Digital PR and content specialist, Victoria Attwood, joins us from digital marketing agency Cedarwood Digital as Account Director. Victoria brings over eight years’ experience to the role and will really help our Digital PR offering.

Tom Houghton, former North West Business Editor at Business Live – which encompasses the Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo – also joins the team as Senior News and Content Manager.

We’re also really pleased to welcome our first apprentice, 18-year-old Ella Howatson joining the team whilst working towards a QA Digital Marketing qualification.

The appointments come just a couple of weeks after being awarded the North West’s ‘PR Consultancy of the Year’ by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR). As well as being named in Prolific North’s Top 50 PR agencies and taking home the Media Relations Award at the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) 2021 Awards.

Our co-founder and managing director, Gary Jenkins said of the new appointments: “Victoria’s extensive knowledge of digital PR, SEO, and content marketing paired with Tom’s keen eye for a story make for the perfect additions to our growing team. We’re so proud to have Victoria and Tom join us, and to be attracting this calibre of professionals who want to work alongside us and grow with us. I’m confident they’ll both bring something special to the agency.

“Being in a position to invest in young talent like Ella is really rewarding too, and she is relishing the opportunity to forge a new career with us, rolling up her sleeves and doing an amazing job so far. We’re really proud to be championing apprenticeships as more and more young people consider on-the-job learning as an alternative to university.”

If you’re interested in joining the No Brainer team, visit our careers page for more information.

The post No Brainer growth bolstered by two new senior hires appeared first on No Brainer Agency.

DivideBuy are an interest-free credit provider based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, and we’re working with them to lead on the company’s SEO and content marketing strategy as it looks to continue its rapid growth.

Last year, the firm topped Deloitte’s ranking of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies with an average three-year growth rate of over 20,000 per cent. Now, the 50-strong team, which provides over 500 SMEs with interest-free, cost-spreading payment options, is planning further expansion in 2021.

Our Managing Director Gary Jenkins said: “We’re excited to work with such a dynamic and disruptive brand as DivideBuy, which has exceeded all expectations for growth despite the impact of the pandemic.

“The team have a clear strategy to stay ahead of the ever-evolving market, and we’ll be supporting this with content marketing and integrated SEO support, with our strategy rooted in data-led decisions.

“This partnership is an exciting one for us and we can’t wait to play a part in establishing DivideBuy as a leader in the highly competitive fintech sector.”

Jo Balsamo, chief marketing officer at DivideBuy, added: “No Brainer is the perfect fit for us as our SEO and content marketing agency, and we share similar stories as fast-growing firms from the North.

“In fintech you can never stand still, and we were in need of a progressive plan to strengthen our content performance and improve our SEO, and No Brainer showed us how this can be achieved with an integrated approach.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the results, with a busy year already underway for the whole team as we continue to improve our services in the lending process, platform and checkout.”

The post UK’s fastest-growing tech start-up appoints No Brainer appeared first on No Brainer Agency.

Laura joins us from FTSE 250 home repairs and improvements giant HomeServe to lead our search engine optimisation (SEO) support for clients, as well as helping shape our data-led campaigns.

Laura brings more than two decades of experience in agency, in-house and consultancy roles, having spent almost three years at HomeServe where she oversaw year-on-year growth in organic search and traffic.

Now, she’s tasked with developing our range of paid, owned, shared and earned services to aid our growth across the North West and the UK.

Laura’s excited to join the team and said:

“We have big ambitions to strengthen our SEO offer as an agency and ensure it is complementary to the traditional and digital PR, content and social media services we’re already famous for. We have a clear plan to deliver more digital-first strategies for new and existing clients that demonstrate outstanding ROI.

“We’re already working with clients to show how impactful SEO and PR can be when they work together, and how we can use data to shape strategies that allow brands to connect with their audiences in a way they haven’t before.

“Having worked with No Brainer before as a client, I know all about their track record for amazing and creative campaigns, and I look forward to playing my part in the journey ahead.”

Our managing director, Gary Jenkins, added:

“Laura joining the team is a landmark appointment for the agency and comes at a time when proving your worth in PR, content and SEO is more important than ever.

