Category Archives: General

#CreatorAwards22 Are you student blogger of 2022?

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“PUBLIC Relations is all about reputation” has been the mantra during our first few weeks of teaching.

But it’s also about communication, content, writing and digital media – all skills that you will learn about and build during your year with us.

And what better way to develop your content writing capabilities than by becoming a PR student blogger?

Every year, PR Academy runs a student blogger competition for everyone enrolled on a PR or comms related course in the UK. This is YOUR opportunity to develop and perfect creative content that will build your personal brand and get you noticed by potential employers.

Traditionally, the #CreatorAwards22 has been dominated by some of our neighbouring universities and colleges, but last year Newcastle students took up the challenge and put themselves proudly on the map.

Among them was Sophie Smith who, while writing for this blog, started to get recognised for her excellent networking and writing skills – including an internship with Stephen Waddington – and is now starting a new role as a Digital PR and Content Executive.

The contest works via the #CreatorAwards22 and #PRStudent hashtags, which picks up any content that PR students have created over the past few days. Then, weekly winners and their universities are announced ahead of an annual ceremony to announce the student PR blogger of the year.

Richard Bailey, editor of PR Academy’s PR Place Insights, said: “We are keen to discover talented content creators from among current UK-based public relations students. We’re looking to identify examples of creative content that support a student’s personal brand and which might appeal to employers.

“This content could be a blog post; it could be a conversation on Twitter; it could be audio or video or photo content. We’ll be sharing a selection of creative content examples each week of the academic year and towards the end of the year we will name a shortlist of creators from which we’ll pick the winners.”

Our students at Newcastle have already made a fantastic start by sharing their experiences of the first week of students by writing a blog post. For example, Jaiqin who told us about becoming a course rep and her desire to volunteer during her studies; Kefan about his love of fish and chips and struggles with the different UK coins; or Sahra who wrote: “I’m in the right place and the right time, and from the deep of my heart I was sure that I made the best decision to start the new chapter of my life with Newcastle University.”

Yumeng wrote a lovely post about our induction week picnic in Leazes Park, which although a breezy day, was a wonderful chance to meet our new students.

Yumeng said: “After the academic session, the tutors organised a picnic in Leazes Park. Many impressions still vivid in my mind, like the lake in the park, the sparkling light of which is also reflected in my heart. Lush trees, waddling geese, police officers patrolled on horseback… We sat on the grass and felt the poetry of nature coming from the wind.”

We have also heard from Huiyun who has been getting to grips with shopping apps and checking out the UK supermarkets; and Qi , who is loving life in the Armstrong Building because it reminds her of Hogwart’s; while Long is learning  to rush around between classes – we feel your pain and that’s why you will soon see some changes to the timetable!

Thanks so much to all of you who submitted blog posts about your first week at Newcastle – we really enjoyed reading them.

But now, it’s over to you – get writing, get blogging and use the hashtag #PRstudent or click the link here to find out more about #CreatorAwards22

The past winners list has one distinct absence – can we change that in 2022? Yes we can!

PR lessons from Euro 2020

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NOW that Euro 2020 has come to a disappointing end for all but the Italians, what are the public relations lessons we can learn from the four-week festival of football?

If it came down to contexts, then clear and balanced communication lifts the trophy after a tense penalty shoot-out with dignified leadership. Misplaced brand synergies and political band-wagoning were knocked out in the group stages.

Public relations is all about reputation – what you say, what you do and what others say about you. It’s a mantra that spans a multitude of disciplines and contexts from fashion brands to football, personal life to political life.

So, who were the winners and who were the losers at Euro 2020?

Winner – a leadership culture

England manager Gareth Southgate has deservedly been recognised as a great communicator and a role model for how exemplary culture at the top will filter throughout an organisation or team. As social responsibility guru Peter Drucker says: ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’.

Southgate’s England are unlike any international squad in my long footballing memory which were largely made up of talented, but often overrated individuals.

Southgate is not just a team selector. For years within his FA roles, he has been nurturing a culture and crop of likeable, positive role models whose values of self-respect, dignity often outshine their footballing talent. These players may be millionaires, but their genuine altruism is far more affecting and effective than that from the leaders we are traditionally expected to aspire to.

