✅ Monday briefing: Build back better, misinformation at COP26, African UK agency launch, budget pitches, digital data dump, death of the cookie, WaddsCon line-up, and more...
Industry, media, practice, research and insight, social media and platforms, and events
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Industry
🔨 BUILD BACK BETTER: Build Back Better is the government’s strategic plan to support economic growth through investment in infrastructure, skills and innovation. It was published as part of the budget announcement and is an important read for anyone developing strategies for investment or scaling. Spotted Sarah Waddington.
🌍 MISINFORMATION AT COP26: The PRCA has submitted a bid to participate at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November. Its Climate Misinformation Strategy Group aims to fight misinformation around the climate crisis. You can support their work by completing this survey before 12 March. Source Koray Camgoz.
🏢 BACK TO THE OFFICE: We all bring our personal experience to the discussion about the divide between home and office working. This is mine. We should listen to the voice of the future workforce as we make plans. Source Stephen Waddington.
🌍 AFRICAN UK AGENCY LAUNCH: BHM, a Nigerian PR agency, launches its UK operation today. Wadds Inc. has supported its investment activity. The move is significant, not only for the independent firm, but also for the African continent where agency growth has often been driven by affiliations and Asian, European and US acquisitions. Source Stephen Waddington.
Media
🔬 NEW SCIENTIST ACQUIRED: The publisher of The Daily Mail has acquired science and technology magazine New Scientist in a £70m cash deal. The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) has guaranteed the magazine’s editorial independence and ruled out staff cuts as well as the sharing of editorial content. Spotted Craig McGill.
🎓 JOURNALISM QUALIFICATIONS: The NCTJ has struck a deal with News UK and training provider News Associates to provide journalism training. It’s designed to help 100 young people break into the media and will offer six-month placements to 16 to 24-year-olds. Spotted Alan Morrison.
📰 NEWSPAPER DIVERSIFICATION: City AM is set to return to print edition by the autumn as digital readers hit more than three million in its shift to digital first. Revenue has doubled thanks to new ad formats and content including newsletters, podcasts and video. Spotted Alan Morrison.
🧟 ZOMBIE READERS: Almost half of local news outlets’ digital subscribers are zombie readers who visit the website less than once a month according to analysis in 45 markets by Northwestern University’s Medill Spiegel Research Center. Spotted Andrew Smith.
Practice
📐 BUDGET PITCHES: The Sun's political editor, Harry Cole, shared screenshots of his in-box deluged with PR people clambering to provide comment on the Budget on behalf of clients. Lessons include leading with headlines, pre-pitching content and avoiding spam. Spotted Stuart Bruce.
🛋 AUGMENTED REALITY: Ikea has created an augmented reality ‘escape room’ on Snapchat that tasks users with organising furniture items. The innovative campaign is live during March on Ikea’s Snapchat page. Spotted Alan Morrison.
Research and insight
📱 DIGITAL DATA DUMP: Social media users in the UK grew 4.4% in 2020 to 53 million. YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp are the top three platforms among adults in the UK. These insights and more are published in the UK edition of the WeAreSocial and Hootsuite Digital 2021 report (opens as a PDF). Spotted Keith Lewis.
🔍 PR MEASUREMENT: The CIPR has published a new best practice guide on measurement and evaluation in public relations. The 48-page guide by Andrew Smith, Jon White and Heather Yaxley, provides members with theory and practice about research, measurement and evaluation. Spotted Stephen Waddington.
Social media and platforms
📹 TIKTOK TIPS: A new TikTok for Business profile shares platform marketing tips, usage insights and previews upcoming events to help advertisers make the most of the platform. The platform is set to reach a billion users in 2021. Follow @tiktokforbusiness for more information. Spotted Alan Morrison.
🎵 SOUNDCLOUD ROYALTIES: SoundCloud is the latest media platform to enable creators to monetise their content. A percentage of each subscriber’s subscription fee is distributed to the artists and labels that they have individually listened to that month. Spotted Stephen Waddington.
👋 DEATH OF THE COOKIE: Google has confirmed that it will not introduce new identifiers to track individuals as phased out third-party cookies in 2021. The move comes amid increased scrutiny over the way social media and tech platforms use consumer data. Spotted Stephen Waddington.
Events
📅 WADDSCON MARCH LINE-UP: The second lockdown event features the use of conversational bots for qualitative research, search listening and insights, why SEO PR is booming, and the future for PR as we emerge from lockdown. Follow this link for more information and booking. Source Stephen Waddington.