Don’t get left behind: the race to influence starts now 

Business seems slow for everyone. Politics in every sense of the word is the hold-up, as we wait for the election outcome. 

 

Patience doesn’t have to equal inertia, though it is tempting in this hot weather.

 

The reality is that whoever wins the election, the new government will have a post-election pause. It won’t be until late September at the earliest that businesses and organisations can meaningfully interact with those in Whitehall.

 

If you want to influence the new government on behalf of your community, stakeholders, or industry, what is the best way to plan and prepare this Summer?

 

Here is a plan of action. While new MPs’ offices and staff laptops are sourced, logins and passwords sorted, and ministerial teams settle in, you can get ready to make an early impact when October rolls around, party conference season begins, and business as usual resumes.

 

  1. Take this seriously: This is the time to bring together your best minds, develop your best strategic thinking, and create compelling content that evidences it. You want to end up with a ‘fish where the fishes are’ thought leadership plan that covers the rest of 2024. This might be a refined version, or you might need to start from scratch. Either way, get started. 

 

  1. Make ideas tangible: You need content ready to go at the start of September. You need materials that prompt conversations with different audiences at different points throughout September, October, and beyond. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Think about the best way to present your ideas and how to measure impact. Create a content plan. Know what your version of success looks like.


  1. Test and refine: Don’t develop content in an echo chamber. Speak with trusted sources, stakeholders and partners, and experts. Get feedback, test, and iterate. Get people ready to support you publicly because your thought leadership content is so good. 


  1. Work with the media: When the content and advocates are in place, start speaking to the media. Take a slow boil approach, and work with a small number of journalists to craft different story angles that support your overall messaging. Don’t worry if coverage doesn’t land until late September/October. It’s about quality in the right media.


  1. Get talking: Ideally, you want a drip feed of coverage running from September through October and November. This creates a lasting digital footprint of your thought leadership that others will notice and you can reference. You can use this to great effect during the October party conference season; securing closed conversations and media interviews on-site at the conferences and offsite afterward.

 

If all this seems a bit much when the sun is shining and England is fighting to stay in the Euros, remember something is always better than nothing. 

 

In this process, we start clients off with a short, fun ideation session, drawing out their best ideas and talking points, which we research to source internal and external evidence and proof points. If there is more time (and appetite among senior leaders and experts), we host a half-day workshop or deliver a series of 1-2-1 interviews. 


We mine your talent to unearth golden thought leadership nuggets that boost brand awareness, get conversations started, and increase your influence. 

Will you be ready for the dawn of a new government? September comes around quickly and hopefully it’s not just tan lines that make you stand out.

 

If you would like to find out more about Allegory, please get in touch via bizdev@allegoryagency.co.uk

Measuring Impact

By Richard Bagnall, Co-Managing Partner, CARMA and former-AMEC Chairman

A heightened focus on accountability and proving return on investment has left comms teams trying to do as much as possible, with as little as possible, whilst delivering the biggest organisational value. Yet many PR and comms teams still have not fully embraced measurement best practice or applied it to their organisations.

There are plenty of barriers in the way. Some practitioners are unsure where to start, others are battling internal culture or data silos. Securing the buy-in of senior leadership has been shown time and again to be a critical hurdle to overcome.

PR is not alone in feeling this heightened pressure. The 24/7 business environment, disrupted media, escalating crises and increasingly tight deadlines have seen pressure mount across the many facets of critical work that we do. There’s always more work to do with less time and fewer resources.

Do, plan and measure what’s meaningful

Ironically, the busier we are, the less time we have for the things that can make us more efficient: planning, prioritising and aligning our activities with business priorities. If we are too busy getting on just ‘doing stuff’, the temptation to simply ‘count stuff’ can then seem compelling. This risk is compounded by the proliferation of automated portals and SAAS platforms with their pretty dashboards, inflated numbers and real-time charts making ever bigger claims about what their automated systems actually do. 

PRs dirty secret is that some agencies often don’t plan properly. They may just undertake activity and try to get coverage. But they don’t take a step back to decide what the plan is and how that can be measured. Having a proper plan you measure meaningfully against means you understand where you are going and what you have achieved. The best agencies understand that and if you want to match them then so do you. 

Measuring what matters requires a clear and demonstrable link between communication strategy and what is most important to the organisation. Remember, the number one rule in measurement and evaluation is just because you can count it doesn’t mean that it matters. Take a step back to understand your organisation’s business objectives as a starting point for measurement and ascertaining how activity actually contributes towards their achievement. Get tech-informed and data-enabled. 

