Agenda leading publication?

Our very own PR Week was given a great write-up in yesterday's Observer. James Robinson credited Danny Rogers and his team with scooping the rest of Fleet Street's political hacks on changes in the communications team at Number 10.

Combine this with it's successful recent redesign and the paper we love to hate is clearly on the up. If you want to know what Danny is focusing on take a look at the interview he gave 'A Close Second' a few weeks ago.

Although, my all time favourite PR Week headline was from the late 1980s and concerned the stabbing to death of an agency director in a central London hotel by the jealous husband of his lover. Now that was when news really was news in the PR sector.

The future’s bright, but may not be in London

I spent a very enjoyable and informative day with PRCA members in Birmingham yesterday.

It is clear looking at their client lists, which include many household brands, and discussing the sort of margins that they are achieving that they are more than competing with the London based agencies that we more than often read about in PR Week.

One agency has recently closed down its London office to concentrate on two in the Midlands. The rent from the six man London office was the same as for its 35 man office in Birmingham. And, none of the clients from the London office left the agency.

Plus, looking at the consultancies recruitment histories, there also seems to be a growing number of highly experienced consultants that are looking to improve their quality of life by moving out of London and working in smaller cities and towns around the country.

Does this mark the end of the highly expensive London consultancy office? I doubt it.

There is still a perception in some quarters, despite considerable evidence to the contrary, that London holds all the best PR brains and that the out of town agencies don’t deliver the same results.

But if the cost and frustrations of living in London and the demand for greater work life balance continue to grow we may see an increasing flow of big client brands to non-London agencies as they follow a growing brain drain.

Maybe Bite Director, Robin Wilson, who is leaving London to work at McCann in Manchester this summer, has got it right and we should all be heading north?

Stop - you know it's wrong

You know you do it. You know it’s wrong. So please just stop it. It’s not helpful and it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

I’ve just counted up, and so far this year Carrot has received eight PR briefs that do not contain a budget.

If you work in an agency that is willing to through the pitch process without an agreed budget or are considering issuing a consultancy brief without a budget – please stop.

Nobody gains from a blind pitch.

Clients get lots of ideas that do not fit the available budget and agencies have no idea of what level of resource to assign to the pitch or resulting campaign.

For the life of me, I can not think of one good reason to exclude budgets from the consultancy selection process. Maybe you can suggest one?

A millionaire every month!

Hugh Mason of corporate finance partnership Pembridge presented at the ICCO Southeast European Summit yesterday and spent a couple of minutes talking to me about his experience of creating top value exits for UK agency owners.

2008 - The Year of Video

Speaking at the ICCO Southeast European Summit in Slovenia this afternoon, Senator Marc R. Pacheco of Massachusetts (D), gave an interesting take on the new media battle for the United States Presidency. It would seem that the 2008 campaign really is the year of the video.

Pacheco explained that all of the candidates had turned to online communications to reach the all important 18-29 age group. 75% of Americans in this demographic have received campaign information through social networks and one in ten have signed up to be a candidate’s friend.

Obama has over 843,000 friends on FaceBook; apparently well ahead of both Clinton and McCain. While MySpace gives Clinton the lead with over 50,000 signed-up to her group and only 21,000 for Obama.

When it comes to videos Obama is by far the most prolific, with 1,338 videos online, which have been watched a staggering 45 million times. Clinton and McCain are lagging behind with just 376 and 262 videos a piece.

Super delegates have also been getting in on the act, with the youngest, just 23 years old, announcing her support for Obama on a YouTube hosted video.

But apparently it isn’t all serious stuff; more than 1.9 million people have watched a video on YouTube of Clinton singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" out of tune at a campaign rally.

Danny answers your questions

Danny Rogers, editor of PR Week, has responded to A Close Second's questions.

It will give you an insight into what the editor of our only weekly trade title is looking for, what he loves about PR, and what drives him mad.

Well worth a read.

