How To Best Use Influencer Marketing

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Influencer marketing is increasingly being used by businesses and brands to extend their range and reach into new and lucrative markets.  Although the marketing tactic has been used for several years, influencer marketing is set for exponential growth in 2023.

PR agencies have always been the preferred partner for businesses looking to engage in influencer marketing.  From the more traditional media briefings in which companies sought to inspire editors and the media agenda, through to brand collaborations when the reputation of an established brand is used to leverage exposure for a new or emerging brand – the right PR agency can help reach and influence new audiences like no other marketing medium.

Today however influencer marketing primarily refers to collaborations between brands and ‘influencers’ on digital platforms whether social media, blogs or other digital channels. The question often asked by clients is ‘what is an influencer?’ and how to gauge whether they have a genuine ‘influence’ amongst target audiences.

Influencer Marketing – Breaking It Down

One common mistake is to not differentiate between a celebrity and an online influencer. Admittedly many celebrities can extend into the role of influencer but in many cases, they are quite separate entities.

Most influencers have built a loyal and enthusiastic audience by posting relevant and engaging content that resonates with their followers.  People organically elect to follow these influencers based on their content, which in turn can vary from quite generic topics such as food & drink, parenting and travel right down to very specific subjects such as photography, wellness or types of gin (and everything in-between!).

Influencer marketing is not limited to consumer brands as an influencer can be a well-read business expert or blogger who tweets relevant content, or a respected marketing executive on LinkedIn with insightful views and opinions. Within any industry, there are influential people—you just need to find them – and that’s where working with a PR agency can help.

Some influencers have hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of followers but there are also plenty who seem more like ordinary people. They may have less than 10,000 followers but they have developed a reputation for being the experts in their field. They are the go-to people who are trusted to provide the answers to people’s questions. Depending on their sphere of expertise, they can often be the people who make the most engaging social posts on their specialist topics. They share the best pictures, make the most entertaining videos, and run the most informative online discussions.

It’s important to realise that the influencer’s audiences don’t really care about brands specifically, more the opinions of the influencer towards the brand.  It’s therefore important to work with the influencer rather than push your rules, ‘brand guidelines’ or business practices into their actions as they can simply walk away, taking their followers with them or worse still become antagonistic.

The growth of influencer marketing

The statistics speak for themselves.  In 2016, influencer marketing was a $1.7bn industry worldwide, while last year (2022) it had grown to more than $16.4bn.  According to an influencer marketing hub report,  90% of survey respondents believe influencer marketing is an effective form of marketing and currently more than two thirds (67%) of brands use Instagram for influencer marketing.

The growth is set to continue as 75% of the survey respondents suggested that they would be dedicating a budget to influencer marketing in 2023. This rate is up substantially from the 37% who claimed they would allocate a budget to it just 6 years ago in 2017.

Tips for influencer marketing

So, for brands or businesses looking to engage with influencer marketing, we’d suggest that to be most effective, start with a plan that includes objectives, target markets and a budget and then begin careful research into who would be a good fit and provide you with a platform for targeted exposure.

When researching influencers, don’t be overtly swayed by their follower numbers but instead look at their levels of engagement.  How many people like their posts, comment or share as these are the key metrics to consider.  Often big name influencers may not be right for a brand or too commercial to develop genuine and lasting relationships.

Decide also how you are going to find and approach the influencer.  This can be time consuming so working with a PR agency that works with influencers can be a big help as often they may have existing relationship or the resource to target them organically.

When you have found the perfect partner, work with them and develop a schedule of activities.  Consider how their posts can integrate with your existing social media or content marketing schedule, what agreements are in place to ensure the right number of posts, reels or blogs are included in exchange for a product or service.  Is money changing hands and, if so, are the right contracts in place? Also remember the influencer must declare if a financial agreement or if a product has been gifted.

It’s also worth considering what doesn’t work.  Buying influence does not work as many influencers have spent time building their following and so wont risk tarnishing their reputation by selling out and promoting products they don’t like, relate to, or would not recommend to their followers.

It’s also not necessarily about quick results and fast sales.  Although this can be the case (most famously when Delia Smith recommends a kitchen product, they sell out fast!) the main objectives of influencer marketing is building the exposure of your product, its reputation and taking it to new potential audiences through the strength of third party endorsement.

Remember also to be specific as one size does not fit all.  Spend time to find the right fit with an influencer and when that’s achieved it’s proven to pay dividends.

For more information on influencer marketing, contact a member of the Source PR team and let us help build you reputation, product awareness and take your brand or business into new and exciting areas.

Our Predictions For 2023 Marketing And PR Trends

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As we all return to work after a lovely festive break, we picked the refreshed brains of our team to find out what each of them believe will be the key trends in marketing and PR for the coming year. 

Jess McDonnell

The continued focus on CSR  

“With the current state of the country (and the world) I think social consciousness is increasing, which means businesses need to take CSR activities to the next level and avoid greenwashing.

This could lead to great opportunities to build that positive organic presence on owned media channels.

PR and comms experts need to champion research and data-driven campaigns and stories in order to achieve coverage in tier-one publications and national media as both businesses and consumers are now savvier than ever to ‘fake news’.”

