Digital Download with Paul Sutton

Digital Download with Paul Sutton episodes:

• 12.06.2023

  My Business Very Nearly Cost Me My Home

  In 2006 I quit my secure, salaried job in a PR agency to set up a business selling luxury pet accessories. Three years later and I was just a few short weeks away from losing my house and being declared...

  
• 11.22.2023

  Screen Time, Burnout & techtimeout

  The average person spends the equivalent of one entire month per year looking at their phone. They check it an average of 58 times per day. Overall screen time is at an all time high of 12 hours per day....

  
• 11.08.2023

  Need to Know: The Impact of Technology on the Future of PR

  In the face of changes in the way Google works, how artificial intelligence is making inroads into copywriting and data analysis, the decline of conventional media and developments at X (formerly Twitter), the communications industry is coming under increasing pressure...

  
• 10.25.2023

  Need to Know: Google Analytics 4 for Communications Pros

  The introduction of Google Analytics 4 this summer was not exactly a surprise. Google had given several years' warning that Universal Analytics would stop collecting data and that users should begin the transition to GA4 sooner rather than later. But...

  
• 10.11.2023

  Need to Know: The Future of Social Media

  Social media is now 15 years old and communications consultants are grappling with a series of fundamental issues related to a brand or organisation's use of social networks. While platforms implement updates on an almost daily basis, the bigger picture...

  
• 09.27.2023

  Need to Know: Sustainable Business Communications

  Barely a day now goes by without a new climate milestone being broken or another extreme weather event wreaking havoc somewhere in the world. But while the causes of climate change are widely acknowledged, the solutions are complex. While we...

  
• 09.13.2023

  Need to Know: The Impact of AI on Communications

  Artificial intelligence is ushering in a new era of effective intelligent and convenient communication. At least, that's what ChatGPT would have you believe. But while the market for AI tools has exploded over the last few months, many of those...

  
• 09.06.2023

  ‘Need to Know’ season trailer

  After a much longer than anticipated hiatus, the Digital Download podcast is back. And we're diving back into the digital communications world with a series of shows intended to catch you up on the latest developments. This season features topics including...

  
• 07.20.2022

  Climate Crisis: What Are Communicators’ Moral Obligations?

  As the UK sweltered through record high temperatures this week, climate misinformation went into overdrive. Recent reports show high levels of greenwashing and non-existent impact assessments of organisational climate initiatives and, quite simply, this has to change. This week Paul...

  
• 07.06.2022

  What do Consumers Want from Brands in 2022?

  With social justice, the cost of living crisis, war in Ukraine, COVID, the environment and the US Senate dominating the news agenda, there's an awful for consumers to take in. So when it comes to the brands they love, what...

  
• 06.22.2022

  Metaverse Marketing: Hope or Hype?

  Should brands get involved in the metaverse, or just ignore it? What even is the metaverse?! This week Paul is joined by blockchain developer Holly Atkinson and experienced digital strategist James Whatley to address all the publicity around the metaverse...

  
• 06.08.2022

  How to Be Yourself on Social Media

  Have you noticed the volume of people trying, and failing terribly, to be their authentic selves on LinkedIn recently? This week Paul is joined by PR consultant and business owner Antonia Taylor to discuss why the benefits of being yourself...

  
• 05.18.2022

  Personality Goes a Long Way: The Importance of Brand Voice

  What brands say and how they say it has come increasingly into focus in the last couple of years. So why do so many companies suck so badly when it comes to having a distinct personality of their own? This...

  
• 05.04.2022

  Facebook Advertising: The End is Nigh

  Facebook ads used to be brilliant for reaching highly segmented niche audiences and for creating a positive ROI. But not anymore. Interest targeting doesn't work like it used to and conversion costs have escalated. This week Paul is joined by...

  
• 04.20.2022

  Why Do You Still Have a Facebook Page?

  Do your Facebook Page posts regularly get next to no engagement? Do the same posts on other networks perform considerably better? Do you sometimes question whether your audience is even seeing your posts? If you answered 'yes' to any of...

  
• 04.06.2022

  Media, Celebrities & the Balance of Power

  Influencers have changed the nature of celebrity and the power dynamic of the media for good. Individuals now have the ability to impact the narrative around stories, and brands have to fully understand how to ensure they work in harmony...

