Social mobility in PR - a career open to all

SOCIAL MOBILITY IN PR - A CAREER OPEN TO ALL Sarah Stimson

The PR industry needs to represent the public it serves, however diversity is increasingly lacking. Issues of practicality are holding PR firms back from addressing the problem but there are workarounds and solutions to be adopted. 

You’ll learn:
•    How having a diverse workforce stimulates innovation and creativity
•    Why unpaid internships prevent social mobility and should be avoided
•    How a shift in your approach to recruitment, induction and training can pay dividends for all


For an industry that reaches every possible audience it’s perhaps surprising that diversity among the PR workforce is lacking. 

In 2016 the PRWeek/PRCA Census [1] revealed that only 9% of the UK PR workforce is from a BME background. Several organisations and groups are working towards addressing this lack of ethnic diversity including the Taylor Bennett Foundation [2], Creative Access [3] and BAME20/20 [4] and to some extent the work they do has an impact on social mobility too because of the socio-economic backgrounds of the young BAME people they work with. 

Social mobility itself isn’t measured by the industry census, but taking a look at a range of typical job adverts for entry-level PR roles, and the 150 PR internships list [5] I publish each year reveals that the vast majority of PR agencies insist on a degree as a basic requirement. The team pages of agency websites confirm that the industry is predominately white and middle class and this history of recruiting people from the same backgrounds could mean that industry innovation and a breadth of thinking is stifled. 

Widening the talent pool is imperative if the industry wants to continue to innovate and hire the best quality candidates. Changing the criteria for ‘best quality’ is essential if that is going to happen. 

Stifling social mobility

The PR industry wants the brightest, most creative and most innovative people. I don’t believe that the industry isn’t interested in social mobility and the talent it’s missing out on, but I do think that there are issues of practicality that are holding PR firms back from addressing it. 

An average entry-level PR vacancy will receive around 100+ applications that take an enormous amount of time and administration to sift through. For many firms, hiring criteria is set to filter out applications just to reduce the numbers and make them more manageable. 

Typically, those criteria have been a degree, a particular grade (a 2:1 or above) and, in some cases, the type of university – some firms favour applicants from Russell Group universities for example. If those requirements prevent dozens more applicants from applying, it reduces the administrative burden considerably and so, perhaps understandably, this easy filter is often adopted. This means however that ‘best quality’ candidates are defined purely on their academic background. 

In my experience, the best PR people are not always those from traditionally strong academic universities. 

In addition, increasingly, entry-level PRs are expected to have a certain amount of PR experience on their CV before they get their first permanent job. Unpaid internships are often cited as a barrier to the industry for many young people. 

Unless you have parents who can afford to support you, and contribute to your travel costs while you work for free, then unpaid internships are completely out of the question which results in only young people from wealthier backgrounds being able to get the experience they need to enter the industry.

I have spoken to firms which have strayed from the traditional graduate requirement at entry-level and who have since reinstated it as criteria. The gap between being a university student and a worker is large and preparing junior staff to be work-ready can sometimes be a painful experience for the hiring company. 

Hiring young people who haven’t gone to university widens that student-worker gap and companies find that it’s too much of a burden on their existing workforce to train someone with little experience of a professional environment. 
 

Widening access

If a firm recruits from the same pool of people each time, it will continue to get the same candidates. Organisations that are serious about improving access to the industry need to first look at raising awareness of the industry among groups of young people who may never have previously considered a career in communications and, secondly, be more creative with their recruitment processes. 

As an industry there has been a move away from unpaid internships as a way to gain industry experience but they are still out there. A recent quick internet search turned up more than a dozen unpaid internships in under five minutes. Increasing the pressure for firms to follow the law [6] and wipe out the practice of unpaid workers is important if access to the industry for young people from less well off backgrounds is to be improved.

If the biggest barrier to social mobility is the requirement to have a certain degree grade from a particular university then changing the hiring criteria and the definition of ‘best quality’ could dramatically change the demographics of applicants and rather than reduce the quality of the candidates, can unlock talent that other firms aren’t reaching. The most obvious way to do that is to remove all requirements for a degree at entry level and hire either into apprenticeships, or into schemes that move away from ‘graduate schemes’ to ‘training contracts’.

There are other creative ways to approach it too. Making sure that all jobs are hired against a well formed competency framework will ensure that applicants are measured on skills and potential rather than their degree or the number of months they’ve sat in an internship role where they may not have actually learned an enormous amount. 

To take it a step further, removing CVs completely from the application process and using application forms with structured questioning around skills, experience and ambitions can give a greater insight into a candidate’s potential and for firms where removing the degree requirement completely is a step too far, then university blind recruitment could provide the answer. 

It’s generally thought that subconscious bias plays a large part in the recruitment process – people hire people not too dissimilar to themselves. If the industry is going to crack that problem then it needs to change interviewing styles to ensure bias is challenged – typically by two or more people interviewing together.
 

Retaining diverse talent

Beyond recruiting from a wider pool of talent if there is to be any lasting impact on social mobility in the industry, then appropriate training and inclusion as part of the business culture are vital. An effective induction programme with a company buddy system – partnering junior employees with a more senior practitioner – can reduce the burden of training younger employers, helping them transition into working life smoothly. 

Uniqueness and individuality should be encouraged and a company inclusion policy which then filters through every area of the firm’s working practices will help to keep talent from more diverse backgrounds. 

If the PR industry is serious about addressing social mobility there are easy, cost-effective ways to go about it. Engaging with under-represented groups, some creative recruitment processes, improved induction and training, and inclusion as an integral part of company culture are simple to implement and can have an impact on the demographics of entry-level hires. 

As with all entry-level initiatives, seeing the result in more senior roles takes some patience but in the long-run will improve the diversity of a company and ensure the brightest people have access to the industry, no matter what their socio-economic background. 

Sources

[1] news.prca.org.uk/pr-census-2016-reveals-that-the-pr-industry-is-worth-129bn
[2] www.taylorbennettfoundation.org
[3] creativeaccess.org.uk/
[4] www.thedrum.com/news/2016/06/20/bame2020-project-launch-spotlight-marketings-change-makers
[5] prcareers.co.uk/category/150/
[6] prcareers.co.uk/unpaid-pr-internships-and-the-law/

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Sarah Stimson is the Programme Director at Taylor Bennett Foundation, a charity dedicated to addressing the lack of diversity in PR with traineeships for BAME graduates, the editor of the careers advice website PRcareers.co.uk, and the author of How to get a job in PR. 

Twitter: @GoooRooo
Online: www.taylorbennettfoundation.org

Charting the course or just keeping you afloat: is Human Resources (HR) taking your business where it needs to go?

CHARTING THE COURSE OR JUST KEEPING YOU AFLOAT: IS HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) TAKING YOUR BUSINESS WHERE IT NEEDS TO GO? Elizabeth Baines

HR has an important role to play in business strategy. However, as a cost centre whose impact cannot easily be quantified, it often plays second fiddle to disciplines such as sales and marketing or finance. The success of creative businesses, such as PR agencies, relies on outcomes created by people. So what’s at risk if the strategic value of human resources is overlooked?

You’ll learn:
•    An understanding of HR’s role in shaping the future of your business
•    Why it’s important to have a people strategy that underpins your overall business plan
•    Ways to ensure HR delivers value to your business
 

Bolt-on, rather than mainstay

Data from the PRCA’s 2016 census indicates that the PR industry is made up mostly of small and medium-sized agencies, with between 11 and 50 employees. With size and cost prohibiting the appointment of a dedicated resource, HR in smaller agencies tends to be a bolt-on responsibility awarded to those who demonstrate an interest in or aptitude for people management. 

Time available to focus on HR is usually limited; often HR is relegated to a box-ticking, transactional function designed to keep the ship afloat, rather than a strategic partner helping to steer it in the right direction.

If your agency takes a purely transactional approach to HR, you could be overlooking a critical component in your growth and success. Without a people strategy to underpin your agency’s business plan, how certain are you that you will have the right people in place, with the right skills and the right motivation to achieve your goals?
 

A broader perspective

The merger of public relations, marketing and digital disciplines raises a number of challenges for agencies. Broader service offerings involving multiple disciplines require the integration of a diverse range of skills, working practices and attitudes. Simply hiring or buying in expertise and expecting everyone to play nicely together is unlikely to give you the return you’re looking for. Success requires a more strategic approach to attracting, motivating and retaining your people. 

When developing a people strategy, begin by asking questions such as: 

•    What roles will we need, how will we structure our teams to accommodate them and what outcomes should they deliver?

•    What skills meet the needs of the business today and what will we need in the next two to five years?

•    Can our current skills base scale to meet those future needs?

•    If not, how and when are we going to develop the right skills; through our existing employee base, by recruiting externally, relying on a partnership or merger or a combination of all three?

The answers to the above should determine your approach. From there, ask:

•    Who are our star performers and what role will they play in winning, growing and retaining business? 

•    What should we be doing to keep these people and foster high performance?

•    If recruiting externally, how do we attract the right people, in the right quantity?

•    Who are these people, what’s important to them and what are their working practices, flexibility, development needs etc.?

•    How might we adapt our current performance management, development and remuneration processes to meet their needs?

•    If we bring a third party into the mix, how will we integrate our teams and working practices?

•    Are our current employment practices conducive to retaining good people? If any are counter-productive, how do we go about changing them?

•    What should our remuneration and benefits packages look like to attract the right talent and incentivise the desired behaviour?

Your approach to recruitment, reward, performance management, training and development should be shaped by the answers to these questions, otherwise your HR processes will keep you buoyant but they are unlikely to propel you in the direction in which you wish to go.
 

The wind in the sails

As a cost-centre with limited scope for direct revenue-generation, HR must add value to your business through a range of specific and pre-defined key performance indicators (KPIs).

When establishing KPIs, HR should not only be charged with aligning your people management practices with your business goals, it should also ensure those practices support the type of employer you wish to be. 

At the most basic level, good working practices will keep you compliant with current employment legislation and avoid disciplinary action or disputes. However, strategically developed employment policies that engender clear communication, equality (pay and opportunity), flexibility and progression will elevate you to the next level. Placing the right emphasis, not only on employees’ motivation and development, but also on their mental and physical well-being, will facilitate greater productivity and creativity and ultimately lead to higher levels of client satisfaction.

Additionally, employees have the ability to make or break your reputation. Happy, motivated and loyal people are your agency’s best advocate. They can help you to build a strong employer brand that attracts the best talent.

