By Francis Moran
Many years ago, our PR agency had a client for which we did media and analyst relations across North America and in Europe. This matched the market footprint of this rather successful company that was in the document-management space. One day, they sent us the latest version of their new marketing brochure. Internal discussions on it had apparently been going around and around in circles, and they wanted our opinion.
I took one look at the brochure and emailed back, asking, “Where’s the creative brief?”
“The creative what?” was the response.
Thinking maybe they used different terminology, I explained that I was looking for some sort of strategic document written at the outset of the brochure-development project that set out its objectives, the target audience and its level of understanding of the situation, intent, key messaging, tone and style, intended action and whatever else would help ensure that the result was both creatively arresting and strategically relevant.
We have no such thing, they told me.
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By Francis Moran
Notwithstanding that I have an undergraduate degree in public relations, have worked in the industry for a good chunk of my adult life, and for nearly 14 years have operated a PR agency, I have never held the public relations business in terribly high regard.
My dim opinion of many PR practitioners is all the more acutely refined when I look at agencies.
Most PR agencies follow a well-established, widely accepted and tragically flawed business model. They are shaped like pyramids — and yes, any allusion to Ponzi schemes you might think I am making is wholly deliberate. At the top of the pyramid you generally find one or a few experienced, generally well-connected and usually well-rewarded agency owners or executives. Then the model drops rather swiftly through middle ranks to a thick layer at the bottom almost always comprised of thinly experienced and poorly paid youngsters who do virtually all the work. The top layer is all a prospect sees before retaining the agency; the bottom layer is pretty much all the client experiences once the retainer agreement has been signed.
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By Alexandra Reid
As a regular feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are Joe Pulizzi, Fast Company, ReadWriteWeb, SpinSucks and The Accelerator Gazette.
Five reasons why content marketing is no buzzword
Most people who aren’t involved in the industry on a daily basis may think that the term “content marketing” and the industry came out of nowhere. Joe Pulizzi puts together an interesting list of happenings that may (or may not) change your feeling on the matter.
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This is the seventh article in a continuing monthly series chronicling the growth path of Screenreach Interactive, a startup based in Newcastle upon Tyne in England’s North East. Screenreach’s flagship product, Screach, is an interactive digital media platform that allows users to create real-time, two-way interactive experiences between a smart device (through the Screach app) and any content, on any screen or just within the mobile device itself. We invite your feedback.
By Francis Moran and Alexandra Reid
Last time we checked in with Screenreach, the company was dealing with issues at the Apple application store to launch the new version of its Screach application. After coordinating efforts with external organizations and working through the problems at hand, the team managed to push through to launch. Following in the wake of this recent achievement, the team launched Screach’s sister product, Screach TV, at TechCrunch Disrupt NY in May. CEO Paul Rawlings explains what he and Chief Strategy Officer David Weinfeld did at the event to gain favour with investors and media.
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By Alexandra Reid
As a regular feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are ReadWriteWeb, GigaOm, Inc., Financial Post, and MarketingProfs.
How big tech companies keep quiet on big news
While startup companies crave the kind of exposure that can require public relations campaigns worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, established tech players often pick and choose when they speak, if they choose to speak at all. As author Dave Copeland explains, as long as the media clamors for info, hoarding it works as a publicity strategy.
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Many years ago, our PR agency had a client for which we did media and analyst relations across North America and in Europe. This matched the market footprint of this rather successful company that was in the document-management space. One day, they sent us the latest version of their new marketing brochure. Internal discussions on it had apparently been going around and around in circles, and they wanted our opinion.
