Is Fake News…fake news?

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So it’s official, ‘Fake news’ is the ‘word’ of 2017. Well, according to Collins who have named the term ‘word of the year’, stating that usage has increased by 365% since 2016.

Indeed, earlier in the year Cision produced a white paper on the subject featuring views from a variety of communications professionals, but the use of the term and its influence in politics has been amplified over 2016 and 2017 – not least by its extensive use in populist politics and in particular by Donald Trump in rhetoric to attack the mainstream media.

This is ironic, given that untrue or at least exaggerated and highly partisan editorial from new media channels (targeted to where they will have the greatest emotional impact through social media platforms) have driven much of the political unrest including Brexit, Trump and other nationalist movements.

Trump himself appears to have claimed to have invented the word – in a recent interview he said “one of the greatest of all the terms I’ve come up with is ‘fake'”. But is Fake News really news? Collins themselves trace the term back to the early noughties when it was used to describe false and sensational information on US television. False reporting is clearly not new – I remember getting an annual of Sunday Sport headlines when I was a kid back in the 80s with the famous “World War 2 Bomber Found on the Moon” and my personal favourite “Alien Curry Beast bit my Bum”.

And, in the 1930s, a radio broadcast of HG Wells War of the Worlds caused mass panic as thousands of people confused fiction with fact thinking that it was a genuine news announcement and that a Martian invasion was actually happening.

There is dodgy stuff on the internet…and in other news bears do use wooded areas for their morning constitutional. But the popular narrative is that this is both new and surprising. The rising influence of social media channels as a source of news is clearly a factor. Platforms that mix content from disparate sources based algorithms that favour engagement above objective truth.

Senior figures in the campaigns for Trump and Brexit have cited Facebook as the single most effective tool to target and engage with voters. According to the Reuters Digital News Report, the majority of young people use social media channels as their primary source of news while Cision’s UKPulse survey suggests that 75% of people under the age of 45 use Facebook in the UK.

The success of the Labour party in the recent UK election has been in part attributed to their more effective use of Facebook – the Labour supporting group Momentum claimed to have reached more than a quarter of Facebook uses with a campaign that cost just a few thousand pounds.

However, I find the ‘crisis of trust’ as a new narrative, somewhat misleading. When we look back to UKPulse data from January 2016, before the recent political upheaval, Facebook and other social media channels were seen by the UK public as the least trusted with more mainstream channels (TV, radio and press) being the most trusted. The headlines of the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer talk about declining trust in the four institutions of government, business, NGOs and media. And while the data indeed shows some decline in trust, it is important to see this in perspective. In the last five years trust in mainstream media has declined by five percentage points, from 62 to 57 percent. And yet mainstream media is still significantly more trusted than social media – a pattern that has been consistent over the five years.

So how worried should the communications industry be about ‘fake news’? The narrative suggests the answer should be ‘very’ and yet the data suggests a more nuanced reality. According the AMEC Business Insights Study, less than a third of AMEC members thought that fake news had a major effect on the industry.

Furthermore, data from the 2017 Cision and Canterbury Christ Church University Social Journalism Study showed that just 15% of journalists in the UK strongly agreed that fake news was a serious problem. The study showed that journalists who were most concerned tended to be based in the US and focused on politics and current affairs. European journalists that focused more on business, lifestyle, sports, entertainment or culture were generally less worried.

It would seem then that the response to ‘fake news’ is guilty of the same simplistic hyperbole that the term itself is claimed to cause. It is worth noting that ‘fake news’ narrowly beat ‘echo chamber’ to Collins’ word of the year title. Perhaps this is a reminder that we should strive to get our picture of the world from a variety of data based sources, rather than relying on a collective group think.

Ogilvy PR hires Rahul Titus

Ogilvy hires head of influencer marketing

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Ogilvy PR has appointed Rahul Titus as its head of influencer marketing.

Titus will use his experience in influencer marketing to oversee the agency’s development of its ADAM influencer identification tool.  He previously established and ran MediaCom’s influencer offering, where he managed a diverse portfolio of clients.

He said: “In a world where celebrity influencers can command six figure sums, often with debatable business impact; it has never been more important to define a new, strategic approach to influencer marketing.

“I am thrilled to be joining Ogilvy at such an exciting time and to help build on the strong foundation we have in place here at the agency. ADAM is an example of this new scientific approach that will help us redefine this space.”

Jai Kotecha, managing partner, digital, social and content, added: “Rahul brings with him a wealth of experience and comes with an excellent track record of delivering best in class influencer marketing strategies. We are excited to have him on board and evolve the offering here at Ogilvy.”

