May 4th

Five Things: Cambridge Analytica, Sainsbury’s, Elon Musk, Wright Stuff and Kanye West

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HAPPY STAR WARS DAY. This week’s top five things you shouldn’t have missed includes Cambridge Analytica’s demise, Sainsbury’s PR mistake, Elon Musk’s sales call, the end of The Wright Stuff and the latest Kanye Kontroversy.

 

1. Farewell Cambridge Analytica

Demise

Just when you thought a company had really got to know you, it files for bankruptcy. Cambridge Analytica, which was at the centre of the recent Facebook data scandal, has commenced insolvency proceedings. The official statement blamed ‘unfounded accusations’, which led to it being ‘vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas’.

Thanks to the pesky media reporting on the one-way-mirror-equivalent of corporate transparency, ‘virtually all’ of the company’s customers and suppliers have been driven away. There are now questions being raised about whether Cambridge Analytica, or its staff, will rise from the ashes and continue to operate in the shady world of political profiling.

As for Facebook, the social giant seems to have managed to leave the scandal behind – its earnings and results do not reflecting a company in crisis. However, with plans to get into the online dating game – where the level of processed personal data is extraordinary – the data issues may not be over.

 

2. We’re in the money!

 

In PR whoopsie of the week, Mike Coupe, CEO of Sainsbury’s, was filmed singing ‘We’re in the Money’ from the musical 42nd Street. He was, at the time, waiting to be interviewed by ITV about his company’s proposed £10bn merger with Asda.

As reported by the Guardian (which, incidentally, is serving up sidebar ads for Waitrose next to the story), Coupe expects Sainsbury’s to make £500m in extra profit from the deal. In a follow-up statement from the company, Coupe is quoted as saying: ‘It was an unfortunate choice of song, from the musical 42nd Street, which I saw last year. And I apologise if I have offended anyone’.

Straight-faced, a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: ‘We all know these songs stay in your head. To attach any wider meaning to this innocent, personal moment is preposterous.’

Preposterous.

 

3. Elon Musk being Elon Musk

Tesla

Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, took the unusual move of agreeing to let a YouTuber ask a question during an earnings call. Gali Russell is an NYU grad student and retail investor who owns 54 shares in Tesla, which he says is ‘pretty much my entire portfolio’. He tweeted Musk with the backing of 150 shareholders to see if he could ask a crowdsourced question; Musk replied, ‘Ok’.

Musk used the YouTuber to avoid answering standard earnings-call questions from analysts about business and finance. While he was saying, ‘Boring bonehead questions are not cool. Next. We’re going to go to YouTube. Sorry, these questions are so dry. They’re killing me,’ Tesla’s share price was tanking.

Russell’s questions focused on tech and Musk encouraged him to ask more and more – in total the YouTuber managed 10 while on the call. This approach may be appropriately quirky for Elon Musk but it’s a misstep in terms of company PR – the analysts were unimpressed and still suggest Musk’s optimism for the company’s success is unfounded.

 

4. No more Wright Stuff

Matthew Wright

Matthew Wright, host of Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff, has announced he is stepping down from his role after 18 years. The weekday mornings current affairs programme is one of Channel 5’s flagships and the channel has confirmed the show may continue with a new name and presenter.

Wright blamed the demands on his personal life and said he and Mrs Wright, ‘pass like ships in the night’ as he goes to bed at 7pm and gets up at 3am. BBC’s media editor, Amol Rajan, paints a different picture. The former audience researcher on the programme said: ‘Matthew Wright always said to me that he would stop presenting The Wright Stuff when it stopped being fun.

‘Recently, it stopped being fun.’

He blames the fact the show’s production moved to ITN, which brought huge changes and meant ‘its jovial and fun spirit struggled to make the transition into a new culture’.

Whatever Channel 5 decides to do, come the end of June/early July, there will be a two-hour Matthew Wright-shaped hole in the schedule.

 

5. Kanye West

He may be an international superstar but surely Kanye West’s greatest achievement is now appearing on his second Five Things post – two weeks in a row! Last week we were discussing Kanye’s controversial opinions getting him into trouble after he praised President “We are both dragon energy” Trump. This week, Kanye has upset everyone during an interview with TMZ, by claiming slavery was a ‘choice’.

Kanye said: ‘When you hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years?! That sounds like a choice. You was there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all. It’s like we’re mentally in prison. I like the word ‘prison’ because ‘slavery’ goes too direct to the idea of blacks. Slavery is to blacks as the Holocaust is to Jews. Prison is something that unites as one race, blacks and whites, that we’re the human race.’

After he explains this radical viewpoint, TMZ staff member Van Lathan piles into Kanye for ‘not thinking’. Kanye tried to clarify his views on Twitter (where else!). I can’t believe anyone missed this, but if you did – here’s the video:

Polling day local elections

Political Headlines – local elections, by-election, John Bercow and departments in the dark

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Today’s Political Headlines include mixed local election results, Sinn Féin’s Órfhlaith Begley wins West Tyrone by-election, more claims against John Bercow and departments in the dark. 

Mixed results for Conservatives and Labour in England local elections
Results are coming in from the local elections across the country, with 150 areas electing councillors, including all London boroughs. The Independent reports that although early results indicated that Labour had made gains in London they failed to take key London councils such as Barnet, Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth and Westminster. The Guardian reports that on a varied night for the leading parties, early analysis suggested a 1% swing to the Conservatives outside London, but a swing to Labour in the capital.

Sinn Féin’s Órfhlaith Begley wins West Tyrone by-election
Sinn Féin’s Órfhlaith Begley has won the West Tyrone by-election. The poll was triggered by the resignation of Sinn Féin’s Barry McElduff in January. The turnout was 55.13%. The BBC reports that police arrested a man on suspicion of possessing a firearm with intent following an incident at a polling station in Greencastle. It is understood after handing over his ballot paper, the man produced what appeared to be a handgun.

Further claims have emerged against speaker John Bercow
According to The Guardian, Bercow has faced fresh allegations of bullying, with parliament’s former Black Rod saying John Bercow’s ‘intemperate behaviour’ is ‘unworthy of someone in such public office’. It comes as Downing Street backed calls for a full investigation into bullying in Parliament, after former private secretary Angus Sinclair claimed Mr Bercow had verbally abused him and smashed a phone on a desk in a fit of rage. 

Committee report finds that Defra and International Trade departments are ‘in the dark’ over Brexit preparations
The BBC reports that a report from the Public Accounts Committee has found that the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Department for International Trade face an unprecedented challenge in preparing for Brexit. The two departments appear to lack a ‘clear plan’ of priorities.

European parliament and commission to keep UK outpost at former Conservative HQ
The Guardian has an exclusive report explaining how the EU plans to defy Tory Brexiteers and retain its offices in London. High-profile Brexiters had called last year for the EU to hand back the large red-brick building that was previously Margaret Thatcher’s headquarters and the scene of her general election victories.

Vuelio political services can decode the confusing local election haze with bespoke political reports.  

Pr and comms stats

86,000 people work in PR and communications

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The UK PR and comms industry has grown nearly 4% since 2016, when the industry had just 83,000 people. New figures from the PRCA’s 2018 Census also reveal the industry is now worth £13.8bn, up 7% from 2016.

The comprehensive survey, which took information and views from nearly 1,700 respondents, was launched at Golin on Tuesday 1 May by PRCA director general Francis Ingham and PRWeek’s editor-in-chief Danny Rogers.

Among a whole host of detailed revelations, the study revealed the gender pay gap within the industry; something that’s been largely impossible up till now because most organisations don’t meet the 250-employee threshold set by the Government for mandatory gender pay gap reporting.

The average salary across the whole industry is £45,950, but for women it’s just £42,588 and men its £53,952. This 21% gender pay gap is even more shocking when we consider that 66% of the industry is female, suggesting that women fill the more common junior roles while men take the fewer senior roles.

This formed part of the discussion at the launch event, as both Ingham and Rogers were questioned about the gender pay gap. Somewhat putting the two successful men on the spot, an attendee asked what women could do to earn as much as their male counterparts. Both suggested through their own experience, it’s about asking for it and knowing your own worth, and suggested more pay transparency could be useful.

