I first picked up a local newspaper aged 11, when an article I submitted, about what it means to be a good citizen, appeared in print. The idea that people across the borough would read my thoughts about the importance of paying taxes and cleaning up after your dog, filled me with an enormous sense of achievement and empowerment – my belief in the power of communications to influence behaviour started early.

I never ended up becoming a journalist, nevertheless the early experience of seeing your name in print stayed with me and fostered my appreciation and love for the media. Over the years, I observed friends and acquaintances launching successful careers in local newsrooms, reporting from council meetings, courtrooms and community events. Some used that as an entry point to national news, and some chose to stay local – believing that each community deserves high quality journalism that will hold those in power to account, at the ground level.

The decline of regional news over the past few decades has been a worrying trend. With advertising revenue moving from ads pages to companies such as Facebook and Google, the traditional newspaper business model collapsed – between 2007 and 2017, the newspaper advertising expenditure in the UK went down 70%. From 2005 to the end of 2018, there was a net loss of 245 local news titles – an estimated 58% of the country is not served by a regional newspaper.

Read more “The decline of local news”

Over recent months, we at Stand have discussed openly how our behaviours have changed during lockdown. Some changes have been positive, with many enjoying extra time to spend on themselves. Other changes have not been quite so productive – I for one would not be too keen on letting anyone see how the weekly screen time on my phone has skyrocketed. Thankfully, it would appear that I am not alone in this, with recent data from social media suggesting that many others have found themselves glued to their devices.

The fact that social media usage has increased is hardly surprising. Social media fundamentally exists to connect us with one another, which has been needed over months spent apart from friends and family. Across the board, social media has experienced increased engagement with users having more time to spend online. Data from GlobalWebIndex suggests that 47% of internet users aged 16-64 across 17 countries are spending longer on social media, 23% of which suggest usage is “significantly” longer. What’s more, Facebook reached the remarkable and almost unbelievable milestone of 3bn users across its network of apps.

Read more “Is it finally the end of best practice guides?”

In this video series produced and hosted by Stand Agency we will introduce you to insightful thought leaders, each representing an inspiring brand, business or charity. Our special guests come from many different backgrounds and sectors, but what united them is a belief in better; the desire to create positive impact within their industry.

Read more “Believe in Better: Insight and inspiration from industry leaders”

For a long time, the attention of brands and communications professionals has been directed towards understanding millennials. This exciting generation was seen to be shaping the future of digital and ushering in a new age of Airbnb-ing and Uber-ing. But just as people started getting their heads around what it meant to be a millennial, and how to reach them, millennials grew up.

Now in their late-20s and 30s, millennials’ tastes, habits and values are changing, and for many brands, a key market is now a younger and perhaps trickier audience – my generation – Gen Z.

Read more “Appealing to Gen Z – what makes a strong brand in 2020?”

The new four part docuseries ‘Hillary’ airing on Sky this month, is a four-hour ramble through the career of one of the most famous women in the world, Hillary Clinton.

In episode two we revisited the intense fallout from Clinton’s flippant response to a question about the depth of her involvement in her husband’s first presidential campaign, in the early 90s. ‘I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfil my profession’ she famously quipped.

Read more “What will life be like for working parents after Covid-19?”

Here at Stand, we have a morning Stand Up meeting first thing where one of us presents on a topic of our choice, such as talking about which podcasts we’re listening to, great recipes or book recommendations. This week’s was led by Lucy Chapple, our head of client strategy, who’s topic of choice was supporting small business.

Read more “Backing small business in a time of crisis”

According to DofE research, 43% of teenagers have never campaigned on an issue that matters to them. I wonder with the strength of feeling behind #BlackLivesMatter if this is still the case? It’s not for me.

On Saturday 6 June, me, two friends and one of their mums attended the peaceful protest in Parliament Square in London. We chanted, we sang and we shouted the names of black people who have been affected by police brutality. We then joined a minute’s silence and knelt on the floor for those whose names we don’t know. We then marched to the US embassy and asked the police “who do you protect?”.

Read more “Bella, a DofE Bronze Award holder, gives us her views on #BlackLivesMatter”

Brand purpose has become more central to our discussions over the years, claiming a coveted seat at panel discussions. You know the sort, where woke creative types with sombre expressions, quirky glasses and a righteous keep cup gather to talk about important things. I go to them too, with my keep cup – it’s made with recycled materials, thank you very much.

I’m not imagining the rise of brand purpose. I like evidence. A quick nosey around Google Trends will show you how the global search volumes for the term ‘brand purpose’ have been on the rise over the last five years.

Read more “Brand purpose cannot start with comms”

The PR industry has evolved a great deal over time, with the original focus solely on securing coverage, to adapting broad offerings, much like the services offered at Stand – including digital, strategy, insight and creative. However, while excelling in these areas, it’s still important that agencies deliver outstanding results when it comes to coverage. Getting news in the paper, online and on the TV and radio may be harder on some days than others, but once you understand what makes a story, and you push your team in that direction, coverage should follow – right?

Read more “Pitching to media during a global pandemic”

Yesterday the Johnson government unveiled a new phased plan to ease the lock down, and with it a shiny new slogan, ‘Stay alert. Control the Virus. Save Lives’. The internet was quick to hand down its verdict on the new messaging, with memes mocking the ‘vague and meaningless’ strap-line appearing within minutes of Johnson’s tweet. First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon was an early critic, dismissing the new slogan outright. This morning, most media commentators have lambasted the ‘stay alert’ directive as a communications blunder with big consequences for the Government and it’s Covid strategy, which relies on public support and compliance.

Read more “Why do some government slogans fall flat?”