PR in Uncertain Times: The Challenges and Opportunities
A selection of agencies from Prolific North’s Top PR Agencies 2022 List came together in the first week of October to discuss PR and its future in the current financial climate.
Written by Anna Wilson
5 min read
A selection of agencies from Prolific North’s Top PR Agencies 2022 List came together in the first week of October to discuss PR and its future in the current financial climate. I was delighted to join some impressive women on stage to talk about things like talent acquisition and retention, how clients and agencies are shifting focus in the current environment, how PR can weather the storm and what opportunities could come out of this.
“It was great to sit and talk through these big questions that are at the forefront of so many people’s minds”
There was lots of ground to cover, but our host David manage to wrangle our enthusiasm and keep us on track. It was great to sit and talk through these big questions that are at the forefront of so many people’s minds, so I wanted to put our collective thoughts down on (virtual) paper. If you’ve got five, have a cuppa and a read below, or whizz through the 20 second take-outs at the top and let me know your thoughts.
The 20 Second Take-Outs
Retaining Talent
Agencies attract and retain talent through a competitive package, vibrant culture and supportive environment.
Agency and client relationship
The current environment has seen the agency and client relationship strengthen; agencies should not put their focus solely on the now, they should look to the future to build and protect brands
Comms and salience
To weather the recession storm, brands and agencies need to work as closely as possible; Tangerine’s research and intel through Covid has shown a direct link between comms and salience
Investing in comms
There is an opportunity for brands to usurp competitors by investing in comms share of voice during recession and execute comms in an audience-first way
THE 5 MINUTE READ
How do agencies attract and retain talent in uncertain times?
The panel
They spoke about the importance of values and office culture. Post-Covid everyone has been keen to come back into the office and work together, supporting and learning from each other. We also discussed the importance of salary benchmarking and corporate benefits like healthcare, wellness initiatives and the increased emphasis on mentoring and structured career progression.
My two cents
The trends we are seeing are partly resulting from “the times” and partly from a new, progressive mindset entering our industry. The Gen Zs are coming in with a fresh attitude to balance and wellness that we could all learn from, taking time to invest in their career as well as their mental, emotional and physical wellbeing is high on their agenda. Organisations that understand this and create a culture for these people to thrive will see staff retention and acquisition improve across all levels. This is our focus at Tangerine, and more info about what we do, and our People and Performance team can be found here.
How are clients (and agencies) shifting their focus in the current environment?
The panel
They spoke about the importance of the agency-client relationship and understanding the needs and pressures that brands face. Great examples were given of agencies plugging client resource gaps, offering added value and innovating to look at other services their clients may need, but the discussion also turned to the rising cost of living and how working efficiently and managing service levels openly and honestly with clients is key to a successful relationship all round.
My two cents
The role of a good marketing partner should be to work as an extension of that client team in the now; things like quick comms, responsive strategies, plugging gaps and offering added value are crucial in the now. However this shouldn’t be our sole focus, we must also look at the future and identify opportunities and issues on the horizon, creating plans that will manage/leverage these future moments to build and protect the brand.
How can PR weather the storm and what opportunities could come out of this?
The panel
They spoke about the impact of Covid on PR. Everyone had examples of clients cutting budgets at the start of lockdown and realising swiftly that this was the wrong move. There was a real consensus that the learnings from Covid have given many clients reassurance that comms has steered them through the last uncertain time so it can be trusted to do its job again in the future. We spoke at length about the value in that close agency-client relationship and how this enables more efficient and effective work that delivers quick and measurable impact. We also spoke at length about the importance of understanding the audience and delivering relevant comms that meet them where they are at to grow comms share of voice (SOV).
My two cents
During Covid we had a unique scenario when most brands ‘turned off’ their above-the-line (ATL) but kept their PR and social media comms running, because simply they were the main channels open to them. During this period, we worked closely with our clients to look at measures like brand tracking, reputational indexes and customer focus groups to understand intent, favourability and likelihood to buy. What we found was that for the first three months, most audiences still thought they had seen ATL, because they were so used to seeing it, but after that we saw the expected dip in awareness.
Interestingly this awareness dip then started to recover, all the indexes and measures started to go up and people started citing the comms content as the drivers. We tested the content in isolation and proved a clear link between comms and salience. We’re now looking at more research to investigate this further. It’s this data, combined with the studies that show brands that invest in SOV through recession recover faster and better than those that don’t, that creates a compelling and engaging discussion among the C-suite, creating unique opportunities for comms.
