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The truth, the whole truth…but what is it?

November 19, 2010 By Emily Leary 15 Comments

This is the latest guest post from Carli-Ann Smith as part of The Student Perspective series – a set of posts contributed by future stars of the comms industry…and this one may ruffle a few feathers.

‘Ça dépend’…‘Es hängt davon ab’…’Dipende’…‘Εξαρτάται’…‘Det beror’…‘Depinde’

Hmmm…I seem to be getting the impression that no matter who you ask they will tell you that: ‘It depends’ and then launch into some sort of reason why there is no set definition of the truth. I was fully expecting to look in the dictionary and it say the same.

A quick search on Google reveals that definitions range from ‘a fact that has been verified’ to ‘one of the first heavy metal albums.’

Is this lack of definition a get out clause? If there is no set definition then how can something be untrue? Most people seem to know what a lie is, so why the confusion about the truth. My theory involves context, the confusion is the context that the ‘truth’ is placed in.

It matters who you ask and at the time you ask them. Facts and figures are the truth, yes? They can be placed in different contexts. Make-up ranges claim 98% of women agree their product has been of benefit to them, you then see in the small print that only 10 women were asked, still the truth but not as you would have expected.

Back in the days when it was regarded the truth that the earth was flat, the people that said it weren’t lying, they were merely passing on what they knew. Isn’t that the job of a PR Professional? Passing on information they know? Yes and no. It is common knowledge that PR practitioners pass on certain snippets of information, some people jump on the old ‘Oh it’s all spin’ bandwagon, this is one bandwagon I would like to pull the wheels off.

Everyone is guilty of selecting certain information to pass on, the difference is we just get paid for it. Individuals do it in real life, when you are out on a date you don’t give them your whole life story and include the story about the time you were charged for stalking an ex-girlfriend. Not if you have any sense you wouldn’t! You would embroider the truth.

So when is it seen as being socially acceptable to not tell EVERYTHING that you know? What about if it would start a moral panic and cause the country to go into meltdown? Maybe the best idea at the time but then if people found out you had hidden it then you get into trouble anyway. However if the public were told everything there would be bedlam!

There needs to be an information flow, and that’s where we come in. Sometimes we are told what to say, what not to say and others we help advise the best course of action, either way the hammer drops on us…

Our job is to put a certain amount of polish on facts, but you can’t polish something that isn’t there. With the rise of the internet and social networking sites there is nowhere to hide, the truth will come out, so what is the point in blatantly lying when your reputation and that of the companies will just be tarnished when people find out the truth?

Outright lying can have serious implications, your reputation as an individual is built on many things just like the reputation of the organisation. If you had a friend that lied about everything you would become tired of speaking to them and you certainly wouldn’t listen to anything they had to say because you wouldn’t know what to believe. Therefore how can you build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships, which is included in our role as PR professionals, if your contacts know you lie to them?

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer for 2010, 72% of people said that ‘A company I can trust’ is a top driver of corporate reputation in the UK. This therefore proves that lying to your customers can have a negative effect on sales, reputation and peoples impressions on you.

According to Julian Henry in an article on PR Week, “Telling porkies can become a necessity. You might be trying to contain something fragile, volatile and potentially damaging to a large number of innocent bystanders, namely your client’s kingsize ego, which has the potential to explode without warning at any moment.”

As the face of the organisation, it is our job to be responsible and make sure that we don’t cause any unnecessary upset, whether that be our clients or to the public.

In my opinion, and it may be controversial, I think that sometimes it is better to withhold certain information if it could start a moral panic. Especially if it is information that the public don’t in fact have a ‘right’ to know. If it affects them directly, then I believe they should be told, but if the knowledge is not essential then to keep quiet is not a sin. However, where the difficultly lies is if someone asks. Now, if someone asks and you don’t tell them then ‘technically’ you are lying.

I believe it is important to distinguish between what the public need to know and what isn’t vital knowledge. My naïve advice to PR professionals is, don’t lie. When we are so successful at promoting businesses and products why are we letting PR fall into disrepute?  How on earth can we persuade people that PR isn’t about spin when the ones practicing it are playing up to the negative stereotypes that these individuals hold? You have my permission to polish but don’t take it too far and fabricate things that aren’t there.