  
• 03.21.2022

  Wikipedia for Business

  Wikipedia is an anomaly for marketing professionals; a fiercely moderated bastion to neutrality on the internet that public relations and marketing professionals have failed to crack. And yet, especially for large companies and high profile individuals, it can be extremely...

  
• 03.07.2022

  NFTs. WTF?!

  NFTs have become ubiquitous over the last six months, with everyone from Snoop Dogg to Gary Vaynerchuck extolling their virtues. As 'the next big thing', marketers have more than a passing interest. And yet most are struggling to get their...

  
• 02.21.2022

  PR Survived the Pandemic! Or Did It?

  Back in the summer of 2020 as the world got to grips with COVID-19, PR leader Gini Dietrich made a bold prediction on this podcast that the public relations industry would not survive the pandemic as a standalone discipline. 18...

  
• 12.07.2021

  How to Futureproof Your Career for 2022

  2021 has been a struggle for many in the communications industry, with the ongoing pandemic coupled with evolving working processes and increasing demand on new knowledge and skills. Coasting is no longer an option for a successful career in marketing...

  
• 12.01.2021

  3 Key Challenges for Public Relations in 2022

  The public relations industry has rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic far quicker and stronger than many predicted it would. It is arguably in better shape now than it was two years ago. But the impact of the pandemic on the...

  
• 11.24.2021

  Tackling Sustainability & Avoiding Greenwashing

  COP26 has thrust climate change and sustainability into the boardrooms of every single marginally responsible company around the world. While Governments have a critical role to play, the spotlight is increasingly on business to step up to the plate. The job...

  
• 11.10.2021

  The Downsides of Personal Branding

  Personal branding is a big thing in 2021, with much written on the significant business value of having a strong online presence and reputation. But among all the hype, no-one ever talks about the drawbacks of becoming 'known'.  In this episode...

  
• 11.03.2021

  Maybe It’s Time to Quit Facebook

  The Wall Street Journal's coverage of whistleblower Francis Haughen's leaked documents from inside Facebook make for fascinating and at times very disturbing reading. Among the core findings are the way the Facebook algorithm promotes division, how Facebook has a 'white...

  
• 10.27.2021

  Is Share of Search the Missing Link in Comms Measurement?

  Share of search has been used in the advertising industry for years as a way to prove a causal link between advertising and business results. It follows the line of thought that one of the first things a person does...

  
• 10.20.2021

  The Most Popular Metrics in PR in 2021

  Measurement has been a monkey on the public relations industry's back for as long as anyone can remember. But sometimes it helps to look at where the industry is now compared to where it was a few years ago and...

  
• 10.13.2021

  What Does it Take to Build and Market an App?

  Do we need an app? It's something that's now heard very often in marketing circles, as if building, maintaining and marketing an app is the easiest thing in the world. But the technical complexity of 'an app', not to mention...

  
• 10.10.2021

  Is Digital Connectivity Bad for our Mental Health? [rebroadcast]

  The last two years are starting to take their toll on us. Stories of struggling with the relentlessness of social and economic unrest are common, and motivation can be harder to come by than a full tank of petrol at...

  
• 07.14.2021

  Trolling & Online Abuse: Enough is Enough

  The online abuse targeted at Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after England's Euro 2020 final defeat was sickening. And yet it was entirely predictable, and is the latest in a long line of serious trolling incidents involving public...

  
• 06.23.2021

  Socially Mobile: Helping PR Practitioners Increase Their Earning Potential

  In the last few years the lack of diversity in the public relations industry and the over-indexing of private school-educated practitioners has come under increasing scrutiny. However, not much has changed. A new charitable PR school project called Socially Mobile aims...

  
• 06.09.2021

  Courage as the Key to Great Leadership

  In the last year leaders have had to make difficult decisions, push through very uncomfortable situations and be resilient when things got really tough. More than 50 such people launched new PR agencies at a time when the world was...

  
• 05.26.2021

  Podcasting for Business: Worth the Effort?

  Podcasting continues to go from strength to strength, with over 180% more monthly downloads in 2020 than in 2019 according to Chartable. With demand at an all-time high, creators are launching more shows than ever before, and many businesses are...

  
• 05.12.2021

  Boohoo: No Trust, No Ethics, No Problem

  In the last 9 months, fashion retailer Boohoo has been investigated for modern slavery, been accused of making people work with no social distancing during lockdown, and been found to price the same garments at significantly different prices across its...