Southgate’s leadership can be likened to van Riel’s Elements of Corporate Identity with a clear purposeful culture developed from the top, complimented by what it says and does on and off the pitch. Ultimately, these shared values filter beyond to fans, the media and other stakeholders to create a positive image for the England camp.

Winner – England football team. Not only has the reputation of the team been enhanced on the pitch, the dignified way in which the young lions conducted themselves throughout the tournament was exemplary.

As footballers, the players are part of the production sub-system – providing the services to help achieve organisational goals. But the manner in which they responded to the despicable racist abuse following the final defeat, demonstrated that they were part of an adaptive system, too, responding and adjusting to external threats with dignity and clarity. Let’s not forget, several of these players are still very young.

There were examples of symmetrical communication within the team’s social media responses too with Tyrone Mings’ powerful tweet calling out the UK government’s hypocrisy triggering a heated Parliamentary exchange and stimulating debate over the ethics and declining values of political leadership.

Winner – a crisis managed with Danish dignity

It seems an age ago now, but the first Saturday of the tournament brought one of the most upsetting moments ever seen in sport when the Danish captain and talisman Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch after suffering cardiac arrest. For around 30 minutes, medics attempted to revive Eriksen while team-mates formed a dignified barrier around the player and comforted his wife who was watching at the pitch-side.

For several days, the tournament appeared in doubt as players, fans and commentators correctly opined that football is and never has been more important than life or death. Eriksen’s recovery inspired and unified the Danish team and nation to the semi-final of the tournament.

But the real winner from this traumatic event was increased public awareness and attitudes towards life-saving CPR training and skills. Eriksen’s collapse triggered international media interest in cardiac conditions, particularly when impacting seemingly young and fit people. This has spurred investment in life-saving defibrillators and new processes to ensure communities know where their nearest defibrillator is.

Loser – brand synergies shown the red card

Very early in Euro 2020, superstar Cristiano Ronaldo made his disdain for corporate sponsors Coca-Cola clear by moving aside two strategically placed Coke bottles during a press conference. A few days later, France’s Paul Pogba did likewise with bottles of Heineken during a media briefing.

Sponsorship is an essential part of corporate sport and international tournaments would disappear without it. But global audiences are not the passive consumers they once were; social media means publics have a strong voice and will actively call out mis-matching between brand and tournament leading to huge reputational risk for the mega brands. Ronaldo didn’t get to be the world’s greatest footballer by guzzling Cokes and Pogba doesn’t kick back with a beer after the match. So, don’t make that insinuation that they do – it’s disingenuous, misleading and damaging to the brand as was shown when an estimated $4billion was wiped off Coca Cola’s share value after Ronaldo’s actions.

Far better to take a subtler approach, identifying synergies between tournament and brand or to develop audiences and awareness in emerging regions. Chinese brands Hisense and AliPay were all over Euro 2020’s pitch-side advertising hoardings supporting their global strategy for recognition within sports markets – a clever move which will have brought these names to prominence in Europe and enhanced their reputation in Asia.

Wooden spoon – Own goal calamities and political gesturing

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a long history of saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time – after all, it’s how he got to be the leader of the country. But his insincere band-wagoning during the Euro semi-final at Wembley demonstrated once again how out of touch political leaders can be.

The hastily arranged ‘Boris 10’ England shirt pulled snugly over an already dishevelled figure was a desperate publicity stunt which reeked of opportunism of the lowest kind. Let’s not forget this is the same Boris Johnson who has previously declared little interest in football and refused to condemn those who booed England players taking the knee.

Yet just yards away, young Prince George demonstrated his enthusiasm by belting out the national anthem and cheering on the team to victory – and he didn’t have to pull on a mini England shirt to show his genuine passion.

Elsewhere amongst the political elite were examples of ministers and MPs trashing the knee-taking as political gesturing then weeks later lining up to condemn the racists. Both literally and metaphorically, PM Johnson clearly believes he can have his cake AND eat it and needs to be relegated to the subs bench soon.

All in all, Euro 2020 was a successful tournament for football, particularly for beleaguered fans starved of the thrill of an international spectacle. But again, the tournament served as a valuable reminder that reputation is earned and public scrutiny means that what is said, what is done and what others say needs to more in balance than ever before.

