The PRovoke Media Podcast

B2B communications hasn’t always been seen as the most creative corner of the PR industry, but with more and more B2B agencies recruiting creative directors – and Cannes Lions introducing a Creative B2B Lions awards category last year – that perception is changing. Maja Pawinska Sims is joined on the PRovoke podcast by David Woodward, managing partner of B2B technology specialist Fight or Flight, alongside the agency’s first head of creative, former Weber Shandwick consumer lead Kate Sarginson, and associate director of strategy and creative Lauren Payne McLeod, to talk about the growing opportunities for creativity in B2B brand marketing.

To mark International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, four members of Google’s all-female communications leadership team in the UK and EMEA join Maja Pawinska Sims on the PRovoke podcast: Laura Wheeler, head of communications for Google Cloud, UKI and META; Jo Ogunleye, who runs B2B communications at Google and YouTube and is responsible for developing DEI networks across EMEA; corporate communications manager Delia Williams-Falokun; and Sarah Rowley, head of PR and communications for YouTube in the UK. The quartet talk about their professional paths, their personal challenges and choices, and the policies and campaigns they admire and are inspired by.

Valarie De La Garza, CEO of Fenton Communications, discusses lessons learned from her experience as a Latina CEO and how her Mexican heritage has influenced her work over the years.

Coyne PR’s Stacy Bataille joins the podcast to discuss the evolution of earned media and how PR professionals can ensure PR stays in the marketing mix.

As the urgency of the climate crisis intensifies, more corporates are beginning to disclose information about their climate policies and the extent to which their work with third parties such as trade associations aligns with those policies and with the requirements of the Paris Climate Agreement. Chris Pratt, managing director of Hill+Knowlton’s sustainability and social impact specialist Better Impact team in the UK, and Matthew Phillips, communications director for the UN’s High-Level Climate Champions for COP27 & COP28, join Maja Pawinska Sims on the PRovoke Media podcast to explain how climate policy disclosure is evolving, and the implications for the communications industry. 

Resources:

‘Integrity Matters: Net Zero Commitments by Businesses, Financial Institutions, Cities and Regions’ the latest report from the UN’s High Level Expert Group.

The Climate Action 100+ Net Zero Company Benchmark

Race to Zero criteria, which outlines the ‘five Ps’: Pledge, Plan, Proceed, Publish and Persuade

The Global Standard on Responsible Climate Lobbying

We Mean Business coalition

 

RenewPR president Ben Finzel and Siarza CEO Kristelle Siarza discuss The Change Agencies, a network of independent firms specializing in inclusive communications.

Dr. Ebony Copeland, director of the Howard University Student Health Center, and leaders from Ketchum, Jim Joseph and Michelle Baker, join the podcast to discuss the growing impact of trauma on schools, organizations and communities, with a focus on the unique needs and challenges for people of color

French West Vaughan joins this episode to discuss how niche practice acquisitions can be mutually beneficial, while also serving as a major growth strategy for agencies and their clients. 

As the war in Ukraine continues past the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Viroslava Novosylna, the founder and CEO of Ukrainian PR agency Slova Tech PR, joins Maja Pawinska Sims on the PRovoke podcast to talk about her experiences of the past year, how the business and communications landscape has changed, and how communications professionals around the world can continue to support the people of Ukraine.

The Asia-Pacific Communications Index is conducted annually by the Asia-Pacific Association of Communication Directors (APACD) in conjunction with Ruder Finn Asia, and polls more than 120 senior in-house communications executives (including APACD members) across the region. In this episode APACD board member Sylvia Evans and Ruder Finn Asia EVP Charles Lankester join PRovoke Media editor-in-chief to discuss some of the key findings, including the elevated value of the communications function, measurement/evaluation challenges, job satisfaction, and the need for external agency support.