Author: Riot

Campaigns Executive

(Flexible/ Hybrid working)

 

The role:

We’re on the hunt for a Campaigns Executive with an ambition to progress their career in communications and a passion for all things arts, culture and entertainment.

About us:

Riot works with leading cultural institutions such as Oscar-winning animation studio Aardman, the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, the London Review of Books, the newly established Nero Book Awards, and the Science Museum Group, as well as ground-breaking writers and creatives including Matt Haig and Elena Favilli, and entertainment brands such as Moomin Characters and Winnie-the-Pooh.

Our core values are thoughtfulness, passion, collaboration and disruption, and they drive everything we do: from the clients we choose to work with, to how we deliver our work and who we hire.

Riot is part of the Splendid Collective, a network of ambitious, values-led agencies that also includes Splendid Communications, Kingdom Collective and DIY Creative. The Collective is based at our offices in east London and offers a vibrant community with regular socials, free breakfast daily and Thursday lunches twice a month, and a dog-friendly space.

Riot is proud to have been awarded The Blueprint diversity mark and is committed to employing a diverse workforce. You can read more about our D&I policy here and see our November 2024 diversity data update here.

About the role:

As part of the Riot team, you will support the campaigns team in planning and delivering high-quality, creative PR campaigns for our exciting roster of clients, encompassing media relations, events and festivals, brokering partnerships, influencer work, and much more.

As well as implementing social media campaigns for clients, you will assist with keeping Riot’s own digital channels up to date through content plans and asset creation.

You will be passionate, curious and solutions-oriented with exceptional attention to detail.

You will be a great communicator in all mediums.

You will manage agency processes, systems and procedures, including project and time management tools, effectively and efficiently to ensure campaigns are resourced properly and delivered on budget.

You will work directly with some of the best creatives in the world! In turn, you will get to work within a team of highly-skilled colleagues and have the opportunity and responsibility to deliver projects, both as part of a team and independently, as appropriate.

You will receive on-the-job training and a one-to-one line manager to support your personal training and career development.

Essential criteria:

• Foundational media relations and copywriting skills
• Foundational social media management
• A passion for culture and entertainment
• Highly motivated, passionate & curious
• Solutions-oriented
• Reliable & adaptable
• Excellent attention to detail
• Good organisational & multi-tasking skills
• Efficiency in managing tasks and meeting deadlines
• Excellent command of written and oral English
• Proficiency in Microsoft packages and Dropbox

Application:

Please apply with your CV (educational details optional) and a cover note highlighting why you are interested in the role / Riot.

Please email the above to careers@riotcommunications.com and include ‘Application for Campaigns Executive’ in the subject header.

Deadline for applications is 20^th December 2024.

Interviews will take place during mid-January 2025.

 

Other Info / Benefits: 

Location: Shoreditch, London

Hours: Full time 9.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. We offer flexible working, with staff welcome to work from home three days a week

Holiday: 25 days per year, increasing by one day per year until reaching the full entitlement of 30 days, plus a day off for your birthday

Salary: £25k-£27k, dependent on experience

If we can help you by making any adjustments to our application process, please do let us know when you apply.

 

Riot Communications is proud to have earned The Blueprint diversity mark, an industry standard awarded to PR agencies who have demonstrated their ongoing commitment to removing inequality and barriers to progression for Black, Asian, Mixed Race and Ethnic Minority communications professionals.

As part of The Blueprint, we have signed up to the initiative’s 23 commitments, which cover a range of areas from recruitment and nurturing talent to company culture. One of these commitments is to publish our diversity data each financial year, which we are doing here for the first time.

We have put a good deal of thought into the best way to do this.

Firstly, although the Blueprint pertains specifically to race, we decided that we wanted to take a broad approach and look at other Protected Characteristics in addition. In fact, after a discussion about what was relevant, we decided to ask our team about all nine Protected Characteristics to show we understand all are important. We then added a few further questions of our own, for example some questions which we hoped would give insight into socio-economic background, which we also want to ensure is not a barrier to working at Riot.

Secondly, as an organisation, we believe that measuring our progress is the best way to ensure we’re moving in the right direction, and we absolutely want to demonstrate transparency on our journey. However, as a small business (in fact, the smallest to have been awarded The Blueprint!), currently with 10 employees, we are also very mindful of ensuring none of our team feel exposed or as if they are personally identifiable from what we post. We, of course, offered ‘prefer not to say’ as a potential response for every question we asked, but it is still important for us to consider this factor when sharing data from a small group, and this is the reason why certain points below are less specific than others.