“Data and insights are at the heart of everything we do as an agency so Laura’s appointment will help us enhance that across our range of services from digital PR to content marketing and social.

“Last year, we worked hard to achieve the AMEC international certificate in measurement and evaluation – the gold standard in measurement for our industry – and have ensure those best practices flow through the agency. Now, with Laura with us, we’re ready to take No Brainer to the next level.”

You can find out more about Laura on our About Us page.

The post No Brainer appoints FTSE 250 SEO expert in new role appeared first on No Brainer Agency.

How businesses behaved during 2020 – and how they ‘read the room’ of the nation through their communications, Digital PR, SEO and marketing strategies during the pandemic – will also last long in memories too.

While it’s been a year of epic fails when it comes to PR handling during the COVID crisis (we’ll touch on these!), it’s also been one where brands needed to be truly creative in their approach to reach consumers in the right way.

We’ve picked out the most epic PR fails and holy grails we’ve seen during 2020 and here we celebrate the five best and worst we’ve seen:

5 epic PR fails – campaigns that bombed in 2020

Before we get to the best of the best PR campaigns of 2020 (promise!), we felt we needed to give a few special mentions to some of the biggest PR fails we’ve witnessed in 2020.

1. The Government – a ministry of mayhem

First, big shout out to the government for its handling of the COVID crisis, which the New Statesman says has been viewed “as a cautionary tale” by nations across the world.

During the first lockdown, the mantra “Stay at Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives” resonated brilliantly. But then came a raft of mixed messages, empty slogans, r-rates, regional chaos, Cummings and Barnard Castle-gate… the list goes on. News of a vaccine was a welcome plus point in a hail of PR fails during 2020.

2. Burger King’s “Veganuary”

There was also backlash to a range of other epic PR fails in 2020, including an honourable mention for Burger King, which launched a new vegan burger in a blaze of glory for ‘Veganuary’ 2020. It was later found to come with mayonnaise (which, as we know, contains egg) and was cooked on the same grills used for its meat-based burgers. It ended up not being suitable for vegans… or even vegetarians, and required a warning on its ads. As a result, this was one PR campaign that went up in flames.

Note: Although, they did sort of make up for that fail (in PR terms), by launching the Burger Queen campaign in 2020 as a brilliant follow up to their Stevenage FC campaign in 2019. 

3. Oh Polly – more like Oh Dear!

Fast fashion brand Oh Polly did an amazing job of ostracising many UK nurses and care workers after launching a competition to celebrate NHS workers’ commitment during the first COVID lockdown. Unfortunately, one of the Oh Polly team told the Glasgow-based winner Lara Harper ‘thanks, but no thanks’ as she couldn’t make the brand’s virtual party… because she was a nurse working a 12-hour shift that day. The social media storm against the brand was damaging to say the least.

4. Boeing hit new lows

Commercial jetliner manufacturer, Boeing cried ‘mayday’ several times during 2020. In days, the aerospace company found itself battling against tragic air disasters, workers being reassigned, embarrassing emails mocking its regulator and joking about safety, and complaints around its ex-CEO’s pay. The result? It posted its first annual loss since 1997, proving once again how important reputation is to the bottom line.

5. Trump – the ultimate bad loser

And the last honorary mention in this section goes to pretty much any of Donald Trump’s tweets about the Presidential Election results in most states, many of which carry a warning from Twitter about their accuracy. He lost to Joe Biden. Although he doesn’t think he did and he’s still harping on it about it…

The Holy Grails – 5 PR campaigns we loved in 2020

As our world tipped upside down in 2020, we saw businesses pivot, strategies halt and budgets reviewed, but that also bought out the very best in some brands.

We saw so many of them harness the power of their best creative minds to develop new ideas, fresh approaches and wild and wonderful campaigns that inspired consumers when inspiration was truly lacking for so many.

We’ve listed some of the ones that stood out most to us, but we’re always happy to chat through other campaigns that have – unlike the other five examples above – captured hearts, minds and attention for all the right reasons.

1. Spotify ‘Wrapped 2020’

Spotify owned Christmas with their ‘Wrapped 2020’ campaign this year. The campaign gave Spotify listeners and creators a personalised opportunity to celebrate and reflect on their year through a lens of audio and culture on the platform.