Technology lends a hand

Technology can enhance every aspect of the way we work and has a huge role to play in media intelligence. But what is critical is that comms professionals know where their data comes from, what the tech does with it, where they can trust it and where it falls short. Where teams rely on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation to take the entire strain, we end up with messy, fragmented data. 

The PR tech stack and automated media intelligence alone are not going to magically provide the full picture. It takes getting back to basics and applying critical thinking. This means researching, establishing benchmarks and appropriate targets, defining a plan, as well as excellent strategic and tactical execution. You then need measurement beyond activity-based counting, that links through to the organisational effects that are driven as a result of our work. If we continue to measure based on activity-driven metrics, we are just busy fools. We have to measure and use data appropriately to measure based on outcomes that support our objectives.

Tap into the right resources

All this can seem easy to say, but how do we start to overcome the challenges and measure better? As well as my day job at CARMA, for the last six years I have been chairman of the evaluation industry global professional body AMEC. AMEC’s primary focus is to support education and drive best practice in the communications evaluation sector. It is known for setting standards, particularly the Barcelona Principles, which offer a set of seven practical guiding values for meaningful and relevant measurement.

These Principles set out a broad view of what good practice should entail, but they don’t show how to apply that in your own organisation. For that reason I led the team that created AMEC’s Integrated Evaluation Framework. This interactive tool provides all of the guidance and support that you need to create your own meaningful measurement programme, providing a consistent and credible approach that works for organisations of all sizes. Importantly, it can be tailored to very specific use cases, campaigns and objectives. 

Unlock the power of data storytelling

In the years ahead, it is crucial we use measurement to prove that PR is not just a cost-centre undertaking activity, but a genuine value creator, supporting and driving desired organisational outcomes. Even the rise of in-house Insight departments shouldn’t take the data out of the hands and minds of communicators. 

We need clear plans, established benchmarks, KPIs and SMART targets for success. We need measurement that speaks the same language as the organisation’s leaders and provides a meaningful report of achievements. We need to allocate time and effort to measurement as a strategic foundation for planning and course correction to ensure we are getting it right. 

Organisations that can truly unlock the power of data, and PR professionals that can make sure their efforts are accurately represented, will surely have the upper hand.

If you would like to hear more about how Allegory Communications have worked with clients to help them become thought leaders and how we could do that for you, please get in touch via bizdev@allegoryagency.co.uk.

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Earned media: the power of thought leadership

By Charlotte McLeod, CEO, Allegory Communications

Thought leadership has become a buzz phrase over the last few years, as business leaders look to get their voices heard above the constant hum of social media and a full news agenda. But there is often confusion about just what thought leadership is and how it should be used. Is it a chance for the CEO to pontificate about their pet projects, one more trend that will be forgotten alongside the Snapchat account, or a genuine chance to engage with audiences and put ideas across in a new way?

What is thought leadership?

At Allegory, we have become adept at identifying when clients stand to benefit from using thought leadership, as well as how and where to place it. We also demystify the process, working closely with senior management teams to identify where the best voices for thought leadership can be found, as well as exactly what it is a business wants to say. 

Put simply, thought leadership usually comes in the form of editorials, which might appear in mainstream newspapers, specialist media, selected blog sites or B2B publications. As the name suggests, the main purpose of these articles is to establish an organisation, or an individual within it, as at the forefront of ideas, innovation and leadership.

Thought leadership offers a very different opportunity than a news story or press release, as it is part of an ongoing strategy to grow brand recognition alongside that of the personalities within an organisation. The more you use thought leadership, the more your profile is raised, which leads to yet more opportunities. It truly is something that can snowball when done right. That editorial in a trade publication can be used to leverage a similar article in a national newspaper, which in turn can lead to an appearance on Sky News or BBC radio. 

How Allegory works to develop thought leadership

Thought leadership is, of course, all about pushing ideas forward and (hopefully) changing minds, whether those are of those you wish to influence, from funders and investors to government ministers. But it also creates a footprint of an organisation’s philosophy and ideas, increasing Google profile along with visibility with decision-makers nationally and globally. Some leaders don’t want to put themselves out there in this way, but we believe that this is a mistake. To dismiss this relatively new way of speaking to your audiences is to waste a channel that can bring great rewards. 

At Allegory, we work closely with organisations to hone and develop their thought leadership profile. This means identifying which ideas need to come to the fore, who should be expressing them and who the business needs to speak to. We research audiences and publications, using our extensive media contacts to find the right home for opinion pieces, profiles and commentary. 

We also speak the language of the press. Just because you are a strong leader it does not follow that you already have the skills for this kind of work. We can have as much or as little input as works for you, whether that is ghost-writing editorials, collaborating or simply tidying them up before submission. 