Bridie Buckingham

Affiliate marketing for the win 

“Many people have been plotting its demise for years now but affiliate marketing continues to grow from strength to strength. Especially in the wake of the pandemic and the MONUMENTAL shift to digital marketing and e-commerce, the choice to adopt the affiliate marketing model is more popular than ever with 8 out of 10 brands running an affiliate scheme. In fact, 84% of marketers claim that affiliate marketing alone has increased their ROI by 20% since 2019. 

“Setting up an affiliate marketing scheme can boost brand awareness and augment sales without spending a huge amount on advertising. However, it is worth keeping in mind that success in this area requires selecting brand affiliates that share the same niche or target profile as you. Oftentimes, these influencers will come to you as they know the benefits affiliate links can provide for their income!” 

Jessica Pardoe

Links with purpose 

“As the last few years have passed us by, digital PR and its importance in marketing is now unavoidable. As search engines get smarter and their influence on people only continue to grow, every good PR should be thinking about how they can consider this within their strategy. Having worked particularly in SEO and digital PR in the past, I came into a more traditional role here at Source as I hated the idea of chasing links for links sake!  

 “However, in 2023 I hope to see more of a shift to PR with purpose in digital, and I think that’s where we can help! It’s important to think of the PR benefits of any coverage or online activity first, but then ensure links are considered as a very important afterthought. I think more PRs will begin to understand the value of sending out solid, relevant stories and building a good rapport with journalists, and that in turn will win them backlinks for SEO benefits, AS WELL AS gain lots of lovely PR coverage which is beneficial to brands in far more ways than one.” 

Jill Mathers

Podcasts are the future 

2023 Marketing And PR Trends

“With the rise in demand for video and audio content, it is no surprise that this is an integral part of the future of PR. We hope to see a demand for podcasts (both audio and video) in 2023 as it allows for brands to give a unique, in-depth look at the people behind business that you wouldn’t normally see on fast moving, image-based platforms like Instagram. 

“In addition, younger audiences are moving away from highly curated feeds towards raw, real-time platforms like BeReal and TikTok, in part because they feel more authentic than their overly produced counterparts. Podcasting fits into the realm of channels that offer realism which many people want to see, as well as deep diving into topics that just can’t be covered on the ‘gram.” 

Louis Hill

Don’t blindly follow the crowd  

“As the digital marketing world continues to grow at an exponential rate, it is important companies don’t get carried away with the latest fad but remain focussed on their core strategy.  

 “Too often companies focus on the latest marketing tools or trends to get themselves noticed.  Before you even consider what delivery tactics are needed, look at the strategy first – who are you, what do you stand for, what are you great at, who do you want to influence and what space do you want to own? 

Once that’s determined, assess the tools and tactics available to best achieve it.”  

Adam Stanworth

Greater use of video in B2B 

“It’s already near-ubiquitous elsewhere, but in B2B PR video content is largely neglected and still not used as widely as it could be.

In 2023, however, video should become more prevalent in the B2B world and businesses will increasingly see their stories told through this medium whether that’s on LinkedIn, Twitter or even TikTok.   

“Fundamentally, businesses are made up of consumers and consumers find video content on social media more engaging than the written word so B2B must adapt to incorporate this type of content into its social media strategy.

Video stops the scroll, and with TikToks and Reels firmly embedded within online advertising and marketing, it’s a medium that can no longer be neglected by B2B.” 

Janet Hare

The rise of AI 

“2023 is surely going to be the year of expedited development in AI technology and its application. In December last year, we saw the launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI and it was immediately heralded as impressive and human-like in its ability to create content by the world of PR and marketing and in the media. Even Elon Musk tweeted about its remarkable abilities – “ChatGPT is scary good. We are not far from dangerously strong AI” – and Google reportedly expressed concern internally about its abilities to disrupt the search engine business due to its unexpected strength.   

“As we start 2023, we in the PR and marketing industry are scrambling to test its abilities to see how we can harness its power as well as worry about its potential threat to our bread-and-butter activity of writing content and how we stay ahead of the curve. Meanwhile, the potentially negative uses of the chatbot are starting to appear and the New York City education department has blocked the use of ChatGPT on the internet and devices within schools due to its worries about it leading to a wave of ‘cheating’ in essays and other schoolwork. 

“Whether it’s seen as a negative or positive tool, the fact remains that AI is only on its way up and we will see more applications of it as the year progresses in marketing and PR.” 

Skills You Need To Be A Successful PR In 2023

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It’s no secret that working in public relations and managing successful PR campaigns can be a stressful yet rewarding at times. One day you could be pitching in a hot new client story to the media, the next you could find yourself in Milan conducting a video shoot (okay, that doesn’t happen all that often, but it did for me recently, so I had to mention it!). Working in PR, means you get to add many strings to your bow and here, we explore the essential skills that’ll help you to enjoy a thriving career in PR.

 

Strong copywriting skills

Possibly the cornerstone of any role in PR and comms is solid copywriting skills. A huge part of the role, you’ll need to turn your hand to writing blogs, white papers, reports, press releases, case studies…the list goes on. If you’re in an agency role with several clients, it’s important to nail the tone of voice for each client and have the ability to digest sometimes complex information before drafting it up in an easily readable and understood manner.

