Kach and Jonathan

Travelling the world with blogging giants Two Monkeys Travel

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Two Monkeys Travel is one of the world’s biggest travel blogs, created by Kach and Jonathan. Now leading a travel group, the pair have been sharing their incredible travel experiences for five years and have once again ranked in the Top 10 UK Travel Blogs. We caught up with the pair to find out what makes their travel style unique and talk about the joys (and perils) of sailing and the best way to get creative with brands.  

What makes your blog unique?
Maybe it’s our constantly changing travel style. We started out as low-budget backpackers, became English teachers, then yoga teachers, before starting to experience luxury adventure travel and now we live on a sailboat and ride a motorbike around the Dominican Republic. We never truly know what we’re going to do next!

How has travel blogging changed since you started?
There are certainly a lot more travel blogs out there, thousands in fact! The best change has been the travel industry’s approach to blogs and social media; they have been increasingly recognising the benefits but also demanding more in terms of quality and new ideas. All of this pushes blogs to grow and improve if they want to have any success – the market is starting to drive quality control.

What’s the community of travel blogs like to be part of?
Like any community it has its good and bad points, but most of the time it is a very positive one that shares ideas and experiences, partnering with each other on posts and campaigns to help each other make a go of it. Of course, if you hang around in a Facebook group for long enough you’ll see some mud-slinging-gossip-drama going on, but that happens in any large group!

What’s the best travel experience in the world?
For us it is still hitchhiking the Carretera Austral down the length of Chilean Patagonia. We have done a huge amount since then, but that place is just so beautifully raw that nothing has captured us in the same way since.

What’s the best mode of transport you’ve ever experienced?
This is a tie between our sailboat, SV Empress, and motorbikes! The boat gives us the slow-paced freedom and peace on the water, while the motorbike lets us explore inland on our own time. I also get to let off some steam on the dirt tracks after being on a roly-poly boat for a few days!

What’s your scariest experience while travelling?
A few hours into our first real sailing trip, crossing the Gulf Stream from Florida to the Bahamas, we got bashed around pretty badly and shredded the mainsail – all my fault, beginner’s mistakes! The scary part was climbing inside to find the floor covered in cold salt water. It turned out to be a small problem I could fix in 30 seconds, but my first thought at the time was, ‘We’re in the middle of the ocean and we’re sinking!’ I think that one’s going to stay with me.

What should PRs know about you?
We have worked on a wide variety of campaigns including consumer gadgets, luxury hotels, destination marketing, airlines, travel operators and car manufacturers, plus all the rest. The most important thing that we have learnt across all these campaigns is that as long as we start by understanding the goals of the client and how our own brand can satisfy those, then everything else will follow. That’s when we can start getting creative and having fun!

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What are the best campaigns you’ve worked on?
One of our favourites was Mazda USA, which was essentially a big road trip through the Californian desert to show the new range of cars off in incredible settings. We camped out around campfires by night and drove fast cars by day! The pinnacle though was working with Hurtigruten to promote their Expedition cruises to Antarctica on a 13-day cruise from Patagonia, across the Drake Passage to Antarctica. We’ve since worked with them again on a Norwegian coastal adventure!

Do bloggers need their own industry association?
Please no! Blogging is not its own industry; it’s simply another form of online media and marketing. We are already covered and very well protected by very clear regulations and guidelines that are easy enough to follow. I’m sure someone must be planning to set one up though, some people just love making more work for the sake of it!

What other blogs do you read?
I can honestly say that we have not read another blog in at least a couple of years! If we’re not working on our own then we’re out doing something, or fixing something that broke on the boat (again), or sailing. Occasionally we sleep.

Kach, Jonathan and Two Monkeys Travel are all listed on the Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, vloggers, journalists and opportunities.

Lloyd and yaya

The official number one travel blog in the UK: Hand Luggage Only

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Hand Luggage Only is written by Yaya Onalaja-Aliu and Lloyd Griffiths, two travel lovers who met at university. In under four years, the two have become giants of the travel blogging world, winning Best Travel Blog at the Vuelio Blog Awards 2017 and now topping the world-famous Top 10 UK Travel Blogs. Oozing the writers’ charming and fun-loving personalities, Hand Luggage Only has wowed audiences with its stunning photography and real-life travel reviews.

We caught up Yaya and Lloyd to chat about the travel blogging community, ‘leaning in’ to the destination you’re visiting and working with brands and PRs. 

What makes your blog unique?
Ironically, we think that the thing that makes Hand Luggage Only unique is actually the thing that makes it quite ‘normal’. For us, travel has been always about the experiences and focusing on what the destination has to offer so, rather than attempting to define a niche topic to focus on, our blog is unique as it cuts across several different ways to travel. We allow the destination to be exactly what it is, not what we’d want it to be – whether that involves active hiking to see amazing sights or just relaxing on a picturesque sandy beach.

That’s always been the most important thing for us (when we travel), to really savour and relish the beauty of new and exciting places.

We try to never have any preconceptions on places we visit. We keep an open mind, which always allows us to lean into the destination and that’s the most important thing to us.

How has travel blogging changed since you started?
Gosh, travel blogging has changed considerably over the last few years. I mean, the principles are the same but the methods in which we share our experiences is constantly changing. With the advent of new platforms and offerings like IGTV, there’s always something new to learn and new ways of sharing our experiences.

That being said, we’ve also noticed lots of new travel bloggers in recent years emerging with lots of different backgrounds, cultures and insights. One of our favourite things about blogging is how it democratises travel and having a more diverse mix of people being part of the conversation is fantastic. It really does help provide a more balanced view of the world and helps provide new and interesting insights on travel as a whole.

Lloyd and Yaya

What’s the community of travel blogs like to be part of?
It’s very fun and very open-minded. I think the general nature of travel means that the community is filled with fun-seekers who are curious about the world around them and absolutely open to learn about everything available to them.

The thing that’s really lovely about travel blogging is that pretty much everyone is in it because they’re passionate about travel. There’s this innate curiosity in the community that means that everyone is excited to read each other’s posts, to share their own experiences and essentially help each other see more of the world.

What’s the best travel experience in the world?
I don’t actually think there’s one ‘best’ travel experience in the world. Travel experiences are so relative. Some people like switching destinations constantly while others like returning to the same place; some people like it hot while some like it cold; some people want to chill while others want active adventures – sometimes the same person wants all of this, just at different times of the year.

My point is, the goalpost for ‘best’ keeps changing so it’s hard to define one specific type of travel experience that is best. What perhaps is common with some of our fondest travel experiences is back to our point of setting no expectations for a destination and just leaning into what it is. You could return to the same destination 10 times in a row and have different experiences every single time (like we have in Amsterdam) and so it’s important to shake off any pre-conceived notions and find your own path to fun every time you travel.

What’s the best mode of transport you’ve ever experienced?
Probably paragliding into Switzerland. While in France, we headed up to the hills and ran off the cliff with an instructor who guided us over to Switzerland. It was so much fun!

What’s your scariest experience while travelling?
Probably snakes! Lloyd really doesn’t like snakes and while we were in Sri Lanka I was playing about on his phone and nearly walked onto a snake that was bathing on the road. He still shakes thinking about it. Ha!

What should PRs know about you?
I’m not sure. I guess that we are pretty open minded and always flexible in how we work with people. No two destinations or brands are exactly the same, no two people are and so it would be unrealistic to expect two projects to be.