(Kudos to Neville Hobson for his article on truth, which informed this post.)

Carli-Ann Smith

Filed Under: Featured, Guest posts, Public Relations, The Student Perspective Tagged With: , , , ,

A war of words: who owns communications in 2010?

May 12, 2010 By Emily Leary 3 Comments

Whilst the roles of a PR and marketer are different at face value, there is little doubt that the two areas have considerable crossover, especially when it comes to social media.

Today, Vocus (a producer of “on-demand software for public relations management”) has circulated a white paper examining the merging roles of PR and marketing, and the debate surrounding who ‘owns’ social media.

For the white paper – ‘Blurring Lines, Turf Battles and Tweets: The Real Impact of Integrated Communications on Marketing and PR’ – Vocus surveyed 1,094 PR and marketing professionals last month about their experiences and views of ‘integrated communications’, which Vocus defines as:

“A management concept that ties all aspects of marketing communication, including, but not limited to advertising, search marketing, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing, together to function in a unified and comprehensive fashion as opposed to functioning in isolation or silos.”

Blurred lines

The key findings suggest that the lines between PR and marketing are blurring, with 79% of marketing and PR professionals stating that they report to the same boss, and 78% reporting formal working relationships when it comes to creating a common communications strategy.

However, whilst the roles may overlap in some respects, 67% of respondents revealed that they hold cross-functional meetings only ‘sometimes’, with a further 19% stating that they held them ‘rarely’ or ‘never’.

Turf battles

The white paper also illustrates that ‘turf battles’ remain rife between marketing and PR professionals, with 33% citing that such conflicts are the single biggest barrier to creating an integrated communications strategy. Budget shortcomings were judged to be the next obstacle, with 20% of respondents highlighting this issue.

Who owns social media?

The concept of ‘turf battles’ is further developed when the debate about who ‘owns’ social media is examined. From the results of the white paper, it’s clear that there is no consensus, with 43% of PRs feeling that they should own it, and 35% of marketers saying the same for their profession. When it comes to corporate blogs, 38% of PRs feel that they should control them, whilst 24% of marketers feel that they should.

Integrated communications

Common ground was found when participants were questioned about the benefits of integrated communications and how to measure them. 48% of PRs and marketers reported that integrated communications increase the overall effectiveness of outreach programs, and that sales and ROI are the most effective ways of assessing an integrated communications strategy.

It’s debatable as to whether this paper reflects the overall experiences of the industry, but it certainly highlights a growing feeling that social media is driving a merging of marketing and PR roles. Similarly, whether this will be resolved into the ‘integrated communications strategies’ envisaged by Vocus remains to be seen, but with the level of conflict described above, it seems unlikely that it will happen any time soon.

Filed Under: Featured, Marketing, News, Public Relations Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The launch of #CommsChat on Twitter – fancy it?

May 3, 2010 By Emily Leary Leave a Comment

#CommsChat, a weekly Twitter-based chat about anything and everything to do with communications, is inspired by chats like #JournChat, #PRstudchat and #BlogChat, which focus on specific subjects / participants.

These chats are typically based / moderated out of the USA, which means that the times are often challenging for people based in Europe.

#CommsChat has been developed with these things in mind, and will hopefully be shaped even more by you after reading this post.

The top line framework of #CommsChat

  • A weekly chat on Monday nights at 8pm UK time (1 hour duration)
  • Wide-ranging topics connected to communications, including: traditional and social media, PR, blogging, marketing, journalism and lots more
  • Special guests will be invited to take part most weeks based on the subject matter

Help shape #CommsChat

The rest of #CommsChat and its make-up will be determined by you over the next few weeks.

  • What would you like to see?
  • Any thoughts on subjects / topics?
  • Is there a format from another chat you’ve taken part in that you really like?

All this feedback will help us collectively create an engaged community and host sessions that add value to everyone taking part.