  
• 04.28.2021

  PR and the Hybrid Office

  During the last year communications agencies and marketing departments everywhere have adapted to remote working and a virtual business model. But while for most it has been a bootstrapping exercise, for others it's been second nature. As a result, debate...

  
• 04.14.2021

  Is Comms Measurement Finally Coming of Age?

  During the pandemic the thorny topic of public relations measurement and evaluation has taken a back seat to things like, well, survival! But now that the business world is creating new ways of working and new methods of marketing, it's...

  
• 03.31.2021

  Clubhouse: Next Big Thing or Much Ado About Nothing?

  Clubhouse is being heralded as the latest breakthrough app in the social media world. Despite still being in beta, invite-only and not yet available on Android, the app reached 10 million weekly active users by the end of February. Critics, however,...

  
• 03.17.2021

  Screen Time & Tech Addiction: How Worried Should We Be?

  Over the last year, the amount of time we have all spent on screens has grown significantly. It's been less of a choice and more of a necessity. The average adult now spends around four hours per day on mobile...

  
• 03.03.2021

  Dealing with Redundancy in Marketing Communications

  In the last year 10% of marketers were made redundant due to the impact of COVID-19 and another 13% were put on furlough. The latest data from the Office of National Statistics showed a record 395,000 redundancies in the UK...

  
• 02.17.2021

  The Evolution of Content Marketing

  Content marketing started to take off as an independent discipline in the mid 2000s as social media provided a new way for information and websites to be shared quickly and easily at low cost and at scale. A lot has...

  
• 02.03.2021

  The Future of the Internet

  The internet and digital communications technology has become fundamental to our way of life in the last year. A fast and reliable broadband connection has been vital in feeding ourselves, entertaining ourselves, educating our children and continuing to work during...

  
• 11.25.2020

  The Big Question: What Can We Expect from 2021?

  In the final show of the year, five senior figures in the marketing communications industry discuss what 2021 may hold in store for brands, agencies and individuals. We discuss technological adoption, behavioural change, brand purpose, diversity, innovation, agency start ups,...

  
• 11.11.2020

  Reflections on What 2020 Means for Marketing Communications

  The COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest on either side of the Atlantic, Brexit, a vitriolic US Presidential election and mass redundancies are what 2020 will be remembered for. And while the human cost has been massive, with 50 million cases of...

  
• 10.28.2020

  Podcast Analysis & Outreach Just Got Simple

  Until now, podcast discovery, research and outreach has been an arduous task. Trying to find relevant podcasts in a specific topical niche has largely been a manual job, while publicly available listener statistics and analytics have been non-existent. However, a...

  
• 10.14.2020

  Latest Trends in the Digital Consumer

  At this time of year thought leaders start predicting what will happen in marketing communications over the next 12 months. But most of those predictions are based upon opinion rather than data. That criticism cannot be levelled at the likes...

  
• 09.30.2020

  Social Media, Scandal & Selling Records

  In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Transvision Vamp was one of the most popular alternative bands in the UK, with a number one album and five top 20 singles. No stranger to controversy, lead singer Wendy James was renowned...

  
• 09.16.2020

  How to Use UGC to Build Trust & Affinity

  Brilliant user generated content is seen by some marketers as the holy grail. UGC can create greater engagement, build trust and affinity, and provide endorsement for other marketing activities. Above all, 60% of consumers think that user generated content is...

  
• 09.02.2020

  Calling Communicators: Action not Words

  The Chartered Institute of Public Relations was founded in 1948 and currently has around 10,000 members. In common with most organisations, the CIPR has had to adapt rapidly to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is being looked...

  
• 08.19.2020

  The Disruptors: Take Control of Your Own Destiny

  In part two of a duo of shows focused on the communications professionals who are shaking up the industry, we discuss conventional agency models and their limitations, selling results not time, the importance of transparency, ditching the pitch process, and...

  
• 08.05.2020

  The Disruptors: A Template for the Future of Communications

  On the last episode of the podcast, we discussed how the public relations industry is under serious threat from the pandemic. In this show we outline a template for the future that will ensure that communications agencies not only survive,...

  
• 07.22.2020

  PR Won’t Survive the Pandemic

  Public relations is at a crossroads. Years of failing to adequately address the measurement issue, ignoring associated disciplines like SEO and a steadfast refusal to understand the viewpoint that PR is a tactical function rather than a strategic discipline have...