Have I got a Story for you? Q&A with Amanda Lowe

I’ve joined the management team at Story Comms as a non executive. It’s a feisty B2B PR agency based in Birmingham founded by Amanda Lowe.

Story is a corporate punk. The team has a great attitude, confidence and a fierce drive to grow out of the crisis. Founder Amanda Lowe arrived at our first meeting straight from a boxing workout. I knew we were going to get along.

We caught up over Zoom to talk about plans for the rest of the year.

How was your lockdown?

It’s not over. Birmingham is back under local restrictions. Yay. We can’t visit other households with only those in our support bubbles allowed to cross the doorstep. It’s fine if we’re in the pub though - obviously.

Our lockdown story is like others in the PR industry. Focusing on clients and helping them navigate a rapidly changing environment, while managing our own shift to remote working, split shifts to manage the juggle of 24/7 family life and homeschooling (badly, in my case). 

Do you think COVID-19 will have a long term impact on PR?

COVID-19 has been a leveller for many areas of business and society including the PR industry. Clients have always demanded value and return on investment but now more so than ever, outcomes are what matters. 

Location has (thankfully) ceased to be a criteria for talent or clients, which for us, is a real opportunity. 

There has in the past, been a feeling that agencies HQ-ed in the regions only service the regions - which has been the source of untold frustration.

While we undoubtedly know our regional patches better than anyone, we work with clients across the UK and beyond. One of our latest lockdown campaigns saw us secure coverage across three continents - Europe, the Middle East and Africa, most with valuable backlinks. 

Personally,  I’ve got to know all sorts of people during the past six months via informal and formal networks - making and learning from these new connections has undoubtedly been one of my highlights. Investing in your own learning has always been important for comms people, but this crisis has made the industry’s pace of change faster than ever, meaning there is more to learn. As a secret geek, I’m in my element.

What’s the plan for Story?

Ambitious growth.

Our backbone is strategy and media work. We’ve built on that and invested in content, video production, digital, design and SEO services during the pandemic - meaning we can look after more - from finding a brand’s story to telling it across owned and earned.

The next job for us is a marketing overhaul and growth.

Like any five-year-old, Story is lively, messy and stubbornly determined but we’ve a bold plan for growth. I’m chuffed you’ve joined the team to help with growing pains and help us tell our own story more assertively. 

What’s in a name?

We tell stories that make people stop, think and change.

We work with corporates, B2B companies and the public sector, helping them to tell the real stories of people, places and those they serve. By taking off the corporate mask and relating as people, our clients connect more clearly - without jargon and nonsense.

Our clients include Berkeley Group, the FA, the British Business Bank and Goodman.

What’s on your to do list for the remainder of 2020?

For our clients, it's about firming up plans for what could well be the toughest Q1 ever. Advising clients on the impact of Brexit, however it ends up looking and keenly awaiting the publication of the government’s white paper on further regional devolution, which has been promised before Christmas. The Levelling Up agenda, while overshadowed currently, cannot be allowed to fade away in the medium term. 

For Story, we’re having a facelift. We’ve changed a lot in recent months - adding new clients, services, markets and people. We need a shopfront that reflects us better and puts our best foot forward. 

We’re just getting started.