Beyond the Noise - the PRWeek podcast

In a Cannes Lions special, PRWeek’s Beyond the Noise speaks to communications professionals from Edelman, Burson and Smarts about this year’s Festival.Ahead of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which starts on Monday (22 June), PRWeek UK spoke to Edelman’s international chief creative officer, international, Kate Stanners, alongside Burson’s chief strategy officer, Eleanor Sullivan, and Smarts’ brand futures director, Natalie Moores.Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest communications and PR issues. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen in the browser above or on your favourite platform.The trio discuss what they are looking forward to at this year’s event, whether purpose-led campaigns will win big this year, and the impact of AI technology. They also offer advice on how to get the most out of the festival from a business perspective.Asked whether the festival may look a bit extravagant in 2026, especially given industry consolidation and cost-cutting, alongside the ongoing geopolitical strife, the professionals share their thoughts. As part of the episode, the three comms pros debate earned creativity within the PR Lions, and if the lines between PR and advertising have blurred. Stanners, who spent two decades at advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi before joining Edelman last year, dismissed the idea of a turf war between PR and advertising agencies.“There is a school of thought where advertising agencies are saying: ‘Watch out, PR companies, we know how to do it,’” she said. “I think, interestingly, it’s the wrong discussion to have. This is about recognising the power of a very different media landscape.”In the discussion, Stanners argued that audience behaviour increasingly favours earned communications over traditional advertising.“Ninety-nine per cent of people would like to skip the ads if they could, so that tells us a huge amount,” she said. “People are significantly more likely to trust work that comes in an earned space, which also tells us a huge amount.” PR retains a unique advantage in creating earned impact, added Stanners. “It is a battleground, probably, for all sorts of businesses to be playing in. But a truly earned piece of work plays slightly differently.”The three professionals assess the festival’s updated guidelines, introduced following controversies at last year’s awards, and whether they will prove effective.And the panel members share their own experiences at Cannes and outline the criteria they use to evaluate what makes a standout PR campaign. 

‘If you’re talking about brand reputation, this World Cup is probably the most important comms and strategy campaign for nations and for an organisation (FIFA) that we’ve ever seen… and it’s fraught with dangers,’ says MSQ Sport & Entertainment’s co-founder Steve Martin, on a World Cup Special podcast by PRWeek.Speaking on the latest episode of Beyond the Noise, MSQ Sport & Entertainment co-founder Steve Martin, the most influential Sports Agency professional in PRWeek’s 2026 Power Book, argues that “PR is having an extraordinary renaissance” with this World Cup, bearing in mind both the amount of earned-media-led brand campaigns and the level of reputation management required in what is proving a highly politicised tournament.Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest communications and PR issues. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.In this episode, Martin was joined by fellow sports comms expert Sarah Hartwell, executive director for sports entertainment consultancy 50 Sport, who is also a proud Canadian.Hosted by PRWeek editor-in-chief Danny Rogers, Martin and Hartwell discuss successful brand campaigns from Nike, Adidas, Irn-Bru, Duracell, Lego, Burberry and others.They also talk about some of the damaging stories that are impacting the reputation of FIFA and the United States, as well as the opportunities for fellow host nations Canada and Mexico.

In a Pride Month special, PRWeek UK speaks to two prominent LGBTQ+ PR professionals on the comms industry’s progress, as well as analysing what ‘corporate pride’ looks like in 2026.Christina Peach, director at FleishmanHillard and head of comms for London Pride 2026, is our guest on this week’s podcast, alongside Josh Wheeler, founder of Be Broadcast PR and head of comms at InterComms, the network for LGBTQ+ PR professionals.Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest communications and PR issues. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or on your favourite platform.The guests dissect the finding that the majority of LGBTQ+ comms professionals do not feel there are visible or vocal role models within the industry, and about half believe LGBTQ+ practitioners become less open about their identity as they become more senior.Speaking to PRWeek deputy news editor Evie Barrett, Peach and Wheeler also discuss the effects of big businesses scaling back their DEI initiatives, giving examples of organisations that they believe engage authentically with Pride Month.The guests offer tips to employers on being more inclusive, as well as advice to PR professionals struggling to be open about their identity in the workplace.

