Leila Fataar

We're into single figures of 'days to go' until our 'You are not your consumer' event in London, when we'll all be listening to 10 magnificent speakers and a wonderful client panel.   I've started compiling a reading list on the subject (in comments below) - articles that I think are well worth a read, some by our speakers, some not, but all on the same theme. If the subject is something you see as important to your organisation you might find these useful. Please share any others you have read and and I'll add them to the list. I think my favourite is still the one from Martin Weigel. If you do find them useful you're in good company, so if you're a brand and free on May 16th, and can get to London, let me know. Unfortunately, as predicted, late meetings are being put in some people's diaries who had previously registered so we will have a few tickets become available later this week for anyone who can come at this late notice. The peril of putting something on for free I guess - even though I want to avoid charging. Message me if interested. Get there early to witness a man visibly age from the panic he gets every year just thinking about whether anyone will actually turn up. Oh, and on a not unrelated note to my last post, I've just finished David Nicholl's new book 'You are here'. Excellent. A must read for anybody who thinks walking is more than just one foot in front of the other. 

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People Want real Change - Sunak v Starmer: Green groups call on broadcasters to ensure climate change features in TV debates: https://lnkd.in/eqxDwp3N #elections #UK #UKelections #TVdebates #climatechange

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"Advertising is a potent tool and now is the time for us all to step up, recognising the urgency of the climate crisis and the need to get ahead of disinformation. When information is delivered in a way that resonates with the audience, it can drive positive change. We can do three things: safeguard the public against misinformation by reaching them with a positive message, reframe by communicating the benefits of climate policy, or rebut misinformation with the relevant facts. The elections and the climate crisis will not wait, and neither can we. It’s time to act now," says Harriet Kingaby at ACT Climate Labs. Excellent piece c/o Sustainability Beat looking at why it’s important for climate communicators to help combat misinformation during the upcoming political elections. Well worth a read... 👇🏻 🌱 🗳️ https://lnkd.in/ehiCNDHw

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A Sign of the Times: Is this the Death of Daily/All Print Media? I ran a publication printed on recycled paper because I LOVE THE FEEL of turning a page BUT DOES THAT MEAN IT'S RIGHT? I then went on to launch Impact A.M. so I feel informed enough to ask this question Publishing is a small industry - disappointing for readers and the team at Evening Standard whom I have no doubt will have made every effort to keep it going - looking forward to reading a new successful weekly. It's hard not to see the Evening Standard's move as part of a larger trend – are we witnessing the end of daily broadsheets altogether? With City AM's fresh funding and new game plan, I sincerely hope this marks the beginning of a new chapter that positions us as a dominant force in the market. Reflecting on my time with Lawson Muncaster, which was one of the most career-defining periods, I believe City AM remains one of the premier brands across the Square Mile and the City. The Future is Digital – or Is It? There’s no denying the shift towards digital consumption, where morning news updates come straight to our phones with a simple tap. However, this raises a critical question: can print media still be viable in an ESG-conscious world? Can it remain authentic, competitive, and sustainable? Gihan Hyde and Julia Streets would love your thoughts on this along with Nim Haas Tracy W. Dr Jane Thomason and Amy Lewin who has pioneered Sifted into being one of my go-to publications for research and updates, last but by no means least the grafter,mover, shaker and hustler that is my new/old boss David Johnson as we will be shortly announcing a new exciting move with me rejoining the Maddyness UK team with official maddyness.fr email it is all very exciting. Innovative Distribution: A Strategic Advantage City AM’s 00's distribution model, reminiscent of my father’s pioneering days from Greenshield to being a founding team member of Argos, utilises a network of dedicated but skilled distributors. This old-school approach ensures cost-effective and efficient delivery, highlighting how print media can adapt and thrive even in challenging times. Amid rising paper and distribution costs, our industry faces significant hurdles. Balancing Tradition and Innovation As we navigate these changes, it’s crucial to strike the balance between embracing digital transformation and maintaining sustainable print practices. City AM's unique model proves that print media can still play a vital role if managed innovatively and sustainably. #Publishing #ESG #PrintMedia #DigitalTransformation #Sustainability #Innovation

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🚨 Announcing two new Bristol Creative Industries member benefits 🙌 One of our key focuses is boosting workforce diversity in creative businesses and helping to grow the talent pipeline for our members. To do that we have the BCI Talent Programme which includes two exciting new benefits for members: ✅ Research shows that diverse teams are more creative problem solvers, bringing fresh perspectives to solutions, against the echo-chamber effect that results when people in a business come from too-similar backgrounds. With a strong focus on diversity and inclusion, employees feel valued and that they belong. To help members achieve this, we have partnered with The Hobbs Consultancy to provide on demand equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) e-learning. ✅ We have also partnered with The Early Careers Foundation (ECF), a social mobility charity that works with young people from low-income backgrounds to ensure that talent and hard work are what determine their career success, not background. Through its mentoring programme, ECF pairs employees from partner organisations with 16-18-year-olds for monthly hour-long mentoring sessions. BCI members can now apply to be mentors. ✅ As well as these new initiatives, we also have our ongoing internship programme with Babbasa for young people from underrepresented groups, and we run regular roundtables with key post 16 education providers to promote creative careers to staff and career advisers, drive applications to our internship programme and explore how we can promote the creative industries to students already studying. To find out more and how you can get involved, read this post: https://lnkd.in/eUFGqrXF Alli Nicholas Sian Pitman Heather Wright Clare Leczycki Lis Anderson FCIPR Marissa Lewis-Peart Gail Caig Julian Davis #creativeindustries #bristol #bristolbusinesses #diversity #equitydiversityandinclusion #creativesector

