Today it was announced that Arianna Huffington, founder of Huffington Post, will be taking the lead on Uber’s PR strategy, sitting on the board of directors after a disastrous year so far for the company’s public image.

In recent months, Uber have battled with claims of stealing self-driving technology from Google, as well as a serious of allegations of sexism and sexual assault throughout the organisation.  Last month, the CEO of Uber Travis Kalanick resigned in response to key investors pleading for a change in leadership, however he remains on the board of the company.  

Where does communications come into this? As the new face of the company, Ms Huffington said, “the goal should be not just to fix Uber but to fix the systemic culture of Sillicon Valley”. But from a PR perspective, how easily can this be fixed?

PR is no longer seen as an add on to a company, it should be involved in an organisation’s strategy from the very beginning. The culture deciphers the communications, and after a global communications crisis takes place, it’s often difficult to regain trust from the public. This is where a new PR strategy is vital.  Can Arianna change the views of the many people around the world who are openly boycotting Uber and their new service Uber Eats?

It’s not just the customer that is important. Internal audiences are vital, and if employees are unhappy within a company, the business is unlikely to be as successful. Let’s hope that Arianna can get to the core of the company to change the way customers feel about the business.

Fiona Reyner, assistant account executive @mucklemedia

Our senior account executive, Ellie, was busy last week at Media City in Manchester with ultra-endurance cyclist Mark Beaumont appearing live on Blue Peter! Mark fulfilled a childhood dream of getting the coveted Blue Peter badge, and after the show took part in a live web chat with online audiences.

Mark will also be taking ‘Shelley the Tortoise’ around the world with him on his attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. Catch up on Mark’s Blue Peter appearance: https://bbc.in/2t9SE11

Find out more about the challenge here: Good luck, Mark!

Ultra-endurance cyclist Mark Beaumont set off on his record breaking attempt today to cycle around the world in just 80 days. In 2008 Mark successfully cycled around the world in 194 days, this time he will attempt to do it in less than half the time.

Inspired by Jules Verne’s classic adventure novel Around the World in Eighty days published in 1873, Mark will attempt to circumnavigate the globe over 144 years later by bicycle rather than balloon as he embarks on the Artemis World Cycle.
Mark departed from Paris at 04:00 this morning, making his way towards Poland en route to Beijing through Lithuania, Russia, and Mongolia before cycling between Perth and Brisbane in Australia.

In New Zealand Mark will head for Invercargill and Auckland with the fourth leg of his challenge taking him between Anchorage in the United States and Halifax in Canada. He will attempt to complete his journey by cycling from Lisbon back to Paris with the aim of arriving by Thursday 21^st September.

Mark comments: “This is my chance to shoot for the stars and take on the ultimate endurance cycling challenge. Since I last pedalled around the world nearly ten years ago, there has been a growing desire in me to push the boundaries of what is possible and to retake the circumnavigation World Record at a whole new level. I know what I’m getting myself in to, this will be the toughest challenge of my life and will be an immense physical, mental and logistical battle before I reach the finish line.

“I have spent the last three years creating an amazing support team, who are in charge of my nutrition, logistics, navigation and safety, allowing me to purely focus on my performance and being an athlete. I don’t think anyone has ever tried to go this fast and this far before and I have been building on my experience as an endurance rider over two decades to prepare for this journey”.

In the run up to his world record attempt, Mark completed a 3,300 mile training route around the British coastline in April, setting the pace for his bid to break the around the world record. To successfully complete the challenge, he will be required to cycle for 16 hours a day, which is 240 miles for 75 days.  The remaining five days allow for two days contingency and flight time.

The Artemis World Cycle has partnered with Twinkl to create lesson plans and educational material for primary schools across the globe.  Mark also aims to raise £10 for every mile cycled, a total of £180,000 for Orkidstudio, a humanitarian architectural charity which he has worked with for the last decade.  Sponsorship can be by texting ‘ORKD80 £10’ to 70070 or online at justgiving.com/fundraising/markbeaumont-80days

Beaumont has secured international corporate sponsorship from brands including Artemis Investment Management, LDC, Cardtronics, Koga, Altura, Panaracer, VisitScotland, Menzies Aviation, Hiscox/Bikmo, 80 DAYS Digital, Muckle Media, and Thorntons Law LLP.