Adjusting to the conditions

HR should add value as a source of insight to your employee demographic, helping you to comprehend what matters to different groups of employees and how to incentivise the behaviour or results you desire. 

For any agency going through a process of change, this type of insight is crucial. A ‘one size fits all’ approach is unlikely to meet the needs of a workforce that is evolving to include multiple disciplines and demographics. While there will be common aspects, the working practices and development needs of teams across the broader PR, marketing and digital spectrum should be considered along with any adjustments to your performance management and training programmes to accommodate these needs. 
 

Heading in the right direction

With HR integrated into your overall business strategy, you increase the chances of future-proofing your agency. More than a custodian of employment contracts and holiday requests, HR should drive the design and implementation of employment practices and development programmes that support who you want to be, where you want to go and how you get there. PR agencies are people-centric entities where success is reliant upon human beings rather than products. Placing HR at the core of your business will ensure your people are pulling in the right direction, adapting to changing conditions and delivering business growth.

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Elizabeth Baines is a Director of the Amber Group. We provide specialist training, coaching and HR services to PR and creative agencies. 

Twitter: @The4thAmberite
Online: www.ambergroup.co.uk

#FuturePRoof: Edition Two – one week on

A lot has happened in a week for the #FuturePRoof community.

Since publication a week ago #FuturePRoof: Edition Two has been ranked among the top ten books on Kindle variously in management, sales and marketing and public relations.

The book is available in print via Blurb and on the Kindle via Amazon. There’s also been renewed interest in the first edition.

My thanks go to all the contributors who have been generous with their time and expertise; its success is down to the originality and strength of the content. 

I'm publishing a chapter per day on the #FuturePRoof website and sharing it via social media.

I'm grateful to Vuelio for hosting a webinar about the #FuturePRoof project and to everyone that has retweeted and blogged to share the news and raise awareness.

You can find some of the many excellent write-ups here:

PR must assert itself as a management discipline, says #FuturePRoof volume two - PR Week

#FuturePRoof: edition two is a call to arms for the PR industry - Paul Sutton

#FuturePRoof: a book to bang the table with - comms2point0  

A story of two books about public relations – separated by 25 years - Stephen Waddington

Is PR becoming a management discipline? - Iliyana Stareva

Show me the money 

I’ve been asked variously on Twitter how #FuturePRoof is funded.

The project is self-funded. I’ve chosen not to broker sponsorship in order to maintain editorial control. It's been worth it to fulfil my vision for the books. 

Print copies of the second edition are produced on demand at cost by Blurb, while the net profit on the Kindle, introduced this time around, is £2 a copy.

Should the project generate a surplus, it will be donated to the Taylor Bennett Foundation. 

 Future of #FuturePRoof

Finally, I've already had a number of exciting approaches about developing the project.

A US publisher is interested in collaborating on a third edition and I’m working with one of the contributors on a possible special edition for Brazil.

The community is truly global. It’s fantastic to see practitioners unite across disciplines, backgrounds and geographies to help spread knowledge and best practice. 

I'll also be introducing guest posts through the #FuturePRoof blog so if you've a great idea, please pitch it to me.

You can contact me by email at sarah@sarahhallconsulting.co.uk or find me @hallmeister on Twitter.

With thanks for all your support

Sarah Hall

From purpose to performance: A radical approach to stakeholder Engagement

FROM PURPOSE TO PERFORMANCE: A RADICAL APPROACH TO STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Sean Trainor

You’ll learn:

•    Historical learnings from the telecoms and nuclear industry
•    Current thinking from thought leaders
•    Future practical model for meaningful stakeholder engagement
 

Learnings from the American telecoms industry

The pioneering work of American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) makes a useful benchmark for public engagement around organisational purpose. In October 1927, W.S. Gifford, President of AT&T made a speech to the National Association of Railroad and Utilities Commissioners which was one of the few instances in which a major corporation publicly stated the bases on which it hoped to serve the public. 

In his speech, Gifford stated: “The fact that the responsibility for such a large part of the entire telephone service of the country rests solely upon this Company imposes on the management an unusual obligation to the public.” 

Recognising public relations was a management discipline, he appointed Arthur W. Page as the first public relations executive to serve as an Executive Officer and Board Director of a major public corporation.

Page’s appointment was in response to public resistance to its monopolisation efforts and his role was to increase the public’s appreciation for AT&T’s contributions to society. Page believed that the purpose of public relations was to find a place where the public’s interest and their company’s interest coincided and to engage around it. It was his thought leadership and lifetime practice that earned him his reputation as being regarded ‘the father of public relations’ and laid the foundations for The Arthur W. Page Society.

In his time at AT&T, Page was fortunate to work with Chester Barnard whose 1938 book, The Functions of the Executive, pioneered thinking in management theory and organisational studies. 

Barnard viewed organisations as systems of cooperation of human activity and summarised the function of leadership in organisations as:

•    Defining the organisation’s purpose and objectives
•    Establishing a system of communication to improve effectiveness
•    Engaging employees in their work to improve efficiency
•    Partnering with suppliers to secure essential services
 

Learnings from the British nuclear industry

With a heavy focus on improving reputation, the PR function at BNFL had moved BNFL from tabloid headlines to the business pages, rebranded the company and created its first above-the-line marketing campaign. 

The objective was to create universal support for the company strategy to achieve private-public partnership (PPP). Favourability and familiarity of the BNFL brand had never been so high - BNFL was on course to become a flagship PPP. A journey that was deemed unstoppable but it proved to be a titanic task, in more ways than one.

In pursuit of growing the brand and delivering the strategy to achieve commercial freedom from the shackles of the DTI, the leadership team hit an iceberg. 

They had become so blinded to significant cultural issues that lay under the surface of the corporate facade, their reputation had got ahead of their performance. A major safety related scandal resulted along with some of the most ferocious criticism ever heaped on a British commercial organisation. Four workers lost their jobs. Regulators, government, MPs and NGOs poured scorn on its leadership and, under growing pressure from a major Japanese customer, the CEO, FD and HRD eventually had to abandon ship.

Ironically, the crash in stakeholder confidence came two years after the introduction of, arguably, the most intensive, consistent and difficult engagement with stakeholders ever undertaken for a European organisation and a first for the industry. 

BNFL’s National Stakeholder Dialogue involved a wide range of individuals and organisations interested in or concerned about nuclear issues and aims. When it began, it was a groundbreaking exercise for the Company, from an international viewpoint as much as for external stakeholders.

I captured the learnings from the process in a paper ‘Stakeholder dialogue - a new paradigm for a new millennium’ submitted to the World Energy Council 18th Congress in Buenos Aries in 2001. It flagged the risk of discontinuous or too frequent involvement resulting in involvement fatigue and drop-out of stakeholders in the follow-up processes. 

A couple of years into the BNFL process two high profile NGOs – Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth – left the dialogue. A key learning.
 

Current thought leadership

Today, executive leaders in boardrooms and conference rooms across the world are talking about purpose beyond profit. 

These discussions have topped the agenda at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos and has spawned new service offerings from leading consultancy firms. There appears to be a disconnect between these conversations and consultations and leadership action. 

In his recent book ‘Connect’, Lord Browne addresses the significant disconnect between organisations and the public they serve. He proposes a four-step virtuous cycle for ‘Connected Leadership’:

1.    Map your world
2.    Define your contribution
3.    Apply world-class management
4.    Engage radically

A bold shift from the conventional four step vicious cycle of unilateral decision making epitomised by Lord Browne’s counterparts in Shell UK over their handling of Brent Spar:

1.    Decide
2.    Announce
3.    Defend
4.    Defend (or abandon)

Lord Browne’s book was clearly influenced by Page’s work and his rebranding of BP was seen as a way to strengthen a common sense of purpose and symbolised their commitment to values including safety, respect and excellence. Subsequent events like Texas City Refinery and Deep Water Horizon raise concerns about the culture behind the brand and suggest the rebranding of BP was a triumph of style over substance.
 

A future model for stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder engagement can be defined as the positive intellectual, emotional and behavioural state of stakeholders directed toward enhancing reputation and performance. Three universal enablers to reputation and performance are strategy, culture and brand - none of them are mutually exclusive and none of them can claim bragging rights for eating another for breakfast. Just as was demonstrated by BNFL and BP, you ignore any one of them at your peril.

This is where the power of purpose proves invaluable. By defining a purpose that is both compelling and true, you create an organising principle and a common platform for engaging with stakeholders to develop your strategy, culture and brand. Stakeholder engagement becomes a simple three-step process:

1.    Identifying potential innovators, collaborators and advocates
2.    Mapping their level of emotional, intellectual and behavioural states
3.    Planning interventions for informing, inspiring and involving them appropriately

The purpose of this chapter was to highlight the gap between the theory and practice of corporate public relations over the past century. Despite the title, there is nothing radical about the model or the thinking presented, what could be radical is the application of the wisdom of Arthur W. Page and PR grasping the opportunity to take a leadership role. 

There has never been a better time to focus on three of the seven Page Principles: listen to your stakeholders, manage for tomorrow and conduct public relations as if the whole enterprise depends on it. Wise words indeed.

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Sean Trainor is an independent change communications and employee engagement consultant. A professional engineer by background, his career in communications has spanned over 15 years with senior in-house roles for BNFL, BBC and Network Rail. Sean has also acted as senior counsel for brands including Barclaycard, Nissan, British Gas and British American Tobacco. He is a former CIPR Board Member and Chair of CIPR Inside.

Twitter: @uber_engagement
Online: www.uberengagement.com

The value PR brings to an organisation and the weaknesses practitioners need to address

THE VALUE PR BRINGS TO AN ORGANISATION AND THE WEAKNESSES PRACTITIONERS NEED TO ADDRESS Matthew Hopkins

Many organisations fail to look beyond the fire-fighting capability of PR and in doing so fail to maximise the true value of meaningful conversations that can help to drive improvement.

You’ll learn:

•    What the C-Suite look for from their PR team, including honesty and objectivity
•    How internal communications can help employees feel valued and respected
•    Why CEOs need to communicate strongly, consistently and in a human way
 

As the Chief Executive of a hospital trust that serves over one million local people, it’s easy for me to see the value that great public relations can bring to my business. Recently, one of my consultant colorectal surgeons tweeted that our communications director is the person who helps us shout the loudest when we do well and reflect when we don’t.

