as a whole is vital – are the values and key messages at the heart of your brand still relevant in current market and audience expectations? The most effective PR campaigns are those that resonate clearly with your brand voice, so look at the source of the language and messages you are sharing in the media.

Which financial organisations have been doing a good job with their comms recently, in your opinion?

Neobanks is a great place to look for strong comms and the likes of Monzo are changing the game for the finance sector – with some of the more established players starting to adapt and modernise their comms strategies.

What big changes have you noticed in what is being asked for by your finance clients since your time in the industry?

Over the last few years, the rise of SEO-focused digital PR campaigns has become increasingly important for consumer-facing finance companies. Organic search will always be competitive, but digital PR campaigns are great opportunities for companies to build wider consumer awareness and increase engagement on a brand value level too.

We are also seeing more demand for awareness of changing regulations. This is becoming increasingly complex and Brexit has only added to these challenges for multinational organisations.

What are your go-to publications and journalists for keeping informed about changes in your sector?

It goes without saying that a broad reading list is the best way to keep on top of changes in the sector, as well as staying on top of consumer trends. The target publications of our finance clients range from broadsheets and broadcast media, to tabloids and lifestyle publications, as well as their key trade media as well.

It is also important to keep track of wider industry commentary and regulatory changes, from FCA and UK Finance reports and whitepapers, to The Conversation, which helps to distil the latest academic research into more digestible articles.

For more on emerging trends in financial services, download the Vuelio white paper ‘Communicating the new immediacy of finance’, featuring insight from industry experts on now brands can realise the potential of technology to build strong relationships with investors and consumers.

Want to connect with UK financial media? read our previous piece on how to pitch to finance journalists, find relevant reporters via the Vuelio Media Database and monitor your campaigns in the press with Vuelio Media Monitoring.

The fight against misinformation is just beginning

The fight against misinformation, disinformation and fake news is just beginning: Interview with Polis founder Thomas Barton

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‘It is the long-term threats that we need to be most concerned about – every day, we are feeling the corrosive impacts of misinformation, but its effect on society and democracy will only fully show in the longer term,’ believes Polis founder Thomas Barton.

Having founded Polis to empower people with awareness and fact-based knowledge of global politics, Thomas believes there is real opportunity in the fight against misinformation this year. As part of the Online Safety Bill, protections against the damages of untruths presented as fact will be put in place in law, but will the legislation be enough?

Why are efforts to fight misinformation so important this year in particular?

Research from Eurasia Group’s Top Risks forecast for 2023 found that disinformation is going to become even more pervasive due to disruptive technological developments, like ChatGPT. We have got to take action now to mitigate that threat.

From a public health perspective, while we are coming out of Covid, we have got to be ready for future pandemics. As part of building resilience, we need to be tackling disinformation and misinformation around vaccines – data shows that false information being spread online on vaccines has had a negative impact on uptake among young people. At the start of the pandemic hesitancy stood at 14% for younger age groups, falling drastically to 5% for over 30s.

If we want to be better prepared, we need to use 2023 to actually learn the lessons of the past and protect ourselves for the future.

Alongside threats to health, a US global trends report found that the biggest threat to social trust over the next 20 years will be an inability to agree on what the facts are – we will become more polarized as a society. How can we have a conversation if we can’t agree on what constitutes the truth?

There is real opportunity now because of the Online Safety Bill. This is the first time the UK Government has tried to introduce regulation in the online space.

What initiatives have Polis been working on?

Polis has taken a two-step approach to the campaign we are running on misinformation and disinformation.

The first is to raise awareness. Even though this issue poses huge threats to our democracy – Russia has used disinformation in Ukraine with deep fake technology, for example – it is not high on the political agenda. Rightly, people are focused on the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis here in the UK, but misinformation poses systemic challenges to our society.

We are also promoting solutions for tackling misinformation. Alongside talking at universities to engage young people in the conversation, I’ve been meeting with members of Parliament and the House of Lords with amendments to improve the Bill. We will be delivering briefings, policy papers and our own research to political stakeholders.

