This is an acutely important (and exciting) moment for UK fund managers. As the vaccine rollout continues to have encouraging effects in the UK and an increasingly positive impact around the world, a return to ‘normal life’ seems close. With that, hopefully a return to growth and investment opportunities.
The UK economy, now that the severity of the COVID outbreak is abating and the immediate post-Brexit difficulties have eased, is in a promising position. As John Authors at Bloomberg highlights, with the pound strong and the Bank of England planning to taper its asset purchase programme soon, coupled with the fact that UK markets have a strong contingent of banks, oil majors and resource companies means that the UK might be too cheap to ignore. With investors sussing out market opportunities, UK fund managers have a chance to set themselves apart and set their course with new funds and fresh investment at this crucial time.
So, how should you go about it?
A comprehensive comms strategy requires media engagement, across the top tiers and trades. Whether you are cavalier or cautious in your approach with the media, being engaged with the press offers up the platform to speak directly with your target audience on the issues of the day. What’s more, reporters are always looking for news and the view from asset managers on the key topics of the moment. Whether it’s on equity markets or corporate bonds, investors want to know what their fund manager thinks before they invest with them. Token statements won’t get you very far.
This makes the recent Standard Life Aberdeen – or should I say ‘abrdn’ – rebranding all the more puzzling. As one of the leading asset managers in the UK, its position in the UK market is firm and its reputation solid. Despite this, the company pursued a rebrand which received negative press all round, when it could have stuck to the issues that matter such as trends in UK equities, dividends, corporate debt, ESG, and a host of others.
For any out there thinking about how to break through as we approach a post-pandemic world, it’s best to steer clear of a rebrand, as my colleague recently explained. When weighing up a comms strategy, the message and reach should be the priority.
By formulating a media strategy that targets leading journalists in combination with digital and social media channel amplification, fund managers can get their views heard. Those that do this successfully will be the ones with access to investors seeking out where best to place their trust and their money. Key is, can you do this alone?
For a long time, I’ve been pretty confident talking about my mental health. To many I meet, most will never know the extent to which it affects me. But over the course of my life and career, whilst normally kept in check through constant exercise and knowing when to consult medical professionals, I have been able to ride through the troughs.
Mental health is complex though, and no one person is ever going to be the same as the other. Stigma, fear of weakness or just different coping mechanisms is what leads me to believe, it is about putting tangible things in place to enable breathing space for those who may not be at their best, rather than a one size fits all approach.
As the old saying goes ‘Time is the most valuable thing a person can spend’. That’s why I believe the ability to know you have time when you need it the most is so important to our people. Particularly in this fast-paced world we all live in.
At Aspectus we have people who have joined as fresh-faced grads and now sit on the exec board. Our PR Week 30 Under 30 alumna is packed with brilliant people and our ranks are bursting with young, bright integrated marketing pros we really want to stay.
We understand that as our people’s careers grow at Aspectus, their life, circumstances and personal fulfilment needs changes as well.
We have celebrated engagements, marriages, seen people go travelling and come back, popped corks for house purchases, graduations, births and watched children grow.
At the same time, we’ve also been through hard times with our people, watching them say goodbye to loved ones and go through medical complications. Indeed, I lost my own mum after a year-long battle with cancer, just three weeks before my second child was born.
It was during this period, of trips back to Zimbabwe to capture last moments with her and during that strange period of grief, combined with the joy of birth that I came to truly believe time and support are sometimes more valuable than any paycheque or bonus.
I’m so proud to be part of an organisation that last month evolved its benefits program to incorporate a support package that will help all of our Aspectee’s journeys, across all our international locations during their time with us. We built it and launched it because we want to commit ourselves to our people and the challenges life throws at them and for them to know it’s OK to take time to focus on what’s most important because if you are happy at home, you thrive at work.
While it will always evolve, our Aspectus Life Benefits and Support now gives all our global staff, alongside an array of best-in-class parental leave, health insurance, holiday allowance, pension plans:
A day off for big life events such as engagements, civil partnerships and weddings, house purchases and rental moves
12 hours of volunteering time each year, sabbaticals after five years’ service and support for further education
We are also providing paid time off to all involved partners for miscarriage and fertility treatment
When it comes to bereavement, we know it is never an open and shut case. That is why we promise six weeks paid leave, to be taken in any way they want (all at once or split over a number of years) – to ensure they have the time to grieve
Mental Health Awareness training for every Aspectee on an ongoing basis
We are looking forward to continuing to evolve this as we grow, and our people grow. Because above all else, we want to be in their corner just as they are always in ours.
