Blow Up Your PR Program
Know what I hate? “Maintenance Mode.” That’s the feeling you sometimes get when you’ve been working with a client for 1 — 2 — 3+ years and the program is WORKING but seems to be on AUTOPILOT.
Clients need to challenge their agency partners to think bigger, more strategically, more creatively — even if only for the mental exercise: you never know what might spring from such brainstorms.
Agencies need to challenge their clients more often, too. Agencies are often hired because of their creative nature: so it’s a shame when PR pros decide to prefer a boring, safe client to an eccentric, unpredictable client.
Sometimes it’s up to the Agency to enforce these new ways of thinking.
At SHIFT we try to make it standard procedure. It’s common (and encouraged) for an account team to call for an all-agency brainstorm to whip up fresh ideas for a long-standing client, on a biannual basis. We try to recapture the zing of wild ideas that are more typically generated for a newbiz pitch.
It’s rare to find a client who doesn’t love it when their account team blows-up the standard Weekly Call Agenda to discuss a fresh raft of ideas to invigorate the program.
You can’t live life (and serve clients) on autopilot. You’ve got to take the controls and do a li’l loop-di-loop now and then.
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Isn’t it the truth? Oh, and there’s that little detail: agencies that blow up the standard weekly call agenda on occasion and put forth some serious creativity have a way of sticking around awhile. It’s that little way of communicating: “We’re not complacent. We appreciate your investment in us. We’re committed to doing continual great work on your behalf.”
Thanks for the great post.
Todd, amen to this! Thanks for saying what many of us are afraid to admit – complacency, especially in a service environment, is often the beginnings of a downfall. Is it always easy to break out of the mold and do something new and energizing, both for a client and for the agency as a whole? Hell no! But is it necessary? From my experience, absolutely.
I think the act of challenging a client, while somewhat daunting at times, is essential. Just rambling off the week’s agenda or telling a client what you did this week does little to actually provide a benefit to the client, both in terms of public recognition and community building, and more so, to provide ROI. And with so much talk now of how PR and social media can provide ROI for clients and organizations, an ability for an agency and its teams to actually break the mold and provide some big, innovative, even crazy ideas could be that one touch that keeps the client coming back for more.
Excellent post. It’s human nature to cling to the status quo when things are running smoothly, even if we took big risks to get to that point.
My experience is: When you (the agency) are comfortable with the program you’re running for your client, chances are the client is getting bored and is, or will be, looking for a new agency.
Well said Todd. Completely agree.
I think the key here is information. Clients don’t always realize what information or goings-on can be spun into a great story and earn them great publicity. Routine calls are just the minimum; seeing your clients face-to-face, being in their office, watching them work, observing, witnessing firsthand what they’re doing can be an amazing inspiration when it comes to identifying fresh ideas for long-term clientèle.
Another way to keep things from getting stale and mundane is to keep a constant eye on the competition. Who are the other thought leaders in the industry, what are they doing and saying? What brands is your client competing with – that competition can often act as catalyst for the best ideas and most innovative campaigns and stunts, even years into a partnership between the client and agency.
Lastly, there’s niche news. Journalists are constantly looking to bring the Niche news into the mainstream. Browsing micro-communities and perusing smaller, interest or industry based outlets, on a regular basis, can often provide fodder for an new round of ideas, especially if you can employ your client’s expertise or their brands unique aspects as a vehicle to make this niche news digestible by the public and in bringing it to mainstream outlets
Also Check Out: C-PR: Reviving A Stale Account – http://ow.ly/hgHc – Inspired By Todd & This Post…
Here’s a question: Do you commonly rotate senior staff who have worked on a major account for a long time? In my experience (and that of other agency heads I have talked to) the client hates it because they are comfortable and don’t want to lose the institutional memory. But we have been so AT RISK of losing really good people because they can’t stand working on “XYZ” account anymore. Would be very interested in whether you have faced this at all.
“You can’t live life (and serve clients) on autopilot. You’ve got to take the controls and do a li’l loop-di-loop now and then.”
Very true but oh how corporate types just hate taking chances! Love your insights.
@tdefren, YES! Life is too short to be boring! No dead donkeys-wild horses! “Create” must be each agencies paradigm: BLOW UP your PR program! http://bit.ly/d2VV6
Excellent post: I find I can make a lot of progress by blowing up a project and starting anew.