Put a date in your diary

The first #CommsChat is scheduled for 24 May 2010 at 8pm (UK time).

Although based out of the UK, it is open to anyone from everywhere – comms professionals, bloggers, journalists, students – basically anyone with an interest in / passion for communications.

Over the next few weeks we’ll provide you with more information about how it will work.

But the primary objective is simple: encourage like-minded people to get together for an hour each week to share their tips, hints and lessons relating to the world of communications.

It should be a lot of fun…and we look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Thanks

Adam Vincenzini and Emily Cagle

Staying connected / useful links:

Filed Under: Featured, Public Relations, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How would you handle Gordon Brown’s PR right now?

April 28, 2010 By Emily Leary 7 Comments

So, election fever has driven Gordon to call people bigots in public. Ok, not quite the real story, but a PR nightmare nonetheless. Here, for your reading pleasure, is our very own Account Exec and Politics grad, Eamonn Moore, with his thoughts on how to handle the whole affair.

“That was a disaster – they should have never put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? It’s just ridiculous… She’s just a sort of bigoted woman that said she used to be Labour.”

Gordon Brown made the above comments earlier today about Gillian Duffy, an ordinary member of the public from Rochdale who had been speaking to him in front of the press and media about several political issues, not realising that his microphone was still broadcasting.

His remarks may have been made in private, but right now they are being broadcast and discussed everywhere, from news channels to Twitter (indeed, #BigotGate was trending within the hour).

So in the wake of the crisis, how could Labour handle Gordon Brown’s PR?

Here are five actions that could be taken to try to minimise the impact of his comments, and salvage the rest of the election campaign.

1. Issue a public apology

Whilst Gordon has now apologised both publically and privately to Gillian Duffy, his public apology (as featured in a radio interview with Jeremy Vine this afternoon) did not go far enough, I feel. He apologised “if” he had caused offence, when it is quite clear that there is no “if” about it.

At this point, I’m disregarding the issue of whether Gillian is actually a bigot or not because it would be unwise for Labour to attack her for being so in an attempt to salvage Gordon’s reputation – the press & public would likely be unimpressed by a sustained attack on ‘a defenceless pensioner’. Furthermore, she’s actually a Labour voter (or was until today!), so to attack her could be seen as further attacking Labour voters.

Instead, it’s time for Gordon to be human. He could apologise unreservedly for his comments and the offence caused both to Gillian and Labour voters (five minutes is a very short amount of time to make your mind up that someone is a ‘bigot’ after all). We now understand he’s visited Gillian in person, so perhaps he’s done just that.

2. Talk about the pressures of an election campaign

Whilst Gordon should offer no excuses for what he said, the situation does present him with an ideal opportunity to talk about the pressure of an election campaign and getting caught in ‘the heat of the moment’. This may lead to some sympathy being generated for him – a man who has struggled to perceived as genuine at times.

3. Fight fire with fire

It wouldn’t be an election campaign without some good old-fashioned points scoring between the parties, would it? The Tories are likely to lambast Gordon for his comments, but Gordon could fight fire with fire and attack the comments made by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling regarding the rights of gays and lesbians, broadening the debate to one of ill-advised comments in general.

4. Tackle the issue of immigration head on

The news channels are reporting that Gordon’s “bigot” comment came after speaking to Gillian about Eastern European immigration. Whilst today’s incident looks bad right now, it could provide the ideal catalyst for Gordon to tackle the issue of immigration head on, by talking about how he recognises that immigration is a major issue and what he plans to do about it.

5. Implement checklists for all media events

Leaving your microphone on really is a school-boy error, especially when you’re so used to appearing in the press and media. Gordon’s PR team now need to sit down and draw up checklists for all media occasions to ensure that no further mistakes are made. Sounds simple, but obviously no one said, “Hey, Gordon. Have you taken your microphone off?” at the crucial moment.

Those are my five suggestions, and I don’t claim that they’d get Gordon out of the pickle he’s in, just help address the issue.

How would you handle Gordon’s PR right now?

(Hat tip to @MarketingDonut for posing the original question).

