Downton Abbey on location: series 5

On location in Oxfordshire for ITV's global hit drama Downton Abbey: series 5, episode 6

With Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier)
 and Branson (Allen Leech) on set 11 August 

It was a breezy day for filming, with a sense of happiness as sunshine filtered through the leaves of the large tree in the churchyard of St Mary's in Bampton. The village on the edge of the Cotswolds has been the location for many outside scenes for the filming, affording locals and the increasing number of visitors alike, the chance to witness some behind-the-scenes action in the making of this fascinating series. 

Today, there seemed to be an open window granted for people to get close to the action. On other occasions I am told filming was blocked from view to protect the storyline. But not today, it was just a lovely, fun and exciting atmosphere to be part of the last filming for the new series.

Adding to the atmosphere was the subject of the filming which struck a chord as it centered around commemorating the First World War, just as, in tandem, centenary services had been held across the country. 

Setting for memorial service outside the church

The filming was moving, as Carson's deep tones read out a memorial service with the cast seated outside the church in the first scene, soldiers unveiled a large memorial and a bugle horn sounded a long, soulful tone. This scene took the morning to film with several re-takes and was around 30 seconds in total. The second scene shot in the afternoon depicted the Earl of Grantham (played by Hugh Bonneville) unveiling a small memorial set against a wall close to the church.

Crew monitor onscreen progress 

 Throughout the day the cast and extras milled and waited in their costumes of brown hues for another take. The attention to detail on set was phenomenal. In between takes clothes brushes were swept across uniforms, make-up re-touched and rain drops dried. No less than 130 runners, make-up technicians, caterers, camera operators and security were on site to cover every eventuality.  

Lord and Lady Crawley, Carson, Mrs Hughes
 and others take part in the second memorial scene

The props, huge cameras on gigantic arms, crew huddled around screens wearing headphones to scrutinize the outputs, the actors and extras and watching crowds witnessed a full day of filming to produce around 36 seconds of footage. It certainly is a quality production. I look forward to spotting the scenes I witnessed on this memorable day in their final cut in the new series.

Soldiers wait another take on scene 1

Lady Sybil and Matthew's tomb stones appeared
for the filming in St Mary's churchyard 

Writing tip: online style guides

Words, lovely words! Drafting an article, press release or other piece of communication and unsure when and how to use a more obscure or unusual word? If there’s no grammar savvy colleague nearby, use a national newspaper’s style guide for a quick answer. This is particularly useful for PR writing when adopting journalistic style.


Most national newspapers have an alphabetical style guide on their website so they are easy to search for specific words. These are useful for checking correct use and spelling of more unusual words.

Style guides can also be entertaining... Check out the list of 'banned' words in The Daily Telegraph for example. The Telegraph's lists 'sensational' or 'distasteful' words that staff and freelance writers can't use as they simply don’t fit the style of the paper.

The Guardian and BBC (pdf download) style guides are useful too for spelling, definitions and journalistic style. The words section on the BBC guide provides good advice for writing as well as broadcasting. It explains some commonly misunderstood words and definitions.

Happy wordsmithing!

Creativity & chaos freezes BMW campaign

BMW Mini are well known for their creative marketing campaigns – I drive a Mini and it’s great fun.


However, as demonstrated in its latest marketing drive, creativity can rapidly erupt into chaos and crisis management when ideas crash and burn…

Its campaign to sponsor the names of two weather fronts called ‘Minnie’ and ‘Cooper’ to promote its new Cooper Roadster backfired when the weather system’s icy temperatures caused over 100 deaths across Europe. Read my comment on the story in the Oxford Times

More forward planning of what could potentially go wrong with any campaign can help avoid disasters. A simple ‘SWOT’ analysis of a creative marketing idea (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) should help in the forming stage. Not every disaster is avoidable of course - and we can’t always predict everything that could go wrong - businesses will always need crisis communications expertise!

But it’s what you do when things go wrong that can matter even more to your brand... Are you prepared for a crisis and how do you react when one happens?

BMW did the right thing in holding their hands up immediately and apologising. Being open and honest and saying sorry is something a lot of firms could learn from! Timely communication of the appropriate message to the key audience is an important part of reputation management and can help stop negativity gathering force and keeping the story running in the public arena. People can be quick to forgive when an apology is timely and sincere.

We’ll hopefully see many more creative campaigns, perhaps on less weather-dependent themes (?) from the Mini brand.

'Your Business - Your Games!'

With the Olympics looming, I went along to an event to find out how the games will affect businesses, and how they can get benefit. Seems there are all sorts of opportunities for businesses - large and small in the build up to London 2012...

Hosted by Business Link, British triple jumper Nathan Douglas who hails from Oxfordshire spoke about his experiences as a professional athlete and hopes for 2012.

It's an Olympic fact:...'an estimated £1billion of additonal visitor expenditure will be generated in the South East as a result of the London 2012 Olympic Games.'

Even if your business is not competing to win contracts for the Games, those businesses who have won contracts may very well need help too! Contracts are advertised on websites including: http://www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/, http://www.businessportal.southeastiep.gov.uk/ and http://www.competefor.com/


The Olympics is certainly proving a popular theme for all sorts of business activities, events and promotions in the run up to the games.

Look out for local as well as national events taking place and opportunities for regional and local businesses to get involved. For example, The Olympic Torch will visit Oxford (7 July), Reading (10 July), Southampton (14 Jul) and a series of other locations (see www.london2012.com/olympic-torch-relay) for all details. Also, in Oxfordshire the Tree of Life cultural event will be on 9 July in Stonor Park. The games are also due to be shown on big screen in public spaces across the county. Go to http://www.oxfordshiregameon.co.uk/ for a calender of local events.