So for a CEO what value can PR bring? And how can practitioners overcome their weaknesses to demonstrate the real value they can add? 

In my experience there are three main areas: 

1.    The first is the internal value of PR. People are the lifeblood of every organisation and it is widely recognised that happy staff equal happy patients. Great communication teams impact on the hard metrics of employee engagement. 

2.    The second is the external value of PR. The NHS is a people business, great communication teams help build relationships with people and help organisations understand the environment in which they operate. 

3.    The third is the personal value that PR can bring – to me as a CEO and to my broader leadership team.

The internal value of PR…

The organisation’s smile

When I arrived at my organisation two and half years ago we were inundated with negative media, despite the fact that across our hospitals we had some outstanding teams doing fabulous work. 

My communications director asked one of our business unit directors why he wasn’t shouting about his achievements in stroke care (that placed his team amongst the best in the country) and he said: “It’s a bit like bragging about your kitchen when your house is falling down.”

Communications can add real value in helping teams to have confidence about their achievements. They can also help create an environment where people are proud to talk about success and inspire others to want to learn and improve. 

Also through changing the language and tone of how we talk to each other, great communications can help bring back the fun and creativity that drives innovation and that helps us to get out of bed in the morning and want to come to work and do a great job. I’m delighted that in our recent staff survey our frontline teams were in the top 20 per cent most motivated teams in the NHS. 

The golden thread

We’ve all heard the story of John F. Kennedy and his visit to NASA, where he asked the janitor what his job was and he replied by saying, “Sir, it’s to help put man on the moon.” 

Great communications teams help to set, develop, inform and evolve the organisation’s strategy and narrative. For me it’s about helping our frontline teams to strive towards providing great care to every patient, every day. Through great internal communications, we can help people understand what their individual contribution is to realising this vision and ensure they feel respected and valued. 

The ear to the ground

My communications team have a microwave in their office, a strange place for a microwave I’ve often thought. Until I realised that the microwave oven is our version of the water cooler (often found in American offices) around which workers congregate and chat. The microwave oven is the place where people gossip about what’s really bothering them. Great communications teams listen more than they message. They make sure that the staff voice is heard by me as CEO and play it into discussions with the executive team. 
 

The external value of PR…

Being the grit in the oyster

From time to time, we all have a great idea developed in the confines of our offices. However, what happens when that idea sees the light of day? Great PR teams are the grit in the oyster and are often the ones around the board table who are bold enough to objectively and sensibly set out how the idea might play out, which can often lead to a completely different course of action.

The backstop

There are 11 people on a football pitch, but from time to time you need to rely on a first class goalkeeper. In every organisation we make mistakes and we get things wrong. Great communications teams help to ensure we deal with these cases openly, they often balance the advice of legal teams and help ensure we act at pace, with empathy and humility.

The drum-beat and rhythm

Maintaining a regular rhythm of communication with key people and organisations whether formally or informally helps me to run our hospitals more effectively. It’s important that external scrutiny for organisations like mine is seen as a positive intervention. 

A regular rhythm of external communication helps me to listen to concerns and ideas for improvement. I can then prioritise what’s important to the populations that we serve – great PROs bring the outside in. 
 

The personal value of PR for me as CEO…

Truth to power

In my journey from a frontline cancer nurse to CEO, I have increasingly valued colleagues that act and speak with integrity. I can only be the best that I can be if people are honest with me and tell me what people really think rather than what they think I might want to hear. This can sometimes be tough – but great PR teams speak truth to power and give an honest, objective view of what people say and think, and if I still don’t listen they facilitate conversations and forums so that I can hear directly what is on people’s minds.

Personality

We’re all individual, and I think it’s important for the leader of any organisation to be human and to have a communication style that is in-keeping with who they are. My communications team helps me to do that and supports me with setting the language and tone that reflects my personality and the style that I want to convey as CEO. Essentially they help the people who work for me and my patients understand me, my values and what I’m passionate about.

Amplification

I have a big job across several sites and a diverse geography. Great PR teams can help to promote visibility of me as CEO, as well as my broader leadership team. Through great communication channels they can help to amplify messages and communication across a huge area adding immense value to the broader leadership team.
 

So what weaknesses do PR practitioners need to address? Here’s my top ten:

1.    Being too risk averse – I sometimes observe organisations, especially in the NHS, not having the conversations publicly that they need to because they are too focused on reputation management rather than driving improvement. We need to move beyond that fear and have the conversations that count.

2.    Closed shop – when I arrived at our hospitals over two years ago, we had a closed door mentality. We have since moved away from operating our organisation like an island and PR teams are key in helping to facilitate engagement beyond an organisation’s boundaries.

3.    Managing the noise down – we need PR teams to help make sure the noise is heard to help our organisations grow and improve. Practitioners need to support organisations to be more open and transparent.

4.    Impersonal – we are human, we run organisations that are made up of people, who serve people. Practitioners should do more to influence legal teams to humanise language, support leaders to act with empathy and should ban the phrase ‘a spokesperson said…’

5.    Reactive – this is an obvious one. Practitioners need to get out there and take advantage of the opportunities; don’t wait for these to come to you. 

6.    Beyond the CEO – Practitioners need to do much more to position the importance of communication not just to the CEO but to the wider executive team and Board. 

7.    Bottleneck – far too often in my career, communication opportunities have been missed because of the desire to get things cleared by committee. PR practitioners need to help organisational leaders be better communicators for themselves rather than becoming the bottle neck and the communication police that stop great conversations from happening.

8.    Language of rebuttal – language and tone is so important, PR practitioners have a key role in shaping an organisation’s voice and a preference for rebuttal can sometimes work against an organisation’s ambitions. 

9.    Silo focus – PR practitioners can sometimes be too focused on their own organisation rather than ‘mutual benefit’ or understanding the interests of key partners and stakeholders.

10.    One trick pony – in a world of multiple communication channels and a fragmented media, the traditional journalism focus of some PR teams on print media no longer cuts it for me as a CEO. The best communicators are those who are able to integrate a great campaign across multiple channels – reaching all kinds of audiences.

As a CEO the professional definition of public relations needs to evolve and move on from just the discipline that looks after reputation for the purpose of influencing opinion and behaviour - to the discipline that facilitates the conversations that need to be had to drive and improve an organisation’s strategy and success.

In summary communications leaders should take control, not of the message but of the leadership role that they have in organisations, not just the tactical delivery of the PR outputs, but the role that they have in building relationships and facilitating powerful conversations – this is the true value of PR!

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Matthew Hopkins is Chief Executive of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, one of the largest acute Trusts in the country with a turnover of over £500m and 6,500 staff and volunteers. He started his NHS career as a nurse, and has moved through the NHS operational ranks to become a successful CEO. For the last two years he has also been listed in the Evening Standard list of top 1,000 Londoners.

Twitter: @M_J_Hopkins
Online: www.bhrhospitals.nhs.uk/directors/matthew-hopkins-chief-executive-456/

Serving the membership: is it time for the CIPR and PRCA to merge?

SERVING THE MEMBERSHIP: IS IT TIME FOR THE CIPR AND PRCA TO MERGE? 
Richard Houghton

It’s nearly 50 years since the PRCA split away from the IPR to better serve the interests of agencies. Our sector has changed beyond recognition in the last five decades and it’s time that we are represented by a single, unified trade body better able to address the needs of a sophisticated, professional and growing sector.

You’ll learn:
•    Why a single trade body will better represent the interests of a rapidly changing PR sector
•    How the PR industry has evolved over the last fifty years
•    How the new trade body would work and the benefits that members would derive from a single, united and more influential association
 

Very few of today’s PRs are overly interested in what was happening in the sector back in the late 1960s. We’ve all got plenty to do and the rapid pace of change means it has never been a more challenging - or engaging - time to be in PR, whether in house, public sector, consultancy or freelancer. 

But it was in the late 1960s - nearly 50 years ago - that the PRCA was spun out of what was then the Institute of Public Relations (now CIPR). The PRCA was created by a group of consultancy owners who felt their businesses would benefit from a dedicated association. 

Today, despite the huge growth of PR’s influence and the size of the sector, some £12.3 billion according to the 2016 PRCA/PR Week Census, we still have two separate associations, with sometimes disparate agendas. 

Change

My grandfather was one of the group of agency owners who created the PRCA. At that time his B2B consultancy Infomedia, based a stone’s throw from London’s Oval cricket ground, used typewriters, carbon paper and Post Office messengers to get the news out to newspapers on Fleet Street, where ‘hot metal’ was used to print newspapers, with readerships in the millions. 

So not many similarities to the world we all operate in today. 

PR is now a core management discipline and there are few CEOs and board directors who are not aware of the importance of their organisation’s reputation or their own. The sector is a significant employer in the UK and continues to grow, and is focused on addressing pay inequality and diversity. We are no longer a cottage industry.

Transparency

Combined with the size and value of the sector, the changes that digital and social media have wrought are not just limited to the way we operate, the skills we need and the channels we utilise. For me, the stand out change is the incredible increase in direct access to consumers, communities, influencers, policy makers and voters that it gives us. Along with this comes responsibility to ensure that we use this newly acquired access professionally and transparently. 

We know that the traditional media companies are struggling commercially to find new revenue models and strategies for attracting, retaining and monetising readers, listeners and viewers. The slow but constant decline in the number and seniority of UK journalists that this battle has created has resulted in fewer journalists producing more copy for publications with rolling deadlines. 

The result? 

PR has even more influence than ever in the mainstream media both in print and online.

We are getting our act together on evaluation, demonstrating the results that we deliver and in turn improving our reputation and making the case for higher budgets both in-house or consultancy. Although we should be honest and say that there is still work to be done on this!

Global

We are a global industry, running programmes and campaigns across time zones and cultures. These campaigns are not limited to the multi-national corporates and agencies, with technology allowing organisations of all sizes to plan and deliver campaigns internationally.

Challenges

Inevitably, as our sector grows and increases its influence and reach, we attract considerably more interest and attention from legislators, big business and sections of the commercial and political world that are keen to have us niched as spin doctors and masters of the black arts.

On a personal level we are having to re-skill, handle communications channels that pay no attention to office working hours and continue to find the much needed talent that appears to be in short supply, especially at middle management level.

One association

So it has been a tumultuous 50 years that finds us as an established sector with considerable influence but one that is fundamentally different from the cottage industry that the CIPR and the newly formed PRCA represented in the late 1960s.

