Why we’re joining forces with LONDON Advertising and Pimento to offer reduced fees for new clients in January.

As the reality of lockdown 3.0 sets in, and with conversations already taking place about it being extended ‘til Easter, it can be all too easy to feel gloomy about 2021. Wasn’t it meant to be ‘better’ than 2020?

The sense of unease amongst individuals and businesses is all too understandable. But with vaccines being rolled out, ‘better’ is coming – and in the meantime we as a nation we must strive to come out of January with an energy and optimism to see us through the coming months.

In a year of lockdown and decreased interaction, communication has proven itself to be a lifeline for many. Relationships between many brands and their consumers have been cemented or shattered in a tense landscape.

Over the next few months, we will see more brands examining their positioning and their purpose, the changes they want to make happen, and how this fits into a post-Covid world. With a collective sense that there are lessons to be learnt from the pandemic – both positive and negative – this time of introspection is critical, and will lay the groundwork for more meaningful comms going forward.

Read more “We Believe that ‘Better’ is on the horizon – so we’re helping brands get there”

Anyone who knows us well will know that Stand’s work is built on insight, strategy and results: these are the three pillars of our success.

Think of them as the before, during and after of a campaign or project.

Before we begin working with a client, we like to understand them, and what their audience needs and expects from them. This is so we can ensure nothing we say falls on deaf ears, and our work is always grounded in knowledge of the sector.

During any communications work we carry out, we are guided by an end goal. This is some sort of tangible outcome which helps define exactly what success looks like; this could be trying to redefine how we view life post-retirement or educating the public about the signs of a rare heart condition. Everything we do is based on an airtight strategy that works to get clients where they want to be.

And, as a result of these two things, we like to think we get results that matter – whether that’s one in-depth piece of coverage in the right publication, or a social media campaign that reached 50 of the right people. It’s been reassuring to see more clients interested in these tangible and meaningful results, and less wowed by vanity metrics; a trend we hope continues.

In a year where just getting through is something we all deserve a pat on the back for, we’ve had some interesting and exciting projects that show how, in the world of communications, some things will never be the same post-Covid. Here’s a few examples relating to a client I’ve worked on this year, the Grounds Management Association.

Read more “The future of communications: insight, strategy and results”

The Scottish government recently launched a new campaign – based on the FACTS acronym – to help curb the spread of Covid.

However, a poll for The Sunday Post has revealed 51% of 16 to 24-year-olds don’t know what any of the letters stands for and 81% are unable to name all five key messages, which, in case you were wondering, are; Face coverings in enclosed spaces; Avoid crowded places; Clean your hands regularly; Two-metre distancing; Self-isolate and book a test if you have symptoms.

Any good pub quiz includes an acronym round. This is because recalling the words behind common acronyms is notoriously hard to do. It’s perhaps surprising then that the Scottish Government chose a wordy five letter acronym to deliver what should be a relatively simple message to a highly engaged public about how to stay safe during the pandemic. Whilst not knowing what ‘NASA’ stands for could lose you points at a pub quiz, the public not grasping the meaning behind ‘FACTS’ is a significant failing with serious consequences.

Read more “Slogan fatigue is diluting the government’s vital message”

Recently we spoke to Justine Lago, Director and Executive Coach at Onion HR. Justine has been involved in operational leadership management and development for the last 20 years, having worked in senior operational management positions, human resources and consulting.

In this episode we discuss what good leadership looks like during challenging times, and which attributes have helped organisations grow during this time. We also asked Justine what qualities leaders will need to have in the future, and as businesses respond to new lockdown measures – and many teams continue to work from home – how do companies build a supportive culture to ensure resilience and keep motivation up?

Watch this space for future episodes of Believe in Better with more inspiring thought leaders from our network.

To learn more about Stand Agency, work with or collaborate with us, please email ask@standagency.com. Follow us on Twitter @standsays

Recruiting over Zoom is definitely a new experience but it hasn’t stopped us finding talent! We’ve welcomed three new members to the Stand team over lockdown.

Holly Flaum joins as a Senior Account Manager with over six years’ PR agency experience across a range of behavioural change, consumer and public sector campaigns. Holly is passionate about developing powerful campaigns that create lasting, positive change.

And with the job market particularly tough for graduates this year, we are thrilled to hire two new Account Executives; Jevan Watson who has experience in corporate communications and CSR, and Natasha Machin who is passionate about our social impact work.

In the last month Britain’s Got Talent (BGT) has become the most complained about show of the decade because some viewers disagreed that it should be used as a platform to highlight issues like racism and Black Lives Matter (BLM). The Ofcom complaints focused on Diversity’s powerful BLM performance, Alesha Dixon’s BLM necklace and finally comedian Nabil Adbulrashid’s performance that included poignant reminders of racism in British society.

Read more “The politicisation of entertainment shows”

People are at the very heart of what we do, our biggest assets and what makes Stand what it is. We knew this way before the pandemic came along, but the lockdown made us think of new ways of listening to our teammates, made us even more sensitive to individuals’ needs and got us all thinking more about each-others’ mental wellbeing.

As of this week we’ve taken another meaningful step towards supporting our staff by signing the Time to Change pledge, and becoming one of over 1500 organisations working towards ending mental health stigma in the workplace. We’ve committed to creating a cultural change within Stand, and by extension in the industry at large and all the communities we are a part of.

Read more “Our pledge to end mental health discrimination”

For the better part of six months everyone who could work from home has had to accept the new norm, glued to their computers, Zoom meetings galore and the somewhat challenging task of trying to find a viable space to work in an unusually congested home.

For many it was difficult to adjust at first, but a necessity to crack on, combined with the opportunity to avoid the daily commute has resulted in a certain affinity to working from home on a more regular basis.

Some companies such as Twitter have embraced flexible working after deciding that having an office space is nothing more than an unnecessary overhead. But as measures began to ease and the government called for people to get back to work, many companies were planning their return to office life… until very recently.

Read more “Get back to work if you can… but don’t”

Back in July this year we spoke to Steve Swayne, Chair of the Institute for Turnaround – a membership organisation of highly trained professionals in business turnaround and transformation.

In this episode we discuss the work the IFT does in helping struggling businesses go from distress to success.

With thousands of businesses battling to survive during and beyond the pandemic, it’s crucial to understand how vital the work that turnaround professionals do and how their skills can potentially save thousands of businesses from insolvency and make them viable again.

Watch this space for future episodes of Believe in Better with more inspiring thought leaders from our network.

To learn more about Stand Agency, work with or collaborate with us, please email ask@standagency.com. Follow us on Twitter @standsays

In this episode we speak to Leonor Stjepic, CEO of Montessori Group about the Montessori philosophy and the work the organisation does in supporting children and families in education. We discuss the current education system, and the types of skills children and young people will need for their futures, and we get to hear about the upcoming ‘That’s Montessori’ campaign, launching in late September.

Watch this space for future episodes of Believe in Better with more inspiring thought leaders from our network.

To learn more about Stand Agency, work with or collaborate with us, please email ask@standagency.com. Follow us on Twitter @standsays