We have had encouraging results – Polis was one of the only contributors to the Online Safety Bill pre-legislation scrutiny committee that spoke about this issue and we made an impact. 66 of the committee’s recommendation made it into the Bill.

But the Government did not adopt all of our recommendations – there is far more work to be done.

Will the Online Safety Bill do enough?

The short answer is no. This is clearly a landmark legislation and there is opportunity to be more ambitious.

We believe that online platforms should be bound by similar conditions to ‘traditional’ broadcasters – the licensing terms of the Broadcasting Act around impartiality and ensuring factual information is put forward. If we can do it for the BBC, we should be able to copy and paste that model and apply it to the online space.

The Online Safety Bill is at an advanced stage in Parliament, so we have got one window of opportunity for someone in the Lords to table those amendments and make sure they get debated in the House of Commons, at which point we are hoping that MPs we have briefed agree that they need to be passed. Right now, the Bill is pretty lackluster when it comes to fighting disinformation.

What do PR and comms people need to be aware of?

Obviously, the job of a PR is to protect the reputation of their organisation, or the organisations that they work with – corporations are not going to be immune from the onslaught of misinformation.

We cannot escape conversations around ChatGPT at the moment – any activist or online troll could use that technology to spread all sorts of content on social media to trash the reputation of a corporation. If you are a bit more sophisticated, you could use deep fakes to impersonate senior figures in business to create a PR disaster. For a listed company, bad actors could move their share price.

And I am not making this up. The Eurasia Group has forecast this as a possibility in 2023. PRs must be aware of the reputational challenges posed by actors harnessing tech for malicious ends. Misinformation touches everyone.

How much responsibility falls on social media platforms and publishers?

We have been relying on voluntary action from social media companies so far, and look where we are.

According to Full Fact, only 1/5 of social media users who encounter misinformation on their feeds actually do something about it. Our civic duty means that those of us who have the necessary digital literacy skills to identify mis and disinformation online should actively take action and report the content to protect others.

I remember Mark Zuckerberg saying Facebook wouldn’t be ‘arbiters of truth’ – this is not what we are asking. We are asking for information to be taken down when it is blatantly fake and is causing damage to society, and that you have a responsibility when you have unleashed the floodgates and have given billions the opportunity to freely publish.

And ‘publishers’ can be individuals. Anyone can be a publisher if they have a social media account. We have a civic duty, in my view, to make sure that before we share content online, that we have read the content first, that we understand it, that we have looked into the source, that we do not just publish something on our feeds before we even engage with the content.

Along with regulations and legislation that comes from the ‘top-down’, you also need individuals – from the bottom-up – to take responsibility.

What is coming up over the next year for Polis?

At the moment, we’re in the weeds on the Online Safety Bill, but we need to think about life beyond it.

The EU’s Digital Services Act is robust, but there is nothing it, or the Government, can do about misinformation being shared on WhatsApp.

However, if the person receiving false information there has the media literacy and critical thinking skills to question what is coming through – to look at the validity of the source and whether it has been produced with malicious intent to mislead, or is accidentally misleading – we can inoculate against misinformation and disinformation; people can protect themselves.

The situation with education on this is dire. A report on the digital literacy of school children found that only 2% can tell fake news from legitimate news online. The next generation is not equipped with the skills they need to protect themselves.

We will be campaigning for major changes to the curriculum in schools – young people are not getting their news by watching the BBC, they aren’t picking up a copy of The Times or The Guardian on the way to school. The sources of information young people use the most for news are Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter. If that is where they are getting their news, they need the skill set to use them.

I don’t want to live in a society where we can’t agree on what basic facts are.

For more on the Online Safety Bill, the Digital Services Act and other UK and EU regulation changes to be aware of this year, click here. You can also download the Vuelio white paper ‘Medical misinformation: How PR can stop the spread‘ for a closer look at the situation within the health sector.