PR as a tool has got acceptance and acknowledgement of the industry and as a result, there are many takers of the services now. But what the agencies perfected in the last one decade has suddenly become ‘such a past century’ stuff. No, I am not saying suddenly Social Media takes over everything and traditional media is now a passé. The point is that PR by definition means reaching out to various stakeholders and create a positive image of a brand. And so far, most of the agencies are still stuck to chasing journalists to get one press release published or get that interview done. But they didn’t realise that even media around them has also changed dramatically and they care a crap about your press release.
Moreover, most of the clients know PR agencies as media relations agencies doing press release dissemination or ‘coordinating’ interviews/press conferences. So if it is only that, it can safely be called a commodity. The other day, I got a call from a client who was planning to do some activity and wanted to hire a PR firm. All he was doing was to collect quotes from different PR agencies. He didn’t seem to be interested in knowing what value a PR agency can bring to the table for his activity. We refused to give him a quote but many must have given. Then, he would compare various quotes and go for the lowest one. Exactly what we do when we go to buy vegetables.
So what are some of the things PR agencies should do that we can proudly call ourselves consultants?
First of all, we should clearly show the understanding of sector we work in. That requires detailed study of the sector and showcasing of some clear trends that are going to drive the growth of the sector. Some white papers or detailed report can follow this. What it does is to communicate that the agency understands that sector and PR strategy would be aligned with the sector expertise. MSL globally does this beautifully and their sector experts provides their point of view on current issues of that sector.
Understand client’s business completely, identify relevant influencers and create third party advocates for more authentic image making. This very well supplements advertising efforts as well and creates surround effect for the brand.
By way of example, Edelman globally does Trust Barometer, which gauges attitudes about the state of trust in business, government, NGOs and media. This gives clients the confidence that the PR consultant understands the ‘factors’ that drive trust and based on that, create strategies to improve trust on the brand.
PR should not only support the existing programs but also should be able to create ‘Programs’ which are linked with business and practical to do. These programs should be relevant from ‘environment/eco-system’ point of view and should be able to create media interest on their own.
Last but not the least, media targeting has to be focused and research oriented. Who likes those calls when the caller sells you the product first and asks your name later?
The question is that clients don’t pay enough and therefore agency economics doesn’t allow you to hire people from big business schools, invest more time on one client and so on. I think it boils down to how much value you provide to your clients so that they pay you more?
PR agencies need to invest in it as going to the next level would require efforts, investments and patience.