The campaign helped millions of us look back on the year through the music and podcasts that helped us all through, and the volume of shares in social was incredible.

As campaigns go, it didn’t miss a beat.

2. Tesco Gets Rid of the ‘Naughty List’

Tesco owned one of Santa’s (and let’s admit, every parents’) prized possessions this year…Father Christmas’s ‘Naughty List’.

Without a doubt, one of our top five campaigns this year, Tesco poked fun – in the right way – at the tough year we’ve all had and gave everyone a year off of the naughty list (phew!).

Tesco’s TV ads played to the Britney classic “Oops, I Did It Again”, and the character monologues and confessions were light-hearted, playful and brilliant. It spread a bit of joy, when we needed it most and for that, they get on this year’s ‘PR wins’ list.

3. ‘Moments of Joy’

Talking of joy, we helped Appreciate Group launch their ‘Moments of Joy’ campaign in December, which celebrated all the positives of 2020.

One hundred-year-old war veteran Captain Sir Tom Moore’s extraordinary fund-raising effort topped this year’s list, capturing 39 per cent of the nation’s hearts.

Second was Donald Trump’s defeat to Joe Biden in the race for the US Presidency, with news of a coronavirus vaccine in October ranking third. Manchester United ace Marcus Rashford’s campaign for the Government to reverse its decision to end free school meals was the nation’s fourth most joyful event (he was also named ‘Communicator of the Year’ by PR Week), with the day pubs re-opened after the first lockdown ranking fifth.

4. Aldi’s 30^th Birthday Party

Aldi love to push the boundaries when it comes to a bit of tongue in cheek banter with their competition, and they nailed it once more in 2020 with the brand’s 30^th birthday party campaign #Aldi30thBirthday.

Writing a card. To ourselves.#Aldi30thBirthday #NoOneCares pic.twitter.com/pnu3YqOq4t

— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) October 6, 2020

As we know, brand’s birthday celebration can always be a bit of a damp squib… but Aldi laughed at themselves with the extra #NoOneCares hashtag bolted on for good measure and invited Asda, Iceland, Tesco, Sainsbury and even Lidl along for the laughs. Others like the Coop who weren’t invited, also got in on the act, providing a day of amusing light relief for all of us.

In the end we all cared as #Aldi30thBirthday took Twitter by storm.

5. Now TV’s ‘Greetings Gram’

Streaming service Now TV hit the mark with its Greetings Gram campaign towards the end of 2020 to give us all some much-needed throwback feels. The creative team behind the campaign managed to dig out ex-EastEnders star Martine McCutcheon (…whatever happened to her TV career?), to recreate a scene from Christmas classic Love Actually (…whatever happened to her film career too?).

Launching the TV service’s Christmas movies, members of the public were given the chance to reprise the famous Andrew Lincoln and Kiera Knightley ‘cue card’ scene from the movie to send friends and family a special, personalised Christmas message.

Honourable mentions….

It’s also worth some genuine honourable mentions too.

• HomeServe’s NHS campaign – providing free home repairs and improvements for NHS staff and care workers – stood out as something truly special in the year. It’s one of ours, and we’re super proud of it, so why not eh?!
• We loved Park Dean’s “Biggest Disney Fans” campaign too, which mapped the world’s favourite Disney characters by country. Simple, SEO and data-inspired (which we love!) and executed brilliantly.
• Author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler helped children understand social distancing by recreating scenes from The Gruffalo in a really beautifully delivered campaign in 2020 too.
• A picture is worth a thousand words they say, and the images from this campaign created by artist Lidija Milonvanovic certainly made an impression. Released in May, the #SupportTheDoctors movement captured the mood of the nation at a time when support for key workers was on everyone’s mind.

We could go on, but what we do know is that – despite many marketing and Digital PR agency offices being shut down and teams working from home – creativity has been pushed to the forefront of so many communications, digital PR and marketing campaigns in 2020.

2020 has pushed us all to be even more imaginative, resourceful and most importantly, appreciative of some of the positive takeaways from this year.

We’ll certainly be taking it into 2021 with our clients.