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Grants to Decarbonise the UK’s Creative Industries - Round 2 Open The Creative Catalyst Challenge Fund enables creative talent to apply their capacity for innovation to tackle a specific challenge within the industry. The Fund is intended to be used for the research and development of an innovative new product/system or process that decarbonises or reduces waste within the creative industries, reducing impacts on the climate and/or leading towards net zero. For Round 2, the overall £250,000 funding pot will be allocated as follows: One award of up to £100,000 for more established businesses with market traction and customers of a product, ideally with co-investment in place. Two awards of up to £50,000 each for businesses 2+ years old looking to develop a new product or idea. Two awards of up to £25,000 each for very early-stage/new businesses and R&D ideas. Applications are invited from registered limited companies/SMEs based in the UK and working in the following sub-sectors of the creative industries: Music & Sound Advertising & Marketing Crafts Visual Arts Dance, Theatre & Performance Architecture Publishing AR, VR & Immersive Createch TV & Broadcasting Film Gaming The funding can be used for a variety of purposes, for example: Developing/ prototyping new tech for reducing excess waste at music festivals. Developing innovative new manufacturing processes for an everyday product within a creative industry. Innovation in access to power – eg on a film set. The deadline for applications is 22 July 2024 More https://lnkd.in/eGAxbVm3

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'Despite the clear economic value of the creative industries to the UK, the sector is also facing significant skills gaps and shortages, with almost half of creative employers reporting skills issues.' Work in the creative industries? Find out how you can get involved in this year's Discover! Creative Careers Week and help secure a skilled and inclusive workforce for the future. https://lnkd.in/e5mPeSvE

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😎 A little snap from Parliament TV of me looking very serious 😎 Today I was invited to join the Business and Trade committee to shed some insights on how the UK Government can support the Creative Sector, one of its current focus sectors. My main takeaway point is this: The creative sector needs more specialist development funding. As an industry, we're a national + international success despite having so few enablers to do so. We currently create 3 times more jobs than the national average and have grown by 32% from 2010-2019, in comparison with the 20% average. YET, we are so misunderstood when it comes to private investment, the balance sheet approach and institutional support. This is massively hurting small businesses and SMEs in their scale-up phase. In a nutshell: We need more access to development capital! Thanks for Creative UK for putting me forward. I had a blast 🙌 #parliament #UK #creative #industry

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This promises to be worth a listen/watch! Two experts from very different practices, sharing insight on how brands can engage with the education sector - with maximum impact. https://lnkd.in/ex_JCjsX

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Some of the benefits of a retained monthly PR programme vs a short burst below. In summary, it’s having the time and team allocation to… ✅ Take a deep dive into your competitive landscape ✅ Perform a media audit on you and your competitors ✅ Spend time building (and building on) a detailed media list of journalist contacts ✅ Spend time pitching these journalists, building up new assets to pitch them, and scouring the internet for opportunities to pitch If you can, it’s always beneficial to take a longer term approach to PR. What else would you add?

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A lot of great people from a lot of great agencies have added their voice to this piece from Siobhan Holt in PRWeek UK, so naturally I’m keen to chip in my two pennies too.    Let me start by saying this: pitches are great. I love that collective agency energy when you’re working on a big response and how they push us to challenge our thinking. Obvs I love them less when we don’t win, but: life. They can be brilliantly run and terribly run, and while I think a pitching code of conduct is a lovely idea, it’s one that perhaps feels a tad lofty in ambition, needing buy-in from, well, everyone - agencies and brands - to work. Until such a time that we enter PR utopia, I think agencies need to figure out what their hard lines are and stand their ground more. There are also plenty of great clients out there who run brilliant pitch processes, and even when we don’t win, we feel valued and respected. Be more like them.   Adding to the list, some of my personal pitching red and green flags include:   🚩 No budget? No thanks. Giving a budget, even a ballpark, is essential because we want to shape our response to fit what the brand has to spend. Otherwise we might come up with a corker of an idea the client can’t afford and that will make them sad 💚 People who give the gift of time. We work quickly but obviously we will deliver a better and more in-depth response when we have been given a decent chuck of time to respond   🚩 8+ agencies on a pitch list. Brands should feel empowered to be braver and only choose the top 3-4 agencies they really want to see 💚 Client teams who equally invest a significant amount of their own time into the process and who who make themselves available outside official check-in moments for clarification and sense checking. Big fan    🚩 “Submit your pitch online and we’ll shortlist the ones who will get to present.” *Shudders*. Time investment from the agency aside, I guarantee we will bring our ideas to life better than you reading them ever will (even if you have a vivid imagination) 💚 Proper post pitch feedback for the ones you don't win - it's hugely appreciated when clients show respect for the effort, the agency and the work that went into the response, and we want to hear where we fell short. Tell us, ideally on a call   🚩 Key decision makers not being involved in each stage of the process. From the Q&A to the tissue to the presentation, everyone has a different point of view, different motivations and different objectives – and we want to hear them! That collective thinking helps us shape the best, most considered response    These are fair questions and challenges to ask from the outset of a pitch, but there will always be some processes you enter which will take you close to your hard lines. Then it’s up to you whether or not you choose to step over them. #pitching #newbusiness #pr #comms

