Let’s be honest, most business owners and marketing professionals know that reputation matters. But how many of us can honestly say we know where our organisation rates in how its viewed by stakeholders? Not in a vague, gut-feel kind of way, but with a clear, considered view of the areas that really drive reputation?
That’s exactly why we’ve created RepScale a benchmarking tool which quickly assesses where your organisation sits in terms of its reputation. This free, interactive tool has been designed using decades of experience in PR and communications. It will help you take stock of your brand’s reputational health across five key pillars.
Your reputation is one of your organisation’s most valuable assets, and one of the hardest to rebuild once it’s been damaged. We know from experience that brands which proactively manage their reputation are better placed to attract customers, retain talent, navigate crises and grow with confidence.
Yet reputation is often treated reactively rather than strategically. It becomes something people think about when things go wrong, rather than something that’s nurtured and protected as a core business priority. At Purplefish, we believe that understanding where you are is the essential first step to getting where you want to be.
The scorecard takes you through 20 statements across five reputation pillars — areas we know from working with clients across a wide range of sectors that are fundamental to a strong and resilient brand:
• Media presence & visibility
• Online reputation & search presence
• Crisis preparedness & management
• Thought leadership & authority
• Stakeholder relationships & trust
For each statement, you’ll rate yourself from 1 to 5 — with 1 meaning the area needs immediate attention and 5 meaning you’re excelling with demonstrable results. Your score updates in real-time, giving you an instant snapshot of your reputational health.
At the end of the scorecard, you’ll receive a personalised result with a score out of 100. We recommend aiming for a score of 80 or above, which is our benchmark for a strong, well-rounded reputation. Your result will also include tailored recommendations to help you understand what to focus on next, whether that’s maintaining strength in specific areas or addressing gaps that could be leaving your brand exposed.
It takes around two minutes to complete and it’s completely free. Think of it as a health check for your brand — honest, straightforward and genuinely useful.
Whether you’re a business owner keen to understand your brand’s standing, or a communications or marketing professional looking for a structured way to evaluate your communications strategy, the scorecard will provide quick. Instant insight and clarity to help you plan and manage this fundamental element of any business.
Access RepScale here and if you’d like to talk through your results or explore how a strategic PR approach could help strengthen your reputation, we’d love to hear from you. Book a free consultation with our team and let’s start the conversation.
Compiled by Sarah Williamson, Content Marketer and Leah Disley, Brand Photographer
Location matters more than you might realise, because it does more than “look nice”. It shapes how your brand is perceived, how confident you feel during the shoot, and how versatile your images are long after shoot day. The right setting can help your photos feel professional, natural and versatile — images you actually want to use across your website, email marketing and social content, not just once and forget about.
Whether you’re a service provider building a personal brand, launching a new offer, or refreshing your visuals, Bristol is a brilliant city for brand photography because it offers two very different things:
In this guide, I’m sharing fifteen of the best places for a brand photoshoot in Bristol, all photographer-approved and chosen specifically for how well they support business-focused shoots.
Free, flexible and unmistakably Bristol. These locations are ideal if you want your photos to feel natural, relaxed and rooted in the city.
Outdoor shoots are great if you want:
One of Bristol’s most underrated brand shoot locations.
Brandon Hill offers leafy paths, open lawns and beautifully kept gardens, giving you a soft, natural backdrop that feels calm and timeless. You can give the greenery a starring role or include Cabot Tower subtly for a recognisable but understated Bristol reference.
Best for: Service providers wanting a natural, grounded feel without going fully “woodland”.
One of Bristol’s most visually dynamic areas.
Water reflections, boats, converted warehouses and colourful buildings give you depth and movement. Within a short walk, you can capture several distinct looks.
Best for: Brand shoots with energy, editorial shoots, creative portraits and lifestyle imagery.
Ashton Court offers scale, variety and atmosphere all in one location.
With woodland paths, open fields, rolling hills and a historic mansion, you can capture multiple looks without moving locations. Natural light here is consistently flattering, especially later in the day.
Best for: Lifestyle branding, natural portraits and shoots that benefit from space and movement.
Bold, creative and constantly evolving, Stoke Croft is Bristol’s creative heartbeat.
The murals and street art everywhere you look create instant visual impact without needing props or styling. The ever-changing street art means no two shoots look the same, and the area offers endless creative angles.
Best for: Creative brand shoots, bold brands and anyone wanting personality-led visuals.
Open, airy and timeless.
With wide green spaces, wild grasses and trees, the Downs offer a variety of natural backdrops that feel open, soft and easy to work with. Soft morning light and golden hour here are particularly flattering, and the space allows for relaxed, natural shooting.
Best for: Natural brand portraits, candid portraits and lifestyle imagery.
The full Bristol moment.
If you love the bridge and want drama, this is it. The scale and backdrop are unmatched, especially in good light.
Best for: Statement shots and strong hero images.
A tranquil woodland setting on the edge of the Avon Gorge.
Dense woodland, dappled light and natural textures create depth and softness. From certain angles, you can catch subtle glimpses of the Suspension Bridge without it dominating the frame.
Best for: Storytelling photography, lifestyle branding and nature-inspired shoots.
Iconic without the climb.
