It’s the #LittleThings that add up to a loving workplace – Muckle Media launches enhanced benefits and rewards scheme for team on Valentine’s Day 

14th February 2019, Muckle Media, the creative PR agency, has rewarded its team with a range of enhanced benefits under its #LittleThings tagline. The campaign, which aims to retain and recruit the best people in the industry and help Muckle Media work towards its mission of becoming the best PR agency to work for in the UK was launched during Valentine’s Week, with benefits drip fed daily throughout the week to demonstrate corporate love. The campaign sits alongside Muckle Media’s wider purpose of inspiring the next generation of communicators.

A new flexible working policy has been introduced that will allow the team to choose where and when they work, with a focus on excellent client service and the outcomes required from each role, rather than the number of hours spent at desks. A management plan and processes are in place to ensure excellent service levels through a system that makes sure client work is delivered to a high standard and clients can always access the timely support that they need.

The team are also in the process of rewriting their job descriptions individually to create dream jobs for everyone. Generic job descriptions that make people at all levels work as generalists and be expected to deliver the full spectrum of PR roles are being replaced by individual job descriptions that allow everyone to specialise in the work they love. To create these, the team have been asked to rank all the potential areas of work they do by love, like and hate, with a plan for everyone’s jobs to gradually move towards just doing the things they love. Future recruitment will focus on filling the gaps.

An enhanced flexible benefits package has also been launched which provides a pot equal to 20% of annual salary on top of pay to be used to select a range of shared and flexible benefits. This includes private health care, enhanced employer pension contributions, cinema tickets, a social fund and match funding for charity fundraising. Health and wellbeing perks include paid for gym membership, free fruit in the office, mental health first aider training and the appointment of two wellbeing ambassadors. Visiting speakers will come into the office to deliver sessions on topics ranging from yoga and mindfulness to nutrition. The agency is also currently reviewing and improving its environmental policies.

Nathalie Agnew, Managing Director of Muckle Media, said:

“We believe that a happy team is a productive and creative one, which is why we are putting our team at the centre of our strategy and working towards becoming the best agency to work for in the UK. We are all adults and believe that by removing rules and restrictions our team will have a better life balance and in turn deliver more in the workplace.


“It’s the little things that make a difference every day. A colleague making your tea to someone just asking if you’re okay helps make work a better place. Small changes to your working environment, diet and fitness regime can make huge changes to your health and wellbeing. Little improvements such as not using disposable plastic or remembering to recycle make a big difference to the planet. That’s why Muckle Media believes that the #LittleThings are important.


“At the centre of our #LittleThings campaign is a focus on mental wellbeing and healthy living, combined with a range of perks to help our team be stronger, smarter and happier, all while improving the world around us. I can’t wait to work with our teams in Edinburgh and Inverness to roll out these benefits and provide a positive and supportive workplace of the future.”

For more details visit www.mucklemedia.co.uk/littlethings

What is more Scottish than piping, Highland dancing or tossing the caber? Yes we are well and truly into Highland Games season.

Highland Games and some of our unique Scottish products such as shortbread, whisky and kilts are arguably some of our best exports and attractions. Scottishness as a brand is uniquely marketable and very saleable – is it any wonder that so many companies are capitalising on their Scottishness?

Last weekend, in Inverness alone, more than 9,000 people visited the Highland capital to attend the City of Inverness Highland Games and Gathering.

It also included a dedicated Outlander tent, which was one of the most visited stalls during the Games weekend.

The historical time travel series has become a phenomenon. The hit TV drama, which has signed up to a sixth season, is based on the best-selling book series by American author, Diana Gabaldon. It has seen huge success on both sides of the Atlantic.

The British-American TV series, which features a World War II nurse who is transported back to the time of the Jacobite rising of 1745, has played a huge part in the tourism boost experienced across Scotland.

Visitor attractions around the county, including in the Highlands, such as Culloden Battlefield and the Clava Cairns have seen an increase in visitor numbers in recent years which has been put down to the success of the hit TV series and what is now often dubbed the ‘Outlander effect.’

It is no surprise that a whole host of merchandise, such as replica Highland dress, jewellery even dedicated tours of locations the TV series has been filmed at, have all sprung up thanks to some fast acting businesses and entrepreneurs who were quick to capitalise and tap into the popularity of the TV series.

It is always worth examining if you are making the most of your brand and any connections it may have that you can capitalise on, such as Scottish links. The market for Scottish brands is endless and immediately opens your product up to the overseas markets in the United States as well Australia and New Zealand.

Last year was a record year for visitors with an incredible 3.2million overseas visitors coming to Scotland, spending a whopping £2.3billion, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Meanwhile there are still a number of Highland Games to take place this summer and the Mey Games which will be held in Caithness on the 4^th of August is set to write its way into the history books.