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"About two-thirds of the agencies taking part in this year’s PRWeek UK Top 150 Consultancies project continue to have all-white boards." PRWeek UK Does this come as a shock? No, Not really for people working to build a more inclusive industry. These numbers were to be expected. I feel some anger and more despair..............It is not just me but research shows that most DEI efforts since BLM and COVID were performative and opportunistic, so they were doomed to fail. Within our industry there has been a disproportionate focus on diverse hires, numbers and representations - but at lower levels. Here we are talking about some of the most powerful agencies in the world and the UK. They advise clients on reputation, DEI, sustainability and are asking their clients to change to be relevant in the future! Ironical considering they are not willing to or see the need to change. Change does not happen when you maintain status quo. Change does not happen when you don't invest time and money into enabling that change. Change also does not happen without a vision. And change will definitely will not happen without the buy in from industry leaders and board members. Incremental change is good, but increasing representation at leadership levels and in the C-suite requires transformational thinking, a willingness to adapt, to recognise that this is an imperative, allocate resources and hold themselves accountable. To see any real change in my working life we need to recognise that ethnic minorities with leadership aspirations face (and will face) the broken rung, the glass ceiling, glass cliff and a system stacked against them, that encourages homophily. Small comfort that the number of black and ethnic minorities in the industry has increased from last year, but we know leadership aspirants will drop out when they cannot see role models or people like themselves leading. Industry leaders know that DEI can no longer just be a talking point or tick box, it is a fundamental building block of social justice and a human rights concern. We will be held to account! So, let's see leaders step up, and be accountable not just for profits but for building a fairer industry. Well done PRWeek UK on the insights👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 #buildbackbetter #inclusionandbelonging #rolemodels #ethnicminorityleaders

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Every year, the staff at Vox’s Future Perfect section makes predictions for events we think are likely to happen (or not happen) in the year ahead https://lnkd.in/eEiAWkHX Here are some predictions in the coming years #leadership Vox

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The latest figures from the ONS and commentary from UK Creative Industries Council show a mixed bag for the creative and cultural sectors. While the overall creative industries have seen impressive growth, with a 15.1% increase compared to 2019, cultural organisations have faced challenges, losing an estimated -4.1%. It's encouraging to see such robust growth in the creative sector as a whole, but the decline in cultural organisation jobs is a reminder of the ongoing challenges within this vital part of our creative economy. While this data is limited, it would be interesting to see how many of these roles have been lost in rural locations, and the impact and possible loss of public spaces and projects. How can we better support cultural organisations to ensure they thrive alongside other creative industries? #CreativeIndustries #CulturalSector #UKJobs #CreativeEconomy #DCMS

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Would you trust AI to manage your corporate crisis? No, me neither! Listen to the latest episode to find out more and should we laugh or cry at the rise of gilet-man.

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⚡️BBC’s flagship Question Time found to be prioritising right-wing voices since 2014⚡️ Excellent spot from Matt Walsh here. If you ever watch QT, you may have noticed the same trend. The Conversation has found that they broadcast significantly more right-wing panelists than people from the centre or left. And yet again, Nigel Farage became a feature of the panel just one week after the U.K. election was called. 🧠 Yes, it’s this simple: when balance is off, niche and extreme views quickly go mainstream. It’s happened to us in the U.K. (particularly with Brexit), and is happening across Europe right now. We all deserve reporting without bias, whatever our views or heartfelt beliefs. I cover the balance issue in my book The Future of Truth (and How to Get There). Here’s what it means in news: 🔥 Balance is the accurate reporting of the most commonly-held views, in the right proportions. Not 50-50! Nothing more, nothing less. The BBC hasn’t responded to this story yet. 💫 Thanks Matt for putting this out. And just search ‘The Future of Truth Lindley’ to find my book. It’s out now, and you might even be able to cram in a little reading before we vote next month! #TFOT #election #disinformation #education #politics

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Really grateful to two market-leading Editors of subscription-led businesses and terrific ex-colleagues of mine, Catrin Griffiths and Alastair McLellan, for spending time with me last week on B2B content strategy. If you want to watch on-demand there is a link below. Highlights for me included: Impact on content strategy of the move to a paid subscription business model 17min46 Building a high value B2B content proposition 14min02, 23min05, & 31min29 How to motivate editors & editorial teams 29min42 & 50min47 Removing Print as a platform 45min02: https://lnkd.in/gbwftfwR

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