Sion Hill offers a clear, impressive view of the Clifton Suspension Bridge behind you, without the hike required for St Vincent’s Rocks. It’s a cliché for a reason — it works.
Best for: Anyone who wants unmistakably Bristol visuals with minimal effort.
A Bristol institution.
The colourful houses on this quiet street create a bold, urban backdrop that feels lived-in and real. It’s instantly recognisable to locals without feeling like a cliche.
Best for: Personal brands that want warmth, colour and an urban edge.
A bonus location for colour lovers.
The row of colourful houses looks fantastic from across the river. Shooting from near Thekla or the Redcliffe Bascule Bridge gives you layered compositions with water, colour and architecture.
Best for: Creative brands and lifestyle-led shoots with visual interest.
When you want privacy, consistency and full control — regardless of the British weather!
Indoor shoots are ideal if you want:
If you’re looking for a clean, light-filled indoor space for a brand photoshoot in Bristol, The Engine Room is hard to beat.
The Engine Room is a bright, versatile indoor studio with a large 60 m² main space, high ceilings, crisp white walls and a neutral grey floor. This makes it ideal for shaping light and styling shoots without distractions.
Natural light floods in through full-height glass doors and a lantern skylight, giving the space an open, airy feel that works beautifully for personal brand portraits, product photography and video content.
There’s also an adjoining Green Room for outfit changes, prep time or makeup, plus ground-floor access, free parking and reliable Wi-Fi — all of which make shoot days smoother and less stressful.
Best for: Personal branding, studio portraits, editorial content, product photography, flat lays and video shoots where control and consistency matter.
Gather Round’s production space offers a private, flexible indoor environment right in the heart of Bristol.
The production space offers a controlled, indoor environment with blackout capability and a private entrance, making it ideal for focused shoots.
Best for: Studio portraits, creative product photography, editorial work and campaigns that need a controlled indoor setting.
One of Bristol’s largest and most professional creative studio spaces.
With over 10,000 sq ft of purpose-built studios, including soundproofed spaces and an infinity cove, this is ideal for high-production shoots that need room to breathe.
The facilities go beyond just empty space. Green rooms, makeup and wardrobe areas, breakout spaces and on-site equipment hire make full-day shoots far more efficient.
Best for: Fashion editorials, commercial campaigns, product photography, interviews and brand shoots requiring a professional studio setup.
Full production-level facilities.
Large studios, soundproofing, infinity cove (seamless studio backdrop) and on-site equipment hire make this ideal for higher-production shoots.
Best for: Commercial campaigns and high-end brand shoots.
Compact, creator-focused and efficient.
A small but well-equipped studio with good lighting and a clean setup, making it easy to capture polished, professional imagery without distractions.
Best for: Headshots, talking-head videos, product photography and social content creation.
Choosing the right location is only part of the puzzle. Knowing what to shoot — and how those images will support your business — is what turns a photoshoot into a real marketing asset.
That’s exactly why we created the Brand Compass Edit.
Hosted at The Engine Room in Brislington, it combines a professional brand photoshoot with content guidance, so you walk away with images you actually know how to use across your website, emails and social content.
If you’re planning a brand photoshoot in Bristol and want visuals that work beyond the shoot day, this is your next step.
Congratulations! You’ve produced a video you’re really happy with. Now all that’s left to do is upload it to your preferred streaming platform and forget about it, right? Well, not quite. Uploading it to one platform and moving on is a missed opportunity. A single video can generate weeks or even months of marketing content when used as part of a structured video marketing strategy.
There’s a much better way to maximise your investment, and it’s far less expensive than you might think…
As video becomes more and more important in buying decisions (don’t just take our word for it) making the most of your content has become essential. The aim is to maximise the number of opportunities to engage with your audience and that means translating your content into the most eye-catching formats and showcasing it on the most relevant platforms.
Ensuring the consistency of your brand’s look and feel across each touch point is also key to helping build trust and recognition. Plus, it means you can have content that can more easily be used at a later date.
This is where the strategy of producing one main film and cleverly repurposing it with mini edits comes into play. Where appropriate, you can also use it to create micro content (films or animations). Extracting key moments and insights from the hero video means marketers can tailor their content to suit different platforms and audience preferences.
So how is it done? There are 3 main ‘Ms’ to bear in mind.
(view image in the original article here)
The first M (Main) is pretty straight forward, so we won’t spend too much time here. Your Main is the complete film you’ve put all your effort and time into. A tight script, some fun effects and clever camera work and you’re good to go.
As a rule of thumb, you’ll want to put this on YouTube or your preferred streaming platform etc. YouTube is perhaps the best know and makes your videos very discoverable, but you might benefit from the additional insights a platform such as TwentyThree can provide. This allows you to continue refining how you position your content and helps you attract more views.
*Don’t forget that you might want to hype your main film using your shorter pieces of content first, so hang fire on posting it until you’ve released a few canny ‘teaser’ edits.
We’ve used an example from the TOUGHBOOK campaign we produced for technology pioneers, Panasonic, highlighting how we maximised the video assets – from the primary film to short clips and teaser content.
(view the video in the original article here)
The second M (Mini) is where you start to create shorter, more focused edits of your Main film. A Mini edit’s purpose can either be to build a queue of people ready to watch your main film OR highlight unique parts of your offering.