Images courtesy of You Tube, UEFA, independent.co,uk, talksport.com, indy100.com

Stay connected and curious

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After over a year of social distancing, having a strong network of social and professional contacts has never been more important: it helped us battle with isolation, but also served as an important avenue for inspiration. Read on to find out how to develop valuable relationships and why it matters for both your summer semester and your future career.

Source: Newcastle University

Networking: a two-way communication model in practice

The core purpose of networking is focused on information exchange, gaining understanding, and creating long-term relationships that are mutually beneficial.

For PR practitioners, whether they engage in lobbying, media relations, international or community relations, having strong networking channels is essential to achieve their goals. For PR students gearing up for their dissertations, networking is of paramount importance when it comes to primary data collection, particularly when your methodology choice calls for qualitative interviews.

But remember, networking is based on two-way exchange based on reciprocity. In other words, and as social theory of exchange proposes, people keep score and any interaction, particularly in the business world, must be balanced out by an exchange of social rewards.

For example, you approach a PR expert for an interview. They give you information while you display respect and acknowledge their contribution formally in your work. If you’re both satisfied with this exchange of rewards, the relationship might continue and develop, offering more opportunities for rewards exchange in the future.

In semester 3, there’ll be a session dedicated to the process of approaching experts for interviews. For now, let’s see which networking channels will be useful both for your research project and the future careers.

Where to find them? Look up their networking channels

There are numerous international bodies gathering PR big wigs whom you can meet both online and offline:

Global Alliance – a PR association gathering over 300,000 practitioners and academics from around the world to unify and promote the standards of the profession globally and you already know the former Chair of Global Alliance – Prof. Anne Gregory. Find them on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and join the conversation.

Many of their sessions are streamed by other associations, for example, last month’s discussion about “Digital Transformation and The Jobs of The Future” was streamed by ASEAN PR YouTube Network.

ASEAN Public Relations Network (APRN) – a member of Global Alliance, APRN’s mission is “to bridge the gap of Public Relations professionals’ competencies in the ASEAN region:” Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Brunei and Singapore are among the top five wealthiest countries in the world while Vietnam was one of the few that recorded a GDP growth in 2020 and, in the pre-pandemic times, its government opened a tourism office in London with the aim of attracting British visitors – something to think about.

You’ll all be familiar with the CIPR, the only PR organisation in the world that administers Chartered Assessment – that is, an award of formal credential in recognition of their highest standards or professional practice. Many international PR associations draw on training and knowledge promoted by the CIPR and there are two key online channels that are a great avenue of connecting with like-minded individuals: CIPR’s main Twitter account and CIPR International. Recently, the latter was promoting a webinar about Tik Tok and generation Z – why not join the conversation and offer views from your perspective?

Once restrictions get lifted, every local branch of the CIPR – including CIPR North East – will be hosting networking events: what’s a better way of meeting people from the area of your interest?

Among several other bodies in the UK, it’s worth pursuing contacts within the Public Relations Communications Association (PRCA). Historically, it was established as a trade association for larger consultancies, but currently both CIPR and PRCA are considered as very similar and there’s nothing to stop you from expanding your network across both organisations!

China International Public Relations Association (CIPRA) is mainly focussed on the development of PR research and practice as well as establishing the industry’s professional standards. Recently, CIPRA held the 8th China University Student Public Relations Planning and Entrepreneurship Competition – check who the speakers and judges were as those contacts will definitely be useful to connect with.

There are many (MANY) international, national, and regional PR associations – way too many to include in this blog entry. The International PR Association, however, compiled a list of 90 organisations from across the globe – all at your fingertips.

Other PR pros habitats

Most agencies and publications have established some sort of an online community – see PRovoke, PR Daily or Spin Sucks or PRWeek to name just a few, and follow the authors of posts across social media platforms. After a while, you’ll start recognising their names (e.g. Ella Minty – make sure you check out her weekly #PowerAndInfluence discussions on Twitter; Richard Bailey or Scott Guthrie) at international events and in specialist coverage and other publications concerning PR.  