Filed Under: Public Relations, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Every ash cloud has a silver lining: mapping social media 2.0

April 22, 2010 By Emily Leary Leave a Comment

This is a guest post by Jeremy Bramwell, Client Services Director at IAS B2B Marketing.

The biggest and most bizarre news story of the year so far has got to be the Icelandic Volcano (I won’t even attempt to spell it, let alone get you to pronounce it), its accompanying ash cloud and consequential lockdown of Northern Europe’s airspace for 6 days.

I heard about this the first morning via @skynewsbreak in my Twitter feed and immediately started to think about using Twitter to map the movement of the ash cloud over the UK. Mistakenly, I thought that we’d actually be able to see the ash cloud and so I asked my Twitter followers to @ reply me their postcode if the ash was overhead (of course, I got no replies).

I got the idea from @benmarsh who developed a very neat application to map the affects of the snow in real time last winter. That of course is too clever for me and my intention was to create a cardboard map of the UK, give it a dusting of ash from an instant BBQ, take a picture and post it on Twitter for a bit of fun (see original tweet).

This I did and the ‘UK Ash Map’ took off getting 1,700+ views on Twitpic over the next 2 days. I quickly realised that the story was going to run and also tweeted the UK ash map from the @iasb2bmarketing Twitter account with the line ‘Mum’s not going to Iceland’.

I also toyed with other ideas of how we could as an agency have a bit of fun, and help people stuck in other parts of Europe, I even considered ‘re-naming’ IAS as ‘Icelandic Ash Services’ for the week and using our network of agencies across Europe to assist stranded B2B marketing professionals get home but the logistics were too complicated so that had to be shelved.

I learnt a valuable lesson in on-line to off-line PR from my very first UK Snow Map back in January, which was even more successful getting over 10,000 views on Twitpic, so set our PR team to work in producing an IAS press release on the UK Ash Map which has already gained good coverage in our key trade publications. Our agency is very creative, fun and irreverent and the ‘cardboard maps’ I create fit our brand perfectly, we may even put together a 2011 ‘Cardboard Map’ calendar I just need a few more biblical events to stimulate my imagination.

So in the interests of ‘new media art’ we are giving away a framed print of the UK Ash Map at IAS’ Digital PR forum in Manchester today, if you’re lucky enough to win it, you’ll have a small piece of Twitter history to put on your wall.

Filed Under: Guest posts, News, Public Relations, Social Media, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Preparing tomorrow’s PR pros

March 29, 2010 By Emily Leary 1 Comment

This is a guest post by Jane Crofts, a PR Lecturer at the University of Lincoln. I asked Jane how the university is preparing the next generation of PR pros for the changing landscape amidst the rise and rise of social media

So how are we preparing the youth of today to be the PRs of tomorrow? Particularly bearing in mind that many of the tutors of today are the PRs of yesterday… and bearing in mind that the advent of Web 2.0 sees PR changing faster than it has for very many years!

At the University of Lincoln we are a small but beautifully formed team of ex-practitioners and academics setting PR in the business context alongside Marketing, Advertising, occasionally Management or HR and even less occasionally Journalism. Our purpose is to give students a solid academic grounding in their chosen subjects but with a practical dimension to give that added extra to their employability. To this end we encourage them to get as much paid or unpaid work experience as they can find and to develop a portfolio of work they can show off to potential employers.

Increasingly we are encouraging students to develop this portfolio online in the form of blogs and integrated web pages taking advantage of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn used appropriately – Facebook is very much the ‘Uni life’ and softer side of the portfolio! So, we are inviting our protégés to embrace Web 2.0…and then explain it to us!

The portfolio may also be a repository for some of their assignments for example in their studies of Managing PR the assignment is a blog about developing team working skills and a reflection on how the individual has learned about their own strengths and weaknesses as a team player. As part of PR for organisational communications part of the task is to develop a real campaign for an organisation of their choice – a charity or voluntary group – and to get as much of it implemented as possible.

