Welcome to "Take 2 Minutes..."
Have you spoken to your client today?
Beware of what you say today.....
How well do you really know your client?
Have your say - you can make a real difference!
Saying sorry is NOT the hardest word!
Media - Is it on or off?
Why plain english is best

Welcome to "Take 2 Minutes..."

As a busy professional in a creative agency, we understand that you are always putting other people first. That's why we have included you on our "Take 2 minutes" regular newsletter. As someone who has been on an Amber Group training course, we wanted to gently remind you to take 2 minutes every now and then to think about your own personal development.

To help, we will drop you an email once a month to prompt you to Take 2 Minutes to think about an aspect of your career. In this digitally aware world, you could call it a prod or poke but we like to think of it as a friendly nudge. But, of course, if you are already at the top of the tree or just too busy, feel free to hit the unsubscribe link at the bottom. We hope you find it useful and don't hesitate to share your feedback with us at info@ambergroup.net

What gets you promoted?

Reaching account management level in agencies is all about effective doing - moving on further is all about effective thinking. In your early career at a PR or Marketing agency you are generally rewarded for your ability to work hard and deliver results. But when you reach that Account Management level and are pushing for promotion, the rules change and normally everyone forgets to tell you. They want you to continue to do all the other stuff that made you successful but also to think. Am I really helping this client to sell more stuff or change an opinion? Do I really understand the client's business well enough to add value and insight to their communications? Does my team truly understand why they are doing something or is it just another tick in the box on their to do list?

Why not take 5 minutes each morning to decide what you are going to do today to make a strategic difference for your clients or your teams' development. That 5 minutes could be the most valuable time for your clients, you and your teams. It will certainly be the 5 minutes that gets you promoted far more quickly.

PR has been at the forefront of some recent high-profile news stories. Tiger Woods staging a press conference to which he invited just two journalists, and refused to answer any questions. The conservative party denying that they had got it wrong when they said that 54 percent of teenagers in a deprived area became pregnant - despite the fact that the real figure was 5.4 percent. Followed by Christine Pratt (unfortunate name), who joined in the bullying debate and probably wished she had kept her mouth shut when various aspects of her chequered past made for some great copy.

As PR people they are all high learning opportunities for us all. What advice would we have given? How would we have handled the fall out from all these decisions? We need to watch these events with a professional and critical eye. By doing so, we will be better placed to offer the right advice in the future.

Have you spoken to your client today?

We often talk to in-house PR managers about what they want from their Agency account handlers. The one thing that always sits at the top of the list is that they want to be kept informed.

From time to time they will be asked by their boss about the PR and the one thing they dread is that they won't be able to give a clear update about what's happening. They want to be able to tell him or her about recent successes, current activity and what's in the pipeline. And I know you won't always believe this, but they also want to tell them about what a great job you are doing!

We all know that reporting can be a real drag - after all, you didn't go into PR to write reports! But it's one way of ensuring that our user buyer - typically the PR manager - is championing us to the rest of the company.

But reporting doesn't always have to be delivered in boring documents. You can keep your client up to date by calling them to let them know what you've been up to. One PR Manager we spoke to recently told us that she really liked it when her PR company called her in the morning to share some gossip they'd picked up when they were out with some journo's the night before.

Sure, she enjoyed hearing the gossip anyway, but it also reminded her that her PR agency was doing what she hoped they would be doing - getting out there, networking with the press, and building relationships that SHE would ultimately benefit from.

So, don't hide your successes. Make sure you find ways of communicating all the wonderful things you do. And don't rely on a lengthy report to achieve it. By getting on the blower a bit more you'll be turning your client into YOUR champion.

Beware of what you say today....

Yet another political embarrassment this week (expect many more to come before May 6!). Ellie Gellard, the student asked to launch the Labour party manifesto was unveiled as the blogger who 2 years ago urged Gordon Brown to stand down as leader. So, much gnashing of teeth as an investigation is being carried out to understand why this hadn’t been known by the party hierarchy before she was chosen.

That is one of the big problems with the internet, and one that we should be constantly advising our clients about. Comments made today are no longer ‘tomorrow’s fish and chip paper’ (as the saying used to go). Unfortunately, you make a comment and it sits there in cyber space for all to find, weeks, months or even years down the line. So, when preparing your client for a briefing, please remind him or her of this – throw-away comments made today, particularly predictions, can come back to haunt you at a later date.

One final comment – wouldn’t it have been even smarter for Ms Gellard to have confessed to this BEFORE she took the job of launching the manifesto. I guess she thought she could get away with it. Well, she didn’t, and it hasn’t helped her party one bit. Which again is a useful reminder for your clients. They are there to represent their company, not to build their own individual profile.