 

An eye for news

A must-have skill in PR is knowing which story is going to hit the sweet spot with the media. In meetings or interviews, being able to pick out those golden key pieces of information that will leave journalists wanting to know more isn’t a knack that should be taken for granted.

 

Passion

Passion is what gets us through on the hardest days. Maybe you’re struggling to get in touch with a journalist, your social post isn’t performing how you wanted it to, or your event sign up numbers aren’t as high as anticipated – these things can really put you on a downer after weeks or even months of planning and hard work. A dash of passion and desire to do your best work is what is needed to get us through those tricky days!

 

A thick skin

Unfortunately, like many industries, delivering successful PR isn’t for the faint hearted. You may come across a cranky  (we all have bad days), challenging crisis comms work, or get some unexpected feedback on an article you poured your heart and soul into and it can be dis-heartening. Feeling this way isn’t a bad thing, it just shows we care!

Adaptability

“But that’s how we’ve always done it” isn’t a welcome phrase in our industry. As professionals, it’s important to be able to adapt, change and embrace new trends, techniques and technology. Gone are the days of cutting out individual press clippings and compiling them into a book to then send in the post to clients – and aren’t we glad of that!? If PRs had ignored this new method of communication called social media 10 years ago, then I wonder where we’d be now. Arguably, SEO only became a thing in the late 90s, and look how much that has evolved over the years. For me, there will always be a place for genuine content and print media, but there’s also plenty of room for the newer stuff too!

 

The team at Source PR have all of these skills in abundance, to find out how we could help you and your business, get in touch.

How To Maintain Your Brand During A Recession

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“Should I be spending as much on PR and marketing when I’m having to cut costs to keep my business as profitable as possible?” This is a question you may be asking as 2022 comes to a close and the start of 2023 looks set to be marred by the ongoing UK recession.

Quite often I find, PR and marketing is at the bottom of many company ‘to do’ lists during a recession. It’s regularly seen as a soft business priority rather than an essential. A nice to have, rather than a need to have.

It’s also sometimes a low priority when it comes to allocating spend to. Which, during these times of economic downturn and spending squeezes, is often why promotional budgets are the first to go. But, here are 5 reasons why it’s important to invest in marketing during an economic downturn.

How To Maintain Your Brand During A Recession

  1. When household and business budgets are tight due to a recession, people are going to seek out the cheapest option instead of the best option. This is why the more you keep your brand front of mind for your customers, the more likely they are to still buy from you. If you turn off your PR and marketing activity, you will become less visible to them and there will be no reminders of the product they bought and loved when money was more freely available. This is also a good time to steal a march on possible competitors who are not so bold in their approach to PR and marketing.
  2. You do not want to lose your brand loyalty. Brand building takes time. A lot of time. Like mostly years. Starting from scratch again at a later date is a painful, and expensive, thought. On social media, for example, your followers are used to you being active. Take that away and you will lose them.
  3. PR itself, as part of the whole marketing mix, is actually one of the more cost-effective activities you can be doing right now to promote your business. The results that your PR team or agency will be producing for you is earned rather than paid for, so a large advertising budget or marketing spend is not needed to get your brand out there.
  4. You can use PR and marketing activities to show your company in a different light to demonstrate your knowledge of the struggles that others are facing. That could be through CSR activities, giving back to your local community, or through your internal comms making sure you’re listening and taking action where you can to address the worries your employees may have. Of course, as always, be aware of ‘CSR washing’ and make sure your actions are driven by genuine compassion and not to gain column inches.
  5. Lastly, when times are hard it’s even more important to celebrate and shout about your successes during a recession. You want customers and potential customers to know that you are still operating. You want your employees to feel proud of where they work and not worry about how the difficult times might affect the company they work for and their jobs.

The TikTok Tidal Wave – Is It About To Overtake Our Marketing Strategies?

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This time last year, TikTok officially surpassed Google as the world’s most popular site. The perfect storm of lockdown boredom, a Vine-shaped hole in our hearts to fill and the demise of other social media platforms saw this relatively new idea rocket past its competitors. To date, there are over 1.5 billion active monthly users on the app, just under 20% of the entire population of the globe. Let that sink in.

With such colossal usage figures and endless potential, many are now questioning whether TikTok will overtake the likes of Google as the go-to search engine, as well as whether it will replace traditional news outlets, and basically become our one-stop shop for all things social in 2023 and beyond. It’s an interesting idea that everyone in the PR and comms industry should take seriously. Let’s look into this a little more.

Will TikTok Replace Google?

I’ll start by saying that personally, I don’t believe TikTok, nor any other site will ever come close to replacing Google and its influence on the searching world. I think I could approach anyone in the street and ask them to look something up for me, and the first thing they’d do is open up their web browser – not TikTok. I’m sure most in the industry would agree with me on this too.

But that being said, I understand the sentiment of those who believe that TikTok *could* become the next big search engine. Because it churns out a lot more inspirational content. For example, if you were looking for Christmas present inspiration or NYE party outfit ideas, you might be more likely to look this up on social than via a web search due to the quality of the results.

