Digital Download with Paul Sutton

The last 4 months have played havoc with us as individuals, both physically and mentally. In the marketing industry we’re having to create or adopt new business models, tactics that used to work no longer do, and in some cases we’ve lost our jobs. In the face of this, staying positive can be difficult. In the current environment, resilience and adaptability are valuable character trait...

It is estimated that 70% of people experience feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt and of being a fraud at some time in their career. And in marketing, where it’s easy to compare yourself with others’ creativity and knowledge, incidence of imposter syndrome may well be a lot higher. I’m no different, and frequently look around at my peers in awe and think ‘I don’t deser...

During 2019 the global ecommerce industry grew by 18% to almost $3.5 trillion. In 2020, with a worldwide rolling lockdown in place, online sales have rocketed further. Amazon’s groceries business has boomed, and in March it announced that it would hire an additional 100,000 staff to cope with demand. At the same time, consumers have become increasingly accustomed to online ordering and click...

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, articles started to appear that predicted the end of influencer marketing and the death of ‘influence’. They were prompted by reports of content creators using their positions for privilege during COVID-19 and the fact that influencer jobs had dried up. This episode of the Digital Download podcast looks at the issue from both the influencer mar...

Just a few short months ago, social networks were coming under intense fire for, among other things, data privacy, toxicity and their negative impact on mental health. The reputations of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were at an all-time low. But recently, things have changed. Since the middle of March user behaviour has become more positive, and the likes of Facebook and Twitter have become more...

After the dotcom crash of 2000, 9/11 in 2001 and the global financial crash of 2008, COVID-19 is the fourth major economic crisis in the working lives of many senior communications practitioners. But arguably unlike any of the crises that have come before it, the current situation has put the marketing communications industry on the verge of radical and lasting changes. The levels of anxiety, ever...

As marketing communications agencies and in-house teams struggle to get to grips with the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, business continuity has leapt to the fore. 77% of PR firms around the world are expecting a loss of earnings as a result of the crisis, while national newspaper sales fell by 20% in the last two weeks of March. The questions leaders and brands face today are around bo...

Covid-19 has knocked the marketing communications industry for six. Projects and campaigns have been cancelled left, right and centre, leaving many in-house teams on pause and many agencies and freelancers with plummeting revenue. Although it’s only a matter of three weeks since the economy collapsed, such has been the impact of the coronavirus that it now seems difficult to remember normal...

Use of private messaging apps like WhatsApp, Messenger and Telegram have boomed in the last few years. As long ago as 2016 they were more popular than social networks, and with the recent announcement by WhatsApp that it now has 2 billion users, it’s very clear that they’re here for the long-term. Businesses, and particularly marketers, have struggled to get to grips with messaging app...

On 15th February UK TV presenter Caroline Flack took her own life, after years of being hounded by the tabloid media. Between September 2019 and her death, The Sun, The Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror published 120 articles about her, ranging from salacious gossip about her mental health, her relationships and her career, to vicious accusations. Intense coverage of her life had dominated the celeb...

2019 has been a tough year for many in the communications industry. Uncertainty around the economic outlook has placed additional stresses on business leaders, and there are worrying signs for 2020 that mirror what was seen before the 2008 financial crisis. This episode of the Digital Download Podcast is part two of the conversation recorded with Spin Sucks author and head of PR agency Arment Diet...

2019 has been a tough year for many in the communications industry. Uncertainty around the economic outlook has placed additional stresses on business leaders, and there are worrying signs for 2020 that mirror what was seen before the 2008 financial crisis. This episode of the Digital Download Podcast is one of the most candid, honest and down-to-earth shows I’ve recorded since the podcast s...

Digital transformation is a phrase that is misunderstood by many, and yet the thinking behind it is critical to the success of organisations large and small. With the pace of change getting ever faster and a new decade nearly upon us, planning for change is something that everyone should be thinking about. In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast I talk to Andrew Grill, a futurist and keyno...

Conventional marketing tactics no longer work like they used to. Consumers don’t want to be controlled or sold to. Social media engagement is down across the board. And two thirds of your marketing is happening without you. In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast I talk to Mark Schaefer, author of Marketing Rebellion. In a wide-ranging conversation that covers many threads of current...

Facebook states its mission as connecting people the world over. But while social networks are capable of overcoming the technological barriers to achieving this, there are still mountains to climb when it comes to cultural and societal challenges. In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast I talk to Michael Marquardt, a global business advisor who has spent 25 years living and working throug...

There are now 100 million homeless and displaced people in the world, and the issue is becoming a major problems for most countries and cities around the world. The World’s Big Sleep Out is a charitable initiative that aims to change that by encouraging 50,000 people to sleep outside in 50 cities around the world to raise $50 million for homeless charities. In this episode of the Digital Dow...

Over the last ten years it’s become increasingly clear that data is the new gold. While the likes of Google and Facebook make money from selling data, new technologies like blockchain and cryptocurrency have sprung up built upon the foundations of data. Getting to grips with it all is a challenging task. In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast I talk to Ste Davies, a digital strategi...

The public relations industry has a love/hate relationship with the public relations industry. Its own biggest supporter and yet its own biggest critic, the cyclical nature of many of the debates drives some of those who’ve worked within it for many years to distraction. One of those people is Rax Lakhani, a communications consultant with nearly two decades’ experience working with big...

Content marketing has become associated with inbound marketing and sales funnels, with communicators in danger of being swamped by advertisers when it comes to the use of creative content. But there is an alternative school of thought which says that public relations is the ideal home for content marketing. In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast, I talk to communications strategist Trevor...

Fake news and propaganda have existed for decades, if not centuries. But with social media algorithms reinforcing confirmation bias and with the advent of deep fake technology, misinformation has reached unprecedented levels. As a result, trust has plummeted and corporate crises are becoming ever-more common. In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast, I talk to Kate Hartley from crisis simul...

The world is seemingly in crisis, with social and political upheaval having dominated the news agenda for several years. Much of the blame for this is laid at the feet of the social media giants, notably Facebook and Twitter, for creating platforms that fragment society and encourage extremism. In the opening episode of Season Five of the Digital Download Podcast, I talk to digital technologist an...

In 2019 we’re all hyper-connected. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and dozens of other apps compete for our attention on a daily basis. Those working in the communications industry are, arguably, more exposed than most given the nature of our jobs. So what affect is this having on us? In this special episode of the Digital Download Podcast for #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, I chat to Lea...

PR and SEO have been converging for many years. While each has large areas that are distinct to that discipline, there is a huge crossover in goals and skills. And yet many communications professionals still struggle with the concept of authority link building and with the language and challenges that SEO presents. In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast, Head of Content at digital agency...

Smart speakers are the fastest adopted consumer technology in history. Faster even than smartphones. The current use case is around routine activities like voice calling, playing music and accessing news headlines, but digital voice assistants are widely expected to take on more and more complex tasks as the technology advances rapidly. In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast, co-founder o...

UK high street retailer Lush’s announcement that it is to close its branded social media accounts was met with reasoned agreement from some industry professionals and by relentless incredulity from others. It is a decision that has proved highly controversial in marketing communications circles. In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast, social media consultant Helen Reynolds and I deb...