It will welcome adaptive para-athletes to compete for the first time ever at a Highland Games in Scotland.

60 para-athletes will travel from as far afield as America and Australia and all over the UK to take part in the milestone event. The Mey Games will be unique as it welcomes both para and Invictis athletes to compete in traditional Highland track and field competitions. This will be the first time that para-athletics has been included within a traditional Highland Games context in Scotland.

US para athlete Alex ‘The Tank’ Armor, who holds the world record for wheelchair caber tossing, as well as several top Australian para-athletes will be competing.

HRH Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay, is chieftain of the event and he is expected to attend again this year.

Highland Games may date back almost 1,000 years and even after all this time it seems the enduring global appeal of these ancient gatherings, as well as the allure and appeal of Highland history and all things Outlander remain as popular as ever.

Being enterprising, quick thinking and able to capitalise on a big idea, such as the Scottish/Highland link on the back of the success of the Outlander series, proves culture, history and tradition can always be reinvented for new markets.  So if you have a brand with a Scottish background or link, it’s worth considering how you can maximise this to drive sales from other markets and make the most of your Scottish connection, as you never know you may just have another multi-million pound blockbuster on your hands.

As for Highland Games, I have a feeling they may well endure for another 1,000 years – probably washed down with a drop of whisky or two! Slàinte mhath. 

Build-a-Bear hoped their pay your age sales promotion would be a roaring success this week, but poor planning resulted in queues over a mile long and police being called to manage crowds at shopping centres across the country. Muckle MD Nathalie wrote a PR Week blog post about how to plan for sales promotions, read more here:

https://www.prweek.com/article/1487701/learned-build-a-bears-pay-age-promotion 

Do you have any other tips for running sales promotions and managing demand?

Former First Lady Michelle Obama will participate in a moderated conversation at a dinner in Edinburgh on July 17th at the EICC with philanthropy and business leaders. Mrs. Obama is a lawyer, writer, and was the first African-American First Lady of the United States.

Hosted by the philanthropy, The Hunter Foundation (thehunterfoundation.co.uk), all profits from the event will be invested in hundreds of charities across Scotland.

Sir Tom Hunter, founder of The Hunter Foundation commented; “From a brick bungalow on the South Side of Chicago to the White House has been an epic, historic journey and we look forward to hearing about that journey and Mrs. Obama’s future path. It is more than an honour to welcome First Lady Michelle Obama, following so closely on from the 44^th President’s visit of last year and we are delighted she accepted our invitation.”

If you missed our dinner with Mark Beaumont, catch up below:

Muckle Media has been shortlisted for 14 PRCA DARE awards, including Large Consultancy of The Year, Consumer Relations, Media Relations and the Integrated Campaign award.

The shortlist reflects a really exciting 12 months for Muckle Media including an impressive array of campaigns, new client wins and success stories including Finding your Feet – A Global Fundraising Voyage, the Artemis World Cycle and the North East 250 ultimate road trip to the heart of Scotland. In the past months we’ve had great opportunities across all our offices including launching Gordon and McPhail’s wartime whisky and supporting Moray Economic Partnership to get the community behind a regional deal bid with the My Moray campaign.

These efforts have been reflected in the shortlisting for Large Consultancy of The Year. The last few months have seen the company grow across Scotland with new members of staff joining our team and bringing even more creativity.

You can view the full shortlist here: https://www.prcadareawards.com/shortlist

Fingers Crossed!

We all know that social media brings a host of opportunities for businesses to reach their target audiences and boost sales, if done well. In fact, 56% of firms with a social media strategy in place have generated sales via social media and 45% of small businesses with turnover under £250,000 have generated sales using social media platforms.

Yet, despite this, research from the latest Close Brothers Asset Finance Business Barometer shows that only 32% of UK SMEs have a social media strategy in place. And the situation is even worse here in Scotland, with just 23% of businesses having a social media strategy.

So, why are the majority of UK businesses not utilising social media to engage and drive sales? It could simply be down to time and resources – why else wouldn’t you be making the most of easily accessible platforms with millions of users?

Don’t worry though – it’s Muckle Media to the rescue with some quick tips on how to make the most of social media for those short of time!

1. Focus on the most appropriate channels

For busy SMEs there’s little point in using social media platforms if your target audience isn’t there. To start, focus on the main platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn – and pick which one(s) you’ll have a presence on based on where you’ll have the most impact. For example, business to business companies may focus on Twitter and LinkedIn, whereas lifestyle brands might focus on Facebook and Instagram. Also consider the age range of your target audience and which social media networks they’re most likely to use.