And if you need help coming up with your next big creative campaign idea – rooted in data – then we’re always happy to have a chat over a brew.

Let’s get together for a chat and a brew to see how we can get your next campaign on the “hails” list!

The post Five of the best – and worst – PR campaigns of 2020 appeared first on No Brainer Agency.

In its purest form, combined media is simply using more than one channel to communicate your brand and its key messages. Channels and tools can vary, from social media to print advertising and PR to SEO; but the important part is to drive consistent campaigns – albeit presented differently – through multiple channels as part of a cohesive strategy.

In today’s fast-paced world people consume media, news and brand messaging on more channels than ever before – the fragmentation of media channels today is undoubtedly impressive and presents a great opportunity for brands.

The rise of multi-screen viewing means that traditional TV adverts are not always the most impactful marketing tool; and shouldn’t automatically be considered the ‘holy grail’ of marketing, as was the case in the 60s, 70s, 80s and even 90s.

Should I consider a combined media approach?

Put simply, yes.

A combined media approach will garner much more attention than using a single channel, because consumers are actively connecting with more types of media. Why focus just on a PR story, when you can target through social, advertising, etc and reach more audiences or people more than once?

For a modern brand, using just one medium is nowhere near as powerful as creating a brand campaign that is spread across many channels, reaching different target audiences with different purchasing habits.

Knowing what your target audience looks for will help you better understand how they respond to marketing messages and can then inform your strategy and creative.

At No Brainer, we believe all campaigns should be driven by data. It’s important to spend time at the front of any campaign understanding your objectives, your audience and the existing insight that’s already available to you. This will help to better define what combined media approach will have the biggest impact.

Evaluating your campaigns regularly will also make your efforts more cost-effective because you can gain moment-to-moment data from your target audience, across most combined media channels – from there it’s a constant cycle of learning and adaptation.

By taking into account how each campaign and channel performs, you can detect patterns that affect when and how you chose to promote your brand in the future and what channels you’ll use.

Will combined media help me reach my goals?

A combined media approach allows for different objectives to be reached, but also allows you to analyse the most effective ROI and engagement across your channels.

Combining paid television adverts with a low-cost social media campaign, for example, is a great way of reaching an audience, as they see your brand in different formats at different times. However, in order to understand what’s most effective you should utilise the analytics gained from each channel and compare these to your overall campaign objective.

Timing should also be considered when utilising a combined media approach. If we’re to take our earlier example of a paid television advert that goes live at 7pm, an ideal time to place a social media advert may be 8pm; targeting viewers of the TV show your advert appeared around. Partner both these tactics with some optimised keywords to attract searchers and search engines rankings and your approach is now well-rounded with multiple touchpoints for a customer to remember your brand. Staggering your ads means you’re also more likely to stay front of mind with your audience, as you’re consistently sharing your messaging, meaning you’ll likely reap the long-term rewards.

By targeting your audience on all multiple media fronts, you can gain valuable data that allows you to focus future campaigns. A combined media approach lays the groundwork for you to collect insight over time, helping you to understand how to create the best campaigns possible and communicate your brand’s message in the most effective way.

What combined media channels should I be exploring?

For us, when we’re thinking about combined media, we refer to our Creative Intelligence® model, as this allows us to deliver in an integrated way, maximising channels and techniques – both traditional and modern.

We consider Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned (PESO) tactics as these help us to deliver multi-channel ideas and campaigns through which we can prove (and sometimes disprove) their ROI.

So, if you’re thinking about channels in silos then now is the time to evolve.

We truly do believe a brand’s value lies in effective communication and through ‘combined media’ strategies you can really bring your brand to life and connect with the audiences that most matter to you.

Let us know if you’d like to chat through a new approach and find out how we can help!

The post Here’s WHY you need to know about combined media… appeared first on No Brainer Agency.

I was thinking earlier that every business I know that is surviving and thriving in this crazy old world we’re living in right now has crystal clear values and a well-defined purpose.

No matter what the circumstances – and these are pretty unique ones right now – people working in these great companies know how to react and respond to each other because there’s an expectation they’ll live shared values and know their core purpose.

Most were hired because their values and purposes have been clearly defined from the outset – so it’s to be expected they will live and breathe them. That means they’re suited to not just ‘what’ the business does, but also ‘how’ and ‘why’ it does it.