Presently, 92% of all searches are conducted on Google – and despite TikTok stealing a march on the site’s traffic – that’s a stat that’s going to be nearly impossible to chip away at. I completely understand the value of TikTok for idea-motivated searches, but realistically, what percentage of all searches fit into this box? I imagine not all that many, meaning that whilst TikTok probably does pose a genuine threat to some of Google’s users, the number of those searches in the grander scheme of things is probably very, very small.

But this is still important for PRs to take note of.

We all know how important SEO is to any good marketing campaign. Being visible on SERPs can bring in a lot of traffic, be it navigational, transactional, or informational – most users are valuable to your business in one way or another. In this industry, we can find ourselves spending a lot of time writing for and optimising for Google, so if TikTok is stealing some of that traffic – shouldn’t we be considering augmenting it too?

In my opinion yes. But not in the traditional SEO methods you may be used to. TikTok is all about inspiration. So where you may work on a blog to provide information to a user or optimise a landing page to enhance conversions – I think SEO on TikTok is all about creating genuinely engaging content that can stir and enthuse a watcher. I’m sure there’s no harm in creating content specifically for potentially high-volume searches such as “UK staycation inspiration” or “first date outfit ideas”, but I’d concur that the best method is to create a post that not only answers the user’s question but offers them choice, vision and above all – inspiration. What that looks like specifically is really up to the individual user or business on TikTok but figuring it out is all part of the fun!

What About The News Sites?

Another argument is that TikTok is becoming our news source, and more traditional outlets are losing out as a result. Ofcom did find it to be the fastest-growing source of current affairs for adults this year, but I think this is another statistic to take with a pinch of salt. Personally, I get a great deal of my ‘bitesize’ news from social media, for example through Twitter Trending or I might even hear about something for the first time on my TikTok ‘for you page’. BUT… I’ll go and search online to find out more – and this nearly always takes me to one of the nationals or regionals depending on the context.

Image: Guardian / TikTok

This means that there’s absolutely still value in traditional PR and communicating your news through the channels we’re used to – because they’re still incredibly valuable, a better source for conveying long-form content, AND, you have to consider that not all of your audiences are going to be on TikTok and other social media channels. The best strategies will cover all bases. The latest research by Statista still shows the BBC and ITV trump the rest of their competition in terms of being the leading news source, and even Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram sit far higher than TikTok.

Is TikTok Going To Overtake Anything?

I don’t necessarily think that TikTok is going to replace any site or social platform in the coming months and years – because I think it’s entirely established in its own right. Ever since we lost Vine, there’s been a great big gap in the market for a social based around short-form video content; and TikTok managed to fill it right up just before Instagram came in with Reels. The fact that both are now thriving shows that there was a demand for this particular kind of USP and suggests to me that there’s no need to speculate what TikTok will replace – as it can co-exist with all other existing platforms and still do as well as it is doing currently. Isn’t that a nice thought?

Image: photo via YourNikonMan / GettyImages Remix by Jason Reed & The Daily Dot

How PRs Can Use TikTok To Their Advantage

This isn’t the first time I’ve written about TikTok, and I’d wager it won’t be the last. Any good PR will always have their curiosity piqued by an upcoming social platform or idea (go ahead and ask me how many of the Source PR team downloaded Mastodon a few weeks ago!) and it’s important in comms to always keep one eye on the things that are evolving.

You can read my blog on why you should consider using TikTok for your brand on our website, but in short, the premise is that it’s always about whether you have something of value to add to the conversation – and not just hopping on trends for the sake of it. Give my other blog a read, and as always, we’d love to know your thoughts. You can reach us on all the social media platforms including Twitter and LinkedIn (and TikTok, of course 😉)

If you’d like to find out more about how Source PR can support your social media strategy (and maybe even experiment with a few TikToks with you!) feel free to drop our friendly team a line. We’re always happy to chat.

Crisis PR Management & Another Lesson From KFC

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No brand or business is immune to the challenges presented when a PR crisis erupts.  Equally, in today’s digital world, no company can guarantee that a PR crisis won’t happen to them, as such all companies should at least have plans in place to prepare for the unexpected.

Crises typically fall into two camps – internal crises, generated by a business decision, action or fault, or those developed externally either by a changing consumer landscape, political issue or an unforeseen issue with a product or service.

Hopefully effective business planning and preparation should mitigate a PR crisis erupting, so it must be particularly frustrating when an ‘own goal’ is scored by simply being careless and taking your eye off the ball.

This point is perfectly highlighted by the recent PR crisis to envelop KFC.  Earlier this month, KFC sent a promotional message to German customers encouraging them to celebrate Kristallnacht by having extra cheese on their tender pieces of chicken:

“It’s memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!”

The issue is that Kristallnacht is widely seen as being the start of the holocaust when in 1938 the Nazis led a series of attacks on Jewish businesses and community that left more than 90 people dead, and widespread destruction of Jewish properties and places of worship.

Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass) is remembered on the 9 November and marked with numerous memorial events and discussions to reflect the Nazis’ murder of more than six million Jewish people.

