Paul's been in his job a week. MediaDashboard shows him which main themes recur across the top 20 publications. Eight big stories, several health related, over the last year. Bingo! But Paul wants depth, and MediaDashboard delivers.

On the big issues of sugarfree and naturalness, positive coverage about FirstQuencher is minimal - and on artificial additives it's bluntly negative, with even a few hostile articles. Paul digs deeper. The opposing coverage comes from just four industry journalists, and Paul notes none of these is in his address book. Time to meet them and tell FirstQuencher's side of the story. (Paul's sure he saw one of those guys having lunch with the main competitor's PR chief last month.)

The impact/favourability chart puts the landscape in black and white - both main competitors are winning the impact game, with much more coverage than FirstQuencher. But there's a silver lining: FirstQuencher's winning on favourability, punching above its weight for what coverage it does have. And when Paul looks at the trends over time, it's sparklingly clear where the opportunities are. Three areas where some smart messaging would let FirstQuencher soar ahead of its rivals.

He's had an idea that could make him a name within the agency. And he's only a week in.

Next: how Paul built his first PR campaign