Combined, clearly defined values and purpose provide the foundations for not only people’s behaviours, but their daily actions too.

Purpose-driven agency

Working with businesses like this gives us clarity as extensions of their teams. Clear values and purpose are useful not only to define what we do, but our ideas and the communications we deliver to support them – be it internal communications, strategic counsel, digital PR, great content, or social engagement and interactions.

It’s becoming obvious now that purpose matters more than it ever has. Lee and I probably took a while to truly understand the value of this for our own business and team, but we have this crystal clear in our minds for No Brainer now.

Our purpose is: We create meaningful change. We do that for our clients, each other and the wider world.

For our clients and prospects, this ‘change’ is often centred on solving problems – we help them change something that needs changing. That could be evolving their digital marketing, strengthening brand resonance in their core or target markets, or delivering new business and sales.

For every client, the definition of what ‘change’ is will vary. But then so does our strategy. For each client we’ll always nuance the way we activate our social media, content, marketing and digital PR activities. An out the box solution is firmly out the window in today’s world.

Change is inevitable and helping people adapt to it in their own worlds can be purposeful, but also profitable – for us and for them.

Meaningful is also something we live by. It’s easy for us to create vanity profile that looks great on or in a newspaper (who doesn’t love a feature in a national newspaper or magazine?) – but is this having a meaningful impact on their teams and business? If it isn’t, is the strategy right?

For us, getting that right is central to everything – we want to show a return on investment through results and we work hard to align our work with the stuff that really matters for each and every client. That’s always different, but always important.

It’s the way we’re WIRED

As for our core values, we used the brain and our location to define exactly ‘how’ we expect our team to be.

Warrington, where we’re based, is the home of wire-making. The human brain – the inspiration behind our ‘Creative Intelligence’ model – provides the wiring that helps each of us survive and thrive as individuals. WIRED stands for:

We, not I

This means we work with partners and collaborators, not paymasters. We are an extension of those people and companies who choose to put their faith in us.

We strive for the greater good for each other – our team, clients and communities – not our own self-interests, and our team is everything. We win together, we celebrate together.

Ideas people

We’re renowned for being consistently proactive, always developing new and creative ideas and concepts for clients.

We also explore innovation in our field, and we’re prepared to push boundaries with new ideas that our clients and ourselves can learn from.

Results-focused

We demand results – always. That means we deliver meaningful outcomes, not just outputs. We’re left brain thinkers and we are constantly measuring our impact to prove ROI through our work.

We bake measurement into our client experience from day one – they know we’re measuring the stuff that matters and working with them to adapt our strategies with the power of this knowledge.

Excellence as standard

We may not get everything perfect, every time, but we certainly aim to. We commit to exploring ours and our clients’ markets constantly, so we can learn from those who are doing things differently to us.

We work smartly and commit to excellence in all we do, and that means we have routines and processes that give us the best shot at achieving the highest standards.

Do the right thing

For us, reputation outweighs profit, every time. We don’t talk down to each other – we respect each other as equals, and that includes our clients, suppliers, partners… Everyone.

We want to ensure we’re giving back as much as we’re gaining, so we will always aim to help those that need guidance and support from us.

We’re approachable and supportive – whether that’s to fellow PR, social media and marketing experts, businesses, clients, prospects and anyone else.

What’s your purpose?

Let us know what your values and purpose are? We’d love to hear about how you’re living these or putting them at the centre of your own business.

The post Values and purpose matter appeared first on No Brainer Agency.

It was a collective decision to help raise awareness about Black Lives Matter, as well as a starting point for us to do more to promote greater diversity in our business, our industry, our country and our world.

It was only a small gesture we know, but each of us is aware we have benefitted from white privilege and we know, we need to do more.

Recently, we took time out to better educate ourselves, to listen and to also reflect on what’s in our power to influence – both as individuals and as a group.

We came together as a team to examine our business and our approach – discussing ways in which we can use our privilege, our position and our individual networks to call attention to the diversity in all its forms, including race.

And we shared ideas about what would become “Our Commitment to Diversity”.

