#2, September 2009

In or Out?

Effective Utilization of Agency and In-House PR

By Galina Aleykina
Executive Vice President, Willard

The effective use of a public relations agency is probably an in-house PR team's greatest challenges. When the two compliment one another, the result can be a smooth-running, problem-solving, publicity-generating machine. When they don't, relationships that should have been great falter, sour and disappoint.

Having been on both sides, as marketing director for a foreign bank and now as executive vice president of a PR firm, I have seen relationships that work and those that have failed. The failures often are not due to a lack of interest or talent, but due to a misunderstanding of each group's roles combined with a miscommunication of expectations.

First, both parties have objectives that create a natural conflict: The agency needs to maximize profit as well as provide good service, while the client seeks to efficiently utilize its PR budget, as well as gain value.
This is called doing business, and there is nothing wrong with it. However, unless goals are clearly communicated and agreed from the beginning, a profitable result for one party will not always be valuable to the other.

Second, it is crucial that there be true partnership - particularly in this part of the world. The agency and the client's in-house PR staff must share similar business ethics and practice methods. If a PR agency is comfortable playing fast-and-loose with ethics - such as purchasing editorial content in newspapers or utilization of black PR - that agency probably doesn't share your company's values regarding the proper public relations tools.

Most PR agencies claim to have a vast array of products at their beck and call, from senior counsel to crisis preparedness and training, media relations to government relations, and from media training to video development and production. Each of these products will be displayed like goods in a street kiosk. The trick is in knowing what services to utilize and what services to pass up, and to identify the areas in which an agency really excels.

Several factors govern this equation: The company's in-house capabilities; The company's demonstrable needs; The cost of a service or project versus its real value; and Whether the company benefits by having an outside perspective.
While all of these elements are important, in my view the last is perhaps the most crucial. The fact is that an outsider's professional opinion can be extremely valuable. It helps a company keep its perspective, particularly in times of crisis, or when faced with a difficult problem. The consultant is not the decision-maker, but is another voice at the table. As such, he or she is an important and independent resource in reaching the ultimate decision.

However, the other elements are also important in framing a relationship.
If the company has vast in-house communications resources, it can and should be selective in deciding which of the PR agency's talents to acquire. If yours is a one- or two-person in-house department, you will want to take advantage of the services you need and can afford.

So why do you need a PR agency, and what do you expect it to achieve that you have not been able to do on your own?
I was once told of a company that hired a PR agency to help boost employee morale. The agency was briefed to develop feel-good programs and various internal communications structures, and finally, to take a survey of the staff's complaints.

The agency's role ended after the survey was taken. The problem had been discovered: The primary complaint was that there was only one exit from the company parking lot. In the morning, there was a traffic jam entering the lot, and employees were sometimes punished for arriving late to work. In the evening, traffic could back up for half an hour. People were late getting home, upsetting husbands and wives. The solution was engineering - simply adding more exits - and not necessarily communication.

Make sure you really understand why you need a PR agency before you seek outside help: What do you intend to achieve, and why? What are you trying to fix, and why does the problem exist? A good PR agency will ask these questions in any case.
This brings up the cost versus value equation. In most major cities, including Kyiv, there is a public relations agency on nearly every street corner. Remember that just because an agency claims that it does media training or crisis management doesn't mean they are actually good at it.

Make sure your agency has a successful track record in the area that you need. Don't be afraid to check references: After all, you are entrusting your corporate reputation to them.   Never choose an agency based on cost alone, but examine the value gained. In a business-threatening crisis, cost is definitely secondary to identifying and solving the problem.

Finally, measuring PR value is a notoriously difficult task - the best way to ensure that you obtain the expected value and client satisfaction is to discuss and agree upon realistic results. An agency cannot create news out of thin air: It needs information from the client to develop clear messages and news hooks. An experienced agency can, however, tell you approximately how much coverage you can expect, given the available information and a professionally executed project.

While no client likes to hear it, an agency should not be afraid to question whether a press conference or other project is truly newsworthy, and if appropriate, recommend alternatives.   While there are rough market rates for various services, value is something different, and both real and expected results should be measured.

I once heard someone comment that "just because he knows the words to 'Ave Maria' doesn't mean he sings like Pavarotti."   That is definitely true in the PR business.