PR agencies don’t do enough strategy
PR agencies don’t do strategy. This is a bold declaration, admits Peter Roberts, but one that is tempered by the acknowledgment that strategy is hard, and output easier to see. But, if agencies don’t begin coming to grips with the theoretical underpinnings of strategy, clients may just go somewhere else to get it.
Here’s a bold one for you: PR agencies don’t do strategy. Yes, it’s a big claim and a generalisation, but it’s not too far off the truth. There will be exceptions, of course, but the bulk of PR agencies are either pushing big tactics or plans. This is their interpretation of ‘strategic thinking’.
But, it’s understandable in a way. Strategy is a bloody hard one to get your head around. It’s what academics refer to as a threshold concept: get over the threshold and you’re in a brand new world of understanding and awareness. And the agency model is still firmly focused on the notion of outputs, which are tangible: a news piece in the Fin Review or a momentary buzz on Instagram.
In short, we demonstrate ROI for our clients. And we also need to show clients value for money; agencies tend to be a little expensive. Strategy, by its very nature (when done properly), is abstract – this doesn’t help when it comes to showing a real return. And so the tactical outputs we tend to produce are arbitrary, without strategy.
The author almost hit it on the nail as to the reason why. Clients aren’t willing to pay for strategy – every dollar invested must lead to an output hence the KPI driven mentality. Clients usually balk at ‘strategy’ fees that are high because surprise, surprise – we need to bill higher rates for the experienced staff we put on it. Hence the tactical relationship.
Planning (in the traditional sense) ensures that ideas are more robust and stand up better to scrutiny, from clients and audiences. With so many PR agencies selling creative, planning (as its natural partner) should be one of the most important things we offer as consultants.
Good one Peter, and I’m on the same page as you! I like to start with ‘Why” Simon Sinek style. Knowing the ‘end game’ is also important to building a strategy.
Thank-you Janie. Always good to hear your views.
Good peice. Two issues for me, both addressed in article or comments but worth reinforcing.
1. PR agencies struggle to define strategy. More often than not, what they see as strategy is actually tactical. Even in the rare cases where there is an agency with a good grip on strategy, there is not a lot of experience to do it right, and the strategic thinking rarely filters to the rest of the office (who don’t care, as it’s not part of their billable hours).
2. Related to above, clients won’t pay for strategy, so any strategic thinking is pushed into billable services such as message boards, narrative planning, etc., where it is diluted and weakened to the point of pointlessness.
Thank-you for the comments. I fear in terms of point (2), clients are going elsewhere for that strategic thinking (which is not done any more meaningfully elsewhere).
Oh, it’s being done meaningfully in good brand consultancies around the question of company brand/corporate reputation. Defining it. Communicating it. Activating it internally as culture and externally as initiatives or CX/service design/innovation. Big, research and engagement based projects that in theory could be bought from (esp corporate) PR firms if they know how to sell and do it. And often working into “your” clients – heads of comms, corporate affairs et al rather than marketing.
As a brand strategy person with some first hand experience in a PR firm, I would suggest that agencies need to:
– work out what your strategy deliverable actually is and what value it has beyond PR activation, which, as you say, seems to operate pretty happily without strategy. For example, a narrative is not a strategy, although it may be a strategic comms deliverable
– be able to articulate why this makes sense coming from you and not some other agency/consultant
– define the strategy development process aligned to that deliverable
– hire people with the skills and experience to lead this type of strategic work*, fronting it with credibility. The PR person as generalist may be a support person, but usually doesn’t have the right skills or mindset
– have the confidence to charge properly for a rigorous strategy development process that you can stand up behind
– think on a long term not short term wavelength (this is a big challenge)
* there are quite a few species in the genus.