Bearing that in mind, our staff survey conducted in November 2024 told us that:

• For a small agency, we have good diversity in terms of age range.
• 80% of our team are women, 20% are men.
• We have some representation from the LGBTQ+ community.
• 20% of the team consider themselves to have a disability (based on the Equality Act 2010).
• 40% of the team consider themselves neurodiverse. (Note: While UK law generally considers neurodiversity to be a form of disability, we wanted to ask this question separately. Our hope is that this allowed for both people who are neurodiverse and consider it a disability, and people who are neurodiverse and do not consider it a disability, to complete the survey in the way that felt right to them.)
• 30% of the team are Black, Asian, Mixed Race or Ethnic Minority.
• We have representation from at least two religions as well as individuals who are not religious.
• 30% of the team are parents.
• None of the team currently have other caring responsibilities.
• 50% of the team are married or in a domestic partnership. 50% of the team have never been married or in a civil partnership.
• 100% of the team have an undergraduate degree and 30% have a masters degree, doctorate or post graduate degree.
• Finally, we asked team members about the highest level of education either of their parents/guardians had completed by the time they were 19 years old. 40% reported this was secondary school or higher/secondary/further education. 50% reported this was an undergraduate degree or masters degree, doctorate or post graduate degree.

We are aware that being a truly inclusive agency requires constant learning and progression, and that there is always more to be done. This is a journey that we are always on together, and there is no end point – or, at least, we are certainly not there yet.

However, we are proud of the company culture we have created and that our team actively works to make Riot a place where people feel welcome. We look forward to seeing what more we can achieve in the coming 12 months.

We will report on our diversity data again in November 2025.

 

Picture: Riot team © Marc Sethi

Associate Director, Orla Houston-Jibo, shares her thoughts on the experiences of Black PR pros in our industry and reflects on what we can do differently.

October is Black History Month in the UK. Originating in the US and celebrated in the UK since 1987, BHM shines a spotlight on Black African and African Caribbean Diaspora achievement, and creates opportunities for everyone to share in, celebrate and understand the impact of Black heritage and culture in Britain.

Black History Month has its detractors as well as advocates: Why focus on Black history for just one month instead of integrating it more deeply into the mainstream history curriculum and celebrating the culture throughout the year? What’s the point of an annual celebration, when Black people continue to be marginalised in British society? Both are valid criticisms, and I’d encourage everyone to read more to understand the perspectives of those for and against it.

I’d even more strongly encourage you to take a look at PR Week’s Black History Month-inspired series, focusing on the experiences of Black PR professionals in the sector. The stories report the findings of the PRWeek UK and the UK Black Comms Network-commissioned survey of Black and mixed black-heritage professionals in the industry. They make for disheartening reading with Black and mixed heritage PR professionals reporting receiving less written and verbal praise from their employers than they did four years ago and less praise compared to white colleagues. A majority of the Black pros surveyed also reported feeling overlooked in pitch ideation sessions.

The survey found respondents are more likely to receive a pay rise (14%) than they are to receive a promotion (6%), and that a lack of career progression, and a paucity of leaders and role models from Black and mixed  backgrounds means that two thirds of the surveyed pros are considering leaving the industry altogether.

Sobering figures indeed.

Personally, I’d love to see Black history recognised as an integral part of British history and mainstreamed into the curriculum – and culture – year-round. Until that happens, as agency professionals, let’s take a moment during Black History Month to reflect on how as colleagues, and especially as leaders, we can ‘get out of the way’. Creating an even playing field, with the same career development opportunities for Black and mixed heritage PR pros as everyone else, leads to a richer agency culture and ultimately, more nuanced, and impactful campaigns. In other words, a win for all.

Riot Communications has been hired to handle publicity for ‘the Oscars of Comedy’, the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, which will light up the Edinburgh Fringe throughout August, spotlighting the next generation of comedic talent.

Now in their 42nd year, the Edinburgh Comedy Awards have a proven history of spotting comedy brilliance. Past winners have amassed 528 television writing credits, 44 directing credits and over 1,500 acting credits, and nominees have 534 writing credits, 72 directing credits and over 1,200 acting credits on screen.

