Babel blog - random thoughts from the Babel team

Details: Written by Ian Hood

PR's dirty laundry We've recently completed another RFP for public relations support in the European and US markets and along with a range of questions that we see often, the company asked what the agency expected from its clients. Good question.

Our view is that the most successful client / PR firm relationships are built on the basis of honesty, openness and trust. The honesty and openness ensure the agency receives the information required to build and execute the right campaign, allow us to set realistic, achievable objectives and mean that we can provide strong and valued counsel. The trust, which comes with time, means the agency can take advantage of opportunities without continual reference to the client.

As far as is possible we like to be considered part of our clients' core team, indistinguishable in many ways from an in-house employee. If that sort of relationship doesn't exist the potential problems are endless and can destroy all the good work. In more than twenty years in the industry I've seen plenty of examples of companies failing to disclose key information prior to campaign elements being implemented. Almost invariably it comes back to bite them on the backside. Many years ago I secured a range of high profile national media interviews for a new web based business (that will remain nameless) only to be told by one of the journalists that the directors of the business can been convicted for fraud,

That's an extreme example and it was a lesson for me - I carry out my own due diligence these days - but it illustrates the point. Your PR agency needs to know the details of the 'dirty laundry' so they can advise on a strategy to deal with it. So, if there are previous issues with a product or solution, market threats, a CEO who really doesn't speak well, tell the agency, it's much easier to deal with it up-front that to try and clean up the mess later.

danielle s ian s