The PR issue was placed firmly at the doors of their automated push notification that sent the message directly to their customers without human intervention.  The system effectively identifies significant days in the calendar and attaches a promotion to them, before sending to customers.

Daniel Sugarman, Director of Public Affairs at the Board of Deputies of British Jews described the original KFC message as “absolutely hideous” and left KFC having to quickly apologise and re-examine their internal systems to prevent the company from having to manage future PR crises.

The company’s tried and tested crisis PR procedures quickly kicked into place but despite the rapid response, the issue had spread to online national and international news outlets.  The issue was quickly amplified via social platforms, illustrating the speed that a PR crisis can spread in today’s digital world.

This was an unnecessary and bad own goal by KFC.  Even if the business managed to convince its audiences that it was not actually in favour of celebrating Kristallnacht with extra cheese, it exposed the business at the very least as being uncaring, poorly run and single-mindedly promoting sales without due care.

We should really have expected better from KFC, particularly after they were able to turn an externally influenced issue into a master class of crisis PR management.

Back in February 2018, the company’s biggest nightmare turned into a reality when the restaurant ran out of chicken due to supplier issues. The net result was that the company was forced to shut down more than half of the stores in the UK.

How to manage a PR crisis

With a crisis PR team, plans and creative thinking in place they were able to turn the issue into a positive PR campaign – saving not only the brand’s reputation but also building relationships with customers and maintaining their trust.  How to manage a PR crisis? They simply followed the plan.

  1. To start, they apologised and made themselves accountable for the crisis.  Rather than attempt to shift blame they apologised to the customers directly via social media channels and newspapers
  2. Secondly, they kept communication open and honest. KFC was very effective at using social media to address customer questions or concerns, even using twitter to share customer Q&As
  3. Finally, by being transparent with the issue, and how they are dealing with it, KFC showed they were taking steps to bring the operations back to normal, with web links sharing information.

The company was also humble and showed gratitude towards its customers for bearing with them and apologised / thanked all the stakeholders for their patience.  Throughout the crisis PR management they kept the emotional balance right.  This involved being apologetic when things went wrong, professional when showing they had the matter under control and yet maintaining a sense of humour in their messaging.

A sense of humour when managing a PR crisis

Finally, they were consistent with their communications and ensured that the issue went to the very top with all messages on social media coming from the fictional KFC’s founder, Colonel Sanders, himself.

It’s clear that PR crises can come quickly out of the blue, from a simple slip up or from an issue that has developed gradually over time.  In today’s digital age, they can erupt more quickly than ever so it’s important to have plans in place.  KFC had a visible presence on social media prior to the crisis and made sure they used it to reach the affected parties.

If you find yourself in crisis or in a similar situation, contact Source PR as we can provide you with hands-on crisis management support or better still help you put a robust crisis management plan in place before an issue arises.

BrewDog’s Anti-World Cup Sponsorship: A PR Own Goal?

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Ever since Qatar was announced as the venue for the 2022 World Cup by the disgraced former FIFA President, Sepp Blatter back in 2010, this year’s tournament has been fraught with controversy.

As the World Cup has drawn closer, the idea of Qatar hosting has grown ever more controversial, due to allegations of bribery that surrounded FIFA’s awarding of the tournament and the Gulf state’s appalling human rights record.

The multinational craft brewery and pub chain, BrewDog is no stranger to socio-political campaigns. From climate change to criticism of Boris Johnson during the summer of 2022, its always raised its voice about contemporary issues.

The rebel beer brand recently announced that it would be an ‘anti-sponsor’ of the World Cup and despite the outwardly positive message, the company has been criticised for being hypocritical.

So, is the company taking a noble stance here or is it simply a shameless promotional advertising exercise?

 

What is Brewdog’s anti-sponsorship all about?

Less than two weeks before the World Cup was due to kick off in the Middle East, BrewDog announced via CEO James Watt’s LinkedIn page and a Saatchi & Saatchi advertising campaign that the company were ‘anti-sponsors’ of the tournament.

In his post on LinkedIn, Watt, who himself is no stranger to controversy, explained what BrewDog’s ‘anti-sponsorship’ of the World Cup meant.

(SIC)“Football is meant to be for everyone. But in Qatar, homosexuality is illegal, flogging is an accepted form of punishment, and it’s OK for 6,500 workers to die building your stadiums. That’s why we’re kicking off.”

Billboards have lined city streets up and down the country and BrewDog’s social media campaign has been loud and proud. There’s no doubt as to the company’s views on Qatar hosting the World Cup.

BrewDog has also pledged to donate every penny they receive for their Lost Lager beer during the World Cup to human rights charities.

Why is Brewdog receiving backlash?

Almost as soon as BrewDog’s campaign began, the social media finger-pointing started with claims of hypocrisy being quickly levelled at the rebel beer brand.

One of the first issues that was raised with their ‘anti-sponsorship’ was the fact that the company admitted that they would be showing live World Cup games in their bars.

BrewDog responded by arguing that they “don’t want to stop people watching football” and that the “more football we show, the more Lost [lager] is sold, the more money goes to charity.”

