EP012 | Brand Authenticity in the Era of Fake News

Bulletproof Agency Network Podcast

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Bulletproof Agency proudly presents this podcast

In this episode, we are back at #BeeAuthentic for The Steve Kuncewicz panel to discuss brand authenticity in the era of fake news. Steve (Slater & Gordon) is joined by Mel Powell and David Edmundson-Bird (Manchester Metropolitan University Business School), and Anna Varley Jones (Weber Shandwick).

Topics covered in this episode:

• What is fake news?.
• Millennials: are they better equipped to identify and avoid fake news?
• Anna Varley Jones Talks about how Weber Shandwick tackles the problem.
• The level of responsibility mainstream news media bears.
• How many brands are actually authentic?
• The legal and social responsibility of platforms like Facebook or Google for hosting fake news.
• Can influencers be a trusted source of information amidst fake news? Self-regulation could be the way forward.
• Can you regain public trust once you’ve lost it and Does a brand’s bad taste really affect their bottom line?

Presenter Bio

A journalist and broadcaster for nearly 30 years, Andy runs his own media consultancy in Manchester working with clients like Weber Shandwick, the NFU, and the Institute of Directors.

Andy started in print before 17 years as a BBC presenter & reporter, appearing on BBC Breakfast, Five Live & the Today programme. For five years Andy presented the award-winning BBC1 current affairs programme Inside Out, travelling across

Europe making documentaries on terrorism, the smuggling of illegal guns into the UK and the Manchester IRA bomb. He also made films with Sir Bobby Charlton, Yoko Ono, Lord Heseltine and Johnny Marr.

Panel Bios

Steve is a principal lawyer in the business advisory team at Slater and Gordon Lawyers in Manchester.He specialises in intellectual property, media and social media law with a particular emphasis on the creative, digital and technology sector. Steve is listed as a “recommended lawyer” in tier 2 of the Legal 500s 2014, 2015, and 2016 North West Technology, Media & Telecoms section.

He is a regular media spokesperson, and has given interviews to the local and national press through BBC Breakfast, Sky News, ITV, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live and LBC London. Steve’s first book, “Legal Issues of Web 2.0 and Social Media”, was published in June 2011 and his second book “Legal Issues of Corporate Communication in the Online World” was published in June 2012.”

Twitter: @SteveKuncewicz

Website: http://www.blmlaw.com

Mel Powell

Mel Powell is a Senior Lecturer in Public Relations and Associate Head for Student Employability at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School. After 10 years as a local authority PR practitioner and then as a theatre marketer, she started to teach PR at university level in 1996 at Leeds Beckett University before moving to Manchester in 2002.

Mel is a member of the PRCA and is CIPR Accredited Practitioner of the CIPR, serving as a co-opted member of the CIPR North West Regional Group since 2011. As well as public relations, she specialises in personal professional development, including personal branding, values and ethics, as well as communications and media theory, which has led to a developing specialist interest in the area of ‘fake news’.

Website: http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/

Twitter: @MMUPRMel

David Edmundson-Bird

David is Principal Lecturer in Digital Marketing & Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he runs a number of digital communications programmes, and is Course Leader for Manchester Met’s new full-time MSc Digital Marketing Communications.

David founded Manchester Met’s Agency Life programme 5 years ago to enable students experience live work skills in the workplace very early in their course. He also set up their first part-time MSc in Digital Marketing in 2007, a programme that has now graduated nearly 300 high-profile professionals into the profession.

He has enjoyed several spells in academia as well as senior management roles in the digital sector, and even helped to set up Manchester’s second web design agency back in 1995

Website: http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/

Twitter: @groovegenerator

Anna Varley Jones

Anna Varley Jones is Weber Shandwick Manchester’s consumer marketing director and leads an integrated team of marketing experts working on national and global clients in the travel, retail, FMCG and technology sectors.

Specialising in delivering smart campaigns that have real impact for a business, Anna has significant experience as a trusted advisor big brands from strategy development through to campaign delivery. Anna is passionate about insight-driven creativity and develops campaigns built on robust insights, trends and data to create compelling stories that resonate with consumers.

Anna leads integrated project teams ensuring that clients have access to the planning, creative, technology and content specialists that they need to drive impactful and disruptive work.

She has a Masters Distinction in Public Relations.

Website: http://webershandwick.co.uk/

Twitter: @annavarleyjones

Next up we have Robert Craven helping you build the best business yet!