Blogs - Whiteoaks PR

2020 has flown by and I know we say it every year, but it really is hard to believe that it’s nearly time to start shopping for the ‘C’ word… With the new countrywide lockdown forcing consumers to do more Christmas shopping online than in previous years, it is important that both consumers and brands are doing their part in ensuring that online tricksters and cybercriminals are unable to supplement their gift budget using our funds.

According to Orberlo, one out of every four people you see around you now is an online shopper, and the number of online shoppers is expected to continue on its growth path and hit 2.14 billion by 2021. In order to stay safe online this Christmas, there are a few precautions that need to be taken. The first is to make sure that any goods that are in your basket are being purchased from legitimate brands. Before buying any bargain gifts online, take a moment just to sense check the brand’s website and online presence as more often than not, things that seem too good to be true, are!

The evolution of the high street and eCommerce has led many customers to purchase goods from social media sites, due to both the speed and convenience of doing so. Visa found that one in four online purchases was made in response to an interaction with a social media outlet. Many of those consumers agreed that they are not as vigilant while shopping online as they believe that social media apps protect customer privacy, which unfortunately isn’t always the case!

Businesses can support here, by taking steps to make sure that they’re actively monitoring their brand’s online activity to spot any counterfeit sites or activity that is using their IP to mislead consumers into purchasing fake items. Accessing sites with counterfeit goods on it can lead to customers’ personal details being compromised and being used for other fraudulent scams, as well as exposing their devices to malware and viruses. The Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report found that, after price, the most critical factor in a customer’s purchasing decision is trust, meaning a loss of consumer trust can be detrimental to the future success of a brand.

For many – myself included – using your card online for payments is second nature. However, research from OpSec Security revealed that nearly half (47%) of consumers are concerned about using their credit card to make online purchases, with the main concerns being the possibility of cybercriminals stealing their personal details, scammers stealing their money and the risk of identity theft. According to UK Finance, fraud losses on UK-issued cards totalled £620.6 million in 2019 – translating to 2,745,539 cases. To prevent being one of those statistics, consumers need to do their research and always ensure they are using secure payment methods recommended by reputable online retailers.

2020 has had the highest number of cyberattacks to date, and the disruption caused by Covid-19 has definitely had an impact on that. With Christmas being a time of joy, both consumers and brands have a responsibility to ensure online shopping is a safe and enjoyable experience, rather than one that ends in tears.

With the result of Tuesday’s closely contested US presidential election still mired in controversy, one certainty is the growing amount of influence brands have had in getting voters’ voices heard.

The 2020 election was fought over the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the economy and the continuing fight for racial justice – but it may also come to be remembered for being the first time brands really came to fully harness their marketing clout to get the US voting.

Past election statistics show that many Americans don’t make use of their vote, particularly the younger generations. In the 2016 presidential elections, fewer than half of 18 to 29-year-old Americans voted. Remarkably, just under 56% of voting-age Americans did make the effort to cast a vote, a lower rate than recent national elections in South Korea, Mexico and most developed countries.

This time around, brands in the technology, retail and entertainment fields joined forces in an attempt to encourage eligible voters to have their say. With votes still being counted today, it appears to have had a positive impact – turnout was the highest since the Second World War according to early reports, with some projections of a 67% turnout.

Voting advocacy from people outside of traditional politics isn’t a completely new phenomenon in the US. The non-profit Rock the Vote partnered up with MTV in 1990, producing videos with celebrities such as Madonna and Lenny Kravitz that urged network’s young audience to go out and vote. But efforts from brands to get out the vote among their own customers are a more recent development.

Brands’ strategies for this election included creating everything from voting merchandise, to campaigns encouraging the general public to the polls. Some brands paid their employees to work at the polling stations, while others gave them time off to go and cast their vote.

In another new development, messages around how people should vote became more overtly political during the 2020 presidential campaign. The encouragement of voting as a concept is unlikely to upset a company’s customer base as long as it doesn’t endorse a specific candidate, according to The Atlantic.

Considering this, many brands decided to reference the progressive values likely held by their clientele in their messaging over the course of the campaign. For example, Nike sent out a voter-outreach email which simply said: “No more sitting on the side-lines. You can’t stop our voice.”

