The PRovoke Media Podcast

Holmes Report editors Arun Sudhaman and Maja Pawinska Sims preview the 2018 Cannes Lions Festival which promises to be a more slimmed down affair than usual, thanks in large part to cutbacks from holding groups. The duo explore which sessions and themes stand out, tips to survive Cannes and ponder the 'Sorrell effect'.  

Calvin Soh was firmly ensconced as one of Asia's top creative directors when took a five-year mid-career break in 2012. Now back in the industry as R/GA's Asia-Pacific ECD, Soh talks to Arun Sudhaman about why exponential change forced him to reconsider his career options, for himself and his children. Soh also discusses how education systems can encourage creative thinking and explores the way that young people are changing the future of advertising.

Weber Shandwick EMEA chairman Tim Sutton rejoins the Echo Chamber to discuss the challenges facing Chinese companies as they seek to conquer foreign markets. Sutton also reviews Iceland's #TooCoolForPlastic campaign after it was named Best in Show at the 2018 SABRE Awards EMEA.

Lenovo chief communications officer Torod Neptune joins the Echo Chamber to discuss his first year with the tech giant, which combines a Chinese background with a truly global footprint. In conversation with Arun Sudhaman, Neptune also explores the state of diversity in the industry after choosing to incorporate such criteria into his high-profile agency search last year. In addition, Neptune discusses the changing nature of the CCO role and what it means for agencies.

South African PR industry veteran Keri-Ann Stanton joins the Echo Chamber following the Holmes Report's third African Innovation Summit in Johannesburg last week. Stanton discusses her decision to depart Engage Joe Public for the African-owned M&N Brands holding group and, in conversation with Arun Sudhaman, explores how the market is changing, particularly in terms of black economic empowerment. The duo also talk about the Bell Pottinger scandal and South Africa's global reputation following the Zuma era.

Holmes Report editors Paul Holmes, Arun Sudhaman & Aarti Shah discuss the 2018 North American Agencies of the Year winners, focusing in particular on Olson Engage, the rise of healthcare agencies and Marina Maher Communications.

 

The Holmes Report has partnered with Ogilvy for a multi-part series looking at creativity in PR from a variety of angles. Part 3 explores the evolution of social and digital — and how improv can improve one's PR game — with the agency's managing director of content and social Kathy Baird. Then we look at another angle of creativity with the emergence of microtribes as harbingers — or even supplanting — mass pop culture. For this discussion, we bring on M Booth’s chief insights and planning officer  Bonnie Ulman — and its chief creative officer AG Bevilaqua. 


Show Notes
Part 1 of the Creativity Series on Diversity
Part 2 of the Creativity Series on the News Media Landscape & Fake News
Strong Opinions Loosely Held 
Strong Opinions Loosely Held — Teenage Girls Are Magic 

The Echo Chamber podcast is produced by Markettiers. 

Richard Edelman joins the Echo Chamber for a brief interview about his firm's disappointing growth in 2017, amid sustained market pressure. He discusses the firm's transformation, the impact of bringing advertising people in to run operations, the continuing benefits of scale, industry ethics and the Burson Cohn & Wolfe merger. Then former H+K Strategies EMEA CEO Sally Costerton joins Arun Sudhaman to explore the exit of Sir Martin Sorrell, his impact on his PR firms, and the group's future prospects.

Show notes:

Could WPP Sell Its PR Firms? M&A Specialists Weigh In

Edelman Revenue Up 2.1% In 2017 To $894m

In an interview with March Managing Director Cheryl Gale, Laura Tomasetti, CEO and founder of 360PR+, covers her path to becoming one of PR’s top leaders, from her beginnings in ad copywriting, to her stops at agencies in Washington, D.C., and Boston, to her in-house experience at Hasbro.

They also talk about why PR is growing in importance as CEOs because more conscious and concerned about their own reputation, and the reputations of their brands. And they discuss the value of relationship building in communication, the intersections between content, digital, social, advertising and PR, and the skills they look for when recruiting for comms talent.

LINKS:

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Holmes Report editors Arun Sudhaman and Paul Holmes explore the dramatic exit from WPP of Sir Martin Sorrell and reflect on the 73-year-old's outsize impact on the industry that he dominated for more than 30 years. Sorrell's distinct style and personality will leave a considerable void at WPP, but his PR firms may yet flourish under new leadership.