The census also looks at ethnic diversity, and reveals that 78% of the industry is white British, which is the first time it has been more diverse than the country (though it still falls short of the London diversity levels, where the majority of the industry is based). Beyond British, the industry is 89% white, which is a 2% decrease from 2016; no other ethnic grouping makes up more than 1%. There were no details on a diversity pay gap, which was later suggested by an attendee and Ingham agreed it would be looked at in future Censuses.

One of the most surprising areas of the census is the section on evaluation. It reports that 24% of professionals recognise the Barcelona Principles 2.0 over other valuation methods, while 12% still use AVEs. The use of AVEs is dropping, down 4% since 2016, but what’s perhaps more concerning is the lack of a replacement.

A huge 33% of the industry does not use any evaluation methods, while 20% use blended methods of existing frameworks and other tools or in-house models. As the post-launch discussion revealed, the industry is in desperate need for standardisation in this area, to prove its value and increase its professional status.

Ingham said that PRs would never be loved, but he thinks the industry should be respected. He likened the role of comms to that of finance or legal – you don’t need to be shouting about the work for people to know how vital it is. When asked if more could be done to regulate the industry to improve its reputation, Ingham pointed to the expulsion of Bell Pottinger from the PRCA last year, and said, ‘On the same day, 17 agencies joined the PRCA’.

The full report is available online, and allows an entire industry to benchmark both individual company practices and compare against everyone else in the market. Hopefully the positive trends we’ve seen toward a more diverse industry will continue, while those worrying signs of a lack of standardisation and professionalism will be addressed.

Relevance International

Relevance International wins The World’s 50 Best Restaurants

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Relevance International has won a four-way public relations pitch to be named global lead agency for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. The annual list of the planet’s finest dining experiences also includes a host of other awards from ‘Chef’s Choice’ to ‘Best Female Chef’.

Relevance has been awarded the brief, which includes global brand strategy, media and influencer relations, and event support for the 16th annual awards taking place on 19 June 2018, in Bilbao, Spain. It is the first time The World’s 50 Best Restaurants has hired a UK-US based firm to handle its PR strategy.

Hélène Pietrini, Director of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, said: ‘We selected Relevance International as our public relations firm knowing they will be an invaluable strategic and creative global communications partner for us, helping to position us as a tastemaker and enhance our global media coverage.

‘With their proven track record of representing hospitality and lifestyle brands around the world, the team at Relevance is perfectly positioned to support our interaction with the global culinary-savvy community throughout the year.’

Relevance has recently launched its Hospitality division in both London and New York, as the agency continues to grow around the world. Specialising in real estate, luxury goods, hospitality, design and corporate PR, Relevance International offers a unique level of client service on a global scale. Vuelio’s recent webinar with Suzanne Rosnowski, CEO and founder of Relevance International, revealed the agency’s ambition to move into more markets and represent more global brands in an increasingly globalised world.

Commenting on the latest client win, Suzanne said: ‘It’s an honour to be the appointed communications partner for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. We are very proud to be working with such a prolific brand that shines a light on emerging cuisines and the very best chefs and restaurants around the world.

‘From our office locations in both London and New York, Relevance will tap into our carefully curated global affiliate network, in order to give The World’s 50 Best Restaurants the attention it deserves at a global level. As well as being avid foodies, our team has a genuine love of all things food and travel, so this truly is the perfect account win for us.’

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants has benefitted from the rise in gastro-tourism and it is now considered a compass for fledgling gourmets who revel in its unique insight into global culinary trends and the fact it showcases incredibly skilled chefs.

One such chef is Clare Smyth, who has been named elit Vodka World’s Best Female Chef 2018. It is the first time the award has been presented to a UK chef, and is for her work at Core by Clare Smyth in Notting Hill, London. Perhaps best known for being Gordan Ramsey’s protégée, Clare has, for some time now, been a name in her own right. The recent award is the cherry on the top of Clare’s impressive rise, and has gained a great deal of attention in the global media.

Check out Clare’s journey to winning the award, which will be presented at The World’s Best 50 Restuaurants in June:

Make Wealth history

The number 1 green blog in the UK: Make Wealth History

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Jeremy Williams writes the Top UK Green Blog, Make Wealth History. Covering a whole range of environmental and sustainable issues, Jeremy believes that true change comes from the people. We spoke to Jeremy about the latest in green innovations, global environmental trends working with PRs.

What makes your blog unique?
I’m curious about lots of different things, so the blog is a fairly unusual mix of sustainability, development, politics, architecture, green tech and all sorts. And I focus on solutions. There’s plenty of bad news out there, and I’ll cover that, but I want the blog to inspire people to action rather than make them depressed about the state of the world.

Will we ever live in a fully sustainable world?
Yes, although there are two ways to end up in a sustainable world. One is to design it and shift towards it deliberately. The other is to wreck things so badly that industrial civilization becomes impossible. I’m a big advocate of the first approach, naturally.

What are the biggest eco/green trends at the moment that we should all be aware of?
For a long time, people have been predicting that renewable energy would fall in price until it became cheaper than fossil fuels, and then the shift could really accelerate. We’re at that point right about now. Look out in a couple of years’ time for a similar moment when electric cars cost the same as petrol ones.

How is technology helping us be more environmentally aware?
I’m a big fan of smart meters that allow us to see how much energy we’re using in real time. It definitely makes me more aware of what I’m using and how I can reduce it. I also really value phone apps that help me to identify birds, trees or wildflowers.

Who do you think has the most responsibility when it comes to the environment (individuals/industry/media/government etc)?
Responsibility is shared, but if you think about it, businesses won’t move unless the Government tells them to, and Government won’t move unless the voters call for it. So, it’s up to us to kick up a fuss.

How do you like to work with PRs and brands?
I’m fairly choosy about who I work with, as I often have to critique corporations or bad business practice, and I don’t want to be a hypocrite! But I do have regular book reviews and host affiliate links for books.

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

What are your favourite campaigns or collaborations that you’ve been part of?
I’m an ambassador for Kiva, the microfinance charity, and I love being able to point people to what they do.

What do you call yourself (blogger/content creator/influencer etc)?
I call myself a writer and campaigner if I’m talking about my broader work, as I also write books and research reports and all sorts of other things. But I’m happy to call myself a blogger when I’m talking about the blog.

What other blogs do you read?
There are lots that I check in on occasionally, but I’ll give a shout to Carbon Brief, Circulate News, From Poverty to Power and The Climate Lemon as some of my favourites.

Jeremy Williams and Make Wealth History are both listed on the Vuelio Database, along with thousands of other fantastic bloggers, journalists, editors, MPs and SpAds.

NHS

Political Headlines – breast cancer screenings, Windrush, Sajid Javid and the customs union

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Today’s Political Headlines include breast cancer screening failures, Government blocking Windrush disclosures, Sajid Javid siding with the Brexiteers and May’s ultimatum over the customs union. 

NHS breast cancer screening error
In a statement made yesterday by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, it was announced that around 450,000 women in England missed out on breast cancer screening due to a technical error. The Telegraph has reported that a nurse has accused the NHS of a ‘cover up’ after she and thousands of others fell victim to the biggest cancer scandal in the health service’s history. 

MPs vote against Windrush disclosures
The Guardian reports that the Government has defeated a Labour motion in the Commons seeking access to documents laying out the policies behind the Windrush crisis. Labour had hoped to force the Government to release documents about its immigration policy relating to people who came to the UK from Commonwealth countries. The Financial Times reports that the Prime Minister has announced an inquiry into what went wrong with the Windrush scandal, promising a review with ‘full access to all relevant information in the Home Office’.

Sajid Javid sides with hard-Brexiteers over the PM’s customs union plan
New Home Secretary and Remain voter Sajid Javid has switched sides to join Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and other Brexiteers in arguing that Mrs May’s preferred option for a customs deal should be ‘killed off’. The Telegraph reports that Theresa May has conceded that her plans for a customs partnership with the EU are ‘dead’ after senior Cabinet ministers turned on her during a crunch Brexit meeting.

May is being given an ultimatum by MPs over customs union
Sky News is reporting that Theresa May is facing huge pressure from pro-Brexit MPs as her feuding Cabinet ministers prepare to meet in a ferocious showdown on Government policy on customs. The Prime Minister’s so-called ‘Brexit war cabinet’ is meeting to attempt to reach a deal on whether the UK should leave Europe’s customs union or enter a ‘customs partnership’.