Focusing on the challenge of securing access to polling stations, Nike partnered with Lyft to offer discounted rides to people who wanted to vote in low turnout areas such as Atlanta, Baltimore and Chicago. This initiative was part of the wider ‘You Can’t Stop Our Voice’ campaign featuring LeBron James.

Other brands that got involved in 2020 included Absolut vodka. In addition to giving staff time off, the brand created a non-partisan, integrated ’Drink Responsibly. #VoteResponsibly’ campaign which delivered the message: ’Vote First, Drink Second.’

The election also saw Reddit’s first-ever brand marketing campaign which fell under its voter engagement initiative, ‘Up The Vote.‘ The creative drew parallels between engagement with content on Reddit and participation in real-life elections.

However, perhaps the most inspired brand contribution to this presidential campaign was the Election Night Survival Kit released by Philadelphia-based Babe Wine to make the tense wait more bearable ahead of the results being announced. As well as a four-pack of wine, the box included a stress-relieving squeeze ball, a ‘scream pillow’ and a box of tissues in case emotions ended up getting a little too fraught.

These may well be needed by many of us as the race to victory comes right down to the wire, with the final votes still being counted. Let’s just hope the huge voter turnout leads to the right choice being made for the country.

When was the last time you used cash? It seems like an age ago that we would regularly go to the ATM to withdraw cash so that we could have some spending money on a night out. Now you don’t even need your bank cards to pay for something. You just need your phone or smartwatch and people don’t go anywhere without being connected in some way. It may seem like it wouldn’t be that hard to become a cashless society when we all use contactless for the majority of our payments. So, you may be surprised to hear that there is over 70 billion pounds worth of notes in circulation, that is roughly twice as much as a decade ago or the equivalent of around £1,000 per person. It was only in 2017 that debit cards overtook cash as the most used method of payment in the UK. How easy is it going to be then to become cashless and when will it happen?

Initially, it was thought that we would be cashless by 2035 but with the rapid advancement in technologies such as mobile and digital payments, the prediction has changed to within the next 10 years. But 70 billion pounds in cash can’t just be taken straight out of circulation, it needs to be phased out and that is a huge task. One such event that has accelerated this process is the national lockdown. Cash usage in Britain halved in the first few days of lockdown, according to Link. But this was an extreme reaction to one event that has helped push us towards being cashless but will not be the main reason. There have been many companies pushing for a cashless society for a while. Companies such as Visa and Amex say that becoming cashless will help reduce financial fraud and tax evasion. Then there is Square and iZettle who have seen huge business growth by introducing methods for small businesses to take contactless payments with ease. These companies are the ones that are changing the infrastructure to make it possible to phase out cash.

Despite making great strides towards becoming cashless there are always going to be challenges that need ironing out. Charities are likely to struggle initially, people tend to use cash to make donations and gifts. Tradespeople are often paid in cash as well, but new technologies should allow these small businesses to take mobile and card payments. With an ageing population, there are likely to be age groups that are to be marginalised by going cashless. A study revealed that Brits liked having cash available ‘for peace of mind’. This is evidence that there is still some work to do on our mentality towards cash.

If we were to take inspiration from another country then we should look to Sweden as they aim to become the first cashless society by 2023. It seems apt for Sweden to be the first as they were the first European country to adopt the banknote in 1661. One of the reasons Sweden is set to pioneer is that it has a mobile payments app called Swish that was created by six of the largest banks in Sweden that is becoming the standard method of payment. Another reason is banks are issuing debit cards to everyone over the age of seven – with parental permission, of course. By doing so it ensures that cashless becomes the norm for future generations.

The use of cash will continue to fall over time and whether we like it or not a cashless society is the future, but there are still some big changes needed so that everyone is able to participate and thrive in a digital economy.

