The Persuaders Podcast

This time we talk to Ellis Aizenberg, Assistant Professor at the Faculty Governance and Global Affairs at the University of Leiden (time of recording Ellis was working at Aarhus University in Denmark). Ellis conducts her research in relation to interest representation, lobbying and perceived legitimacy. We talk to Ellis about her recent article in Governance called "Conflict and salience as drivers of corporate lobbying? An elite survey experiment"

In the episode we cover:

- How conflict can motivate companies to lobby alone instead of together with a business organization

- Different strategies companies can take when they are lobbying

- The challenges business associations have in interest representation - What affects the "appetite" for seeking visibility (or the opposite)

And Ellis also shares her view on transparency registers.

All this in just 30 minutes!

This episode was produced by Sidsel Nørgaard and sponsored by Ulobby, software for Public Affairs.

This time Alan Hardacre swings by the studio and shares his perspectives on the state of Public Affairs as well as the importance of the internal side of Public Affairs.

Alan has a PhD in international relations from the Loughborough University. Alan has many years of experience both in public administration as well as on the corporate side. He has been practising, teaching and writing on advocacy and Public Affairs for over 20 years. Among other publications, Alan has authored the book "How the EU Institutions Work and... How to Work with the EU Institutions".

In this episode we cover:

- How to build a high-performing Public Affairs function, and how not to!

- Why Public Affairs in the EU is behind the US

- Why EU companies see Public Affairs as a risk-managing function & why that is problematic

- The importance of getting buy-in from senior leadership

- How to avoid being isolated as a Public Affairs proffesional, e.g. if you are based in Brussels

- And one of my favorite topics: the importance of taking the internal side of Public Affairs just as serious as the external side

All this in just 30 minutes!

This episode was produced by Sidsel Nørgaard & sponsored by Ulobby.

In this episode 4 in season 2 of the Persuaders Podcast we talk to Marko Kovic.

Marko has a PhD in communication and media studies from the University of Zurich. He is now a researcher, author and podcaster.

Marko co-authored the paper "Digital astroturfing in politics: Definition, typology, and countermeasures", which is the basis of our conversation.

In the episode we cover:

- What is digital astroturfing

- How common is this phenomenon

- How is it performed - by governments, IO's and corporations

- What it does to our brains

We also talk about misinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories and what causes them to go viral. And finally we talk about psy-ops & disinformation e.g. in wars like in Ukraine.

All this in just 30 minutes.

The episode is sponsored by Ulobby, software for Public Affairs.

In this episode I talk to Mark Dober, Managing Director of Dober Partners and also the man behind Best in Brussels. The Public Affairs job market is on fire at the moment. The demand for skilled Public Affairs pros is by far exceeding the supply. The COVID-19 pandemic has played a big role as a catalyst for this, but also as Public Affairs is no longer just considered a defensive discipline - it has become a business enabler. Mark unfolds these new tendencies and also talks about which skills are in demand currently. He also spills the beans on what he is currently looking most for when recruiting for clients. Specially one skill in particular stands out! We also talk about the wage growth in our industry, which Mark finds unprecedented - and he reveals the current wage levels.

Episode 2, season 2 of the Persuaders Podcast - with PhD Maiken Røed. This time we talk to Maiken Røed, who recently defended her PhD thesis, at the department of political science at Lund University. In her research Maiken primarily focuses on interest groups, political parties as well as the EU. In this episode we discuss when political parties listen to interest groups - in the light of Maikens recent paper "When do political parties listen to interest groups?" - published in January 2022.

In our discussion Maiken - among other questions - answers:

- Which type of parties copy from proposals from interest groups?

- What does media attention mean for how much political parties copy?

- Do political parties change how much they copy and adopt up to elections? And what is the difference between incumbents and opposition parties?

- What does the political system mean for adopting proposals from interest groups?

- If you are an interest group is it then better to stand alone or find alliances in terms of increasing your chances of party adoption?

