The PRovoke Media Podcast

Larry Weber on how far tech PR has come (Ep. 164)

Nearly 40 years ago, Racepoint Global founder Larry Weber launched a tech-focused PR agency before there even was such a thing. In those early days, The Weber Group (forbear of Weber Shandwick) was in the thick of launching emerging technologies — including something called the World Wide Web. Today, Weber remains steeped in the tech business, growing his expertise along with his firm, Racepoint, and the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange he founded, as well as authoring six books. He discusses the evolution and intricacies of tech-focused communications at a time when the business is under increased scrutiny.

The Method Communications Acquisition (Ep. 163)

Method Communications CEO David Parkinson and Harvard CEO Louie St. Claire join the Echo Chamber to talk about Method's recent sale to the Chime Group to build a global technology offering. The conversation explores how technology as a whole has moved from being a specialized sector to being a core driver of all facets of the economy and looks at why so many tech PR acquisitions seem to go awry.

Claudine Moore; Digiday's Brian Morrissey (Ep. 162)

Claudine Moore joins the Echo Chamber to discuss her work in Africa, and the continuing diversity & inclusion challenges faced by the PR industry. Moore is followed by Digiday editor-in-chief Brian Morrissey, who explores such topics as advertising fraud and influencer marketing.

Notes from Newhouse School/Fear & The Future of PR (Ep. 161)

For close to two decades, PAN Communications president and CEO Phil Nardone has maintained a side gig as an adjunct PR professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, giving him unique insight into who the industry’s up-and-comers are — and what they want. He explores a range of issues surrounding next-gen talent, including whether he would hire his students. Meantime, when InkHouse founder and CEO Beth Monaghan and storyteller in residence Tara Munro discuss Project Curiosity, the initiative they undertook to help the PR industry stop using fear as a means to get consumers’ attention.

Tom Doctoroff on Chinese brands & consumers (Ep. 160)

During a 20-year career in China with ad agency JWT, Tom Doctoroff emerged as one of the leading authorities on the country's marketing landscape. In conversation with Arun Sudhaman, Doctoroff discusses why Chinese brands still struggle overseas, focusing on the specific case of Huawei. He also explores how China's young consumers are both changing and staying the same. Three years after leaving the holding group world, meanwhile, Doctoroff also examines the pressure on big agencies.  

The state of the Asia-Pacific PR industry (Ep. 159)

Prospect Asia co-founder and MD Emma Dale joins the Echo Chamber to explore the recent State of the Industry Report — conducted in conjunction with PublicAffairsAsia. In addition to a wealth of information on salary and workplace issues, the study also reveals much about how the PR industry is changing rapidly in Asia-Pacific.

To pod or not to pod? (Ep. 158)

Zeno’s Europe MD Steve Earl and Markettiers4DC founder and CEO Howard Kosky join the Echo Chamber to discuss why podcasts are the flavour of the month for brand and executive communications, how to do them well, and when podcasting is not the right channel.

Redhill's Jacob Puthenparambil (Ep. 157)

Jacob Puthenparambil co-founded Singapore-based consultancy Redhill Asia in 2015 following an itinerant career that included stints in the US, Middle East and his native India. But with Redhill, Puthenparambil has overseen the rise of one of Asia's fastest growing PR firms, thanks to a fiercely entrepreneurial spirit and a refreshingly international outlook. He talks to Arun Sudhaman about the firm's progress and goals, including why he models the business on the original MNC — the Jesuit Order.

Australia's History will be Kind & Poem (Ep. 156)

The latest Echo Chamber episode comes from Sydney, where Arun Sudhaman sits down with former Weber Shandwick head EJ Granleese, who now runs her own successful consultancy called History will be Kind. Granleese discusses why local boutiques outperform the networks in Sydney's fiercely competitive consumer PR market, a theme that is also taken up by Poem founders Rob Lowe and Matt Holmes, who also join the pod to discuss their experience of building a new firm.  

Firehouse Strategies (Ep. 155)

After managing US Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign, Terry Sullivan and Alex Conant left long careers in politics to start Firehouse Strategies, a public affairs firm in Washington. Sullivan and Conant have grown their business around communications strategies that leverage the power of persuasion, peer influence and “perceived authenticity.” They join the Echo Chamber to talk about how they use the lessons learned from their years of experience on the GOP campaign trail to help clients effectively deliver their messages in, thanks to Donald Trump, a whole new era in modern communications.