May and Corbyn clash over council tax bills ahead of local elections
The BBC reports that the two party leaders clashed yesterday over council tax bills ahead of today’s local elections. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Jeremy Corbyn said residents ‘paid more and got less’ from Conservative councils. But May said some residents in Labour-run Lambeth were paying twice as much council tax as those living in neighbouring Conservative Wandsworth.

Sajid Javid challenges Corbyn to condemn hard-left activists 
The Telegraph reports that Javid has challenged Jeremy Corbyn to ‘stamp on’ racist abuse coming from the hard left after the new Home Secretary was subjected to racially-charged abuse following his appointment, including being called a ‘coconut’ and an ‘uncle Tom’. 

PM calls for an investigation into claims of bullying by House of Commons speaker John Bercow
The Guardian reports that John Bercow, has come under mounting pressure after the prime minister called for new claims of bullying against him to be formally investigated. Bercow’s former private secretary alleged in a TV interview that the Speaker was prone to angry outbursts and obscene language.

TSB chief Paul Pester to forfeit £2m bonus in wake of IT meltdown
The Independent has reported that the Chief Executive of TSB will forfeit a £2m bonus payment in the light of an IT failure that left thousands of customers locked out of their accounts. Pester, as well as the bank’s chairman Richard Meddings, appeared before the Treasury Select Committee saying that they had received 40,000 complaints about the outage but did not know exactly how many of the bank’s 1.9 million online customers had been affected.

Vuelio political services can help you with your political needs.  

Brenda Cuby

Make your lives greener with The Green Familia

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Brenda Cuby is the author of The Green Familia, the family-focused eco blog that recently ranked in the Top 10 UK Green Blogs. We caught up with Brenda who told us about becoming more eco-friendly, society’s collective responsibility and working with brands.

What makes your blog unique?
We are aimed at those who wish to make green changes to their lives one step at a time.

Will we ever live in a fully sustainable world?
We need to believe in this and hope that by encouraging everyone to make changes that this will become a reality.

What are the biggest eco/green trends at the moment that we should all be aware of?
There is a shift in the plastic-free movements and this will keep pushing for those changes to be further followed through. The use of electric cars is something that is coming with all the major car companies now investing in this. As our natural supplies erode, we will see more people taking an interest in this area.

How is technology helping us be more environmentally aware?
Technology can be a big help with apps on your smartphone to help you control your heating, encouraging us all to be more eco-friendly.

Who do you think has the most responsibility when it comes to the environment (individuals/industry/media/government etc)?
We all have a collective responsibility to stand up and be counted. Individuals, by making changes to their buying habits, will force industry to make the changes needed. The media has a huge part to play and if they can showcase the valid and good reasons as to why we should all be turning our focus to a more ethical way of living then that is great, but again they will only do this if their paymasters i.e. industry, come on board. The Government should lead by example, if they made the changes needed to their departments it would soon filter down.

How do you like to work with PRs and brands?
I love to receive content from them that is unique and fits my audience, so I like them to work with me and not just send me any old press release.

What are your favourite campaigns or collaborations that you’ve been part of?
There have been many small Kickstarter companies like Ohyo bags through to the big companies like British Gas.

What do you call yourself (blogger/content creator/influencer etc)?
I call myself an ethical blogger.

What other blogs do you read?
My Zero Waste, The Rubbish Diet, Moral Fibres and Eco Thrifty Living to name a few.

CIPR

CIPR income rises to £4.3m

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The CIPR has announced a profit of £4.3m in its financial report, leading to the Institute’s biggest surplus in five years. The report shows that thanks to financial activity across 2017, reserves grew from £417,000 to £613,000.

The Institute cut costs from last year, which, coupled with strong gains across its Membership, Training and Qualification, led to a £230K rise in income. This is despite slight falls in income across its Awards, publishing, governance and groups.

Jason MacKenzie, vice president at the CIPR, said: ‘2017 was a landmark year for the Institute, across both quantitative and qualitative measures. 1,800 new members joined, member retention was higher than in recent years, our turnover was higher than for many years, our costs were down year-on-year, and we produced the largest surplus since 2013.

‘The drive to professionalism continued apace, with more members than ever before committing to continuing professional development, and numbers of Accredited and Chartered Practitioners growing strongly.’

The report also details a gender pay breakdown at the organisation, despite this not being a legal requirement (due to its size). The Institute is 57% female and 43% male but men are more likely to earn more money. Of the 13 men at the company, four earned more than £50K, opposed to the one female member of staff in the same bracket. Women also make up the majority of the lowest bracket: five women earn £15K-£25K opposed to two men.

The board and council are all volunteers so gender representation across the Institute is not completely linked to pay; both the current President and President-elect are female, and the board is majority female. The CIPR has made huge steps this year to improve the diversity of its board and the Institute is committed to reducing the gender pay gap in the PR industry, a pledge that is included in the CIPR Manifesto.

CIPR members have the opportunity to discuss the financial report at the Institute’s AGM in Newcastle on 12 July. The AGM is free to attend and features a talk from the former chair of the Social Mobility Commission, Alan Milburn. Find out more here.

Anne-Marie Lacey Debbie Sharratt

How to improve your influencer relations

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Good relationships are built on trust and transparency – and this is exactly what our next webinar will be exploring.

We are delighted to be joined by Anne-Marie Lacey, managing director of Filament PR and Debbie Sharratt, independent PR practitioner and blogger at My Boys Club, at 2pm on Tuesday 15 May, to talk about improving influencer relations.

Sign up to the webinar here

Giving both the perspective of the PR and the influencer, this unique webinar will provide our audience with an insight into what best practice truly means.

Anne-Marie and Debbie have also written a guest post for us on the topic of ethical and effective influencer relations, explaining how everything from the approach and the pitch to the work and results is improved when ethical best practice is employed.

One of the major areas of influencer relations is disclosure: when to disclose, how to disclose and why to disclose. Our webinar will decode this tricky area and make it easy for you to follow the rules. Anne-Marie and Debbie will also be providing real-life examples to help you get it right first time.

The webinar will also explore:

How to use the ASA guidelines, CAP code, Google rules and social media secrets
Ensure that you not only abide by the rules but that you’re taking advantage of all the opportunities these frameworks offer.

How ethical relationships can boost your brand’s reputation and ROI
It’s difficult to underestimate the importance of working ethically, which should not be seen as a chore but as professional advantage.

What to do if your influencers break the rules
Not everything goes to plan but if you’re working ethically but your influencers don’t want to, what options do you have?

 

We hope you can join us at 2pm on Tuesday 15 May, but if you can’t attend, don’t worry, you can sign up here and we’ll send you the recording either way!

Speaker

Political Headlines – Bercow accused of bullying, Government collapse, migration scandal and dirty money

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Today’s Political Headlines include Bercow accused of bullying, rebels threatening Government ‘collapse’, May rejected Rudd’s plans to exclude doctors from migration quotas and dirty money. 

Bercow accused of bullying by former private secretary
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Angus Sinclair, John Bercow’s former private secretary accused the Speaker of bullying. By speaking about his experiences, Sinclair was breaking the terms of a non-disclosure agreement signed in 2010, as part of a deal in which he was paid £86,250, but said that he felt that this was ‘in the public interest’. Bercow has denied the accusations, which follow similar ones about Sinclair’s successor, Kate Emms.

Eurosceptic MPs threaten Government ‘collapse’ over customs plans
The Daily Telegraph says that sixty Conservative MPs from the European Research Group led by Jacob Rees-Mogg have sent the Prime Minister a thirty page dossier opposing plans for a post-Brexit customs partnership with the EU, warning that the Government will ‘collapse’ if she continues with them. According to The Guardian, the Cabinet Brexit sub-committee will not decide on the policy today, in order to head off a rebellion.

May rejected plans to exclude doctors from migration quotas
The Financial Times reports that Theresa May rejected calls from Amber Rudd to exempt doctors coming to work in the NHS from quotas for highly skilled migrants and claims that the Home Office may have falsely accused up to 7,000 foreign students of faking their English proficiency and ordered them to leave the country. The Guardian says that Labour is to use a parliamentary procedure to try to force the Government to publish papers relating to the Windrush scandal, The Daily Telegraph raises fears of another scandal over the deportation of highly-skilled migrants for minor tax errors, and The Times reports that ministers are investigating claims that an official received a bonus for deporting illegal migrants.