OneChocolate's Jill Coomber and Sue Grant

60 Seconds with OneChocolate’s Jill Coomber and Sue Grant

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Jill Coomber (left) and Sue Grant (right), co-founders and directors of OneChocolate, discuss their PRCA National Awards nomination, founding the agency and their favourite chocolate brands.

Congratulations on your Consultancy Head(s) of the Year Award nomination at the PRCA National Awards. What does the nomination mean to you both?

Both: Thank you. We’re a bit guilty of ‘just getting on with it’ so it’s nice to be recognised.

Why did you both decide to found OneChocolate? And what’s the story behind the name?

Both: We decided we had an idea for creating a different type of agency and doing PR ‘better’ than the agency we were in. Our idea was to focus campaigns around measurement and results – no one else was doing it at that time. That’s a good while ago. Since then our advantage is that we’re always comfortable evolving and adapting to change.

OneChocolate – everyone loves chocolate. If you’re an indie you need a great, memorable name!

How have you been able to grow the agency into one which has four international offices?

Sue: By hand-picking the directors who head up our local offices, making sure we have the same values and principles for doing business, and then working with them very closely to share our culture and expertise.

Jill: Our clients often want international campaigns, so the need is there. The secret is finding good people and the patience to build a great local business too.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in your time at OneChocolate? And how has the agency adapted to meet this challenge?

Sue: The growth in digital. It’s been a game-changer for the industry and we’ve worked hard to embrace the opportunities it brings. We’ve adapted by using our OneAcademy people development programme to train everyone in the agency to develop the right skills, as well as recruiting people with the new digital skills that we needed.

Jill: We re-invent ourselves every five years or so. We’re passionate about our clients and the industry, and we’re entrepreneurs – the rest flows from there.

Name your favourite OneChocolate campaign. What sets it apart from the rest?

Jill: Easy, this year it’s Playmobil/London Fire Brigade (LFB) – the campaign has had a great run at this year’s awards: winning the Masters of Marketing’s ‘Best Use of Content’ amongst a good armful of others.

Sue: I agree, Playmobil/LFB, it’s a super -smart campaign that communicated an important story, as well as honouring our hero firefighters, in a very memorable way.

OneChocolate uses “tight, agile teams” to manage its accounts. How does that way of working help your clients?

Jill: You have collection of different brains and skills all working together as one; great teamwork is at the core of our concept.

Sue: Every campaign needs a different mix of skills, by working in tight teams it means we are always putting the right people with the right skills on the most appropriate part of the campaign.

You say that if you can’t measure it you don’t do it. Why do you believe measurement is so important? And how do you set about measuring your campaigns?

Jill: How can you justify ‘success’ if you don’t measure properly? Data – we have access to so much these days. You need to set quality quantifiable targets upfront and then go for it.

Sue: Clients need to know campaigns are making a difference to their business, building their brand and generating leads. Measurement enables us to assess the impact of our campaigns on their business. Measuring our campaigns – trade secret, can’t give that away!

Finally, if you could only eat ONE brand of chocolate for the rest of your life – which would you choose and why?

Jill: Easy – Philip Neal. It’s not cheap – world class quality comes at a price – but you only need one at a time. Turns out great chocolate can be easy on the waistline and pocket!

Sue: Montezuma’s. Great tasting chocolate (with a variety of flavours – from Dark Salted Caramel to Chilli and Lime), ethically-sourced and environmentally-friendly – so I won’t feel too guilty for how many I’ve had.

Ketchum CEO Jo-ann Robertson

Ketchum appoints Jo-ann Robertson as new London CEO

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Ketchum has promoted Jo-ann Robertson to CEO of Ketchum London. She replaces current CEO Denise Kaufmann, who is returning to the US to become the agency’s director of client development for North America.

Current deputy London CEO, Robertson will assume responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the London office in January and is tasked with securing and retaining top talent and building the agency’s client base. She will report to Mark Hume, partner at Ketchum and its COO and CFO, Europe.

She was promoted to deputy London CEO in 2015 after joining the agency in 2011 as managing director of corporate and public affairs, where she tripled the size of the team.

Kaufmann has led the London office since 2013, but will now be based in Chicago where she will focus on providing the highest level of client support to Ketchum’s North American clients. She will work closely with client directors across the region to improve client engagement and facilitate growth.

Barri Rafferty, partner and president at Ketchum, said: “Together, Denise and Jo-ann have made a powerhouse team for one of our largest and most successful offices. I am confident that the office will continue to thrive under Jo-ann’s leadership as Denise returns to her US roots to focus on the client experience in our largest and most critical region.”

