PR AGENCY DIARIES: DO YOU KNOW WHAT PR IS? ARE YOU SURE?
Meta concepts we’ve been considering lately – does PR need to do its own PR? So many of our “what do you do” BBQ chat and new business enquiries end up being PR 101 education pieces, that we wondered if it was time for a bit of a “PR expectations versus reality” rundown.
PR seems to be so busy PRing their clients, they’ve forgotten to re-educate those looking into it as a marketing option on its true value. More often than not, outdated interpretations of the “dark arts” and / or a total miscomprehension of what smart comms has evolved into and can deliver in the modern world seem the norm. And no, it’s also not “like advertising,” so listen up!
It’s true PR and media work cheek by jowl, and are reliant on each other. The two industries dovetail neatly – we’re savvy storytellers presenting readers with information of interest or importance, but we need someone to help broadcast that story. Nowadays, that involves social as well as traditional media, but the fundamentals haven’t changed. You need something interesting to say.
So, what is it really like working with an agency, and why will your business benefit from having a PR arrangement? For starters, drop any preconceived Mad Men ideas of long boozy lunches and fluffy puff pieces that hoodwink readers on your offering as a result of a Chablis or two.
Journalists are (for the most) not dunces and their MO is to present both sides of the coin, plus give their readers news they can use. Our job as publicists is to have our fingers on the pulse of trends before they even start beating, and we’re very aware of evolving media landscapes and the type of content readers will authentically engage with.
Here’s how the perception of PR often clashes from the realities, FYI.
Expectation: Publicists are slippery salesmen capable of getting any product on primetime
Reality: We’re not 1990s suit-wearing Samantha Jones’ (although we stan a bold Hillary two-piece). Bullshitting and attitudes were never it, and genuine transparent information is always what readers want – as do our high profile existing clients.
No one wants the “fAkE nOoz” wool pulled over their eyes from the media or publicists, and getting involved in underhand transactions is a quick way to lose trust that we’ll never gain back. As a baseline, we adopt a journalistic mindset that keeps our focus on the reader, and makes us check for the “so what” factor that answers the audience’s first question – “why should I care?”
Expectation: We’ll shoulder tap our mates to get you on the homepage
Reality: Asking our media mates to do us a solid for every one of your campaigns will burn bridges very quickly. It’s not always the best solution either – would you want someone you’re paying to take the easy way out, when there are better avenues to get your brand greater success? Us neither.
How campaigns work in different media outlets are individual kettles of fish, so a lazy hit-up of our mates isn’t going to achieve your goals. A creative customised approach will win every time.
Expectation: We know everyone in the media
Reality: We know of everyone in media – what their remit is, their work history, what they did last summer etc. But best buds with them all? Not quite.
Yes, the NZ media landscape is small, but we’re not meme-tagging-level friends with everyone. And we don’t need to know everyone intimately for your campaign to succeed either. While industry relationships are key to some successes, and can open some sticky doors - when the content and delivery is bang-on, it will sell itself.
What is important is our knowledge of people, their processes, what they want and how they want it, coupled with some Kiwi ingenuity of course. Different media formats mean we need to customise your content in different ways to succeed – sending 200-page reports to a journalist with a 15-second track slot will likely end up in the too-hard basket. The nuances between broadcast, print, digital and social media journalists are important for us to know, to avoid those dreaded inbox crickets.
Expectation: PR can replace all advertising, and for cheaper
Reality: Absolutely not. PR and advertising are not the conjoined twins people imagine them to be. They’re part of the same family, sure – but more like cousins, once removed. PR is one spoke in the wheel of a fully-formed, integrated marketing strategy, which is most effective when all communication disciplines are engaged alongside it.
PR is about building awareness, education, credibility and customer loyalty for a brand, rather than simply selling it, as advertising does. A PR campaign creates unpaid, organic contact between a business and its audience to build brand salience. It’s about third-party endorsement.
We know journalists and readers are time-poor. They want content presented to them in a way they can easily consume without being blindsided by word garbage. So boardroom buzzwords, empty superlatives and associated advertising jargon have no place in a press release.
Consumers are, and have been for decades, extremely savvy. They know when they’re being given a hard sell, and can be passive towards advertising. Whereas place that messaging in a purposeful way in a story on a news platform - consumers will actively connect and engage with the content. Supplement this with a targeted marketing and advertising campaign to convert - boom.
Perception: PR is only needed when things go wrong
Reality: The average Joe might only hear of a PR rep in the news when a company needs crisis comms, but good PR is otherwise undetectable – an undertow (geddit!) conveying information.
A reputation is built through consistent positive interactions between brands and their customers over time, not when the proverbial fan is hit big-time. And forget about any retroactive PR to smooth over cracks, because your audience will surely not forget.
It’s our job as PR to know what people want to see, and how they’ll respond to it, and have a view and plan for pretty much every scenario. It helps to avoid any storms, and if we can see one coming regardless, we can weather or avoid it altogether.
Perception: All publicists do is send press releases
Reality: Yes, people in communications roles send press releases – it’s a concise way to present usable information and ideas. But that’s only scratching the surface of the PR remit. We are event planners, coaches, timekeepers, wranglers, technicians, handymen, authors, bartenders, guides, glam squad – you name it, we’ve done it.
We’ll do what it takes to make our campaigns sing and get our clients’ stories out there, no matter the hat we need to wear to do it. PR isn’t just word docs, it’s all the cogs synchronising in the unseen machine behind most marketing you’ve seen.
One of the sharpest minds of our time, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, knows the power of good publicity. “If I only had two dollars left, I would spend one dollar on PR.”
If it’s broke; fix it! If all you’re getting from your current PR team is press releases with little return, your dollar isn’t working for you. And if you’re not considering PR at all, you’re missing a trick. Speak to the experts, that’s us if you’re confused.