But of course this is just part of the picture, it’s getting those blogs and pages noticed that will count. ‘Behind the Spin’ the Chartered Institute of Public Relations student online publication provides a great outlet for the students to write about their experiences, review books and observe about developments in PR. Recent contributors from Lincoln have attracted comment from far and wide resulting in offers of help with their careers and even jobs. Subjects have included a discussion of the role of Twitter in crisis communications and aspects of the debate between students from different schools at the University – is PR killing Journalism? One book review by a Lincoln student prompted the book’s author to make contact and another student’s observations about a PR campaign to stamp out spamming in PR attracted interest from the campaign manager.

Dissertations form a critical part of the final year of study and students are encouraged to explore something new. This year social media is a popular subject including its role in the workplace as an internal communications tool, its impact on music PR as well as the afore mentioned crisis management. The students are developing a wealth of original thought and creating new angles on old models such as the popular Grunig and Hunt four models of communication (Managing Public Relations, 1984).

So, to return to the question, I guess the students are preparing themselves very well and in true academic style we are guiding them to think independently, take risks and try new ideas in a safe environment. I am confident, therefore, that tomorrow’s PR specialists and thought leaders will be able to shift and change to meet their clients’ needs and provide wise counsel to ensure PR objectives are fully integrated into a powerful package of communications using the most appropriate tools and techniques from the ever expanding kit bag.

Are you a blogger? March is Be My Guest month, and we’re encouraging bloggers from all over the world to swap posts and reach new audiences. See Be My Guest for more information.

Filed Under: Guest posts, Public Relations, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

How to use public relations to support every stage of the sales funnel

March 4, 2010 By Emily Leary 1 Comment

pr sales funnel

This is a guest post from Bryony Thomas, Chief Clear Thinker, Clear Thought Consulting Ltd.

Most people initially think of public relations as a technique for generating awareness for their products or services. This is absolutely true, but if this is the only way that you’re using your public relations effort, you’re missing a trick in squeezing every ounce of value from your marketing budget.

In considered purchases, people move through a process of decision-making. At each stage, you have an opportunity to influence whether they continue through to purchase from you, or choose to look elsewhere.

Using Kotler’s model of rational decision-making, here are some ideas for using PR at every stage in the process.

Generating awareness: In addition to getting the word out through press coverage, you can also:

  • Add key phrases to your press releases that people are likely to use as search phrases.
  • Post links to your news coverage on your LinkedIn status, Twitter feed, etc.
  • Add comments against online news stories that your audience is likely to read.

Generating interest: This is about getting people to take the next step of not only knowing who you are, but of being interested in what you have to say:

  • Use decent coverage as an insert for direct mail or email (NB You’ll need permission).
  • Use snippets of coverage you achieve in your promotional materials.
  • Post a response to a news item as a blog, YouTube video, etc.

Standing up to evaluation: When people are evaluating your products or services against the competition, you can:

  • Point them to positive news coverage.
  • Use a news story as the basis for a live Q&A or webinar.

Supporting the trial process: When someone is assessing your products and services in detail, you can:

  • Add PR quotes in your proposal documents to substantiate your claims.
  • Use press coverage as a reason to drop someone a line when they’re trialling.

Encouraging adoption: At the point where people part with significant money, public relations can:

  • Create a feel-good factor amongst the wider decision-makers reducing chances of them saying no.

Generating re-purchase and loyalty: If they’ve bought once, you can:

  • Drop them a line with positive coverage on what they’ve bought for that all-important post-purchase reassurance.
  • Keep them up-to-date on new offerings by sending them links to press coverage – often more compelling than blatant sales material.

With a bit of thought, you can make more of your PR coverage. This is particularly true if you have a social media set-up in place that allows you to make intelligent re-use of the coverage you’ve worked hard to secure.

For more on this and a few more ideas, you can watch a 10-minute tutorial on how PR supports the sales funnel on the Clear Thought website.

Are you a blogger? March is Be My Guest month, and we’re encouraging bloggers from all over the world to swap posts and reach new audiences. See Be My Guest for more information.

Filed Under: Featured, Guest posts, Marketing, Public Relations Tagged With: , , , ,

Award-winning PR?

