ABOUT THIS EPISODE
James Crawford is the founder and Managing Director of PR Agency One, and a board director at AMEC, the International Association for PR Measurement.
In this conversation, we talk about why James started his agency, what the early days really looked like, and why he has spent his career pushing PR to prove its value beyond headlines. We get into measurement and attribution, the limits of what you can and cannot track, and how PR teams can use evidence to protect budgets, win trust, and show commercial impact.
We also cover GEO and how brands should respond right now, why “everything is dead” is usually the wrong take, and what it takes to build long term momentum in an industry that is constantly changing.
Find James Crawford:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameswdcrawford/
PR Agency One: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pr-agency-one/
Find Josh Wheeler:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshwheelerbroadcast/
Follow Be Broadcast: https://www.linkedin.com/company/be-broadcast/
https://www.pragencyone.co.uk/
00:00 Intro
02:49 Meet James Crawford, PR Agency One and AMEC
04:25 Why James launched PR Agency One
06:51 The first wins, risk, and backing himself
09:44 Competing, then shifting to doing the work better
10:44 Why measurement became the edge
11:32 Roots, direct response, and early proof of impact
13:06 The limits of attribution and what to accept
14:30 Planning, prediction, and “interest graphs” in media
18:24 Early days of the agency, SEO and opportunity
19:44 Why media relations is tougher now
20:47 Moving from soft stories to bolder campaigns
23:01 Reactivity, brand purpose, and being ready for the BBC
24:03 Research that lasts longer than one news day
26:28 Cost of living era, weak leads, short term thinking
29:33 OneEval explained: Brand, Reputation, Commercial, and planning
33:03 Why evaluation protects teams when leadership changes
35:18 Innovation, AMEC, and staying on top of measurement shifts
38:27 Training the whole team to understand measurement
39:36 GEO, threats and opportunities
41:31 What actually influences LLM visibility right now
43:43 What clients are asking, and what they are missing
45:19 A practical GEO split: classical PR first, tests second
46:56 SEO is not dead, and why “everything is dead” is lazy thinking
48:17 Experimentation as the only sensible approach
48:50 BBC visibility, the long game, and building a track record
50:58 The thread through James’ career: hard work and showing up
53:24 “Accidentally brilliant” and managing people
#PublicRelations #PR #PRAgency #Communications #MediaRelations #Measurement #AMEC #Evaluation #Attribution #Marketing #Reputation #BrandStrategy #DigitalPR #SEO #GEO #AI #ChatGPT #Leadership #AgencyLife #Podcast