Answers to all these questions in just 30 minutes!

This episode is sponsored by Ulobby, the leading SaaS-platform for Public Affairs professionals in the Nordics. The episode was produced by Sidsel Nørgaard.

The Persuaders podcast is back with season 2! We kick of this second season with a special episode about trends in Public Affairs. At the beginning of each year Anders Kopp Jensen shares his thoughts about trends in Public Affairs, but this year he shares them on the podcast. Ulobby Public Affairs Director, Sosun Sendi, takes on the role of guest host for this episode and interview Anders about:

• Why he believes the way the Public Affairs function is structured can be more important than hiring "hot names" for the PA team
• Why understanding the environment that the organization is in and what drives it can be more important than a large network
• Why PA professionals are suited to take charge of and drive sustainability efforts in organizations, as well as which skills will be in demand when recruiting PA professionals the coming years

All this in rougly 30 minutes.

This episode is sponsored by Ulobby, the leading SaaS-platform for Public Affairs professionals in the Nordics.

The last 2021-episode of the Persuaders podcast is now out!

My guest on this episode is Sara Carrer. Sara has an impressive career with more than 13 years of experience from the consultancy side before joining the UN World Food Program in 2021 as a Chief Political Officer. In this episode we discuss: - How you handle the switch from the consultancy side to working for the biggest humanitarian organization in the world - How Sara is driven by purpose and how the pandemic and an educational course about happiness and fulfillment influenced Sara to think about her own life and career - Why Sara enjoys teaching in political communication and why it is pivotal for people working in/with policy, Public Affairs or engagement to communicate with emotions - and data! All this and much more in just 30 minutes!

In the 10. episode of the Persuaders podcast my guest is Christophe Diercxsens who works for Too Good To Go as a Global Public Affairs Manager. Christophe has 10 years experience from the consultancy side before joining Too Good To Go in 2019. In this episode we discuss:

- How you handle the switch from the consultancy side to working in-house, including the differences, challenges and pressure. - How Too Good To Go wants to create a paradigm shift to address food waste - and how you actually approach that from Public Affairs perspective. - How you handle working at a rapidly growing company - operational in 16 countries with almost 1400 employees - from a co-working space in Brussels when HQ is based in Copenhagen. All this and much more in just 30 minutes!

My guest on this episode is Troy Scully. Troy is an American living in Brussels and has worked in different senior communication and marketing roles at Lockheed Martin for more than a decade before joining Goodyear in 2016, first as a communications director and now Vice President for Communications & Public Affairs in the EMEA region.

In this episode we had a great conversation about many aspects of Public Affairs, but in particular we wanted to discuss the organizational aspects of Public Affairs.

During our conversation we discuss:

- The placement of the PA function - how it should (ideally) work together with the rest of the organization and the implications you might experience if you place it in the legal team, the R&D team, the communications departments etc.

- The importance of aligning the inside and outside of the organization and how PA pros can deliver this "glue" by providing context to the rest of the organization - a great description by Troy as it also points to where and how PA pros can differentiate themselves as well as create and show their value internally.

- And finally we cover how to measure progress and Troy shares a great project management method which can be used by PA pros - it includes creating "contracts" with your internal stakeholders...

All this in just 30 minutes!

This time we are joined by Andrew Hobbs, Partner & Public Policy Leader at Ernst & Young for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. And this episode we talk about stakeholder capitalism.

Stakeholder capitalism is not a new term, but the term is evolving and is in some ways also being re-defined. As we discuss in this episode, stakeholder capitalism includes focus on creating long-term value not only for shareholders but also for customers, suppliers, employees, communities etc. We talk about why this is important and maybe even necessary to avoid or minimize the damages if you get into trouble as a company and how it can help you in war-time.

Andrew shares his views on what E&Y has learned and how they approach stakeholder capitalism. And he gives a few pieces of advice for Public Affairs professionals and how you gain trust internally and externally and finally how you get leaders involved in the PA work (including stakeholder capitalism).