Hume added: “Jo-ann is a highly strategic, pragmatic leader with an eye for mentoring talent and a proven track record of business generation, and she is one of our best client counselors.

“Having worked side by side with Denise over the past two years to strategically grow this critical hub for global client engagements, I could not think of anyone more perfectly suited for this role than Jo-ann.”

Opinion: PR versus marketing - how different can it be?

Milk & Honey partners with Leap Films

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Milk & Honey PR is partnering with Leap Films to add a video production and animation offering to clients for both traditional and social campaigns.

Meg Dibb-Fuller, the agency’s head of digital activity, will work alongside the team at Leap to manage Milk & Honey’s video services.

The film production company has produced creative films for brands including T-Mobile, Doctor Martens and Ted Baker, as well as having worked with the PRCA, BBC, Channel 4, MTV and Channel 5.

Lucian Evans, producer and director at Leap Films, said: “It is very exciting to get involved in a business that is growing at such a rapid pace. Milk & Honey has an energetic feel to it which is very appealing.

“As a business, it is ambitious both for itself and for its clients. We have already created an easy working relationship and look forward to producing some outstanding campaigns together.”

Kirsty Leighton, managing partner at Milk & Honey, added: “We have been doing an increasing amount of broadcast work and wanted to find a partner we could work alongside to develop original materials for our social programmes.

“Leap Films has proved so wonderfully easy to work with. Fast, creative and full of ideas; enabling us to put some stand out campaigns in place for our clients, and continuing to attract more.”

  • Pictured: Meg Dibb-Fuller

People@Cision – Meet Kunal, senior client services executive

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People @Cision is our series of interviews that shines a light on some of the fantastic people who work in our organisation, this is Kunal one of our senior client services executives.

Tell us a bit about your Cision adventure?
I joined Gorkana in April 2014 as a client service executive and after two years got promoted to a senior client service exec. I come from a media events background which is very different to what I’m doing now, but after travelling around the world, I kind of fell into this role as I was looking for something new but still within the media industry.

It has been quite an adventure since I joined Cision (Gorkana at the time), with our recent rebranding and many acquisitions but this role has given me the opportunity to learn a lot and work within a global organisation.

What do you like about working at Cision and your role in the client services team?
My favourite part of my job and working at Cision are the people! There are a lot of great teams, but mine and the customer services department, in general, are especially fantastic. Everyone is always open for a chat and ready to help others in order to work together towards common goals and targets. When the support from your team is there, it makes life and work much easier and is a source of motivation. Us Cisionaries are always happy to help in projects!

Regarding my role as a manager, what I like the most is to coach and develop my team, and be part of their evolution. Seeing people succeeding in their roles is a great source of satisfaction!

Otherwise, my interactions with clients – which allows me to know more about other businesses and our industry is an everyday source of interest for me.

Best memory with your team?
So many that I don’t know where to start! But last June, to celebrate Cision’s 150th birthday, there was a global competition where people had to take a picture that summed up our celebrations of the company’s birthday, and the person or team with the best picture would win a pizza party.

My team decided to take a picture of us wearing a mask of the face of our CEO Kevin Akeroyd, which was a bit risky, but luckily for us he liked it, thought it was a funny way to celebrate and retweeted our picture from his Twitter account.

We won the pizza party and got to celebrate all together, and so I think this is one of my favourite moments since I joined.

A message for someone joining us?
Take the time to get to know people across the business because everyone is very friendly! Working here is a good opportunity to learn from others, Cision is a flexible company and that will help you and push you to develop in your career.

Follow the Cision careers team on Twitter @CisionTA_EMEAI

GK Strategy appoints three associate directors

GK Strategy appoints three associate directors

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Strategic comms consultancy GK Strategy has appointed Christine Quigley, Rebecca Lury and Martin Summers as associate directors.

The trio will help drive the consultancy’s plans to strengthen its transport, infrastructure and financial services capabilities, as well as bolstering its health team. All three will form part of GK Strategy’s senior team and report to Emily Wallace, chief executive of public affairs.

Quigley joins from Keolis UK and specialises in transport and infrastructure policy. Lury was previously at Mastercard company Vocalink and brings significant financial services and health and social care experience to GK. Summers joins after stints working on public affairs, reputation and sustainability issues at BP, Bladonmore and British American Tobacco.

Wallace said: “We’re really pleased to welcome Christine, Martin and Rebecca to GK. They all bring significant in-house and agency experience as well as strong sector knowledge in financial services, transport and infrastructure, health, energy and FMCG.

