The PRovoke Media Podcast

Asad Dhunna on diversity and inclusion in PR (Ep. 174)

Last year, former Weber Shandwick associate director Asad Dhunna founded The Unmistakables, a marcomms agency made up of minorities, with the aim of helping businesses understand minorities and create campaigns that are more representative of society. The agency now works with clients including the English Cricket Board, Unilever and Barnado's. Dhunna, who is also director of communications for Pride in London, tells the Echo Chamber about his experience of presenting 'We Don't Need Another Diversity Talk' on stage in Cannes, and the state of diversity and inclusion in the PR industry.  

Mars' Kimberly West on 'purpose fatigue' (Ep. 173)

Mars global external communications director Kimberly West joins the Echo Chamber in Cannes to discuss the company's evolution from a low-profile manufacturer of confectionary and petcare products, into a brand that is highly visible on issues of sustainability and governance. In conversation with Arun Sudhaman, West outlines why companies must move beyond rhetoric if they are to combat 'purpose fatigue'.

EY's Janet Balis (Ep. 172)

Janet Balis is EY's global advisory services leader for media & entertainment, a position in which she advises both media platforms and marketing leaders. As such Balis has a unique vantage point over the changes that are transforming the media and marketing worlds, enhanced by her previous leadership roles at AOL, The Huffington Post and Time Warner. In a wide-ranging conversation with Arun Sudhaman, Balis breaks down some of these shifts and explores what they mean for media platforms and CMOs.

Jenna Young on Cannes and creativity (Ep. 171)

Jenna Young, Weber Shandwick’s executive creative director in New York, joins the Echo Chamber in Cannes to talk about her Lions jury experience, cultural nuance in creative work, and being a long-time executive creative director in a PR agency.

Gail Heimann's highlights & lowlights from Cannes 2019 (Ep. 170)

Weber Shandwick global president Gail Heimann is not only a Cannes veteran but one of the more insightful industry voices when it comes to distilling lessons from the annual creative jamboree. In a post-Cannes conversation with the Holmes Report's Arun Sudhaman, Heimann breaks down her lessons from this year's edition, which include the PR industry's better showing, the colonisation of trust and purpose by ad agencies, the continuing gender imbalance among the creative ranks and whether PR is purely a craft. 

WE's Kass Sells on agency transformation (Ep. 169)

WE Communications international president Kass Sells joins the Holmes Report in Cannes to discuss the challenges posed by agency transformation, at a time of considerable industry disruption. 

Cannes: The data-driven PR industry, with Weber Shandwick (Ep. 168)

The Holmes Report sits down with Weber Shandwick chief digital officer Chris Perry and X Practice EMEA/APAC president Hugh Baillie to discuss how data and analytics are reshaping the PR industry in general, and Weber Shandwick in specific. In a wide-ranging conversation with Arun Sudhaman, the duo also discuss Weber Shandwick's new 'We Solve' positioning, and why this doesn't indicate a departure from PR's traditional storytelling strengths. 

The Rise of Virtual PR Agencies (Ep. 167)

When Nicky Regazzoni and George Blizzard started The PR Network in 2005, they were one of the first virtual agencies on the block. As the model of a core team supported by tailor-made groups of freelance experts to service clients around the world gains traction, they join the Echo Chamber to talk about what makes the virtual agency model a good fit for the modern PR landscape.

Why public relations & SEO need each other (Ep. 166)

Three PR-for-SEO experts join the Echo Chamber to explain why search engine optimisation and public relations strategy should be working much closer together to achieve business results for clients from earned content: Threepipe co-founder Jim Hawker, Ready10 founder and MD David Fraser, and 10 Yetis Digital founder Andy Barr.

Cheryl Overton on what real diversity looks like. (Ep. 165)

Egami Group president Cheryl Overton is a true champion of diversity, but also a realist who calls it like she sees it. Overton joins the Echo Chamber to discuss what true diversity and inclusion looks like (with a heavy emphasis on inclusion) as well as what achieving it is going to take, and why tiptoeing around our differences rather than addressing them head on – and even leveraging them – is counterproductive.