NB: Of course, there are very strict guidelines surrounding all mentions of the games, key phrases to do with the games and of course logos. Full copyright guidelines are on http://www.tourism2012games.org/

New article published: Buildbase's Two Wheel Challenge

It was inspiring to meet the man behind Johnson's Buildbase's 10-strong team who are saddling up for a four-day cross-channel charity challenge to raise £250K for Macmillan this summer. It's a huge challenge for them and a great fundraising goal for their business, so I wish them all the best!

Read how they are preparing for the Macmillan London to Paris cycle ride, what's motivating them to help the charity and how people can get involved too here pages 88-89.

Planning tips - it's necessary but not always boring!

What better use of staying indoors in the warm than thinking of your goals for the next season and beyond...

A little time spent in some strategic and creative thinking can make a huge difference to the success of your PR and marketing plans for the short and longer term. Planning cycles take different shapes depending on the type of business, its customers' requirements and seasonal pressures for example. Plans must be adaptable and allow for reactive measures as well as driving proactive strategies to make a difference to your businesses' overall goals. However, some basic principles apply to planning ahead effectively - whatever the type of business or 'season' you are in.

Now is the time to start planning ahead - here are a few tips to help get into planning mode for success in the new season:

1. Review! What worked well over the past few months/year, what didn't and why? Ask your team for their feedback and ideas. Flag any pitfalls to aviod in the new season, and re-use tactics that worked well (adapting or re-freshing as necessary).
2. Big thinking... What is your overall big idea? What are your key strategic goals for the new year/season ahead? Re-visit your business plan - have your strategic aims changed, and how can you use the many varied tools of PR and maketing to help you achieve your business aims? Think short, medium and long term.
3. Refresh your goals. Once your strategy is clarified (if needed) or re-confirmed, set clear, measureable objectives to support the strategy.
4. Hit the target. Have your target markets shifted? What changes have happened or are currently happening in your industry that you need to take account of in your planning and what changes might come into play soon that will affect your target audiences and your business? Arm yourself with up-to-date market knowledge that will help you make informed decisions.
5. Get creative! Have some fun thinking of creative ways to fulfil new goals or tackle goals yet to achieve. Involve others in some creative thinking time and reward good ideas. Make it visual - use a big board to record ideas or create a colourful 'brain map' or spider diagram of ideas flowing out of a central aim or goal. Tackle one goal or challenge at a time to think about a range of different possible solutions and ideas.
6. Resource your plans... Now you know what you want to achieve next, do you have the support and skills sets in place to get it done? Draw in experts to fill in any gaps. Also think about staffing needs as far in advance as possible to ensure you get the pick of the crop when it comes to hiring talent - whether on a temporary, freelance, contract or permanent basis.
7. Build relationships. People are important! Take a few moments to think about what relationships are important to your business and why. Do you need to review your stakeholder contacts, do you need to nurture some key relationships and are there some new contacts you should be making in order to help drive your new business plans and strategies forward?

Obviously there is a lot more to be said on this topic, and some very specific ideas to put in place in order to create an effective PR plan. Hopefully these pointers might inspire some forward planing that will help reap results. Happy plannng!

CSR: a longer-term view & ideas

Is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme just for larger businesses to demonstrate their ethical credentials to shareholders and customers and companies looking to do some 'team bonding' whilst building something together? Or is it something that can be long-lasting, benefitting communities and stimulating businesses?

From what I've experienced, working with a wide range of clients from coffee companies to supermarkets to SMEs and start-ups, the latter can be true. Projects done in the right way with commitment can be benefit both sides. I have seen examples of where it has and hasn't worked. Good CSR programmes can make a difference to individuals, buisinesses and communities if delivered with some thought and longer-term perspective.

Not only do those on the receiving end benefit, CSR in all its various forms, can provide many positive aspects to office life too. Take annual charity fun runs for example - they can be a great chance for people to get fit, do a bit of team building and raise cash for a good cause. You don't even have to run but can help fundraise or walk! The OX5 Run has been a fantastic way of raising money for the Oxford Children's Hospital - this year it raised £50,000 for new equipment. Oxfordshire-based recruitment firm Allen Associates has sponsored the event for two years now and has been heavily involved in promoting it. Going to their awards evening this year and meeeting some of the children who have benefitted from the new equipment was just awe-inspiring. (photo above: with GMTV presenters Emma Crosby and Kirsty McCabe and Jason Donovan who started this year's OX5 Run)

My sister set up a fun charity challenge for 2010 (in her spare moments from her busy job!) with a friend called '10 4 10' - with 10 creative challenges to appeal to different interests - from mountaineering to gardening and design - to raise money for 10 different charities. Special awards for completing all 10!

Here are a few more thoughts and ideas:

1. Think local: Choose a charity or project that serves the community in which your business operates and where many of your staff will live.


2. It's not all about the money: smaller businesses that don't have much extra cash to give, can be a bit more creative with their CSR - giving of a little time or expertise can be just as much of a benefit - supporting local schools by providing work experience placements is just one idea - you might even find your next talented recruit!


3. Think longer-term: it takes time to get to know a project, charity or community. Take a little time to explore what's around your area or what might be a good fit with your business and its values, expertise and resources.


4. From the heart: why not ask staff if there is something they are already involved in out of office hours that you could support as a business and free up some staff time to get involved too.


5. Get active: there are many charity fun runs, for example that take place every year - why not encourage staff to get fit and raise money for a good cause.

Moving away from short-term goodwill gestures or high profile one-off projects that might grab attention and be nice for staff, towards a longer-term view and valuable relationship-building can benefit all involved. Economic challenges? What difference does that make? Surely building businesses and communities goes hand-in-hand.