We always see collaborations as a two-way conversation (not just one party telling the what to do or not do), which always helps when working with brands.

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What are the best campaigns you’ve worked on?
There are so many amazing campaigns we’ve worked on, especially with a destination focus. We love our long-term partnership with KLM, Germany, Canada and with Visit England as ambassadors.

That being said, we also love our campaign with Apple where we are able to share not just out love of travel but also photography tips and tools we use with other like-minded travellers.

Do bloggers need their own industry association?
There would be a real benefit to this. An industry association or some sort of body would certainly be welcomed in a very new and often changing industry as it can really be of a lot of value to help standardise practices in what can be a pretty fragmented environment.

What other blogs do you read? 
That’s difficult to answer because I’m a big link clicker from other channels such as Twitter or Instagram, so I can find myself on some really obscure blogs. I veer away from the ones that don’t give any real opinion or always love everything… they’re just not that useful or authoritative without a point of view.

Lloyd, Yaya and Hand Luggage Only are all listed on the Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, vloggers, journalists and opportunities.

Relevance International

Relevance International’s Suzanne Rosnowski named Forbes Agency Council Member

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Suzanne Rosnowski, founder and CEO of global agency Relevance International, has been appointed as a member of the Forbes Agency Council.

The Council is a curated network of successful senior-level executives in public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. As a member of the Council, Rosnowski will become a regular contributor to Forbes.com, discussing trends in the communications and marketing industry, providing thought leadership and giving insight on industry-related topics. Regular Vuelio webinar audiences will be familiar with Rosnowski’s direct and passionate style that takes in the full PR spectrum.

Rosnowski said: ‘Forbes is one of the most iconic media companies in the world. It’s an honor to join its Council and be able to share my professional experiences with like-minded individuals who understand the landscape in which we work every day.

‘It is a very exciting time in the industry and it’s a privilege to be given this platform to discuss issues affecting communications today.’

Forbes Agency Council recruits members based not only on their career success but also their diversity of perspective. Rosnowski, who opened Relevance New York in 2012, and has since built a global affiliate network, expanded the company with a second location in London last year, rebranding as Relevance International. The agency caters for some of the world’s most prestigious luxury brands in real estate, hospitality, travel, design luxury goods and corporate PR, and recently added a digital division to its services.

Relevance International is one of the fastest growing public relations agencies in New York. We have previously spoken to Rosnowski about growing a global agency and the issues facing the modern PR professional. Her career history takes in lifestyle, government and healthcare comms as well as a stint doing PR in Hong Kong. She has won a number of awards, which is not surprising considering it is her personal drive that pushes Relevance International past new and exciting boundaries.

CIPR NHS 70 70

NHS comms staff receive a birthday present from the CIPR

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A joint agreement between the NHS and the CIPR will see NHS communicators receive special discounts and offers with the CIPR to commemorate the seventieth anniversaries being celebrated by both organisations.

The NHS was formed in Manchester on 5 July 1948 in what is now Trafford General Hospital, just five months after the CIPR was founded in St Bride’s, Fleet Street in London.

The agreement means NHS employees are entitled to a £70 discount off the first-year joining fees with the CIPR. NHS employees can also take advantage of a 10% discount on CIPR training workshops, with further discounts available for on-site in-house training.

Sarah Hall, President of the CIPR, recently published the third edition of her #FuturePRoof series, which exclusively focuses on communications within the NHS. Commenting on the deal with the National Health Service, she said: ‘We often talk about the drive to professionalism and our aspiration for membership of a professional body to be a prerequisite for employers.

‘This is an important step in that direction for one of the UK’s largest employers on its seventieth anniversary and I hope many of the NHS’s hardworking comms professionals will be inspired to take advantage.’

Rachel Royall, director of communications at NHS Digital, said: ‘Over the last 20 years I’ve benefitted from professional networks, training, qualifications and I’ve also met some of my closest friends through the CIPR. As a communicator in the public sector it is great to learn from professionals across the broadest spectrum of industries and backgrounds and to bring that learning back into my role as a communicator in the NHS.’

The announcement has been timed with the release of the third and final episode of the CIPR’s Platinum Podcasts series, which mark the Institute’s 70th anniversary and its upcoming commemorative book Platinum.

The last podcast explores the challenges facing modern public-sector communications and features Jen Robson, head of communications for the North East Enterprise Partnership and Liz Davies, head of communications at South Tyneside & City Hospitals, Sunderland NHS Foundation Trusts.

You can listen to the podcast here, and find out more about the NHS offer here. 

PRCA

PRCA pledges £50K to Taylor Bennett Foundation

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The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) has pledged £50,000 towards PRCA membership and training fees to alumni of the Taylor Bennett Foundation’s new summer internship scheme.

The Taylor Bennett Foundation was established in 2007 and provides training, mentoring and internships for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) students and graduates to encourage them to pursue a career in communications and improve ethnic diversity more broadly in the comms industry.

The Summer Stars scheme is for 35 BAME students and graduates, who will complete a week of lectures at the London College of Communication, followed by a minimum of four weeks on a paid PR work placement. A number of high-profile corporate firms and PR agencies have signed up to take part in the programme, including Facebook, Barclays, British Airways, Porter Novelli, Brunswick, Text 100, and The Academy.

The PRCA’s recent 2018 census revealed that the industry is very slowly improving its ethnic diversity but there is clearly still a great deal that needs to be done for the sector to be truly diverse – particular as a majority of the industry is based in London, a city famous for its diversity, where the PR and comms industry is still 71% white British.

Francis Ingham, director general of the PRCA, said: ‘We’re delighted to offer the alumni of the Foundation’s Summer Stars scheme the opportunity to benefit from the £50,000 of funding we have set aside for them to access PRCA membership and training. We are constantly striving to improve diversity within the PR industry, and this offer will give the interns access to industry renowned talent and resources to help them progress their careers further.

‘As it is our charity of the year, I implore members to be generous with their time and knowledge when it comes to the Taylor Bennett Foundation.’

Sarah Stimson, chief executive of the Taylor Bennett Foundation, said: ‘This is an incredibly generous offer from the PRCA, which continues to be a huge supporter of the Foundation and of taking practical action to improve ethnic diversity in the communications industry.

‘The interns will benefit enormously from access to membership and training and are very excited about starting their career journey in communications. The Summer Stars programme has been designed to encourage more BAME students and graduates to consider communications as a viable career choice and we hope the combination of training and practical work experience will be instrumental in opening up PR job opportunities at entry level to people from more diverse backgrounds.’

Amanda Coleman

Crisis Comms webinar: People should be at the heart of your crisis communications says Greater Manchester Police’s Amanda Coleman

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People – and their welfare – should be at the heart of your thinking when reacting in a communications crisis says Amanda Coleman, the head of corporate communications at Greater Manchester Police.

Ultimately, if you consider your actions and the impact they have on people, then you are doing the best thing for your company, she told the audience of our recent webinar Crisis Comms – Lessons from Greater Manchester Police.

‘People have to be at the heart of what you are doing. Most importantly it is the people affected – by the incident – and the wider public. If you have people at the heart of your thinking, you are likely to make the right decisions,’ she stressed.

‘We talk a lot about the plan, processes and procedures – and they are important – but you have to have people at the heart of it all.’

Coleman, who has been in her role during some challenging times for Manchester – including the 22 May Manchester Arena terrorist attack last year – said the focus on people should include support for the comms teams working in a crisis.