Here are a few tips for making sure yours is one of the good ones.
It’s just a fact that the media landscape over the past year has become tougher than ever for PR pros. A trend that many of us have observed taking shape over the past two decades or so – faster news cycles, shrinking newsrooms, and escalating pressure for journalists to pump out more content – has only accelerated in the wake of the pandemic. While having strong media relationships is critical, the challenge remains especially acute in the specialized universe of B2B PR; the ideas and work we’re promoting on our clients’ behalf are technical and, without a little creativity on our part, dry.
When I first started in PR, I never thought I’d end up competing against doom-scrolling, but here we are.
In parallel with the evolving newsroom, we’ve also seen a corresponding explosion in proprietary surveys – the PR pro’s tool of choice for cutting through the noise and asserting their client’s relevance in a crowded marketplace. But what was once a very reliable tool for capturing media attention is becoming less so as reporters struggle to wade through countless pitches purporting to offer never-before-seen data insights. (Spoiler alert: Most of them have been seen before. Many times.)
None of this is to say, however, that we’ve reached Peak Survey. Quite the contrary: Surveys aren’t dead, but the good ones are starting to get lost among the not-so-good. The onus is on us to make our surveys better.
So, how can businesses do a PR survey campaign right? Here are a few ways we help our clients create surveys that hit the mark for journalists:
Think like an academic. One of the core tenets of academic research is trying to answer a question or explore a topic no one else has before. That’s certainly a tall order in the PR setting, but the starting point for any survey initiative should be finding a way to discuss your business, industry, or customers in a way that differentiates you. Before you even put pen to paper on a survey concept, you should conduct a thorough audit of the research that already exists on the topics you’re considering – and then work to make sure your own research cuts a new path.
Visualize the headlines. Once you’ve landed on the survey topic and are ready to start developing the questionnaire, think about the headlines you want to generate – and then draft your questions accordingly. Focus on the tension that drives an interesting headline and try to build that into your questionnaire. For example, let’s say you’re an insurtech conducting a survey examining the reasons young adults aren’t buying life insurance. Your home run headline might be, “75% of adults under the age of 40 say they’d rather have a root canal than meet with an insurance agent.” From there, it’s simply a matter of wording the questionnaire to (hopefully!) get you there.
Keep it simple. The questions, that is. Try not to cram too many ideas, variables, or factors into a single question, and try to keep the total questionnaire to 10-15 minutes in length. Ironically enough, the more nuanced and detailed you try to make your survey, the harder it is to make inferences about why respondents answered as they did and to develop a strong, declarative narrative about your data. Simplicity is also good for the survey respondent. Whether it’s the day-to-day consumer or a finance director, whoever is taking your survey is short on time and unlikely to provide high-quality responses if they have to expend too much effort deciphering the meaning of a question or answering an overly lengthy questionnaire.
It’s all about the cross-tabs. As you’re developing your survey – or looking at the results once they come in – don’t forget to think about how different survey populations respond. Some of the most compelling media narratives emerge from the cross-tabulations. How do women respond versus men? Younger generations versus older? C-Suite versus mid-level? It’s these deeper layers of insight that are most likely to drive strong headlines and capture media interest.
Slice and dice. Make no mistake: Conducting a survey – even a brief one! – can be a resource intensive process. Get the most out of your investment by finding ways to return to the well of proprietary data month after month. Try to find new narratives or unearth fresh data points to fuel a newsjacking campaign. Use the data in marketing and social media campaigns. No matter the application, finding ways to replay your data over time is a clear demonstration that your research is relevant and that you have your finger on the pulse of your market.
I leave you with one other thought the chew on: If all of this seems like it requires a lot of work and brainpower, well, that’s because it does. But the payoff is having a survey – and an accompanying PR campaign – that stands head and shoulders above the others currently permeating the market. In other words, a survey shouldn’t be a method of last resort for generating media coverage; in order to succeed, it must be treated as a central pillar of your strategy.