Our Commitment to Diversity

Our Commitment to Diversity is inspired by our ‘WIRED’ core values. The W stands for “We, not I”, and the D stands for “Do the right thing”. They matter to us, because they’re ingrained in all of us.

Our commitment centres around four key pillars, which we’ve developed as a team. They are:

Educating ourselves

We commit to constantly learn about diversity in all its forms, to challenge each other and to grow our understanding of diversity issues.

So, to achieve this, we’re launching a new Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group (DISG) to lead on our commitment now and in the future.

Open to everyone in our team and led by Anna Williams, our passionate and committed account manager, the DISG will lead and inspire our business and members of the team to do more to challenge systemic issues in our industry and communities.

Through our DISG we’re planning to launch a team Diversity Education Programme, which will help all members of our agency (and we hope, by extension, our families and friends) to widen their reading, listening and watching habits around various elements of diversity in all its forms.

Initially, we’ve created a calendar of awareness days, podcasts, documentaries and books to help further educate us on BAME issues, whilst also encouraging wider discussion within our team.

We’ll also hold diversity-focused sessions and content sharing meetings around BLM and other existing and emerging diversity priorities.

Championing diversity in our communities and our industry

We commit to playing a leading role for SMEs and other agencies like ours in the field of diversity and inclusion, providing a voice to diverse groups that are often not heard.

Moving forward, we intend to work to rally the consciousness of likeminded SMEs and agencies like ours in the North West, including our industry peers and partners. We’ll work towards finding new ways of collaborating to raise awareness, and tackle the challenges faced by diverse groups in the North West.

Our priority is to find a way to improve the ratio of BAME to white people in our industry (currently 8%/92%), as well as ensuring our policies are reviewed annually to guarantee we are at the vanguard of shifting national diversity and inclusivity policy.

We’ll do this by reaching out to diversity groups (locally, regionally and nationally) to better understand the issues, challenges and barriers faced by individuals with aspirations to work in our industry and with us.

As a starting point, we’re intending to offer free advice/webinars and practical support to BAME-led SMEs in the UK, as well as launching a campaign that enables them to use our services and expertise affordably – and seek to roll this out to other diverse groups in time.

We’re still in the process of organising the logistics of this, but will use our social channels to update on this over the coming weeks and months.

Building partnerships

We commit to building BAME and diversity into our own business and supporting charities and groups that champion diversity in our communities.

Starting now, we are proactively inviting more BAME businesses into our supply chain and will roll this out to other diversity groups in time. We have already begun our work on this but will build on it as we make further inroads into the relevant groups and communities.

For the remainder of 2020 (and in years to come) we will champion inclusive charities and set aside volunteer hours to help with their causes. We also pledge to raise funds for campaigns that offer opportunities and support to BAME communities and other diverse groups in the UK.

Providing opportunities

We commit to offer BAME and graduates from under privileged areas the advice and opportunities to break through and thrive in our industry.

As a starting point, we are reaching out to offer our support to national organisation The Taylor Bennett Foundation, which helps more BAME graduates pursue a career in communications.

And on a more local level, we are speaking with schools and colleges who operate in under-privileged or high density BAME areas to inspire and encourage BAME young people into the world of PR and communications.

In time, we hope to create internships that remove the barriers to our industry and our company.

Growing together

We know this will take time, but there’s a saying that a journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step. This is our first step, but it’s the first step in a journey we’re committed to for the long term.

We’d rather create change that is lasting and meaningful than quick and ineffective.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll implement the foundations for this commitment, whilst looking to build and establish new relationships and partnerships to help with our bigger goals. It might take time, but we’re working towards a better future.

As an agency, we won’t be passive observers. We’ll challenge the status quo and be part of the change.

We will loudly and proudly champion causes that truly matter; causes which we all believe in and want to support through our daily thoughts, words and actions.

And that starts now.

The post Our commitment to diversity appeared first on No Brainer Agency.

Little did I know.

In the white paper – which you can download at the bottom of this page – I identified some really high-profile cases where PR handling was an unmitigated disaster. I mean when it was an absolutely epic balls-up.

BP, Phillip Green, Ryanair all took a bit of stick in there, and rightly so.

