Distinctive Dispatch #20: Laying a path to purposeful growth
Why purpose matters to us in 2025; tunes that defined our year; taking time to think critically; our discussion with Bristol City Council’s leader.
Better comms for people, places and work
The 20th edition of the Dispatch lands as we near the end of another busy, eventful year. This newsletter started as a space to share and test our thoughts, with subscribers growing steadily in 2024.
Whether you’re a recent or long-standing subscriber, thanks hugely for your support. If you have thoughts or suggestions on what you’d like us to cover in future, let us know in the comments or get in touch.
‘There’s still plenty of good ‘uns out there!’ Reasons to be confident in 2025
Colleagues’ newsletter musings during 2024 highlight to me that while some events we reflected on seemed seismic at the time, the day-to-day seemingly rolls on as before.
Change felt constant, locally, nationally, and globally. Like proverbially infrequent buses, politics shifted in Bristol, which we recently discussed with the council’s leader, just before voters elected the first Labour government in nearly 15 years.
That Labour routed the Conservative incumbents in the general election seems a speck in the distance today amidst the noise surrounding Keir Starmer’s government. I said at the start of the year after Sir Keir launched his election campaign near Bristol that he can expect a media onslaught that tests his government’s communications ability. While his team focus on shaping more positive news in 2025, how they deal with inevitable challenges ahead remains key to building the trust Sir Keir seeks.
In America, Donald Trump’s crushing election victory surprised many mainstream pundits and pollsters. Our content writer Katie presciently asked if the Democrats’ focus on ‘joy’ without providing hard detail on how they would improve people’s lives would be enough for Kamala Harris to defeat Mr Trump’s negative campaign.
These elections highlighted, as if we need reminding, how polarised public discourse is in 2024. Anyone who dips into Facebook groups or follows the news will feel this split, spanning from the grass roots to the halls of government.
The morphing of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter into a megaphone for misinformation and troublemakers vividly highlights this in action. For those interested in joining the millions of users migrating from X to Bluesky (I’m still @blowndes), there are plenty of tips about making the shift. We share a post that caught our interest later in this newsletter.
Despite these changes, it feels like 2024 ends much as it began. We continue to live in uncertainty. Mistrust is omnipresent. This is the environment that business leaders and public bodies must continue navigating on 1 January 2025. The more things change, the more they also stay the same.
Good communicators will focus on building and maintaining relationships and understanding how their efforts support their organisations’ ambitions.
Beyond these challenges, I remember 2024 as a year when our team put down a marker for genuinely purposeful work.
Staying true to purpose
We can’t control whatever happens around us next year, but we know we are set fair to deliver our mission to help great organisations make a difference with brilliant communication.
Whether that’s by supporting investment and massive regeneration in cities, engaging communities on travel plans for visitor destinations, or helping great businesses grow, we made an impact this year.
A month ago, we launched a media campaign to raise £25,000 to tackle the scourge of holiday hunger affecting thousands of households across Bristol this winter. As I write, we are less than £5,000 off hitting that target and hope to surpass it. In a city where thousands of families face the grindingly tough choice between fundamentals like heating their home or putting food on the table, this will make a difference to hundreds of people. Read on if you want to support us.
We did this while completing 12 days of volunteer leave across our small team to support organisations including Bristol’s Just Transition campaign, Community of Purpose, the Den at Honiton, and Exeter Chamber NextGen. I’ve loved using this time to personally support the Bristol charity Bricks as a trustee and Business West as a member of its strategic advisory group.
And we’ve invested in our development, as a team, as communication professionals and people striving to be the best version of themselves. Arianne achieving Chartered Practitioner status is brilliant testament to her professionalism. It was no surprise to me to see South West Business Insider name her as a one of the region’s property sector leaders a few weeks ago.
Katie joined us earlier this year as a content writer and wasted no time in helping clients in advance their causes, playing a key role in our Bristol campaigns.
My time on NatWest’s Accelerator Programme is challenging to fit in around everything else. But it’s given me space to think, make new connections and build a purposeful path to progress in 2025.
Why am I telling you this? Because against the noise and when the economy tightens, it’s easy to toss these ‘softer’ elements over the side of the boat. They’re actually harder skills to develop.
I’m also convinced that they’re the things that can help organisations stand out in noisy times. There’s a future for organisations who care about doing a great job, simple as that sounds.
What are you aiming for in 2025?
“Don’t think the world is a horrible place…there’s still plenty of good ‘uns out there!”
This comment from Distinctive client Amy Kington followed the amazing response to the holiday hunger campaign, which she leads as Community of Purpose’s founder and chief purpose officer.
She’s right, even if that’s easy to forget. Fantastic work happens around us, often unheralded, every day.