How well do you really know your client?

Imagine the situation.

You are attending a briefing between your client and a well known journalist.

Your client rings you on your mobile to say that they will be 15 minutes late.

You make small talk with the journalist and then they ask you about your client.

You come out with the usual stuff about them being a leader in blue widgets, and then they ask you a few questions.

They want to know about the size of the company - their revenues, their profits, the number of employees, number of offices.

They want to know about their presence in the market - who do they compete against, what's their market share, how is the market performing generally? How do they take their product to market - indirect through a reseller/retailer or direct, perhaps on-line as well as corporate sales?

And finally, what makes them different? If they truly are a leader, how is that leadership qualified?

This happened recently to a journalist friend of mine. He told this story and was flabbergasted at just how little the PR consultant knew: " He just didn't know anything about his client. He's supposed to represent them. It was truly shocking."

And finally, he said: "These guys want us to take them seriously. They make that hard to do sometimes."

So, here's a confession. Many years ago when I was a SAE, I was put in that same position. And I failed miserably. But it taught me a great lesson, and from then on in I made it my job to know everything about my client so that I could never be caught out again.

Have another look at the list of questions above. Most of them will be relevant to your client. Have a quick check to see whether or not you would have known the answers. If you know them all - great, you are a wonderful representative for your client. If you don't, then find out before you find yourself with 15 minutes to spare with a journalist that wants to know all about your client……..

Have your say - you can make a real difference!

Imagine the situation. We are delighted to see that training is still seen as a priority activity, even in these testing times. This was demonstrated by last week's PR Week Best Places to Work survey 2010 in which the top listed agencies were all commended for their attitude and approach to training.

We were delighted that two of our major clients, Cirkle and Eulogy, won Gold and Silver awards respectively - those agencies take training very seriously and see it as a real driver of growth.

One outcome of the recession is that while training budgets have remained reasonably static, agencies are paying greater attention to the actual training they put in place and how it can help the business as a whole, rather than how it can just help the individual to develop. The two are no longer mutually exclusive.

In some ways this makes it tougher for the HR or training manager. Gut feel about what is needed is no longer enough. They need informed input to ensure that the programmes they put in place have a real return on investment.

This is where you come in. As people in teams delivering the front line services, you probably have a better idea than anyone about what is needed to improve the quality of the service your team delivers. So, take the time to look at your team, prioritise the activities you deliver and put a figure out of 10 against what you do well and what you do less well.

Categories might be account management, writing skills, reporting, creativity, the ability to present good ideas or provide constructive independent advice - it could be a number of things. Believe me, these are the type of criteria that clients will be measuring your team against. And it's against that criteria that the decision is made to stick with your team - or perhaps even buy more - or look elsewhere.

So, sit down with your team, or perhaps even sit down with your peers across the agency, and think about the things that you could be doing better, the things that will make a difference to the business and not just to individual growth.

And then feed this into the HR or training manager. They will welcome your input because it is critical that they get it right. And you can do so knowing that you are making a positive difference to your business, making your agency an even greater place to work.

Saying sorry is NOT the hardest word!

As PR professionals we are often called upon to advise clients on how they should respond to a crisis. And one of the pieces of advice we would usually give is to encourage our clients to say sorry when they've clearly messed up.

Which brings me to two recent events where saying sorry has clearly been the hardest word - BP and Prudential.

Let's look at BP first. As well as being an environmental and economic disaster, it has also been a PR cock-up of some magnitude.

It didn't help that BP's CEO Tony Hayward first chose to blame others when it was clearly there fault: "This was not our accident. This was Transocean's rig".

They then added oil to the water - sorry, it had to be done! - by refusing to apologise when the blame finally found its way to their door and trying to suggest that it wasn't that big a deal: " The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of oil and dispersant…is tiny in relation. "

And when they did apologise, it was all a bit half-hearted. Worst of all, some of the language used seemed to suggest that the real victim here was BP itself: "There is no one who wants this over more than I do. I'd like my life back."

Now if there was ever a line to create an angry reaction then it's that last sentence, which to some could read as: "Forget the thousands of people whose livelihoods have been devastated. Forget the wildlife and endangered species. Forget planet earth. Let's sort this out so I can still play golf on a Sunday."

Sorry BP, but your PR response to this disaster will be in text books for years and years to come.

More recently, Prudential have been in hot water with shareholders who were angry about the bid to buy AIA which collapsed despite a bid attempt which cost some £450 million. While chairman Harvey McGrath managed three "sorry's" and one "fulsome apology" in his presentation to shareholders, CEO Tidjane Thiam expressed regret, but no apology. This was duly picked up by more than one national newspaper that praised McGrath for his honesty and criticised Thiam for his complete lack of empathy.