The Awards are responsible for launching the careers of the UK’s comedy elite, with previous award winners including Stephen Fry, Steve Coogan, Lee Evans, Al Murray, Sarah Millican, Omid Djalili, Eddie Izzard, Tim Minchin, The League of Gentlemen, Jenny Eclair and Frank Skinner. Many winners and nominees have gone on to have a significant impact on mainstream popular culture, writing, directing and acting in some of the most iconic television and film over the last four decades – including Green Wing and Smack The Pony (Victoria Pile), Sherlock (Mark Gatiss), Alan Partridge and Philomena (Steve Coogan), Car Share (Peter Kay), The IT Crowd (Richard Ayoade), Benidorm and No.9 (Steve Pemberton), Doctor Who and her eponymous TV show (Catherine Tate), W1A (Sara Pascoe), Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (Romesh Ranganathan), Sex Education (Hannah Gadsby), Baby Reindeer (Richard Gadd) and Starstruck (Rose Matafeo).

Riot Communications specialises in arts, culture and entertainment. Its clients include publishers Penguin Random House and Pan Macmillan, Oscar-winning animation studio Aardman, cultural organisations such as the Royal Institution and the Science Museum Group, and cultural prizes from the Nero Book Awards to the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting.

Caitlin Allen, MD of Riot Communications, said: “For decades the Edinburgh Comedy Awards have played an essential role in spotlighting the best up-and-coming comedy talent. At a time in which it feels harder than ever for new acts to launch their careers, they are even more vital. We are thrilled to be working with the UK’s most prestigious prize in comedy – and looking forward to spending the whole of August laughing so hard that our cheeks hurt!”

The shortlist for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards will be announced on Wednesday 21 August 2024, the Nominees’ photocall will be on Thursday 22 August and the 42nd Edinburgh Comedy Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday 24 August 2024.

It’s nothing new that in the cultural sector, as well as in much of the media, youth continues to be a prized asset. From the 30 under 30s to the lists of (usually young) debut novelists to watch, it can feel at times like writers and artists, however talented, get a decade or two in the limelight before they are thrust to one side to make space for the younger generation.

Riot has worked with the independent publisher, CHEERIO, for several years now, and in that time, Clare Conville and Harriet Vyner have published books by a number of rising stars including Megan Barker and Kandace Siobhan Walker, among others. But two recent campaigns with the publisher have driven home for me how necessary it is that we continue to celebrate writers further along in their careers too.

In April, the octogenarian and psychogeographer Iain Sinclair took readers back to Soho in its artistic heyday, retracing the steps of John Deakin, photographer to the court of Francis Bacon, with his brilliant book, Pariah Genius. Sinclair opens a portal for the reader, taking them to a version of Soho must of us born after 1980 will never know, and surely will never quite return – one where painters rubbed shoulders with gangsters and dockworkers drank among the art world elite.

Just a few weeks later we toasted to the 80^th birthday of the legendary journalist Lynn Barber, and the publication of her new memoir, A Little Art Education. In little more than a hundred pages, Barber recounts her journey from art class hanger-on to Turner Prizer juror, along the way striking up enduring friendships with the likes of David Hockney, Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucas. That’s not to mention a memorable encounter in her early career with a certain Salvador Dalí.

Both of these incredible books have taken me to places I can never go to, and in the company of great artists I’ll never have the chance to meet. In both cases it is only possible because in one way or another the writer too was there. And as a result, so am I.

I’m not the only one to have been affected in this way. Our job has ultimately been to ensure that both titles get the attention in the media that they deserve, and in all the coverage the respect and admiration for these two veterans of their trades has been plain to see. The magazine covers might be dominated by the fresh-faced and bright-eyed, but words like ‘peerless’ and ‘inimitable’ are reserved only for those who have been at the top of their game for the longest time. So here’s to the older generation – and thanks for your memories.

With the exception of a pause during WWII, the Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures have run continuously since 1825. No mean feat, this annual tradition has made a huge impact on the accessibility of science for the general public, which is why we have loved working with the Ri over the past six years. 

After consistently robust media campaigns, we decided, for Christmas 2023, to implement an influencer campaign to complement  a more traditional media-led approach. The Ri were keen to raise awareness of the 2023 Christmas Lectures in the 13-19 age group, and we suggested that developing a social media influencer campaign was the best approach for targeting this demographic.

We began by carefully considering which types of content creators to approach – we needed influencers that were curious, thoughtful and age-appropriate to align with the Christmas Lecture ethos and brand. After presenting several options to the team at the Ri, we settled on three strands of influencers – ‘science with a twist’, ‘booktokers’ and ‘things to do in London’. 

