Navigation

Oliver Rawlins - PRing the BBC

Oliver Rawlins knows it sounds cheesy to say so, but he’s proud to work for the BBC. He looks after corporate and external affairs for BBC Worldwide, the Corporation’s commercial arm. We spoke to him about his career so far, what it’s like communicating for the BBC, and got some tips for people thinking about working at the broadcaster.

Why did you choose a career in corporate communications?

It sounds a bit pretentious, but I like using words and ideas effectively to tell an audience an interesting story – which is basically what corporate communications is.

How did you get into the BBC?

I had worked here as a casual, on and off during various school and university holidays, and built up my contacts and experience. In the end, I graduated on the Friday and the following Monday I started in a proper job.

What was your first role?

I joined the drama press office for three months – that turned into six and that became a year. Each division in the BBC has its own press team and, after a year in drama, I moved across to join the entertainment department, where I also spent a year.

But then you left the BBC?

Yes. After two years – one in drama, one in entertainment – I joined Weber Shandwick, where I worked in corporate communications for two years. Clients included Nestle, Coca-Cola and Asda. Then in the winter of 2005 I came back to the BBC to be the Manager of Corporate and External Affairs for BBC Worldwide.

What is BBC Worldwide?

It’s the commercial arm of the BBC and does two main things. First, it’s the global gateway to the BBC – through our global channels and formats and through the licensing of great British content, we are the international face of the BBC. Second, our activities generate substantial profits which go straight back to the BBC and help subsidise the licence fee.

How did an agency compare to in-house?

Stark though it sounds, I wouldn’t want to go back to agency life. I had two big problems with working in an agency: first, you are inevitably somewhat removed from the action; second, you spend a lot of your time pitching for new clients and trying to hang on to current ones. If you really want to understand and influence X, I think you really need to work for X, to be on the inside and to feel that its future directly affects your future too. Great people work in agencies, but it’s not for me again.

Would you advise a graduate to start in an agency or in-house?

It really doesn’t matter, so long as the company you work for – agency or in-house – is a good one and the experience you get there is positive. There is little worse in the world than working for a bum company or having bum clients. If you don’t care about their story you are in a bad place to communicate their message.

Lots of people want to join the BBC. What advice would you give to graduates who want to have a role like yours?

Good communication skills, a real interest in and understanding of the media industry, a willingness to work hard, a thick skin, a sense of humour, and the ability to think on your feet. Two other things: you need to know what PR is (it’s not marketing and it’s not advertising) and you genuinely need to recognise that PR, done well, isn’t fluffy or cushy but is in fact central to helping organisations run effectively.

Does the BBC take graduate trainees into the PR department?

I am sorry to say this, but there is not a traditional graduate recruitment scheme anywhere in the BBC anymore. So if you’ve set your heart on working here you’ll have to try very hard, write lots of letters, make as many contacts as you can and seize every opportunity that comes your way.

Any tips?

Be cheeky: no asking, no getting. Always try to make a situation out of nothing, whether you’re doing a week of work experience, covering someone while they’re on holiday or maternity leave, helping someone out, temping, whatever. Remember, I started out on a three-month contract, and I’ve now been here for over five years.

What’s your best piece of advice for an aspiring PR person?

The best piece of PR advice I was ever given is that everything in life, no matter how complicated, can be summed up in three key points. Whether I’m writing lines against enquiry, a speech or a press release, giving a quote, briefing a journalist or a colleague, it’s always ‘here are the three things you need to know’.

Give us an idea of a typical day working for BBC Worldwide?

It’s always pretty busy. I start by reading the papers before the team meeting at 9am – and from then until about 7pm I spend my time talking to journalists and BBC Worldwide’s key stakeholders, working with colleagues on the major issues, writing speeches, preparing communications plans and strategies, and basically doing what I can to ensure that the next few days aren’t littered with booby-traps or negative stories.

What was your day like yesterday?

