#PRChurch: something shifted
It’s impossible to keep up with the news cycle. By the time you have separated the fake from the fiction, the AI voices from the spin, the ideologies from the rival gang warfare. Well. It’s at times like these that you have to be SO sure about what your brand stands for, where you will insert yourself into a conversation, where you will lead in conversation and where you will fold demurely across the poker table. You can’t be everything to everyone, the self-help books tell us. But best your brand be on the right side of history in these tumultuous times.
Rosamund Pike and Massive Attack always calm me in this chaos:
I shared on IG stories last week a report where American brands’ Pride Day posts were juxtaposed against the donations to politicians that are actively anti-LGBTQ. Nothing feels authentic or heartfelt anymore does it? And that is the holy grail of where we need to get to with PR and comms. That’s where you get to change behaviour.
I’m watching a lot of things stop, close, desist. From the wildly talented Msaki, to my gossip fodder site “D-Listed”. A choosing to step away. From something that is “working”, “thriving”, “profitable.” I love these wild leaps. These big decisions. These hibernations. These reinventions. Google Lily Allen’s interview in FT in case this link fails: interview. What a leap.
I love the reframing that can happen after a pause. And no, it does not have to come with a big shiny new logo, or a press release announcement about a new strategy direction. It can be about the doing. That, in a year’s time, people go: “That brand / person / store is really doing some interesting things … have you noticed?”
In all this tumult and after 72 hours without power I have thought a lot, too, about decisions we make about other people, that we never think to reframe. Is XYZ really true of that person? Is it STILL true of that person. I know we are supposed to believe who a person says they are the first time (I tend to have to be taught the lesson three times before I get …). But what I am really feeling deeply right now: is the deep untethered-ness of people – things are tense out there.
Some work observations:
More and more requests for ‘can we get your thinking’
My retainer clients get that access. My project clients get that access.
Commit to me, I commit to you.
And I am pretty sure this behaviour is being driven by other agencies that the client / agencies surround themselves with. It makes me deeply uncomfortable. To give thinking on a project / item / challenge with no true context of the brand, the politics, the dynamics is a weird initiation. And after I have explained my process, and you STILL ask me to attend a meeting to ‘get your thinking’ then I simply invoice you – a lot. Strange times. The stranglehold agencies have on clients that are wanting a fresh perspective never fails to amaze me. And remember kids: first 50% upfront for work to begin.
User journey – lessons for PR
Banking in this country has truly become a self-service game. Whether you have a private banker or a business banker. Whether you deign to walk into a branch and take a number in a waiting room or play the telephone game of choosing the right automated number. Anyone who banks with Standard Bank will no doubt have gone through the bad, bad, bad security upgrade that required an app download for a QR scan code to access your banking. Five days of being locked out my account and a two-hour phone call with three people dialled in as I installed and uninstalled, deleted and re-registered … you wonder who the hell actually maps the user journey on these things? Similarly, think about your campaign and what you are asking people to do. Reference the above. I was giving a lightning speed debrief on a campaign idea and when I pointed out the very complicated user journey we were asking the public to take to engage with the campaign: it did not end well.
Design intuitively – lessons for PR
You will all know how rare it is to find a designer that can take your black and white PPT and intuitively turn it into storytelling: reading the work, finding the emphasis, turning words into graphics, making it a compelling journey. They are rare beasts and worth their weight in gold. It’s the same with a brief. They can all sound the same: we need these deliverables, against these objectives, by this date, on this budget. You can answer that brief. Tick. And then you can take the client on a different journey: option B. The reason they come to you. You’re only as good as the brief, Ja, Ja. But you are also only as good as unpacking and developing the brief that is going to make your client shine, shine, shine.
Attention to detail
I have often said the trick of being successful in PR is being organised. We have so many stakeholders to take care of: the client, the media, the influencers, the partner agencies, the suppliers. Keeping everyone on track, laser-focused and with their eye on the outcome prize is an art. And so is attention to detail. When a client corrected a stat two months ago that you know you are going to use again, make a note of it. When a client keeps correcting a term, make a note of it. When a client has expressed a preference or a dislike, make a note of it. These developing cheatsheets will save you so much time in the long run.
Too much hard work
We had an incident recently where someone approached a client with a relevant and timely idea that they could have absolutely greenlighted. Only problem? This person is incredibly hard to work with: high drama, so much pushback, so much ego. She had four of us running in circles last time on something simple that she could have / should have driven. We pulled the plug on it because IT SHOULD NOT BE THAT HARD TO WORK WITH YOU. This time it took two seconds for the client to remember that moment. And a terse “no thank you” was emitted. How hard are you to work with? I think a good litmus test for this is how much return work you get, how many clients come back to you, how many projects turn into retainers. It does not mean becoming a pushover or veering into that terrible people-pleaser territory. It means being organised, efficient, adding value.
Last but not least: The Last Photo:
This campaign featured strongly in some of the awards I judged this year. It was also hotly debated for some valid reasons. But it continues to haunt me. I need to share more of this global work:
I hope you have a lovely hot water bottle, a page-turner of a book and a soft pillow on hand for the rest of your Sunday.
KA