In the science space, we joined forces with the wonderful Pandora Dewan and Nina Chhita (Nina.draws.scientists). Both creators produce science-driven content, sharing insightful nuggets of history and discovery with their followers. Nina and Pandora are avid fans of the Christmas Lectures, so they were thrilled to be invited to a behind-the-scenes tour of the Ri during the busy pre-Christmas filming period. In addition to seeing how the Lectures are made, the influencers also received a tour of the Faraday Museum and archives with the Head of Heritage and Collections, Charlotte New. 

We were so pleased with the wonderful content Nina and Pandora produced off the back of their tour. Pandora posted an Instagram Reel sharing her favourite piece of information from the Lectures – the potential to understand whales by using AI to recognise patterns in their language. Nina chronicled the history of the iconic Christmas Lectures and shared her favourite topic – The Chemical History of a Candle. Their insightful and inquisitive content totally aligned with the Christmas Lectures ethos, and included the key call to action to watch the Christmas Lectures on BBC iPlayer. 

The Ri has a wonderful library and a huge collection of rare first-edition books. Looking beyond science influencers, we decided to approach ‘booktokers’. Creators with a passion for books were invited to explore the library and archives, producing evergreen content showcasing the Ri as a unique day out in London for book lovers. Charlottechaoticbooksxo uploaded a lovely video all about the Ri’s vast collection. 

The team at the Royal Institution was impressed by the strategic and thoughtful nature  of our influencer campaign. We helped them forge strong relationships with content creators who they can work with going forward as they continue to target a teenage demographic.

As part of our work with Moomin Characters this year, we wanted to engage with the LGBTQ+ community through a bespoke Moomin Pride event. There’s a natural affinity between Moomin and the LGBTQ+ community as not only was their creator, Tove Jansson, a queer woman but the themes she explores with these beloved characters also resonate with the queer community.

We entirely created the event from ideation to implementation, sourcing queer bookshop The Common Press as an event partner and forming an intersectional panel of Moomin fans and experts in their creative fields to discuss the Moomins and the queer legacy of Tove Jansson’s work.

This was a sold out event and The Common Press shared that it was not only their most popular Pride event this year, but one of their most successful events ever. We also secured features about the event and the wider subject of Tove Jansson and the Moomins in both PinkNews and Metro.

This article first appeared in BookBrunch

Describe your job
My job is to plan and direct PR campaigns for our clients, many of whom are in publishing, but we also work in film, heritage and other areas of culture and entertainment.

What was your first job in the book industry?
I joined Four Culture (then Four Colman Getty) as a graduate trainee in 2014. I knew very little about publishing and PR, and learned a huge amount from the team there over five years.

Who has been the most influential person in your career?
I’ve worked under some great PRs, but our director, Katy MacMillan-Scott, has been a constant presence. We were colleagues when I started out a decade ago, and she is one of the reasons I’m at Riot today.

How has the industry changed since your first job?
Media titles have come and gone. That’s the nature of things, particularly in the last decade. Despite this, there are more ways than ever to get the word out about a great book.

What’s the biggest challenge in your job?
Accepting that all the experience, passion and desire in the world can’t guarantee success. They are, however, essential qualities, without which you won’t get very far.

What’s the best piece of book-related advice you’ve ever been given?
I’ve come to realise that the stakes aren’t always as high as they feel. We’re a conscientious and hard-working bunch in publishing. We want to do the best we can for authors. But not every title finds a massive audience and that is ok. My experience is that books tend to reach the readers who will value them the most, one way or another.

What are the most interesting things you’re seeing at the moment in the industry?
Genuine innovation in audio, with the bar getting higher and higher.

What do you think might be the next big thing?
I hope it’s the influential senior publishers really valuing the instincts of their less experienced (usually younger) employees who have their ear to the ground, particularly online, and coming to see that there are huge opportunities in what are sometimes dismissed as ‘niche’ areas.

Do you work from an office, from home, or a mixture of the two?
We’re all in two days a week, which I think is important, particularly for those starting out. I also gain a lot more energy than I realised from being around the team. But I like to have a couple of days working from home too.

What do you most like doing when you’re not working?
I can (and do) lose hours on YouTube. Besides that, I love film just as much as I love books, and I’ve got a great network of friends local to me in East London.

What is the best book you’ve read in the last year?
Probably The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. Since I heard it described as ‘like Franzen, but Irish’ I knew I was going to love it.

What are you reading now?
I’m rereading A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan and I’m just as blown away as I was the first time.

How do you like to read: on screen, on paper, or do you listen to audiobooks?
Mainly paper, with the odd exception for certain kinds of non-fiction.