However, one of the brand’s key principles in its early days was that it wouldn’t show sports as it didn’t want to have the loutish behaviour that is sometimes a by-product of drinking beer and watching sports games, particularly football, in its bars.

Even if that policy has been dropped, the fact that games are being shown in BrewDog bars does somewhat compromise the integrity of the original campaign.

Not only this, but it has also emerged that BrewDog still sells its beer in Qatar via a third-party distributor.

There’s also the problem of BrewDog’s historic treatment of its employees.

Unite Hospitality were quick to condemn the beer brand and said that while the treatment of workers in Qatar has been a scandal, “BrewDog is one of the worst employers in the brewing industry when it comes to doing the right thing by workers.”

The company has made significant changes to its employee welfare system and culture but for many people, it still smacks of hypocrisy.

Is Brewdog’s anti-World Cup sponsorship a PR own goal?

Ultimately, this does feel as if it’s a PR exercise for BrewDog.

All PR and advertising campaigns can come under fire but, in this case, the beer brand have left themselves wide open for criticism.

Yes, this campaign has no doubt raised the profile of BrewDog and there’s been a healthy proportion of positives reactions to this, but the cynics have shouted loudly on social media about this and sadly for the company, they make a good point.

By attempting to come across as a business of integrity, thanks to a sizeable backlash, they’ve achieved the opposite and scored a bit of a PR own goal.

If you think the team at Source could help you hit the target with your PR or media relations, get in touch!

Are We Too Reliant On Big Tech In Marketing?

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Written by our PR intern and university student Bridie Buckingham…

This week saw WhatsApp crash for over an hour and it was an hour of mayhem for some users. The messaging service owned by Meta (previously known as Facebook) left users unable to send messages, make calls or video chat for nearly two hours before apologising and getting servers back online!

During the outage, users took to Twitter (as we all do in a crisis) to air their grievances and create some hilarious memes. On Tuesday morning, #WhatsAppDown was trending on Twitter, with more than 140,000 tweets flooding the internet…

 

But whilst many were tweeting, others found themselves unable to conduct business or get in touch with loved ones. WhatsApp boasts over two billion monthly active users and has become a mainstay for messaging in most countries.

Understandably, Monday’s server crash sent some users reeling.

A similar situation happened in South Korea (where I’m currently living and working remotely from) last week when life went askew as a fire broke out in KakaoTalk’s data centre, knocking out all communications for the tech giant. KakaoTalk, as you may or may not know, is South Korea’s answer to WhatsApp but it has its claws far deeper in the average Korean’s life than it may seem.

The South Korean Super App

Unlike WhatsApp, KakaoTalk has built a countrywide franchise off the back of their instant messaging app, operating in several sectors. Their businesses include, KakaoT (a ride hailing service not unlike uber or lyft), KakaoBike (an electric bike rental service), KakaoBank, Melon (a music streaming service) and MANY more.

Not to mention they even have a whole merchandise line called KakaoFriends that features itself on every Kakao service, they originally began as emoticon characters but have expanded to become beloved figures all over the country.

This year, Kakao reported 47.5 million monthly active users in South Korea during the second quarter. That’s more than 90% of South Korea’s population of 51.74 million people, as of Nov. 1, 2021.

During the outage, millions of people had trouble getting in touch with one another. Many could not pay for everyday items at convenience stores or order food and groceries, and travellers were left stranded because they were not able to book taxis, depriving drivers of income.

The service is also used to do a lot of business. Store owners and business operators use the messaging app to get in touch with clients and take orders and reservations for services, but without any way to send and receive messages a lot of revenue was lost.

Kakao plans to compensate businesses that had taken a hit from the outage and ensure another outage is prevented. Alongside this, co-CEO Whon Namkoong resigned from his position after feeling a “heavy burden of responsibility” over the incident.

The days-long outage and the havoc it caused stirred a national reckoning over the country’s growing dependency on Big Tech.

Whilst it may seem convenient to have all your important apps and information in one place, is it really a good idea to place so much dependency on one company?

 

Get in touch via Twitter or LinkedIn and let us know your thoughts on this!

This Summer’s PR Winners & Losers

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It’s been a seismic summer of sport, heatwaves, Love Island drama and political chaos but in amongst that we’ve enjoyed and endured some rather memorable PR and advertising campaigns.

From Crown Paints to Nike, there’s been an abundance of campaigns that have had tongues wagging and brows raised during the last few months.

So as the summer months draw to a close and the return to school becomes ever more imminent, in this week’s blog, we take a look at this season’s PR winners and losers.

The winners

eBay

eBay has enjoyed a stellar summer in PR terms thanks to its partnership with Love Island, with the online auctioning site supplying the contestants’ outfits through its second-hand clothes section.

The sustainable yet fashionable nature of eBay’s second-hand clothing got the perfect platform for exposure in Love Island, with millions tuning in nightly to watch the smash-hit ITV show and, by virtue getting to see the array of outfits.

They rounded off a successful summer by signing up contestant Tasha Ghouri as their official pre-loved clothing ambassador, something which has been well-received and with Ghouri’s 1.4 million followers, there’s a brilliant opportunity for yet more growth.

Weetabix

The popular breakfast has always been clever in its advertising with the slogan ‘they’ve had their Weetabix’ a permanent and successful fixture since the 1990s.

