Ben Crosland to lead Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s UK comms

Ben Crosland to lead Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s UK comms

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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has appointed Ben Crosland as its senior communications officer for UK and Nordics.

Crosland will join the foundation’s London office and be responsible for all comms across the regions. He will report to Carolyn Esser, the foundation’s deputy director of Europe and Middle East communications.

He joins from the Bank of England, where he helped to develop the bank’s new-look public comms and education materials for the recent polymer banknote launches.

Crosland has also been an adviser at HM Treasury, a press officer to David Cameron and an associate director at Fishburn.

Gumtree: What's in our media relations toolkit

Gumtree: What’s in our media relations toolkit

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Fergus Campbell, head of PR and communications at Gumtree, reveals which tools the company deploys to power its media relations activity.

While the modern day communicator needs to constantly polish their skills across a wide range of new and evolving capabilities, in many ways media relations remains reliably consistent in what attention it requires from the average public relations officer.

This is because a (diminishing) number of journalists remain the gatekeepers of target publications and platforms that brands wish to influence and infiltrate, and building relationships with these media titles is the best way to secure a route in.

However, there are a number of tools and processes which should be put in place to pave the way for successful media relations activity. For example, here at Gumtree – the UK’s leading classifieds platform used by one in three UK adults every month – we have been ‘doubling down’ on creating the best possible media relations and press office function.

Gumtree’s key media relations activity

To achieve this we have put in place three key activities.

Firstly, we ensured we had the right resource in place. This included appointing a PR agency to provide the arms and legs to solicit and support incoming media enquiries, and recruiting a PR manager to focus exclusively on managing the press office.

Secondly, we improved the systems and processes that sit behind the enhanced press office. This has ranged from ensuring that we have the right escalation and approval processes in place (including where we are required to liaise with our parent company, eBay, or sister platforms such as Gumtree Australia and Gumtree South Africa), through to preparing and then stress-testing a series of statements on key and predictable issues in the format of a holding bank.

Thirdly, we have been proactive in building personal and professional relationships with key media, through a programme of formal and informal ‘meet and greets’ and by being unapologetic about challenging media coverage which is inaccurate or unbalanced.

Every brand or agency will have its own tools and preferences for how best to deliver a first class media relations experience. So, media relations rightly remains one of the foundations upon which to build modern and successful brands.

To discover what’s in other communicators’ media relations toolkits, download our latest white paper, How to master modern media relations and deliver the right results:

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How communicators can master modern media relations

Eleanor Mills editorial director at The Sunday Times and Women in Journalism chair

Cision partners with Women in Journalism for events programme

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Networking, campaigning and training body Women in Journalism has partnered with Cision to deliver an events programme that supports female journalists as they grow their careers.

The programme will consist of monthly seminars and panels looking at issues shaping the industry – from nurturing diversity in the newsroom to the future of the media.

Upcoming speakers include The Sunday Times news editor Becky Barrow, Observer deputy news editor Lisa Bachelor and Kalpana Fitzpatrick, finance editor across all Hearst Magazines and consumer editor at Good Housekeeping.

“We are delighted to support Women in Journalism this year as it continues its valuable mission to support women as they grow their careers in media,” said Cheryl Douglas, head of media research (EMIA) and jobs at Cision. “We know the opportunities that events give people to learn, debate and network. So, it’s a pleasure to support this programme.”

Eleanor Mills, editorial director at The Sunday Times and WIJ chair, added: “Thanks to Cision, we can continue with this schedule of important, valuable engagements at a time when they are needed more than ever.

“It is an exciting moment not just for the media, but for feminism, with a new generation picking up the baton and a feeling of excitement, possibility and new battles to fight.”

  • Pictured: Eleanor Mills
60 Seconds with Houston PR's Hamish Thompson

60 Seconds with Houston PR’s Hamish Thompson

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Hamish Thompson, managing director of Houston PR, explains how the space theme runs through the fabric of the agency, sending a press release into orbit and how Houston juggles its diverse client list.

Hamish Thompson

To celebrate your rebrand to Houston you launched a press release into space. Who came up with the idea and how on earth did you achieve it?

I’ve been a space obsessive since I was six years old. I saw the Apollo 11 moon landing live on TV from my classroom in Australia. I lived near the huge satellite dishes that relayed Neil Armstrong’s one small step to Mission Control in Houston.

It’s an obsession I’ve never shaken, which is why I commute to work occasionally in my replica Apollo 11 space suit and why sending a press release to the final frontier seemed the, er, ‘logical’ thing to do.

Above all, it’s a bit of fun. On a whim I wore the suit, accessorised with a scarf, to London Fashion Week a few years ago. I got papped, interviewed for Fashion TV, and made it into the trendsetters page of the daily paper for the show.

