The PRovoke Media Podcast

This episode of the Echo Chamber is a rebroadcast of a webinar addressing the PR industry's future challenges including integration, digital evolution and proving sales impact. The Holmes Report's Aarti Shah leads a discussion featuring Laura Brusca, VP of corporate communications at Forbes and PAN Communication's Mark Nardone. 

Asda'a BCW president Sunil John joins the Echo Chamber to discuss the evolution of the Middle East and North Africa PR industries. John, who founded and built Asda'a into one of the region's pre-eminent PR firms, believes MENA is poised to become the fastest-growing the world's fastest-growing public relations market.. 

In a recent webinar, Ketchum CEO Barri Rafferty and the Holmes Report's Arun Sudhaman explored the key issues from the 2019 World Economic Forum, including globalization, climate change, automation, CEO activism and much more. 

Ketchum's London CEO Jo-Ann Robertson joins Maja Pawinska Sims in the Echo Chamber to talk about her first year in the job, including leadership (and being a pregnant CEO), diversity, and her ambitions for the business. 

The Holmes Report's Diana Marszalek talks through this year's Super Bowl marketing and fan experience efforts, finding them both rather disappointing, on the latest Echo Chamber episode. Joining the show are BCW president Jim Joseph and fan experience director chair Jason Teitler, along with MWWPR president Bret Werner. 

Zeno Group’s managing director, global strategy and insights Therese Caruso joins Diana Marszalek in the Echo Chamber to talk about what brands need to know to reach “Gen We” – the kids aged 14 to 20 who wield influence in the family, and are radically different than the millennials that marketers have worked long and hard to understand. They have friendships based on shared values, believe succes...

The Holmes Report's Arun Sudhaman sits down with a trio of senior marcomms leaders at the 2019 World Economic Forum at Davos, discussing the event's enduring significance, along with the challenges facing the established world order. First up, PMI communications SVP Marian Salzman discusses her surprising decision to join 'big tobacco' after a lengthy stint leading advertising and PR agencies. Sal...

Hotwire CEO Barbara Bates joins the Echo Chamber to discuss her shift from independent agency life to overseeing a publicly-held firm. Bates also explores why she believes 'micro-networks' and midsize players are thriving in today's PR market, particularly in opposition to the giant MNC networks. In conversation with Arun Sudhaman, Bates also looks at the evolution of PR on the US West Coast, and...

WE Communications international president Alan VanderMolen discusses his 2019 predictions,  which include a potential renaissance for communicators after playing second fiddle to marketers for years. VanderMolen also explores the likelihood of publicly-held firms buying themselves back from their holding groups and defends his bullish forecast for PR industry growth this year. 

Bulleit Group CEO Kyle Arteaga talks to the Holmes Report's Aarti Shah about the way companies — and the media — are rethinking how they position and talk about innovation. Later in the show, Proof Analytics founder Mark Stouse joins to talk about a recent survey that showed 96% C-suite respondents see their marketing and PR teams as “unwilling or unable” to prove ROI.  

In a keynote session from PRovoke18, Sir Martin Sorrell takes aim at the holding groups, during a feisty conversation with Holmes Report founder and chair Paul Holmes, while also defending his record as WPP CEO. Starting with  the FT story that reported several allegations  regarding the S4 chairman's acrimonious exit from WPP, Sorrell sought to turn the spotlight back onto the holding groups, non...

Weber Shandwick EMEA & Asia-Pacific chairman Tim Sutton turns interviewer on the latest episode of the Echo Chamber, asking the Holmes Report's Arun Sudhaman about the company's strategy for growth, its agency of the year decisions, the evolution of PR and much more. 

RFI Asia SVP and Asia lead David Ko joins the Echo Chamber to discuss the latest developments in terms of policing 'deepfake content' on the major social media platforms. In conversation with Arun Sudhaman, Ko also explores the rise of fake news on China's social media channels, talks about the threats posed by cybersecurity breaches, and about the role of marketers in this regard.

