The PRovoke Media Podcast

A public relations textbook for a new era

The first edition of "Exploring Public Relations and Managing Communication", the textbook used in teaching PR across UK universities, was published in 2006. For its 5th edition, co-authors Ralph Tench and Stephen Waddington have, with a cohort of respected industry leaders and academics, comprehensively overhauled the content. Tench and Waddington join Maja Pawinska Sims on the PRovoke podcast to talk about how they have endeavoured to create a vital resource for students, lecturers and practitioners in a very changed world, blending theory and practice with critical analysis and case studies, and how to ensure PR education itself is fit-for-purpose.

Misinformation Battlefields with WHO and NewsWhip

This conversation features AbdelHalim AbdAllah, crisis communications officer for the African Region at the World Health Organization, and NewsWhip CEO Paul Quigley. PRovoke Media executive editor Aarti Shah hosts the conversation that covers how WHO is preparing for the largest vaccine rollout on the continent — and addressing specific misinformation threats that involves adapting strategies to align with various countries and cultures.

Nepean's Gavin Davis on "corporate body language" and ESG

Former Sky corporate comms director and Bell Pottinger partner Gavin Davis set up reputation and communications agency Nepean in 2019. He joins EMEA editor Maja Pawinska Sims on the PRovoke podcast to talk about how business leaders can effectively express their "corporate body language" to stakeholders, particularly as the focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) grows.

Mastercard's Raja Rajamannar

Raja Rajamannar is chief marketing & communications officer for Mastercard, and president of the company’s healthcare business. He joins PRovoke editor-in-chief Arun Sudhaman to discuss his new book Quantum Marketing, which declares that the obsolescence of marketing has begun. Rajamannar also explores the importance of genuine integration between marketing and communications, the rise of risk and reputation management, and the underrated virtues of 'decency'.

Vaccine Confidence with Novavax's Silvia Taylor and Crisp's Adam Hildreth

In this episode, Paul Holmes talks to Silvia Taylor, SVP of corporate affairs at Novavax, and Adam Hildreth, founder/CEO of Crisp, about the reputation issues facing the pharmaceutical industry as the largest vaccine effort in the world rolls out to combat Covid-19. The group also addresses the disinformation Novavax had to deal with as part of their clinical trials and how the global pandemic has accelerated the urgency for transparency and humanity in healthcare communications.  

Connect2’s Rich Williams on the human side of tech PR

Connect2 Communications founder and president Rich Williams is a big believer in the persuasive power of telling very real, very human, stories, and putting them at the center of communications strategies — even when clients are tech companies through and through. Williams joins Diana Marszalek on the PRovoke podcast to discuss the art of mining for and promoting those stories, and the role they play in furthering B2B tech clients’ business.

Stephanie Cutter On Pivoting Political Traditions Amid Unprecedented Tragedy

Precision co-founder Stephanie Cutter was one of the producers of President Joe Biden's socially-distant inauguration and the virtual Democratic National Convention last fall. In this episode of the PRovoke Media podcast, Cutter talks to Aarti Shah about the numerous challenges of producing the inauguration after a deadly insurrection and as the country reckons with mass death amid a global pandemic.

How 2020 Changed Influencer Marketing

This episode features Zapwater's Jenn Lake and Stephanie Poquette to talk about how the pandemic has changed influencer marketing. The discussion, moderated by PRovoke executive editor Aarti Shah, covers the influencer marketing challenges and opportunities that emerged during the crises of the past 12 months — and also looks forward to what we can expect around influencer marketing in 2021.

Proving That Coverage Equals Capital

AMEC chair Richard Bagnall, the CEO for Europe and the Americas of measurement firm Carma, and Hard Numbers founder Darryl Sparey join Maja Pawinska Sims on the PRovoke podcast to discuss their new research showing a direct link between PR and media coverage, and the level of Series B funding start-ups in all sectors can attract. 

MSL’s Chris McCafferty On Digging Into Consumer Beliefs

Chris McCafferty, the founder of Kaper and then Karmarama, joined Publicis Groupe agency MSL in 2019 as UK chief executive. He joins Maja Pawinska Sims on the PRovoke podcast to talk about the agency’s new data-driven insights tool, Belief Stack, and the growing importance for brands to understand the deeply-held beliefs and values of their audiences.