Because of these changes and the challenges that the sector is facing, it is clear to me that the time has come for the PRCA to rejoin the CIPR and for a single industry body to provide support, guidance and representation for us all.

Profession

The second thing that is crystal clear to me is that we should not consider abandoning the CIPR’s drive to have the sector recognised as a profession. The hard earned Royal Charter status should be maintained and a focus on continuous professional development expanded and provided to the widest possible range of professionals.

When I consider what a CIPR and PRCA combined training and professional development programme could offer, both face to face and online, I see the opportunity to deliver services that would truly be world leading. No matter what point you are in your career you would be able to turn to the combined body to aid you in your personal development and so support your career ambitions. The topics that could be addressed would expand and the relevance of the content, and quality of trainers, could all be improved as we draw on the widest pool of talent.

Membership

When I started in PR in the mid-80s there seemed to be almost physical divide between the consultancy and client community. This is something that I have been pleased to see erode over the last 25 years or so and this has been reflected in the membership of the PRCA with in-house teams and individuals being welcomed into membership in recent years. As a result the membership and services of the two associations align, making a merger simpler and the delivery of enhanced membership benefits speedier.

Representation

A combined association would also be better placed to represent us with Government and industry at a time when UK’s status as part of the European Union is in flux and the resulting uncertainty has created a tough trading environment for large and small organisations and freelancers alike. Talking with one voice will make us stronger and give us more influence.

Commercial revenue

Effective and growing trade associations are underpinned by solid commercial income. While not for profits, both the PRCA and CIPR rely on awards, training and sponsorship income to deliver quality membership benefits and services. A combined association would have much greater negotiating power and be able to deliver economies of scale to the considerable benefit of its members.

One association, one voice, greater benefits

The world, our sector and the demands of our jobs have changed beyond recognition since the CIPR and PRCA split nearly 50 years ago, so it is time for the associations to come back together to ensure that the widest possible number of us are represented by one organisation speaking with one voice, with the widest possible influence and providing the very best services to its members.

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Richard Houghton is a former Chairman of the PRCA, and past President of ICCO. During his 25 year PR career he worked across network and independent agencies in the UK and Europe. He currently provides agency growth services under the Agency Doctor brand.

Twitter: @agencydoctor
Online: www.agencydoctor.biz/blog

Economics, social dialogue and Public Relations

ECONOMICS, SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND PUBLIC RELATIONS Ezri Carlebach

By combining the strategic and social strands of public relations, PR professionals have the opportunity to become catalysts in realising the potential of economic activism and social dialogue. This chapter looks at how.

You’ll learn:
•    Social dialogue is an emerging communication model based on good governance
•    PR practice could be more entrepreneurial/activist
•    We need to listen more!


Of hearts and minds… and hands

The advent of near-ubiquitous, digitally-driven social networking in the last 10 years or so is one factor pushing public relations professionals to rethink their business function and societal position. 

Recent debates about whether PR even qualifies as a profession testify to this. At the same time, the rise of big data has renewed the challenge of measurement, with some questioning the ability of PR, along with other communication disciplines, to make appropriate use of data analysis.

There is a case to be made for PR as both craft and profession. The 2016 Global Communications Report [1]cites content, technology, and talent as the top three challenges facing the industry. 

The Report’s survey of agency and in-house recruiters also reveals that their number one talent requirement remains ‘traditional’ writing skills. Good writing is described as “the price of admission” to the industry. Writing is a craft; in other words, an exercise of skill in the pursuit of making something (which is one reason why PR can learn so much from design, but that’s another story).

Let’s say, then, that writing is what we do with our hands in PR. Understanding data is an example of the need to engage the rational capacity of the mind. And there is always a place for the heart – both as a symbol for the emotional aspects of good PR, such as storytelling, and as a reminder that we should “care about the big issues” [2].

But if you think this sounds ‘soft’, and that PR folk should be ‘hard’ and lean on econometric validations, bear in mind that it was former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who said: “Economics are the method; the object is to change the heart and soul” [3].

The economy, stupid

Thatcher’s message appears to be bearing fruit within the EU, via a growing cross-sector movement that integrates economic development with social cohesion. It does this by linking institutions on the one hand, and entrepreneurship as a creative function of individuals on the other. It’s an approach that is neither completely dependent on the market nor entirely beholden to the state.

This is achieved through ‘social dialogue’, an open and well-governed form of communication between economic interests which have, in the past, seemed contradictory: entrepreneurs and authorities; businesses and social institutions; individual liberty and central planning. The purpose of social dialogue is to create better outcomes for individuals and stronger communities, drawing on a broad definition of entrepreneurship in which every person has the potential, given the opportunity, to be the author of their own life.

Anyone familiar with the work of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) will recognise that last phrase. It characterises an ethos the RSA has promoted for over 260 years. Recently, the RSA has been developing ideas to improve communication between government, communities, businesses, and individuals. One initiative in particular captures the spirit of social dialogue in a way that offers interesting lessons for public relations.

Entitled the Citizens’ Economic Council, the project sets out to increase knowledge of, and discussion about, economic policy. It seeks to give a voice to ‘non-expert’ citizens’ views in an area that has such impact on everyday life, yet is often so opaque. The Council’s founding Prospectus identifies the need “to promote transparency in the way economics is discussed… to strengthen democratic accountability… and to promote creativity in the conversation about economics” [4].

In a sign that this is being explored at the highest levels of government, one of current UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s first pronouncements was about putting employees on corporate boards, in order to make boards “more accountable to outsiders” [5]. Whether this includes giving PR ‘a seat at the table’ is not clear. This more direct approach is also picked up by the 2016 European Communication Monitor, in what it calls a “trend towards one-to-one stakeholder communication” [6].
 

Excellence and its discontents

These and other examples demonstrate the rise of social dialogue, which I describe as a progressive method for maintaining relations between publics. However, in order to be true to the notion of dialogue there needs to be more emphasis on listening. As Jim Macnamara’s recent detailed study reveals, there is precious little listening happening in organisations at present, which renders many claims of ‘stakeholder dialogue’ to be, at best, doubtful. Quoting the philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard’s exhortation to speak “only inasmuch as one listens”, Macnamara concludes that “[n]ow is the time to stop, and listen” [7].

This advice is equally applicable to two competing camps in the ongoing debate about the meaning of public relations. One holds PR to be a management practice with strategic aims, while the other focuses on PR as an activist behaviour with social aims. 

Both put dialogue at the heart of PR practice, the former through the two-way symmetrical model, the latter through direct involvement of stakeholders. For the past couple of decades, the ‘excellence’ approach derived from the two-way symmetrical model has dominated PR theory and, to some extent, practice. But it is not without its critics, as Stephen Waddington has noted [8]. 

Meanwhile, alternative histories of public relations and radical views of its socio-political status have emerged in the work of practitioners and academics Robert E. Brown and Derina Holtzhausen. Brown argues for public relations to take its place among the humanities along with architecture and literature, because, like them, PR seeks to “narrate public meaning” [9]. Holtzhausen posits a postmodern ethics as the basis for an ‘activist’ public relations practice that contributes to the creation of “a radical, participative democracy” [10] – which now sounds oddly in line with the wishes of a Conservative Prime Minister.

PRs – doin’ it for themselves?

Entrepreneurs are described as individuals with the drive and determination to start something. They “create opportunity rather than wait for it” [11]. This is what being the authors of our own lives is all about. Being more entrepreneurial, improving our listening capability, and building on the inclusive governance of social dialogue is a combination that, perhaps, affords us a glimpse of a new kind of PR.

It’s fine to continue promoting or advocating for products, services, and experiences on behalf of governments, companies, non-profits, or celebrities. But as George Pitcher suggests, we have to be “brave enough to use communications as a means of action, not positioning; of joining the debate, not evading it” [12].

By combining the strategic and social strands of public relations, PR professionals could become catalysts in realising the potential of economic activism and social dialogue. Given the ongoing repercussions from the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU this represents a significant opportunity. 

Sources

[1] Holmes Report and USC Annenberg Center on Public Relations (2016) Global Communications Report.

[2] Gregory, A. (2015) ‘Communicating with conscience; influencing organisational leaders to do the right thing’. In S. Hall (ed.) #FuturePRoof 1 (e-book).

[3] Interview with the Sunday Times, May 3, 1981.

[4] RSA (2016) Economics for Everyone: Prospectus for the Citizens’ Economic Council.

[5] May, T. (2016) ‘We can make Britain a country that works for everyone’. London: Conservative Party Press Office. 

[6] Euprera/EACD (2016) European Communication Monitor: Exploring Trends in Big Data, Stakeholder Engagement and Strategic Communication.

[7] Macnamara, J. (2016) Organizational Listening: The Missing Essential in Public Communication. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

[8] Waddington, S. (2015) ‘A critical review: The four models of public relations and the excellence theory in an era of digital communication’. In S. Waddington (ed.) Chartered Public Relations: Lessons from Expert Practitioners. London: CIPR/Kogan Page.

[9] Brown, R. E. (2015) The Public Relations of Everything. Oxford: Routledge.

[10] Holtzhausen, D. (2012) Public Relations as Activism: Postmodern Approaches to Theory & Practice. Oxford: Routledge.

[11] Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (2013) Your Assignment: Grow the Global Economy (white paper).

[12] Pitcher, G. (2003) The Death of Spin. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

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Ezri Carlebach MPRCA FIIC FRSA is a senior associate with the PR Network and visiting lecturer in public relations at the University of Greenwich. He has led communication teams in FTSE 100, non-profit, and government organisations, and served as President of IABC’s UK chapter, Treasurer of its EMENA region board, and chair of the international committee for the Gold Quill Awards. 

Twitter: @ezriel
Web: ezricarlebach.com

What Brexit taught us about the Opportunity for PR

WHAT BREXIT TAUGHT US ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY FOR PR Rob Brown

The narrow margin by which the Remain campaign lost the referendum came as a surprise to the majority, including many of those who voted to leave. It was a highly complicated question which was in turn both simplified and distorted. PR and communications can play a role as strategic lead; making sense of complexity, managing reputation and telling the organisational story and we are now at a time and in a place where it is vital that it does so. 

You’ll learn:
•    Following the EU referendum, we face incomparable levels of uncertainty
•    The PR profession must take a lead in guiding business through the challenges of effective   communications in indeterminate and unpredictable times
•    In order to deliver on this obligation, there is an onus on us all to ensure that the profession is properly equipped

Uncertain times

The narrow margins of the referendum vote have laid bare a divided society in which trust in politics, politicians, journalists and the corporate world is at low ebb. Fragmented relationships in society have created divisions which transcend traditional demographics.