Last but not least, Stephen Waddington’s Lockdown: a marketing, media and PR community of practice is a lively and friendly group that gathers 1.8K top industry experts, partitioners, academics and students who engage in an ongoing discussion about communication. “Please pull up a chair and join the conversation,” their Facebook page says.

Why network?

Networking, aside from having a potential to lead to more business or employment, can be an invaluable source of inspiration and aspiration. Exchanging ideas with likeminded people, will help you figure out and reassess what you really know and what your areas of development might be. Even a single conversation can inspire you to follow an area of specialism that will unleash your creative talent.

Taking part in events and voicing your thoughts, whether in an online or offline environment, will also make you quickly stand out and can help you foster your career path. This is a simple equation: the more people you know, they more people you know! And the more high-profile individuals you connect with, the more support you may receive for your future development. With time, this will lead to you becoming a high-status person with powerful connections. Think about your self-confidence at this stage!

Start SMART-ly and always show interest

Networking can seem daunting at first, but you can overcome the initial stage fright by making a plan and starting with small steps. For example, you may decide on reading one blog entry a week and commenting it on the author’s platform. Or you can choose to attend one event a month and introduce yourself to the organisers – all you need to do is thank them for hosting it at first; make sure you’re prepared to introduce yourself in a few sentences.

Whatever your main goal for networking is – whether it’s learning, seeking mentorship, career opportunities or just meeting like-minded people – always remain polite and show interest. Most of PR professionals are incredibly kind and generous with their time, but no one likes being taken for granted. Keep your two-way symmetrical communicators hat on and watch your network expand.

Hello from Anne-Marie

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Hello everyone!

My name is Anne-Marie and I’m delighted to be writing this blog post as the newest member of the PR and media comms teaching team at Newcastle University.  Before the new term starts and I get to meet you all in person (albeit online via Zoom while social distancing restrictions are still in place), I thought I’d take a few moments to introduce myself, so you can find out a little more about me. Here goes…

What’s the backstory?

Before graduating from university with a Master of Arts in Public Relations accredited by the CIPR, I found my first job in the industry through my student blog, Raising the Profile.  Since then, I quickly moved through the ranks of agency life going from a junior to PR Manager to heading up the Communications and Content division of an integrated brand consultancy, before launching my own business, Filament PR.

Through Filament PR, I’ve worked with clients across the UK and beyond, using data to enlighten strategies and bring bright ideas to life, all while delivering communications campaigns with creative spark. I’ve shone a light on my clients’ position in their marketplace and helped to amplify their messages above and beyond the competition, so they could engage the right people, at the right time and in the right way, helping to achieve business objectives with measureable results.

With over 10 years’ on-the-job experience, I have worked with clients on both B2B and B2C campaigns, from small start-ups to international household brands, winning many awards including ‘gold’ at both the CIPR North East and North West PRide Awards. In 2014, I also won the prestigious title of ‘Outstanding Young Communicator’ at the CIPR North East PRide Awards. Most recently, I won the accolade nationally at the CIPR’s Excellence Awards in June 2017.

My work has always taken an integrated approach to PR and communication using the PESO model, with all campaigns having clear SMART objectives at the start, and robust measuring and monitoring metrics at the end, using AMEC’s framework to demonstrate outputs, out takes and organisational outcomes. These are just some of the things about working in PR and communication that I’m really looking forward to sharing with you.

So, you’ve worked in PR. Well, what about teaching?

As well a running Filament PR, I’ve provided consultancy and coaching services to my clients, helping to upskill their in-house teams to be better communicators.  I have a real passion for sharing my knowledge, and so as well as coaching my clients’ comms teams, I have also taught on PR degrees at the University of Sunderland and Newcastle University accredited by the CIPR, in addition to being a dissertation tutor, working successfully with both home and international students. In fact, pre-pandemic, some of you may have seen me around on campus before!

As well as supporting students and new entrants into the PR industry at regional universities, I’ve worked with communications professionals at different stages of their careers to help develop their skills through the North East Sales & Marketing Academy (nesma), where I’ve delivered CIPR and CIM Qualifications at both undergraduate and post-graduate level, as well as bespoke training on Influencer Marketing.