Keep track of Mark’s progress via the website  www.artemisworldcycle.com which will be regularly updated as the journey progresses, and via social media channels:

Twitter via @MrMarkBeaumont
Facebook via MarkBeaumontAdventures
Instagram via mrmarkbeaumont

Ellie Wagstaff senior account executive @mucklemedia

Seven-time tennis grand-slam champion John McEnroe has been making the headlines again this week, following his comments about World No. 1 Andy Murray coming in a ‘distant fourth’ in his era of tennis. McEnroe highlighted Murray’s grand-slam winnings only equalled a quarter of Novak Djokovic’s, a fifth of Rafael Nadal’s and just one sixth of Roger Federer’s. A little harsh, but is there any truth in it?

Serena Williams is the latest player to feel the wrath of the American tennis pro turned commentator, with McEnroe commenting Serena would only be ranked 700^th if she played the men’s circuit. You cannot be serious? Sadly, it’s true.
McEnroe is renowned for his ‘opinionated’ comments on and off the court, but what’s to be gained from such pointed statements? He didn’t face a high amount of criticism, so how does he get away with it?

Interestingly, the players used different channels to respond to McEnroe’s comments. Murray only issued a statement to media and didn’t signpost on social channels, whereas Serena issued two tweets in response. The first one was mild but the second one was more targeted: https://bit.ly/21pIszo

The responses from Serena were evidently well received by her 8.62 million Twitter followers, game set and match you would think. But astonishingly McEnroe has more followers than both of the players combined, with 17.1 million (Murray only has 3.7 million). It begs the question, what makes him more interesting to follow? Comedy. He apologised to Serena over Twitter, but his tongue in cheek tone is still clear to see: https://bit.ly/2rY2Kkc

Using comedy in responses can sometimes be a risky move, but McEnroe’s self-mocking posts appear to keep him on the right side of the line. With Wimbledon around the corner, there will undoubtedly be more curve balls flying around, so keep your eyes peeled!

Ellie Wagstaff, senior account executive @mucklemedia 

Fife Tourism Partnership, one of our clients at Muckle Media, has been hitting the headlines and gaining coverage on Kingdom FM after Fife was awarded WorldHost Customer Service Destination status.
 
Fife has been awarded WorldHost Customer Service Destination status helping to set Scotland apart as a visitor destination thanks to its outstanding customer service.
 
The national customer service campaign aims to promote Scotland and its regions as leading tourism destinations through customer service excellence, ultimately resulting in being awarded the coveted WorldHost Recognised Destination status.
 
To qualify for this status, at least 99 local businesses in Fife had to become WorldHost recognised by March 2017. To achieve this, businesses had to put at least 50% of their customer facing staff through WorldHost Customer service training, in the form of a full day workshop.
 
Alistair Bruce, Chair of the Fife Tourism Partnership comments:  “We are absolutely delighted at the levels of investment we have seen from local businesses who want to deliver the very best customer service to visitors and residents of Fife.
 
“This dedication has seen 107 businesses in Fife achieving WorldHost status, the only region in Scotland to reach triple figures in participation rates. This commitment reflects the pride and passion of businesses in Fife and our focus on providing the very best service to our customers”.
 
The campaign covers all kinds of visitor businesses from hotels to taxis, attractions to cafes. Over the next two years many of Scotland’s regions will be using the WorldHost customer service programmes with the aim of securing WorldHost Recognised Destination status.
 
Ann Camus, Tourism Partnership Manager, Fife Council adds: “Achieving WorldHost Destination status not only pays recognition to the unique hospitality our region has to offer, but helps our businesses by ultimately benefitting their bottom line.
 
“We would like to say a special thank you to our trainer Ashley Petrie of MAJR Group and our Tourism Officer John Murray who tirelessly worked together to sign businesses up and deliver the training. We also have to thank Fife Cultural Trust who enrolled all of their staff in the training.”
 
Heather Stuart, Chief Executive Fife Cultural Trust added: “Fife Cultural Trust is committed to the highest standards of customer care across our facilities, the WorldHost training has been transformational for our staff and supports our ambition to deliver the best customer service at all times.
 
“We are delighted that Fife itself is now recognised as a WorldHost destination, benefitting all tourist businesses operating in the area. Visitors are now assured that Fife offers the best of welcomes and a world class customer experience.”
 
Launched in Scotland in 2014, WorldHost helps businesses deliver customer service excellence as it supports the development of a customer service skillset through focussed training resulting in a highly regarded ‘must have’ badge for customer service.  There are currently twelve regions in Scotland taking part in the initiative for further information please visit https://scotland.worldhost.co.uk.

We are delighted to be shortlisted for three Public Sector Communications Awards for Agency of the Year and Media Relations Campaign of the Year, for work with both Entrepreneurial Spark and V&A Dundee Design in Motion.