Government backs down over ‘dirty money’ amendment
The Guardian says that the UK’s overseas territories will be forced to adopt public registers of company ownership by the end of the decade, after the Government conceded its support to a backbench amendment designed to hamper the flow of ‘dirty money’. The amendment was tabled by Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell and Labour MP Margaret Hodge.

Brexit thinktank founder accused of working for Russia
The Times reports that Bob Seely, a Conservative MP, has accused Christopher Chandler, founder of the pro-Brexit thinktank the Legatum Institute of being a suspected Russian agent. He cited security files, authenticated by French, British and American sources. The institute has dismissed the claims as ‘complete nonsense’.

Cabinet ministers warn that local elections could lock Tories out of London
According to The Daily Telegraph, cabinet ministers have privately warned that Thursday’s local elections could lock the Conservatives out of London ‘for a generation’, which could be ‘hugely damaging’ to Theresa May’s leadership. Conservative strongholds such as Westminster or Wandsworth could be lost, the paper suggests.

Hammond threatens to disrupt EU’s Galileo project
The Financial Times claims that Chancellor Philip Hammond wants to undermine the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation project by disrupting the transfer of encryption technology from the UK, following the EU’s decision to bar UK companies from sensitive parts of the project.

Home Office undermining modern slavery strategy, report says
The Times says that a Public Accounts Committee report finds that Home Office failings are undermining the Government’s modern slavery strategy. The report claims the department does not know if the strategy is working and is taking too long to turn it into action.

Vuelio political services are available to fulfil your political needs.  

Daily News

PR lessons from Trinity Mirror’s local media

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David Higgerson, digital publishing director at Trinity Mirror Regionals, recently tweeted about his company’s attempt to measure the success of content in a new way. In doing so, he provided the PR industry with a unique chance to learn how to reach local media.

Higgerson’s measurement method alone would be interesting for PRs looking at alternatives to the oft lambasted AVE. The fact Higgerson has singled out loyal readers means they’re likely to be local to the region, as opposed to someone who has stumbled across a regional news site. This method should also appeal to PRs as it focuses on content that has a high impact without necessarily being ‘right’ for publishers. For many PRs, the ‘right’ story is the one that has the biggest impact.

So, what stories top Higgerson’s list?

  • Woman abandoned on snowy dual carriageway at midnight after Delta Taxi blunder (Liverpool Echo)
  • Heartbroken family pay tributes to ‘cheeky, funny and caring’ Jordan killed on A63 (Hull Daily Mail)
  • ‘We don’t know if we can carry on’ Couple driven to the brink of divorce by their eight-year-old son’s fits of violence (Wales Online)
  • Baby died after mum was left with midwives who had never delivered twins before – because all the doctors were busy (Manchester Evening News)
  • Man tells of birth of baby son the day after his mum’s body was found (Belfast Live)
  • Newcastle United news RECAP – Besiktas star midfielder linked; details of Kenedy loan details (Chronicle Live)
  • Family in ‘financial ruin’ as insurers refuse to pay out after devastating house fire (Devon Live)
  • Biker dead and devoted dad in prison after tragic crash in Plympton (Plymouth Herald)
  • Power cuts sweep North Wales as Storm Emma brings snow and high winds – updates (Daily Post)
  • Witness of fatal A30 crash describes the ‘utterly horrific’ scenes in bid to make others think twice (Cornwall Live)

On the surface these stories seem to be only bad news – tragic accidents, loss and disasters. Unless you live in Newcastle, then you like football.

But if we look a little closer there’s a pattern here, which all PRs could learn from:

They’re nearly all human-interest stories – eight of them focus on individuals or families and most have multiple elements (usually a combination of events makes the story more interesting/shocking/surprising)

They’re all concerned with local issues – unsurprising, but worth remembering that the stories that have the greatest impact in local communities, focus on the local communities

They all have long, detailed headlines – not a new lesson but the world of digital media means clever titles have been eschewed in favour explanatory titles

They’re all original journalism – none of them are generic stories, they’ve all required the journalist to put some work in to interview people or visit locations

Higgerson then reveals high impact stories (using the same metrics) but ordered in terms of highest active engaged time. These stories are similarly human interest, locally focused, have long headlines and are original journalism, but they tend to focus on groups of people rather than individuals.

The 100 women celebration by Wales Online or the Daily Post’s monthly round up of criminals that have been imprisoned, shows a trend towards groups. While these stories are generally longer, you can’t help but feel that people dwell on stories where they may recognise or know individuals, and the more there are to see, the longer they stick with the story.

Local media is a key target area for many national PR campaigns that want to have a high impact in communities rather than more generic national coverage with less depth. For PRs, this involves more work as they have to tailor their stories much more thoroughly, including finding local case studies, but the end result often makes it worthwhile.

Not sure who to reach out to at local media titles? You need the Vuelio Media Database, which lists thousands of local titles as well as their editors and journalists. 

Sajid Javid

Political Headlines – Sajid Javid, Brexit, trade tariffs and Netanyahu

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Today’s Political Headlines include Javid’s Home Secretary debut, the Government’s Brexit defeat in the Lords, Trump postponing his trade tariff decision and Netanyahu’s accusations against Iran. 

Sajid Javid makes his debut as Home Secretary
Both the Guardian and The Times lead on Sajid Javid’s debut as Home Secretary, questioning the extent to which he may amend policy on immigration. The Times has reported that Javid has told the Home Office that he will ditch the policy of creating a ‘hostile environment’. He criticised the use of the term ‘hostile’, calling it ‘unhelpful’ and not representative of the UK’s values. The newspapers claim that Javid will consider the department’s structures, as well as reviewing individual policies in the upcoming weeks.

Lords defeat Government in Brexit vote
The Daily Mail’s front page features an editorial on the Lords’ Brexit victory yesterday. May was compared to Adolf Hitler during the debate last night as peers handed the Government another defeat over Brexit. The House of Lords voted in favour of giving Parliament powers to stop the UK from leaving the EU without a deal. 19 rebel Tories backed the amendment, which was passed by 335 votes to 244. If the amendment is not overturned by the Commons, May will lose the option of walking away with no deal. The Mail says that “the Remainer elite, in cahoots with Brussels, is fighting a guerrilla war against Brexit using any means it can”.

Trump postpones decision over EU trade tariffs
The Guardian has reported that Donald Trump has postponed a decision on the introduction of EU trade tariffs. The White House has extended the EU’s exemption from tariffs on steel and aluminium, which was due to expire today. In March, Trump imposed a worldwide 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminium, granting temporary exemptions to Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the EU. The White House has announced that, in addition to those involving the EU, negotiations with Canada and Mexico have also been extended.

Israeli Prime Minister accuses Iran of lying about weapons programme
The Daily Telegraph devotes its front page to the television broadcast delivered last night by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing Iran of lying about its weapons programme both before and after the 2015 nuclear deal. Netanyahu claimed that Israeli spies had obtained ‘half a tonne’ of confidential documents proving that Iran’s leaders had failed to provide a full account of their past nuclear activities and that they were maintaining the expertise to build a bomb in the future. Netanyahu declared ‘the nuclear deal is based on lies. It is based on Iranian lies and Iranian deception’.

Theresa May faces mounting pressure to resign
The Daily Mirror’s front page features the headlines ‘Mayday Mayday’, referring to a ‘Prime Minister in Crisis’. The story reports on the mounting pressure on Theresa May to resign over the Windrush scandal. The newspaper speaks of May being left exposed to attack, after the resignation of her close ally Amber Rudd and criticism from new Home Secretary Savid Javid over her previous ‘hostile environment’ immigration policy.

The UK faces a care crisis
The Daily Express leads with two stories that it claims highlight a ‘caring crisis’. One is about a man suffering from Parkinson’s who was reportedly beaten in a care home, while the other story is about a terminal cancer patient’s 16-hour wait for a hospital bed.

Vuelio political services are available to fulfil your political needs.  

The Style Editor

The fashion editor’s guide to global travel

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Bonnie Rakhit is The Style Traveller. Bonnie was previously fashion editor at British Elle Magazine, Sunday Times Style and Grazia, and uses this expertise to show off the most stylish places on the planet. The luxury travel blog, which was recently named in the Top 10,  gives a unique perspective on hotels, destinations and experiences.