One of the most important tools in your PR arsenal is your PR plan. Everything comes from putting together a cohesive and compelling strategy to getting your message out to your audience. But sometimes, even after putting together your media tactics, something might not click – and your message may not be being delivered.
Read on for some of the most common reasons your PR plan isn’t working, and how to fix it.
1. Your news is too self-serving.
The first step in any PR plan is pulling together an interesting storyline that your audience will care about. That last part is imperative – news doesn’t automatically become a media story just because you put out a press release. While it’s certainly good practice to update your audience on what’s new from a corporate perspective, not all announcements warrant the same level of coverage.
Make sure you think critically about what you’re communicating to your audience, and why they should care about it – otherwise your message won’t even make it out the door. That’s why at Aspectus, we make “considered creativity” part of every storyline we create.
2. You’re not targeting the right media.
Once you have a compelling story to take to your audience, think carefully about who you’re trying to reach with your message and what channels to use to best reach them. Is this a B2B storyline with a corporate focus, or is it more consumer-facing? Is your news only relevant to a small number of trade professionals, or is there a wider implication that the end-customer needs to know about?
At Aspectus, audience targeting is always one of the first things we think about when taking on a new initiative. After honing in on your target, you can begin to compile a list of relevant publications, journalists, and industry influencers that would be interested in taking your story and sharing it with their audiences.
3. You’re expecting media to cater to you.
An important consideration when working with media is flexibility. Journalists often work under tight deadlines and have specific criteria determining whether or not they can cover news. According to Cision’s latest State of the Media Report, nearly half (46.8%) of journalists are responsible for covering five or more beats – leaving them crunched for time and inundated with pitches for all their areas of coverage.
Understand that you cannot expect media to drop everything to cover your news. Instead, do everything you can to make it easier for them to say yes – include facts and figures to bolster your argument, and send them charts, images, or other graphics they can use in their piece to make it more dynamic. Don’t make them chase you for an interview and do have a spokesperson ready to answer their questions, otherwise, they may decide it’s not worth the effort.
4. Your timing is all wrong.
It’s also important to think about the broader picture when it comes to timing your story. Earnings season, for example, might not be the best time to be pitching the financial media on your financial news story. Fridays are rarely a good time for an announcement to go live, as many journalists may not have time to cover the news before heading out for the weekend. Announcements made after 10am risk being pushed to another day, as many journalists have already been assigned a story and won’t be able to address it that day.
Sometimes scheduling may be out of your control, but if you can, make sure that you’re thinking about the larger news landscape, and not just when it’s convenient for you to put out an announcement.
5. There’s nothing original or unique in your news.
You’ve created a storyline, compiled a media list, checked the calendar and have shared your news with the world – but no one is listening. What could have gone wrong?
Well, let’s take a look. According to the 2021 SOTM Report, over two-thirds of journalists wanted to see more original research from brands and PR professionals. If your story isn’t unique or original, journalists have no incentive to pick it up – you’re just one of many in a crowded field saying the same thing as your competitors.
That’s why at Aspectus, we encourage the brands we work with to do original research, surveys, white papers and more – and we help them package the information into easily digestible stories they can push to media one at a time – so they can continue the drumbeat of coverage over a long period of time with a unique story.
6. You’re not taking an omnichannel approach.
Even traditional PR agencies have recognized by now that the game has changed – social media and integrated campaigns are essential to getting noticed by your audience. Once you have a great news story promoting your message, don’t just stop there; take that story and repeat it in marketing materials, paid ad campaigns, and social media. Our global digital team has the expertise to create a fully integrated approach to your communications and this can make all the difference. Your audience will see your message playing out consistently across all the channels you work in, further driving it home.
The media landscape is forever evolving, so it’s important to constantly evaluate how your media plan will fit in with the audiences you’re targeting; but now that you have a list of steps to take, you’ll be able to craft a fool-proof PR plan for any storyline you pull together.
Agency puts in place structures for success as it experiences rapid growth
Laura Iley, who has led the energy team for the last five years, will become managing director responsible for delivering commercial success and Michael House, who heads the technology team and formerly oversaw external EMEA communications at Rackspace, will become managing director in charge of people. Together they will oversee many of the agency’s day-to-day operations.