Like most days, I didn’t really get very far down my to-do list and instead spent most of my time trying to neutralise a pretty big, nasty story, which had the potential to get nastier still. But alongside that, I worked on a speech our Chief Executive is giving in a few days’ time, wrote a letter to the media editor of a national newspaper which had run a pretty curious story about us, and, this being the BBC, attended a smattering of meetings.

Do you plan for possible crisis scenarios? How?

With the exception of Whitehall and the Government, I would be surprised if there is any institution or company in the UK that gets as much press attention or interest as the BBC. So there is always something going on and often a fire to put out. The challenge is trying to see the woods for the trees. You need to be able to deal with the micro issues, many of which come from nowhere and, if you’re not careful, can spiral and can blow you off course. And all the while you need to keep your eye on the bigger picture and never lose sight of the key messages. PR is a very visceral profession, and you should always trust your instincts and your radar. But you also want to have colleagues whose judgement and advice you can rely on, to ensure that collectively you’re all moving in the right direction.

What else does your job involve?

The job is threefold, really. First, I work with financial and media journalists on issues which have the potential to influence the reputation of BBC Worldwide’s business. Second, my boss and I manage public relations activity which supports the profile of the Chief Executive and his senior team. Third, a colleague and I are also responsible for BBC Worldwide’s public affairs activity, so that means creating a better understanding of our purpose among politicians and policy makers too.

What do you enjoy about your role?

I enjoy lots of things: the people I work with and meet, who are often engaging and smart, and the issues and stories I work on, which are often challenging and exciting. I also take great pride in working at the BBC – it’s an organisation which I admire and respect.

Are there any perks to your job?

Lots: my job takes me off to interesting places, allows me to work on a range of projects, and introduces me to some fascinating people.

What do you dislike?

One is the fact that the BBC so frequently gets bashed around, often unfairly and often simply for the sake of it. The other thing I dislike is how regularly PR is misunderstood and maligned. There are many talented people in PR, and the industry as a whole often fails to get the recognition it deserves.

Describe how you put together BBC Worldwide’s PR strategy?

Well, there is no one strategy and there is no one way of pulling it together. It’s about taking the vision set out by our Chief Executive and finding the most compelling and coherent ways in which we as a communications team can help deliver and drive the overall success of the business.

What do you say to people who feel it’s time to scrap the TV licence fee?

I challenge them to tell me where else they can find Planet Earth, Spooks, Match of the Day, Gavin and Stacey, the iPlayer, The Today Programme, bbc.co.uk, Strictly Come Dancing, Question Time and EastEnders for roughly 38p a day. Lots of people think that they can just get everything – including the above programmes and services – online for free and that they shouldn’t therefore need to pay for a television. But they forget that they’re not paying for the television, they’re paying for the content – it’s content people love and content people would miss. That content most certainly isn’t free to make, and I can’t see any other media company – let alone any website – providing it in such quantity.

What is your view on blogging?

The short answer is I think it’s exciting and useful, but that it needs to come with a health warning. While everyone has the right to express their opinion and share their views, I do absolutely believe that we now need to be more careful and insistent than ever when it comes to dividing fact from fiction, expertise from ignorance, and measured debate from whipped-up frenzy.

Do you see yourself still at the BBC in five years?

The way the economy is, I don’t think anyone can predict what the next few years have in store. But I enjoy corporate communications very much, the BBC is a good place to be, I feel privileged to be here, and there’s lots of good stuff in my in-tray.

If you did leave, what would you do?

PR is a fast-moving industry – new doors opening all the time, fantastic exposure to new places and new people, a great training ground for loads of things. So who knows what’s round the corner? If the people and the challenges are interesting, I’m there.

Tell us something interesting about yourself that we couldn’t find on the Internet

While at university I presented a live culture show on a digital channel called ‘Where It’s At’. It was the worst TV programme on the worst channel in history and was deservedly short lived. It’s now known in my family as, ‘Where It’s Gone’.