The interpersonal relationship with thought leaders is an important one, but also one we handle with expertise and sensitivity. We recognise that those we are working with are the experts in their field, so we use our own experience to bring that out, while keeping the elements of individuality that make leaders who they are. 

If you can be bold, controversial or break new ground with ideas then so much the better. After all, a national newspaper editor won’t want to simply give you a platform to talk about your new widget, new educational programme or report unless you can offer something that readers will read, digest and discuss. 
For example, in our work with the Open Data Institute we would not dream of claiming the kind of practical and academic expertise that the founder of the world-wide web, one of the UK’s pre-eminent experts on AI or any other members of the extensive senior team have in data infrastructure. But we can hone the way that they put those ideas across, edit to the house style of a national newspaper and speak to top editors about what topics they would most like to hear about.

Tell me about the value of thought leadership

As with all earned media, we believe that this will always have a more powerful impact than advertisements or advertorials. When you are being reported in the news or, perhaps more importantly, expressing your opinions in the opinion columns of the Financial Times, Guardian or Daily Telegraph then people notice and they pay attention. 

It is impossible to put a financial value on an editorial, but even that real estate on the page would be into the £1,000s. Never mind the value of being able to speak directly to policy-makers, the public and to other media. Thought leadership shows potential employees, investors and customers that your organisation is active, influential and opinion-leading. It is part business development, part publicity, part influencing and part brand building. 

Thought leadership is also an economical way to exploit changes in the way that the media works. Journalists are often overworked, underpaid and trying to hit targets for clicks, conversions and content. Gone are the days when they could spend days on one story, as they chase the page views with often onerous targets. So, providing readymade thought leadership, be that as whole editorials or prepared quotes, saves a lot of time for writers and editors.

Finding the right voice for your thought leadership

The more shares and discussion that you can inspire the happier the editor will be and the more likely that they will ask you to write for them again. At Allegory, we recognise that this can often be a difficult path to walk, but we are expert in offering counsel on just how to do that, balancing strength of opinion within the bounds that individuals or organisations are comfortable with. We know that shareholders and stakeholders matter far more to a business than media coverage for a manufactured controversy. 

In short, we believe that thought leadership is something that every business, charity, university or organisation needs in their arsenal. There are far too many advantages for it to be ignored as this year’s trend or something that you can leave to rivals. It is a way to speak directly, forthrightly and in your own voice. And there can be few ways of communicating that are more satisfying or more valuable.

If you would like to hear more about how Allegory Communications have worked with clients to help them become thought leaders and how we could do that for you, please get in touch via bizdev@allegoryagency.co.uk.

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Creating compelling content with data

by Sian Freestone-Walker, Associate Director of Client Services

As an agency that was founded and has grown in the age of data, our first decade has seen a gradual awakening by clients to the importance of data in how they tell their story. A good deal of the public may still only consider data in terms of their mobile device usage, but from businesses to charities and government departments to universities, we always ensure that clients know the value of data in gaining media traction. 

In an age where data is a regular topic of discussion in both Parliament and rolling news bulletins, it is no longer an option for organisations to dismiss its importance as ‘something for the tech sector’. Data should be a part of every business’s brand arsenal, especially as there are two useful ways to approach its use. 

Firstly, there are almost always stories to be found within the data of an organisation, be they in the commercial, charity or any other sector. These stories are found in the day-to-day data that the company needs to operate, which could be anything from customer demographics to sales figures. A sudden influx of members, drop in sales of particular products or a boom in sign-ups to certain university courses could all point towards a story that could be exploited in the media. Are these signs of economic or societal shockwaves, changing tastes or of new trends to come? 

Even asking the question ‘why?’ about such data may be enough to pique the interest of journalists. Consumer media has long been held in thrall by the simple survey, which, with the right polling company or academic institution behind it, can give your client the leading story in anything from The Sun to Today on Radio 4. These stories work in the same way and need not always be the most in-depth, or indeed serious. 

These internal data stories can be a quick win for businesses looking to begin to see what data might do for them, but the larger stories require more thinking and a lot more work. Asking questions and collecting or collating new data offers the opportunity to lead the conversation and establish your brand as being at the forefront of new thinking, new discoveries and innovation. 

With one of our longest-standing clients being the Open Data Institute (ODI), you would expect Allegory to have a firm grip of how these more in-depth data stories can work. We worked with the ODI for several years on what we term their ‘flagship stories’, which are new pieces of original research. These usually lead to a report and the creation of a data visualisation or a data tool that journalists or members of the public can use to explore the data and create their own narratives. The report and supporting tools are published on the ODI’s website, creating rich content and the chance to attract new visitors, highlight other work and attract new members, newsletter sign-ups and events attendees. 

