We are excited to announce the launch of our new design studio here at Muckle Media. Offering in-house design in addition to our PR services to support all our client needs.

Headed by our design manager Claire Emslie, our design studio will support the creative development of visual identities and messaging, helping our clients stand out. Alongside brand redevelopment, logo design and refinement, website development and the creation of advertising and marketing collateral.

By offering this accessible design service our aim is to support our clients grow their business. By investing in professional design it shows that your business values professionalism and sends a powerful message to potential clients or customers. You only have one chance to make a first impression and we believe using a professional designer helps make it as effective as possible.

The service is aimed at clients who are at the early stage of growth, providing access to professional design to guide them in the creation of standout identities and marketing materials. Combing this with our PR services to promote strong consistent visual and verbal messaging we believe is truly the key to success.

Our Design Manager Claire says, “I’m delighted to be leading this new service at Muckle Media, and I can’t wait to help more businesses realise the benefit of good design when promoting your business”.

Having always been passionate about providing new opportunities in the PR, Marketing and Communications industry, we are very excited to have launched a new training programme. Amid a global pandemic, it’s been a difficult year for people starting their careers, so we decided to take action and help aspiring PR professionals to develop their skills and gain experience of working in the industry. In addition to our new senior hires, we have three Trainee Account Executives joining the team.

Jenna Maclean graduated in 2020 with a first-class honours degree in French and History from the University of Edinburgh. While at university she was actively involved with student television and theatre, producing a variety of content including short films, a Fringe production and award-winning online content. Through this she developed a particular interest in media relations and is very excited to continue her professional development at Muckle Media. Jenna loves travelling, having lived and worked abroad in France and gone solo backpacking in South America. In her free time, you can find her exploring Edinburgh’s coffee shops and attempting not to book another holiday.

Bobby Thomson recently graduated with a BA (Hons) degree in Media and Communications which has fuelled his passion for a career in PR. Bobby has worked on a number of PR campaigns during his time at college, most notably running the Scottish Student Journalism Awards 2018. Bobby spent three summers living in America at a summer camp from the ages 10-12 and is a proud dad to one Russian Dwarf hamster called Scamp, and two dogs named Ollie and Shadow.

James Maule graduated from Abertay University with a BSc Hons degree in Sociology. With him he has brought expertise and insight from years of experience in the realms of photography, service and retail. Now, he is ready to learn all that he can about PR. As an avid photographer and Munro bagger, you might find James in the hills with his camera on the weekends.

Jenna, Bobby and James will be fully integrated members of the team, helping on a variety of accounts and learning the ins and outs of the PR industry. We can’t wait to help them on their journey!

25th May, Edinburgh – PR agency Muckle Media has seen its team double in size with hires across the board, from Account Director to trainee level. Following the new appointments, the agency has also gone through a brand refresh as it continues to expand its offering.

Account Director Chris Batchelor joins the agency’s consumer team from PrettyGreen after relocating from London where he worked on Three Mobile, Disney Theme Parks and Brooks Running.

Mhairi De Luca and Katy Hughes also join the consumer team as Account Directors, following Muckle Media’s successful Returners to Communications Programme, designed to help women who have had a career break return to the PR, Marketing and Comms industry.

Mhairi has over 13 years’ experience in PR, working across a number of consumer brands including tourism and whisky accounts. She led on Famous Grouse, managing PR, events and social. Katy is a senior marketing and communications professional with over 16 years of experience in the private and public sector, both within agency and in-house roles including Consumer PR Manager at VisitScotland.

Jacquelyn Whyte moves into a Head of Food PR role at Muckle Media, having initially joined the agency in 2020 as maternity cover for Linsay Brown, who has now returned to the agency from parental leave.

The success of the Returners to Communications Programme doesn’t stop there, with experienced designer Claire Emslie joining the team as Account Manager to head up the agency’s studio and design offering. Emma Ross also joins as Senior Account Executive, having worked in various in-house marketing roles with a focus on social media and digital marketing within the hospitality and beauty industries.

Muckle Media has also recruited three Trainee Account Executives – Jenna Maclean, Bobby Thomson and James Maule – to help aspiring PR professionals gain experience of working with Britain’s most exciting companies.

Nathalie Agnew, Muckle Media’s founder, comments: “We are extremely proud of how we have navigated through the last year, and as we see the agency continue to grow we will always invest in bringing the best talent into the agency to ensure we can consistently deliver for our clients. Our Returners to Communications programme was a great success – not only did every returner who took part in the ten-week programme mark an increase in their confidence in the industry, but we have kept four of our returners on who showed they were the perfect fit to help us deliver outstanding work.

We also want to help nurture the industry’s future talent, which is why we are delighted to bring in three new trainees. This year has been particularly difficult for those looking to start their career, so we want to do all we can to show our support as well as offer a training programme to give our trainees the skills needed to succeed.”

On top of the new hires, Muckle Media has also gone through a brand refresh with an update to its branding to Bright Ideas. Realised. Recent client wins include Thistles Shopping Centre in Stirling and Cheeky Monsters toys.

To find out more, visit our team page now.

An intro into creating a brand identity

Most people understand the concept of branding, they know that it’s the thing that makes companies recognisable. You might recognise the link between successful businesses and strong branding. But how many people see the role of branding going beyond the visual, going beyond the logo or website and instead the brand being at the very heart of the organisation?  

That’s not to say that creating a visual identity isn’t important, it is. Creating a consistent look and feel so that your audience can easily recognise you is vital.  This includes the business card you hand out to your website and even (when we can return to) the company office.  These touch points should all look and feel consistent.  Think of it like creating layers, building your brand and adding to it with each layer that your audience encounters.

