What Makes a Client/Agency Relationship Work?

I recently had a situation that got me thinking about “What makes an effective agency/client relationship?”   I know that good communication between agency and client is a basic must. It’s fundamental when you think about it because you’re all involved in building a brand through effective communication with various media, carefully crafted to build brand awareness and trial.  So that’s what I wanted to talk to you about today.  What makes a client/agency relationship work? 

Here are a few suggestions on what we need from our clients:

1)      Your Time

It’s perhaps the most important thing that we need from you, and it’s often the hardest for clients to give. We know that PR and Marketing is just one of the many hats that you wear, but regular, ongoing communication between client and agency is vital for the success of any PR campaign.  For example, the further in advance we know of events– the more mileage we can get out of them, and it’s vital that you or a representative that has authority be available for quick approvals and urgent press requests. 

2) Your Expertise and Opinions

Just because we do PR for a lion tamer, doesn’t mean we know how to tame lions. We need you to tell us what your brand’s story is. It’s then our job is to take it and turn it into a newsworthy story that will capture the attention of journalists, who will then write about your product or service.

 3) Your Honesty

Let us know your objectives, any issues with your brand, and what you think about what we write or present.   And we will let you know if we’re not getting what we need to proceed.

4) Your Trust

We know what journalists want and how they like to be communicated with. There may be times when you have a story you want to push, or an angle you’d like to exploit – which we don’t believe will work.   You see, at Schrenk PR, we talk to journalists daily so we know what they’re after and we talk from experience, and we know how to talk to a journalist about your brand.  So, you need to rely on our expertise and if we advise that a change in approach is necessary, listen to our reasons and have trust in what we say.

5) Your Patience

It takes time and consistent effort to get results and build a reputation for your brand with the media and to start to see results.  It also takes time for us to build a relationship with you and to get to know your business and your way of working.   If you don’t have the time, six months minimum, then you shouldn’t be looking at PR, you should be looking at using another marketing tool.   But remember you need PR to give credibility for your brand, because of its association with the particular magazine, TV or Blogger.  It may take time to build relationships with the media, but the credibility and trust that you get from a blog or magazine/newspaper review or the exposure your brand receives in a radio or TV interview is invaluable in building your brand’s image.Bottom of Form

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It’s Publicity First, Advertising Second

According to Advertising Age, the birth of a brand is usually accomplished with publicity FIRST.  In fact they say “it’s publicity first, advertising second,” and they also say that “PR is the Nail and Advertising is the Hammer that gives Frequency.” 

Often marketers confuse brand building with brand maintenance and while a heavy dose of advertising is often associated with most brands, it doesn’t mean that advertising built the brand.  

The Body Shop is now a case study in effective PR.  Take a look.

The Body Shop, an internationally recognized brand, was built entirely by PR.  Anita Roddick, the founder of Body Shop, travelled the world talking about the need to be more ecologically conscious, and how the Body Shop’s products were environmentally friendly and as a result she received a huge amount of publicity in all media.  The fact, the company spent less than $10 million in advertising over a 10-year period and its annual sales were $1.3 billion. 

Do you remember?

Over the years, many brands have become internationally recognized with little advertising.  Let’s take a moment and look back and remember Viagra, Prozac and Valium in the pharmaceuticals industry, and Furby, Beanie Babies and Tickle me Elmo in the toy field.  Of course, who can forget Oracle and Cisco that became multi-billion dollar brands with little advertising, but with a whole lot of PR.  These and thousands of brands have been effectively launched with PR; and more and more we’re seeing that PR is central to any marketing effort, because it establishes brand credibility by its association with the particular media that’s reporting it. 

Reaching Just a Few

Unlike advertising, it’s not necessary for a PR program to reach everyone.  Forget reach and think smaller.  At Schrenk PR we understand that it’s important to target your group and then let this group talk to other groups and communicate your message to the market.

It Takes Time

In our fast-paced world we tend to forget that it takes time to change minds and you need time to convince people to change brands, and adopt new ones.  It’s not one article here and another one there that will convince someone to switch brands, it a focused and constant publicity campaign that will generate on-going results and Brand Credibility.  That’s why Advertising Age said that PR is the nail and advertising is the hammer - you need them both when you’re launching your product or increasing brand awareness for your product.

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Women Drive Brand Awareness

There’s still a lot of debate about how much value women bloggers bring in terms of building brand awareness and much discussion on how to quantify it.  A recent post on Social Media Today  pointed out the strength that women have as brand ambassadors.  When you think about it, it just makes sense.  Consider the findings from a study conducted by Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and Lithium, a social media tech firm, showing the impact and influence of social media with women:

These lines from the survey findings are perfectly stated... "The more consumers engage in social media, the more they inspire each other to engage with new and different brands." And, “there’s no one a woman trusts more for advice, recommendations and guidance than another woman in her circle.”

When you consider that women account for 85% of all consumer purchases, it only makes sense that women make the most powerful brand ambassadors that a brand can have.  At SchrenkPR, we’ve successfully cultivated these relationships with women bloggers who have become such an influential group.  We work hard to engage these influencers on behalf of each of our clients’ brands.   We also understand that they’re not the only medium, so we talk with other media at various strategic times in each PR campaign that we undertake.    We know that it’s not just personal relationships with traditional media, it’s knowing how to tell our clients’ brand story so that it’s “newsworthy” and “noteworthy.”  We make it simple for a busy blogger, journalist, editor or producer to use our material because we’ve researched their guidelines and built a story that’s easy for them to use.  This also helps build a relationship with these influencers in a very real way and it becomes a win/win relationship between us (the brand) and the respective media.

We know that many brands try a mass market approach, but this doesn’t build relationships through social media or with bloggers and certainly doesn’t work well with traditional media like newspapers and magazines.  For mass marketers subscribing to a service that sends out mass e-mailings, this may be effective as a sales tactic but will result in meager if any coverage from bloggers, magazines, TV or radio.  So when you’re planning your next PR campaign, remember that the mass market approach does not increase Brand Loyalty or Credibility.  Instead, remember that you’re there to provide a service for journalists, whether they be bloggers or traditional media, and deliver your story in the most concise and newsworthy way, so that they have a reason to talk about your brand.

Takeaways?  A personalized approach is critical in PR.  Create and foster relationships with those women who make 85% of the purchasing decisions. Reach them where they go to for their information like blogs, magazines, TV shows and radio, and stay actively engaged with them - your brand will reap the benefits. 

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Notes:  Excerpts drawn from:  Social Media Today http://socialmediatoday.com/steve-olenski/472774/why-women-are-most-powerful-brand-ambassadors-world

(Source Ad Week)