Happy World PR Day: The earned revolution is here
On World PR Day, with its themes of ‘building bridges’ and ‘navigating polarisation’, Indigo Murphy founder Simon Murphy reflects on what actually needs to be done.
Starting my communications career in London’s West End eons ago, I remember many of the colourful characters who populated Wardour Street’s creative corridors. A particular standout was Charlie, an ‘old school PR man’ doing his life’s best work telling the good stories for some of the firm’s most prestigious clients.
As a former army officer, Charlie liked to see things done properly. Aside from some questionable “when I was on tour” stories over Friday lunchtime drinks, one of my favourite Charlie memories was the high precision creation of his end-of-quarter client coverage brag boards. Digital wasn’t a thing then (although we had a fax machine on our floor), so Charlie would meticulously cut and glue his press clippings to A3 sized black cardboard. Once finished, these looked as sharp as Charlie in his navy blazer and loafers, ready for a client lunch where he would show off the fruits of his labour.
In Charlie’s old school world, this reflected months of effort cultivating a wide network of senior business reporters at UK mastheads, many of whom he saw as friends. This network lifeline was always willing to take his call and listen to his well-curated pitch. The brag board was tangible proof, a receipt of earned goodwill credited to the client’s trust bank account over the course of that past quarter. Well done, Charlie, another bottle of burgundy if you please.
