Category: Corporate Communications

Below are some news items and blog posts relating to the Corporate Communications services provided by Mangold Consultancy.

Our aim is to help you assess, develop and create the right “tone-of-voice” for your corporate communications.

For details on the full range of services we provide, please visit the main Mangold Consultancy Services page.

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A critical friend

Critical Friend

A critical friend.

It’s the kind of friend, colleague and advisor I like to be.

It’s a balancing act advising CEOs when their business is under attack. Don’t say enough and you’re not worth the investment, push too hard and you can be seen as well….pushy.

So for me and Mangold Consultancy being a critical friend means being:
● straightforward by giving clear advice
● open and honest, even if it’s hard to hear
● invested in clients and their challenges, until issues are resolved

And when you look at it like that, it mirrors the relationships I have with friends too.

With special thanks to Ayesha Murray for being one of my very special and crucial critical friends.

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What we can all learn from tabloid journalists…

What we can learn from tabloid journalists

When I listen to tabloid journalists talk about their trade, it is clear how well they know their reader. Their instinct first and last is to ask questions and write articles that matter to their audience and are worth taking their precious time to read.

Understanding who you are writing for is rule number one, whether it is a front page splash or an open letter to customers apologising for a product failure.

In a crisis there are so many people you need to communicate with; employees, customers, suppliers, unions, partners, regulators, the media to name just a few.

The key is to keep the essence of the message the same but adapt it depending on the audience.

Let me give you an example:

You’ve had to recall your best selling product because some people say it doesn’t work. Your media statement and social posts will contain the same information but the tone they’re written in will be very different. There should be no hint of “corporate” when posting on social media so you need to work with the social team to get the tone the same as all the usual posts, whilst maintaining the overall message you are communicating to the media and others.

The key, particularly in crisis comms, is to assume everything you write will end up in the hands of the media or others who may want to scrutinise it, so consistency is everything. And you need to treat each stakeholder individually, understanding their needs, expectations and mind set and how you want them to feel before you start to explain to them what’s going on.

As with so much of our work at Mangold Consultancy there is loads of cross over between the skills we developed as journalists and those we now use in communications.

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What do we really offer?

Mangold Team Meeting

What do we actually offer?

That’s a big question that we explore often: what makes us and the business, Mangold Consultancy, different to any other crisis comms and media training consultancy?

We have many USPs but the two main ones are that we’re journalist-led and insight-driven.

Let me explain.

Journalist-led:

– With over 25 years of experience in journalism (BBC, national newspapers and regional media), social media, politics and communications, we provide unique insights into how the media works.

– We can identify and anticipate solutions to potential issues before they arise and bring a cynical journalist’s perspective to our work, always questioning communications to ensure credibility.

Insight-driven:

– Over the last decade, we’ve honed our approach based on client needs and the ever-evolving social and media landscape.

– Senior leaders find peace of mind knowing that we have faced challenging situations as both journalists and communications specialists.

– Our experience and resilience allow us to ask the tough questions necessary for complete crisis preparedness and management.

Why does this matter?
It’s a fact that no organisation is too big to get it wrong. Many of the largest ones miss the most obvious issues. Near misses and tragedies often stem from a weak culture or lack of prep.

That is why we put our all into preparation, covering every scenario to ensure our clients feel fully equipped and ready for any situation.

At Mangold Consultancy, we’re passionate about helping organisations communicate effectively and manage their reputations. Our insight-driven, journalist-led approach ensures our clients are always prepared, credible and resilient.

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Living through crises

Horse Meat Scandal

How do you live through crises?

You know, the ones in real-time, vivid colour, surround sound, no let up.

When I talk about living through crises, plural, I mean it. The horse meat scandal was one.

Back in 2013, relatively new to crisis communications, my brief was to support a client facing the force of media scrutiny, after processed beef products sold by UK supermarkets were found to contain horse meat.

Rooted to one room, the phone an extension of my ear, time dictated by challenging media calls, social media chatter and client needs – it was the most exceptional 10 days of my life.

I discovered:

  1. why asking ‘stupid questions’ always pays
  2. how to manage aggressive, demanding and well informed journalists
  3. the crisis peak is soon followed by reputational build back requiring equal if not greater resilience.

If you want to talk lived crisis experience, please give me a shout.

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How to make someone really stop and listen

How to make someone stop and listen

How do you make people stop and listen?

After years spent preparing for interviews, both asking and answering questions. And even more following the big news interviews, I wanted to summarise what makes me really listen:

1. Paint me a picture – literally. Use language with colour, imagery and stories to help me make an emotional connection with what you are talking about.

2. Vocal power. Use your tone of voice, pauses and stress on critical words, to make it feel like you’re talking directly to me.

