Skip to content

Uncommon’s Nils Leonard: ‘PR should be scared’

May 28, 2026 · 37 min

Show notes

Nils Leonard, co-founder of renowned ad agency Uncommon, is a guest on this week’s PRWeek Beyond the Noise podcast episode – speaking alongside Randy Manicks, managing partner of the firm’s PR arm.


The Uncommon leaders discuss how the firm’s PR, Culture & Influence practice – which launched in February – has performed so far.


Leonard discusses how he caused a stir in the PR industry by setting out his ambition to “carve out a new space in a tired category” with the launch of Uncommon’s PR offer.


Speaking with PRWeek UK deputy news editor Evie Barrett, he explains how he believes traditional PR agencies could improve their offer, and reveals the types of briefs that Uncommon’s PR division has worked on so far.


Meanwhile, Manicks, a former managing director at comms agency John Doe, dissects the difference between working at a traditional PR firm versus a creative agency that has expanded into PR.


Elsewhere, the pair argue that more PR agencies should be boosting their own profile with independent projects alongside launching client work.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All episodes of Beyond the Noise – the PRWeek podcast

Settings

Display

Language

Decides which stations you see first on the home page.

History

Recently played stations and episodes and your latest searches are only stored in this browser.

Notifications

A short notice when a podcast you follow has a new episode. Turn off single podcasts with the bell on their page.

Account

Save favorites – in the app and on the website.

Keyboard shortcuts

/
Open search
Space
Play or pause
← →
In the player: back 15 s, forward 30 s (episodes) · in a row: next tile
↑ ↓
In a row: target within the tile
Home / End
In a row: first or last tile
Esc
Close window or menu
?
This overview
Now playing

Go to station page

Play next

    Add episodes with “Play next” – they play after the current episode.