Initially, as events unfolded after the attack last year, she explained that the comms team at Greater Manchester Police worked 12-hour shifts, were undertaking ‘draining and emotional jobs’ and needed to be supported too. They showed how resilient they were, she added.

She said that investigating the opportunities for further support from other police forces in the UK was part of her ongoing planning for the future.

In the webinar, Coleman set out the key principles of crisis communications and answered questions from the audience. Two key areas she covered were:

• Planning and preparation are essential for crisis communications but you have to be flexible if a crisis occurred. Lessons in communications were taken from other incidents in London, she said, but Manchester is unique and some things are done differently. ‘You can look at the risk areas but you have to have flexibility to adapt when you respond to a crisis,’ she explained.

• The importance of speed in your first response to breaking news. ‘When we had the Arena attack the speed of getting the first response out was crucial’, she said.

‘Crisis communications is such an important area and you do need to be ready for it’, Coleman added.

A recording of the webinar, together with copies of Amanda Coleman’s presentation, will be available next week.

The Formula for Influence?

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The PHA Group recently published its Influence Formula, new research that aims to determine how influential any brand or business truly is. Vuelio, which is no stranger to measuring influence, joined the launch event to discuss how different people measure influence in different ways.

The Vuelio Influencer Rating, used to score and rank media professionals from journalists to bloggers, uses over 40 data points and our proprietary AI to determine a unique score for individuals in our Influencer Database. The PHA Group formula takes a different approach to measuring influence – it focuses on organisational influence, uses a panel of consumers, and bases its measurement on 12 distinct elements:

  • Trust
  • Relevance
  • Communication
  • Experience
  • Leadership
  • Core values
  • Impact
  • Simplicity
  • Inspiration
  • Challengers
  • Heritage
  • Emotion

The first three – Trust, Relevance and Communication – were determined to be the most important by The PHA Group’s research group.

All relationships are built on trust and for The PHA Group, this is fundamental for the formula. Trust is a common part of influence measurement – it is one of the Reputation Institute’s (RI) RepTrak measurements, which also include ‘Esteem’, ‘Admire’ and ‘Feeling’. RI measures reputation rather than influence, but the two are inextricably linked.

At Vuelio, our Influencer Rating is used to identify individuals our users wish to build relationships with rather than to determine the current status of that relationship. This shows the different stages of influence as it is consumed by an audience – initially influence is used to attract consumers/clients/PRs (which is where the Vuelio Influencer Rating comes in) then it is used to justify reputations (what RI does) and show areas of strength and weakness (part of how The PHA Group is measuring it).

Klout was probably the most famous example of the first stage of influence consumption – used to publicly rank people on Twitter. The recent downfall of Klout was attributed to the advent of the GDPR but it had already lost its own influence through loss of trust and its declining reputation. While it is unclear what the Klout formula was, it is clear it had its flaws as it often ranked noisy people over genuinely influential people. Klout was one of the data points for our AI-led Influencer Rating, but it was just one of many, which is why Klout’s demise didn’t materially affect the Rating.

Back to human intelligence, The PHA Group worked with a statistician to create the final Influence Formula, based on the 12 elements. The formula looks like this:

Formula

There are three ways The PHA Group believes the formula can be used:

  1. To establish whether UK businesses or brands are focusing their efforts in the right areas to ensure they are maximising their influence
  2. To benchmark the level of influence across UK businesses, brands and sectors
  3. To track national, industry or brand level trends

To put it to the test, The PHA Group used the formula on Forbes’ Top 5 Global Brands of 2017: Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Coca-Cola.

So, what were the results?

Google came out on top, with a high score for ‘relevance’; Apple was second, noted for its high score in ‘instilling emotion’; Microsoft was third; Coca-Cola fourth; and Facebook brought up the rear in fifth. Facebook was considered the least likely to be a ‘challenger’ and the ‘most untrustworthy’ – and this was before the recent troubles it has faced.

The PHA Group believes the formula will have a multitude of uses for the comms industry, from being able to identify how a brand is performing and where it needs to improve, to using the score as a measurement for the evaluation of comms activity.

The last point is surely the Influence Formula’s crowning glory; what brand wouldn’t want to know how influential it is and measure how that changes – especially when compared to the competition?

If you’d like to find out how influential your media contacts are, check out the Vuelio Media Database.  

Coming home

6 PR Goals for a winning 90 minutes

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Want to go one better than England? Score six quick PR goals in the next 90 minutes AND keep a clean sheet.

1. Research, research, research
No journalist, blogger, member of the public or politician is going to take you seriously if they don’t think you know what you’re talking about. In-house? Take 15 minutes to read the latest news and features on your company’s sector. Agency? If you specialise in a sector, great, take 20 minutes to read about the latest news – especially anything that’s about your clients. No specialism? Focus on just one area you have important clients in; you can catch up on the others later, tomorrow or next week.

2. Grow your network
Take 15 minutes to find new contacts that are relevant to your sector. Make sure their bio says they work with comms and check out their latest content to see if it’s a good fit for a future pitch (football or otherwise). If you grow your network by just five people each week, you’ll know an extra 260 people at the end of the year.

3. Send out a comment
It may be one of the simplest press releases to create, but journalists are always keen to hear from experts to add colour and richness to the news. If you work in sport, you should be all over this after the weekend saw the Queen’s tennis final, Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the French Grand Prix and signs from the World Cup that football possibly IS coming home. If sport’s not your thing, check out the political headlines, or any news headlines and see where your management or clients could intelligently add to the news agenda. And check what’s coming up; planned events (whether it’s the World Cup or otherwise) give you time to plan comments in advance.

Half time
Take a break and have lunch – you’re only human.

4. Check out the competition
Don’t make this an obsession; it can be easy to be so focused on your competitors that you lose sight of what you’re doing (and probably doing well). Take 20 minutes to run through your competitor monitoring, see what’s being said, and check if they’re controlling the conversation or if the conversation is controlling them. Staying on top of the competition is a great way to benchmark your own brand, spot opportunities and avoid abject failures.

5. Prove your worth
How often do we hear that PR and comms have to prove themselves to get a seat at the table? Why won’t the c-suite take our industry, and its value to their business, seriously? Take 25 minutes to prove your worth by putting together proof of your success, and show how you are meeting your objectives. Maybe you’ve achieved coverage, maybe you’ve got your CEO on TV, maybe sales have increased off the back of a viral campaign, or maybe your business is now the number one in your sector. Whatever it is, measure it and own it.

6. Call Vuelio – 0203 426 4125
We’re in stoppage time, but that’s okay because it only takes one minute to call Vuelio and get the software you need to achieve your goals. Want a database of amazing media and political contacts, with detailed bios to help you target them? No problem. Need a distribution service that targets your network and includes special features so you are GDPR compliant? Easy. How about monitoring that keeps track of your sector, your company and your competition so you know what’s being said and by whom? Certainly. And high-level analysis, showing levels of coverage and campaign success, with beautiful reports and presentations that can be shared with a simple link? Naturally.

Vuelio has everything you need to make your life easy and takes the pressure out of the game. Whether it’s our Influencer Database, News Distribution or Canvas – Vuelio’s integrated software is in your starting XI so you know you’re guaranteed a win.

Five Things: World Cup, Influencers, Goals, Trump & Trump

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This week’s Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed immediately breaks a promise we made last week, and features stories on the World Cup, influencers, brands using goals for donations and the two Trumps.