That trust has been eroded because society finds it increasingly difficult to know where to turn for accurate information. There was a refrain that rang out constantly during the campaign and that continues to resonate: we are supposedly living in a ‘post-factual democracy’. 

It’s not difficult to see what’s meant by that. Promises to deliver £350 million a day to the NHS evaporated the moment the polling stations closed. It wasn’t just a vain promise, the figure was a fabrication in the first place. 

The day after the vote Donald Trump tweeted “Just arrived in Scotland. Place is going wild over the vote. They took their country back, just like we will take America back. No games!” He seemed unaware of the fact that north of the border the Scots had voted 68% in favour of remaining. That said, using Donald Trump in any argument feels like ‘reductio ad absurdum’.

In a world where it’s difficult to know who to trust, public relations professionals could play a vital role in helping organisations and businesses navigate the tempestuous waters brought about by the Brexit vote. 

We still have a PR problem

There is a problem here however. Many business leaders and journalists would break into howls of laughter and derision at the notion that PR people deliver information that is both truthful and accurate. We haven’t yet shaken off the reputation that the PR industry has acquired for spin and obfuscation. 

Those of us practising PR have no doubt that we can bring clarity in complex and opaque times but we need to do more to persuade the wider community.

Public relations is about building trust and reputation and that begins with listening and understanding. Whether we work in house or for agencies we are effectively mediators with the responsibility for promoting mutual understanding between organisations and their public. It’s an old definition of PR but it still holds true. 

Often that means doing our part to promote transparency and accountability within organisations. The reality is that in a world where everyone can publish, secrets are more difficult to keep; putting a gloss on a story does more harm than good. It is increasingly the job of PR professionals to explain that reality to business leaders and organisational heads. 

We still have some way to go to shake off the image of Siobhan Sharpe, Patsy and Edina and Malcolm Tucker. We can however achieve that and the more we talk about standards of professionalism the greater the opportunity. 
 

Professionalism is key to unlocking the opportunity

The current climate demands a renewed focus on professional development. PR people need to evidence the fact that they have the skills and credentials to meet the challenges of communicating in uncertain times.

We can’t help in our duty to provide strategic counsel and support organisations in making sense of themselves and the world around them if we don’t build trust. In order to build that trust we must demonstrate that we are as committed to professionalism as any other profession. 

Having served as President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), I believe that the industry is grasping that nettle and professional bodies have a vital role to play. More than ever practitioners are seeking to demonstrate their commitment to ongoing professional development. The renewed focus on Chartered Practitioner status is clear evidence of that. The CIPR’s goal is to have half of our 10,000 strong membership becoming Chartered Practitioners within a decade. I believe it is one that we can realistically achieve and it is important for the reputation of the industry that we do so. 
 

What have we learned?

The lesson from Brexit is that the establishment and the business world, the majority of whom were Remainers, did not get their message across. We have also learned since the vote of the vast uncertainty that awaits us. Much of this was barely discussed in the campaign:

•    How will we manage our borders, in particular in with Ireland?
•    What will our trading relationships look like?
•    How will we manage needs of the beneficiaries of EU subsidies?
•    How will we allocate the EU subsidy that we no longer pay?
•    How long will it all take?
•    Will our passports be black again (and will we have to surrender the red EU ones)? 

We know that in times of confusion and ambiguity communications plays a paramount role. The opportunity for public relations is therefore very significant. 

If we are to take that opportunity and deliver, we need to do our own PR and this includes raising the reputation of the industry. I honestly wouldn’t hang about, the time is now. 

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Rob Brown is Managing Partner at Rule 5 and President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).He is author of the best-selling ‘Public Relations and the Social Web’ (Kogan Page) and has both edited and contributed to numerous books on PR. Rob is listed in the PR Week Powerbook 2008-2016 and the Global Powerbook 2016. 

Twitter: @robbrown
Online: www.rule-5.co.uk

Strong Together: Working Towards A Community Of Theory And Practice In Public Relations

STRONG TOGETHER: WORKING TOWARDS A COMMUNITY OF THEORY AND PRACTICE IN PUBLIC RELATIONS Stephen Waddington

Academic colleagues are enabling greater understanding in every area of practice. Meanwhile practitioners challenged by the pace of innovation are reaching out to theory to help make sense of the changes in practice. Here we explore practical ways of improving the relationship between scholars and practitioners in public relations.

You’ll learn:
•    Examples of contemporary public relations research that have an immediate application in practice
•    The opportunity to advance practice and develop as a profession through improved collaboration
•    A toolkit of eight practical ways to improve collaboration developed over the past 18 months from a CIPR project and BledCom workshop


If you want an immediate insight into the chasm between public relations theory and practice head to Google Scholar.

Enter a phrase or term relevant to your day job. Try agile management, crisis communications, public relations measurement, or your favourite form of social media. You’ll be presented with the headline and synopses of recent academic papers.

Google Scholar is a project built by the search giant to organise and query academic papers and content from scholarly books. I’ve set up alerts for public relations, social media, Facebook and Twitter, among others.

You now face two challenges that both relate to accessibility, in different ways.

First, many of the papers are published in academic journals and typically cost $30. My work around is to go direct to the author via a LinkedIn or Twitter search, and politely asked for a copy of their work. It almost always works.

Second, once you get your hands on a paper, the copy is usually presented in more than 20 pages of dense prose. It takes perseverance to extract insights relevant to everyday practice. It’s almost always worth the effort. In the last six months this approach has turned up numerous papers that have informed my work at Ketchum. Here are three examples.

#1 Data and ethics

In ‘Datafication: threat or opportunity for communication in the public sphere’, Derina Holtzhausen argues that public relations practitioners need to get involved in decisions on how algorithms are developed and targeted.

As we delegate responsibility for daily tasks such as search, pricing and publication to computers, this issue will become more acute. In the near future algorithms in driverless cars will be called upon to make life or death decisions.

Software developers who write algorithms must be held to account on behalf of the public. Practitioners need to work with colleagues in technology to educate themselves about the potential of algorithms and data.

#2 Investigating gender in public relations

An ongoing research project by Liz Bridgen at Sheffield Hallam University, shows that there are no easy answers to gender parity in public relations. Her work has implications for anyone responsible for hiring and the retention of talent in a public relations function.

Much of the existing research focuses on women continuing to work in the profession and has led to the broad view that they cannot combine family life with working in public relations.

Through interviews with women leaving public relations, Bridgen found the overriding reason for women leaving the profession was because they saw a lack of meaning in the work that they were permitted to carry out. She found that peers, and those outside the industry, did not take them seriously and this caused the women to suffer a lack of self-belief in their own skills.

#3 Wikipedia woe

In ‘Public relations interactions with Wikipedia’, Gareth Thompson explored the relationship between the public relations profession and Wikipedia. He found a simple reason for Wikipedia’s failure to move closer to the demands of the public relations business – it doesn’t need to.

Wikipedia is an open source community, or public. Contributors are motivated by Wikipedia’s purpose of creating a comprehensive compendium that contains information on all branches of knowledge. It consists of more than 20 million topics in 285 different languages, and is frequently the start point for online research.

Critics claim that Wikipedia has become too powerful and that it operates without the recognised processes or oversight common for more traditional media. This is the issue that often puts Wikipedia in conflict with the public relations industry. Errors in traditional media can be dealt with swiftly through well-established processes.

Changes or additions to a Wikipedia article require engagement with the community and, crucially, adherence to its rules. It’s a process that works but is unfamiliar to the public relations business.
 

Back to school for public relations

Public relations is practical. We should learn from the body of knowledge that academic colleagues are investigating and apply it to our day jobs.

Academics are enabling greater understanding in every area of practice. Meanwhile practitioners challenged by the pace of innovation are reaching out to theory to help make sense of the changes in practice.

A close working relationship between academia and practice is a hallmark of any professional discipline – enhancing real-world practice with research, reflection and theory.

In public relations this relationship is limited, and without the historical perspective and insight provided by academics, practitioners lack rigour and are limited to trading in simple crafts and tactics.

As a business in the midst of rapid fundamental change, bringing these two communities closer together is crucial to us realising our future potential.


Work in progress

The accessibility of public relations research by practitioners was one of the themes raised in a project I led as Past President of the CIPR last year.

An online community of practitioners explored issues relating to the accessibility of research; teaching and learning; and shared media and platforms.

A workshop at BledCom, the international research symposium in Slovenia in July 2016, explored these issues and sought practical solutions. Indeed, many of the contributors to this edition of #FuturePRoof proposed content for the project during the event.
 

Public relations theory and practice toolkit

The BledCom workshop concluded that there are eight areas where academics, scholars and practitioners could work better together to share knowledge and advance the public relations profession.

#1 Awards

Invite a mix of practitioners and scholars to participate as judges on industry award schemes. Add reciprocal categories that recognise excellence in research and practice.

#2 Accessibility of research

Open source publication of a single-page summary of academic research papers for practitioners to improve knowledge exchange. Google Scholar is useful for signposting original work.

#3 Conferences

Promote a greater diversity of academics attending conferences and speaking at industry events. BledCom is a good example of the benefit of this cooperation.

#4 Industry initiatives

Improve the representation of academic and practitioner interests in industry associations and initiatives. The Barcelona Principles and Global Alliance Global Capabilities Framework both worked on this basis.

#5 Media: HBR for PR

There’s a clear opportunity for an HBR-style publication for public relations. Communication for Leaders (Norway) and Communicatie NU (Netherlands) are both good examples. Funding is a challenge.

#6 Reciprocal guest speakers

Practitioners speaking on university courses; and academics speaking at agency and community team meetings. There are lots of examples of this happening from practice-to-university at an informal local level.

#7 Residencies

A scholar or practitioner in residence would be good way to develop a working relationship, and provide a route for sharing knowledge and influencing research topics.

#8 Alumni networks

University students graduating into practice provide a potentially strong connection between theory and practice. Motivated scholars maintain relationships via a shared form of media such as a Facebook or LinkedIn group [7].

The business of public relations will not realise its full potential as a management discipline until practitioners and scholars work closer together. The opportunity for collaboration is clear and the project outline in this chapter signposts practical ways forward.