I hope throughout our time together at Newcastle University you’ll find I have the right combination of teaching experience and practical skills gained from working in PR to provide you with an excellent learning experience – I love it when I can pair real life examples from my own experience underpinned by academic theory, putting classroom learnings into professional practice.

Plus, having completed my own Higher Education studies a decade ago (did you know, one of my lecturers while I was at university was actually Newcastle’s very own Laurel Hetherington? Yes – she’s taught me too!), I’m in a unique position where I am not too far removed from what you are experiencing today – exam stress, assignment deadlines, job hunting, networking and building your own personal brand and profile. I can relate to you and empathise with you, drawing on my experience to support you and help to nurture you – the PR professionals of tomorrow. It’s a super exciting time to be entering the working world of PR post-pandemic. More on that to come in a future blog post, I’m sure…

What about industry connections? Don’t you volunteer with the CIPR too?

Away from the office and classroom environment, I’m a Fellow of the CIPR, Co-Chair of the CIPR’s Influencer Marketing Panel and the immediate past Chair of the North East regional group. I complete annual CPD appraisals to retain my Chartered Practitioner status as well coaching and mentoring other CIPR members. In fact, I was one of the first CIPR members to #GetChartered in the North East and the youngest CIPR Member nationally to be made a Fellow of the Institute.  I am also an Affiliate Professional of the CIM.

Committed to best practice and advancing the profession through marrying academic theory and real-life implementation so that you get the best student experience and graduate from your course being workplace-ready, I have co-researched, written and published a series of three Influencer Marketing Skills Guides for the CIPR, contributed a Practitioner’s Diary to the new Tench and Waddington text book – Exploring Public Relations and Management Communication (5th Ed), and regularly speak at national industry and vertical sector events on PR and communications.

What do you do when you’re not working?

Good question! My home life is pretty busy at the moment. My husband and I welcomed our first child in November last year (a lockdown baby!) – a little boy called Lucas. So, when I’m not working, teaching or volunteering with the CIPR, you can normally find me changing nappies, singing nursery rhymes, reading story books in a funny voice or enjoying nice long walks while pushing the pram.

I’m also a huge Disney fan – I love a good story and think the way the franchise does it is just so magical. Who doesn’t love a happy ending, right? Maybe that’s why I love working in and teaching PR – it’s all about the art and science of storytelling to share messages, create awareness, change behaviours and effect a positive mutual understanding. As soon as the pandemic is over and international travel is allowed, I’m looking forward to taking Lucas on his first trip to meet Mickey Mouse!

Chinese PR students tackle Corona anti-racism campaign

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In a time, long, long ago – well January to be truthful – I was approached by a group of our PR students about Corona Virus.

As Chinese nationals, some of whom had recently returned to the UK after spending the Christmas holidays at home, they were concerned about the impending crisis and particularly the impact on the large international student body here in Newcastle. You may recall that disturbing media reports emerged at that time which suggested that Asian students in the UK had been targeted in incidents of racist abuse.

In an effort to dispel myths and build relationships with other students at Newcastle and the wider community, the group devised and then implemented a campaign over several weeks – using guiding PR principles at its heart.

The campaign was as simple as it was effective with PR and communications strategy as its anchor – raise awareness and change attitudes and behaviour via two-way balanced communication. Once the campaign was over, I interviewed the students for a podcast which I have shared with the cohort. If you would like to listen to that, then please send me a comment (the file is too large to post on here!).

I have summarised below the campaign plan. Reading it back again, several months later, fills me with both admiration and pride at what these young people were able to achieve.

Background：Many cases of xenophobia against Chinese and other Asians recently across the world

Objectives: 1.Improve students’ motivations of engagement in anti-racism campaign  2.Raise awareness of conventional differentiation of mask-wearing between east and west. It is a major root of the prejudice and misunderstanding.

Aims and Strategy: 1.Use social media and brochures to promote our campaign.2.Attract as many passers-by as possible to sign our banner and book ,or to be interviewed by us and by other reporters.3.Negotaite with NUSU actively to let our fully signed banner and book be collected by history room of Newcastle University.

