The PR Department Podcast

Both the ultimate downfall or success of a working relationship comes down to how air tight your contract is. Katie has seen really great examples of this where she's had super positive experiences, and also the flip side where her contract is the only thing she's been able to fall back on and protect herself with when things in PR land get really nasty and heavy. This episode is a long one (well...

When you start your business everyone tells you, 'you should delegate the jobs you can't do', Katie's here to tell you why that's not always the best route. This is a story time episode where Katie tells her website horror story from start to finish, with learning lessons along the way, in the hope that she can save other business owners and freelancers from a world of website pain! Hosted on Acas...

PR couplings, otherwise known as 'fauxmances' are fascinating both behind the scenes and watching them play out in the public domain. The episode Katie delves into why we're so obsessed with PR couples, how they work behind the scenes, where they come from and some crazy examples of when they work vs. when they don't. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PR gifting - why we do it, how we do it and what we expect from it. It's always a tricky one to explain to new clients and just about anyone outside of the PR industry. Katie breaks down this topic and shares her approach on why this part of the PR experience is so crucial to achieving results. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming from a PR agency competition is ingrained into your nature by means of survival, but when you make the jump to go freelance everything flips on its head and the people who were once your competition become the most cherished members of your community. Katie discusses her own experience with times she's really felt the heat of the competition vs. what she values most about the power of commu...

Apparently there's a rise in 'makeup for men'.. or so the leading trend forecasting platforms and media are saying. Katie delves into her thoughts on the topic as well as her predictions for this category moving forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As someone who has lived experience from both sides of the coin, being a big binge drinker and now coming full circle to living a more 'damp/sober' lifestyle, Katie discusses her thoughts and observations on what seems to be a very wide spread cultural shift towards sobriety. What would a new sober society look like? And how does that impact what we do, and how we approach PR events which are trad...

It's a fact that society, and therefore marketing, has a weird obsession with putting youth and being young on a pedestal that everyone else is meant to aspire to be - but in reality Katie feels that's not reflective of the world we live in. So why then are we feeling a regression in marketing, where campaigns seem to be slipping back to a place of showing us happy, young, white 25 year olds as if...

Have you ever stopped to think 'where did influencers come from'? This episode delves into a slice of PR history where Katie recounts how influencers came to be and how we've now found ourselves in an age of sponsored posts and the #ad. The episode of In VOGUE: The 2000s that Katie references in this episode is linked here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4QRtd20WDNAX1C37iXscxt Hosted on Acast. S...

Privacy is the new luxury, so how is this effecting how we view content creation as individuals and content creators sharing their lives with us? Is our relationship with social media and how we engage with it changing? These are all questions that Katie has been milling over since she came across some commentary where someone posted a story saying all they wanted to do was to be able to exist and...

Post-pandemic uber luxury brand trips are back in the form of #TrippinWithTarte. If you haven't seen Tik Tok's finest galavanting around Dubai over the past few weeks in the name of Tarte's new product launches, then where have you been and can Katie join you? If there were ever a time when consumers have 'behind the scenes' questions, it's now. So here Katie is, as a 'industry insider' to 'tell a...

The world of Instagram has always been, for the most part, aspirational, unachievable and basically fake; since the rise of the platform pre-Tik Tok this has been exacerbated, having us 'the followers' lapping up outrageous displays of wealth, and loving it! Having been hit by basically every financial and humanitarian crisis possible over the past few years. Those times have most c...

Being an overachiever and a freelancer really go hand in hand. When you're on the way up it's great you're flying, but what happens when you hit those inevitable slow and low periods? Recently Katie hit one and she went through some real highs and lows throughout the experience. This episode delves into how she thinks and feels following that period in 2022, and offers some interesting insigh...

Having watched crisis after crisis play out in the new setting of the world with Tik Tok throughout 2022, Katie has some thoughts... If the Balenciaga scandal couldn't have gotten any worse, it did thanks to their crisis PR strategy. So how does it work? Do you need to know how to do it? Is being 'crisis PR trained' the same as being first aid trained as a PR now? Katie lets you in on how it all w...

How does 'the founder' fit into a landscape of a brand? What role do they play behind the scenes, and what happens when their public perception shifts and changes; for better or for worse? This episode Katie explains how it all works, sharing examples of founder / brand relationships that are really successful, as well as those that are the complete opposite, and why? Why do things work the way th...

"Some of pop culture's most prominent PRs - from Samantha from Sex in the City to Patsy in AbFab, are rarely seen without a cocktail. And this 'party people' persona still permeates through to how outsiders view the world of a PR. Between schmoozing clients, press events and company party cultures, free alcohol to a PR is sometimes the equivalent of the age-old 'you're never more than 6ft from a r...

When you're solely responsible for your own income, why is it so hard to walk away? In the world of freelancing it's often all down to 'you, yourself and you' when it comes to choosing things like who you work with, how much you work, how much money you make. When it comes to turning work down, or 'firing clients', it's really hard to know when to stop. This episode Katie discusses her own experie...

PR Gifting seems to be the never ending thorn in the side of brands, PR's and influencers alike. Will we ever reach a place where all sides live in harmony and the 'PR Gift' assumes its positive connotations again? Seems far fetched. This episode Katie discusses her own ethos and experiences with the evolution of PR gifting and makes some suggestions on how all sides can improve the experience. Af...

Is the beauty industry dead? There've been 'rumbles in the jungle' from beauty influencers and major consumer press platforms alike since 2020 that the beauty industry is finished, so what's going on? Should we all pack up shop and move over to cyber? Yes, that's a reference to the campaign posters urging creatives to get jobs in cyber over the pandemic... In this episode Katie discusses what she...

For the past decade the Kardashians have been major shapers of all things social media, marketing, branding and society.. in their own way. But recently Katie has sensed a shift in both her personal, and public perception, towards them. So what's going on? Are the Kardashians losing their grip on us? And if so, why? Katie discussed a timeline of business ventures, brand deals and personal decision...

'Can you make me famous?', a question thrown around a lot in the world of PR and marketing. It's all too frequent for a brand to view a PR's success based on if they can achieve that all important 'I'm famous' sticker, but is 'becoming famous' actually solely down to your PR? Shouldn't a good PR be able to just 'make you famous'? And how are we judging a PR's talent? Katie, once again, pulls back...

If you don't know who Andrew Tate is, we're not sure where you've been hiding... He shot up to social media stardom, became the poster boy for misogynistic men, and then got banned from all platforms, all within a few months. But who is this guy? Is he playing a character? Is the outrage he's causing all one big social media strategy? Katie discusses where we've been, where we are and where we're...

From a PR, and also a consumer perspective, what do brands do that are really annoying? From unpaid bills, to getting down with Gen Z on Tik Tok, Katie talks through what really bugs her and why. Don't forget, head over to @theprdepartmentpodcast on Instagram and let us know what annoys you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Remember back in the 90's - 2000's where celebrities would wear head to toe, off the rack style looks from the likes of iconic brands such as Baby Phat in their music videos and on the red carpet? You could literally buy Aaliyah's whole head to toe look once she'd worn it to an event. Scroll to 2022 where you have Kim Kardashian wearing head to toe Balenciaga on a random Tuesday lunch. Where have...

Following on from last week's episode where Katie discussed the possibility of 'the death of the influencer', this week she talks through what she thinks is going to be the next big thing; UGC content creators. She covers what they are, how they work, how you would build them into your strategy from a brand perspective, and why this could be an attractive path to investigate for both established,...