For example, your Main film may be about your complete suite of products or services, but your Mini edits might break it down into your specialism in individual sectors. Equally, you might have produced a tutorial on how to use your product and found that people are most often searching for (and watching) one particular step of the process. Creating a Mini edit focused on that one step, packed with quality SEO, can increase your discoverability to new prospects.
The key here is not to create lots of new content, you should be aiming to recycle, reuse and reformat as much as possible into new edits.
Here’s a quick shorthand for how you might define those different types of edit.
These give the audience a reason to watch your main video. What are you audience going to find out? Does it give a glimpse of a new product or service? Are you announcing a particular date or event? Perhaps your interview had a nugget of gold in, you can create a short edit that leads up to that point, encouraging viewers to watch your main film to find out more.
Think of this as a short snappy edit that sets everything else up. This will come out in advance of your main video, so the goal is to create a queue of people ready and waiting for when the main video launches.
Here’s a little teaser video from the Panasonic Toughbook campaign.
(view the video in the original article here)
These combine as many hooks as possible to pull people towards your main film OR provide another CTA i.e. to a landing page or sign-up form.
By condensing the most compelling moments and messages from the core video into shorter formats, marketers can deliver targeted edits that resonate with different segments of their audience.
Now’s the time to think social media: using LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok etc. With these platforms, your audience often wants smaller bite-size content.
Whether it’s a brief teaser, a highlight reel, or a quick tutorial, each edit serves to capture attention and drive engagement, ultimately leading viewers back to the full video for a deeper dive into the content.
Check out this short snippet from the Toughbook campaign- a quick example of how a single core video can evolve into engaging mini content that grabs the attention of the viewer.
(view the video in the original article here)
This most often refers to content such as Gifs, presentations or web animations. Think of them as small single-issue messages, or very brief statements. Examples could be:
The key here is to keep it concise. If someone asked you to explain your micro edit, could you sum it up in one sentence? You’re giving potential customers clarity in seconds, and for the time-poor that’s a compelling reason to click.
The outputs for Micro tend to fall into gifs, MP4s, or Lotties and Rives, and the use cases are the broadest:
Here’s an example of how we make the most of one explainer video. This is our Atomic Design explainer video. We use the complete video to kick off pitches, giving the audience a quick overview of the methodology.
(view the videos in the original article here)
Video marketing remains a powerful tool for brands looking to engage audiences and drive meaningful interactions. By creating one full video and repurposing it into shorter edits, marketers can maximise the reach and impact of their content across various platforms –without drastically increasing the total cost.
A well thought out video marketing plan should guide your production of the video. It lets you know up-front exactly what the strategy is and the exact content you’ll need to produce. For example, when you animate that icon, is it also going to be needed for a Lottie? And, if so, what steps do you need to take to minimise additional work?
By combining compelling visuals with strategic messaging, and getting under the right noses, brands can create memorable experiences that resonate with their audience and drive tangible results.
If you’re wondering how to squeeze even more value out of your video content, or just want to talk through your ideas, get in touch at [email protected].
In-person meetings might be the gold standard when it comes to fostering familiarity with your clients, but self-shot videos of you and your company might just run them a close second. Why? Because it’s a medium that works really well at capturing who you are, giving people a little sneak peek behind the scenes, and fostering brand loyalty.
We do appreciate that introducing yourself to the world can be a slightly strange experience, we’ve been there! But there are a number of compelling reasons to consider going for it:
Viewers are now far more forgiving of self-shot content than they were even a few years ago, so don’t worry if your budget doesn’t stretch to perfectly lit, noise-treated studios. Authenticity is the keyword here: you’re the experts, you’re the people current or potential clients will be speaking to.
‘Before you start filming, it is absolutely essential to plan down to the finest of details, and then you get on set and rip it up on day one.’
Niko Pueringer – Corridor Digital
We’ve put together a step-by-step guide to getting the most out of the filming kit you probably already own, leaving you to concentrate on what it is you really want to say.
Phone cameras and webcams struggle to capture complex or small-print patterns. This results in a visual distortion (known as moiré) that makes it appear as if your clothing is jittering or jumping.
It can also soften the overall image thanks to the available bandwidth being taken up in attempting to capture the patterns. It’s safest to stick to plain colours. Sorry to those with a love of jazzy shirts!
Cameras can struggle to capture the full dynamic range (this is the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of an image that our eyes can see). Filming with a window behind you will create a very large bright object with a shady silhouette of you in the middle. Atmospheric but not very informative.
Cameras love light, the brighter and more evenly lit your shot, the better it will look. Aim to shoot with any windows behind the camera, this way you are nicely lit with the brightest light available to you.
Try to shoot during the day when there is plenty of natural light. Shooting at night using household lights will force the camera to ‘work harder’. In a similar way to what happens when you turn up the volume on a stereo, this will create more distortion in the image.
If in any doubt, record a little segment and watch it back. You may notice that lamp behind you is appearing much brighter than you were expecting. Not a problem, just move it out of shot while you’re filming.
Don’t be afraid of using your phone, if it was good enough for Danny Boyle then it’s ok with me. Yes, I love the footage from our professional-grade cameras, but sometimes the ability to whip a phone out and start filming in a matter of seconds, all to a good enough standard, is the best option.