For the most recent of these flagship stories, we worked closely with the ODI to commission new research around data relating to food poverty. This was an area we identified as being one where there may be both interesting data and a story to tell about what data was not there, or was being under-reported. 

Working with our research partners and the ODI, we identified potential stakeholders, both to ascertain their own access to relevant data and to seek their backing later in the process. This saw us establish links with food banks, campaigning charities and organisations that spoke to or for those impacted by food insecurity. 
It also allowed us to tell the story of how the ODI might intervene to improve the collection and use of such data, thus contextualising the story and fulfilling the brief to increase visibility of the importance of data infrastructure. A story about data infrastructure is not something that would interest the mainstream news media per se, but the use of new data to establish our story led to coverage of the report’s findings on ITV flagship news show Good Morning Britain, as well on the James O’Brien show on LBC radio. Both shows’ production teams shared details on the story to their extensive social media followings, leading to an exponential increase in traffic to our client’s Twitter account and website.

The story featured in further broadcast and print media including Metro, Mumsnet, Research Live and Computer Weekly as well as attracting enquiries from target media wanting to use our work for researching later stories, which illustrates the long tail that can be achieved with data stories. The online content is evergreen and, when done well, can be referenced everywhere from consumer media to academic papers. 

If you would like to hear more about how we’ve used data to create compelling content or find out how we could do it for you, please get in touch via bizdev@allegoryagency.co.uk.

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The newbie: what I’ve learnt in my first month at Allegory

Starting your first proper job after university is bound to be a little nerve wracking, but what about when you’re working from home and you haven’t met all your colleagues in the flesh?

I wasn’t sure what to expect as the newest full time member of Allegory Communications, given the pressures of remote working, and the general economic uncertainty – yet, my first month has been truly amazing. My colleagues have made me feel unbelievably welcome and I got a feel for the team’s warmth and positivity very early on.

Our daily team meetings are a perfect start to the day. It’s a great way to check in with the whole team and find out what their priorities are for the day ahead. It adds a personal touch to the new ways of virtual working. 

I was expecting to be doing tedious admin-type tasks that no one else wanted to do and yet, I was so wrong. At Allegory, I have truly been in the midst of it all: pitching to journalists, meeting influencers from across the world and creating exciting new content for our clients and platforms. 

I think the best aspect of Allegory is that the team gives you the opportunity to have a go at everything. This can seem daunting at first as the newest member of the team, but even as a newbie, the team genuinely values your opinion and input.

Being split across business development and client facing work means that I get to experience the best of both worlds: working with clients that are at the pinnacle of their industry, while also getting to work on new and exciting internal projects. The variation keeps you on your toes!

When people say that agency life is fast-paced, they really mean it. With a packed diary and multiple meetings a day, it is impressive how the team juggles different projects and deadlines. Being new in the industry, it is pivotal to stay organised and on top of your workload.  

Begin the day prioritising your to-do-list

It’s easy to become bogged down with multiple tasks and approaching deadlines. It’s crucial to start your day by organising your to-do list, beginning with the most important actions first.

Block out time for urgent actions (and lunch)

The team has very different schedules and work patterns. You’ll need to be strict with your time management, while also maintaining a level of flexibility. If you want to get the work done, then block out time to do so! It is also important to block out the time for lunch, as otherwise you’ll be sitting at your desk all day. 

Ask questions (always!)

While soaking up all the new information and acronyms flying around, it is expected that you will have a million questions. The team made it clear very early on that it was absolutely okay to ask questions. The exchange of ideas can overcome any new challenges and you may find a more creative and effective solution in the process! 

Reactive media relations: The Power of comments, statements and letters

To symbolise reactive media relations

What is reactive media relations?

Navigating today’s competitive news environment is a daily challenge for many PR pros. Journalists are increasingly busy and receive thousands of emails from PRs trying to pitch stories, often in quite clumsy ways! Cast a glance at the social media feeds of many a frustrated journalist to find a myriad of stories about how PRs get it wrong!  So PR professionals need to intelligently seize opportunities to showcase an organisation or individual’s expert view on the news of the day. That’s what reactive media relations is about. 

Equally important as the proactive approach to media relations, reactive media relations (or reactive PR as it is also known) gives organisations the opportunity to display proficiency and thought leadership in a wide range of issues. Media monitoring is key to this exercise, as it is what allows PR practitioners to identify key stories where their organisation has something of value to say – the end goal being to position the organisation as a highly respected and knowledgeable expert on a variety of issues. There are different ways to respond to a piece of news, and here are three of the most effective.

