By Roz Morris, Managing Director TV News London
It’s a real sign of the times. We truly are living in a visual economy. When Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly decided to announce that this current series of Strictly Come Dancing is to be their last as the show’s presenters, what did they do?
Did they in time honoured fashion get the BBC to put out a news release including their statements? Did they contact the Press Association? Did the BBC offer journalists exclusive interviews or hold a press conference?
“We want you to hear this from us.”
No. None of the above. The two presenters posted a recorded a message on Instagram. It begins with Claudia saying: “Hi it’s Claude and Tess. There have been some rumblings, and we want you to hear this from us.”
Using videos works
This is only the latest example where famous people have used videos on social media to make announcements and manage big news themselves, in an unfiltered and direct way without having to use traditional media to get their message across to the public. They are using the visual economy successfully and as I point out in my book The Visual Revolution Guidebook this is now essential for all of us, whether we are famous or not. Here are some examples.
Royal videos
The Princess of Wales demonstrated her determination to manage her own story when she released videos last year first announcing that she had cancer and later a happier video with her family announcing that her treatment had been successful.
Comey’s attack video
In September when former FBI director James Comey was indicted on charges that he lied to Congress and obstructed a congressional proceeding during testimony he gave before a Senate committee he immediately put out a video stating his case against the charges.
The Kisscam video response
After a little-known company called Astronomer received unwelcome worldwide publicity for the Coldplay kisscam ‘scandal’ involving its CEO and Head of HR, they responded with their own humorous video presented by Gwyneth Paltrow.
This was a great success because firstly, as everyone knows, Gwyneth has absolutely nothing to do with Coldplay (not) and also the video was cleverly pitched to establish that Astronomer was a professional company doing professional work and that it would now go back to its previous obscurity. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one video was worth a thousand news releases attempting positive reputation management.
The crisis video
At the beginning of 2025 after an American Airlines aircraft and a US military helicopter crashed in Washington DC killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft, Robert Isom, the CEO of American Airlines, issued a video statement on the day after the crash.
The video is expertly produced with a plain and sombre grey background and Robert Isom is impressive as he first expresses sorrow and then delivers information in a caring and authentic manner.
When I’m media training clients about crisis statements and interviews I now refer them to this video and ask them if they or their CEO could do as well as this when facing a difficult situation.
The reality is that to produce and deliver any type of video statement professionally takes training and practice. All video announcements whether positive or not, require visual skills from those presenting them.
Taking control of their Strictly story
Claudia and Tess, both of whom have years of professional presenting skills, were able to release their statement on social media with a recorded video and, given they were worried about ‘rumblings’, took control of their own story before anyone else could.
They ensured they were all over social media and on the front pages of daily newspapers even at a time of a lot of big stories and a very crowded news agenda.
Instead of the conventional process where the BBC PR team would take the lead, the story was released by the presenters themselves with the BBC following with later statements.
It has since been revealed this was a PR bombshell not just for the public but for BBC people as well, because, apart from a few people at the top of the corporation, no-one, including the BBC PR team actually knew this statement was coming. For more informed comment on this you can listen to the very interesting BBC podcast ‘When it Hits the Fan’ with comments on this by PR veterans David Yelland and Simon Lewis. They conclude that as PR moves go, this announcement would surely have earned a ’10 from Len’. and I agree.