Tactics:1.Make a team in our PR class(eight people) and allocate following tasks 2.Make brochures promoting the mask-wearing difference and the discrimination cases 3.Take portrait posters of our classmates from different nations 4.Make banners ready to be signed.5.Engage with NUSU and StandUpToRacism Society to gain financial support for printing and use their social media to promote our campaign.6.Get media access to display our posters on NUSU screen.7.Engage in the rally held by StandUpToRacism to have a speech and be interviewed by Global Radio 8.Invite journalists of CNN London and Channel 4 to report 9.Request to Chinese Association for promoting our article 

Outcomes: 1. 700 messages and signatures that truly goes beyond our expectations. 2. Media coverage on CNN London,Global Radio and Channel4. 3. The NUSU anti-racism society wants to cooperate us continuously 4.It’s the first time I saw a numbers of Chinese students who dared to have a speech or other forms about anti-racism publicly. 5. Via brochures we made and interviews,many Westerners firstly learnt the conventional difference of mask wearing.

It was truly an inspiring effort by all those involved, a glimpse of hope and light in otherwise dark times.

Finally, a name check for all of those involved – a huge congratulations to Jason Jiao, Emma Ma, Sherry Liu, Chelsea Zhao, Shan Xiong, Jayden Zou and Shawn Zhang. Apologies to any I have missed!


Join us on our trip to Tynemouth

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INDUCTION Week can sometimes feel quite overwhelming with so information to take in and sessions to attend.

There’s friends to make, societies to sign up to and even some dancing to get down to (if you wish)!

That’s why during this year’s Induction Week we have arranged a day at the seaside for all of our MA Media students. Join us on Tuesday, September 24, for a trip to Tynemouth – a beautiful beach village just 20 minutes from the campus by Metro.

This year, we have free passes for all who attend to visit the ancient Tynemouth Priory – and there’s also a competition for media students to get you in the habit of becoming content creators (see below).

To whet your appetite (let’s hope it stays dry), here’s an amazing video about Tynemouth made by some of our students at Newcastle.

https://www.facebook.com/newcastleuniversity/videos/2386004658334926/?t=18

 

The PESO model – understanding media for public relations

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AS we progress through the PR Theory module in semester 1, terms such as the Excellence model, Jefkins’ transfer process and Moloney’s reputation bank will become familiar themes.

But arguably it is the PESO model which has had the biggest impact on PR since digital media fragmented traditional media’s stranglehold on communications and reputation management. The model – widely credited to Gini Dietrich’s Spin Sucks book from 2014 – had actually been developed several years earlier to assist with the measurement and evaluation of communications activity in an increasingly digital world.

The PESO model is an essential tool for practitioners but it is of equal value to PR scholars, particularly when building an understanding of how media planning and strategy contributes to protecting and promoting reputations.

That’s why Richard Bailey’s excellent insight into PESO on the PR Academy blog came as such a timely reminder of the variety and value of media channels to communicate and persuade.

Here is Richard’s PESO insight in full. Please read and return to this throughout the year – it will prove invaluable to making the most of your understanding of PR themes and concepts.

Welcome to PR@Newcastle

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PR@Newcastle is a blog to discuss and support PR teaching, research and practice within the School of Arts and Cultures at Newcastle University.

The blog engages students past and present, prospective students, staff, academics and PR practitioners to promote developments and issues within the PR industry. It also posts about events and opportunities of interest to students on PR programmes and modules at Newcastle University.

Here’s how to get the most from the links:

Home Page – this is where we will post interesting news, views, opinions from the world of media, PR and communications. Whether it’s a link to a recent CIPR guide or an opportunity we want to share, this is where you will find the most recent news and posts.

MA in Media and Public Relations – is for information about the PR programme and teaching. It’s really just a reference link so you can quickly navigate to useful information and supports the programme community page on Blackboard.

Podcasts – exciting! We are preparing a series of podcasts from the PR community, which you can listen to in your own time. Watch out for updates here, because we have some big names from the world of PR lined up!

Meet the bloggers – who are the bloggers and what’s their interest? Find out more about our regular posters here – whether that’s staff, student or guest blogger.

Please get involved, share the link to the blog, comment where you can and PLEASE get in touch if you would like to provide some content.