February 25, 2010 By Emily Leary Leave a Comment

Bright star

Is your organisation a model of PR excellence? If you stand out from the crowd with some fantastic PR achievements, get your entry in to the 25th annual CIPR Excellence Awards.

There are more than two dozen categories available for entry this year, spread over three main areas:

Campaign Awards

  • Corporate and Business Communications
  • Investor Relations
  • Internal Communications
  • Consumer Relations
  • Public Sector
  • Corporate Responsibility
  • Public Affairs
  • Not-for-Profit
  • Healthcare
  • Integrated Campaigns
  • Media Relations
  • Best Use of Digital PR
  • Broadcast
  • Global Public Relations
  • Crisis Communications
  • Automotive Public Relations
  • Best Campaign £10k or Under
  • Best Campaign over £10k

Special Awards

  • External Newspaper or Magazine
  • Internal Newspaper or Magazine
  • Publication
  • Website, Microsite or Intranet
  • Event
  • Outstanding Young Communicator

Team Awards

  • Outstanding Small Consultancy
  • Outstanding In-House Public Relations Team
  • Outstanding Public Relations Consultancy

Standard entry costs £240 + VAT per entry, or £168 + VAT per entry for charities, local government and public sector entrants.

The closing date for applications is 26th February, although late entries will be accepted until 5th March, with an additional fee of £75 + VAT per entry.

To be eligible for entry, submissions must relate to work conducted between January 2009 and February 2010. The shortlisted entrants will be announced in April, and the awards dinner will be held on 25th June.

For further information, or to enter, visit CIPR Excellence Awards 2010.

Filed Under: Awards Tagged With: , ,

Spam wars: saving PR from itself

January 28, 2010 By Emily Leary 3 Comments

spam public relations

A campaign against the level of irrelevant material circulated by PRs has been launched under the heading ‘An Inconvenient PR Truth‘. And the associated findings do not make pretty reading for the industry.

Release distribution service RealWire (who are leading this latest campaign) launched a survey late last year to look at just how widespread the problem of press release spam really is.

Respondents were people who receive news releases on a daily basis, including journalists, editors, bloggers and publishers.

Levels of irrelevance

The report estimates that 1.7 billion irrelevant news release emails are received by UK and US journalists every year. The survey suggests that more than three quarters (78%) of news releases issued are not relevant to the recipient, and over half (55%) of respondents stated that they have blocked some distributors due to high levels of irrelevance.

The average number of news releases received per respondent per day was 54, but 18% of respondents receive over 100 releases a day. Most worryingly, 57% of respondents stated that 80% of the releases that they receive are irrelevant, whilst 23% said that a ludicrous 96% of releases received are irrelevant.

Acceptable levels of irrelevance

When it came to opinions on what constitutes acceptable levels of irrelevance, the results varied greatly. Whilst 37% stated that they would consider it acceptable if no more than half the releases they received were irrelevant, 27% considered it acceptable if less than 2 in 10 releases proved relevant.

Welcome topics

The survey also asked about what kind of news releases are popular, and which are unpopular. Whilst the most popular subjects include product and market-related releases, the unpopular topics cited included office openings, job appointments, awards, financial results, and client and/or customer wins.

The personal touch

Respondents were asked about their feelings when it came to how news releases are addressed – do they mind receiving something that has clearly been mass-mailed provided that it is relevant, or do they prefer emails that are addressed to them?

The survey’s results show that 25% of respondents prefer releases to be addressed to them and furthermore, that 33% prefer emails that come from a named individual.

Taking action

These findings won’t come as a surprise to many in the industry. Since the advent of technology that allows huge mailing lists to be created at the click of a button, online PR spam has been a serious issue.

Back in June, I blogged about a survey revealing the extent of PR spam:

Of course, it’s now relatively easy to set oneself up as a PR professional, buy access to a media database and start churning out releases in all directions. Spam exists in every industry – why should PR be any different? They say spam accounts for some 90-95% of all emails sent, so it’s not really surprising that journalists are being targeted.

There’s little doubt that spam is rife, and that it is eroding the PR industry’s ability to communicate effectively, so what does An Inconvenient PR Truth propose to do about it?