“They share our collective desire to build a more innovative offering to the marketplace that uses data and intelligence to inform everything from strategy development and issue campaigns to advisory services on sustainability issues.”

  • Pictured (l-r): Christine Quigley, Emily Wallace, Rebecca Lury, Martin Summers
CW appoints three new board members including Stephen Pattison

Cambridge Wireless appoints three new board members

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Technology networking group Cambridge Wireless (CW) has appointed Stephen Pattison, Arm Ltd’s vice president of public affairs, to its board.

Pattison’s public affairs work for Arm includes contributions to global public policy thinking, with particular focus on London, Brussels, Washington and increasingly China. His work encompasses issues such as the Internet of Things, smart cities, data protection, energy efficiency and security.

Mischa Dohler, professor of wireless communications at King’s College London, and OpenSignal chairwoman Shirin Dehghan will also join CW’s board as it looks to broaden its expertise to reflect its growing membership.

Pattison said: “Ecosystems are vital to success in the digital sector. They help promote innovation and stimulate awareness of what the market wants. CW does a fantastic job of bringing a highly influential ecosystem together to work on the technical and market issues that really matter for our digital future.”

Raj Gawera, chairman of CW, added: “As the CW membership evolves and strengthens, so does the board and I’m delighted to welcome Shirin, Mischa and Stephen to the team. With Stephen and Mischa’s combined expertise steering subjects like 5G and the Internet of Things – their insights will be invaluable. Couple this with Shirin’s engineering acumen and passion for entrepreneurship, we’re fortunate to have this amount of talent on the board.”

  • Pictured: The CW board
PR News in Brief

This week’s PR news in brief (30 October – 3 November)

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Here’s a round-up of essential PR news stories and features from the past week, including the winners of the PRCA North West PRide awards, Powerscourt and Smoking Gun’s new account wins and a personal view on London’s media habits from Cision’s Abe Smith.

Opinion

Abe Smith, Cision’s president of EMEA&I, compares how print media is viewed in Europe and America and ponders the future of the format.

Account wins

Snell Advanced Media (SAM) has appointed Platform Communications as its global agency to increase its industry presence and market leadership. Platform will work with SAM to showcase the vision and innovation of its media production solutions.

Panda Liquorice has appointed Smoking Gun to manage its relaunch and oversee social media activity in the UK. The brand will launch its new social media channels in early November.

Footasylum has appointed Powerscourt as its retained financial and corporate comms adviser as part of the company’s admission to AIM. The agency had been supporting Footasylum through its recent IPO.

Taste Portugal, an initiative from Portuguese hospitality and catering association AHRESP, has appointed William Murray Communications to promote the country’s gastronomy globally.

Agency news

Sports Marketing and PR agency Heavyweight Sport is launching a content production division called Pound-For-Pound. The division will be headed by award winning producer Myles Jenkins.

Bryan Tyson, managing partner of Newgate Australia, has joined parent company Porta’s board as executive director.

German property comms agency Feldhoff & Cie and international cross-asset management and corporate PR firm Bellier have agreed to form an alliance to support European real estate companies with international growth strategies.

W. L. Gore and Associates has partnered with digital agency AKQA to reposition its GORE-TEX brand to align with the company’s culture of innovation.

People news

Launch has appointed consumer brand specialist Robbie Platt as senior account director. Platt will work with the agency’s founder and creative head Johnny Pitt on creative development.

The PRCA has announced the 65 elected appointments to its 2018 PR and Communications Council. The elected members encompass all areas of the industry, with the Council led by chairman Jonathan Chandler. The full list can be found here.

Awards News

Weber Shandwick collected three gold and three silver awards at last night’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations North West PRide Awards ceremony.

The agency was awarded the Best Use of Social Media gold following its #LoveCarex campaign and won the Best Use of Digital and Best Event gold awards on the back of campaigns for Ferrari Land.

Smoking Gun PR also celebrated after taking home two golds and a silver, including being named Outstanding Public Relations Consultancy, while Refresh PR took gold as Outstanding Small Public Relations Consultancy.

Peppermint Soda took the silver Outstanding Public Relations Consultancy award, as well as another gold and silver, while the event also saw M&S Bank crowned as Outstanding In-House Public Relations Team and Catapult PR’s Jane Hunt named as Outstanding Independent Practitioner.

The full list of winners can be found here.

PR Events

The Back2businessship group, in partnership with Golin, is hosting a speed-dating event for women returning to the industry after taking career breaks. The group is encouraging PR and comms businesses to attend and interview possible candidates on the day. It takes place on Thursday 16 November from midday at R/GA London. More details about the scheme can be found here.