 

 

Photo of James Douglas by Marc Sethi

We’re back with Ask the Expert, where we chat with various people across the world of arts, culture and entertainment and share their expertise. 

Today we’re speaking with Hannah Knowles, the Publishing Director, Arts and Culture at Faber. With over 17 years of experience in the industry, Hannah is responsible for overseeing Faber’s music and screen publishing as well as managing the arts and culture lists and exploring new arts areas for Faber to publish in. Before joining Faber, Hannah worked at Canongate, Octopus, Hodder, and Ebury.

Describe your job in one sentence.

Overseeing the brilliant Arts & Culture lists at Faber & Faber.

You’ve worked at some of the biggest publishing houses and imprints over the course of your career, how did you end up where you are today?

Ha! Long story. I moved around a lot when I was younger, largely because I needed more money to pay the rent, and if there was no room to progress at the company I was at, it just meant moving on. This role at Faber was an incredible stroke of fortune – I took on a maternity cover and ended up staying in a great role.

What are your tips for anyone trying to break into publishing, in particular, commissioning?

If you’re breaking in and just starting out, take any job in any department. At that stage, all experience is going to be incredibly useful, so even if you know you ultimately want to be a commissioning editor, taking a job in another department will help you understand the job and the industry better. I worked in sales for 6 months – part of my role was filling out returns forms for a particular retailer and it was a big eye-opener. It showed me what sales are up against and was incredibly useful for when I began to acquire books. Also roles at literary agents or scouting firms are all experience that you can use in publishing houses if you choose to move later down the line, so just keep an open mind.

You have been refreshingly open and outspoken about mental health in the publishing industry. Do you think that there has been any positive change around this conversation since you first spoke up?

Hmm. Well. I haven’t seen anything that has made me believe there is a better fundamental understanding of how mental illness impacts people in the industry – or chronic physical conditions, either. I referred in an article to our having an exceptionalist attitude in the industry, and unfortunately that means that it doesn’t matter how many articles I or anyone else writes about the subject. There is (broadly speaking) a belief from management across the industry that what they are doing is adequate, and if you think that is the case and don’t engage with people who are saying their experiences don’t match that belief, then nothing is going to change.

What if any other changes have you noticed in the industry since the start of your career, for example, with regards to career opportunities for individuals from non-typical backgrounds or with particular perspectives, as well in terms of the range of authors published?

There are incremental changes, in terms of diversity of staff and authors being published, but the problem – as has been raised by many others – is that there isn’t adequate support in place to ensure that people from different backgrounds don’t feel alienated, which makes retention a problem.

Biggest pinch-me moment of your career?

That’s always going to be working with incredible authors! There is nothing like that buzz you get when you read a proposal that has something special about it. Nothing other than then being able to buy it and work with the author to publish it, of course!

Who from the world of arts and entertainment would you love to sign for Faber?

There are a couple in the works that I don’t want to jinx, and some I’ve already signed that I’m extremely excited by. But dream commission? Now Prince is no longer with us, it would have to be Stevie Nicks.

What’s on your radar? Could you share what you’re listening to, reading and watching at the moment? 

I’ve pre-ordered Yoko Ogawa’s Mina’s Matchbox. She is probably my favourite writer at the moment. She isn’t afraid to show humans as the very morally complex, contradictory and strange creatures we are. Podcasts are my wind-down go-to: My Therapist Ghosted Me always makes me laugh.

 

Julia joined the Riot team earlier this month, and brings with her over 25 years of experience across film, theatre and arts publicity. Having worked on a range of campaigns from the West End production of To Kill A Mockingbird to the UK release of Shakespeare in Love, we’re so excited to have Julia as part of the team.

Want to get to know her a bit better? We’ve asked her to share a bit about some of her passions and the things she is most looking forward to about working at Riot.

What are you most excited about when it comes to joining Riot?

I am thrilled to be joining Riot’s hugely talented and passionate team, and am very excited about the possibilities for growth, discovering and forging new partnerships.

With no limitations in place, who would be your dream client?

Anyone telling life-enriching stories on stage or screen, created by people who believe in Tolstoy’s concept of art to change life for the better.

What was the first book that you fell in love with?

All seven C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books when I was about 9 years old, and I am still in love with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

What are some of your other passions?

My husband, my daughters and my two dogs – walks in the countryside, special time with my closest friends, singing jazz and dreaming of life by the sea.

 

Picture: Julia Hallawell © Marc Sethi