But I also wrote it before the biggest crisis I’ve seen in my lifetime – a coronavirus pandemic that has cost so many people so much already. At the writing of this, it’s cost almost 21,000 lives in the UK and counting…21,000 people, many more families impacted, countless businesses struggling, and so much more.

I wrote it before Donald Trump’s brain fart around drinking disinfectant as a cure for COVID-19.

And I wrote it before so many of the other major PR mishandlings we’ll be using as case studies of ‘epic PR fails’ for years to come, where brands, businesses, government hi-rollers and celebs have – as many have said – simply not ‘read the room’.

I mean even Disney – the self-labelled “Happiest Place on Earth” – got it wrong. Leaving it late to close its doors and its execs hoarding bonuses while furloughing workers were among a raft of criticisms, which included some from Disney heiress, Abigail Disney.

I could write a thesis on the countless list of PR disasters we’ve seen during this crisis, which really has bought out the worst of some organisations.

But it has also bought out the best of so many too.

In the midst of all the carnage of this crisis there’s also been beacons of hope. Individuals like Captain [Sir] Tom Moore raising nearly £30m, and companies like Costa, Morrisons and HomeServe giving free support to our amazing NHS and social care workers, among them.

Steps 1 to 7 in a nutshell….

The reason I’m saying all this right now it because I hope people can start to understand now that EVERY organisation, regardless of its size or industry, has the potential to be impacted by a PR crisis.

It’s not always as big as this one obviously, but crises – big or small – can have significant and lasting impacts on a business. Sometimes they can be terminal.

What worries me is that so many businesses simply don’t prepare at all for it….and, believe me, you can tell the difference in the ones that have from the ones that haven’t.

And if I can see it, as an outsider looking in, then you can be pretty sure their customers can too, and their employees, their partners, their suppliers….everyone.

Have a read of the crisis management handbook if you get five mins. If you don’t, then I’ll explain steps 1-7 in a nutshell.

Step 1: Anticipate

Anticipate the key risks you might face then prioritise them (make sure you add ‘pandemic’ in there now too!).

Step 2: Be ready

Get a crisis response team ready (if and when a crisis ever hits).

Step 3: Monitor and track

Constantly analyse your landscape (media and social) so you can identify potential issues and trends in real-time.

Step 4: Media training

Choose and media train the right spokespeople, so they’re ready when the time comes.

Step 5: Audience mapping

Ensure you identify all your audiences, channels and know who’s accountable for them.

Step 6: Get ahead

When it hits, make sure to get ahead of the story.

And Step 7: Always – be human and be honest

That leaves step 8. The golden step in crisis handling for anyone who’s been there before, worn the T-shirt and got the scars.

Step 8 is “Learn lessons from a crisis….every, single time”. If you do nothing else, do this one!

Vastly over-looked because so many business leaders are too busy patting themselves on the backs after recovering from a crisis….but, without doubt, this is THE most critical step in any crisis.

Learn the lessons, make the changes, be clear about the response plan and who’s accountable. If nothing else, please use it as an opportunity to learn and improve.

The great thing is that lockdown is giving business leaders the time to do this right now, before normality and ‘business as usual’ resumes. If it ever resumes.

Use this thinking time, space and opportunity to get your team together and to prepare for something like this ever happening again.

Do it before you forget all the big or small things that went wrong and what could be fine-tuned, and ensure you have the ‘right people in the right seats’ to respond quickly to another crisis that might hit.

Hopefully we won’t have another crisis of this scale to work through. But, by organising yourself around a crisis management framework and using a few simple steps, you can ensure you’re certainly better prepared if, God forbid, it ever does.

Download “8 steps to managing a PR crisis”

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Whether it’s press, social media, content marketing, crisis communications, speech writing or email newsletters, our focus always remains the same – and that is the audience it has to connect with or inspire action from.

The world is currently in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, with ever-increasing uncertainty and challenges facing many companies and brands.

And communications is right at the centre of this challenge.

Proving PR isn’t the ‘fluffy stuff’

Every company right now has a need to let their world know – whether that’s employees, customers, partners or suppliers – that they have things under control.

Just check your inbox over the last week and count how many messages you received from the people you bank with, buy from, use and trust?