Viewers may be relatively relaxed about the visual quality of a video, but they do expect good quality sound. Think about what time you’re going to shoot: if you know the 10:15 to Cardiff always passes your window promptly, why not push filming back to 10:30 onwards?
You can massively improve the quality of your video by buying a cheap lavalier (clip-on) mic. Something like a Rode Lavalier Go is cheap, sounds much better than the audio captured on a camera mic, and is really straightforward to use. Most phones will have a free audio notes app and these are also a great option as portable audio recorders.
Deciding what format your video will take is a great start; is it going to be an interview or open discussion for example? Writing a rough script in advance can help clarify your thoughts. Go through and highlight the key phrases that remind you what you want to say, then write down just the highlighted phrases and use this as a prompt.
Equally, you may feel more comfortable just discussing the subject on the spot, and this often leads to the best outcomes: not overthinking answers can result in more natural footage.
It may be helpful to ask someone to sit behind the camera and deliver your answers to them. For most people it feels more natural speaking to a person rather than a camera.
If you’re anything like me on camera, I tend to relax a bit after the first couple of minutes (apologies in advance for the pre-prepared bad jokes I have stashed to cover those first-minute nerves!).
The lesson? Record a couple of takes. Sure, 80% of them will be similar, but occasionally you’ll nail a particular section that bit better and FGTOLOCAO (Finally Get That Overly Long Overly Complicated Acronym Out).
Planning on editing a few people together? A mix of answers can prove invaluable. A longer speech is great for covering a topic in more detail. A short sound bite is great to quickly reaffirm another person’s view or offer the counter narrative.
Compared to how we write, we speak and act very differently. We have a habit of adding ‘ummms’ and ‘ahhs’ (it’s a natural way our body creates some breathing space to recall and form the next statement). You might also have noticed that people often blink after finishing a sentence, editors often describe this as the body’s way of editing the world around it and creating some order (we’re very much artists, not scientists).
Viewers tend to prefer a well thought out answer to a perfectly polished one. If you want to re-shoot then, by all means, feel free but don’t worry about perfection: sincerity is the key here.
Our Video Toolkits give you the tools to brand your videos consistently, but more importantly, they’re super easy to implement. We’ve talked about these before, but it’s well worth a look!
Most importantly, don’t forget you can do as many takes as you feel comfortable with. And you might just enjoy it!
If this has left you with burning questions about self-shooting, or any other video-related stuff, then please do feel free to get in touch at [email protected]
Copywriting is one of the most powerful tools you can employ in your PR and marketing mix. When done well it captures an audience’s attention, encourages them to engage with you, and hopefully inspires them to buy from you. When PR and marketing copywriting doesn’t hit the mark though, it can have catastrophic consequences for your brand.
Long form content in particular, such as press features, blog posts, or LinkedIn articles should boost brand awareness and change perceptions in a positive way. But there are some common mistakes that can interrupt the success of your copy and make it far less effective. And in worst case scenarios, poor copy can even have a negative impact on how your brand is perceived.
Mistake #1: Copywriting for you instead of your customers
Whenever you start a piece of PR or marketing copy, you should consider who it is for. It is much easier to write about the topics you care about. But a far better starting point is considering what your readers care about.
Of course, there is a place for all kinds of copy in the overall PR and marketing mix. Brochures and websites are great channels to use to boast about your products. Readers will expect you to. But if you are writing PR copy for a trade publication, or your latest blog post, it’s worth taking a different approach.
Think about concerns or problems your customers and prospects might have. What advice would help them in the current marketplace? Is sustainability becoming more important in your sector? If so, how can you help customers comply with the latest legislation? Being helpful is worth a lot.
Mistake #2 – Assuming too much previous knowledge
Just because people work in the same industry as you, doesn’t mean they know all the same things you do. Sometimes people assume knowledge because of shared industry experience. Sometimes people assume knowledge because they have already written an article on the topic. Albeit months or even years ago. Whatever the reason, it can be a turn-off for readers.
You don’t want to be patronising in your PR and marketing copywriting, but you also don’t want people to glaze over because they don’t understand what you’re talking about. It’s far better to assume that people haven’t read that piece you published once before, or haven’t visited your website, or don’t have the in-depth technical knowledge of your products that you do. Starting from the beginning can help you to fill the sales and marketing pipeline.
Mistake #3 – Jargon overload
Here’s another sure-fire way to leave your readers feeling cold – by overusing jargon. Whether in the form of abbreviations, or overly complicated technical concepts, don’t try to sound clever at the expense of helping your customers and prospects.
Even if someone is aware of the product you are selling, it doesn’t mean they know everything about it. They might not know everything about the industry infrastructure that designs and builds it. They might not know much about the governing bodies that regulate it and the certifications that accompany it. They might not understand each technical aspect of it. If it’s relevant to talk about these things, which it may well be, start from the beginning and explain things clearly.
Mistake #4 – A lack of empathy in your PR and marketing copywriting
With years in the PR and marketing copywriting bank I have come to realise that being able to empathise with different people, whether you have been in their specific position or not, is one of the biggest strengths a copywriter can have. But on the flipside of this, it’s one of the big mistakes that are made.
To be able to empathise with your audience, you need to understand their pain points and challenges. What does it feel like to be in their position? And what can you say that is genuinely helpful in addressing those difficulties?