Sources

[1] Google Scholar - http://wadds.co/2aJqWAk

[2] Datafication: threat or opportunity for communication in the public sphere, Journal of Communication Management:     Vol 20, No 1 - http://wadds.co/2aJoFVK

[3] Liz Bridgen: The Lady Vanishes: The missing women of public relations, Sheffield Hallam University - http://wadds.co/2aJml19

[4] Public relations interactions with Wikipedia: Journal of Communication Management: Vol 20, No 1 - http://wadds.co/2avnkoJ

[5] Working towards a community of practice in public relations, Stephen Waddington - http://wadds.co/1Gz6lLB

[6] Letters to BledCom: Towards a community of practice in public relations, Stephen Waddington - http://wadds.co/292TumU

[7] Public relations theory and practice toolkit

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Stephen Waddington is Partner and Chief Engagement Officer at Ketchum helping clients and colleagues to do the best job possible engaging with the public. He is responsible for driving the integration of digital and social capabilities in client engagements across the agency’s international network. He is Visiting Professor in Practice at the Newcastle University supporting the university and students through teaching and mentoring.

Twitter: @Wadds
Online: www.wadds.co.uk

Commanding the respect of the business community and the pitch to employers

COMMANDING THE RESPECT OF THE  BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND THE PITCH TO EMPLOYERS
Francis Ingham

You’ll learn:
•    How the PRCA is helping prove the value of public relations to employers and the wider business community
•    About the ongoing drive towards greater ethical standards
•    How public relations practitioners can benefit from a new initiative designed to raise standards of practice
 

Public relations may be a growing, dynamic, successful industry but there is still work to do in terms of demonstrating our value, ethics and standards of practice if we are to realise our full potential.

Let me get an awkward truth out of the way: PR and communications professionals will never be loved. As a professional calling, we should not expect to be. But we can and should be respected. And that respect depends, it seems to me, on three factors:

1.    Proving the value of our work.
2.    Proving that we have an ethical compass.
3.    Proving that we are committed to the highest of professional standards.

But let me also put the challenge we face in proving these three factors into context: ours is a growing, dynamic, successful industry. 

How many times over the past nine years as Director General of the PRCA have I written those words or similar? Probably hundreds. Yet they continue to be needed, because we still beat ourselves up all too often - frequently because of this desperate desire to be ‘liked’ or indeed ‘loved’.

The figures speak for themselves. This summer’s PRCA PR Census told us that we are worth £12.9 billion; that as an industry we comprise 83,000 professionals; that we grow by about ten percent every year – in the good times and in the bad times alike. 

If we have been this successful so far, how much more successful could we be if we got our act together?

To address those three challenges in order:

Proving the value of our work

We know that our work has value. The great majority of professionals I meet take justifiable pride in their work. They are proud of the change they deliver - whether to share price; or to societal behaviour; or to awareness-raising; or just in helping sell stuff. 

And all of that fundamentally is about reputation management, even if many within our industry would describe it in more prosaic terms. 

A report earlier on this year by the Quoted Companies Alliance and the accountants BDO estimated that a listed small to midcap company loses up to £90m if its reputation is destroyed – that’s £1.7 trillion. It also reported that a third of such companies have no plan to manage it. 

The PRCA Reputation Matters report led by Lanson’s Tony Langham told us that corporate reputation is the third most important factor would-be employees look at when making career decisions – behind salary (naturally), and close on the heels of stimulating work. 

So we know that reputation has an effect on the bottom line, and on the quality of employees attracted. And by bottom line, I mean that in the broad sense of ultimate result – later this year, we publish research into the effect of reputation on the outcomes of public sector campaigns. And believe me, the impact of our industry is even starker there. 

So what will the PRCA do? 

We need to hammer home these statistics at every opportunity we have. We need a cross-industry campaign between all of the membership bodies that represent our industry. And I will commit the PRCA to being an integral part of that. 

But we need to go further. So along with the publication of this latest edition, we will circulate to the industry a monthly case study, piece of data, or other compelling research, to make the case for our value.

Proving that we have an ethical compass

An ethical compass is, in and of itself, a good thing. 

In one sense, of course, we each possess one, whether that compass leads us towards respectable or unrespectable outcomes – in a Kantian world, the bad man is as ethical as the good one after all. But that’s not what I mean – I mean rules of behaviour and practice which we can be judged against, and which make us accountable. 

And in the modern world, a world marked by transparency, by the inability to hide, such a compass has another attribute – it is a licence to practice in some areas, and a competitive advantage in others.

I believe that the majority of industry practitioners adhere to high standards. That they deliver excellent value work to clients and colleagues (frankly, the value is frequently too excellent – as an industry, we undercharge significantly). That they make value judgements about which clients and which organisations they will and will not work with. 

But nonetheless, as part of our plan to be respected more, we need to be respected more for our ethical standards. 

Last year, we expelled Fuel PR in what PRWeek termed ‘Sweatygate’. We did so with regret but also with a profound sense of satisfaction. It was a member in good standing with us; its MD was a PRCA Fellow. But they had misled the public, and abused their staff. So they had to go. And the reaction from the industry and others alike was highly appreciative and positive.

So what will the PRCA do?

A few things. We’re publishing a new PRCA Professional Charter this summer. Making it easier and quicker than ever before to complain against members and to resolve those complaints. For the first time, I, as the PRCA Director General, will have the ability to instigate complaints proceedings for example. 

But we need to do more. We need to be willing to call out bad practice far more than we do; and we need as an industry to stop turning a blind eye to the partners, affiliates, bosses and colleagues who don’t meet our standards. And to make that easier, we’ll be introducing an anonymity route – if you don’t want your identity to be revealed, it won’t be. 
 

Proving that we are committed to the highest of professional standards

There are no barriers to entry to PR and communications. In many ways, that’s something I welcome. We are no closed shop. We are open to the brightest and the best regardless of background or resources. And yet…

To gain the respect of the business community, and to make our pitch as compelling as possible, we need to embed common standards; a shared resolution to attain the highest standards.

So what will the PRCA do?

In October, we will launch the first PR and communications industry-wide Continuous Professional Development Programme. 

It will recognise each and every single valid source of development, from every relevant membership body that wishes to take part; every industry service provider; every other training provider; every employer.

We will be deliberately generous. This programme will not scream ‘only PRCA training is good enough’. We will explicitly say that there are plenty of excellent sources of learning out there, and as long as you commit to them, well, that’s just fine by us. 

Because our mission is not self-serving. It’s to do the best by our industry. And in doing this, we will create and raise common standards of practice.

So to summarise. PR and communications is in a good place. No. In a great place. But until we prove the value of what we do; make clear our commitment to ethical standards; embrace and embed and standardise professional ones, we will not achieve our potential. We will be less than we could be. Second best. And who wants to be second best? Not me.

---

Francis Ingham is Director General of the UK & MENA Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), a role he has held since 2007. He is also Chief Executive of the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO). 

In addition, he is Master of the City of London Company of Public Relations Practitioners; a Trustee of The Speaker’s Corner Trust; and External Examiner of The American University At Richmond. 

Twitter: @PRCAIngham
Online: www.prca.org.uk

#FuturePRoof: Edition Two launches with 39 new essays from authors around the world

Corporate investment in people and technology and an individual focus on continuous professional development (CPD) will drive the public relations industry forward.

This is the key message from #FuturePRoof: Edition Two, published today [Wednesday 7 September]. 

The book continues the discussion around key opportunities facing public relations, from convergence and skillset to Boardroom recognition and the pace of change.

Its aim is to assert public relations as a management discipline and demonstrate its value to organisational success. 

Topics include audience insight, employee advocacy, influencer relations, tools and technology, agile strategy and business models. There is also a clear prompt for practitioners to challenge management teams more and be much less risk averse. 

The second edition builds on the success of the first #FuturePRoof guide, launched in October 2015, which secured over 2,500 sales and downloads.

Agency owner and CIPR President-Elect candidate Sarah Hall is #FuturePRoof's founder and editor. 

She said: "The success of #FuturePRoof shows that public relations practitioners are aware of the direction of travel and are no longer prepared for other disciplines to eat their lunch. The public relations fight back starts here and now.

"Demand shows professionals want to close their competency gaps in order to provide strategic advice at management level. 

"What's more, the public relations industry is waking up to the fact that if we are truly guiding organisational strategy, it is common sense that other disciplines answer to us within the corporate hierarchy. I expect this narrative to get louder and louder.”

#FuturePRoof: Edition Two is dedicated to Dr Jon White, a guiding force and inspiration for the project. His book How to Understand and Manage Public Relations celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

#FuturePRoof is available in hard copy via www.futureproofingcomms.co.uk and on Kindle via http://tinyurl.com/j8ocm4z.

Launch drinks are taking place at the PRCA in London from 6.30pm on Wednesday 7 September with all welcome.

To join the conversation follow @weareproofed and join the #FuturePRoof community on Facebook. 

#FuturePRoof 2 - call out for contributors

The #FuturePRoof 2 spec is now complete and we're looking for contributors.

The outline is below. If you'd like to write one of the chapters or you think there's a subject we need to cover, please get in touch with editor Sarah Hall at sarah@sarahhallconsulting.co.uk.

It's an ambitious production schedule and we'll be strictly adhering to the deadlines. We're asking for submissions by Friday 5th August, with the aim of publishing in early September. Chapters need to be 800-1200 words in length - full details will be supplied to those involved. 

We already have a number of authors signed up so if you'd like to join the #FuturePRoof community, please get in contact with a strong pitch to avoid disappointment. 

