Earned First

About Earned First

Earned First is a groundbreaking media and events platform dedicated to elevating public relations and communications professionals across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. Hosted by respected industry journalist Arun Sudhaman, the Earned First podcast delivers crucial insights and intelligence for the global public relations industry.

Publisher

Arun Sudhaman

Category

business · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

29 May 2025

Latest episode

29 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

37 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   29 Sept 2026

   Geopolitics, Mastercard & OpenAI's CCO search

   Earned First's David Blecken and Arun Sudhaman look at the backlash over Singapore Airlines' stake in Air India, Chinese brands going global, and Mastercard's global PR pitch. They also discuss OpenAI's nine-month CCO search, and why only just over half of CCOs report to the CEO, according to Earned First's PR 2030 research.

2. 

   24 Aug 2026

   Why corporate affairs pros want change, with GlobeScan's Chris Coulter

   GlobeScan CEO Chris Coulter joins the Earned First podcast to break down findings from the latest Oxford-GlobeScan Global Corporate Affairs Survey. Now in its seventh edition, the study draws on nearly 300 senior practitioners across 51 countries, and offers a wealth of insight into the opinions, trends, and challenges facing corporate affairs teams worldwide. In conversation with Earned First's Arun Sudhaman, the episode explores why corporate affairs heads want their functions revised — and why that appetite runs highest in Asia-Pacific — how geoeconomics is reshaping their priorities, the woeful state of corporate affairs measurement, and much more, including the latest on the ESG backlash.

3. 

   30 Jul 2026

   Culture, Cannes & cockroaches with Charlotte Mceleny

   Charlotte Mceleny returns to discuss Cannes Lions 2026: the creator economy's growing dominance, the industry's fixation on "culture," and renewed momentum behind CCOs and organisational trust. The conversation turns to GEO and AI search's parallels with early SEO, before closing on the Gen Z-led political movements reshaping communications across Asia.

Who has been a guest on Earned First

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Richard Edelman
• Barby Siegel
• Thomas Bunn
• Emma Smith
• Nitin Mantri

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 29 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

57

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

Contact Earned First

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Earned First