The turbulent economy has made recent months uncertain for almost all businesses, and the PR industry is no exception to that. It’s an unfortunate truth that when budget cuts are being made, marketing is often one of the first to be trimmed and as a result, so too is PR. And yet research has shown that companies that have bounced back the fastest from previous recessions usually did not cut their marketing spend, in some cases, they actually increased it. There’s a school of thought that products launched during a recession will have improved long-term survival chances and also higher sales revenues. Of course, having fewer new products to compete with certainly plays a part in this!

There have been some fantastic examples of businesses whose comms have excelled during the coronavirus period, here are a selection of my personal favourites.

Aldi x Brewdog

https://twitter.com/AldiUK/status/1296488501341499395

You’d have struggled to miss the ‘beef’ between Aldi and Brewdog in August when the supermarket was called out by the brewery for creating a knock-off of its popular Punk IPA. What followed was a master class in using social media to turn an awkward situation into a money maker. The two companies shared a series of exchanges on Twitter which ended in Brewdog producing ALD IPA, now sold in Aldi. Hats off to Brewdog and its co-founder James Watt!

#LetItOutIceland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iWeMPEEuk0&feature=emb_title

It’s a cliché in film and television, a stressed or frustrated individual locks themselves in an empty room and screams so nobody can hear. Inspired by Iceland, the tourism body, launched the #LetItOutIceland campaign in July. The campaign asked everyone to record their guttural screams of frustration with the state of the world to then be released into Iceland’s infamous stunning and vast open spaces.

Speaking about the video, Head of Promote Iceland Sigríður Dögg Guðmundsdóttir said, “We feel this is just what the world needs. And when people are ready to resume travelling, they can come and experience it for themselves.”

An impactful tourism campaign during a global travel lockdown may seem an impossible task, hats off to Inspired by Iceland!

The ironic (and iconic) – Emily Crisps

(Source: https://www.marketingweek.com/emily-crisps-outdoor-advertising-lockdown/)

The healthy snack company purchased a series of outdoor media advert boards late in 2019, selecting April and its Easter bank holiday weekend was the perfect time of year to kick off its first outdoor marketing campaign. They couldn’t have foreseen what came next, but they took an unfortunate situation and did what us Brits do best – they made fun of themselves. It took some convincing to persuade Clear Channel to run the adverts as they felt the posters highlighted that outside media is ineffective given the climate. But Emily persevered and persuaded them otherwise. The four adverts called out the misfortune of running outdoor adverts to an audience of empty streets and they were a huge success, providing a snippet of humour during a difficult time.

As these brands have displayed, creativity in a crisis certainly pays off!

Name, title and how long you’ve been at Whiteoaks

Emily Fishburn (also known as ‘Fishbowl’, a spin on my surname for my love of cocktails), I am Senior Account Executive in Team Taurus and in November I’ll be coming up to four years at Whiteoaks and progressing into a Junior Account Manager role at the end of the year.

In your current role, what does a typical day look like?

Typically, it starts with checking emails and news sites, briefing the content team on their writing for the day, followed by keeping in touch with my team via Microsoft Teams, Zoom and email and catching up with clients on calls.

How did you get into PR?

Once I graduated, I did some work experience at a local marketing agency, where I had the chance to work within each department and found the wide variety of tasks and buzz of the PR department the most exciting. From there my decision was set that I’d aim to work in PR and fortunately found my opportunity to kickstart my career at Whiteoaks as Junior Account Executive for Team Taurus in November 2016.

What did you study and how has it helped you grow your career?

I studied a BA (Hons) degree in business with marketing at the University of Surrey. This degree in particular taught me the importance of keeping up with the news agenda to be aware of the ever-changing world that businesses need to adapt to, which is something that has carried with me into my career. More generally, time management, organisation and writing are also key skills which are instilled in you at uni and helped me to get off to a good start in PR. Whiteoaks is also great in training its employees, I feel the company has always been very invested in me as a person and has always been encouraging and supportive of helping me grow in confidence with these skills to be able to develop in my career.

Why PR?

There’s a lot of great aspects about PR, but for me, I really enjoy the social aspect of networking with journalists and clients and discussing new and interesting ideas. I also enjoy the teamwork aspect of all working towards an end goal, for example seeing a research project through from an initial brainstorm across the content, media and accounts teams, to achieving great coverage of the new and interesting research for the client.

