James Crawford is the founder and Managing Director of PR Agency One, and a board director at AMEC, the International Association for PR Measurement.

In this conversation, we talk about why James started his agency, what the early days really looked like, and why he has spent his career pushing PR to prove its value beyond headlines. We get into measurement and attribution, the limits of what you can and cannot track, and how PR teams can use evidence to protect budgets, win trust, and show commercial impact.

We also cover GEO and how brands should respond right now, why “everything is dead” is usually the wrong take, and what it takes to build long term momentum in an industry that is constantly changing.

Find James Crawford:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameswdcrawford/

PR Agency One: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pr-agency-one/

Find Josh Wheeler:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshwheelerbroadcast/

Follow Be Broadcast: https://www.linkedin.com/company/be-broadcast/

https://www.pragencyone.co.uk/

https://bebroadcast.co.uk/

00:00 Intro

02:49 Meet James Crawford, PR Agency One and AMEC

04:25 Why James launched PR Agency One

06:51 The first wins, risk, and backing himself

09:44 Competing, then shifting to doing the work better

10:44 Why measurement became the edge

11:32 Roots, direct response, and early proof of impact

13:06 The limits of attribution and what to accept

14:30 Planning, prediction, and “interest graphs” in media

18:24 Early days of the agency, SEO and opportunity

19:44 Why media relations is tougher now

20:47 Moving from soft stories to bolder campaigns

23:01 Reactivity, brand purpose, and being ready for the BBC

24:03 Research that lasts longer than one news day

26:28 Cost of living era, weak leads, short term thinking

29:33 OneEval explained: Brand, Reputation, Commercial, and planning

33:03 Why evaluation protects teams when leadership changes

35:18 Innovation, AMEC, and staying on top of measurement shifts

38:27 Training the whole team to understand measurement

39:36 GEO, threats and opportunities

41:31 What actually influences LLM visibility right now

43:43 What clients are asking, and what they are missing

45:19 A practical GEO split: classical PR first, tests second

46:56 SEO is not dead, and why “everything is dead” is lazy thinking

48:17 Experimentation as the only sensible approach

48:50 BBC visibility, the long game, and building a track record

50:58 The thread through James’ career: hard work and showing up

53:24 “Accidentally brilliant” and managing people

#PublicRelations #PR #PRAgency #Communications #MediaRelations #Measurement #AMEC #Evaluation #Attribution #Marketing #Reputation #BrandStrategy #DigitalPR #SEO #GEO #AI #ChatGPT #Leadership #AgencyLife #Podcast

PR and sales have more in common than most people want to admit. In this episode, Darryl Sparey, co-founder and Managing Director of Hard Numbers, explains why a “sales backbone” makes you better at PR, why the industry keeps fighting the label, and how Hard Numbers built a reputation around measurable outcomes, including writing KPIs into contracts. We also talk about the shift towards GEO and LLM-driven discovery, why PR should be owning the citations conversation, and the real leadership lessons that come from losing pitches, handling pressure, and learning the hard way about client concentration. If you work in comms, agency leadership, or in-house marketing and you want practical thinking you can apply straight away, this one is for you.

Connect with Darryl Sparey Hard Numbers: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darryl-sparey/ Darryl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darryl-sparey/

Connect with Be Broadcast Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/be-broadcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshwheelerbroadcast/ 00:00 Intro: Darryl Sparey + Hard Numbers

01:18 Sales “backbone” and why it matters in PR

05:26 Why PR people resist being linked to sales

08:39 From Media Report to Precise: learning sales properly

12:25 Moving into SEO/PPC and becoming “numerate” (by effort)

13:30 Words first: reading, social mobility and writing his way out

15:20 Excel, Salesforce and the practical power of numbers

20:01 Hard Numbers’ KPI stance: writing KPIs into contracts

24:52 GEO, LLMs and why PR should own the citations conversation

33:27 The spark behind founding Hard Numbers

38:26 Parenting, motivation and creating safe opportunities to fail

45:12 Biggest business screw-up: client concentration and the lesson

49:17 The thread through it all: persuasion, listening, and relevance

51:10 School years: humour, bullying, debating society

53:16 “Accidentally brilliant”: luck, judgement, and brilliant people

56:30 Wrap up

#PublicRelations #PR #Marketing #AgencyLife #Leadership #BusinessDevelopment #Sales #Measurement #KPIs #EarnedMedia #DigitalPR #Communications #AI #GEO #Reputation #B2BMarketing #FounderStories #Entrepreneurship #UKBusiness #BeBroadcast

PR has always been full of smart people. The problem is the industry still struggles to take itself seriously.

In this episode of Accidentally Brilliant, Josh Wheeler speaks with Stephen Waddington, one of the most influential voices in modern public relations.

Stephen has spent 25 years leading agencies, advising senior teams, writing books, and pushing PR to be treated as a real management discipline. He is the founder of Wadds Inc, a professional advisory firm for agencies and comms teams, and a doctoral researcher focused on the relationship between management and public relations.

He is also a co-founder of Socially Mobile, a not for profit PR school that creates opportunities for people from underrepresented backgrounds.

This conversation is thoughtful, direct, and full of insight for anyone working in PR who wants the industry to be taken seriously.

In this episode, you will hear: • Why PR still has a credibility problem • How Stephen went from engineering into public relations • What leadership looks like when pressure hits • Why agencies struggle to hold on to trust and talent • How Socially Mobile is changing access to PR • What the profession needs to do to raise its own standards

About Stephen Waddington Founder of Wadds Inc. Doctoral researcher. Author of 10 books. Co-founder of Socially Mobile. Board advisor and non exec director.

Follow Stephen Waddington – https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwaddington/ Follow Socially Mobile – https://www.linkedin.com/company/sociallymobile/ Follow Josh Wheeler – https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshwheelerbroadcast/ Follow Be Broadcast – https://www.linkedin.com/company/be-broadcast/

00:00 Intro 01:30 Falling into PR from engineering 04:10 Why PR is still misunderstood as a career 06:30 Agency life and leadership 10:00 PR and management thinking 14:30 Why credibility matters 18:30 Advising agencies and comms teams 23:00 Socially Mobile and access to the industry 28:00 What PR needs to change 34:00 What makes Stephen accidentally brilliant