The Agency of the Year shortlist comes only months after acquiring Platform PR and beginning work with exciting clients such as whisky specialist Gordon & MacPhail, SSE and E.ON Energy.

The shortlist for Media Relations Campaign of the Year for work with Entrepreneurial Spark was down to the quick thinking and efficiency of the team. Whilst Muckle provides ongoing media relations to Entrepreneurial Spark, the team gained substantial coverage across high-profile publications by providing comment from its CEO on the March 2016 Budget within minutes of it being announced.

The third shortlist, also for Media Relations Campaign of the Year, is for V&A Dundee’s Design in Motion travelling exhibition. The exhibition travelled the length and breadth of Scotland to generate buzz ahead of the upcoming opening of the V&A Dundee. As a result of Muckle Media’s campaign, coverage was secured in local, regional and national print publications and online and broadcast media; helping Design in Motion exceeded its target of 10,000 visitors.

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at The Emirates Stadium in London, on the evening of Wednesday 14^th July. Fingers crossed!

The full Public Sector Communications Awards shortlist can be viewed here. Remember to follow us on Twitter for updates on the awards @mucklemedia

We love a good brainstorm at Muckle Media, but we’ve all taken part in some terrible ones too at different points in our previous roles. These five tips will help you get the best results when brainstorming creative ideas.

1) No idea is a bad idea
The purpose of a brainstorm is generally to come up with one fantastic idea that will lead to incredible engagement, lots of sales and maybe even an award. However, to get there, you usually need to come up with a lot of bad ideas first and certainly need to come up with lots of maybes that could be built upon to create the great plan you’re looking for. 

2) Always have a brief
Every brainstorm needs an objective, so if there is no brief make your own. Try not to make it too specific. Much like above, if you prescribe the budget, channels and hashtag before the brainstorm starts you’re not going to get the most creativity from the participants.

A perfect brief sets the scene for the campaign that’s required and has a clear and measurable deliverable, which could be anything from sales to behavioural change. Worst case you could even brainstorm what the brief is at the beginning of your session, but ideally, this is in place beforehand.

3) Always plan the brainstorm
I’ve been to hundreds of brainstorms where former colleagues were eager to be creative and the brainstorm leader arrives and just says, “Okay, what ideas do you have?”. With a good team of creatives in the room, clever ideas often still come out but to get the best chance of big ideas that will work, you should plan the brainstorm ahead of time.

Start with an ice-breaker – this could be anything from a word game to creating something out of plasticine. Next, think about the tools and techniques you can use to get people thinking. We’ll go into these further in another blog post, but it could be anything from using a mind-map to brainstorming audience personas and matching ideas back to these.

4) Think blue sky
Encourage everyone in a brainstorm to think big. Even if your annual marketing and communication budget is £100 and you are a team of one, it’s still much easier to scale down a big idea than to make a small idea bigger. It’s incredible what you can achieve on a budget if you think creatively, so try not to be constrained at the brainstorming stage. The actual delivery plan can deal with how to execute it, so the A-list celebrity might need to become a Z-list and the venue might need to be secured in exchange for a reciprocal service in kind. Great campaigns start with great ideas.

5) Encourage everyone to participate
The most creative people aren’t always the ones that shout the loudest. Much as some people like written instructions and others like verbal ones, some people like to write their ideas down and others stand on their chair shouting them out.

Think about providing post-it notes and spending some of your brainstorm with participants writing ideas down to ensure that everyone is heard. You could also try speed brainstorming where you go around the group with each person shouting out an idea. Don’t expect everyone to contribute winning ideas at every brainstorm though. When it comes to creativity, it’s not something you just switch on and off on demand. Always end a brainstorm with an invitation for people to share further ideas because you might get back to your desk to find a winning idea in your inbox.

Keep in touch
Do you have a great tip to get the most from brainstorms? Tell us @mucklemedia or email the team on [email protected]

Creative workshops
To launch our new campaign planning process, we’re hosting free creative workshops across Scotland over the next few months for in-house PR, marketing and communications professionals. You can check dates and sign-up here. If your location isn’t included and you’d like us to visit your city/town, please let us know and we’ll do our best.

With social networking sites frequently introducing new features, it can be difficult to keep up and ensure that your brand is getting the most out of what different sites and apps can offer. To make things a little easier, here’s a round-up of the latest developments in the world of social media.

