Interesting people. Fascinating challenges
A few of the organisations I’ve helped think, communicate and create more clearly
Best for Britain
Outward Bound
Front pages. Protests. Newsjacking. Nearly arrested.
Serious work need not be dull work. Overseeing comms in the teeth of a brutal EU political campaign, I was part of a B4B team that made news rather than reacting to it. Giant banners at Buckingham Palace (where the police nearly nicked me for my efforts), huge puppets on protests, top-drawer preparation for national media interviews, and a relentless drum-beat of coverage made B4B go-to spokespeople.
Quiet Riot
Serious politics can be seriously entertaining.
Take presenters Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou, plus me, and add a big dollop of creativity, research and hard work, and you've got Quiet Riot, which regularly sits at the business end of the Spotify and Apple political charts. Why does this matter? Because the person training you or doing your messaging (me) wrestles with scripts, guests, production and a live mic every week. I know this stuff because I do this stuff.
How to make
a big splash with tiny insects.
Charities are often nervous about creating drama, but sensible good-news stories seldom trouble front pages. With a little persuasion, Outward Bound decided to own a particular part of outdoor life – the curse of midges – and the media lapped it up, including one national newspaper splash. There was also the less glamorous but equally useful stuff: crisis advice, media support and research-based stories.
WB Discovery
Sharpen the basics. Then tackle the tricky stuff.
Even highly experienced in-house teams benefit from an outside perspective, especially when a new team is bedding in. From sharpening press releases and headlines to helping land difficult stories, my Warner Bros. Discovery work ranged from getting the fundamentals exactly right to tackling the day-to-day problems that pile up in any busy comms operation.
When different worlds collide
Comms challenges come in many flavours
Disney
Getting creative people to think differently.
Helping teams inside one of the world’s great creative businesses to challenge familiar thinking, generate new ideas and approach communications problems from somewhere less obvious. This was fun.
Noah's Ark
The beauty
of proper preparation.
Media and crisis training for a children’s hospice, where difficult situations can become serious very quickly. The useful work happens before the phone starts ringing – and this is where the human touch is so important.
M+C Saatchi
Helping the communicators communicate.
Experienced PR people know communications. Sometimes an outside perspective helps sharpen the fundamentals, challenge habits and remind everyone what journalists actually need from them.
MintStars
From kinky headlines to Woman's Hour.
The world of sex work is big, complex and controversial. MintStars got help landing mainstream coverage for serious issues as well as some more eye-catching stories, while getting everyone interview ready.