We caught up with Bonnie to talk beautiful places, her favourite bloggers and working with a diverse range of brands.

What makes your blog successful?
I think authenticity has a lot to do with it. I only feature hotels and destinations that I have personally visited and stayed at myself, which means my reviews are genuine and honest. I also love aesthetically beautiful properties and locations so the blog should hopefully deliver a bit of aspirational wunderlust.

The Style Traveller

What makes luxury travel better than other types?
Everything! From the organisation, the service, the hotel decor and quality of food and staff. I’ve done my fair share of backpacking and loved it at the time; there is definitely a place in my heart for the good old days of roughing it. But a little older, wiser and few more pennies in the pocket, I feel like I’ve worked long enough and hard enough to deserve a bit of luxury on my holidays.

What destination would you suggest to first time travellers?
I think rather than easing yourself in, go big for your first destination and pick a location that is as far removed from your day to day life as possible. Go for adventure and stunning locations that will assault your senses. My top destinations of all time are India, Cuba and Brazil.

What about seasoned travellers?
I feel that if you’re an avid traveller you’ve seen and experienced so much already that you need to push the boundaries a little further and experiment more. If you’ve ‘done’ all the big tourist vacations why not try off-the-beaten-track places. Pick Anguilla rather than Jamaica, Boston rather than New York or Bilbao rather than Barcelona. There’s so much to discover wherever you go.

Bonnie Rakhit

Is there anywhere on your bucket list you’ve yet to visit?
I’m currently planning a trip to Peru in August. But otherwise I still haven’t been to Hawaii, Tahiti or Fiji. The Pacific is still my oyster to discover.

If you could only take three items with you when travelling, what would they be?
My phone is a must, from photography to itinerary I can’t live without it. A scarf or wrap is so useful, covering off everything from a blanket on the flight, cover up in the cold or religious temple to beach towel and sarong – it’s a versatile bit of kit. And sunscreen!

What should PRs know about you?
I love all things luxury and aesthetic experiences. If it will make for a beautiful photograph and content, I’ll be there.

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

What’s the best PR/brand campaign you’ve worked on?
I’ve worked on hundreds of campaigns over the last few years from Mercedes Benz to Veuve Clicquot, from Peru to Prada and Primark. I also work with lots of hotels and tourist boards. If you think your brand or product will be a good fit for me then just reach out and contact me directly.

What do you call yourself (blogger/influencer/content creator)?
All of the above.

What other blogs do you read?
I like Angie Silverspoon for a more foodie perspective and also Feya from Fitness on Toast for all things health and fitness. I also love Aggie Lal from Travel In Her Shoes and Sam Kolder’s YouTube.

 

Bonnie and her blog are both listed on the Vuelio Database, along with thousands of other fantastic bloggers, journalists, editors, MPs and SpAds.

Politics on Sunday: What came before the resignation?

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Much of the Sunday political shows was focused on Amber Rudd’s future, which we now know was severely limited.

Brandon Lewis was sent out on the Marr show to defend Rudd. The interview had the potential to be quite interesting as Lewis was the immigration minister last year so he may have been sent out to defend himself. Beyond the standard defence of ‘tackling immigration is the right thing to do’, what the Chair of the Conservative party did manage to do was say Rudd knew of the ambition to increase deportations but it was not a target. When asked whether he and Amber Rudd had ever directly discussed deportation targets, Lewis replied by saying he has been in a room talking about increasing the number of returns.

Defenders of Rudd were also on Peston. Jo Johnson said he is a ‘big big fan’ of Rudd and she’s a great Home Secretary. Johnson also went on to say that it is unrealistic to expect a Secretary of State to see every single memo, which may be true but it is still that Secretary of State’s responsibility if things go wrong. Thankfully Robert Peston pointed out that this is not a trivial matter and is a central element of the department’s work. Ed Vaizey was also on Peston and he said Rudd is fantastic but the last week had not been great and she will have questions to answer (which she now won’t as she has resigned).

Various other matters were discussed throughout the shows. Leader of the Lib Dems, Vince Cable, talked about immigration, saying that several governments have decided the public are bigoted and they need policies to feed their desires. Cable said, ‘race has been a key factor in British politics’. Cable also took a more considered approach when speaking about Rudd’s future saying he wanted to hear what she had to say for herself. Marr did point out that this considered approach may be due to the Lib Dems perhaps being somewhat responsible for the hostile environment policy as they were in government at the time. Cable defended his approach and party by saying for much of his time in power he and his party were fighting against these policies.

Andrew Gwynne also appeared on Marr and he was asked about anti-Semitism. He said it has been made clear by Jeremy Corbyn that Labour party members should not be sharing a platform with anybody found guilty of anti-Semitism or expelled from the party. When asked why this was not put into the party rule book, he repeated his previous point saying it is clear what should and should not be done. He also said the Labour party wants to work with Jewish community groups to change the rules of the party to provide a wider definition of anti-Semitism. Marr provided an example of Jewish people being held responsible for the actions of Israel, Gwynne responded by saying people can criticise any government in a democracy but criticising Jewish people should not be happening. Gwynne is also managing Labour’s local election campaign and he attempted to cool expectations saying it would be difficult to get as good a result in 2014.

Mayor of London, Saqid Khan, also appeared on Peston. He said he thinks there will be protests when Donald Trump visits the UK but said it would probably be inappropriate for him to join in with the protests. He also spoke about how both Theresa May and Trump have created hostile environments in their own countries. Khan would back the Prime Minister if she was to give preferential immigration rights to EU citizens after Brexit. He also spoke about former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, saying that he feels he should be removed from the Labour party and he cannot understand why it is taking so long for a decision to be made.

The leader of UKIP, Gerard Batten, appeared on Robert Peston and when speaking about anti-Semitism he accused the religion of Islam as being inherently anti-Semitic. Robert Peston later sent out a tweet saying Batten’s slur on Muslims is appalling and are the views of the UKIP leader. Batten was then questioned on a statement he has made saying that being called a racist is now worse than being called a murderer or a paedophile; Batten answered by saying he meant you are guilty until you can prove your innocence. Batten also spoke about Sadiq Khan’s statement that he wants an immigration system where EU migrants are given preferential treatment, Batten questioned whether this is racist as most EU citizens are white.

Other guests included: Kate Hoey, who said the one good thing that may come out of the Windrush scandal is that the Home Office may be properly reformed so we no longer see such ridiculous things happen like letters and passports being lost; Jo Swinson said she will be protesting Donald Trump when he visits in the Summer due to the values that he stands for; Ed Vaizey feels the Conservative will have to work doubly or triply hard to win back voters from a BAME background; and John McDonnell spoke about the local elections and said too many factors come into play for any prediction to be made now.

Check out our Canvas of all the best coverage from the Sunday Political shows here and find out how to make your own Canvas here.

Sunday politics

 

Rudd resignation

Is Amber Rudd’s departure good crisis comms?

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The latest episode in the Windrush saga was Amber Rudd’s departure from her role of home secretary last night. But rather than a sign of things falling apart, is this actually crisis comms gold?

One of the main aims of any crisis communications is protecting the reputation of an organisation. That can come in many forms: stopping customers from leaving, protecting figureheads or keeping the company together. For the Conservatives and the Windrush scandal, it’s been all three.

It’s accepted that the Windrush scandal was borne out of Theresa May’s ‘hostile environment’ policy created when she was home secretary, and Amber Rudd was just in charge when the policy exploded.

It’s also widely accepted that Amber Rudd was a buffer between Theresa May and the scandal, protecting the prime minister in her role, and therefore the Tory party’s stability.

Rudd was May’s human shield, so surely her resignation is a misstep?

Well, no.

Amber Rudd has not resigned over the Windrush scandal, a move that would have inevitably led to Theresa May’s position being untenable as the architect of the offending policy, but due to ‘inadvertently’ misleading Parliament.

This stops Windrush becoming a career-ending issue and instead means Rudd has gone for the same reason as Priti Patel and Damian Green. Theresa May gets to continue in her role and quickly fill the Home Office vacuum with an MP who can clean up the Windrush scandal and maintain the ‘Prime Minister Buffer’.

Sajid Javid, housing and communities secretary, has been touted as the favourite for Rudd’s replacement, and coincidentally he was in the press over the weekend discussing the Windrush scandal, saying, ‘It could have been me’.