PR and marketing copywriting that misses the mark when it comes to understanding customers can come across as rude and uncaring. If for example your customers are struggling in a difficult market and you shout about your sales success story, or news of your latest big investment, it probably won’t endear you to them. If, however, you talk about how your success or your investment will be used to support your customers in this difficult time, it will be a lot more impactful.
Mistake #5 – Going straight to sales in your PR and marketing copy
Let’s be honest, most of the copy that comes out of a business, whether for social media, magazine articles or e-mail marketing, exists to sell. Some are more direct means of selling than others, but ultimately its aim is to raise awareness of the brand, get more people talking about it, and sell more. But that doesn’t mean you can’t give your audience something first, before you ask something of them in return.
Readers of trade press articles or blog posts are looking for advice or something that will help them with their business. Yes, they might be interested in your new product as well, but you’re more likely to generate interest and demand by explaining the pain points your product solves first, rather than jumping into the features and benefits straight away.
Tell a story with your PR and marketing copywriting and build a foundation before jumping off at the deep end and expecting them to buy straight away. At the end of the day, we’re all people buying from people so it’s about building trust.
Make your PR and marketing copywriting ship-shape for success
PR and marketing copywriting can sometimes be underestimated. People think that any words on a page is good enough to promote their business. But this isn’t the case. Poor copywriting stops readers in their tracks. It can turn off prospects and put them off of dealing with you now and in the future. Spending time and money on sourcing good quality PR and marketing copywriting is worthwhile when it comes to engaging audiences and changing perceptions.
Visit www.blogwrite.co.uk for more information
We’ve seen how branded content evolves from campaign support into institutional infrastructure. At a certain point, what’s needed isn’t more output – it’s an engine.
There comes a point in many complex organisations when branded content stops being a marketing activity and starts becoming an operational, commercial responsibility.
The shift is gradual. Calendars fill up and channels multiply. Thought leadership, product storytelling, web content and social activity begin competing for attention. Regional teams interpret messaging in subtly different ways. Leadership asks for clearer evidence of impact. And the system begins to strain.
We’ve encountered this pattern repeatedly in global institutions and growth-focused organisations: nothing appears broken, but momentum becomes harder to sustain.
At that moment, the problem is rarely creativity or ambition. More often, it’s architecture.
Branded content has become central to reputation, growth and authority, yet it’s often still managed as a series of disconnected outputs – campaign by campaign, post by post, asset by asset. What’s missing isn’t volume, but continuity: a defined, constant engine that turns strategy into sustained, measurable narrative in market.
When branded content reaches that level of importance, it requires more than coordination. It requires a deliberate operating model behind it: a branded content engine.
Limits of the traditional approach
Most organisations respond to rising branded content demand in practical ways. They expand internal teams, commission freelancers, or engage agencies to support campaigns. Each approach can work, particularly in the short term, but none fully resolves the underlying question of operational design.
Internal hires bring proximity and brand familiarity, yet rarely encompass the full spectrum of skills required for sustained branded content leadership – editorial strategy, tone governance, digital optimisation, performance reporting and cross-channel adaptation. Freelancers offer flexibility but depend heavily on internal direction and oversight, which can create bottlenecks. Agencies often excel at campaign bursts, but episodic engagement doesn’t necessarily create institutional continuity.
Over time, this can lead to fragmentation. Tone drifts subtly between markets. Institutional knowledge resides in individuals rather than systems. Reporting becomes retrospective rather than forward-looking. The branded content function grows in importance, yet remains structurally underdeveloped.
Many marketing leaders recognise this – even if they don’t initially describe it in these terms. The challenge isn’t volume. It’s structure.
When branded content becomes infrastructure
As organisations mature, branded content stops being simply supportive. It becomes infrastructural. At that point, the question shifts from “Who can produce this?” to “How is this function designed to operate over time?”
Treating branded content as infrastructure means building a system rather than assembling outputs. It involves defined workflows, clear roles and accountable leadership. It calls for integration between editorial thinking, design execution, digital performance and governance requirements. It also requires financial visibility, predictable delivery rhythms and continuous optimisation.
In our experience supporting large-scale branded content programmes – from multi-market institutions to global campaign partners – the difference is rarely the idea. It’s the engine behind it.
In this context, branded content is no longer an occasional marketing initiative; it’s an ongoing organisational capability. Thought leadership programmes, executive commentary, website ecosystems, social storytelling and campaign narratives need to align under a coherent operating model. Without that model, even the strongest strategy risks dilution through inconsistent execution.
We’re also seeing this shift in organisations moving from service-based models into self-serve or SaaS products. Launch strategy is only the beginning; sustained growth depends on a consistent branded content engine that educates, reassures and converts over time.
Importantly, this doesn’t mean adding layers of bureaucracy. A well-designed structure doesn’t slow creativity; it supports it. When briefing processes are clear, approval pathways are agreed, and optimisation and reporting are embedded into the workflow, teams can focus on insight and storytelling rather than navigating friction.
Recognising the structural signals
Not every organisation requires a fully embedded branded content division. However, there are clear signals that a more deliberate model may be needed.
