Communications and PR is playing a critical role helping businesses in some of the industries hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis. Rooster managing director James Brooke and Palm PR founding director Liam Keogh take us through the challenges faced by travel, tourism and hospitality, and how the crisis is having a major impact on their own agencies.

Business communications during the coronavirus crisis requires a completely new approach to messaging and tone. People do not want to be marketed to and companies have quickly had to move away from behaving like brands towards acting like businesses that serve a genuine purpose. Blurred CEO Nik Govier and Frank managing partner Andrew Bloch join PRWeek's Arvind Hickman to debate how to strike the right tone in such unprecedented and challenging times. Brands discussed include: BrewDog, LVMH, Disney+, Burger King, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, British Airways, KFC, Guinness, Paddy Power, Joe Wicks, Wetherspoon's Tim Martin and more.

3 Mar, 09:20A record number of brands are sponsoring athletes and teams at the Tokyo Olympic Games. It proves the 'five rings' are still a major draw – but can sponsorship in such a cluttered environment deliver value? British Olympic Association’s Tim Ellerton, H+K’s Jamie Corr, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment's Jamie-Wynne Morgan and The Playbook’s Nick Meakin discuss how brands are making the most of the Olympics, and other trends in sports marketing.

27 Nov 2019, 15:35PR professionals from ethnic minority backgrounds are being held back in their careers in what is a largely white industry. A combination of prejudice in the recruitment process, unconscious bias that favours white employees, apathy about the issue, and a lack of understanding is holding back BAME talent. BME PR Pros’ Elizabeth Bananuka, Manifest’s Julian Obubo and WX’s Zoe Stafford discuss the problem, why it exists, some positive programmes and what can be done to improve diversity in the communications industry.

25 Nov 2019, 14:17Is it possible for an industry that is known for its 'always on' culture and insane deadlines to work flexibly? The answer is 'yes', but to date there are only a handful of agencies that do flexible working well. Some leading lights in flexible working, Golin's Bib Hilton, The PR Network's George Blizzard, Radioactive PR's Rich Leigh and Sesame's Emily Buckland, share their experiences and have called for a broader cultural shift to allow flexible working to become the norm. They warn the industry is at risk of 'flex washing' and there aren't enough flexible roles to retain young talent, and much more.

14 Oct 2019, 15:57Agencies and brands are investing more of their marketing budgets into social cause campaigns, but not all are getting it right. Woke-washing has become a concern and some marketers are reluctant to be called out as hypocrites. Global expert on purpose marketing Sue Garrard used to lead Unilever’s sustainability and comms program. She joins Blurred co-founder Nik Govier and Freuds partner Lotte Jones to discuss whether brands should play in the purpose space, the tension between backing a social cause and being called out as a hypocrite, and how to do purpose marcoms effectively.

30 Jul 2019, 15:02Agency leaders and many marketers believe the pitching process isn’t fit for purpose, but is this view shard by new business and procurement consultants? The answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no’. The process is far from perfect and can be improved, but us still a vital mechanism in how clients choose agency partners. That’s the verdict of procurement guru Tina Fegent and new business experts Tony Spong (AAR) and Charlie Carpenter (Creativebrief). They explain the parts of pitching that work well and how highly clients prioritise PR pitches – which may make for uncomfortable listening to some.

10 Jul 2019, 17:03At this year’s Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity,established PR consultancies failed to score the top prize in the PR Lions. Is this a sign that PR agencies are still lagging in the creative stakes or is their cause for optimism? Edelman’s Michelle Hutton, Weber Shandwick’s James Nester and The Romans' OttilieRatcliffe join us to discuss creativity in PR.

12 Jun 2019, 08:00Pitching has recently been described as “broken” and a “shit show” by prominent agency leaders. In this episode we look at the pitch process and discuss whether it is fit for purpose and what can be done to improve. To unpack pitching, we are joined by James Herring from Taylor Herring, Mandy Sharp from Tin Man and Snapchat’s director of international communications, Tanya Ridd.

3 May 2019, 16:56Each year PRWeek analyses the top 150 consultancies in the UK and some of the key trends in the market. In this special podcast, Ketchum's Jo-ann Robertson, Golin's Bibi Hilton and W's Warren Johnson joins PRWeek's John Harrington to debate the major findings, including opportunities and challenges, talent and diversity, pitching, and the service areas that agencies are increasingly investing in.