1. Most watched TV

World Cup

Last week, Five Things promised not to cover the World Cup because it was taking place across a whole month. This week, our top story is England’s opening game becoming the most watched TV event of the year, surpassing the royal wedding. Sorry for lying.

An average audience of 13.7m tuned in to watch England thrash* Tunisia 2-1, with a peak audience of 18.3m in the closing minutes. It was the most-watched England World Cup match since the famous* 2-2 draw against Sweden in 2006, and the ninth highest viewing figure for an England World Cup match ever.

Back of the net!

 

2. Unilever tackles fake influence

Unilever

Keith Weed, CMCO at Unilever, is no stranger to hitting the headlines, having recently threatened to withdraw the company’s digital adverts from platforms that fail to deal with hate. This week, Keith has attacked influencer fraud, saying: ‘The key to improving the situation is three-fold: cleaning up the influencer ecosystem by removing misleading engagement; making brands and influencers more aware of the use of dishonest practices; and improving transparency from social platforms to help brands measure impact. We need to take urgent action now to rebuild trust before it’s gone forever.’

Keith made three pledges:

  • Unilever won’t work with influencers who buy followers
  • Unilever has promised its own brands will never buy followers
  • The business will prioritise partners who increase their transparency and work to eradicate nefarious practices throughout the digital ecosystem

As the practice of buying followers and then selling your accounts as influential is fraud – the first two shouldn’t be surprising, though they are still likely to have an effect on the market. It’s the third one, and how Unilever plans on identifying fake influencers, that will really change influencer marketing around the world. While it is very unlikely to signal the end of influencer marketing, it is likely to cause a shift in the way businesses deal with the rise of the influencers, and it should be felt at all levels. Hopefully, it’ll just get rid of the fakers, but all remains to be seen.

 

3. Goal donation

Betting

‘Not ANOTHER World Cup story?!’ Again, apologies.

Two companies have recently hit the headlines for what, on the surface, seem to be very similar campaigns, but each has provoked a very different reaction.

Mastercard announced that for every goal scored by Messi or Neymar Jr (up until 2020), the company would donate 10,000 meals for children in Latin America and the Caribbean. The announcement was criticised by people who have compared it to the Hunger Games. As reported by Campaign, comments have been broadly negative, including: ‘This is the biggest PR own goal in a long time’.

At the other end of the spectrum is Paddy Power. The famously cheeky betting company has announced that for every World Cup goal scored by host nation Russia, the company would donate £10,000 to LGBT-related football causes. This not only fits in with Paddy Power’s existing marketing style, it also takes a hit at Russia’s anti-LGBT laws and raises money for good causes. The betting company has partnered with the Attitude Magazine Foundation in order to carry out the donation, which is again a shrewd move to make sure the campaign was received in the right way.

Paddy Power’s ‘From Russia With Equal Love’ donation is currently at £80,000, and the brand has personally thanked the top scorers for contributing so much.

 

4. I really don’t care, do u?

Flotus coat

Tone deaf or genuinely heartless? Melania Trump has been photographed on her way to see a ‘migrant child detention centre’ (think of that as a venue title) wearing a coat bearing the words ‘I really don’t care, do u?’. The jacket was a surprisingly cheap (in FLOTUS terms) $39 from Zara. Her spokesman said ‘there was no hidden message’ in the coat. Donald Trump then tweeted the message was about the Fake News Media.

The BBC has put together a list of five things (that’s our concept!) the coat message could be about: it is just a jacket, it’s about the fake news media, it’s a message to her husband, she was dressing down, or she actually doesn’t care about the children at the border. What is clear is that the move is a PR disaster that’s gained a lot of attention (again, this has been suggested as another possible explanation because it’s drawing attention away from the real issue: child migrants separated from their families at the border).

 

5. The other Trump

Time Magazine

Not to be outdone by another Trump, POTUS rounds off the top five. Time magazine has once again featured the President on its front cover, though this one is unlikely to be framed on his office wall. Featuring the President standing over one of the migrant children who was assumed to be in the process of being separated from its mother (now revealed to not be the case), the caption reads: ‘Welcome to America.’

The disaster that is child migrants at America’s border is catastrophic and, from a comms perspective, it’s one of the year’s most poorly handled crises (which is saying something). Trump is due to visit the UK in July, and this latest scandal has heaped more pressure on the UK Government to act. Roll on 13 July.

 

Did we miss anything? Let us know on Twitter. 

 

*Lols

Northamptonshire County Council and Greater Manchester Police take home awards at PSCA 2018

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Northamptonshire County Council and Greater Manchester Police were among the winners at the UK Public Sector Communications Awards (PSCA) last night (Wednesday June 20).

Northamptonshire County Council won the Integrated Communications Campaign of the Year award, which was sponsored by Vuelio, for its One Thousand Shoes initiative, which uses footwear as a theme showing the high number of children in care in the county.

According to the PSCA judging panel, One Thousand Shoes was ‘a great concept which demonstrated originality and was highly interesting. It was creative and simply brilliant, striking an emotive yet important tone.’

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) won Communications Team of the Year at the event which the organisers say celebrate and reward excellent communication strategies and campaigns, teams and individuals in local and national government, emergency services and not-for-profit bodies from across the UK. We’re delighted that the award-winning Amanda Coleman, who is head of corporate communications at GMP, is joining Vuelio for a webinar to discuss crisis comms, on Tuesday 26 June.

Derbyshire Constabulary (Give them a Christmas to remember… for the right reasons) and Portsmouth City Council (Nightmare rental) carried off the Social Media Campaign of the Year and the Social Media Marketing of the Year at the awards, respectively.

Other winners at the event, which featured 22 separate categories and was held at the Montcalm hotel in London’s Marble Arch, included Tameside Council Communications Team (Local Communications Team of the Year) and Ecorys UK (Public Spirited Agency of the Year).

Find more information on the PSCA 2018 winners here.

British Beauty Blogger

Interview with British Beauty Blogger, Jane Cunningham

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Jane Cunningham is behind one of the UK’s most popular and successful beauty blogs (ever!). British Beauty Blogger has always been consistently ranked as one of the UK’s top beauty blogs, and Jane’s knowledge and expertise when it comes to products, is hard to match.

We spoke to Jane about the future of the beauty industry, PR trips, working with brands and the importance of having a point of view.

What makes your blog unique?
It’s a reader-first blog, so I’m writing as a resource for people who read it rather than writing for brands. It’s also not really about me, but about the products. I tell the truth as I see it about beauty products – the good, the bad and the absolutely dreadful!

British Beauty BloggerHow has your blog changed from when you first started to now?
Apart from physical changes to keep the style contemporary, it hasn’t changed that much. It’s stayed as it started – a beauty product review site with industry insider insights.

What is the biggest trend in the beauty world right now?
Glossier! That whole ‘less is more’ trend is starting to gain momentum – it’s a pared back, basic approach that’s really appealing hard to a certain demographic who’d rather not clutter their apartments with piles of ‘stuff’ or have lengthy routines that use up precious time.

What will the next big thing in beauty be?
‘Clean’ beauty is gathering apace – a more holistic, natural approach rather than high-tech and complicated. Consumers also want to see brands giving back to the environment and communities so the more ‘good’ brands do outside of their immediate remit, the more they’ll be perceived as good players in the environmental global community. A lot of brands are focusing on ‘waterless’ to minimize using water – i.e. dry shampoo, soap bars, bar conditioners and shampoos for the near future.