In a re-broadcast of a webinar from last month, the Holmes Report founder Paul Holmes is interviewed by Group Gordon CEO Michael Gordon on whether, in an era defined by politicization and polarization, it's possible —or even advisable — for brands to just watch from the sidelines. A summary of the conversation is also available here .    

In a session from the PRovoke18 Global PR Summit , the CEO of the world's largest PR firm is interviewed by Holmes Report editor-in-chief Arun Sudhaman about the state of today's PR industry. In an expansive and honest conversation, Edelman talks through the cultural challenges facing his agency, opportunities for growth and why transformation is required if today's PR firms are to compete with ad...

Adam Mack, the UK CEO of W tells the Echo Chamber what it takes to be an agile agency. Mack joined W founder Warren Johnson at the agency in January this year after leaving Weber Shandwick, where he was chief strategy officer for EMEA for six years. He also spent time at Freuds as director of strategy. He joins the Echo Chamber to talk about what business buzzword “agility” means in the context of...

Holmes Report editors Paul Holmes & Arun Sudhaman discuss the controversy surrounding Facebook's work with public affairs firm Definers. After that, Sudhaman is joined by Maja Pawinska Sims to talk more corporate crises, in the shape of Nissan and D&G. The duo also explore Iceland's banned TV ad, the latest Global Creative Index and more. 

Former Edelman EMEA CEO (and Echo Chamber co-host) Robert Phillips rejoins the podcast to discuss the current political era and what it means for companies and their leadership. Phillips, who now heads Jericho Chambers, also explores the Responsible Tax Project that his firm is running in conjunction with KPMG, and explores why public relations still needs a significant overhaul. Institute of PR p...

Nik Govier has launched her latest venture after leaving Unity, the agency she co-founded in 2005, at the end of last year. She joins the Echo Chamber with her fellow founding partners, Katy Stolliday – a board director at Unity before a stint as Brands2Life’s deputy MD consumer – and Stuart Lambert, until recently the strategy and creative director at Weber Shandwick, to talk about setting up a n...

Frank’s joint managing partners Andrew Bloch and Alex Grier join the Echo Chamber to look back at how the agency has evolved in its first 18 years, their trademarked 'talkability' proposition, what creativity means now, and the best brand campaigns. NB: At the time of recording, Frank declined to comment on the BrewDog/Scofflaw case.

Richard Shotton, is head of behavioural science at Manning Gottlieb OMD. He published “The Choice Factory” – described by Ogilvy’s Rory Sutherland as “a Haynes Manual for understanding consumer behaviour” – earlier this year, outlining 25 common biases that affect consumer behaviour in terms of their responsiveness to brand messages and advertising. He joins us in the Echo Chamber to look at how b...

Echo Chamber editors Arun Sudhaman, Maja Pawinska Sims and Paul Holmes review some of the key news stories from the past few weeks, including the mergers of Text100/Bite and Kekst CNC, new leadership at H+K Strategies, Nike's Colin Kaepernick campaign, the one-year anniversary of Bell Pottinger's closure and much more, while also previewing next week's PRovoke18 Global PR Summit.

Jon Tipple, chief strategy officer worldwide at FutureBrand, joins the Echo Chamber to look at the findings of the consultancy’s annual index of how “futureproof” the world’s top companies are. Tipple joined the Ogilvy & Mather graduate scheme and has since worked at agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, FCB and McCann before joining FutureBrand in 2012. Along the way, he’s worked with brands incl...

Former New York City and Metropolitan Museum of Art chief digital officer Sree Sreenivasan joins the Echo Chamber podcast to discuss the latest trends and pitfalls when it comes to social media. Recorded at the PRAXIS7 conference in Hyderabad, Sreenivasan explores the thorny topics of vanity metrics and influencer marketing, the continued underestimation of LinkedIn, CEOs on Twittter and the rise...

Brendan May, chairman of sustainability advisory firm Robertsbridge, joins the Echo Chamber to talk about sustainability in the context of PR and communications. May ran Weber Shandwick’s sustainability practice before setting up Robertsbridge in 2009. He has advised global companies and brands on sustainability strategies, supply chain risk, sustainable sourcing, communications, reputation and cr...