Building a Brand People Choose: Four PR, Events, Marketing and Media Experts on Values, Trust and Growth

Episode 9 of The Legacy Bench brought together four people with decades of experience in PR, events, marketing and media: Charlotte Nichols of PR agency Harvey & Hugo, Simon Howard of Introducing Events, Rebecca "Bex" Houston of Smash Marketing, and George Howson, co-founder of Pear Tree Media. As our host Princely pointed out, almost everyone on the table had 20 years or more behind them. The conversation kept coming back to one idea: people choose brands they trust, and trust comes from values.

Charlotte Nichols: values over everything

Charlotte founded Harvey & Hugo, a PR agency in Darlington, 17 years ago when she was 25. Its mission is to amplify people's voices through traditional and digital PR, social media and content. She also hosts a podcast sharing the personal stories behind professionals, which began after she suffered miscarriages and was honest with a business contact about why she had to miss a meeting. He had been through the same, and they became firm friends and business partners. "I think there's real value in opening up sometimes," she said. The podcast is approaching 100 episodes.

After a tough couple of years for agencies, she said the business is in a really good place, with a smaller team that is particular about who it works with. "It's not necessarily about secret, it's about values." Asked whether she would choose values over a big cheque, she said she would: "You could be making all the money in the world, but if you're unhappy dealing with that person... it's just not worth it." Bex suggested B Corp companies as a natural hit list, and Simon offered an introduction to a medical conference where families share their stories. Her advice for young people entering PR: do the groundwork, learn the fundamentals, and get out to physical events.

Simon Howard: how do you clone yourself?

Simon has hosted events for more than 20 years, and his Manchester-based company, Introducing Events, is "on a mission to end dull, boring, unengaging corporate events". Since the pandemic, with so many people working remotely, he believes bringing teams together in a room matters more than ever. His experiences range from turning 200 conference delegates into a samba band within an hour to race nights, game shows and duck herding, for brands including Rolls-Royce and Ferrero. He also hosts major industry events such as EventTech Live and the NHS ConfedExpo.

His challenge is scaling. Replacing him on an event means finding someone who can host, rig sound and lighting, think strategically and sell. Bex suggested an "X Factor style" audition, plus LinkedIn ads to event organisers and Google Performance Max campaigns for inbound leads. Charlotte gently urged him to lower expectations: someone with every skill would probably be running their own company, so list the essentials, hire for personality and train the rest. Simon agreed: "If you've got a great personality... I can't teach you to have a great personality." His first priority is a salesperson, and his long-term goal is a business that runs without him.

Bex Houston: ethical digital marketing

Bex has worked in marketing for 29 years, and her Norwich-based agency, Smash Marketing, a B Corp, is approaching its eighth birthday with a growing team. Clients are not tied into contracts, all work is done in-house, and every client gets a monthly meeting. She deliberately keeps prices within reach of small businesses rather than raising retainers. Asked where persuasion becomes manipulation, she was clear: "If it wasn't truthful, we wouldn't say it."

She shared practical advice on getting results: Google Ads when you need work quickly, SEO when your pipeline is steady, paid social to reach new audiences, email marketing to existing customers, and keeping your website constantly updated. With more people searching through AI tools, she stressed metadata, schema markup, long-form pages that explain who you are, case studies and reviews. Charlotte added that AI search has given PR new power, because AI tools draw on trusted media sources. Bex's next step is moving the spotlight from herself to her team: "It needs to be Smash Marketing, not the Bex show."

George Howson: building media brands and finding sponsors

George is co-founder and head of video content at Pear Tree Media, which runs around a dozen brands across sport, cars, gardening and parenting, including F1 Chronicle and what he described as the biggest F1 newsletter on Substack. He studied engineering, started writing about Formula 1 in his spare time around ten years ago, and moved into video when a friend asked him to give it a go. He taught himself editing: "Never put yourself into a box."

His challenges are consistent sponsorship and converting free subscribers into paying ones. Charlotte suggested starting small with in-kind sponsorship or outsourcing sales, Bex suggested retargeting free readers and using an AI agent and automation to handle sponsor outreach, and Princely recommended a clear pitch deck and a free trial that asks for card details up front.

The AI question

Princely closed by asking how AI is changing work. One guest worried about "neurological apathy", noting how much we already depend on satnavs, and predicted we may one day need "mind gyms" to keep thinking for ourselves.

Watch the full episode for the whole conversation, and tell us: would you choose values over profit?