In the latest episode of the NDA Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Justin Pearse and Retail Media Age Editor Rebecca Sentance are joined by Lydia Oakes, MD of Bluestripe Communications, for a wide-ranging discussion on how B2B PR is evolving in an era shaped by AI, fragmented media and growing pressure to prove performance.
The episode opens with Rebecca sharing some of the latest developments from the retail media sector, including new editorial initiatives at Retail Media Age focused on highlighting emerging talent and agency perspectives across the industry. The discussion also focuses on retail media’s biggest current challenges, from buying complexity and performance pressures to the growing importance of brand building.
Drawing on more than two decades in communications, Lydia discusses the dramatic transformation of the trade media landscape, from the heyday of print publishing to today’s fast-moving digital environment, where algorithm-driven discovery have made it harder than ever for brands to stand out.
Despite the technological change, the conversation makes clear that the fundamentals of strong communications remain rooted in expertise, relationships and genuinely-useful storytelling.
The episode also examines the growing role of AI in PR workflows, from media monitoring and discoverability analysis through to understanding how brands appear in large language models such as Claude and Perplexity. But Lydia argues that while AI can support efficiency and measurement, it cannot replicate the experience, judgement and credibility of an expert spokesperson or communicator.
