Managing director of Muckle Media, Nathalie Agnew, has been selected to participate in the PRWeek/Women in PR Mentoring Project.

Nathalie’s application impressed the judging panel convened by Women in PR and she will now participate in the project that aims to tackle the lack of female leaders in communications. Nathalie kicked off her mentoring programme in London on the 26^th of June, where she was matched with an experienced female PR mentor who will offer guidance and support.
 
Nathalie said: “I’m delighted to have been selected for this project. The opportunity to learn from another PR professional is a great opportunity – the guidance will help me develop professionally and I look forward to sharing what I learn with the rest of the Muckle Media team.”
 
Women in PR president Mary Whenman said: “As a partner of PRWeek’s 2015 Mentoring Project we were very impressed with the calibre of the candidates, so judging was a difficult task. We would like to thank everyone who submitted an application. The standard was very high and we would encourage those not shortlisted this year to re-apply in the future when they have gained more experience.”

By Linsay Moore
In the words of Taylor Swift: “All I know since yesterday is everything has changed”.

And changed over the past 24 hours it certainly has. On Sunday Taylor Swift shared a blog post with her fans and followers on Tumblr, which announced that she would be withholding her platinum-selling album ‘1989’ from Apple’s upcoming music subscription service, as she was unhappy with the three-month free trial offered to subscribers.

This post was then shared via her Facebook and Twitter pages, racking up over 104,000 likes, 37,000 re-tweets and 61,000 favourites.

In a turnaround that proved the power of social media and blogging, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, quickly shared the news that Apple was changing its methods of service in-line with Swift’s criticism and would ensure all artists are paid throughout the process.

Writing on her Tumblr, Swift stated:

“I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.”

Far from the cry of a spoiled kid who is only looking at the money signs, Swift instead explained that she was supporting the young, struggling musicians and producers who will not be paid anything for the first three month trial subscription period. As Swift says “Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing”.

While not criticising the company itself, rather complimenting their ongoing relationship, Swift used her position as an influential artist to highlight the flaws in the soon to be released subscription service and call for a change which supports upcoming artists.

In only 17 hours, Taylor Swift took on one of the world’s biggest companies and won, in an incredibly successful display of the power of social media. More and more brands are learning to engage fans and followers and encourage them to have their say on different products, to encourage consumers to ‘buy in’ to their products before they’re even available and form a better relationship with the brand.

When Ginger Grouse, the premium alcoholic ginger beer from The Famous Grouse, were looking to re-brand their product, they asked followers on social media to help. By asking fans to answer some quick questions on the existing look of their product, Ginger Grouse unveiled their brand new design, drawn from fans’ feedback, earlier this month to great support.

Earlier this year Thomson Airways launched a social media campaign asking fans and followers to name its sixth Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Consumers were asked to capture an image of one of the Dreamliners and share on social media, using the hashtag #787Pics, to be in with a chance of having the latest addition named after them as well as a holiday for two to Mauritius. Thomson Airways announced that the aircraft will now be named ‘Neil’ after the winner Neil Langstone.

So what should brands keep in mind about social media? It provides consumers, both those who are fans of the brand, product or service and those who are not, with a forum for open discussion to air their views. While this can result in both negative and positive feedback, it is very important to engage with these members of the public and listen to their thoughts on the brand/product/service while correcting any inaccuracies. One other thing to remember, as displayed by Apple Music, is that it’s never too late to hold your hands up and admit you were wrong about something. While the manner in which you do this is important, you should never be afraid to say you were wrong about something.

Then, in the words of Taylor Swift just “shake it off, shake it off…”

1.     How did you get into PR – what’s your background?

I studied PR and Media at Queen Margaret in Edinburgh and during the final year of my BA Hons course I started working with a PR agency in Edinburgh, so was juggling uni work and my dissertation with ‘grown up’ work for about 6 months, which had its own challenges! Looking back on it I’m really glad I started working during my final year though because it gave me an actual understanding of how PR works in the real world, and left me knowing that if I could juggle working full time with writing a dissertation (and getting a 2:1 degree) then I could handle the pressures that come hand in hand with working in PR.

2.     What’s the best piece of coverage you’ve secured for a client?
I’m not sure I can pick out one piece of coverage as being the best, but I do have a few I’m quite proud of. One example would probably be when one of the luxury whisky clients I worked for previously was announcing a new expression I managed to secure a great feature in the Telegraph Luxury, which was ideal for reaching the client’s target audience.

3.     Is there anything you’ve done in your career that you’re particularly proud of?
On a more personal level I’m quite proud of the fact that after working in a PR agency for only four or five months I was given my own events account to manage. As I had not long started in the world of PR, and had only just turned 21, I’m really proud of how well I handled this challenge and the fact that I managed to do such a good job with the event that I was highly praised not only by the client but also by one of the directors and founders of the agency I worked for. One of the other projects I worked on which I’m particularly proud to have been involved in was for one of the whisky brands I worked for who were launching a new expression in collaboration with renown photographer Elliott Erwitt. Working with the rest of the team at the agency we managed to create our own pop up art gallery in Leica studios in London where we hosted the event, with Elliott in attendance. It was a great event and seeing all of our hard work come together and be such a success was a really proud moment for me.

4.     What brands/startups do you think are doing a great job with their PR and marketing at the moment?
I think there’s a lot of really great PR and marketing happening just now, so picking a few examples is always a bit tricky! Despite all the controversy over the adverts I do think that Protein World’s latest marketing stunt was incredibly effective. It’s one of the most talked about campaigns of the year and provided so much conversation both online and offline that, as a result of the £250,000 they spent on advertising, they reaped over £1 million in direct sales revenue in just four days as a result of the campaign. They stuck with their marketing plan despite the controversy and managed to turn it around to their benefit. I also thought the recent campaign for Magnum ice creams, Magnum Pink and Black, was fantastic. They achieved fantastic coverage and social media conversation and I particularly liked their Regent Street takeover and the fact they turned the London Eye pink!

5.     What’s been your biggest achievement out of work?
I think probably the fact that I was a published author at the age of 16, with my work being published as part of an inter-generational book of short stories and poems called ‘Oor Ain Toon’. That aside though, I definitely think there’s a big sense of achievement in managing to make the perfect gluten free caramel shortcake…if I do say so myself!

6.     What’s your favourite song at the moment?
I have the most outdated taste in music and my usual choice is either something mellow like Jack Johnson or Jason Mraz or some good old country! At the moment I’ve been listening to a lot of John Mayer though, so I guess I’d have to say ‘Daughters’ or ‘Say’ are my favourite songs at the moment.

7.     How do you like to spend your free time?
In a word? Eating. It’s definitely one of my favourite things to do, combine a Chinese with some Netflix binging and I’m pretty happy! Other than that I’m slowly beginning to explore Edinburgh and visit new places over the weekend, in between visiting the gym (yuck), seeing friends and writing.

8.     What are your ambitions for the future, in and out of work?
I don’t have so much a 10 year plan as that I want to just be happy and enjoy my life while I can. Ambitions wise though I’d definitely like to move up the PR ladder and take on more responsibility for clients and campaigns as I go. Outside of work though I’d really like to keep up my writing and finally finish my first book!