NOTE as of 05/07/16: Many thanks to those who pitched. The response has been overwhelming and we have some great content coming. We're now closing the pitch window unless you can contribute to the chapters still needing authors. Cheers, Sarah

Chapter titles and outline topics

1. PR as a management discipline; commanding the respect of the business community and the pitch to employers - Francis Ingham
2. Stronger together; closing the gap between theory and practice and the benefits of academic-practitioner engagement - Stephen Waddington
3. What #Brexit taught us about the opportunity for public relations; PR's role as strategic lead, making sense of complexity, managing reputation and telling the organisational story - Rob Brown 
4. Entrepreneurship, social dialogue and public relations; is PR a management discipline with strategic aims or an activist behaviour with social aims? - Ezri Carlebach
5. Serving the membership - is it time for the PRCA and CIPR to come together? - Richard Houghton
6. A CEO's view of public relations; the value it brings and the weaknesses practitioners still need to address - Matthew Hopkins
7. Engaging stakeholders in your organisation's purpose - a radical approach - Sean Trainor
8. Human resources; utilising HR in the drive to professionalism, raising standards and closing the gender pay gap - Liz Baines
9. Social mobility in PR; a career open to all. Diversity and widening access - Sarah Stimson
10. PR as the organisational conscience; PR's role in helping organisations find their place in society, ethics as part of daily practice and the death of CSR - Karan Chadda
11. Ethical comms; stories versus facts. Do communicators have a personal responsibility to ensure the public isn't misled? - Stuart Bruce
12. Lifelong learning; professionalism, CPD and the changing face of learning - Sally Keith
13. Employer branding; the employee journey - Bea Arnoutse
14. Employer expectations; beyond formal qualifications and the characteristics of the future employee - Tim Hudson
15. Delivering a 24/7 service; introducing an agile model, how to do this and the benefits - Dualta Redmond
16. Managing the integration of businesses; merging companies, disciplines and cultures - Ella Minty
17. Agile strategy development - Betteke van Ruler
18. Out of hours community management; what best practice in social media management and disaster planning looks like - Nathaniel Cassidy
19. Insights; audience led communications - Sarah Clark
20. Procurement; speaking the language of procurement and building a relationship outside of the marketing team - Tina Fegent
21. Client contact; building strong relationships and managing risk (bridging the gap where the main account handler sits outside of the senior team) - Farzana Baduel
22. Managing client expectations; solutions for managing financial negotiation and in particular over-servicing - Andrew Reeves
23. Staff salaries; handling wage inflation and salary bandings - Steve Earl
24. Incentivisation; how to empower employees and increase accountability and personal decision making so they buy into the wider company vision, while also reducing churn - Alicia Mellish
25. Company culture; managing always on and stress, middle manager presenteeism, management burn out and mental health - Paul Sutton
26. Leadership; how to identify and nurture rising stars, developing the leadership skill set and mentoring others - Flora Wilke and Lucia Dore
27. Internal comms; the changing face of internal comms, a potted history and emerging trends - Rachel Miller
28. Workflow; tried and tested campaign planning tools, with agency workflow diagram - Frederik Vincx
29. Influencer relations; future trends - Scott Guthrie
30. Employee engagement; how to use the latest technologies to achieve this - Ciara O'Keeffe 
31. Video as a communications channel; how corporate comms teams are missing a trick - Dan Slee
32. Live streaming tools; the strategic application - Leonardo Stavale
33. Public affairs; overhauling public affairs, much needed modernisation - Iain Anderson
34. Public consultations; ten steps to success and key learnings - Emily Osborne
35. SEO; where it fits with public relations - Darryl Sparey
36. Crowdfunding / crowdsourcing campaigns; using these as means of public engagement - Paul Cockerton
37. Horizon scanning; the latest emerging industry trends and shifts (AI, health and ad blocking) - Stephen Davies
38. Creativity; are practitioners successfully harnessing the power of storytelling and narration? - Andy Green
39. Measurement and evaluation; AMEC toolkit and PESO - Richard Bagnall
40. The importance of thanks - Dr Nicky Garsten

Video: #FuturePRoof editor Sarah Hall talks to Dr Jon White about the opportunity for PR

Are we going back to the future?

In 1999, Dr Jon White presented a paper to the Swiss Public Relations Society that stated the future was bright for PR practitioners. 

This was dependant on practitioners recognising 'the opportunities presented by the environment and management needs' and taking 'steps to educate and train themselves', as well as making 'full use of communication technology, to provide reliable, if not indispensable, services to managers as they seek to deal with complexity and manage successful businesses'.

Very little has changed.

Here #FuturePRoof editor Sarah Hall speaks to Dr Jon White about what has stopped the majority of PR practitioners making the most of that opportunity - and how we can do that now.

Dr Jon White is a consultant and visiting professor at Henley Business School and Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies (JOMEC). You can follow him on Twitter: @DrJonWhite.  

You can read Jon's original paper: Innovation and the future of public relations practice: Beyond integrated marketing communication here.

Listen to #FuturePRoof with news from #PRfest and #AMECsummit

Here's the very latest #FuturePRoof podcast with Stephen Waddington and Sarah Hall.

On topic today: a run through of #PRFest, Scotland's first ever festival of public relations, organised by Aura PR founder Laura Sutherland. Tickets are still available for Friday's sessions and you can look up the details here.

And healthy debate around AMEC's new Integrated Evaluation Framework and resource designed to help communicators prove their value, which went live this afternoon. All the details can be found on the dedicated website.

Last but not least congrats to the twenty people including Stephen appointed to Ketchum's new Global Council, which replaces its previous Executive Committee. Really positive to see an equal gender split and truly global representation within the management team.

Podcast: #PRCensus, #WPRF2016, mental health, #BledCom, #PRfest, second book, and more…

Sarah Hall and Stephen Waddington talk about the latest data in public relations, industry projects and conferences.

PRCA PR Census shows growth in public relations, signposts challenges
The PRCA’s PR Census 2016 shows that public relations is booming but that there is no room for complacency on issue such as modernity, ethnicity and diversity.

#FuturePRoof mental health initiative for ICCO and PRCA
The latest #FuturePRoof project for ICCO and the PRCA is focused on mental health. It aims to characterise the issue and signpost to best practice, guidance and support. We need individuals and employers to share their experiences. Please contact Sarah if you’d like to get involved.

Global Body of Knowledge competency framework
The Global Alliance Global Body of Knowledge (GBOK) project published the third version of the Global Body of Knowledge framework. The work is being continued by the Professor Anne Gregory at University of Huddersfield.

Community of Practice, Bled
Sarah and Stephen will host a workshop with Dr. Jon White on 2 July at Bled to explore ways of improving dialogue between academics and practitioners. We welcome your ideas in the form of a letter to the conference.

AMEC Measurement Conference, London
The 2016 AMEC International Summit takes place in London 15 to 16, June. An updated framework for public relations measurement is expected to be launched.

Second #FuturePRoof book in the works
Combined downloads and sales of #FuturePRoof have topped 2,000. Sarah has started working the specification for a second book. Watch out for an invitation for contributions in the next month or so.

PR Festival, Edinburgh
Scotland’s first public relations festival will bring together thinkers and does in public relations on 16 and 17 June. Speakers and workshops will focus on the future of our business.

Further information
If you’d like to get involved in any of the #FuturePRoof initiatives please contact Sarah Hall; follow @WearePRoofed on Twitter; or join the Facebook community.

Platform services: public relations

A North East based venture capitalist adds value to investments with services such as public relations. Laura Richards, Marketing & PR Manager, Northstar Ventures, explains how.

Profile: venture capitalist offering agency services to portfolio companies

Insight: portfolio companies in a group benefit from centralised support services
 

Northstar Ventures is a venture capital firm dedicated to supporting high growth SMEs and high impact social enterprises. We employ a full time Marketing & PR Manager to look after all in-house public relations activity. In addition to traditional in-house public relations,we also offer public relations support to our portfolio companies, as part of our developing venture capitalist platform services.
 

The platform services model

The platform services model is already comfortably established within leading venture capital firms. International venture capitalists such as Andreessen Horowitz and Index Ventures make in-house specialists available to their portfolio companies to support with functions such as HR, recruitment, marketing and public relations, and business development.

These specialists are employed by, or on retainer for, the venture capitalist firm with services available to all investees for free or at a reduced cost.

At Northstar Ventures we are beginning to develop similar resources, initially offering the support of our Marketing & PR Manager to the companies we have invested in. In time we plan on developing this service to include not only committed support for public relations activities, but also functions such as finance and HR.
 

A resource for portfolio companies

Since beginning to offer support with marketing and public relations, we’ve seen interest predominantly from early stage companies who are either focusing on scaling their businesses, or launching a specific product or service.

Companies are typically only beginning to think about public relations strategies; some do not have the resources to hire someone in-house or pay for agency support while others are uncertain about what support they need.

In the last six months Northstar has provided support by way of: training on specific skills (e.g. writing and distributing press releases); advice on developing annual public relations strategies; hands-on support planning and implementing media and content strategies; signposting relevant training and agencies; and recruitment advice.
 

The dynamics of deal flow

The market for deal flow is very competitive: venture capitalist firms compete to attract the best companies looking for equity investment. One of the reasons we are developing a full range of platform services at Northstar is to establish us as the venture capitalist firm of choice to start-ups.

The most significant challenge with developing platform services is the time and resources required to implement them properly. As we are in the early stages of testing the demand for this additional support, the responsibility for all activities lies with our in-house Marketing & PR Manager.

Thus the challenge is to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest and that Northstar’s own public relations activities are not neglected.

On the flip side, the main benefit of offering platform services is in helping early stage businesses access skills and knowledge they may not otherwise be able to access; in demonstrating the value of public relations to early stage start-ups, we can encourage them to build it into their business development strategies.

Additionally there are opportunities for us to increase awareness of Northstar Ventures itself, either through direct mentions of Northstar in portfolio public relations activity, or via word of mouth recommendations.
 

Adding value to investments

Northstar Ventures currently pays for our in-house Marketing & PR Manager, covering the cost for time spent with portfolio companies.

The value to Northstar is two-fold: firstly as we have invested in all the companies we offer public relations support to, their success has a direct impact on us. By providing additional services that can help investees better run their companies, we increase the likelihood that we will see a return on our investment.

Secondly platform services help Northstar establish ourself as a ‘value added partner’ to the firms we invest in, helping to differentiate us from other investors in the region. This can increase the value of our portfolio by positioning Northstar as the first choice for companies seeking investment. 

Recognising the value of results through smarter measurement

Colin Cather, Creative Director, Bottle, believes smarter forms of measurement may offer agencies the potential for alternative, reward-based, billing models.

Profile: brand communications agency that specialises in public relations

Insight: measurement is the barrier to innovative billing models
 

We don’t have payment by results, yet, but we do have an increasingly clear view of the results we can achieve, and a sense of the relative value of those results to clients. 

What are the results? Well, I think that’s quite easy to describe. We create stories designed to make people care more about the brands we are working for. We build meaningful brands. 

We aim to create long-term shifts in perception and salience. Who else tries to achieve these results?

Advertising, that’s who. 

By that, I mean that some advertising, and the version of public relations that we are delivering, are both trying to build brand value. We want to grow awareness and reach new audiences with stories that forge a stronger connection between the brand and the audience. And to strengthen the brand connection with existing audiences.

