creativebrief: As Strategic Media Director of Weber Shandwick what is your primary focus?

Helen Palmer: As part of Weber Shandwick's global Social Impact team I work on integrated campaigns for philanthropists, non-profits and corporates engaged in trying to make the world a healthier, happier place. Our focus is on campaigns that inspire governments, companies and individuals to act against poor health, poverty and inequality in the poorest countries. I lead on global media strategy but as we know, the boundaries between traditional media, digital and social no longer exist so we all have to think in the round and think globally. 

creativebrief: Please share a para on your career to date – specifically talking us through the high points.

Helen Palmer: I spent my twenties working as a journalist. The highlight was four years based in Kenya, wandering around Africa making films about everything from war and elections to theatre and music.  Telling people’s stories is my passion but I ended up wanting to do more than just observe. I transitioned into global media relations for non-profits, primarily Oxfam and Bono's campaign group ONE. I joined Weber Shandwick six years ago. It’s been a privilege working on behalf of organisations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on campaigns that have had a real impact, such as raising billions for life-saving child vaccines.

creativebrief: What's unique about your agency / business? Why did you join Weber Shandwick?

Helen Palmer: I joined Weber Shandwick because I wanted to get a different perspective on the issues I cared about and learn new ways of communicating them. I’m still here because I get to work as part of this vibrant global team with access to amazing resources, from research and strategy to creative brilliance.   

creativebrief: Who are the people new to you (either within your business or externally) who have particularly impressed you in the last twelve months?

Helen Palmer: I’ve enjoyed working with James Nester, our Executive Creative Director who joined a year ago and has worked on several of our social impact accounts. I like his emphasis on ‘spikey’ ideas, ideas that have a life across all types of media and ‘emit opportunities to impale people’s attention, again and again’.  

creativebrief: What has been your agency's best work in the last year?

Helen Palmer: We’ve been lucky enough to work with Unicef, most recently with the Emergency Lessons campaign drawing attention to the crisis of education in conflict zones. The team shot touching films with individual children living in conflict zones from places as diverse as Iraq, Ukraine and Guinea. These are being used to lead phased campaigns throughout this year, targeting young people across the European Union. The response has been phenomenal, with massive social sharing. It doesn’t hurt to have Tom Hiddleston as an ambassador, but I think it’s also a testament to some beautiful storytelling.

The agency's creative work on Project Literacy for Pearson was recognised at Cannes this year. It focused on the simple truth that one in ten people in the world can't read which is a cause behind so many other global problems.

creativebrief: Industry wide, what work has excited you most this year?

Helen Palmer: For me, some of the most powerful work has come about in response to the Syrian War and the wider refugee crisis. I liked Native VML’s Twitter Refugees campaign which replaced the word ‘refugee’ in tweets with ‘human being’ and tweeted them back to the senders, creating a lot of media interest and earning them a Cannes Silver.  Save the Children’s ‘Most Shocking Second Every Day’ simulated life for a young British girl in London during a civil war. I like the powerful simplicity of these ideas.

creativebrief: Who or what inspires you?

Helen Palmer: At the moment I’m thinking a lot about my former Oxfam colleague Jo Cox, the MP for Batley and Spen who was murdered in June. Jo was one of the most clear sighted, driven and down-to-earth people I’ve ever come across at work. She had a laser-like focus on how to bring about change. For me, this is what our campaigns and creative work are about. Otherwise on a day-to-day level, it’s my two-year-old son. There’s nothing like witnessing the explosion of a toddler’s imagination to make you see the world through fresh eyes.

creativebrief: How do you stay in-touch with the industry's best work and culturally relevant news?

Helen Palmer: I’m lucky that our global Social Impact network is a platform for sharing a lot of examples of great work from across the industry. Otherwise, I try to get out to as many events here in London as possible. I love going to things like the Hay Festival where you can be part of conversations about big ideas with some of the most interesting writers and thinkers in the world.    

creativebrief: What work or agency from outside the UK do you think is particularly influential?​​

Helen Palmer: Our colleagues in India have done some strong work promoting the film Daughters of Mother India, about the notorious gang rape and murder of a student on a bus in 2012. They launched the film to the Indian police before the public in an attempt to change police attitudes to rape, a critical part of the solution.

creativebrief: What do you think are going to be the main challenges for agencies in the next two years?

Helen Palmer: For us, a big challenge is persuading clients and potential clients that we don’t just ‘do PR’. The landscape has shifted – the old lines between advertising, PR, digital, creative are all meaningless. We are an engagement agency first and foremost – we produce a full spectrum of integrated creative campaigns.    

creativebrief: How do you see the media landscape unfolding in the next five years?

Helen Palmer: Constant evolution and explosion of new channels and technologies mean it will probably be barely recognisable. The keys are still sound strategic underpinning and then good storytelling. Get the fundamentals right and you have the ingredients for success across any platform and channel

creativebrief: What's your attitude to the 'traditional' pitch? Do you think there is a better/more modern way?

Helen Palmer: It obviously depends on the brief but the ones I’ve preferred have focused on one powerful piece of content to inspire, then led into a conversation around other elements of the brief. I don't think anyone enjoys endless slides. I like it when a pitch moves quickly into an organic two-way conversation; that’s how things are when you’re working together after all – why adopt a different approach for pitches?

creativebrief: What's the best pitch you've been involved in?

Helen Palmer: The one that stands out was for a big global campaigning organisation. Our colleague from Prime in Sweden showed a short film that was so simple and beautiful it still gives me goose bumps to watch.   

creativebrief: In what ways do you think the industry can change for the better?

Helen Palmer: For me, it would be seeing even more of the creative talent that’s poured into selling brands and products being directed into campaigns to tackle the pressing issues of our time: whether it’s poverty overseas or the political disenfranchisement of young people here in Britain. There’s been a tremendous injection of creative energy into cause-related campaigns in recent years, but the scale of the challenges means that we need the best and brightest minds. Creativity is more important than ever now that modern communications channels give us such powerful ways of touching and galvanising huge numbers of people. 

creativebrief: What's the next big thing for Weber Shandwick?

Helen Palmer: In the Social Impact team we’re particularly interested in the sea change in how major companies are viewing their role on this planet. We’re witnessing the shift from ‘add-on’ CSR initiatives to the understanding that they will only ultimately succeed if their social purpose is written into their DNA. There is a major opportunity for global agencies like ours to partner with companies to translate this desire into strategy and campaigns, but as with all new ground, it will take time to stake out.