How do you split content between text/video/audio?
My main channels are my site, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I occasionally knock out a Facebook Live but I completely favour text now; I don’t feel any pressure to start a podcast!

What’s your favourite beauty brand?
I don’t have an absolute favourite because I see so many, but brands that always grab my attention are Chanel, BioEffect, Lanolips, Urban Decay, Shiseido and Marc Jacobs. Probably more, but maybe you can see why it’s hard to have one single favourite!

How important are PR trips to your blog?
Not in the least important. They can be lovely to do but you never quite know the agenda before you get there so they can really go either way in terms of being heaven or hell!

Reach-the-right-influencers-with-the-Vuelio-media-database

Do bloggers need their own association like other industries have?
I don’t see how it’s possible to implement. Blogging is just a part of the bigger social media picture now and I can’t see what the benefit could be when we’ve managed without for so long. Bloggers have to be self-regulating to a certain degree and it’s easy to spot those who aren’t, which leaves it up to brands to decide how they engage with that.

What should PRs know about you?
That I hate emails that begin ‘Hello Lovely’ and also that I’m not prepared to collude with an anti-ageing message. I’m pro-age; beauty isn’t one thing, it’s many things.

What are the best campaigns you’ve been part of?
L’Oreal True Match I think – it was great to be included in a diverse campaign where my age wasn’t relevant, my skin tone was.

What other blogs do you read? 
That’s difficult to answer because I’m a big link clicker from other channels such as Twitter or Instagram, so I can find myself on some really obscure blogs. I veer away from the ones that don’t give any real opinion or always love everything… they’re just not that useful or authoritative without a point of view.

Hayley Hall

Beauty blogging with the award-winning Hayley Hall

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Hayley Hall, the artist formerly known as London Beauty Queen, has been once again ranked as one of the top beauty bloggers in the UK. A leading member of the beauty blogging world for many years now, Hayley has twice won Best Beauty Blog at the Vuelio Blog Awards. Having relaunched her blog, including its now eponymous title, to reflect the change in her content, Hayley is going from strength to strength and remains a key figure in the industry.

We spoke to Hayley about being unique, the next big trends in beauty and working with PRs on long-term objectives.

What makes your blog unique? 
My tone of voice and the topics I cover; I try to be a ‘friend’ to my readers and talk to them just as I would in real life, giving them recommendations but also discussing the same topics that you probably would with your mates over a glass of wine. I’m not afraid of tackling taboo subjects and I like to be able to celebrate women that don’t fit into a societal size ‘normal’ too – people are very much sick of seeing carbon copies, so I hope to be able to offer a refreshing outlook and approach.

How has your blog changed from when you first started to now?
It’s changed completely. When I started it was all about what was new and what I was trying, whereas now it’s a wholehearted overview of everything in my life – the products I’m loving, what I’m wearing, where I’m going and what I’m thinking. Not only is my content a lot sleeker, but there’s a lot more of ‘me’.

London Beauty Queen

What is the biggest trend in the beauty world right now?
Personalisation – consumers want products to address their specific and changing needs, rather than being told they have to fit into three or four boxes.

What will the next big thing in beauty be?
New skincare textures; we’ve been seeing a move away from creams for a long time, but I think we’ll start seeing more water-like textures and lightweight products that deliver big.

How do you split content between text/video/audio?
It’s 99% text and imagery. I’m not huge on video, although I do have a podcast which is fun to manage.

What’s your favourite beauty brand?
It changes all the time – I wouldn’t be a good blogger if I had one I was biased towards!

How important are PR trips to your blog?
They’re great, but not essential, and they have to be relevant. It’s often fab to be able to fully immerse yourself in a brand or launch and get to really know it to ensure a long-term relationship, but they don’t guarantee anything. They should always be well executed and the objective long-term.

Do bloggers need their own association like other industries have?
I think it would be incredibly helpful, but a nightmare to manage. As it increases I do think some kind of regulatory body would be great, or some place to get all the advice and support you need.

What should PRs know about you?
That I need to feel important, ha! I need to know that you value my time and energy and that you’re interested in nurturing a long-term relationship, not out to just land as much coverage as you can. It’s transparent and, in a lot of cases, disrespectful of the skill we offer as content creators.

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What are the best campaigns you’ve been part of?
The ones that have offered me freedom to execute the objectives how I see fit, and the ones that offer more than just a single piece of content; brands I’ve loved working with have included Boots, Simply Be, Palmers, Philips and Aveeno.

What other blogs do you read?
Tons, but I’m always on the look out for new talent to follow. The interesting thing about blogging is that it’s never the end – it’s only just the beginning.

Hayley Hall and her blog, Hayley Hall, are both listings on the Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, vloggers, journalists and opportunities.

Relevance Digital

Relevance International Launches Relevance Digital

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Global PR firm, Relevance International, has launched a new digital arm to meet its global clients’ needs. Focusing on creating ‘industry buzz’ with captivating strategies across social platforms, including social media management, online reputation and other digital services, Relevance Digital will be headed up by Liz Chambers.

Chambers has worked in digital PR and social media for nearly 10 years and has been the digital strategist behind a number of luxury and consumer brands including Laura Mercier, Frédéric Fekkai and Shiseido Cosmetics. Relevance International famously caters for high-end luxury clients, whether that’s in real estate, luxury goods, hospitality or corporations.

Suzanne Rosnowski, CEO and founder of Relevance International, said: ‘A compelling digital strategy is crucial for every brand, no matter the industry. Creating a digital division was a natural extension of our existing capabilities. We built Relevance by marrying strategic media relations with brand strategy, and, in today’s world, the digital component is crucial to helping our clients differentiate in the increasingly competitive marketplace.’

Rosnowski has previously spoken to Vuelio about the rise of digital media, and making traditional and social media relations go hand in hand.

Chambers has specialized in account management, community management and social strategy for leading global brands and has a keen knowledge of the ever-growing influencer space. She said: ‘Relevance has established itself as a powerhouse in public relations, and now it’s time to add key digital services and deliver truly holistic approaches. A strong online footprint has solidified its place as a must-have for all brands, and I firmly believe clients get the most effective service when their digital and traditional PR teams are working in tandem under one roof.’

Relevance International recently opened its London office and shows no sign of stopping on its path to becoming the leading global indepent PR firm. Relevance Digital will be based in the New York office but work across all accounts, including The Royal Atlantis Residences Dubai, which the UK office recently helped win.

musicfootballfatherhood

The Mumsnet for dads: spotlight on top daddy blog MusicFootballFatherhood

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Elliott Rae is the founder of MusicFootballFatherhood, which recently joined the Top 10 Daddy Blogs ranking for the first time. With a diverse team of authors covering their own experiences of fatherhood, MusicFootballFatherhood has grown rapidly since it was started in 2016.

We caught up with Elliott to find out how the team finds time to write content, issues facing fathers in the UK, the appeal of a blogging association and how the blog works with PRs.

What makes your blog unique?
We are unique as we are a collaborative platform of different bloggers. We have a team of 14 diverse bloggers who write openly and honestly about their fatherhood journey while also providing a nice mix of football and music content.

​What’s the best thing about being a dad?
Oh, there are so many great things about being a dad! Seeing my daughter learn new things is always a highlight. The unconditional love is special and she most definitely keeps us entertained with the funny things she does!