This moment often arrives when content demand becomes continuous rather than cyclical; when multiple markets need alignment around a shared narrative; when leadership expects performance data alongside brand storytelling; when procurement and finance require greater transparency around investment; and when internal teams find themselves managing coordination more than strategy.
These signals point to a structural reality: branded content has grown in strategic importance, but the operating model behind it hasn’t always evolved at the same pace.
Once that gap becomes visible, the solution isn’t simply to produce more material. It’s to design the system that sustains it.
Building the operating model behind branded content
A structured branded content function integrates several disciplines within a unified framework. Editorial leadership ensures narrative coherence and tone consistency. Design and digital expertise translate ideas into engaging, multi-channel formats. Optimisation and analytics provide visibility over performance and audience behaviour. Governance processes align the function with procurement, compliance and reporting structures.
Rather than treating each campaign or article as a standalone project, this model establishes continuity. Planning becomes strategic rather than reactive. Reporting becomes a regular, forward-looking discipline rather than an afterthought. Institutional memory accumulates and strengthens the organisation’s voice over time.
For Marketing Directors and CMOs, the benefit lies in predictability and clarity. Branded content activity can align directly with organisational objectives, budget visibility improves, and cross-market consistency becomes achievable without heavy-handed control. Expertise scales without permanently expanding headcount, and the organisation retains the agility to respond to emerging opportunities.
This approach also provides a stable foundation for innovation. As technologies such as generative AI and advanced analytics become more prominent, a structured operating model ensures that new tools are integrated thoughtfully, with human editorial oversight safeguarding quality and credibility.
A more deliberate future
Over the past decade, many organisations have invested heavily in brand positioning and digital platforms. Increasingly, attention is turning to the systems that sustain those investments. Strategy defines direction and platforms extend reach, but operational design determines whether branded content can deliver sustained impact.
For organisations navigating complexity – multiple stakeholders, global audiences, formal governance and high editorial demand – the conversation is evolving. The issue is no longer whether branded content matters; its strategic value is widely understood. The more pressing question is whether the structure supporting it is robust enough to match its importance.
If branded content now shapes reputation, authority and growth, it deserves the same rigour applied to any other critical function.
Because in many organisations, the real challenge isn’t content at all.
It’s structure.
If your organisation is reaching the point where branded content needs more than coordination, we’d be pleased to continue the conversation. Explore more of our work, or contact us to discuss how we can help.
Why – in the name of all that is holy – does your B2B website need more than one page?!
If, like mine, your business exists to sell a single core service – to solve one problem for your clients – then you should be able to sell it on one page.
Multiple pages become necessary only when things are genuinely complex:
– Multiple audiences
– Multiple (genuine) offers, services, or products
– Blogs, or libraries of case studies
But otherwise, boiling things down to a one‑pager should be considered an upgrade, not a compromise, and here’s why 👇
I often say, as an analogy, that a one page website is like a good sales call.
How did you even get my number?
An effective salesperson will control the sequence of a conversation. They won’t start with price. They’ll start by exploring the problem, helping the prospect to understand the cost of leaving it unsolved, and then systematically ruling out some obvious alternative solutions.
A one‑page website lets you do the same thing: to guide the prospect through the stages of your argument in the correct order.
With lots of smaller pages, visitors can jump around in any order they like. They can peek at the pricing before understanding the value.
But with a one‑page site you decide what comes first, what comes next, and what someone sees before you ask them to commit.
There’s another massive advantage: simplicity. And perceived simplicity.
You must remember: your website will often be viewed in one browser tab with a bunch of your competitors’ websites open in adjacent tabs.
The viewer has a job to do: close 80% of these tabs before sending off an enquiry to the one or two which remain open – and then going to do something ACTUALLY ENJOYABLE.
If your website greets them with a complicated navigation, multiple dropdowns, and ten possible routes into the content, then browsing fatigue will kick in very fast.
And if, in the nextdoor tab, your competitor is offering a clear, focused page that immediately says “This is what we do. This is why. This is for whom. Here’s how much it costs. And here’s the proof that it works.” then their decision becomes easy.
Spoilers: the tab your site is in ain’t staying open for long.
Lots of websites seem to offer multiple services just because it’s “the done thing”.
And this, dear reader, is the worst reason to ever do anything.
Even if you do offer five services, a normal first-time buyer is only going to buy one of them. Ask yourself: Are all those pages there because they help solve a problem for your buyer – or because they make your business look more ‘proper’?
And which of these is more important?
(Do give me a shout if you’d like my thoughts on your website – I’ll send you a free Loom video with my ideas for improving it to get you more leads.)
When I used to work for full-service PR and Marketing agencies, I was involved in the recruitment of copywriters to support the team, and I have to admit, it wasn’t easy. Perhaps I shouldn’t say that now that I’ve jumped the fence to be a PR and Marketing copywriter myself, but it’s part of the reason I wanted to be a writer, because it should not be that hard for businesses to get the support they need
We saw it all trying to hire a writer – we had candidates that wrote to an exceedingly high level but who delivered copy that didn’t sound anything like the spokesperson it was written for, we had writers that were not prepared to listen to feedback or make changes despite having less experience with the client involved, and we had perfectionist writers who were so focussed on getting every word ‘perfect’ they couldn’t meet a deadline.