What is the best part of your day?

The best part of the day for me is catching up with clients and my team discussing some of the results we’ve achieved and creating a plan and suggestions for what we’re going to work on next to keep the momentum going.

What advice would you give to people who want to get into PR as a career?

Try to secure some work experience or an internship with a PR agency – you can only get a real understanding and feel for the industry and whether it’s for you through first-hand experience.

What do you like most about your current role?

Using the experience I’ve gained at Whiteoaks working in varying roles, which has included reporting as a JAE through to pitching to the media in an AE role to advise and support both clients and team members while learning new things from my team members.

What has been your funniest / quirkiest moment in PR?

It’s quite hard to choose! There was one time last summer I turned up to the office early to get a run in before work, then went to change and realised I hadn’t brought the heels I’d planned to wear so spent the whole day in a floral dress with bright blue and neon yellow running trainers – it was a look!

If you didn’t work in PR, what would your ideal job be?

I love a music festival so think it would be quite cool to be a musician travelling to festivals around the world.

October 10th is World Mental Health day and this year could be the most important celebration of mental health awareness to date.

World Mental Health Day was first observed by the World Federation for Mental Health in 1992 and I am sure you will agree – a lot has changed in our approach to mental health in both our personal and work lives during that time.

This year’s theme is ‘mental health for all’. With this in mind and the darker days on the horizon, we have brought it back to basics to look at some practices to help yourself and others this winter. It is a great time to start putting these small, essential acts and habits together to create a mental self-care package for when you need it most. The secret to getting ahead is getting started!

No online subscriptions, fancy gimmicks or wasted outgoings, just 5 things you could try today.

#1 Get yourself a ‘Norwegian state of mind’
During the coldest, darkest periods of the long ‘polar night’ in the Arctic Circle, some parts of Norway only receive 2-3 hours of indirect sunlight. A recent study, by Kari Leibowitz, revealed that people living in the Arctic Circle saw no increase in their mental distress and wellbeing barely changed during this time. What’s the secret?
Leobowitz’s studies suggest that one of the most vital components for the citizens is their mindset. The studies showed a shift to a more positive mental attitude and outlook on life changed how they saw this dark time of year. They found that with an improved attitude and a positive outlook onto winter, the better they fared in their overall mental health.

#2 Move to feel good
We all have a pretty good understanding that your mental health and physical health go hand in hand. If you find yourself watching Youtube and Facebook Lives on the couch more than participating – now could be a great time to find an exercise that you enjoy. Is there a dance class you’ve always wanted to attend, or how about an outdoor bootcamp, what about rollerblading or hula-hooping?

#3 Sleep
Reviewing your sleep habits is a great starting step to working towards improving your mental health. In a recent study by Cambridge Sleep Sciences, 1 out of 4 adults revealed that a lack of sleep contributed towards their mental health issues – with it rising by 28% for 18-34 year olds.

#4 #BeKind
Be kind to yourself and others. If we are heading towards a second lockdown, remember that this time, you have the advantage of knowing what did and did not work for you before. Be kind to yourself in your expectations, keep grounded and focus your efforts on small actions that you remember made you feel good. Take some time to indulge in some self-care. You can use this article here for some fantastic apps and online courses to help.

#5 The power of positive self-talk
When it comes to talking to your inner self, we can often find ourselves talking in a negative and hurtful tone without realising it (and this won’t contribute towards our positive mental attitude!).

Positive self-talk, affirmations and journaling are just some of the things you can do to help build resilience to your mental health. I like to end my day by asking myself simply 3 things that I am grateful for, or things that I am proud of achieving that day, even if it’s just taking the dog for a walk!

Have you got any other tips or ideas to share? Let us know!

#WorldMentalHealthDay #BeKind

World Mental Health Day

This week marks National Inclusion Week created to “celebrate inclusion in all its forms”. And it’s a great idea to highlight the subject and to explore it on a national level. When I sat down to write this blog I wondered what the best way was to approach it. Then I realised that for us as a tech pr agency, it’s about more than this week. Or the next. Inclusion must be ingrained in our culture.