3. Hold my hand. Lead me through what you’re saying by keeping it simple, impactful and ultimately memorable.

Image credit: Magda Ehlers

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I hate doing video…

I hate doing video
  • I hate listening to my own voice.
  • I hate having to watch it back.

And I know lots of people feel exactly the same way.

Given that I train others how to speak on camera I’ve forced myself to take my own medicine and now – I’m actually starting to enjoy it, a little!

Here’s what I’ve learnt and what you need to know…

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Get comfortable with your sound bites

You've got no idea what you're bloody talking about!

When it comes to media training, we often see our clients fighting to convert wordy corporate messages into convincing sound bites.

So how do you get comfortable with what you’re saying?

Practice with the corporate message, a bit, and then abandon it and practice saying it like you’re talking to a friend.

Remember why you’re doing the interview – to promote, rebut or disrupt – keep a laser focus on your why, through every twist and turn of the interview.

Finally don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. Not like a parrot, but by using examples to explain your points in different ways.

Contact me if you’d like any more media training tips.

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We train award winners!

Betsy the Dog - Award Winner

🤗 Huge congratulations to our 4 fabulous clients recognised as inspiring industry leaders. Well-earned, richly deserved.

👀 Discretion prevents a public shout-out, but you know who you are!

For clients on the journey to awards, our media training is still a win – why?

💭 Reconciling opposing views in the office

👊 Confidence to answer difficult questions in front of an audience

⚖ Diplomacy to find centre ground in a professional stand-off

🏋‍♂️ Clarity to sell strengths in a VIP meeting

👉 Media training is a recipe for success in these situations and more.

🐶 Thanks to Betsy for wearing her award with such good grace.

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Space Shuttle Learnings

Space Shuttle - The failure to imagine the consequences of failure are catastrophic

Tell your boss to watch this Space Shuttle documentary…

📢 Are you the lone voice nudging senior colleagues about crisis planning?

🤔 Are there known issues too trifling to confront amongst all the “business as usual”?

Watch ‘The Space Shuttle that Fell To Earth’ on BBC iPlayer and tell your bosses to do the same, if you want to get crisis communications at the top of the agenda.

👍 Congratulations to Mindhouse Productions, this brilliant 3-parter, sensitively told a difficult story, which among many things shows why a culture of open communication matters. And is as important as crisis preparation.

🚀 Even if you are not in the business of space flight, speaking out, seeking answers and encouraging conversations, will help avoid issues becoming devastating crises.

And give me a shout if your crisis comms nudge could do with a shoulder.

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Good Ship Mangold ahoy!

The Good Ship Mangold

The good ship Mangold Consultancy continues on a strong course, thanks to the team covering my watch during a recent stay ashore!


Here are some treasures discovered on my return…

Problem: Keeping the spokesperson’s muscle flexed.

Solution: Meet our clients with a fitness mindset to media training – regular sessions to grow the muscles needed by providing current, timely and relevant insight and examples of press performance done well.

Problem: Organisations are facing increasing scrutiny from unannounced visitors demanding a big ask of frontline teams who meet them.

Solution: Provide practical ways to keep pace with changing methods of scrutiny, which reinforce reputation management and protect staff wellbeing.

PS. Time out is an excellent way to take a bird’s-eye view of your surroundings and future course. Many thanks to Jess Mangold, Estelle Kinzett, Justin Clark, Amanda Coleman and Emma Davies for your “all hands on deck” approach!

Thank you to DALL-E Open Ai for this image.

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The press doorstep – can you handle it?

The press doorstep - can you handle it?

Only watch this if you KNOW how to handle a doorstep*

The infamous doorstep only ends when the journalist leaves with something.

A no comment, a closed door, or in this case a response.

Managing a doorstep takes some well thought through choreography.

*Full disclosure, this one features my Dad, Tom Mangold, in action on BBC Panorama in 1997 so I may be biased.

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The Post Office, Boohoo and the moments I miss investigative journalism

Investigative Journalism

It’s times like these that I miss making TV.

Watching Mr Bates vs the Post Office and the long overdue response from the Government I’m reminded about the power of TV and its reach – 9.2 million people watched the first episode, and that was before people started really talking about it.

Yes, there are lots of means to get publicity for your cause these days but there is nothing more convincing than real human stories, told well, through public service broadcasting.

Meanwhile, a BBC investigation has found that Boohoo put ‘Made in UK’ labels on clothes made overseas.

Ooooh to have been part of the team uncovering that little nugget.

These dramas and investigations take big teams of highly talented individuals, they take money (so lacking in journalism these days) and they take a collective will to ‘out the truth’ even when it can be months and years to gather the evidence you need.

My advice to any business on the receiving end of one of these investigations is take it seriously, if they’re coming for your response, they’ve already got the evidence they need and the truth, well the truth will always out, even if it takes 25 years.