Achieving balance in business copywriting
It is a tough balancing act writing for business. You must be able to meet deadlines. There are often strict timelines that come with copy requirements, whether with designers for brochures or websites, with the sales department to support a product launch, or with magazines for editorial features or press releases.
Writers also need to be able to write in a way that reflects the values or ethos of the company they are writing for, and more specifically write in a way that sounds like the person they are ghost writing for. The aim of writing on behalf of a business is to make their spokespeople sound authoritative and reflect their expertise, without turning people off with anything too technical.
Works both ways
So, what makes a relationship work between a freelance PR and Marketing writer and a business? I would argue that while a large degree of responsibility does lie with the freelancer to get it right for their clients, it is a relationship that works both ways and businesses need to know how to get the most out of their freelance copywriters.
You wouldn’t expect your accountant to do an outstanding job if you held them at arm’s length and only gave them some of the information they needed. And you wouldn’t expect a designer to produce a website for you without any briefing, or without at least a small amount of to-ing and fro-ing.
It can help to set some ground rules before you start working together so everyone knows what to expect. For example, how much notice should you give a writer to write various lengths of copy, how many rounds of amendments are reasonable to both sides, how quickly should you both expect to hear from each other, and what are the payment terms and conditions?
Once the ground rules are in place, keep talking! If something isn’t working on either side, bring it up sooner rather than later to see if it can be resolved. Writers can’t improve if they don’t know what they are doing wrong and businesses can’t support their copywriters if they don’t know what they need.
Stay focused on the end result
I know from first hand experience that it can be hard to find the perfect partner whether you are a business or a copywriter, but good matches do exist! And when it’s good it can be a game changer for both sides. Businesses can benefit from more flexible support without compromising on quality, and writers can benefit from ongoing work and the satisfaction of genuinely removing hassle for clients. So, don’t settle! The copy that represents you in the marketplace is too important.
Google’s December 2025 core update landed just before the end of the year and for many brands, it raised familiar questions around volatility, visibility and what to do next.
Jack, Loom’s Tech SEO expert, talks us through what actually changed, why trust and experience matter more than ever and how brands should respond without overreacting.
The December 2025 core update was a broad algorithm update that began rolling out on 11th December and completed on 29th December. Google described it as a “regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites.”
As with all core updates, it matters because it changes how Google evaluates content quality and relevance which can impact rankings, visibility and traffic. It’s not about penalising specific sites, but about reassessing what Google believes best serves users.
Google is constantly testing and refining its algorithm. Those smaller, often unannounced updates throughout the year can be used to fine-tune systems or correct unintended effects from previous changes.
Core updates happen less frequently, but they introduce broader shifts. That’s why Loom always advises against panicking when rankings move – you can recover from the impact of an algorithm update. Smaller updates often rebalance the bigger changes introduced during a core rollout – sometimes weeks or months later.
EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness) has become increasingly important, especially as AI-generated content becomes more widespread.
The addition of Experience is particularly telling. First-hand insight, real examples and original perspectives are now critical ways for content to stand out and add value to users. This is especially true in YMYL sectors like finance, health and news, where trust really matters.
AI can generate content at scale, but if everyone has access to the same tools using the same learning data, differentiation and value comes from genuine expertise and lived experience, not volume.
Google doesn’t always get it right the first time. SEO has always been a moving target and attempts to exploit loopholes or cut corners rarely stand the test of time.
If rankings drop, the first question should be whether that drop reflects a genuine gap in value. How does the page compare to competitors today? If the content is strong, relevant and well-optimised, sometimes the best response is patience and perspective.
Zooming out often shows that a short-term dip sits within a much stronger long-term trajectory.
Keyword rankings are no longer as clear-cut as they once were. A page ranking first organically might now appear within an AI Overview. This location/position could be bypassed entirely if the overview satisfies the user’s intent without a single click.
Since AI Overviews launched, click-through rates have dropped for many informational queries. That can feel concerning, but there’s another side to it: users who do click through are often further along in their decision-making.
At Loom, visibility now means more than link clicks. That’s why performance is tracked across search results and large language models, to understand where and how brands are being surfaced.
If in doubt, zoom out.
Looking at a single month in isolation can lead to tunnel vision. Loom always recommends waiting until a rollout is fully complete before drawing conclusions or making changes. Reacting too quickly can undo good work or introduce new problems.
Users should always come first.
There’s a balance between SEO and monetisation, but over-optimisation, whether for ads, search engines or AI systems, often reduces real value for users. Google continues to reward clarity, accessibility and genuinely helpful experiences and this should always be the focus.
Search systems will keep evolving. A consistently positive user experience, however, is always a strong foundation.
Content that’s easy to navigate, credible and genuinely useful tends to perform well regardless of algorithm changes, because it aligns with what search engines are ultimately trying to deliver.
The biggest mistake is making sweeping changes the moment rankings fluctuate. That often leads to chasing symptoms rather than addressing real issues.
Content should evolve, but changes need intention and context grounded in user needs, not short-term panic.
During a rollout, rankings can move daily. Acting before the dust settles rarely gives a clear picture of what’s actually changed.
Loom always recommends waiting until Google confirms completion, then reviewing performance calmly and systematically before deciding next steps.