Reactive comment

Reactive comment is a core part of the reactive media toolkit. It is about responding to relevant news stories with pre-defined messaging, to raise awareness of an organisation’s work and communicate a robust position. This requires access to multiple spokespeople who can respond quickly to an identified piece of news. Comment is ideally signed off and shared with the press within one to two hours to stand the best chance of inclusion. Comments that don’t make the cut can be used for letters and subsequent outreach. No content should get lost!

Statements

Statements are used in a similar fashion to comment, but seek to extend the news story, offering a pertinent or urgent insight, correction or evolution of a news story. These should be shared with the press the same day if possible and aim to generate next-day coverage. Although they fall under the category of the reactive media toolkit, in some instances journalists would go directly to a specific organisation for an expert view. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen all the time, it is therefore important that PR pros be proactive in identifying suitable statement opportunities for their clients so that they become top of mind for journalists. Long term, the organisation will be recognised as a highly respected leader in a specific realm and journalists will inevitably contact them to get their perspective on issues. 

Letters

Letters are an often overlooked tactic to get a point across. Inclusion is far from guaranteed, but if responding to an interesting story, making a strong rebuttal or concurring argument, they stand the strongest chance of being included when from a business or from a well-known individual. As with other reactive media relations assets, they have the potential to put an organisation on the radar and help them demonstrate their expertise. 

How a media relations agency can help with reactive PR

Although there is no such thing as guaranteed coverage, leaning on a robust media relations strategy yields great results. Using a strong approach to media relations, Allegory has succeeded in helping our clients’ work and message get the attention they deserve in the media and across complex networks of stakeholders.

How to secure press coverage through proactive media relations strategies

PR has changed over the years – nowadays, the strongest and most proactive PR sets the news agenda, rather than merely responding to it. Long gone are the Ivy Lee days when sending a press release would suffice to spread an organisation’s message. 

Although the press release remains a useful asset for getting the story straight and briefing media and stakeholders, today’s fierce competition for news coverage requires PR professionals to have many more tricks up their sleeves. For greater impact, it is essential that press releases are accompanied by active pitches to journalists exclusive interview offers, strong images (photo/infographic/illustration), videos or other pieces of engaging content that can make stories more attractive and relevant to editors. Interviews, thought leadership, opinion and features can also be successful. 

Interviews

Offering interviews to journalists is the way to  provide questions to the answers organisations are eager to communicate to the public. They can serve multiple purposes and be delivered in different formats. First, they can be used to brief an identified journalist on an organisation’s context, its issues and upcoming projects (especially when that journalist has written about issues that of similar concern or relevance to the organisation in question). They can also lead to coverage of an organisation or individual’s expert commentary on external matters. In some cases, journalists will approach PR teams to have an interview with one of the organisation’s spokespeople as part of a larger story that would not necessarily be focused on the organisation but still help to spread their views to a wide audience. As with features, they work best in conjunction with new research/insight or a very strong point of view.

Features

Features give organisations the opportunity to contribute to the discussion of a key industry issue or trend, usually decided by the journalist commissioned to write it. Inclusion is often alongside other complementary or polarised points of view, to articulate and explore different sides of an argument or issue. Features can be suggested to journalists if it’s to explore a new piece of research in more depth than a news article. Likewise, thought leadership can also be offered to journalists looking for an expert to weigh in on an important industry issue.

Opinion

Opinion sits on the fence of Proactive and Reactive PR, as it can combine recent events in the news agenda, or PR professionals’ own news outreach, to summate a strong response to industry issues or outline what should happen next. A number of defined spokespeople can be used, depending on their area of expertise. 

All the tactics mentioned above can help organisations stand out in a competitive market and position themselves as leaders and experts whose contribution is invaluable for the advancement of a specific field. 

Thought leadership

As opposed to opinion, thought leadership is usually evidence-led, insight-driven, and based on a strong progressive argument in a given industry context. This high value tool not only allows organisations to assert themselves by displaying depth and breadth on key issues, but it also helps them stand out in today’s competitive environment. In a typical PR campaign, news is used to generate the credibility that journalists need to commission or accept pitches for thought leadership opportunities. This should typically be centred around the core spokesperson of an organisation. Although thought leadership is substantially different from opinion, they are often wrongfully believed to be interchangeable. 

 

These tactics have proven successful to secure top rate coverage for many of our clients, including the Open Data Institute, the Medicines Discovery Catapult and the Web Foundation. Not only do they allow Allegory to contribute value to a wide range of industries, it also leads to deepened relationships with journalists.