Frustratingly, PR services can often be seen as the “fluffy stuff”, but times like this are when its true value becomes apparent to those who are serious about handling a crisis, managing its impacts and seeing it through.

It’s also a time when those companies and brands who have invested in PR for the long term are reaping the benefits of that investment, because they’ve already spent time and effort building trust with their team and their respective audiences. You can’t buy this, you have to earn it over the long-term.

I guess you’d expect me to say all that, but so often the PR industry is perceived as a ‘luxury’ and the first to face cuts when budgets are under review.

That’s not the case for the clients we’re proud to work alongside however, and we’ve worked more closely than ever with them over the past couple of weeks to manage and mitigate the risks that this pandemic brings.

And there’s no doubt this will continue to be the case in the weeks to come and beyond, so they’re ready to capitalise on the boom when this crisis has died down. And it will.

Don’t forget to keep connected

This is time to communicate more than ever. Over-communicate if you have to. The alternative is that you leave people unsure, unloved or unaware, and that can leave a lasting mark on you and your company.

The reality is now, more than ever, people need to feel connected whilst in their homes – and smart content, delivered through integrated communications can help.

It’s important to remember, a vast amount of the world’s population is looking for content to consume, to make them feel connected again, to feel reassured.

Isolation can be a lonely place, but the Internet is a wonderful platform for bringing people together, so use it as a chance to connect – or reconnect – to the audiences that most matter to you.

Comms professionals know that a crisis isn’t the time for hard sell on products or services. It’s about educating and entertaining or offering some much-needed advice and support to those who need it.

The world is crying out for useful content that not only helps them, but that takes away the negativity of the current climate too.

Right now, we’re helping our clients to mitigate the immediate need to tell their audiences what is happening following the pandemic and ongoing advice from the government and medical experts.

But we’re also finding ways to help them connect through content – to inspire, educate and entertain them. And that’s key in all this too.

By keeping conversation alive consistently you’ll better be able to maintain the trust and respect of your audiences through difficult times and the brighter days that are beyond – and that where opportunity and rewards will follow.

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Re-engage (formerly Contact the Elderly), is a charity that works with older people aged 75 and over struggling with loneliness, providing social activities and groups to help them form new friendships and prevent isolation.

A team of 13 staff at No Brainer welcomed the group of six older ladies, along with volunteers, for an afternoon of tea, cake and chat.

The tea party took place just underneath the No Brainer offices at Second City Coffee on Wilderspool Business Park, with refreshments supplied for free by the popular coffee shop.

The group from Re-engage included Jean, who last year celebrated her 100th birthday, as well as 85-year-old Annette who worked as a midwife in Liverpool before she retired.

Over the last 20 years, the number of people in the UK aged over 75 who live alone has risen to 2.2 million. Re-engage is the only charity that is solely committed to tackling loneliness in older people over-75, with the aim of providing means to long-lasting friendship and renewed support networks.

Gwen Lightfoot, Support Officer at Re-engage, said: “All too often, feelings of isolation and loneliness are the reality for older people with nearly half relying on the TV as their main source of company.

“Over 1.4 million older people in the UK suffer from loneliness with half a million of them going five or six days without seeing or speaking to anyone. Research has shown that social isolation can have huge mental health and physical health implication with people living alone significantly more likely to visit their GP or attend A&E.

“That’s why it’s so important for businesses like No Brainer to offer their support and get behind our mission. The ladies who attended thoroughly enjoyed meeting the No Brainer team and were thrilled to be served afternoon tea.

“Some great stories were shared and memories were made, over some good old-fashioned tea and cake and we are very grateful to the team for giving up their afternoon to spend some time with one of our groups.”

Mel Phillips, Head of Operations at No Brainer said: “As the ageing population continues to grow, so does the importance of charities like Reengage.

“It was our absolute pleasure to welcome Jean, Annette, Joan, Edith, Jean and the Reengage volunteers to No Brainer HQ. I know the team loved taking some time out of their day to listen to the many stories the group had to share – it’s definitely an experience we’ll now treasure and hope to repeat in the future.”

To learn more about how to get involved with Re-engage, visit the website at www.reengage.org.uk.

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