Explaining the new roles, CEO, Alastair Turner said: “We’ve been lucky enough to experience significant global growth in 2020 and have exciting plans to become a $15 million revenue business in the coming years. These new roles are all about getting our best people into jobs they will excel at so that they can contribute in the most effective way to helping the agency meet its ambitions. Other key members of the existing board will take on new global roles including Ellie Jackson’s recently announced appointment to Head of Client Service and Strategy. More announcements will follow over the coming weeks.
“30 per cent of our people have been with us for between five and ten years. So, growth is important to all our people as it provides ever-evolving opportunity. This means clients benefit from long-term, stable teams made up of people who are not only sector specialists but know their business inside out and are highly committed to solving their problems.”
Commenting on her appointment, Head of Energy and MD of commercial, Laura Iley said: “I am incredibly proud to take up this new position. I have grown my career at Aspectus while building the global energy business; I don’t think there’s a better environment for bright young people to channel their passion and catapult their careers forward. I am now relishing the challenge of ensuring that we achieve our commercial goals while working with my senior colleagues to ensure that we interlock agency aspiration with client delivery.”
Discussing his appointment, Head of Technology and MD of people, Michael House said: “Over the course of my career I’ve worked at numerous agencies but there is something in the very fabric of Aspectus that is truly different to the rest. The aim now, is to evolve this culture to ensure that as we grow it remains at the centre of who we are. My task is to ensure we are the gold standard for workplace culture – laying out the path ahead, rather than following others. At the heart of this will be a big focus on wellness, diversity and innovative life support for all Aspectees.”
Concluding, Turner said: “We are lucky to be in productive long-term relationships with an amazing stable of loyal, brilliant clients who have invested in us and seen us add financial value to their brands through our highly creative, integrated and results-based approach. However, our founding philosophy which places commercial success, people and purpose into a virtuous circle has been the underlying springboard. All are equally important, and we certainly couldn’t have any one without the other. There is a real momentum about the business and tangible excitement about what the future might hold.”
By Ellie Jackson, Head of Brand, Insights & Strategy
If you’re having a bad week, spare a thought for the marketing and comms teams at Standard Life Aberdeen. Or rather, at abrdn. If you’ve missed it, a quick Google will show that the firm’s rebrand hasn’t had quite the reception they were (presumably) aiming for. Unless, of course, they are of the view that all publicity is good publicity.
Although it’s easy to pile in with criticism of the new brand, abrdn is hardly the first to fall foul of corporate rebranding (Consignia, anyone?), and it doubtless won’t be the last. There’s a reason for that. This stuff is hard to get right but easy to poke fun at. It’s unlikely to please everyone, and most people will think they can do a better job.
Here are our five golden rules:
Know your audience Really (and I mean really) get under the skin of what they want from you as an organisation and a brand. How do they want you to make them feel? Do they want you to be edgy, or is stable and safe what’s really required?
Understand why you’re making a change And make sure that’s going to resonate with said audience. Otherwise you risk them resenting the money you have inevitably ploughed into the effort, which they might have preferred to be focused on client service or product development.
Ensure your new name and brand is truly reflective of your business Otherwise you won’t achieve the objectives you identified under Golden Rule 2.
Make it easy for people If it’s not easy to say (in case you’re wondering, ‘abrdn’ is pronounced, ‘Aberdeen’…), and ideally easy to spell, you’re creating a rod for your own back
Test it out Of course you need to be mindful of leaks, but any rebrand on this scale should be tested and sanity-checked by people outside the process. Be prepared to be challenged. Listen to the challenges and adapt as required. Sometimes it’s hard to see the wood for the trees when you’re in the forest.
I’m not suggesting for a second that following these rules will ensure an easy ride when it comes to rebranding, but it’s certainly a good place to start. Now, where’s that packet of Opal Fruits I had kicking around…?
To learn more about Aspectus’ brand strategy services, click here.
Virtual conferences can look the part but they don’t always do the job. If the technology behind the event fails, the conference itself fails but there are things that can be done to ensure they are still insightful.
The benefits of online events (cost effectiveness, sharing of information and accessibility etc.) are undeniable but without the adequate tech to fully support the event and no strong back-up alternatives in place, we’re left with something that looks great but provides little substance. We’ve all experienced this in the past year or so, on a small scale with unstable Wi-Fi connections causing people to drop off or lag on video calls, or on a large scale like when the Conservative party’s website crashed during Michael Gove’s speech.
