Welcome to the PR Pepper Challenge where PRmoment founder Ben Smith interviews leading in-house communicators.

On the show this week it’s Jay Ward, director, Ford of Europe product communications.

But this is an interview with a twist. Our guests have to agree to take the PR Pepper Challenge when they come on! The challenge involves them answering three questions - if they get the question right Ben Smith has to eat the chilli but if they get the question wrong, our guest has to eat the chilli.

The PR Pepper Challenge series of interviews is produced in partnership with Meltwater.

Here are the details of what Jay and I talked about:

1 min What the PR Pepper Challenge is all about!

1.30 mins How the role of a communications director changed during the COVID crisis.

3 mins Communications, as a function within a business, relies on collaboration. Jay discusses how virtual working has impacted this.

3 mins “The creativity side of communications has been the part that has suffered most”

5 mins “The danger with your commute no being 10 yards is that you’re always at work”

7 mins At the start of the COVID lockdowns, to what extent did Jay and his team need to re-understand their audiences and start communicating all over again?

9 mins Jay reflects on the drop in car sales during the COVID lockdowns and what that meant for Ford.

11 mins The first PR Pepper Challenge question.

14 mins Jay talks us through Ford’s media relations approach during the lockdown.

18 mins How COVID forced Ford to change its route to market.

21 mins Has COVID meant that in-house communicators are more in demand than ever within a business?

23 mins Has the sustainability agenda been accelerated because of the COVID crisis?

28 mins The second PR Pepper Challenge.

32 mins How internal communications has increased in importance during lockdown.

33 mins Why “Ford is the largest family company you can think of.”

35 mins Jay talks about how the car industry needs to decrease its Co2 emissions and how governments globally are approaching Co2 regulation in different markets.

40 mins A discussion as to the extent businesses and brands can step into the trust void that politicians and the media have left open.

43 mins The third and final PR Pepper Challenge!