The PRovoke Media Podcast

Winning the Talent Wars: How to Attract and Retain Top Talent

While the majority of businesses were sending employees home at the beginning of the pandemic, Moderna was rapidly scaling. When the pharmaceutical company joined the race to a vaccine, it grew overnight by more than 2,000 employees. Suddenly every Moderna employee was thrust into the public spotlight, making it more important than ever for leadership to ensure employees and their families felt cared for and supported.  

In this episode of the PRovoke Media Podcast, Megan Miller, Head of Content Partnerships at PRovoke Media talks with Scott Allison, global chairman & CEO at Allison+Partners and Tracey Franklin, chief human resources officer for Moderna, about the impact of the pandemic on Moderna — a company that was propelled to global notoriety as it worked toward a COVID vaccine —  and role culture played in its success. 

Allison and Franklin discuss the unprecedented value of face-to-face video calls with their people during a crisis, as well as the unexpected ways in which they met the needs of their employees during a time of risk and uncertainty. Moderna’s established culture that already prioritized taking care of its people was put to the test during the pandemic as employees’ needs demanded new types of support that included things like childcare and meal deliveries. It was this commitment to putting people over the work that was instrumental in Moderna’s successful development of a COVID vaccine. 

Topics like burnout, growth, working from home and handling being a company shot into the global spotlight as Moderna are also discussed.  

The PRovoke Podcast: Perfecting the Partnership

A great partner can make or break a campaign. In today's PRovoke Media Podcast episode, "Perfecting the Partnership," we talk to Coyne PR and Eggland’s Best about their long-running relationship and the strategic partnerships they've launched along the way. Together, they've been marketing the brand's eggs for more than 10 years.

To explore the strategy behind their long list of successful partner-pairings, Megan Miller, head of content partnerships at PRovoke Media, speaks with Jackie Peskin, vice president at Coyne PR, and Dave Holdsworth, vice president of marketing at Eggland’s Best. 

The agency-brand relationship has brought life to several unique partnerships including ones with Lifetime Fitness and the colorful lifestyle brand, The Home Edit. While many wouldn't have expected eggs to have much in common with an organizational brand, Peskin's research and background in nutritional studies led to the insight that reorganizing the way food is stored inside a fridge can actually help people eat healthier — something with which Eggland's Best strives to be associated.

Peskin and Holdsworth also discuss the surprising ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic affected their work, most notably making the decision to scale back Eggland’s Best advertising during the beginning of lockdowns as consumers were having difficulty finding any eggs available in their supermarkets.

The conversation concludes with Peskin speaking on the importance of the firm and the brand's roles in vetting possible partners for the value a partnership will lend to enhancing that brand’s identity. 

The state of technology storytelling in Asia

Allison+Partners MD Jeremy Seow and technology journalist Eileen Yu join the PRovoke Media podcast to examine how tech news is changing in Asia. The discussion follows an Allison+Partners research study that explored the battle of brand vs product, with tech news now encompassing a wide range of topics, including policy issues, geopolitical tensions, security breaches, and workplace culture. The podcast explores this shift and its implications for brands, journalists, and technology storytelling.

Clyde Group On Being Intentional About DE&I

2021 saw Clyde Group publish its first IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, & Accountability) Report, a transparent accounting of the firm’s accomplishments and shortcomings in DEI. In conversation with PRovoke Media’ Diana Marszalek, founder Alex Slater and senior VP Contessa Kellogg-Winters discuss the open and honest feedback employees provided through the report — and what the agency is doing to follow up on it.

 

Redhill’s Jacob Puthenparambil on globalisation

Redhill founder Jacob Puthenparambil joins the PRovoke Media podcast to discuss the changing nature of globalisation in the PR industry. In conversation with Arun Sudhaman from PRovoke Media, Puthenparambil explores how Asian companies can shift the conventional narrative in terms of multinational expansion, and why so few agencies from Asia have built global networks. 

FWV Through A Looking-Glass: 25 Years of Pushing Boundaries

In this episode of the PRovoke Podcast, Paul Holmes talks with Rick French, founder and CEO at French/West/Vaughan a PR agency that was one of the first to start acquiring other small boutique Ad and PR agencies. 

Rick goes into detail about acquiring the Ad agency West and Vaughan to help grow his business and along with it, the range of options he could offer current and new clients. 

The two also discuss navigating the culture clash of merging companies, acquiring a firm with its own way of working. They also speak on working through those cultural differences, and becoming stronger, and more unified through them. On that subject, Rick stresses the importance of having a similar philosophical identity with the principles at the firm to be acquired. 

French/West/Vaughan produced the iconic and longstanding Wrangler Network for the jean brand and Rick discusses how that came to fruition and how an ad campaign became a profit generator for Wrangler. 

Lastly, Rick talks about how his work producing content for clients has led him to work in TV and Film production.

The Future of Corporate Communications: Business Transformation

In this episode of the PRovoke Podcast, Paul Holmes has a conversation with Jim O’Leary, COO at Edelman, about the roles of both CEO and CCO, and how they have evolved in the last five to ten years as compared to the last two years.

Both Paul and Jim agree that the role of a CEO is incomparable to past generations of CEOs.  Previously, CEOs were figureheads who handled the business systems, financial elements and board relations. Now, CEOs spend increased time relaying the role of an organization in social issues, as  well as its role in society more than ever before.

Now that this has shifted the focus for CEOs, it also has changed the roles of CCOs within an organization. Advocacy is a much bigger part of the corporate communications roles than it ever has been.

Similarly to social issues, the “Great Resignation” has put pressure on organizations to be clear and transparent with their staff about where the company stands on social issues—topics that need to be handled well, lest the risk of alienating employees.

Lastly, the two discuss the human element in public relations. We have never before been able to know so much about public sentiment towards a company internally and externally, and being clear with your company’s values as to how they relate to your consumers, staff and shareholders is the most important factor in connecting with people today. 

Gusto Collective’s Aaron Lau on building an Asian holding group

Gusto Collective founder Aaron Lau joins the PRovoke Media podcast to discuss his efforts to build an Asian holding group, with specific strengths in brand tech, luxury PR and immersive storytelling. Lau, who previously held senior roles at Cheil and DDB, explores the opportunities and challenges that exist for a homegrown player in an industry that has historically been dominated multinational conglomerates. 

The Unexpected Power of Influence in Healthcare

Influence In Healthcare: MMC’s Olga Fleming and Maddie Simko On Sharing Healthcare Information Via Social.

The rise, the predicted fall, and the ultimate staying power of influencers has been jarring and rejuvenating for the PR industry. And, as we learned during the Covid pandemic, influencers play a key role in healthcare communications, which has changed dramatically over the last two years.

With that in mind, we partnered with Marina Maher Communications on a new video series on the role influencers play in healthcare. In each episode, members of MMC’s team of specialists will explore the topic from different angles.

In this premiere episode, we speak with Olga Fleming, MMC’s president of healthcare and corporate, and strategist Maddie Simko, who led research looking at the place and power of healthcare influencers.

Wooing Talent With Options And Opportunities

In this episode of the PRovoke Media podcast, Hotwire global CEO Heather Kernahan and Michael Kaye, LinkedIn’s product communications manager, discuss impactful steps comms industry leaders can take to widen applicant pools and keeping existing talent interested and engaged. Among the most important: debunking myths that keep people out of the business by showcasing the range of options and opportunities it offers.