Posts by Catherine Bayfield

Securing international broadcast coverage for clients is becoming much more prevalent and often the icing on the cake off the back of a successful UK campaign. Many clients have an EMEA and global brief too and selling into more than one territory is often a requirement.

The joint founders and owners of Talker Tailor Trouble Maker spoke to Shout! Communications co-founder Catherine Bayfield, on Shout! Digital Radio, earlier this year. 

Shout! Communications co-founder Catherine Bayfield talked with some of the PR world’s biggest names, including Andrew Bloch, co-founder at Frank.

The UK’s first radio station, dedicated to all things to do with public relations, recently took to the air, broadcasting online for a day. Shout! Digital Radio featured some of the biggest names in the industry and a programme called “Five At Four” show-cased profile interviews with founders and agency bosses including Sarah Ogden, Head of Corporate Brand at 3 Monkeys Zeno.  This is a transcript of some of the highlights from her interview with Shout! Communications Joint Managing Director, Catherine Bayfield:   

The gender pay gap, HeForShe and #MeToo have pushed gender parity to the forefront of 21st century societal changes. Broadcast by definition includes the widest possible audiences; it, therefore, plays a unique and important role in this gender revolution.  TV and radio have a particular responsibility to accurately represent society, both in terms of who appears on our airwaves, and with the journalists who put the programmes together.

It’s been described by some journalists as “the dark art” and by disgruntled PR’s as an industry struggling to adjust, a profession which has many health issues and doesn’t like to self diagnose. It’s good to take a peak behind the PR curtain and as a PR practitioner I’m disappointed to see so much negativity and confusion about who we are and what we do. 

by Catherine Bayfield, Co-Director

Often the kids are brilliant to work with, but the proud mums and dads can sometimes over promise and under deliver when it comes to their child’s ability in front of the camera, literally pushing them in front of the camera in some cases, when their child is tearful and reluctant.  Our recommendation is to over book the number of children you need, invariably one will drop out and even the most outgoing child can clam up when you switch the video camera on.

by Matt Napier, Broadcast Assistant

Much like comparing TV to radio, some stories simply aren’t made for everything. If you’ve got a story with a visual aspect then TV will, naturally, be more appropriate than radio. However, if your campaign is based on spreading information to the masses using spokespeople and statistics, then radio will be the way to go.

by Catherine Bayfield, Co-Director

So your client has decided they want to create an online video for their next PR campaign. Video offers some fantastic opportunities but competition for viewer, particularly editorially is fierce.

by Matt Napier, Broadcast Assistant

Forward planning, the perfect spokesperson, timing, availability… so much more goes into a radio day than you’d think. Read on for some top tips on how to make your radio day a success.

by Matt Napier, Broadcast Assistant

There’s some amazing podcast content out there – much of it available for free. Dramas, documentaries, educational, comedy… whatever you’re in the mood for, it’s there.  And do you know what? The amount of competition out there for listeners means it’s all pretty darned good.

by Catherine Bayfield, Co-Director

From Monday 16th April it’s all change at ITV Daytime with their big move from London’s South Bank to White City.

by Catherine Bayfield, Co-Director

BBC News likes certainty but needs change…that was the premise of the latest Shout! Communications’ Big Talk, featuring a prestigious panel of speakers including  BBC UK News Editor Richard Burgess,  Editor of the Victoria Derbyshire Programme Louisa Compton and Editor of BBC News at 6pm and 10pm, Paul Royall.

by Catherine Bayfield, Co-Director

It is often seen as the icing on the cake or an expensive add-on, but including broadcast PR in a new business proposal isn’t as challenging as you might think.

Lost for words. We’ve all been there at some time or other. But how much more excruciating is it to do it on air?

Broadcast PR advice from the Experts – Essential reading if you are planning on using case studies in your next campaign.

Find out why media training is essential if you want your spokesperson to get the most out of their broadcast interview.

Read this blog to discover where PR video goes wrong – and how to do it right.

Media Training tips to help you become the perfect broadcast spokesperson

Hooking your next broadcast PR story idea onto an upcoming seasonal event will greatly increase the chance of it getting covered.

By investing wisely, you can make even a small broadcast PR budget go a long way.

Avoid making your next corporate video a yawn-fest. Follow these tips to guarantee an engaging video for your brand.

Latest research and an announcement from Channel 4 reveal interesting points about online viewing habits – useful reading for anyone considering video production.

Don’t waste away a PR budget with a ‘spray and pray’ approach. Ensure you get the best PR coverage by focusing on smaller, targeted audiences.

Find out more about Shout! Communications’ Video Summit for PR agencies and in-house communications staff being held on April 3rd.

Usually, radio days involve both pre rec and live interviews across on average around 15 stations in one morning.

Competing for air-time in increasingly crowded radio space is an ongoing challenge for PR agencies seeking editorial coverage.

Shout! spent a week by the sea in Southampton to help secure coverage for Princess Cruises as they launched their new ship Royal Princess.  All cruise ships have a Godmother, and Royal Princess was officially named by the Duchess of Cambridge, who cut the rope to break the traditional bottle of champagne on the ship’s hull.

In business, online video content has struggled to be taken seriously.  In fact, the video content for brands has evolved into a major new force of social networking that is either directly profitable or brand-building.

As more people look to their Smartphones and Tablets for interaction, online video is becoming increasingly important platform to consume media.