Why do people in the space sector think they have a comms problem and yet the public at large think space is sexy? Should we stop evangelising about the technology that gets stuff into space rather than the core marketing message? After all, KFC is about the chicken not the trucks that deliver it.What are the leadership opportunities in the UK from launch in Scotland and what is the “environmental conscience” behind that endeavour? And how did we end up with kids in St Austell working on global lunar space missions on the back of a famous “failure”?Join Alice, Jess Ratty from Halo Global and John Harrington UK editor of PR Week, as they confront the introspection of space and figure out better ways of confounding British understatement and amazing a world of would-be investors.Contributors:Alice Bunn, President of UKspace Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng | LinkedInUKspace: Overview | LinkedIn Jess Ratty, Founder and Leader, Halo GlobalJess Ratty | LinkedInJohn Harrington, UK Editor, PR WeekJohn Harrington | LinkedInPR Week UKKey topics covered:CommunicationsMarketingLeadership opportunitiesSaxa Vord launchEnvironmentSpaceport CornwallVirgin Orbit’s “Start me Up” mission

Nils Leonard, co-founder of renowned ad agency Uncommon, is a guest on this week’s PRWeek Beyond the Noise podcast episode – speaking alongside Randy Manicks, managing partner of the firm’s PR arm.The Uncommon leaders discuss how the firm’s PR, Culture & Influence practice – which launched in February – has performed so far.Leonard discusses how he caused a stir in the PR industry by setting out his ambition to “carve out a new space in a tired category” with the launch of Uncommon’s PR offer.Speaking with PRWeek UK deputy news editor Evie Barrett, he explains how he believes traditional PR agencies could improve their offer, and reveals the types of briefs that Uncommon’s PR division has worked on so far.Meanwhile, Manicks, a former managing director at comms agency John Doe, dissects the difference between working at a traditional PR firm versus a creative agency that has expanded into PR.Elsewhere, the pair argue that more PR agencies should be boosting their own profile with independent projects alongside launching client work.

In each episode of the new podcast series Am I the PR A***hole? (AITPRA), PRWeek will read out your anonymous PR confessions and our judges – Lynn Advisory founder Shayoni Lynn and Hoffman Agency UK co-MD Richard Fogg – will decide whether an ethical line has been crossed. Confessions can be submitted via this link.This week’s confessions include:Purposely uploading unflattering images to a press portalPitching the same ‘exclusive’ to two rival newspapersAsking juniors to sort travel adminAnd finally… booking a destructive thrash techno band for a credit card launch.

How should public affairs and political comms in the UK navigate political upheaval? PRWeek’s latest podcast takes a look.This week’s episode of Beyond the Noise features Damion Potter, executive chairman, public affairs in the UK, at H/Advisors; Emily Fermor, partner at Hanbury Strategy and chair of the PRCA Public Affairs Professional Board; and Fraser Raleigh, MD, public affairs and government relations, at SEC Newgate.Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform.As Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces his first proper challenge as Labour leader since coming to office, our guests discuss how their workload has changed since the crisis began following the elections on 7 May.They talk about what clients have been looking for specifically in this period of uncertainty and how they know which politicians, spads and civil servants to target in particular.Speaking to PRWeek UK editor John Harrington, they discuss whether they think the expected leadership challengers are likely to be more or less amenable to businesses and lobbying should they come to power. How the Starmer government has differed from expectations from a public affairs perspective, and how this has changed over time, is also examined.The guests also give their perspective on how they think the political crisis might end – and whether Starmer will last the distance.

What does PRWeek’s UK Top 150 Consultancies project tell us about the agency world in 2026 and beyond? PRWeek’s latest podcast takes a look.Beyond the Noise looks at some of the biggest issues affecting communications and PR. Download the podcast via Apple, Spotify, or listen on your favourite platform. This week, PRWeek journalists Danny Rogers (editor-in-chief), John Harrington (UK editor) and Siobhan Holt (deputy editor) delve into some of the main findings from PRWeek’s flagship UK Top 150 Consultancies project, which went live this week.They look at how agencies are increasingly having to run to stand still, especially given the pressure on margins, despite the agency sector overall being in growth.The trio discuss what agency leaders are saying about trading in 2025 and so far this year, and look at trends across different sectors, including consumer, health and tech PR.The journalists also discuss trends such as the apparent deprioritisation of media relations and the growing importance of AI, and look at changes in headcount, redundancies and more.