Snapchat’s Snap Map

Snapchat recently launched their ‘Snap Map’, a location-sharing element which allows users to see where their friends are and what’s going on. However, brands are likely to be more excited by the opportunities opened up by the map’s ‘Our Story’ feature. Users can submit their Snapchat Story to ‘Our Story’ to allow non-friends to see their content for 24 hours. This will give users the chance to share photos and videos from specific locations, like gigs or festivals. As a result, brands will be able to promote their events using the map, and will also be able to track how users are engaging in particular locations.

Twitter redesign for mobile

As 85% of time spent on Twitter comes from mobile devices, the site’s most recent re-design of Twitter mobile apps this week is hitting the headlines. Alongside its clean and minimalist new look, the app now includes live refreshing of comments. This change is consistent with Twitter’s aim to be the home of live events and breaking news, as it allows users to keep track of emerging stories and stay up to date without having to manually update their timeline. Links within the Twitter app will also now open in an in-app Safari browser, meaning users can access their accounts on sites they are already logged into on their main mobile browser. This will be of interest to brands with websites requiring logins, as the new ease of access is likely to drive website traffic from Twitter users clicking to in-app links.

Facebook’s Live Chat with Friends

Facebook recently began rolling out its ‘Live Chat with Friends’ feature. With Facebook Live already proving popular, and users commenting over ten times more on Facebook Live videos than on regular videos, this new aspect allows people to invite their friends to a private chat about a public live video. The feature could allow more people to see live videos, drawing attention from people who may not have been watching initially, and gives people more engagement and interaction options with live broadcast content on Facebook.

Instagram influencer tags

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of attending a day at #PRFest in Edinburgh. #PRFest was founded by Laura Sutherland. Each speaker gave an insightful account into different aspects of the PR industry, ranging from myths of PR to SEO and mental health in our profession.

The day started off with John Brown’s presentation focussing on “Myths of PR”. He looked at different issues such as our low tolerance for bad videos, and why human interaction will always be better than digital communication. If we don’t show real life on social media, why should we believe the message?

After the devastating terror attack in Manchester in May, Head of Corporate Communications for Greater Manchester Police, Amanda Coleman, gave a poignant account of the events that took place, and the crisis communications procedures they followed.  She captured the audience by talking about the communication strategy implemented in the immediate aftermath of the attack, and focused on the importance of honesty, accuracy and the right tone. Amanda highlighted seven key points that are vital to have in place before a crisis:

·         Plan and prepare
·         Train key spokespeople
·         Know the roles
·         Exercise initial response
·         Work with others
·         Gain trust from CEO
·         Build a supportive network

Most importantly, being surrounded by a support network was invaluable for Amanda and her team. Her presentation was inspirational, and touched the audience, ending in a standing ovation.

Later in the afternoon, co-founder and director of Threepipe, Jim Hawker’s presentation on SEO furthered my knowledge of the challenges of digital upscale, and that often PR agencies are performing SEO without realising. Given the SEO industry’s $65 billion-dollar worth, it was an eye opener into how PR companies can use it most effectively.   

Overall, my productive day at #PRFest offered an insight into the importance of planning, how to use insight to inform strategy, and how to help a colleague who may be suffering from a mental health issue.

Fiona Reyner, assistant account executive @mucklemedia

President Barack Obama, the 44^th President of the United States, will address philanthropy and business leaders at a dinner in Edinburgh on 26^th May 2017 at the EICC.
Hosted by the philanthropy, The Hunter Foundation (thehunterfoundation.co.uk), all profits from the event will be invested in charities supporting young people in Scotland.  
Sir Tom Hunter, founder of The Hunter Foundation commented; “From the South Side of Chicago to the White House has been an epic, historic journey and it will be a true honour to hear that story from the man who made that journey. We are both truly proud and delighted to be hosting the 44th President of the United States in Scotland at this event.”  

Notes to editors
All profits will go to Scottish children’s charities.
The Hunter Foundation will run a competition for one secondary school to win a table at the dinner.
For tickets please contact Lux Events [email protected]
For further information on the event please contact Ewan Hunter, CEO of The Hunter Foundation on +44 7803904769
For media enquiries please contact Nathalie Agnew, Muckle Media on 0131 2100059 or email [email protected]