2. Follow, follow, follow!

When starting out on social media and building a following, it can often be a slow process. Instagram and Twitter can be easier than other networks as you can easily search relevant people who may be interested in your brand. And there are numerous online tools to make this process even faster.

On Twitter, try Followerwonk. Here you can search the bios of Twitter users to connect with people using specific words in their bios. For example, clothes brands may search ‘fashion’ or a local café may search followers by location. Followerwonk also allows you to follow the most relevant people quickly, without clicking through to individual pages. ManageFlitter is another useful resource which helps you target the most appropriate followers, based on the subjects they are interested in, their location and if they follow similar accounts. Many of these tools often allow ongoing analysis of your following; helping you compare your following to that of your competitors and helping you find what content they respond best to.

3. Showcase your brand

As with all other communications, be it visual or written, social media channels should reflect your brand. Set some guidelines on tone of voice, the type of content you’re going to share and design guidelines on how visuals should look – for example, do you have a standard filter on Instagram to ensure posts not only look good individually but when viewed together on your page?

Websites such as Canva are great places to start for creating quick branded images to share across your platforms.

4. Keep followers happy

Keep an eye on interactions with your social media pages and respond as quickly as possible. Even if it’s a bad review on Facebook, don’t get defensive! Respond in a manner that addresses the issue and try to rectify wherever possible – even if the reviewer doesn’t respond to your offer, other social media users will see that you have done all you can to improve service.

5. Monitor for mentions

To make the most of sales opportunities on social media, you need to be proactive. Search for mentions of your brand and of your product and respond. For example, if you’re a café, you might want to respond to someone tweeting about recommendations for lunch in Glasgow. At Muckle Media, we might monitor for people looking for recommendations for a local PR agency or for social media support.

6. Quality over quantity

Not only is choosing the most relevant social media platforms to your brand important, but the content you share should be carefully thought out. It’s easy to get carried away at the start and post content multiple times a day. Instead, focus on quality over quantity. Boring, useless content will just make people unfollow your page – be smart with your time and the content you share.

7. Social as part of overall strategy

Social media should be seen as part of your overall marketing strategy. Whether you’re launching a new product, opening a new office or releasing some research statistics, think of how social media should fit into your overall communications. This might involve some paid for advertising on Facebook or teaser posts on Instagram – whatever the story, use social media to your advantage and create a buzz for your brand.

About to undertake a big social media campaign or need some assistance in managing your current channels? We’re here to help! Get in touch on [email protected]. 

What Mr T and Bandabi say to humankind…#FearlessForMedals

Bandabi, the official mascot of the Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics, is an Asiatic Black Bear symbolising courage. At first, Bandabi would seem to have nothing at all in common with the American wrestler turned actor, Mr T, famed for his role in the TV series the A-Team. However, both are sending a message to the Games’ audiences about the strength of character that overrides any physical limitations for Paralympic athletes. Mr T supported the curling events at the February Winter Olympics by tweeting about his newfound admiration for the sport in his trademark style “Curling is cool fool.” Now he has won the hearts of many involved in the Paralympics by tweeting “I said it before and I’ll say it again.. curling is cool fool! But wheelchairs curling, more cooler!”

Mr T has gone on to reveal that he is so inspired by the Paralympic athletes he would ‘pity himself’ for ever complaining again, knowing what he does about them. But what do we know about the UK’s Paralympic snowsport athletes? Well, four years ago in Sochi, the Paralympics GB team enjoyed the most successful Games of modern times, winning six medals, and the target medal haul for Pyeongchang is seven medals.

Team GB comprises of five wheelchair curlers, Scott Meenagh competing in both biathlon and cross-country, six para-skiers and three para-snowboarders. Clearly we have a team with great courage – imagine hurtling down the mountain side at speed with spinal injuries, cerebral palsy, amputation or visual impairment or snowboarding by navigating jumps, banks and turns with upper or lower limb impairments? That’s fearless in my book!

So far, Meena Fitzpatrick and her guide Jen Kehoe have scooped silver for GB in the women’s giant slalom visually impaired and have also claimed another silver in the women’s super-combined event, both on day one. The pair later took Bronze in the women’s Super G visually impaired on day two. In that same event, Millie Knight and her guide Brett Wild took the silver medal. Both ladies have less than 5% vision and so put complete trust in their guide to provide audible communication as they race, usually by Bluetooth.

Four medals so far, and so much still to come. I’m literally gripped as I watch all the competitions, where the hopes and dreams of the participants go hand in hand with their fearless focus.

As Mr T himself says #PityTheFoolwhodontwatchtheParalympics

Here at Muckle Media we pride ourselves on our fearless approach to communication that matters – we’re behind all the fearless competitors at PyeongChang Paralympics. #FearlessForMedals