This summer, Weetabix produced some quite brilliant adverts that coincided with the successful women’s European Championships and appeared in the sports sections of major news sites and on billboards across the country.

A masterclass in copywriting, the ads played on Weetabix’s self-created reputation for providing consumers with great strength and were wonderfully simple.

Against the backdrop of the breakfast cereal’s iconic yellow colour scheme, Weetabix produced clever slogans such as “They had theirs” in response to the semi-final win and “crunch time (just add milk)” prior to the final.

This is a genius piece of copywriting that was playful yet latched onto the growing support for the women’s team and interest in the tournament. A brilliant campaign that captured the mood of a hopeful, and eventually ecstatic, nation.

Nike

As the England National Team’s official kit manufacturer, Nike’s slick and rather magnificent marketing team sprang into action to produce a campaign that was simply jaw-dropping.

In the build-up to the tournament the sports brand created an incredible campaign that was the perfect PR stunt for the women’s game.

Members of the Lioness squad were reflected onto Dover’s white cliffs with the powerful accompanying tagline “You’ve Never Seen England Like This” … and they certainly weren’t wrong.

Tower Bridge and Battersea Power Station were among the London landmarks lit up with England players such as Leah Williamson and Lucy Bronze featuring, with the Nike pledge ‘Never Done’ promoting their winning mindset.

Nike accompanied this incredible campaign with an inspiring advert that highlighted their commitment to the women’s game.

This campaign is expected to help the sports brand meet one of its key long-term PR aims, which has been to better connect with women.

The losers

TotalJobs

TotalJobs is an online job board that’s been considered redundant by many on social media for its apparently rage-inducing advert that’s been tarnishing their YouTube experience.

The ad which has generally been confined to online video and streaming platforms has been met with a barrage of criticism and led some to take the stance of “actively boycotting [TotalJobs] because that advert is driving [them] insane.”

 

This particular Twitter user was one of many on the site that commented on the ‘smugness’ of the woman who got the job.

Another commented on how the “creepy, long stare the girl does in the TotalJobs ad on YouTube is enough to put me off using their service.”

It seems that TotalJobs have missed the mark with this campaign and potentially done a bit of damage to their reputation, purely through a perceivably irritating advert.

Instagram

PR-wise, Instagram has had a rather abysmal summer and sadly it’s been a problem of their own making.

The rise of TikTok has led the Meta-owned site scramble to incorporate videos into its feeds and adjusted its algorithm to include more of its reels on users’ feeds.

This has been met with a real backlash by users who are fed up with seeing reels at the expense of their friends and family’s photos, which led to 21-year-old photographer Tati Bruening starting a powerful ‘Make Instagram, Instagram Again’ campaign.

This campaign garnered a lot of support and among its proponents were Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner who shared the graphic on their stories which would’ve reached a large proportion of their 700 million followers.

Back in 2018 $1.3 billion was wiped off the value of Snapchat after Jenner tweeted that she no longer used the app, so Instagram knew that they had to act to avoid a similar disaster.

Loser or winner?

Crown Paints

Crown Paints is an interesting one and plays into an issue that my colleague Jess raised in her recent blog regarding whether all publicity is always good publicity.

In the past, the paint company won exposure through being a shirt sponsor for a football club who play in Anfield during the 1980s and generally have operated low-profile, safe PR campaigns.

However, its risqué ‘Life Stories’ advertising campaign has ensured Crown Paints sits firmly within the contemporary public conscience.

Focusing on the couple ‘Hannah and Dave’ and how they’ve navigated through their relationship, the ad has received numerous complaints and could potentially be investigating by the Advertising Standards Authority.

Many, such as comedian Jenny Éclair, took to social media to voice their displeasure at Crown Paints’ commercial, particularly, the lyrics “now a baby’s coming and they don’t know what it is” and “Hannah’s hoping for a girl, Dave’s just hoping that it’s his.”

The ad has been labelled “offensive”, “misogynistic” and a “serious error of judgement”.

Éclair added that it essentially insinuated that Hannah had “conned” Dave into fatherhood.

However, others enjoyed the ad and dismissed criticism as simply an over-sensitive reaction to a humorous take on modern relationships.

Whatever your thoughts on the advert, arguably Crown Paints’ brand awareness has never been higher and there’s no denying that it’s wedged the Darwen-based business firmly in people’s minds.

So, have they had a PR disaster or triumph this summer? I guess that’s up to you but I’d say they’ve snuck into the triumph realm purely by winning unprecedented brand awareness.

 

How Much Do PR Agencies Charge?

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As we head into what is likely to be another economic slowdown, there is often an uplift in businesses wanting to raise their profile in an increasingly competitive market.  With budgets tight and ambitions high, prospective clients often ask us ‘How much do PR agencies charge?’.

The short answer is how long is a piece of string, as there are a number or variables that can influence the amount PR agencies charge, whether it’s the amount of time spent supporting the account, the specialist nature of the work or the seniority and experience of the team required to deliver the results.

But it’s equally an important question as the predetermined budget is one of the key factors when selecting the right PR agency to support your marketing goals.