PR Week

1. How long have you been editor of PR Week?

DR - three years now

2. Where did you join PR Week from?

DR - from Marketing magazine, where I was deputy editor

3. What is the toughest part of being editor of PR Week?

DR - Keeping up to speed with an industry that is now so diverse and specialised

4. What are your ambitions for PR Week?

DR - To make it even more outward-looking, which I believe will help the PR industry's calibre and reputation. To continue to make PR Week the absolute must read for anyone working in comms. And ultimately to make it a truly global brand.

5. What do you look for in a great PR Week news story?

DR - It must be genuinely new. It must be genuinely interesting. And of course the old 'man bites dog' test.

6. Which part of the sector is the most exciting at the moment from your perspective – in-house, public sector, not for profit or consultancy?

DR - All the sectors are fascinating. But the hottest topics are digital, CSR and industry ethics.

7. Would the PR community benefit or be hurt by a competitor to PR Week in the UK?

DR - All competition is good in my mind. I'm a big believer in meritocracy. But then I think PR Week does work extremely hard in representing all the various aspects of the UK industry - and has learned the hard way from 23 years in striving for this - so I'm not sure there is room for a head-on competitor.

8. In a rapidly evolving media landscape of blogs, pod/vidcasts etc, how does PR Week intend to keep the pace and retain its value to the PR world?

DR - watch this space!

Trends

1. What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the consultancy world since taking on the editor’s role?

DR - ever more diversification and specialisation. And an amazing number of new start ups.

2. What excites and depresses you the most about the PR consultancy sector in the UK?

DR - I'm excited by the buoyancy of the market, over several consecutive years. The growth has been stellar and looks to continue. PR is more highly regarded than ever before.

I'm depressed by a continuing lack of understanding about what PR actually is, out in the wider world. And by some of the same old arguments that get regurgitated year after year, like clichés about evaluation and training..

3. There has been much discussed lately about the role of PR and whether it helps or hinders journalistic endeavour. But isn't the real question, ‘what's in store for journalism in itself’? Will it survive the current digitalisation of the landscape?

DR - Yes, that is the real question. You can't blame PR for declining journalistic standards. However PR's health relies on a strong, credible, independent media, so it's the PR industry's problem too. That said, I'm optimistic. I think most consumers will always respect and demand genuinely good journalism.

4. How have blogs changed the way journalists work? Now everyone and anyone can have their say, is this helping or harming the journalistic process?

DR - It is helping the journalistic process as there are more sources of information and opinion. But consumers must determine between genuinely good journalism - which requires access, endeavour, rigour, and independence of mind - and uninformed and unaccountable rants which make up a fair bit of the blogosphere.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing

I nearly laughed out loud when I saw the letters page of PR Week on Thursday.

Three letters, written AFTER the election result was confirmed, were suggesting that the PRCA Leadership Panel should have known better than to call the election in favour of Ken.

These included a near rant from Clive Booth of the ACCA, who seems to confuse opinion with news. When I last looked Mr Booth, they were both legitimate parts of the media agenda, and our panel provides opinion.

Will it blend?

This is by no means a new viral, but it always makes me laugh, and I have yet to find a better example of how to demonstrate your product's benefits on-line.

No contract, no consultancy

I was glad to see the report in PR Week of Shaw PR's success in its court case over a past project client, charity or not.

But the lesson has to be - contract first, work second. Far too many consultancies seem happy to work without a signed contract. It is simply bad business practice. Consultancies need to be absolutely clear as part of the pitch process that a signed contract is a prerequisite for work starting.

A busy week for Danny

Danny Rogers made an eloquent argument for the benefits of PR on the BBC's Working Lunch last Friday (interview starts at 38 minutes).

Neatly working the old promotion of a survey tactic, Danny used the Top 150 annual survey to get a plug for PR Week and the benefits that the sector offers clients.

Danny has kindly agreed to answer questions from 'A Close Second'. So if you have any questions for the editor of PR Week please do send them to me at richard.houghton@prca.org.uk.