Let me explain. Like other organisations committed to diversity and inclusion, we have firm policies in place. Which is as it should be. For us, inclusion is about creating working environments that encourage, value and thrive on difference and where everyone’s contribution is encouraged and recognised.

But practically speaking what does this actually mean? It can’t simply be a check box we have in the back of our mind; it must be inherent in the way we operate and conduct our digital pr services.

That’s a bold statement to make. But if you consider that our corporate values include integrity and teamwork, and our behaviours include straightforward, committed and supportive, you’ll see that you can’t live and breathe those elements without inclusion.

And that’s what the team here at Whiteoaks does. From our interactions with each other, clients and suppliers, to the way we deliver projects and approach new business.

For me, inclusion is making sure everyone feels welcome, everyone feels like they contribute, everyone is part of the team. Whether that’s accommodating our working parents who fit their schedules around childcare, or supporting a college graduate who’s never worked in an office, or helping someone born outside the UK come to grips with our unique sense of dry humour. Importantly, it’s also about giving all our staff a voice and a forum to be heard, regardless of the role within our B2B PR business.

Part of my role as HR manager is to help staff build and sustain a culture that supports this vision, establishing behaviours and attitudes that make all people feel welcome. Not only is this beneficial for our staff, feeling valued and confident to voice their opinions, but it’s good for the business too, creating stronger teams.

That’s my take on inclusion.

But to truly understand our views, here is a snapshot of what our staff have to say about it.

“Inclusion is the feeling that people are being listened to and valued regardless of their differences. Not just being part of a team but feeling like they are part of it and are making worthy contributions.”

Tom Addison – Senior Marketing Exec

“It’s so important that we encourage diversity by acknowledging and welcoming the fact that everyone is different, with their own strengths, flaws and backgrounds. We need strive for inclusion by celebrating diversity and supporting each other regardless of how different or similar people are to us as individuals.”

Bekki Bushnell – Head of Business Development

“In our marketing world it’s easy to categorise people by label or persona as a means to understand them better. But in reality even someone who shares the same culture, religion, gender, colour with you is still different. The more we understand that, the more we’ll feel accepted for who we actually are. Different should be celebrated. And for me, inclusion is accepting the differences and making everyone feel valued.”

Mark Wilson – Creative Director

“For me, inclusion is about making our physical and virtual environment welcoming for all. We aim to embrace differences and encourage inclusive groups which are diverse, as well as diverse groups which are inclusive.”

Suzanne Griffiths – MD

As working from home five days a week becomes the norm again and we settle back into our finest comfies for winter. For designers, it’s more important than ever to have an outlet for creativity and inspiration to make sure we don’t all go crazy.

For those who thrive off constant interaction and an inspirational office space or busy atmosphere, being sat back at the dining room table all week can seem a bit of a bust. As a senior designer I have worked in my fair share of great office spaces over the years (and not so great!) and for sure having a clean, bright open space to work in is a must for me. But we don’t all have a fortune to spend or have endless spare room in our living spaces. There are little things, however, that you can do to help the creativity flow.

– Have an ‘inspiration board’, sketchbook or scrapbook of cuttings where you can save pieces of good design that inspire you. I used to do this a lot as a junior when print was more prevalent. Nowadays, I have a Pinterest board or ten (save the trees!) and I actively make time to look for design ideas and trends online that I like to help inspire my work and make sure it’s current.

– Stay connected. It’s easy to become isolated throughout the various lockdown measures we have going on up and down the country and we are lucky that we live in a digital world with instant access to just about anything. How about talking ideas through and getting your colleague’s opinion, or even the people you are closest to opinions on what you’re working on? Even if it’s just to chat – communication is key.

– ‘You’re a designer, be creative!’ …. If like me that phrase puts the fear in you, don’t pile the pressure on yourself. Sometimes it can be challenging to be creative when you’re put on the spot, so take the time to get away from your working space and if you can, grab a cuppa or take a walk outside —go someplace that you know will put your mind at ease; autumn is such an inspiring season! This will help you to come back refreshed.

