The PRovoke Media Podcast

Tata vs Mistry PR battle

Amith Prabhu joins the Echo Chamber to discuss the dramatic boardroom coup at Indian corporate giant Tata, which has since devolved into a gripping public relations battle involving several agencies and communications pros, as India's most important conglomerate looks to preserve its hard-earned reputation for integrity.

GOP Strategists Talk About Trump and the Party's Future

The latest Echo Chamber episode explores the highly-unusual rhetoric around the US presidential election, especially from the Republican nominee Donald Trump. Aarti Shah talks to two GOP strategists — Tucker Bounds and David Almacy — about Trump's communications strategy and what Trump's divisive rhetoric ultimately means for the future of the Republican party and how the GOP can rebuild its standing with groups that are largely eschewing Trump. 

Editor's Note: These interviews were recorded before the FBI announced it was re-opening its investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails.

PokerStars Communications Chief Eric Hollreiser

Eric Hollreiser, corporate communications head at online gaming giant PokerStars, joins the Echo Chamber to discuss the various twists and turns that have defined the company's recent history, starting with 'Black Friday' in 2011, when the US Department of Justice issued indictments that effectively suspended the three largest online poker websites. After withdrawing from the US, PokerStars concluded a $731m settlement with the DoJ, which included the acquisition of rival Full Tilt Poker and the relaunch of the business in 2012. PokerStars was then acquired by Amaya Gaming in 2014, before the latter company's CEO was charged in Canada's biggest-ever insider trading investigation. Hollreiser details the ups and downs of the various communications issues related to these events; since this podcast was recorded, meanwhile, news of a £5bn merger between William Hill and Amaya has emerged. 

Alan VanderMolen; Barri Rafferty

Arun Sudhaman catches up with WE Communications international president Alan VanderMolen in Hong Kong to talk about the rapid pace of digital marketing evolution in China, following the Holmes Report's Asia-Pacific In2 Innovation Summit. The former Edelman executive also offers plenty of insight into his plans for WE Communications, and discusses MSLGroup's restructuring within Publicis Groupe, suggesting that the changes will ultimately weaken the PR network's positioning.

In part two, Ketchum global president Barri Rafferty talks to Aarti Shah about the continuing struggle for gender parity amongst agency leadership ranks, touching on such topics as the VaynerMedia, JWT and Saatchi & Saatchi scandals. Rafferty also addresses the issue of diversity within the PR agency world, after attending the ColorComm conference.

Partner Content: Hacks & Flacks Digs Into Gawker's Demise

Gawker.com is gone. Some people are upset, some people are dancing on its grave. Is there a right or a wrong perspective on Gawker’s demise? Was its fate deserved because of its controversial and confrontational editorial style, or was Peter Thiel’s cash-fueled vendetta an ugly harbinger of what could happen to the state of media if the powerful choose to litigate the free press into non-existence?

The hot Gawker takes have been flying left and right, and on this week’s Hacks and Flacks, Andrew Grzywacz and Manny Veiga try to dig through it all. 

SHOW NOTES:

• Nick Denton on Gawker: “How Things Work“
• Max Read on Gawker: “Did I Kill Gawker?“
• Peter Thiel editorial: “The Online Privacy Debate Won’t End With Gawker“
• Other billionaires suing the press: Poynter

LINKS:

• Follow Hacks and Flacks on Twitter: @hacksflacks
• Follow Hacks and Flacks on Instagram:@hacksflacks
• Follow our Facebook Fan Page: Hacks and Flacks Podcast
• Follow March Communications on Twitter:@MarchComms
• Visit the M+PR Nonsense blog: MarchComms.com/blog

New Business, Unicorns & Measurement

The latest Echo Chamber episode explores how agencies can improve their new business presentations, the role PR has played in the rise and fall of unicorns and AMEC's Measurement Month. Aarti Shah talks to Steve Astle who — until recently — was head of communications at FICO about what wowed him during agency business presentations, then Blueshirt CEO Alex Wellins talks about the US tech IPO landscape and the show closes with AMEC's Jeni Chapman discussing the organization's new measurement framework.

Creativity + PR with Edelman's Jackie Cooper & Unity's Gerry Hopkinson.

Two of the PR world's leading creative lights join the Echo Chamber after their agencies — Edelman and Unity — came top of the Holmes Report's recent Global Creative Index. In conjunction with Arun Sudhaman, the group discuss what sets the best public relations work apart, talk about the PR industry's efforts to become more creative, and explore differences between creativity in PR and advertising.

Paul Holmes on PR in the post-truth era

Holmes Report founder and CEO Paul Holmes joins the Echo Chamber to discuss the future of public relations in the so-called 'post-truth era'. Recent political campaigns — notably Brexit and Trump — have demonstrated that people are willing to suspend their disbelief when it comes to facts, particularly when it comes to more emotive issues. Indeed, as behavioural research demonstrates, presenting people with conflicting facts can serve to reinforce their views, rather than dispelling them, as the field of climate change science often shows us.

Holmes and Arun Sudhaman explore what this means for public relations practitioners that are charged with communicating on behalf of their clients.

Show notes
Post-truth politics are killing democracies on both sides of the Atlantic 
PR Grand Prix: 'This Is Work We Should Repudiate, Not Celebrate'
PR in the post-truth era
Why facts don't matter to Trump's supporters
Things still matter

Partner Content: Hacks & Flacks Surprise Macarons with Boston University’s PRLab

Whether you’re hiring for a PR agency or an in-house marketing team, it’s helpful to know as much as possible about the capabilities, expectations and possibilities of your potential future employees. That’s why Hacks and Flacks brought in Amy Shanler, associate professor of Public Relations at Boston University and the head of BU’s PRLab, for a glimpse into how tomorrow’s professionals are being trained for a PR career.

The student-staffed PRLab is the nation’s oldest student-run PR agency and supports real-world clients, with access to BU’s state-of-the-art resources (including a Communication Research Center with a faux living room outfitted with biometric sensors).

PRLab has worked on a number of compelling, creative and inspiring campaigns – including a partnership with March Communications to support the nonprofit Adaptive Sports New England. March VP Liz Swenton Hosman oversaw that project, and she also joins the conversation with Amy to talk about PR training and hiring today, career expectations and anxieties for students coming out of college looking for their first PR job, and what employers need to know about the next generation of communications talent.

Show Notes:

• Learn more about the BU PRLab: bu.edu/prlab
• Follow Hacks and Flacks on Twitter: @hacksflacks
• Follow March Communications on Twitter: @MarchComms
• Visit the M+PR Nonsense blog: MarchComms.com/blog

Threepipe's Jim Hawker on the convergence of PR & SEO

Public relations and search engine optimisation should be natural bedfellows, yet few PR firms have actively invested in substantial SEO capabilities. One that has is Threepipe, which recently acquired an SEO firm in the UK. Threepipe CEO Jim Hawker joins the Echo Chamber to discuss why the deal makes sense for his agency, and also explores the broader difficulties of genuine digital integration, four years after Threepipe merged with Blowfish Digital.

Show notes:
Threepipe Makes SEO Play With Spot Digital Acquisition
Future Proofing Your PR Business