The newsletter you never knew you were waiting for! Stirring Communications is back for a quick 2024-so-far roundup of PR news, things we've been cooking up at Content Soup, and just stuff we’ve been enjoying. Thanks for reading.

New year, new clients

We’re so pleased to be working with Unity Mutual to help raise awareness of the brand and its products to target audiences this year, using some neat creative ideas and our relationships with personal finance journalists and influencers to help this great business grow and win new customers. It’s also making us much more conscious of our own money management - we’ve never talked about ISAs, pensions and money hacks so much.

Four things you may have missed in PR land...

1. The top ten newsbrands in the UK saw falls in audience compared to December 2022, while The Sun increased its lead over Mail Online in December, according to Press Gazette’s latest monthly ranking.

2. It’s the year of the micro/nano influencer, favoured for their smaller audiences but more intimate connections.

3. Expect much PR energy this year to be focused on helping brands fully adapt to the omnichannel reality of apps, mobile browsers, desktop browsers, in-store and social. Put simply, they all need to look nice, be personal, and be easy to switch between.

4. In 2024, it’s about levelling up in a few key areas: 1) using AI and technology to our advantage; 2) keeping up with rapidly fluctuating social media micro-dynamics; 3) getting a real grip on sustainability and corporate responsibility. Being forward-thinking, flexible and holistically-minded will make all the difference – good job we are!

This is also worth a read on PR News: 3 trends to look out for in 2024.

Things we're watching, reading, listening to, enjoying

We enjoyed the slow living vibes of January, and fully embraced the concept of wintering: staying cosy at home, cooking, walking in the woods and generally not putting as much pressure on ourselves to be out and about.

That meant more reading! Nina managed two books, Small Pleasures (simple and ordinary, beautiful) and Milk Fed (wild), while Jasmine loved Clara and the Sun. On TV, we loved sexy Saltburn, Traitors and Big Boys. We also listened to a new podcast while decorating at home – check out ‘When It Hits the Fan’, a new podcast by ex-Sun editor David Yelland and former No 10 comms chief Simon Lewis where they delve into PR tactics of different cases in the news. Really insightful. And Off Menu poddy has some great food recs.

Jasmine’s getting ready for her first family skiing holiday so had a day off to practise on the slopes (fair to say she was a natural!). Nina got back on a horse, her spirit animal.

Now we’re just looking forward to lighter nights, hanging washing on the line, trying out new restaurants, holidays and our 10th birthday! See you in Spring.