As PR professionals, we need to learn from this. We also need to have a view on it. As we climb the career ladder and as we begin to engage with clients in a different way, we need to demonstrate that we know what's going on in the world, and that we have an opinion. Even more importantly, if that opinion relates to our profession, and how our profession can make the difference to how a brand is perceived, then not only are we demonstrating our understanding of world affairs but we are also reminding our clients about the importance - and value - of good PR.

Media - Is it on or off?

Ok, so now I'm confused.

Only two weeks ago I was convinced that print media was on its deathbed.

This was what everybody was telling me and boy did they have evidence to back it up.

First up was the Oriella PR Network who announced the results of their annual survey of 750 journalists across Europe. Several stats stood out including the use of Twitter by 42% of them and that 22% of publishers are providing, or are considering developing, smartphone apps as part of a bid to gain revenues through paid-for-content. But the one stat that really stood out for us was that 52% now believe that their off-line versions will fold some time in the future. That is up from 32% just 12 months ago, a staggering hike in the number of journalists who now see on-line as the only way forward.

This was followed by an announcement from the Times that their on-line news content would now have to be paid for.

Now our favourite uncle Rupert does make the odd mistake but he's got a pretty good record of getting it right. And if he thinks that paid for media is the future then who am I to argue.

So, that's it then. Everything on-line, print is dead and that is how we should put together our PR strategies moving forward. And if clients want to know why, well we have all the evidence to back it up.

A week later it was all change again. Firstly the Publishing Information Bureau (PIB) announced that magazine pages and ad rate cards had increased for the first time in nine quarters, and that ad revenues in the second quarter were up 5.7% on the same time in 2009.

Then Glamour suddenly surprised everyone by announcing that their September issue would show a 57% increase in ad pages compared to the 2009 edition - incredibly this would be their biggest issue for 20 years! Fellow Conde Nast title Vogue also jumped on the bandwagon by announcing a 24% increase in ad pages for their September issue.

Phew! So, print's back then. Well yes, sort of, but there is a twist to this particular tale. One of the reasons why Glamour is having such a great summer is because advertisers taking out ad space on the Glamour branded iPad app must take out advertising in the print version. Which ironically suggests that on-line media is now playing its own part in a print revival!

All of which is incredibly important to PR consultants. As the confusion grows in our market, clients will be seeking the best advice. They will want us to be clear about where we think the market is heading, and what evidence we have to support that view. Right now, we may indeed be telling them that the picture is confused at best. But if we have the evidence to support that view, then we can work with clients to give them the best advice based on that evidence and not just gut feel.

And that is, of course, what they pay us for.

Have a great summer everyone.

Why plain english is best

Ok, It seems that PR gobbledy gook is alive and kicking, even in some of the places where you least expect it.

As PR advisers we often need to stick our heels in the ground and resist pressures from corporate bodies to put out statements that sound, well, ridiculous. One of my favourites up to now was from a spokeswoman for a company called Brinker, commenting in a newspaper article about how the recent closure of one of their restaurants, Chilis, may be reviewed. She said: "As the economic environment evolves we would certainly reconsider re-entering the market with our Chili's Bar & Grill. We are continually seeking franchise and joint venture partners who share our vision for making Brinker the globally dominant casual dining restaurant portfolio company.

Instead of saying "globally dominant casual dining restaurant portfolio company", why didn't she just say "successful burger bar" then we would all have known what she meant.

But she has now been usurped by, of all people, Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, publisher of News of the World or, as it's known to every Private Eye reader, News of the Screws. Well, Rebekah will always be known primarily as the first female editor of the Sun, before moving up into her current position. This week, commenting on the decision to charge for the NoW website, Rebekah said: "News International is leading the industry by delivering on its commitment to develop new ways of making the business of news an economically exciting proposition."

Surely Rebekah didn't say that. She doesn't speak like that. She used to be editor of the Sun for goodness sake. Surely, what she meant to say was: "It's about time we made some money out of our website." Simple. I get that.

And when did the words 'economically' and 'exciting' ever appear in the same sentence, let alone next to each other. Economics is many things but exciting it ain't!

As PR advisers we will often find ourselves working with corporate PR departments. This means there will be times when we have to put out corporate statements. Your advice to your client should be that any statement needs to be clear, concise and unambiguous. And that it should be understandable, and written in the way that people would say it. By giving this advice you are delivering a massive favour to your client. One that is economically enhancing….oh, bloody hell, it's catching!