​musicfootballfatherhoodHow are daddy and mummy blogs different?
Hmm, good question. I’m not sure if they are too different at all, except the obvious gender difference. I think both mummy and daddy bloggers are parents trying to figure out this parenthood thing and seeking comfort and fun in sharing their journey with others.

​How would you describe the daddy blogging community?
It’s great actually! All the dad bloggers are very supportive of each other, we celebrate each other’s successes and share around opportunities. It’s really nice to be part of a supportive network which is very much in contrast to the dog eat dog world we live in!

When do you create most of your content?
Our content is created by our team of contributors as well as myself. For me personally, I usually create content when I’ve got some time to myself (which is usually while I’m travelling on the tube!) and when I’m really compelled to share an experience or reflection. I’m also getting more into documenting stuff on Instagram stories, which I’m finding to be a really fun and spontaneous platform.

​What are the biggest issues facing dads in the UK today?
I think work life balance is a big one. Most dads want to have thriving careers while being involved parents. It’s hard to get the balance but there are ways to make it happen. Through our website and podcast we try to provide some inspiration and practical tips for people to reflect on. I think mental health is probably the other major issue at the moment.

​Do bloggers need their own association or industry institute (and why)?
It would be nice to have an association or institute, somewhere to go for legal advice, community and training. As a blogger, you can feel a bit lost sometimes so it would be nice to know there’s somewhere you can go for community and help with issues, like the recent GDPR where no one was quite sure what to do! This is a great idea, maybe Vuelio could lead the way!

​What one thing should PRs/brands know about you?
We are the coolest and most exciting platform for dads in the country! We have a unique and engaged audience so if you are looking to reach a diverse range of dads, come and see us.

Reach-the-right-influencers-with-the-Vuelio-media-database

​What are your favourite collaborations you’ve worked on?
We recently worked with Arsenal and their Junior Gunners which was a highlight and great fun. Other favourites would include the Emirates cable car experience and Memory Makers. These were all collaborations where we really enjoyed the experience and it was a pleasure to work with the respective PR teams.

​What other blogs do you read?
Between family, the blog, work and all the other things I do, I don’t have much time to read other blogs! I will usually click on a link on Twitter if an article looks interesting but I wish I had more time to follow other platforms!

Elliott, his team and the blog are all listings on the Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, vloggers, journalists and opportunities.

Fakebook

Does Facebook trust your comms strategy?

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Facebook is changing. We already know that teenagers are leaving the platform in droves, but now a study has revealed that fewer people are getting their news from social media, which is the first time these numbers have declined since records began seven years ago. Trust in the news media has been cited as a major cause, but what does that mean for you?

The rise of Instagram and Snapchat could explain Facebook’s lack of popularity among teenagers. Clearly the next generation’s love affair with social media is by no means over. But the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2018 has revealed that individuals are getting less news from social media, which is not surprising considering the typical content on visual platforms.

The report found the decline is nearly all down to ‘the discovery, posting, and sharing of news in Facebook’. So, as Facebook changes its algorithms to prioritise posts from friends and family, news – and the industry behind it – is losing out. The report did highlight marginal gains in people getting their news on Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat, but compared to Facebook, these are still insignificant as news platforms.

One of the biggest issues with online news is trust. More people are concerned about the rise of fake news and three quarters (75%) believe publishers have the biggest responsibility to fix the issue. Facebook is attempting to tackle this while also suggesting it is a publisher problem. The network is adjusting what content users see from third-parties in favour of ‘trusted sources’.

According the report, the UK’s most trusted news brands are, in order:

  1. BBC News
  2. ITV News
  3. Channel 4 News
  4. Regional or local newspaper
  5. The Times
  6. Sky News
  7. The Guardian
  8. Independent/i100
  9. The Daily Telegraph
  10. HuffPost
  11. Daily Mirror
  12. The Canary
  13. Daily Mail/Mail Online
  14. Buzzfeed News
  15. The Sun

So, should you adjust your strategy to target the most trustworthy brands? Well, yes and no. As ever with comms, it really depends on what you’re trying to achieve and why. If your story, or your client’s story, is a great fit for The Sun but not Channel 4 News, then your pitch probably won’t change. However, if you want to reach a big audience across all forms of media and be perceived in a certain light, then consider the newsbrands’ trustworthiness.

Perhaps the biggest lesson is you shouldn’t ever rely on one source, no matter how successful it has been in the past. It’s the same as any business risk – putting all your eggs in one basket is a high-risk comms strategy.

 

If you need a system that considers every platform and outlet, and helps you to integrate your communications strategy, you need Vuelio. 

you shouldn't have missed

Five Things – Trump, Vine, SNP, McDonald’s and M&As

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This week, Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed does not include the World Cup, despite Robbie Williams sticking his middle finger up to the world, because it’s going on for a month. We might mention the final (if England win). We are covering Trump meeting Kim, Jeremy Vine’s new show, SNP MPs pulling a stunt in the House of Commons, McDonald’s joining the anti-plastic-straw brigade and two massive mergers and acquisitions.

1. Trump Kim

Summit

Donald Trump had a whirlwind week – the man who turned 72 yesterday, insulted his allies at the G7 Summit, offended Canada and met North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un. While the last of these was an historic occasion, Trump being the first sitting President to meet a North Korean leader, many have pointed out that Trump has signed an agreement with North Korea promising economic support (among other things), while all North Korea has agreed to is a plan to denuclearise. Which they’ve promised before. Twelve times. If you’re after some explanation about what’s going on and why it’s good or bad (seems to be mostly the latter), check out #BBCdad Robert E Kelly’s Twitter feed.

 

2. Through the GrapeVine?

Vine

Matthew Wright said his goodbyes this week after 18 years presenting his Channel 5 show, The Wright Stuff. All in all, it was an emotional affair. But fans of current affairs programming on weekday mornings fear not, for a new host has been revealed. Jeremy Vine, king of playing devil’s advocate on BBC Radio 2, Egghead host and election night cowboy, will take up the role from September. More details, including the title, are yet to be announced, but it has been confirmed that Vine will continue to present his lunchtime show on BBC Radio 2 (which means fans will be able to catch him for a couple of hours in the morning on Channel 5, listen to him over lunch on Radio 2 and then tune in early evening to Eggheads for their full daily Vine fix).

 

3. SNP MPs pull PR stunt at PMQs

SNP

SNP MPs this week brought Wednesday’s PMQs to more people’s attention than usual, by staging a walk out. After some disagreement with John ‘ORDER, ORDER, ORDER, ORDER, ORDER’ Bercow, Ian Blackford, the party’s Westminster leader, got kicked out (some have suggested on purpose) and was then followed by his cohort, who mockingly waved goodbye. There was a mixed reaction on Twitter as to whether it was a shrewd move (‘if you’re ignoring the Scottish people, we’ll not take part in the charade’) or a desperate act of attention seeking. Either way, as a stunt, it gave PMQs a lot of attention and the SNP MPs a voice to explain why they did what they did. Whether it makes a difference to anything, remains to be seen.

 

4. McDonald’s kills off plastic straws

Straws

McDonald’s has announced it will replace plastic straws with paper ones in all of its UK and Ireland restaurants from September. The move, which is a huge victory for Blue Planet II (and latterly Daily Mail campaigning and Michael Gove making his mark as Environment Secretary), sees the end of McDonald’s’ serious single-use plastic habit that is currently burning through 1.8m straws a day. That’s every day and only in the UK and Ireland. Paul Pomroy, chief executive of McDonald’s UK and Ireland said: ‘The Government’s ambitious plans, combined with strong customer opinion, has helped to accelerate the move away from plastic and I’m proud that we’ve been able to play our part’.