But how do we measure those results? I think they are equivalent to advertising value. 

We are trying to shift the same needles-on-dials that advertising is trying to shift. The real problem, for me, is that even advertising doesn’t have a good measure of its own value.

If we are to solve the problem, public relations should have shared language with the rest of marketing disciplines.
 

Marketing vs. public relations

I have met some - both long-in-the-tooth leaders and fresh-faced graduates - who don’t even see public relations as part of the marketing function. And, problematically, I have met prospective clients whose public relations function is detached from the marketing function. 

That can’t work. We are trying to achieve the same things - the same results - by different, complementary, means. Usually in different channels, and with different forms of content.

Public relations often has to persuade intermediaries to tell a story for us such as bloggers and journalists. But that doesn’t mean we need our own language of reputation and trust.
 

Measuring the value of public relations

If we are talking to the client’s finance director about where they can see this value added, then it is in the brand equity. It’s on the balance sheet, and not the profit and loss account.

It’s in the share price, not the sales volumes. 

It’s in the share of market, which is why setting a measurement dial on share of voice (SOV) has some appeal because there are proven links between these two.

But because the channels we often operate in represent ‘infinite’ space, then it’s not an absolute measure of SOV. But it can be a relative measure.

And because SOV is too crude, it doesn’t measure the quality of the story, then it needs to be SOV on meaningful topics and themes, versus competitors. All of this is measurable. 

I know this shouldn’t be the only test, but we have found that clients - right up to board level - understand these things. The measures have face validity, and they help us to have integrated and purposeful discussions with the other agencies we are working with.

Then together we can get a shared set of measures, of our combined added brand value. And then we can begin to talk to clients about linking reward to results.

Three drivers of change for agencies in public groups

Three separate forces are working in tandem to drive network agencies to integrate operations and services with other members of the larger, publicly-listed group of marketing companies to which they belong, says David Gallagher, Senior Partner and CEO EMEA, Ketchum.
 

Profile: international agency offering an integrated solution within a holding company

Insight: large agencies are using the advantage of networks and scale to drive efficiencies and tackle integrated opportunism
 

Clients and shareholders

One is a push for greater efficiency, which comes from clients and shareholders. Clients expect agency fees to reflect the value added to their own services, products or reputation, with little appetite for contributing to agency overhead and profit.

Shareholders have expectations for consistent, profitable growth of revenue, keenly interested in keeping operating costs to a minimum.

While clients and shareholders have always had these interests, the market now seems acutely sensitive to inefficiencies. This may be due to relatively slow or weak economic growth generally, a growing supply of lower-cost digitally-enabled service providers, and the potential of big data marketing services to reduce or eliminate unnecessary costs.

As a result, many agencies are already integrating back-office operations – HR, IT, finance, real estate, among others - while quickly mobilising to offer clients low-fat service propositions that reduce redundant management touch-points, automate reports and slash commissions or extend payment terms.
 

Expert knowledge: sector and skills

A second driver is specialisation. Generalist public relations services of the past have fragmented into highly specialised areas of knowledge (including industry, sector and market expertise) and skill (including project management, research and analysis, creative development, content creation, and community management, among many others).

No one agency can develop the specialist expertise required by today’s client quickly enough or at sufficient scale on their own, so they seek complementary partners to offer integrated service propositions.
 

Tackling integrated opportunities

And a third force is opportunity. Practitioners that look at communications challenges holistically and objectively recognise a market open to finely tuned solutions – those that include the best mix of earned, paid, shared and owned content.

The challenge is to offer a perspective beyond a native discipline or expertise that sees and applies the right combination and sequence of activities across channels. 

Groups like ours deliver this by offering learning and networking opportunities across the network to raise capabilities generally; through specially selected and trained accelerators to manage integrated assignments; and now, increasingly, by physically locating agencies together in campus-like spaces to make collaboration easy and efficient.

Even with these features, integrating operations and services isn’t easy. Client priorities vary widely and make a ‘standard’ approach difficult, and while there’s a lot of talk about moving beyond an hourly-based fee structure, few viable alternatives have emerged.

The biggest challenge may be the insecurities or arrogance of practitioners as we contemplate a market in which what we know or do, won’t always have the same value as it once did, at least in comparison to experts from other disciplines.

Performance public relations

Manifest is making a bid to break away from the fee based business model and apply performance marketing techniques to public relations. Here Alex Myers, its Founder and Managing Director, shares how they’ve done it.


Profile: integrated social media, content marketing, inbound marketing and video production

Insight: creating a new business is a way of incubating a new proposition and business model
 

In my chapter in the original #FuturePRoof book, I asked the question how do you charge for awesome?

Although deliberately flippant, this question is something I had been struggling with for a while. In an industry where ideas matter most (and will continue to do so as the ‘arms and legs’ of the industry become less valuable), it seems odd we all get paid by the hour.

We win a pitch because our strategy and ideas are the best, and our clients judge success by the business impact of our work, yet our fees are dictated simply by how long it takes us to deliver the campaign. We are a creative industry that charges like a cleaner.

As with so many things, we face a simple binary choice in this business: change the status quo, or become it. So how are we introducing new billing practices at Manifest?
 

The making of Naked & Famous

Naked & Famous is Manifest’s sandbox. It’s a testing ground for new billing models, new ways of working with clients and challenging the norms of the industry. When young brands or startups want us to work with them, Naked & Famous offers an affordable and versatile option.

They just need to be willing to try something new. We’ve stripped back the traditional agency structure, offering full transparency across everything (that’s the naked bit), and we focus purely on the specific business results the client wants to see (the famous bit). It means we don’t bill by the hour, we bill by how effective the campaign is.
 

Reward by revenue-share

Closed on Monday is an amazing male grooming brand and one of the first clients to take us up on our Naked & Famous service. Without any other external marketing behind them, we knew the business growth of Closed on Monday would be largely driven by PR, especially in the US where the brand has no resident management team.

Rather than suggesting a retained fee, we asked the guys how much of the cost of a product they’d be willing to pay for someone to buy it. To use an analogy with online businesses, we were co-creating a cost per acquisition (CPA) rate.

We were then able to map out the projection of fees alongside sales, and overlay our expected minimum cost to agency for delivering a campaign. There’s no cap on how much we can get paid, but importantly this billing model focuses our attention on delivering a creative campaign with optimal return on investment (ROI).

We also feel we can move outside of our traditional remit if needed, or if there’s an opportunity. We can appoint third parties or commission research with our portion of the revenue share if we can see the numbers adding up.

It makes us feel differently about the money we’re earning. It also means the end of the client/agency relationship; this is a business partnership. We’re both working together to sell more products and build advocacy from the brand’s customer base.
 

Innovation: making it up as you go

I freely admit that we’re making this shit up as we go along, which might sound scary or lacking strategic calculation, but something I’ve come to realise is that this is how it feels to do something for the first time. Like it or not, experimentation is the only way anything new comes about. Someone has to be the one to ask, “why not?”

When I asked James Adkin, Director, Closed on Monday about how he sees things working, he said, “The way our Naked & Famous billing is structured is a perfect demonstration of Manifest’s alternative way of approaching any challenge – we have a revenue share agreement in place, replacing traditional billing practices and remarkably replacing the traditional client/agency relationship with something far more akin to a business partnership.

“There is a genuine sense of collaboration flowing through everything we do. It shows an agency confident in its work, trusting in its approach and willing to invest in a long term relationship.”

Will revenue-sharing replace our traditional billing structure? Probably not alone – but offering it as an option for relevant briefs means that when we smash expectations, our fees surge accordingly, instead of hitting the glass ceiling of the hours we agreed we would spend on things.

We have certainly been involved in campaigns for the likes of BrewDog and Samsung where a revenue share would have better rewarded our creativity, and because of the way revenue shares restructure the working relationship, I don’t think it would have had a negative impact on our relationship or perceived value-for-money.

Combining content marketing and public relations to deliver results

Julius Duncan, Director, Remarkable Content talks through how in the last two years Remarkable has evolved from a PR agency focused primarily on media relations to a full service agency with storytelling, creative and content at its core.

Profile: content marketing and public relations agency

Insight: every organisation needs to tell its story in a creative way across different forms of media
 

In 2014 Remarkable Group brought together a range of different communications specialists to create content marketing and PR agency, Remarkable Content.

A core skill set in the team remains public relations but focusing on creative solutions that drive media coverage, prompt direct public engagement, and protect reputation.

This storytelling core has been strengthened by the integration of a creative director, digital strategists, social media managers, content marketing strategists, designers, coders, videographers, copywriters, animators and sound engineers.

The decision to create Remarkable Content was in response to the market’s demand for a smarter and more measurable type of content-led communications.
 

Moving on from media relations

The number of clients that will accept the vanity metric of media coverage as proof of value is shrinking rapidly. Smart and progressive clients want integrated, cross channel campaigns built around long-lived creative ideas that can tell a story over time.

They also require a clear and measurable link from this activity back to improved business results.

Building content and production skills in-house

Running an integrated agency model like this and keeping the team well utilised is a more involved challenge than feeding a simple public relations model. One thing you have to get right is a business development approach that creates the profile of work where all specialists can be well utilised. Of course many agencies manage this utilisation challenge by taking the freelance route.

However, we believe it is important to have core skills amongst the full time team. This not only provides assurance on quality but creates a team with real skin in the game, and builds an environment where knowledge sharing and inspiration can thrive.

Managing a project with a blend of digital production, social media management, design and media relations takes more rigour in the planning and project management phase. To achieve success it’s important to have experienced, broadly skilled people who are experts in project management.

The benefits for clients are content-led campaigns that reach and then influence the behaviour of audiences across multiple touch points - social, print and broadcast, digital and real-world. Without a broader skill set, and broad mind-set, this cannot be achieved.

For one of our clients, a London based property developer, the benefits are stacking up. This company had the foresight to seek a content-focused communications agency that could get a splash in the Evening Standard but also thinks more broadly. A content strategy workshop at the outset of the campaign created a consistent customer journey across the website, social channels, paid media, earned media, and at events.

By creating this joined up customer experience we are achieving greater engagement rates and Google Analytics show that visitors to the developer’s website from social media are converting into enquiring customers at a higher rate than any other traffic source.     

This type of measurable return on investment (ROI) is possibly the greatest benefit of running a fully integrated model. It enables us to prove to clients that taking a progressive approach to communications creates business value, and drives their commercial results.