Some commentators are still questioning Theresa May’s future, including Labour MPs David Lammy and Diane Abbott, but it now seems unlikely the Windrush scandal will have the legs to take her down. With a sympathetic press, the perception of a political scalp (Rudd’s) and a new home secretary to fix the Windrush scandal, this story is likely to die fast.

The Tories will chalk this one up as a win, and whichever comms pro handled it will be commended. But the celebrations won’t last long, May’s Brexit secretary, David Davis, is threatening to quit if she joins a European customs union. Let’s see how this one plays out.

What do you think? A crisis disaster or a communications triumph? Let us know on Twitter @Vuelio.

Update: Sajid Javid has been appointed Home Secretary, and James Brokenshire has been appointed housing and communities secretary. 

Rudd

Political Headlines – Rudd’s resignation, better roads, debt trap and David Davis

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Today’s Political Headlines include Rudd’s resignation, utility companies avoiding roads, capping interest payments and David Davis backlash. 

Rudd resigns, having ‘inadvertently misled’ Parliament
Home Secretary Amber Rudd resigned last night, admitting that she ‘inadvertently misled’ MPs over targets for removing illegal immigrants, the BBC reports. The BBC expects her successor to be announced ‘within hours’. Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said that Amber Rudd had ‘done the right thing’, but that as ‘architect of the crisis’ Theresa May must come before the Commons to explain what she knew.

Government plans to order utility companies to avoid roads
The Times reveals that the Government intends to order utility companies to put new pipes or cables under pavements and verges under plans to cut congestion and reduce potholes. The paper has conducted an investigation into British roads, which also finds that they are 27th for quality in the world, the use of variable speed limits will be cut and that local councils are using bureaucratic measures to avoid repairing potholes.

Labour announces plans to cap interest payments and overdraft fees
The Financial Times reports that Labour is to announce plans to cap the total amount that can be paid in overdraft fees or interest payments in order to help those caught in a ‘debt trap’. The party proposes that the cap on charges by payday lenders should be extended by the Financial Conduct Authority to cover the cost of overdraft borrowing.

Davis faces backlash after urging Prime Minister to ignore top Brexit civil servant
According to The Daily Telegraph, Brexit Secretary David Davis is facing a backlash over claims he told the Prime Minister to ignore a customs partnership plan backed by Oliver Robbins, her top Brexit civil servant. Writing in The Sun, Davis warns that a bid by the House of Lords to let Parliament control the negotiations would lead to a major constitutional crisis. The paper also claims that a senior cabinet minister has told it that May’s favoured customs plan ‘would be a disaster’. DUP leader Arlene Foster has told the BBC that Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, does not understand the unionist stance on Brexit.

McDonnell dismisses Russian Twitter bot claims
According to The Guardian, John McDonnell has said that claims made by The Sunday Times that Labour was supported by Russian Twitter bots during the general election are similar to smears against Neil Kinnock before the 1992 election. He dismissed the assertion that 6,500 suspect accounts published pro-Corbyn, anti-Conservative messages as ‘ludicrous’.

£15 congestion charge may be imposed at Heathrow
The Daily Telegraph reports that Heathrow may impose a £15 congestion charge on 82 miles of road surrounding the airport in a bid to meet emissions targets. The airport is consulting on the plans, which it views as a ‘last resort’, but according to ‘Whitehall sources’ Transport Secretary Chris Grayling believes they are the only realistic way to meet emissions targets.

Hancock to hold talks with FA over Wembley sale
In an exclusive, The Sun reveals that Culture Secretary Matt Hancock is to hold talks with the Football Association to ensure that Wembley remains England’s base ‘for generations to come’. The paper claims that ministers are ‘furious’ that the FA did not give the Government a warning about how advanced talks to sell the stadium were.

Politicians call for Sainsbury’s-ASDA deal to be investigated
As the BBC reports, senior politicians have called for an investigation into the deal between Sainsbury’s and Walmart-owned ASDA. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable warned that local monopolies would be created, while Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey expressed concern about the impact on suppliers.

Vuelio political services create these headlines and are available to support your political needs.  

You shouldn't have missed

Five Things: Top 150, Millicent Fawcett, Facebook, Kanye and Daily Express

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Much to Amber Rudd’s delight there have been other news stories this week. But with Prince Louis, historic scenes in Korea and Trump’s announced visit on Friday 13 July – you probably missed some of these…

1. PRWeek Top 150

Top 150
Okay, so if you’re in it, it’s very unlikely you missed it. PRWeek has released its Top 150 UK PR Consultancies, which once again sees Edelman sitting pretty above the rest. Though with only 0.9% revenue growth year on year, 2019 may see a new contender for the crown. The mostly likely choice? Weber Shandwick. The multi-discipline agency has seen a massive 19% year-on-year revenue growth, and it’s now snapping at the heels of Edelman.

This ranking is the first without Bell Pottinger, which in 2017 ranked 13th. The top 20 in 2018 are no doubt benefitting from the redistribution of the fallen agency’s £27m of revenue.

Other key stats from the 150:

  • 23 saw a fall in revenue, two didn’t change and the remaining 125 all grew – The Romans by 108%!
  • Only 27 agencies are based outside London, none of which make the top 20 (the biggest non-London agency is Pegasus in Brighton at 26 on the list)
  • Edelman has the most staff with 497 employees, and Steinreich Comms Group has the least with just nine
  • 38 agencies shrunk, 21 remained the same and 89 took on more staff – Yellow Jersey growing from six staff in 2016 to 23 in 2017 (that’s a rise of 283%)
  • Finsbury is the best performing agency in terms of revenue per employee, with each staff member accounting for £294,118

 

2. Millicent Fawcett

suffragist
A statue of the suffragist Millicent Fawcett has been unveiled in Parliament Square. The statue, which shows Fawcett holding a banner that reads, ‘Courage calls to courage everywhere’ celebrates 100 years since the Representation of the People Act (when the first women were allowed to vote). The statue has proved controversial, with the Guardian collecting views that the words on the banner are a ‘travesty’, or the statue is of the wrong person; City A.M. suggests Fawcett would be ‘outraged at today’s feminism’, as it is ‘creating an unnecessary victimhood narrative, to which women are encouraged to subscribe’; and the Spectator calls the statue ‘embarrassing’ as it is ‘timid, ponderous, confused’.

Fawcett’s statue is now one of the few in the country that represent real, non-royal women, which can only be a good thing and hopefully a sign of change.

 

3. Facebook joy

Facebook
It wouldn’t be Five Things without a Facebook story but it’s rare that it’s good news. The social giant has posted record revenues in the first quarter of the year, despite all the negative press (covered here, here and here). Beating analysts’ expectations, the company brought in $11.97bn of revenue, which is up 49% from 2017. Twitter also benefitted from social media growth, posting a quarterly profit, with revenues up.

In further good news for the Zuck, the #DeleteFacebook campaign seems to have had no legs. Daily active users grew quarter-on-quarter by 48m to 1.45bn, and monthly active users are also up to 2.2bn. Both numbers are 13% up on the same quarter last year.

Repurposing the word ‘important’, Mark Zuckerberg said: ‘Despite facing important challenges, our community and business are off to a strong start in 2018. We are taking a broader view of our responsibility and investing to make sure our services are used for good. But we also need to keep building new tools to help people connect, strengthen our communities, and bring the world closer together.’

All this good news has been offset (a tiny amount) by Ofcom’s report that only 70% of British social media users consider Facebook to be their main platform, down from 80% last year. Of course, this means nothing when we see that Facebook is losing out to WhatsApp and Instagram, both of which it owns.

As a lot of noise around the Facebook scandal came at the end of March into April, we may yet see an impact from the deluge of negative news. So we’ll see it in a Five Things story in about three months.

 

4. Not losing fans and influencing people

West
Kanye West has become a prolific tweeter in recent days as he gears up for his new album. Among his many, many words of wisdom – including: ‘I don’t believe in horizontal hierarchy. If you build a ladder too high it’s actually most dangerous for the people at the top’, and ‘we have freedom of speech but not freedom of thought’ – were his thoughts on Trump. In two tweets Kanye said:

 

And, almost like a joyous child:

 

 

Trump responded to Kanye, saying ‘very cool!’