 

5. Mergers and Acquisitions

AT&T and Time Warner

American supergiant, AT&T, has had its $85.4bn takeover of American supergiant, Time Warner, approved by a judge. This is seen as a blow to Trump, whose administration is against the deal. It’s also considered a watershed moment, with the floodgates possibly about to open on giant M&As in the States.

You wait all Five Things for a mergers story and then two come along at once.

Comcast has launched its official bid for Fox, in an attempt to scupper Disney’s own efforts. It has offered $65bn, which is significantly higher than Disney’s $52.4bn offer. This will be a long, drawn-out process, which will end without a clear winner being discernible. But for now, it’s mind blowing numbers and the future of the media landscape that, one way or another, is going to change forever.

Did we miss anything? Let us know on Twitter @Vuelio. 

Helen Reynolds

Vuelio at the Communications Conference 2018

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#CommsConf18 took place on Tuesday, kicking off the NHS Confederation’s annual conference and exhibition. The very best of internal and external communicators came together in Manchester to listen to, learn and share the latest thoughts on health comms and best practice for the future. Vuelio was delighted to join the Communications Conference 2018, and hear from some of the leading experts in health comms.

Host Helen Reynolds, from Social For The People and of Comms Cartoons fame, presented The Comms Unicorn, which ‘poos insights’, ‘flies over chaos’, ‘sweats engaging content’ and delights the NHS comms crowd.

Helen Reynolds

She also created cartoons for each speaker, including the This Girl Can campaign lead Kate Dale, comms2point0’s Dan Slee and CIPR president Sarah Hall.

This Girl Can

The This Girl Can campaign is known for its inspirational tv spots and advertising, but Kate was able to lift the curtain to give a behind-the-scenes look at how the campaign was put together, the challenges they faced and the difference they’ve made to women’s sports participation.

Comms 2point0

Dan Slee is always a favourite among comms audiences, and #CommsConf18 was no different. Using a variety of examples, Dan was refreshingly honest about digital comms: only use it when it’s appropriate and genuinely the best option, don’t just focus on Twitter and make sure you’re engaging with your audience, not just broadcasting.

He also highlighted this incredible thread from Rochdale Council responding to a ‘dig’ at the town.

FuturePRoof

CIPR President, Sarah Hall, has just released #FuturePRoof edition three, titled ‘The NHS at 70 with Lessons for the Wider PR Community’, making her an obvious choice for #CommsConf18. As ever, Sarah advocated best practice and the need for comms at all levels for the NHS to thrive. With 25 experts backing her up, it’s hard to disagree that comms is vital for the health service’s future.

As you’d expect, there was a lot of chat across social media for #CommsConf18, which we’ve gathered together in this Vuelio Canvas. To see the full Canvas, click here or on the image below.

If you’d like to make your won Canvas, and show off your coverage, share visual link or replace boring slides, get in touch. 

Communications Conference 18

Dadbloguk.com

Spotlight with top daddy blogger John Adams of Dad Blog UK

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John Adams is a leading daddy blogger who writes the award-winning Dad Blog UK. Winner of the Best Dad Blog at the Vuelio Blog Awards 2016, John has consistently been ranked in the Top 10 UK Daddy Blogs. With Father’s Day just around the corner, we caught up with John to talk all things daddy blogging, from spending time with the kids and finding time to post, to working with brands and being part of the incredible dad blog community.

What makes your blog unique?
What makes my blog unique is that I am a man living the equality dream. It’s my wife who works full time and provides materially for the family whereas it’s me who is in the playground twice a day doing school drop off and collection.

My blog has transitioned. A lot of dad bloggers are very focused on the earliest years of childhood but I’m now focused on the school years.

I remain the stay-at-home parent, but with both kids at school I dedicate more time to blogging. This is quite a common pattern for mum bloggers but not so with dads who are usually the ones working full time.

Dad Blog UKWhat’s the best thing about being a dad?
There are so many it’s hard to pick one. There is nothing quite like putting your phone away and simply spending time kicking a ball around a park or reading to your child. Spending one-on-one time with your kids is simply priceless.

Alas, we’re in the midst of a house move. This has totally dominated the past five months of my life. I’ve not spent the quality time I would have liked with the kids. I’m looking forward to correcting that balance over the summer holidays when we’re all moved in.

How are daddy and mummy blogs different?
This is a very good question. I think the big difference is that most dad bloggers are holding down full-time jobs so for the majority, it is a hobby with the occasional perk. For many mums, blogging is their main source of income or a way to promote some other business interest.

Needless to say, mums also excel at sharing their birth stories. I’m not too sure what us dads can do to rival mums at this game.

How would you describe the daddy blogging community?
The dad blogging community is generally very supportive. As you might expect it’s very diverse, taking in stay-at-home dads, working dads, same sex couples and so on.

There’s no question the dad blogging community is much larger than it once was and I see there is more competition than ever before. There’s also been a trend towards dads who put the majority of their content on Instagram.

The campaigns guys are working on and brands they’re working with are much bigger than they once were. It’s a further sign the dad blogging world has matured.

When do you create most of your content?
Things have changed for me over recent months. I became my kids’ main carer seven years ago, so my wife could focus on her career.

My youngest daughter, Izzy, is now at school so I can dedicate more time to blogging and producing content. Whereas I used to write mostly before the kids got up between 5am and 7am, these days I produce most of my content during school hours.

I still do 5am starts once or twice a week but it doesn’t happen every day. Sometimes I wish there were more hours in the day and days in the week!

What are the biggest issues facing dads in the UK today?
I think a lack of paternity pay is one of the biggest men’s rights issues of this era. Many men, as they’re the main earners in their families, simply cannot afford to take paternity leave and yet it’s one of the most crucial times in forming a healthy and lasting relationship with your child.

There’s also the ongoing issue with shared parental leave (SPL). We introduced a very weak form of SPL in the UK and it’s bitten us on the behind because, surprise surprise, men think they’ll harm their careers if they ask employers for time off to be with a newborn child. If you want detail, see this blog post I wrote a few months ago.

Dads also face many of the issues mums do. Discrimination at work, what to do about screen time, how to monitor tech your kids are using and so on. It’s not easy being a parent!

Do bloggers need their own association or industry institute (and why)?
Oh my word, yes, yes and yes again. Blogging is no longer ‘new media’. It is an established form of media and a significant amount of marketing spend makes its way to the blogging community.

This cuts both ways. We should have a trade association to ensure we are not taken advantage of by unscrupulous agencies and businesses. Likewise, if we had an association and had to abide by a code of conduct, it would give the PR world some reassurance they were dealing with credible, responsible bloggers.

We don’t have an authoritative voice to offer advice on issues like the GDPR or what we should do regarding disclosure of paid-for content and that kind of thing. We also have no one representing bloggers at a government or policy level. Considering how much money is invested in the creative industries, that’s a ridiculous situation.

I wrote about this for the Vuelio blog a little while ago, as did my blogging chum Tim of Slouching Towards Thatcham. It’s a discussion us bloggers need to have.

What one thing should PRs/brands know about you?
I have experience of working in PR so I can think like a PR rep and have a good idea of what agencies and their clients are trying to achieve. I am also a very experienced blogger and I think I can get away with saying that I have a high media profile. I regularly make print and broadcast media appearances commenting on parenting and lifestyle issues.

