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  • What we learned from our panel discussion on sustainability regulation and communications in 2024

    January 30, 2024

    It’s difficult to do justice in just one blog, to a one-hour conversation with four experts that covered the highs and lows of sustainability communications, but in the following words we certainly try! On Thursday 25th we hosted, Justine Grimley from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), Louisa Humm from Chivas Brothers, Alex Lawson from The Guardian and our very own Holly Rouse, to talk about the future of sustainability regulation and communication in 2024. The...

  • The year in politics – five political trends that will carry into 2024

    January 8, 2024

    If a week is a long time in politics, then 2023 felt like a decade. The political landscape was tumultuous across the year, marred by a series of political scandals and no fewer than seven parliamentary by-elections, only one of which the governing party won. These past events, though, will now be viewed through the lens of this year’s general election bringing with it a very real prospect of a change of government – the...

  • Many UnHappy Returns – why the marketing and communications industry needs to rethink the employee experience for staff who’ve taken a career break

    January 2, 2024

    My 25-year career in comms has been punctuated by several breaks. Some were my choice – two spells of maternity leave and a sabbatical after my dad died. Others were circumstantial – redundancy and furlough. But what was consistent every time I returned to work was the truth in ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’.I was gagging to get back. Of course, there was the self-doubt that comes from ‘being out of the game’ for...

  • Rishi’s Year in Review: Results, Revolts, and Rwanda

    December 18, 2023

    Rishi Sunak’s 2023 has undoubtedly been filled with challenges. Indeed, at points it has seemed as though every new week has presented a new hurdle for his premiership. But given the current economic situation, the Prime Minister may feel resentment not to be enjoying more success. Inflation is down, borrowing is down, and the economy is seemingly growing – all things which under normal circumstances would contribute towards electoral popularity. Yet the Labour Party continue...

  • 2023 Autumn Statement: does it ‘get the job done’ or is it ‘too little too late’?

    November 22, 2023

    Today (22.11.23), the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt MP  delivered the Government’s Autumn Statement to Parliament, saying he wanted to unlock investment, reward work and  grow the economy.  Containing over a hundred measures, the Chancellor felt he had reason to be positive: inflation is down, borrowing is down, and economic growth was better than expected. As a result, he had greater freedom to pursue the economic policies he believes in. Hunt currently looks set...

  • Big pharma gets a big brand boost

    November 20, 2023

    Many pharmaceutical companies are choosing this moment to rebrand, and the results signal a welcome new creative direction for the industry. Until a year ago, pharma was the one of the last bastions of safe, characterless branding. The only thing distinguishing most companies was the name. And why not? Pharmaceutical companies barely needed to promote or differentiate themselves from their competitors. Most industries live and die by how they respond to changing times, but people...

  • Rishi’s Reshuffle: Suella’s Sacking and Cameron’s Comeback

    November 15, 2023

    After an underwhelming Party Conference season and a tense few days over former Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s unauthorised column in The Times, Monday’s reshuffle was a chance for the Conservative Party to turn around its fortunes ahead of the General Election next year. And to some extent, it has delivered. Many in the Party welcomed the return of former Prime Minister David Cameron to the Cabinet and the removal of Braverman, and by some accounts...

  • Accessible communications: Why it matters

    October 25, 2023

    You may have heard the term ‘accessibility’ recently, but what does it really mean? When talking about the accessibility of a building, we often think of the barriers wheelchair-users face. When we think of the accessibility of a website, we think about how someone that is blind may navigate it. These highlight only one small part of what accessibility really means. In a broader sense, accessibility is the means to ensure that individuals are not...

  • Will gen AI change the game? Understanding the hopes, fears and ambitions of communications and marketing decision-makers

    October 23, 2023

    It’s almost a year since generative AI exploded into our newsfeeds and onto the agendas of organisations from all sectors. Since then, we’ve been told that these tools could affect up to 300 million jobs, and even that AI technology could one day pose an existential threat to humanity.  The news cycle is moving so quickly and keeps throwing up compelling new developments – earlier this month, for example, the BBC said it was looking...

  • Public sector or for-profit: protecting your reputation in a crisis

    October 20, 2023

      Having worked both in-house in the public sector and for agencies representing for-profit companies, there are some very real, important differences to consider when it comes to managing reputation – and some key principles that apply to both too. Crises across both for-profit companies and the public sector are responded to best when you have senior representation from all relevant functions of the organisation, led by someone at the top who can be held...

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