Age UK | The Strategy Behind Landing Desert Island Discs | Broadcast PR

Age UK approached us with a highly targeted, “scalpel-like” brief: to elevate the profile of CEO Paul Farmer through top-tier, culturally significant broadcast opportunities across TV, radio and podcast.

Critically, this was not about volume or typical CEO profiling. Age UK already had a strong in-house PR function delivering those opportunities. Instead, they challenged us to:

• Unlock iconic, high-impact platforms
• Position Paul as a compelling individual, not just a spokesperson
• Avoid campaign hooks and instead make Paul himself the story

The Strategy

1. Deep Talent Immersion

We treated Paul as editorial talent, not just a CEO.

Through a series of in-depth calls, we:

• Built a detailed picture of his personal story, values and lived experience
• Identified authentic hooks beyond his professional role
• Explored where his story intersected with formats driven by reflection and storytelling

A key theme quickly emerged: music as a lifelong anchor.

Paul spoke passionately about:

• His wide-ranging tastes, from 80s classics to classical to Afrobeats
• The role music played during defining life moments
• How music supported him through periods of personal challenge

2. Leveraging a Life in the Charity Sector

Alongside these personal insights, Paul’s career narrative was a powerful editorial asset.

He had spent his entire career in the charity sector, including 16 years at Mind, one of the UK’s leading mental health charities, before taking on the role of CEO at Age UK.

This gave us:

• A deeply purpose-driven career arc, rooted in public service
• Credibility to speak on human experiences, resilience and societal challenges
• A rare combination of professional authority and emotional insight

Importantly, this wasn’t just a list of roles; it was a life shaped by supporting others, which aligned perfectly with programmes that prioritise reflection, humanity and depth.

We used this to position Paul as:

• Someone who has not only led organisations, but lived alongside the issues they address
• A figure whose experiences both personal and professional would translate into rich, meaningful storytelling

3. Building Trust to Unlock the Story

To land a programme like Desert Island Discs, access and authenticity are critical.

We invested time in building trust so Paul felt:

• Comfortable sharing personal and sometimes difficult experiences
• Confident that these stories would be handled sensitively
• Prepared for the depth and emotional honesty required

4. Precision Targeting: Why Desert Island Discs

We identified Desert Island Discs as the ideal platform:

• A heritage programme synonymous with depth, storytelling and cultural relevance
• A format built around music as a reflection of a life lived
• A space where leaders with meaningful personal and professional journeys resonate strongly

Our pitch carefully brought together:

• His lifelong connection to music
• His career spent supporting others, including his 16 years at Mind
• His personal experiences and reflections on hardship and resilience

This created a narrative that felt natural for the format, rather than constructed for PR.

5. Long-Lead Relationship Management

This was a months-long process, not a quick win.

We:

• Maintained ongoing dialogue with the production team
• Refined Paul’s positioning in line with editorial feedback
• Carefully navigated how to present more sensitive aspects of his story
• Had several briefing calls, including a research chat with Paul and the researcher from Desert Island Discs
• Ensured Paul felt comfortable and prepared throughout

The Result

• Paul Farmer as a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs
• A rare opportunity on one of the UK’s most iconic and respected programmes

Impact

• Elevated Paul from sector leader to national cultural voice
• Positioned Age UK through a lens of human experience
• Demonstrated the power of combining personal storytelling with purpose-led careers

Why This Worked

Ultimately, we didn’t just pitch a CEO, we presented a life shaped by music, service and resilience, making Paul Farmer a natural fit for one of the UK’s most treasured programmes.