Rumours that Kanye lost millions of followers because of the MAGA hat tweet have been quashed by Twitter, who said any discrepancies in numbers are actually just ‘inconsistencies’. But that didn’t stop Kim Kardashian rushing in to Kanye’s rescue:

 

We could obviously make this post go on and on, and surely books will one day be written on Kanye’s musings. Except his musings are a book, which Kanye is writing in ‘real time’. So maybe one day his musings will just be published, and all of us will have the Book of Kanye on our coffee tables. I look forward to chapter 26:

 

5. Express concern

Express editor

Trinity Mirror’s takeover of the Daily Express hit further trouble this week as Matt Hancock (Yes, the one who is, is a founder of, and is on: Matt Hancock) suggested there might need to be a public interest intervention on the deal. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is already deciding whether it needs to investigate the acquisition, so Trinity Mirror currently has to keep the Express and Star Newspapers as a separate entity until the CMA comes to a conclusion.

Though that didn’t stop them installing new editors across the titles. Gary Jones, who was made editor of the Daily Express, told a Government committee that some previous Express front pages were ‘downright offensive’. For some reason this was misconstrued by the British press as an ‘admittance’ of some sort of failure or guilt, rather than a new editor (from a left wing background) distancing himself from his paper’s past (of a right wing persuasion).

Read more about Trinity Mirror’s Express concerns here, including why the acquisition is very unlikely to be seen as a competition issue.

 

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

Blog association

Time for a blogging trade association?

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This is a guest post from John Adams, blogger at DadblogUK.com, about the need for a blog association. Have your own opinions about this? Want to write a guest post? Email Jake O’Neill or tweet us @Vuelio.

There’s been a fascinating conversation on Twitter recently. It was sparked off by a post on the Dad v World blog.

While David, the author, was questioning the merits of being known as a dad blogger, it created a lot of chat about changes in the blogging world. Some questioned the way blogging has become monetised, others felt it was acceptable, others sat on the fence but acknowledged blogging has become more competitive over recent years.

I launched my blog, Dadbloguk.com, six years ago. In that time, I have noticed an increasing number of people have turned blogging, not to mention vlogging and Instagramming, into an occupation. For some time now, I’ve been wondering if we’ve reached a point where some form of trade association for bloggers would be a good idea.

In fact, I’m not the only person to have had this idea. A short while ago I was quietly approached by what I’ll euphemistically call an interested party. I was asked whether a trade body was needed for the blogging community.

The approach was very timely. I had, just days previously, joined the Federation of Small Businesses. The FSB is a great institution that offers SMES some amazing services. You can call upon it for crisis communications help, it’s presently offering members workshops on the GDPR, it will help you out if you find yourself on the wrong end of a tax investigation by HMRC and so on.

It doesn’t, however, provide specific, targeted services for bloggers. Blogging is specialism that requires special skills and knowledge and, at this point in time, bloggers have no body to represent their interests.

Here are a few issues I think a trade body could help with:

Continuous professional development
We all need to know about the GDPR. We all need to keep up with the latest SEO developments and learn how to use social media channels effectively. A trade body could organise events and workshops to help its members keep their skills up to date.

Late payment assistance
A trade body could help bloggers when invoices go unpaid. It’s easy to ignore one blogger chasing up an invoice. A trade body, however, would be much more powerful and repeat offenders would find it harder to do business with reputable bloggers.

Code of Conduct
This, I feel, could massively help both bloggers and the PR industry. Let’s just take the issue of paid-for content as an example.

We’re all supposed to be playing on a level field and declaring paid-for content. Yet we all know that not everyone follows the rules.

Members of this yet-to-be-established trade body could abide by a code of conduct requiring them to declare paid-for content in line with Advertising Standards Authority rules, just as the print industry has done for years. This would make life much more difficult for those unscrupulous PR and SEO agencies that frequently ask bloggers to host paid-for content without declaring it or pay tiny amounts in return for bloggers taking part in link building schemes.

Think also of those bloggers who ask for and receive expensive review items and then never do anything with them. This harms the reputation of the blogging industry. If bloggers signed up to a code of conduct, it would give our colleagues in the PR industry some comfort that we were going to produce the goods.

Representation at Government level
Yes, yes, I know this sounds very boring, but I think this is one of the most compelling reasons for the establishment of a trade association for bloggers. The Brexit talks are a fantastic way to demonstrate this.

Representatives from the motoring, fishing, farming and financial industries have been consulted as part of the Brexit talks. As bloggers, we need standardised technological protocols and data protection regulations with the EU and beyond. Without it, it would be very difficult for our blogs to operate.

Who is lobbying for bloggers’ interests at this point in time, to ensure this happens? I’ll tell you who: no one.

Press regulation is another issue. At one point it looked like bloggers were going to fall under the remit of the press regulator. Thankfully it didn’t happen, but there was no trade body in place to argue our case.

Limits of any trade body
While a trade body would be an amazing development, I think it needs a clear remit. It shouldn’t be a union, I don’t think it should negotiate rates of pay. Us bloggers are probably a little too individualistic to want to be constrained by union rules!

 

Challenges of setting up any trade body
I have heard it said that it would be ‘too difficult’ to set up a trade body for bloggers. I think that’s very defeatist.

The closest organisation I can think of is the National Union of Journalists. The NUJ represents news reporters, features writers, trade journalists, broadcast journalists, freelancers, staff writers, photographers, sub-editors, editors, art critics, political correspondents and so on.  Yes, okay, it’s a union so not quite the same thing as a trade body, but if the NUJ is such a broad church, then a blogging trade association could represent fashion bloggers, news podcasters, travel Instagrammers, mummy and daddy bloggers and so on.

I imagine there would be some resistance from people who either make very small amounts of money from blogging or who do it solely as a hobby. I can see ways around this, but there are very few occupations where you don’t get professionals and amateurs rubbing along nicely side by side.

You get professional and amateur sports people, professional and amateur photographers, writers, actors, painters and so on. Yeah, okay, the day I see an amateur fire fighter tackling a blaze I’ll get very concerned, but you get my point.

Often, it’s a career path: you start off as a hobbyist and become professional. Blogging is no different.

Blogging is no longer ‘new’ media. It is established media and no properly organised media campaign takes place without the involvement of bloggers. A trade organisation would help give us the respectability we deserve but frequently don’t get.

There could be different tiers of membership depending on income, age of blog etc. maybe those blogging for the love of it could receive associate membership. Who knows, but there are possibilities to explore.

 

Final thoughts
Setting up a trade body for bloggers would have its challenges. It would definitely have its opponents.

I personally feel that the industry has developed to a point where it would be no bad thing. It would provide some security and protection both for bloggers and to the people we work with in the PR and SEO agencies. I think there’s real potential for it to drive up standards and to make it a recognised and understood occupation.

What do you think? Would you be tempted to join a blogging trade body? Do you think it could drive up standards? Would it bring some respectability to the blogging world?

One final thought, if I ever saw an amateur firefighter, I’d probably ask for a selfie and post it to Instagram. I am, after all, a blogger and, trade body or not, that’s the kind of thing we do.

Amber Rudd

Political Headlines – Rudd (again), rail franchising, customs plans and shock collars

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Today’s Political Headlines include Rudd accused of muddying the Brexit waters, the Committee report criticising rail franchising, May warned to abandon customs plans and Gove stands down in shock collar row. Oh, and Trump is visiting. 

Rudd accused of widening tensions over Brexit and abandons immigration targets
The Times says that Amber Rudd has been accused of deliberately widening Conservative tensions over Brexit by saying that she was ‘not going to be drawn’ over whether the UK would stay in a customs union with the EU. It also reports that she has promised to end immigration removal targets, having previously denied their existence, and that new statistics show that knife crime has increased 22% in the last year.

Committee report heavily criticises rail franchising
The Guardian carries details of a report on rail franchising by the Commons Public Accounts Committee. The report finds that the current system is broken, with passengers carrying the cost. It accuses the Government of ‘completely inadequate’ management of two franchises, of failing to learn from its mistakes, and of being too ambitious. The Government has described the report as imbalanced and disappointing.