With such an overreliance on technology and other external factors, virtual events leave themselves exposed to all sorts of potential mishaps – and ultimately failures. For PRs and our clients, this could result in lower numbers of journalist attendees, fewer opportunities for spokespeople to demonstrate their expertise and market knowledge, and less media exposure. This is a real possibility. At the FIX EMEA Trading Conference in September last year, several journalists complained about poor connectivity lowering the quality of their experience and leading them to give up on the conference entirely.
Until we can return to in-person conferences, organisers of virtual events and PR professionals will need to be creative about their methods of ensuring a high-quality experience for attendees and clients. This could include the return of old-school media packs (digitalised) so that whatever happens with the conference, clients still have the information they want to share with journalists to hand, arranging separate interview slots for key journalists in case the conference goes awry and many other creative methods.
Virtual conferences cannot replace the quality of interaction and overall experience of in-person events. The disconnect caused by interacting through a screen cannot be made up for with snazzy interfaces and virtual waiting rooms. No matter how similar it looks to the original event and no matter how much we assume it is the same experience, it is not. And so, event organisers and PR professionals will need to ensure they put their most creative foot forward to ensure that virtual events continue to be of value to attendees and clients.
Despite the pandemic, technology companies in the UK have continued to make significant advancements and the landscape remains to be varied and cutting-edge, highlighted by Tech Nation’s reveal of the winners of their Rising Stars competition.
Tech Nation’s Rising Stars 3.0 is a scaleup competition to showcase the best early-stage tech companies in the UK. They promote the growth of start-ups which have a positive impact on society and the economy.
Only a short number of years ago, Monzo and Sky Scanner were unknown entities and now they are household names. Having been previously recognised as Tech Nation’s Rising Stars, they were able to secure investment to drive innovation and be ahead of the curve in their sectors.
We’ve compiled a list of the companies from this year’s cohort that we predict are going to follow in their footsteps and take the world by storm with their impactful technologies.
The pandemic has exacerbated pressure on healthcare and E-Surgery addresses a crucial gap in the market.
E-Surgery is the UK’s sustainable, online prescription service which allows patients to connect with doctors through just a click on their device.
Patients can use the service by visiting the website and completing a questionnaire, before receiving their prescription within 24 hours, in recyclable and biodegradable packaging.
They are founded on the idea that private healthcare can be affordable and available for everyone from home with an eco-friendly product and rapid delivery.
This is a demand which has grown significantly during the pandemic. As people are told to stay at home and doctors are busier than ever, E-surgery offers a lifeline to communicate directly with medical professionals and receive prescriptions quickly, and safely.
Not only do they address a vast healthcare challenge, but their focus on a sustainable and eco-friendly service is favourable for today’s current consumer, who is much more aware of their carbon footprint.
Through using their innovation to simplify pharmaceutical services, they are a firm favorite as one to watch. We’re excited to see how they rise to the challenge of scaling up and supporting the world’s healthcare and prescription system.
The shift to remote work in 2020 has presented new educational and social challenges surrounding teachers and recruitment. As education has moved online and standard models of education have been disrupted, the demand for digital solutions has grown significantly.
Liverpool-based Supply Well have created a digital platform to address the challenges to recruit and train supply teachers, in turn reducing costs for schools.
Their mission is specifically to increase flexibility, ensure a fair wage and promote the wellbeing of teachers by offering employment support and opportunities in one place. This results in a more cost and time efficient process, encouraging more teachers to join and remain in the education system, at a time when students need access to quality education the most.
As former Teacher, Co-Founder and CEO Michael Heverin stated:
“Only 18 months ago, we were a small start-up company operating from one desk. We have grown immensely since then and now employ almost a dozen staff with immediate plans to hire more as we look to expand across the UK. What’s more, we’ve not only survived, but thrived despite the challenges of the pandemic.”
We’re particularly impressed with the way Supply Well have used tech for good to make quality teaching accessible for both teachers and students, in the face of the pandemic. We can’t wait to watch them continue to thrive and support the education sector.
Elemental Software aims to reduce health inequalities by creating a digital platform for social prescribing, a demand which urgently needs to be met to relieve pressure on the healthcare system and respond to the current mental health crisis.
Social prescribing means going beyond medication to promote engagement with community initiatives to improve health. For example, referring a patient to an outdoor activity programme, an art class or financial advice service, equipping people with the tools to manage their own social and emotional wellbeing.