The starting point is always diagnostics. Have there been recent site changes? Navigation updates? Speed or security issues? Any manual actions flagged in Search Console?
Often, performance shifts aren’t caused by the algorithm alone but by technical or structural changes that coincide with it.
Author credibility is key. Clear author bios, relevant experience and structured author schema all help reinforce trust.
Externally, citing credible sources, contributing to industry publications and building a visible expert profile all support long-term resilience.
Avoid complacency. SEO is never static. Reviewing new entrants in your space and understanding why they’re gaining visibility can offer valuable insight and opportunities to strengthen your own content.
EEAT matters more than ever.
As AI-generated content becomes more common, genuine expertise and experience are the clearest ways to stand out.
Loom has always focused on building strategies around real user needs, clear expertise and long-term value. Algorithm updates change. That principle doesn’t.
At Loom Digital, we help brands interpret search algorithm updates calmly, focusing on what genuinely matters and building search strategies that last. Our expert SEO and Content teams are on hand to help optimise your pages and create compelling content.
If you’d like to talk through what this update means for your site or how to strengthen trust and resilience in 2026, get in touch with the Loom team.
If you’re working towards B Corp certification (or re-certifying soon), you’ve probably noticed that Climate Action is now a mandatory part of the certification process.
B Lab’s updated B Corp standards (first launched in April 2025, with a clarified v2.1 update in August 2025) replace the old points-based model: there’s now minimum requirements across seven Impact Topics, including Climate Action. The requirements vary depending on organisation size, but the foundations are the same.
This article is here to take you through the requirements step-by-step. We will lay out the practical building blocks you need, so that you can respond confidently, build a plan you can stand behind, and avoid last-minute scrambling.
Under the new standards:
B Lab organises the Climate Action topic in two ways:
You don’t need to know the codes inside-out, but it helps to understand why B Corp now expects more than good intentions.
B Lab assigns company size by workers (FTEs) or revenue, whichever is higher.
Most digital agencies will fall into small or medium, but it’s worth checking early, because the ‘large’ path has a meaningful jump in requirements.
You can read B Lab’s guidance on company size categories here.
Quick takeaway:
For small & medium businesses, the standards are clear on the Year 0 deliverable: publish a Climate Action Plan that ‘commits to supporting the global ambition to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees’.
In practice, a strong plan is usually made up of the same few components (and this is where agencies can keep it simple and credible):
You’ll need to draft a plan you’re happy to share publicly.
Here’s the awkward part of the new standards for small & medium organisations:
B Corp doesn’t mandate a full Scope 1-3 footprint at Year 0, but it does expect you to demonstrate and publish progress by Year 3. Some argue it can be tricky to decide which reduction actions are relevant, and make measurable progress, without first building a baseline footprint and identifying hotspots.
That’s why some B Corps opt to measure emissions, even when it isn’t strictly required. A full Scope 1-3 footprint is widely considered the most credible way to understand emissions, prioritise reductions, and report progress in a way that stands up to scrutiny (from B Lab and those outside of the world of B Corp, like your clients).
For agencies, getting to a sensible baseline usually means pulling together data like:
The goal isn’t perfect data, but a structured, GHG-Protocol-aligned view of your emissions, so you can pick sensible reduction actions that prioritise high impact areas, demonstrate progress in terms of CO2e, and talk about your plan and progress with confidence.
For Large B Corps, Climate Action becomes a structured, multi-year compliance journey.
Before Year 0 (i.e. right from the start), large companies must already have the basics of credible carbon reporting in place:
By year 3, the focus shifts from just reporting to formal decarbonisation commitments and planning:
So Year 3 is about moving from ‘we measure’ to ‘we have a governed, accountable plan to cut emissions.’
By Year 5, he emphasis is on delivery and accountability:
So in simple terms:
Year 0 – Measure and verify
Year 3 – Set science-based targets and create a transition plan
Year 5 – Prove the plan is working and report progress publicly
B Corp explicitly recognises public disclosure as a website page or report accessible without logins/paywalls. A lot of the stress around B Corp, and climate reporting more broadly, comes from the feeling that you need to create carbon reports as a one-off for separate use cases. From B Corp, to public sector reporting, to client requests, it can feel like you’re being asked for a lot of different things when it comes to carbon.
In reality, the underlying data is the same, with slight changes in reporting format. Keeping your data and reports in one shareable place means it’s easily accessible, whether that’s for B Corp submissions, bid teams, or new business questionnaires.
A great example is a simple public Climate Action page. Set it up to be accessed through a consistent URL on your website that you keep up to date on an annual basis.
Handled well, carbon reporting can be more than a B Corp checkbox. It can help agencies stay eligible for opportunities, and build trust with values-led clients.
The key is to do it without overclaiming. A few principles worth following:
If your agency is aiming for B Corp under the new standards, your next steps are:
Seedling helps growing teams translate the new B Corp requirements into a clear, credible, Climate Action Plan (and the measurement behind it), without creating unnecessary workload for busy teams. If you want to see what a completed Climate Action Plan looks like, our in-depth B Corp guidance includes a complete example – take a look here.
“Seedling have been the ultimate professionals and have created a system that is easy to use, so now I have the knowledge to make informed decisions in line with our B Corp status.” – Sian Eddy, Head of Ops @ Modern B2B Agency
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