May warned to abandon Brexit customs plans
The Times claims that Theresa May has been warned to abandon her plans for a ‘blue skies’ customs deal with the EU after both remain and leave supporting Conservative MPs rejected it, with ‘senior Government figures’ expecting the plan to be dropped before a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The Financial Times says that the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, told a financial conference that claims that ‘the EU desperately needs the City of London’ were false. The Daily Telegraph reports that Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has accused Nicola Sturgeon of rejecting the Governments EU (Withdrawal) Bill for ‘nationalist’ reasons.

Gove stands down in shock collar row
The Times reports that Michael Gove has stood down in a row over shock collars for pets, limiting proposals for a ban to those used to train animals as opposed to those used to contain them. The move was confirmed in what the paper calls ‘a carefully scripted exchange’ with former Conservative minister John Hayes.

New poll puts Labour on 51% in London
The Sun reports on a new poll, showing that Labour has the support of 51% of voters in London ahead of the local elections next week, compared to 29% for the Conservatives. The paper warns that this would mean that Labour would not gain control of Wandsworth and Westminster councils, with its support having dropped 3% since February.

Starmer attacks Len McCluskey in antisemitism row
The Times says that Sir Keir Starmer has attacked Len McCluskey, after the general-secretary of Unite accused ‘Cobyn-hater’ Labour MPs of presenting the party as a ‘morass of misogyny, antisemitism and bullying’. However, Starmer said that the party’s antisemitism problem was ‘obvious’ and those who denied it were ‘part of the problem’.

Ruth Davidson announces pregnancy
As the BBC reports, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has announced that she is three months pregnant. She and her partner Jen Wilson are expecting their first child in October, following IVF, and she has confirmed that she will be taking some time off for maternity leave.

Date for Trump visit set
The BBC reports that President Trump is to visit the UK on Friday 13 July, after previously cancelling a trip. It will not be a state visit, although the BBC understands that an invitation for one still stands. He will hold talks with Theresa May and is likely to meet the Queen.

Vuelio political services are responsible for the headlines.  

Emma Spencer

Emma Spencer: Relaunching The Emasphere

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Emma Spencer is ‘the poser’ at The Emasphere, the luxury travel and lifestyle blog. Recently relaunched by Emma and her partner Tim, The Emasphere tracks Emma around the world, and showcases the restaurants she eats at, the outfits she wears and the beauty products she uses.

The Emasphere was one of 11 blogs we said you needed to follow in 2017 – and now we can reveal why we were right!

Why have you relaunched The Emasphere?
My partner and I kept saying we needed to change it up and do something different in the blogging sphere. We finally had our photography style down, and we were getting recognised for our quality content and crazy poses. But there was something missing. We didn’t have a proper strategy, and to be honest with you, we couldn’t properly describe what The Emasphere was all about, apart from being a blog where I shared my favourite things. So, we knew something had to change.

We wanted to create a good strategy, so we had a clearer direction of where we were going and what kind of content we wanted to produce. We also wanted to stop creating content just for the sake of it, and focus more on quality and adding value to our readers. We wanted to build a website, which not only looked good, but was easy to navigate, showcased our imagery well, and moved away from that ‘blog’ look and feel to become more of a professional online lifestyle destination.

In regards to content, we still have a mix of travel, fashion, lifestyle and beauty, but are now introducing more food, wine and dining articles; having regular interviews with unique brands and go-getting entrepreneurs; highlighting cool and individual brands I love (this includes lots of Australian brands); and providing both luxe and attainable travel advice, from hotel and restaurant reviews, to 48 hour travel guides. As I’ve always wanted to be a TV presenter/actor, so we’re also focusing more on YouTube this year!

Emma Spencer

What makes your blog successful?
Our quality content is definitely something that stands out. We put a lot of time and effort into creating editorial-worthy imagery and valuable content. By heading to theemasphere.com or our Instagram feed, our readers and followers know they’ll come away with advice or inspiration, whether it’s in travel, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, food and drink.

We profiled you at the beginning of 2017, what have you been up to since?
Travelling a lot! My partner and I aim to go to a new destination each month, so we’ve been here there and everywhere – from eating pasta and drinking wine in Rome, to skiing in the French Alps. I also spent a couple of months back home in Australia last year, while my partner sorted out his visa. We realised although we love Australia and love spending time with our family and friends, we really enjoy living in the UK. There are so many opportunities here, both professionally and personally. We also love the fact we can easily jump on a plane and spend the weekend in another country! Apart from travelling, I’ve been working on building The Emasphere and moulding it into a lifestyle destination!

Who/what is your favourite fashion designer/brand?
That’s a hard one! I’d have to say I love Australian brands so much. Every time I wear something from an Aussie label, everyone falls head over heels! Some of my favourite Australian brands include Talulah, C/MEO Collective, Finders Keepers, ASILIO, Thurley and Dion Lee.

What’s the best place in the world to visit for a weekend?
Anywhere with good food and wine, ha! Rome is without a doubt one of my favourite cities in the world. The food and wine are to die for, the culture and ambiance are both romantic and dreamy, and the Roman style is so unique and sophisticated.

Is there anywhere you haven’t been that you would still like to visit?
There are so many places I’d love to go to! I’m dying to go to the Amalfi Coast, New York, Greece, the Maldives, Provence, Bahrain, Oman, Dubai, South Africa… there are still so many areas of the world left to explore!

The Emasphere

How important is social media to your blog?
Social media is super important to help you build your online presence and promote your blog and brand. Our largest social platform is Instagram, where we’ve been able to present The Emasphere’s aesthetic and our quality imagery to a large audience, giving them a snippet of what the brand is all about. Instagram is also a great way for our followers and readers to find out more about me as a person, by seeing daily personal insights, from where we’re travelling to and what restaurants we’re eating at, to what I’m wearing and the beauty products I’m using.

What should PRs know about you?
I’m a full-time blogger, originally from Australia, but I’ve been based in Liverpool in the UK for nearly three years. Although I’m based up north, I do come to London regularly for meetings and events. I have a mixed audience, predominately from the UK, Australia and the US, so I have the ability to introduce Brits to Aussie brands and vice versa.

We pride ourselves on creating quality content, with editorial-worthy imagery and in-depth, well-written articles. Videos are a new thing for us, but they’re something we’re focusing a lot more on this year. I love working with a mix of brands from travel and fashion, to food and wine, to beauty and lifestyle, and discovering new and unique brands and destinations.

I love creating stories with our content. Our audience knows whenever we travel somewhere, they’re going to be taken on a journey, which will not only inspire them to go to the destination, but they’ll have all the information they need to have a great trip, including what to wear, the best places to eat and drink, what stylish hotel they should stay in, and how to get there. I’ve been told quite a lot recently that our travel content has spurred on our audience to book more trips this year, which is super exciting!

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

What are your favourite campaign collaborations?
Recently, Havaianas Europe (who are represented by Alter Agency) had an opportunity to take one person from the press in the UK to Lisbon to interview Naia Cheschin, a Brazilian illustrator and graphic designer they recently collaborated with to create beautiful bespoke prints for the brand. I was chosen to go on the trip, which was a huge compliment to me; I was absolutely thrilled. While I was in Lisbon, I interviewed Naia, and as I really want to get into presenting, this was a dream come true.

On top of that, while we were in Lisbon, I was also able to create and style content for Havaianas, to show how you can style their latest range of sandals with any kind of outfit, from casual to dressy.

Having the ability to work with a brand you’ve loved for years and come up with and create fun content for them, is what I enjoy most about my job.

Collaborating with rentalcars.com at the beginning of the year, was another amazing campaign I worked on. We spent a week skiing in the French Alps, while sharing our journey of renting a car and driving around and exploring the Alps.

It was our first time in this area of France and our first-time skiing, so it was an incredible experience. The content we created for the trip has been our best yet and we had such incredible feedback from rentalcars.com and our audience. With the outfits I wore and the wonderful car we rented, we were able to successfully show how to take on the slopes stylishly.

What do you call yourself (blogger/influencer/content creator)?
I call myself a blogger, but as I create videos and imagery, and work a lot with social media, content creation is the core of what I do. So, I guess I can call myself a content creator too!

What other blogs do you read?
I read a variety of blogs, some of my favourites include Margo & Me and Harper & Harley for fashion and beauty, and Wood & Luxe for travel and wellness.

 

Emma and The Emasphere are listed on the Vuelio Database, along with every other Vuelio Blog Awards winner and thousands of other fantastic bloggers, journalists and editors.