Founded in 2012, Elemental Software offers a platform for different sectors such as health, education and housing to collaborate and improve communities through the prescription of social programmes.
Their innovative technology has seen them grow and take the UK by storm and they show no signs of slowing down, already being the most widely used social prescribing service, winning contracts from the NHS GP IT Futures Framework.
As Co-Founder and COO Leeann Monk says: “Our technology can make it easier for health and social care professionals to refer people with health risks such as mental health, to community based lifestyle interventions. This type of referral can reduce demand in GP time and ultimately keep people out of hospital for longer. This is imperative for global health services to operate and as public health budgets worldwide are coming under increasing pressures due to COVID-19, social prescribing has been identified as a growing sector.”
It’s clear why E-surgery, Supply Well and Elemental Software have secured their positions in Tech Nation’s line up of winners. All demonstrate clear use of tech for good and, through innovation, make a positive impact on some of the world’s most complex social and economic issues. From providing a digital solution for quality education to changing the way the country addresses healthcare, we can’t wait to watch them scale up, weather the storm and make a significant impact using their technology.
The European technology venture capital (VC) ecosystem is an exhilarating space to be a part of, and while growth opportunities once seemed endless, even this sector hasn’t been immune to effects of the pandemic. As highlighted in a recent report by Mountside Ventures and Allocate, emerging fund managers have been particularly disadvantaged by COVID-19, with findings showing some investors, such as family offices, slowing investment.
The report also states only 20% of Limited Partners (LP) have invested in funds they have known for less than a year, opting to concentrate on pre-existing VC relationships. This means players in the VC industry must be increasingly creative with their story-telling and relationship management to stay afloat and raise funding. Or in other words: (re)discover the benefits of PR and marketing.
PR can be the key to unlocking how to get funding for a business, but while it’s a well-known term, PR is not often fully understood and well utilised. Let’s look at the importance of PR and marketing for VC firms looking to secure funding from LPs. Done well, PR can help VCs gain a competitive edge through augmenting brand awareness and strengthening relationships to build a reputation within the VC/LP sphere, particularly amid the pandemic.
Setting the scene
VC brands are intertwined with their startup portfolio’s success. For LPs, this is a promising indicator of future triumphs and sizable returns, increasing LP appetite to commit to VC funds. Though advantageous for VCs with a great history and strong reputation to rely upon during the COVID era, for relatively new funds without a renowned track record, effective PR and marketing can bulldoze your roadblocks, and help secure funding. Even if a VC fund has been successful in telling its story and bigging up its portfolio in the past, in the COVID-themed present, support with relationship building and an overarching (digital) communications strategy could be the answer to rebuilding growth.
And it’s the importance of relationship-building underscored in Mountside Ventures’ latest report, where findings showed the time it takes to build relationships with LPs before investment. In fact, 50% of LPs reported it can take up to 1-2 years, highlighting their frustrations surrounding the lack of transparency from VCs, weary of hearing the “big and unnecessary words” used as an attempt to impress. Particularly for emerging fund managers, it’s the small steps that add up to the bigger picture. To entice LPs VCs must get their company name out there in the right way.
The power of PR
Through partnering with trusted tech PR agencies, VCs can relay their focus on core business operations and COVID-19 recovery whilst PR partners protect and manage your reputation. In practice, agencies offer a range of services that support the umbrella story VCs are trying to convey. PR experts ensure companies harness their USPs in order to differentiate from competitors, promoting a firm’s positive messages through utilising trusted media connections, directly targeting your LP audience.
An integrated approach
The strength of communications strategies only come to life when truly integrated, matching PR with other communications approaches such as events, direct marketing, mainstream media and social media; it’s about pinpointing the prime channels for each individual business. PR agencies can create considered content with posts that engross chosen audiences, turn heads, and get distributed further afield, accompanied by insider knowledge on SEO to help increase website traction. In turn, PR professionals will know which journalists to speak to when telling a story, building credibility and reputation.
To put it simply, PR encompasses people, relationships and storytelling. The pandemic and remote working have certainly been a barrier for forming trusting, sincere relationships. However, enhancing your communication strategies will feed into strengthening a VCs brand, enabling them to leverage further connections, network, and help funds become increasingly well established.