Cycling star Mark Beaumont, best known for cycling around the world in 194 days in 2008, will take ultra-endurance to another level by circumnavigating the globe in less than half that time.
Beaumont will be attempting to travel 18,000 miles around the world, starting from Paris on Sunday 2 July. As a warm up to the Artemis World Cycle, he will first cycle around the coastline of Britain, leaving on 4^th April. The 3,500 miles, 15-day training ride will be at ’80 days’ pace, with Beaumont cycling for 16 hours and 240 miles per day.
As part of his mission to travel around the world in 80 days, breaking the current world record of 123 days, set by New Zealand’s Andrew Nicholson, the Scottish adventurer is raising funds for Orkidstudio, which works to benefit communities worldwide through innovative architecture and construction. The journey will also be tracked through Twinkl, a global educational platform for primary schools.
“This is the culmination of the past two decades, since I was a 12-year-old boy cycling across Scotland,” says Beaumont. “I would love for this journey to give people the confidence to take on what they are capable of, for young people in particular to stop and to think ‘what’s my 80 days’?”
“I want to redefine the limits of human endurance by proving what seems impossible really is possible.  After capsizing in the Atlantic, I gave up being an athlete for a couple of years, and enjoyed making documentaries about other athletes – but in truth I had unfinished business, I couldn’t idly watch others push their limits. I am excited and nervous about what lies ahead, it truly is unchartered territory.”
While cycling around the coastline of Britain, Beaumont is expected to drink between eight and ten litres of water per day (the average person drinks two litres) and consume 8,000kcal. Members of the public are encouraged to turn out to support him as he visits towns and cities across the country.
Beaumont has also secured international sponsorship from brands including Artemis Investment Management, LDC, VisitScotland, Koga, Casio, Moonsport, Altura, Panaracer, Wiggle, Cardtronics, Tunnocks, The Hunter Foundation, John Clark Motor Group, Scot Motor Home Hire, 80 DAYS Digital, Muckle Media, Menzies Aviation, Thorntons Law LLP and Edinburgh Airport to help support his journey.
ENDS
About the Artemis World Cycle
The Artemis World Cycle is an extraordinary challenge to be undertaken by British long-distance athlete, broadcaster and ambassador Mark Beaumont. The journey, starting from Paris on Sunday 2 July, would represent a World Record, meaning Mark would break the existing world record by more than 40 days.
Editor’s Note
Mark is available in London for media interviews on Sunday 2^nd April embargoed for Monday 3^rd April.
Mark Beaumont will leave Paris on Sunday 2 July and cycle to Beijing via Poland, Lithuania, Russia, and Mongolia. He will then cycle between Perth and Brisbane in Australia, and between Invercargill and Auckland in New Zealand. The fourth leg of his challenge is between Anchorage in the United States and Halifax in Canada, and he will complete his journey by cycling from Lisbon to Paris.
Orkidstudio is a charity based in Kilmacolm, Scotland and Nairobi, Kenya, that works to benefit communities worldwide through innovative architecture, construction and social enterprise.
Keep track of this incredible journey at www.artemisworldcycle.com and on Twitter via @MrMarkBeaumont
Media contacts
Muckle Media for Mark Beaumont
Nathalie Agnew, Annie Diamond, Ellie Wagstaff and Fiona Reyner – 0131 2100059 / [email protected]
 

Muckle Media Managing Director, Nathalie Agnew, has been shortlisted for two awards at the IoD Scotland Director of the Year Awards.

The winners for all categories will be revealed on Thursday 23 March at the Awards Ceremony & Gala Dinner at the Crowne Plaza Glasgow.  The Awards Ceremony will be hosted by Grant Stott and the evening will be a night of celebration.

David Watt, Executive Director of the Institute of Directors in Scotland, commented: “With a 25% boost in the number of entries this year, it’s pleasing to see so many businesses recognising good leadership, and thriving across a diverse range of industries and sectors.

Find out more here – https://iodscotland.com/events-listings/director-of-the-year/finalists/

Muckle Media is pleased to have signed the Scottish Business Pledge – a partnership between Government and business with an ambition of boosting productivity, competitiveness, sustainable employment as well as workforce engagement and development.

The Scottish Business Pledge aims to support sustainable business growth in Scotland and Muckle Media has signed up to boost the development of the agency and ensure business in Scotland remains prosperous, innovative and fair.

To make the pledge Scottish businesses must pay the Scottish living wage and meet requirements of at least two other Pledge elements while demonstrating a longer-term commitment to all nine Pledge components. These components include:

1. Paying the living wage
2. Not using exploitative zero hours contracts
3. Supporting progressive workforce engagement
4. Investing in youth
5. Making progress on diversity and gender balance
6. Committing to an innovation programme
7. Pursuing international business opportunities
8. Playing an active role in the community
9. Committing to prompt payment

Find out how your business can contribute to the economic success and prosperity of Scotland by signing up to the Scottish Business Pledge here.