To my everlasting delight, six months later there were space suit inspired outfits on the catwalk. On my tombstone it will read: “Hamish Thompson – changed the course of fashion history.” Those who are familiar with my dress sense will enjoy the irony.

The agency really embraces the space theme. How does that affect the work that you do?

The important bit of the theme is the idea that nothing is impossible. Sometimes a new client will phone up and say ‘Houston, we have a problem’. Solving problems is the best part of the job. Solving problems in unconventional ways is crucial to successful PR. Otherwise, they put you through to advertising. Remember advertising?

Part of your ethos is that human creativity trumps automation. How does that translate into your comms strategies?

What I love about technology is that mostly it’s about a reshaping of something that has already been done. The technology isn’t the idea. The technology is the thing that helps the idea to fly a bit better.

Back in the eighties there was a show on TV called Treasure Hunt. Anneka Rice was running around the country with a film crew in tow, hunting for treasure and miraculously able to speak to the studio. Now we have the camera crew, the editing tools and the link to the studio and GPS in our pocket. The fundamentals are the same.

What hasn’t changed is that humans are solving the puzzles. They can just do it a bit faster. There’s that old line that history doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme. I wrote a bit about that, and some of the other things I’ve learned about PR.

You work for a wide range of clients in different sectors, how challenging is it to switch between briefs?

It’s the best part of the job. Expertise is far more important than experience. Coming at a problem with a fresh set of eyes is really valuable.

There was an old building on the MIT campus that was falling to bits. They put all the ‘too hard to classify’ projects into that building. Because the building was falling apart, there were loads of accidental collisions between ideas which led to some amazing discoveries and lots of Nobel Prizes.

There’ll never be a Nobel Prize for PR, but the opportunity to be thinking about, for example, an Underground Farm, a card retailer, a software business, a pub chain and a super-budget hotel chain over the course of a few days, means that inevitably the brain finds patterns and interesting connections and that leads to better storytelling.

You spent a lot of your time working in the retail sector before setting up Houston. How much has the landscape changed in the sector since you worked in it?

A lot, though the apocalyptic cries about e-tail destroying retail have so far been overplayed. We have e-tailers going into retail, for instance (Amazon are opening shops), and huge amounts of work are going into serving the shopper wherever he or she is.

Retail is all about theatre and for ambitious retailers PR always has been, and always will be, the perfect promotional tool. The best retailers, many of whom I’ve had the opportunity to work with, have a bit of circus in their blood.

Are there any other sectors Houston is looking to expand into?

Discipline-wise, we have expanded our offering and we now blend consumer, corporate and capital markets work for some of our clients. If you’re an AIM-listed business and you’re aiming for the stars, Houston would be the perfect agency – and we have plenty of evidence!

We’re strong in leisure, retail, technology, education, consumer brands and start-ups. We’re hot on ethics, so there is a smallish list of sectors that we have, and always would, turn down. A lot of people who come to us for advice have that nagging feeling that the world should be taking more of an interest in what they’re doing. We’re very good at helping them to do that.

Finally, do you have any plans to spend something else into space?

I sent something recently as part of a personal experiment about tribes. It hasn’t worked brilliantly so far but I’m undaunted. Failure is a valuable thing and it’s a great thing to ask your agency about.

In Silicon Valley, famously, if you are a failed entrepreneur, you’ll get a better hearing, because the assumption is that you’ve learned from the experience. I guess my view is that if an agency isn’t failing every so often at things (without consequence), they’re not trying hard enough and they’re not being adventurous enough.

In other words, if your agency isn’t failing, you’re probably paying them too much. Now there’s a headline.

  • Pictured: The intergalactic press release

Meet the analysis team: Karen Brandt

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Karen Brandt

Our analysis and insights team create the bespoke reports and coverage summaries that are at the very core of the media intelligence Cision provides.

The team are absolute reporting experts and combine their knowledge of the media landscape with their love of data, and they’re on the lookout for some new members to join them.

We’re currently recruiting for some new roles, namely data analysts and research analysts. We talk to Karen Brandt, one of our research analysts, to discuss what she gets up to on a daily basis.

Tell me about your current role?
I am a research analyst in the Analysis department, and I’ve been with the organisation for eight months. Essentially, we look at patterns and trends in data and then write reports for our clients – who can be anyone from FTSE 100 businesses to charities to retailers.

Once we create a report, it is then distributed to our client to gives them insight into their coverage within mainstream and social media, and we offer them intel, on ways to understand how they can improve their media presence.