The Bill of Rights

In a bid to improve PR practice with regards to relevance, An Inconvenient PR Truth has released a ‘Bill of Rights’, arguing that the industry should address the research findings by respecting the rights of recipients, which include:

  • ‘Permission required’ – only send releases to those who have given permission directly or publicly.
  • ‘Timely unsubscribe’ – stop sending releases when asked.
  • ‘Don’t rely on media lists exclusively’ – research independently to target accurately.
  • ‘Read publication first’ – know what a person writes about and how before you approach them.
  • ‘Categorise interests in detail’ – don’t target broad categories such as ‘finance’ or ‘technology’

The campaign calls on all those in the industry to sign up to the bill, in the hope of improving irrelevance levels and reducing ‘pollution’ in the PR industry.

Will it work?

After chatting with @AdamVincenzini, @AdParker and @KerryMG about this on Twitter this morning, my feeling is that many people know they spam and don’t care. For that group, I doubt they’ll be moved from their old ways.

But for the young and/or naive who don’t know any better, this could help change perception, and with the backing of some leaders in the PR world, could improve the industry as a whole. Let’s hope so anyway.

To find out more about the campaign, visit An Inconvenient PR Truth.

Addition: There is an interesting post on how journalists could tackle the issue of PR spam over on Max Tatton-Brown’s blog.

Filed Under: Featured, Public Relations Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Are you getting value from your PR agency?

January 18, 2010 By Emily Leary 4 Comments

Tick boxes

The latest update of the Bellwether Report, published today, shows that whilst marketing spend declined for the ninth quarter running, PR budgets saw a slower rate of decline in the final quarter of 2009 compared to the previous quarter – from 24.4% down to just 4%. The report also shows that the rate of budget trimming in the industry is at its slowest since the first quarter of 2008.

Whilst times are undoubtedly still tough, these results suggest the industry can be optimistic about the year ahead, with marketing spend predicted to increase in 2010.

For those in the PR industry, the report underlines the importance of providing a service that delivers strong results and offers value for money. Whilst the green shoots of recovery are perhaps starting to surface, the recession continues to hit people and businesses hard and there is no guarantee that the renewed optimism within the PR industry will be replicated elsewhere.

Despite these positive findings, the purse strings of the average UK business are still a lot tighter than they used to be when it comes to budgeting for PR and marketing campaigns, and many might well still opt for the cheapest option rather than best option in this climate.

For businesses tempted to engage the services of a PR agency, finding the balance between value and price can be tough. Before you leap on the cheapest option on the table, here are some questions to help put ‘value’ in perspective:

Is saving money worth the risk?

If a painter does a bad job, you can always get someone better in to make it as good as new. The risk involved in opting for the cheapest provider is relatively low. Not so in marketing, where the risk of damage is much greater.

Any PR work undertaken will reflect on both your product and your company as a whole, helping to determine their success or failure potentially well beyond the duration of the campaign.

Is the pricing of the service blinding you to the true value?

Some agencies might seem expensive, while others might seem cheap, but neither is necessarily an indication of the quality of the service they offer.

Look at each option on the table and consider the agency’s track record and exactly what they are offering first. Once you have a sense of the hierarchy of quality, compare this against the prices. Is the cheapest agency offering the lowest value? You might be surprised, but equally you might simply find proof of the old adage, “you get what you pay for.”

Can the potential return on investment justify a higher spend?

While larger companies tend to have a tried and tested formula for setting the budget around a product or service launch, many smaller firms will simply set their budget based on a combination of what they feel they can afford at the time, balanced against the mean cost put forward by competing providers.

When you have all of your quotes in front of you, assess the potential return from each proposed campaign. In many cases, getting value for money may mean spending more, but you will get a better return in terms of campaign reach, support and quality. Pound for pound, the value could be higher.

Put simply, when setting your marketing/PR budget this year, remember: you’re not just paying for the hours worked, you’re also paying for the contacts, the support, the experts and, most importantly, the results.

Filed Under: Featured, Marketing, Public Relations Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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