I am also flexible and thoroughly enjoy what I do. Don’t be shy, get in touch with me!

Reach-the-right-influencers-with-the-Vuelio-media-database

What are your favourite collaborations?
I worked on a superb campaign last year with Goodyear Tyres. A group of us went out to Luxembourg and were let loose on a test track to try out its Vector All Seasons tyre.

I also enjoyed working with Graco, which produces car seats, travel cots and the like. I tested a lot of products and we still use one of the Graco car seats I reviewed at the time. The campaign also involved working with agony aunt Suzi Hayman, who is just lovely.

Another great campaign was one I worked on for a small electric car rental company called EVR Go Electric. I tried out five different electric cars in five days. It was a very busy week but I learned a lot about electric vehicles.

What other blogs do you read?
Diary of the Dad written by Tom Briggs is one I come back to very frequently. Jo Middleton’s Slummy Single Mummy is a perennial.

I’m doing more and more on Instagram so thoroughly enjoying what @tobyandroo and @london_dad do.

Can I get away with putting a podcast on this list? I’m a huge fan of a US podcast called This American Life. I love its in-depth reports about life on the other side of the Atlantic.

John Adams and his award-winning blog are both listed on the Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, vloggers, journalists and opportunities.

Tim Liew

Leading daddy blogger Tim Liew on family, brands and community

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Slouching Towards Thatcham has steadily climbed its way up the daddy blog ranking and most recently reached the third spot. Written by Tim Liew, Slouching Towards Thatcham reports from the ‘frontline of fatherhood’ and features tales of Tim and his three kids. A popular figure among daddy bloggers, Tim is also well-known for his hilarious musical parodies. Tim told us about the daddy blogging community, how he likes to work with brands (including the fact he’s cheap!) and the many other blogs he likes to read.

What makes your blog unique?
For starters, I’m a dad, I work full-time and I’m Asian, which makes me a rarity in the parenting category. I also focus a lot on audio content. I hosted parenting podcasts for two-and-a-half years (although I’m currently taking a break) and, despite my less than stellar ability to hold a tune, I regularly write and perform parody songs about my experiences as a parent.

Tim LiewWhat’s the best thing about being a dad?
Just being there to watch the kids develop and grow. Our three are all so different: Isaac takes after his mum, Toby is basically my mini-me and Kara has a personality that is all her own. It’s incredibly rewarding to see them take some of the best bits of both their parents, while building their own unique skills and experiences. I think the best part is seeing them become more than just the sum of their mum and dad.

How are daddy and mummy blogs different?
I’m not sure they really are that different, insofar that I don’t believe there’s any such thing as a typical mum blog or a typical dad blog. 99% of the time we write about the same things. Okay, the male perspective on childbirth or period pains is never going to be the same as a woman’s. But even so, I think the biggest differences arise as a result of environment rather than chromosomes.

The blog of a mum in a traditional nuclear family is going to be very different from a single mother or one half of a lesbian couple. Similarly, my experiences as a 40-something working dad of three aren’t going to be the same as a 20-something stay-at-home father with a Down’s syndrome child. Fundamentally, we’re all parents with our own takes on this parenting life.

How would you describe the daddy blogging community?
Small but perfectly formed – and under-utilised. There are some fantastic dads with lots to offer in terms of their diverse parenting experiences and creativity, covering the LGBT, adoption, stay-at-home and autism communities among others. Brands are starting to appreciate the value of working with dads. We’ve come a long way in the past few years – but there’s still a wealth of untapped opportunity (and talent) out there.

When do you create most of your content?
I’m a night-owl so I do a lot of my writing late at night and at weekends. But I’m also constantly jotting down notes and taking and editing photos in spare moments during the day. Blogging is 24/7 – there’s no such thing as a 9-to-5 day.

What are the biggest issues facing dads in the UK today?
It’s a real challenge for modern dads to establish their place in a world that hasn’t always moved with the times. Many of us are deeply involved in all aspects of our children’s lives; in some cases as the primary carer. And yet, there is still a huge gap in societal attitudes towards dads, from the old ‘dad as babysitter’ jokes to baby-changing facilities and the low adoption of shared parental leave. That’s not to say that mums don’t face many issues of their own – of course they do – but too often dads are the forgotten half of the parenting equation.

Do bloggers need their own association or industry institute (and why)?
Yes! The blogging industry is getting bigger and more complex, faster than ever, with the rise of influencer marketing and the arrival of GDPR, among other things. I think a blogging association is desperately needed to help raise standards among bloggers and PRs, and to give brands the confidence that bloggers they work with are credible and professional. I wrote a piece outlining my thoughts on this topic for the Vuelio blog.

What one thing should PRs/brands know about you?
That I’m very selective about who I work with, simply because I don’t really focus on monetising my blog. I work only with brands I’m genuinely interested in, so any content I produce comes from a place where I’m passionate about the brand or what it stands for. (Also, I’m cheap!)

Reach-the-right-influencers-with-the-Vuelio-media-database

What are your favourite collaborations you’ve worked on?
I’ve worked on some fantastic projects over the years, but my personal favourite was the year I collaborated with Gadget Show Live because it meant giving the boys a fantastic experience too. They loved the show but they were particularly thrilled about something as simple as having press passes, which made them feel like VIPs. We even produced a podcast review of the show together afterwards. Those kinds of experiences are worth more than payment or product for me.

What other blogs do you read?
In the parenting niche there are too many to mention but my favourites include John at Dad Blog UK, Matt from Man vs. Baby and the incomparable Sarah of The Unmumsy Mum fame. As a long-suffering Arsenal fan, I also read Arseblog every day. And, as a former TV reviewer, I religiously read many of the major pop culture blogs/websites, although The A. V. Club is probably my go-to.

Tim and Slouching Towards Thatcham are both listed on the Vuelio Influencer Database along with thousands of other bloggers, vloggers, journalists and opportunities.

Amanda Coleman

Crisis Comms: lessons from Greater Manchester Police

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What if a crisis is a matter of when, not if? What if it’s unpredictable but inevitable? What can you do to make sure you expect the unexpected?

Amanda Coleman is one person who knows how to stay calm in a crisis. As head of corporate communications at Greater Manchester Police, Amanda has been through some challenging times, including last year’s Manchester Arena terrorist attack, the murder of police officers in 2012, the August 2011 riots and the death of a former chief constable.

From unexpected events that resonate around the world to local matters that affect ordinary people, Amanda has a wealth of experience in crisis comms and has learned valuable lessons from every crisis she’s been through. We’re delighted to say that Amanda will share these lessons with you on an exclusive webinar on Tuesday, 26 June.

Webinar: Crisis Comms – Lessons from Greater Manchester Police 
Date: Tuesday 26 June 2018
Time: 11:00 am BST 

In this webinar you will learn:

  • Best practice when a crisis strikes
  • Why your comms needs to continue after the crisis
  • How you can prepare so your organisation is never caught out

Amanda has over 25 years’ experience across journalism and communications, with the last 18 years spent in senior comms roles within the police service. She recently spoke about ‘communicating in an age of terror’ at the World Public Relations Forum and is keen to promote best practice for the entire comms industry.

If you work in PR or communications and have to deal with crises, or perhaps a crisis is yet to strike, then this is the perfect webinar for you – helping you prepare for the unexpected.