How did your background lead you here?
I am currently on a placement here, as part of my integral placement year whilst I’m studying Economics at The University of Sussex. I decided to come to Cision on my placement because I was really interested in the media industry and had pretty good knowledge into drawing patterns and trends from data.

I have exactly the same roles and responsibilities as my non-student other colleagues which makes me feel really integrated into the team.

What do you like most about working for us?
My favourite part of the job is how dynamic it is. Every day is different and we get to work on different accounts that are totally varied from each other and are in different sectors.

Describe a typical day as a data analyst / research analyst?
A typical day includes getting into the office at around 9am and sifting through emails to make sure that I am up-to-date with clients and meetings. Then, using our internal database tools, I gather data and look at key patterns and trends to start writing a report for a client which can take anywhere from two to six hours to complete.

I go for lunch with the team somewhere in  Canary Wharf, which is a great place to work because there is so much food choices, the team and I might have a project to to work on, and then we generally all leave the office by 5:30pm.

How would you describe the work environment?
Very collaborative and fast-paced! Everyone is willing to help each other and our teams get along really well. Cision have people working from all ages and all walks of life making it a super-vibrant and dynamic environment.

The team always go out socialising too – and there are many social events that the company organise to encourage integration and collaboration. Also, ever-so-often we get treated to free breakfast and free drinks on a Friday which is always a bonus!

Which skills have you developed while progressing here?
Being a research analyst has developed my skills immensely. I have become better at time management and improved on my organisational, communication and analytical skills. I have become really good  at using Microsoft office packages including Excel, and I have gained great knowledge into the media and journalism industry.

In addition, working on several client research reports has development my quantitative and qualitative skills and I am able to now draw on unique insights that would be valuable to the client and stakeholders of key companies.

Name three things you think it takes to succeed at our organisation?
Determination, team work, positive attitude

What Cision value does the analysis team demonstrate?
As cliché as this sounds, I think the analysis team demonstrate all the Cision values but if I had to choose one, I would say ‘We Are One’. This value is truly a representation of how the analysis team operate. For each client there is a dedicated team behind it and we all work together to create the perfect report. Data analysts, research analysts and client insight managers often work and communicate together and working at Cision is a place where collaboration and team work is encouraged.

If you’d like to join Karen, have a look at the job roles in more depth and apply today.

Meet the analysis team: Thaneya Jeyarajah

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Thaneya Jeyarajah

At Cision, we connect organisations to critical information and insight that enables them to control and manage their reputation across all media platforms. 

Our analysis and insights team create the bespoke reports and coverage summaries that are crucial – and they’re recruiting for data analysts to join them. We talk to Thaneya to find out what happens in the world of Cision analysis…

How long have you worked here?
Almost two years. I started as a data analyst in May 2016 and just recently got promoted to a senior data analyst.

How did your background lead you here?
It wasn’t actually my background that led me here – I graduated from university with a Criminology and Psychology degree and was a sales order processor for two years, but I was still wasn’t sure about what field I really wanted to go into. My friend was working for Cision as a research analyst and referred me for the role as he knew I liked dealing with data and spotting errors, and the rest is history.

What do you like most about working for us?
Although it sounds like a cliché, it definitely has to be the people. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming and they just put you at ease from the moment you start working in the department.

Describe a typical day as a data analyst?
I don’t think there is such a thing as a ‘typical day’ as you work on accounts that all have different objectives and requirements. Each brief has different elements that the client is particularly interested in, so you soon learn what is important to each client and base your focus on that.

How would you describe the work environment?
I would say that the work environment is very friendly! Everyone is always on hand to help, and as it is a big department, there is a lot of knowledge within the people here and someone will always be able to answer your question.

This is also a very hard-working department and I guess we follow the ‘work hard, play hard’ routine as you are more than likely to find us at ‘Spoons on a Friday night!

How would you describe the work/ life balance here?
I think it varies for each individual, but  it all depends on how you manage your time and know what tasks need to be prioritised and what can be pushed back to the next day. There are days where you may have a deliverable due the next day and you have to stay a little later to make sure it gets done, but there may be other days where your day isn’t as packed and on those particular days, you can take advantage of the alternative start times benefit and leave the office by 4pm.

What is your greatest achievement in this role?
I think my greatest achievement would be progressing into a senior role after only being here for a year and a half. Working for a company that had clear progression routes was something that attracted me to this place when I was looking to leave my old job as there were not many chances of progressing there.

Name three things you think it takes to succeed at our organisation?
Being proactive, knowing what tasks need to be prioritised and attention to detail, especially when you are dealing with the data.

Does Cision sound like somewhere you would thrive? Have a look at the roles in more depth and apply today.