Here we’ve tried to outline some of the key elements that go into determining a PR budget, to help prospective clients pick the resource and team they need to support their business ambitions.  Knowing the information will hopefully help internal stakeholders understand why the costs are what they are and the agency is the right one for the business

Before appointing a PR agency, the first question must be whether the company has existing skills and resource available to deliver the plans.  If not, there is always the option to recruit a ‘PR manager’ to help, with typical costs of £35 – £50kpa depending on location, experience and skill set.  If selecting this route, ask whether they have all the required skills and industry resources to deliver the campaign as well as what plans are in place to cover holidays or other absences?

Another option could be to use a freelancer.  Freelancers often cost more than an in-house resource and can bring specialisms and experience, but often deliver tactically the strategy that’s been determined in house. Freelancers have specialities and niches, so if considering this you may need to hire one freelancer to handle your social media while another for media relations.  Costs can range from £150- £250 a day again depending on skills and experience and can quickly rack up if not managed carefully.

Selecting the right PR agency

When it comes to selecting a PR or social media agency, these typically fall into three categories, large, small and specialist PR firms.  Hiring an agency gives you access to a team of experts across the full spectrum of communications services from media relations, social media management, crisis communications, public affairs, SEO and more. Unlike a freelancer, agencies usually offer a team to deliver the strategic planning, measurement and evaluation along with tactical delivery and execution.

Smaller or ‘boutique’ agencies, typically have a staff of less than 20. Their monthly fees usually range from £1,500 – £5,000 (potentially more for a London based or highly specialist firm). The value is in the easier access to senior PR counsel as well as the agility and close working relations built with the team. Boutique firms can also specialise in specific sectors and services within the PR and marketing spectrum but offer a more personalised service to client businesses.

Large agencies usually have staff of more than 20 and have offices across the UK or world, offering support to clients that require that reach. Some of the brand names like Edelman, Weber Shandwick and Hill and Knowlton fall under this category. These agencies cost the highest with typical retainers more than £5,000 per month. These agencies are best suited for big corporations and governments, especially those needing PR support for multi-national launches and campaigns.

When it comes down to working out how much do PR agencies charge, most PR and social media agencies operate either on a project or retained basis.  Project rates tend to be for shorter term contracts between one and three months and can be used to support an event or crisis.  Project-based contracts tend to be priced higher than annual retainers because agencies spend a lot of time in winning the business, researching the company and getting to understand the various products or services. The short-term aspect can also put a lot of pressure on the agency’s resources to deliver within the time frame and the time spent on learning the account cannot be recuperated six months down the line once the project has ended.

Retained contracts run longer and are usually around 12 months duration, however at Source PR we are proud to say that we have supported several clients for more than 10 years on a rolling retained basis (as they value the work and results we deliver!). Retained contracts often cost lower than project-based contracts because the time spent and the research done in the initial few months by the agency are paid off in the long-term.

PR Agency Services

Services like media relations are offered on retainer contracts because the best results are achieved in the long term.  A one-off press mention in top-tier media can lead to a short spike in brand awareness or traffic to a website, but only consistent press coverage over the long-term will genuinely build and enhance a company’s brand and reputation.

Retained contracts typically allow clients to pay a fixed rate every month based on a specified scope of work or a fixed number of hours. Some months the work may be slower but it is usually balanced by months when the workload is higher.

One of the key influences into PR agency prices is based around the team allocated to support the business.  PR prices are proportional to the agency day rate card (i.e. how much time a member of the team would be required to support the business and the seniority / experience of the person or team). Naturally the hourly rate of an account executive is lower than that of an account manager, which is lower than that of an account director etc.

When looking to choose a PR agency, it tends to be best to work with a firm whose typical client is of the same size and budget as yours. Some clients with moderate budgets make the mistake of selecting a ‘big name’ agency only to have junior or less experienced PR staff working on the account as the client (or fees!) are not deemed as important to the senior team.  Smaller or boutique agencies typically give better access to the senior team at a more affordable rate.

Finally, one of the other key influences in determining ‘How much do PR agencies charge’ comes down to the services required by the client.  Some services like strategic planning, branding and public affairs understandably cost higher as they require more senior expertise. Crisis communications cost much higher as it requires the PR professional to be available 24X7 to respond to the crisis as it evolves and can take them away from other scheduled work

Similarly, services like media relations or working with influencers – where a PR professional brings their relationships built over the years also cost higher.  Services like social media management or blog writing can cost lower because they can be successfully undertaken without needing years of experience or decades spent building relationships.

The last question to ask is how much would it cost you not to recruit a PR agency?  What is the value of your time, do you have the skills and time to deliver a campaign yourself.  Equally what are the sales and opportunities you’re missing by not building your profile?  All are valid questions when asking ‘how much do PR agencies charge’.

Speak to us

If you’d like to speak to someone about PR pricing and what agencies can deliver against specific budgets, feel free to contact a member of our team.  Source PR is one of the North West’s leading boutique agencies and offers a full range of services to client business across the region and UK.

The team would be delighted to discuss your PR, social media and digital communication requirements and to meet to discuss your ambitions and how best we can deliver against your PR budgets and priorities.