But your brand doesn’t stop with your visual identity.  At the very core of it is understanding who you are, what the business is and its values. If you don’t understand this, no one else will either.

Customers are savvy to the glossy sales pitch, it’s no longer about charm or spin. In fact, it’s not about selling your services at all it’s about telling your story. What truly connects you to your audience is your personality.

By connecting with your audience emotively, through shared values and beliefs, you can encourage loyalty. It’s this customer loyalty which leads to brand advocacy and in an increasingly overcrowded digital world it is this connection, the creation of brand advocates that will help amplify your message and ultimately elevate your business.

Knowing who are and your value proposition and being able to communicate this with your audience is truly what it means to take your brand beyond the visual.

If you haven’t heard of Clubhouse yet you must have been hiding under a rock somewhere! But for those who don’t know it’s an exclusive, invite-only social media app that hosts audio only chat rooms, where you can listen in and also put yourself forward to join the conversation. 

With rumoured users including Oprah and Jared Leto, many are joining Clubhouse in the hope of being in the same ‘room’ as a top celeb, but there are also lots of business deals being done on the platform, and from a PR perspective it offers a fantastic way to build your own personal brand. 

It’s still new enough for you to get in early (if you can get an elusive invite!) and raise your profile or try and claim ownership of your area of expertise by building clubs and hosting rooms. The Muckle Media team are lucky to have access and we’ve enjoyed joining rooms over the past few weeks, we’re even been on the stage a few times and are hosting our first own room next week. 

If we’ve got your interest, or you were looking for an invite anyway and that’s how you found this, here are the best ways we know of to get a Clubhouse invite:

Option one – Reserve your username 

While it is invite only, you can join the (very long!) waiting list by downloading the app and reserving your preferred username here: https://www.joinclubhouse.com this will speed up your registration when you do get an invite. There is also an algorithm that allows your contacts (if you allow access on the app) who are already in Clubhouse to see that you are on the waiting list and they will randomly be invited to let you in without using their limited invites, so a first step idea is definitely to join the list. 

Option two – Ask around! 

The easiest way to get access is to find someone you know who has an invite to spare for you. They are hard to come by though as each member only starts with two, so be selective in who you invite in! Active members receive additional invites regularly, so it’s worth asking friends and contacts if they can let you in when they can. We’ve also seen reports of people selling invites, but we really don’t recommend this route, it’s not in the spirit of the idea and you may be scammed. 

Option three – wait a while 

If you’re not in a rush you can just wait for the invite to arrive or the app to open up – but it’s so much fun in there you really might be missing out.

We’re out of invites for now and prioritising sharing ours with team members and clients, but comment on our post and we’ll let you know if our team ever have spare invites available. 

Building your personal brand? If we can help, on Clubhouse or with wider PR, please get in touch! https://mucklemedia.co.uk/contact-us/

As Harry and Meghan hit the headlines with their announcement that they plan to stand back from senior royal duties, Buckingham Palace don’t appear to have been involved or potentially even aware / in agreement with the announcement, so what can family businesses learn about PR during a challenging succession?

Here are our five key takeaways:

1. Get on the same page

Even when families don’t agree it’s important that the external communications is aligned and pre-planned in a way that everyone agrees with. The way the royal announcement was managed, with Harry and Meghan making their announcement followed by a very reactive statement from Buckingham Palace saying that discussions were still at a very early stage, means it appears that either the palace wasn’t consulted at all or there was disagreement regarding when and how this would be announced and Harry and Meghan jumped the gun and made their statement. Perhaps working with a mediator or adviser could have helped to address the issues earlier and agree a longer-term plan that everyone was happy with.

2. Consider your wider stakeholders

According to ITV News, the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William were not told that the announcement was coming, leading to shock in the royal family as the news was shared. Whenever making important announcements it’s key to consider all important stakeholders, from family members and employees in a family business through to trade unions and key customers. While posting a statement to social media might feel like an easy way to reach everyone at once it is rarely the best strategy for a joined up, strategic communications announcement. Use the most appropriate channel for each audience, considering face-to-face, telephone, video conference, all hands meetings and email before mass audience channels such as social and traditional media.

3. No surprises

Whether it’s the royal family, a local business with a loyal customer base or a multinational family business, it’s important not to surprise people. When it comes to succession, a lot can be done early on to sow the seeds of future leaders, both within the family and externally. Setting out publicly a long-term plan for leaders to leave a business is also effective to avoid the element of surprise.

4. Wait for the detail where possible

Although it appears the story was leaked which led to Harry and Meghan releasing their statement, where possible you should have as much information available as you can by the time an announcement is made. Set out w clear timeline for when the changes will come into place and address as many potential questions up front as you can. Where succession is involved make it clear who will be picking up the duties. If the announcement has to be reactive and details haven’t been agreed, make that clear and communicate a timeline for further communications.

5. Consider the long term

Always consider what the announcement could mean in one, five and twenty years. Family businesses often have very long-term views and it’s important an announcement isn’t made in 2020 that causes a headache for the business leaders in 2040. If you’re going to commit to something or release a projection is it achievable and what could change in the future to impact that? Sometimes positioning a new initiative as a trial or pilot is a great way to leave options open.

Get in touch!

Love them or hate them – what do you think about Harry and Meghan’s news and what learnings can your family business take away from their approach to sharing their story? Tell us what you think @mucklemedia