Interview with Graham Goulden - Media & PR Manager, Fujitsu Services
Q. When did you join Fujitsu Services – what attracted you
to the role?
I had been with the company’s predecessor, ICL, when Fujitsu Services was established in the UK in 2002. Everyone was enormously excited with the prospect of working with a global brand with huge credibility, and I was particularly enthused by the prospect of having the scope to achieve a lot more in a more dynamic entity.
Q. Where were you prior to Fujitsu Services; what have been the main steps in your career as a marketing and communications specialist?
I started out writing university course material and prospectuses, but before ICL I was press officer at the Royal Society of Arts. It was quite a varied role encompassing lecture programmes, design competitions, examination boards and fellowships etc; there was actually only a small amount of press work, but it did provide me with a good grounding across the marcoms mix.
Q. In your opinion what are the key skills necessary for success in your role?
Imagination, diplomacy and calmness.
Imagination, because you need to think outside of the box, to be creative and think of the best way to package a story. You should never assume that if you’ve done something one way once and it worked that it will be equally successful a second time; conversely, an approach that failed first time may actually succeed next time. So imagination and an open mind are crucial.
Diplomacy is needed when handling internal audiences and their perceptions of the media. Some people can be frightened by the media and think that all journalists are out to get you, which of course they are not most of the time. Also tiny errors in a reported story can be seen out of proportion internally, but are usually no big deal, so it is important to present the bigger picture to ones colleagues. At all times, remaining calm – skill number three.
Q. Can you give us an impression of what a typical 'day-in-the-life of Graham Goulden' looks like?
It is a combination of short, medium and long term work: checking the day’s media for any relevant coverage, working on three to four stories that we’ll be releasing soon and having one or two meetings about projects/stories that will develop during the months ahead.
Of course, there are occasionally reactive issues which can quickly reposition a day’s priorities!
Q. What keeps you awake at night?
The unpredictability of the media, not knowing whether a journalist will bite on a particular story and whether the end result will satisfy everyone. This is particularly acute with stories that are in your own control and therefore have more responsibility for. Until the story appears, there’s the worry about whether the results will meet the expectations you have set.
Q. What do you like the most about your job? What is your least favourite part?
I like the variety of the work and not always knowing what will happen each day. I like using past experience to give advice and provide short cuts to a solution. It is also satisfying when establishing a good rapport with journalists, often in the shortest of telephone calls.
The least favourite part has got to be irrelevant meetings, particularly about stories at far too an early stage to be able to judge their value and unlikely to come to fruition for many months. They can be time-consuming, non-productive and a distraction from the really important stories of immediate value.
Q. What are the key challenges for a communications expert in today’s market?
Knowing the best channel to market. At any one time, there are lots of competing stories, there are lots of media targets (increasing rapidly with online titles) and journalists are getting busier. Knowing your market and understanding how to present your story to the best media has got to be the number one challenge.
Q. In your experience how and where can PR agencies add real value?
The greatest attribute that PR agencies bring to the table is the fact that they are working with the media on a day-to-day basis - not only you, but for other clients as well - so their relationship with journalists is very important.
Q. How are things changing – especially in the globalisation of media and access to information?
Although there has been a globalisation of the media, it is important to recognise that people still have a need to see things at a local level - just saying a story is international doesn’t instantly make it more interesting.
With globalisation and the increased access to information through online media such as blogs and wikis, it is even more important to stay focussed on the media that matters and not to get distracted by a lot of extraneous ‘noise’.
Q. What do you regard as the greatest obstacle to effective communication?
I suppose the biggest hurdle is dealing with people who don’t understand what a journalist’s job is: this is again a particular problem with internal audiences who think that journalists are there to write stories that they want to see rather that what interests the readers. It may be an insurmountable problem, but that is because it is not their job to appreciate the nuances of media relations - after all, that is what people like me are here for.
Q. Is social media (blogs, wikis etc) having an impact on the way Fujitsu Services communicates?
Yes, social media is having an impact as it changes the way we communicate with these audiences. With traditional media, readers will often look at articles that are not of direct interest to them just for general information, but blogs and wikis are mainly read by those people that have a direct interest in the subject matter. Also audiences that read blogs, for example, are likely to know more about the subject than their traditional media counterparts.
The result of this is that we all have to be more targeted with our messages and the media we use.
Q. What piece of advice would you give to someone starting in a corp comms role today?
Firstly, to be open minded - particularly in today’s fast paced media landscape with the rise of blogs and social media: don’t be too quick to dismiss things as a fad as they may become more essential.
Secondly, that a key part of communications is listening – take time to hear what other people have to say as they will have a different way of expressing themselves and can have valuable views to bring to the party.
Q. What was the best piece of advice that you’ve been given in your career?
I would have to refer to the old adage of PR being an art, not a science. It is a truism of which I am reminded constantly. When things don’t go to plan, it is precisely because it isn’t a science. Even when they’re going well, other things can easily come along and change all that.
Q. Finally, what did you want to be when you were growing up?
I wanted to be a newsreader. While I didn’t make it quite to that profession, I am in the same industry, just on the other side of the fence.
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The last three months have proved a busy time in the world of media but the one outstanding trend that no one can not have noticed is all the new online publications or blogs covering the environmental issue. From key blogs on such publications as IT Week - which has now turned into a dedicate website edited by James Murray - www.businessgreen.com to other important websites or blogs including:
The Guardian - www.guardian.co.uk/environment
The Telegraph - www.telegraph.co.uk/earth
The Energy Saving Trust - www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/resources/daily_news
ZD Net - www.zdnet.co.uk/toolkits/greenit/0,1000001462,,00.htm
TechWorld - www.techworld.com/green-it/
The most recent addition is from The Guardian that has launched a new website called Tred lightly (www.guardian.co.uk/environment/treadlightly). Tread lightly is a community of people committed to reducing their CO2 emissions through making weekly pledges and recording their actions against their pledges. This will enable people to step up their efforts to reduce their own CO2 emissions, and also to track the combined efforts of the community.
Other key points of interest over the past few months:
CNBC - Gateway to the Middle East
CNBC is launching a new half hour monthly programme in Dubai called Gateway to the Middle East. Each month the programme will provide executives around the world with insights into all that the region has to offer, focusing on business trends and executive lifestyle in the region. The programme will highlight opportunities for making and spending money in the region and will feature extended interviews with the region's high achievers in business, introducing viewers to the personalities behind the biggest corporations.
The Sunday Herald / The Scotsman - Colin Donald has been appointed Business Editor at The Sunday Herald replacing Ken Symon who left in August.
IT PRO - IT PRO has made a couple of job changes, Maggie Holland previously Senior Section Editor has been promoted to Deputy Editor. Nicole Kobie previously Staff Writer has been promoted to Section Editor. Both are continuing to cover their existing news beats. They can both still be reached on +44 (0)20 7907 6000, Maggie_holland@dennis.co.uk and Nicole_kobie@dennis.co.uk respectively.
The Independent - Kate Hughes is joining The Independent in November as Personal Finance Reporter. Kate joins from Financial Adviser where she is Deputy Features Editor.
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