It sharply contrasts with some comms predictions for 2024 I half-jokingly made last year. Bosses behaving badly, ducking responsibility, automating processes to the point of incoherence and blaming others for their failings all featured. All happened in one way or another. After recent terrible tech experiences, I’m sure we’ll see some of this continue in 2025.
There must be a better way to work and do business. It’s why we committed to be where our clients want us, rather than build barriers that hinder great working. More than half our clients responded by giving us at least nine out of 10 when recently asked to score our support for them. All said they’d recommend us. This focus on client delight helped us increase turnover, expand the team, and earn spots on award shortlists for the first time.
This stands us in good stead to stride confidently into 2025. We’re looking for good partners and suppliers who share our ambition for purposeful growth. If you want to know more about how we can support you, drop me a line.
Thanks again for your support this year. We’ll never take it for granted. Enjoy the festive season and some well-earned downtime. It’s going to be a busy year.
Tunes that defined the team’s year
Moving home, changing jobs, learning, growing, and good vibes. Music defines a feeling or memorable moment. And 2024 had plenty of those.
Each Distinctive team member dipped into their playlists to pick a tune that defined 2024 for them.
It’s a decent mix, and a great set of reflections. Read the team's post and get the playlist for yourself.
Is there a tune that sums up the year for you? Let us know in the comments.
Things we’ve seen
The future of media relations – skills for 2025 and beyond: A webinar hosted by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and media vendor Cision featured insights from Jennifer Kyte (Bauer Media) and Tara Evans (The Sun) on the evolving landscape of media relations. They emphasised the importance of relevancy, rich media content, and timeliness. With many media outlets now ‘hubbed’ (multiple titles under one brand), creating shareable content across platforms is vital. These insights reinforce the strategies we use to support our clients effectively.
Things we’ve read
There is room for serious brands – Build the Fearless: John Brown is a fellow comms professional and Cornwall Chamber of Commerce’s CEO. His post on the need for deeper engagement and scrutiny touches on challenges we outline above and discussed throughout the year. In an age of information abundance, making effort to understand and develop something is surely more impactful than another reel or ‘hot take’.
Bluesky as the Ship of Theseus: Internet politics professor Dave Karpf makes nice observations about Bluesky’s emergence as a potential successor to X. The blog reflects on the Ship of Theseus paradox, exploring how platforms change while retaining their core identity. It contrasts Bluesky’s growth, user-driven ethos, and focus on authentic interactions with X’s algorithmic manipulation and polarising culture.
Working Parenthood in the UK PR Sector: A report by PR Mums and Platform 55 highlighted the challenges faced by PR professionals balancing parenthood and work. While flexible working is seen as achievable by some, others feel pressured to prioritise work, with workload a key issue. The report calls for a Parental Policy Best Practice Charter to support working parents. I [Arianne] know how challenging the juggle can be as a full-time working mum and I’m grateful to Distinctive for allowing the flexibility and space to help me work these two responsibilities side by side.
Who are the hybrid workers? In autumn 2024, 28% of working adults in Great Britain were hybrid, according to the ONS. Exclusive homeworking has declined since 2021, with hybrid models becoming the ‘new normal’, especially for over-30s, parents, and managers. With an average of 56 minutes saved on commuting daily, many use this time for exercise, well-being, and rest. Embracing hybrid working at Distinctive helps us build a great team. We aim to take this a step further next year.
Things we’ve heard
Jaguar’s rebrand, John Prescott and Meet the Rees-Moggs – When it hits the fan: David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss *that* rebrand, how John Prescott handled the media, his potential approach to today’s social media landscape, and what Jacob Rees-Mogg might hope for with his new reality show.
I make no apology for... – Strong message here: Armando Iannucci and Helen Lewis dissect the political art of saying sorry, looking at some examples of how not to do it. Having covered this topic before, we make no apologies for sharing this with you here.
Things we’ve said
Collaboration can support a better Bristol. Notes from a Distinctive Discussion with Tony Dyer: We were delighted to have Bristol City Council leader Tony Dyer join our latest Distinctive Discussion on 27 November. In an open and frank discussion, he shared his top five priorities, highlighted what success would look like for him, and set out his message of hope and ambition to build it in others as well as to stay hopeful. Thanks to everyone who joined us. If you’re signed up to this newsletter, you’re on the invite list for the next one.
A final ask…
Help us tackle holiday hunger this Christmas
Across Bristol, people and businesses are joining a campaign to support 1,000 disadvantaged children with meals and a memorable celebration this Christmas.
With more than 17,000 pupils in the city relying on free school meals, the campaign needs the support of local businesses to reach as many young people as possible.
Working with Community of Purpose, Bristol Post, Bristol Live and Business Live, we’re more than 80% towards hitting our target with a few weeks to go. Join us in making a difference.
📷: Dougie Allward.
Our next edition lands on 10 January. If you’d like to share or discuss anything before then, please leave a comment or drop us a line.