As creatives we already have the ability to adapt and overcome quickly, especially when new design trends or technology are introduced, so now is a really good time to embrace this. Customer demands will change, the pandemic will not be around forever (we can only hope!) so making things work for you is paramount to staying sane and inspired throughout the rest of 2020 and beyond.

Exactly 10 years ago on 6^th October 2010, a little app launched to the world. It enabled users to share images captured on their newly acquired smartphones and make them instantly look more characterful with a choice of filters reminiscent of vintage pictures taken on an instamatic camera.

With over 1 billion users, Instagram today is the sixth most popular social media channel used in the world. The filters which made it cool still exist, but the features it now boasts make it ice cold.

In a recent bid to compete with the short clip sharing platform Tik Tok, as of August this year, Instagrammers can now share their own short clips with easy editing tools to add filters, music and text overlays. These ‘Reels’ can then be shared and saved to your grid or Stories (highlights of content lasting 24 hours) and are easily discoverable if you add in your hashtags like you would do with a normal post.

Nostalgia inducing name, neat features, engaging visuals… Instagram has naturally paved the way for influencers to dominate the channel over the years, making it the ideal space for any consumer brands to thrive, so where does a B2B company get a slice of the action?

According to research by TrackMaven, B2B companies experience the largest engagement ratios on Instagram. The app promotes interaction through comments, and the many features encourage users to stay and play on the platform, keeping them entertained and engaged.

To be successful, it’s important to strike the right balance between broadcasting business news and posting interesting and genuine user-generated content. Among all the social channels, Instagram is the platform deemed to be the most ‘human’. Don’t be afraid to show something a little less corporate to what you would on LinkedIn or Twitter. After all, this is the app where users get lost in a sea of inspirational content. It’s the ultimate escapism.

For many businesses, Instagram can be the perfect opportunity to let the personality of your company shine and the endeavours of your employees take centre stage. It’s a safe space to share the great work culture of your business, and showcase your employer and corporate branding.

But when it comes to social selling, Instagram really is the place to be. According to Instagram itself, a staggering 60% of users rely on the platform to find products. For a B2B company, it might not be as simple as tagging visuals with shopping links, but a more gradual approach in encouraging users to discover more about a service or solution.

This is where a social strategy is key for the B2B players on Instagram. By understanding the benefits, setting the objectives and creating exciting content to reach professionals in B2C dominated space, you’ll attract the attention of the many users who themselves, run or work for businesses seeking new tools to make their jobs, and lives easier. It might just be your business they’ll discover.

When writing about tech, it pays to not sound like a robot. Engaging content needs to use a tone of voice that is human and conversational, yet a common misconception is that active voice is everything and passive voice has no place in content today.

Active voice is where the subject of the sentence is performing the action, such as: the cat sat on the mat. Passive voice is where the subject of the sentence has something done to it by something or someone, such as: the mat was sat on by the cat.

Active voice is direct, punchy and gets to the point. It’s great for firmly putting key points and messages across in a strong and confident manner. But it’s not so great when it’s over-used. This can lead to entire articles reading like a series of bold statements and this can be monotonous for the reader.

Here’s a tech-focused example of active vs passive:

Active voice: The IT team can work on more meaningful projects with the solution in place.

Passive voice: The solution allows the IT team to work on more meaningful projects.

As you can see in the tech-focused example, the passive sentence still works. It’s not going to confuse the reader and, if it’s included in a paragraph that’s already leaning heavily on active voice, it can help that paragraph to flow a lot better. Well-crafted content can and should use passive sentences to complement the active sentences.

Say you’re writing about a solution that applies automation to workplace processes. You’re probably trying to pacify an audience that is worried about human jobs being taken over by computers, so you don’t want your content to appear as though it’s been written by an AI.

The truth is, there really are no rules when it comes to style. It’s your choice as a writer to decide what works best. However, using both active voice and passive in moderation is always going to help you write better content as opposed to sticking purely to active voice.

This very blog switches heavily between active and passive voice, so if you’re still reading, here’s your proof that passive voice is not a content killer.

If you’re struggling to articulate the benefits of your product or service through the power of words – or content writing seems like witchcraft to you – enlist the help of the experts. We’ve got a few.