PR Studies

Second wind

We're two months into the university teaching year and I sense a declining enthusiasm among new students in line with the diminishing hours of daylight.

I recall a similar pattern when I worked in consultancy. Everyone became energised by pursuing and winning new business; all enjoyed the early weeks of a new client relationship. Only the true professionals could kick on after that and continue to generate enthusiasm, ideas and activity (in time for the six month review).

So here's the challenge. Focus on your assessments, but don't forget to plan further ahead by lining up work experience and developing your practice examples. And remember the deadline for articles for Behind the Spin is just one month away.

Behind the Spin? Ahead, I'd say

People are working away on articles for the print publication, Behind the Spin. So it was only a matter of time that someone would go 'open source' and turn it into a public discussion.

That someone is Stephen. One moment ago he was a PR student; now he's a PR consultant - but one smart enough to know that he still has more to learn (don't we all). Please add to the debate (I won't, because I get to edit the article before publication).

Do it yourself!

Lost the ability to think for yourself? Guy Clapperton's article in the Guardian's Business sense supplement covers IT consultants and management consultants as well as PR consultants. But the question's a good one: how dependent should a business be on its outside advisers?

Metaphysical marketing

Crayon is launched today in Second Life - and the blog chatter from Neville and the other partners has been getting the word out.

But what is it? And what will they do? How will truthful and transparent public relations take place through assumed virtual identities? Neville's words must have been deliberately metaphysical ('beyond the physical realm'). Intriguing...

That old chestnut

In-house or consultancy? It's an age-old discussion that particularly interests public relations students and those beginning their PR careers. (There's a chicken-and-egg quality to some discussions about which is best for gaining experience and advancing a career.)

Paull tackled this question recently at the excellent Forward blog. Now Anon has made a contribution at Profile Extra ('I personally prefer the creativity, variety and high level environment of consultancy' he/she writes). Why remain anonymous when your comments are this anodyne?

I'm inviting contributions to Behind the Spin magazine which is taking a look at the public relations consultancy business in the next issue. Anonymous contributions will not be published.

Consultancies: what are they good for?

There are two myths I frequently confront regarding public relations consultancies. At year one, many of my students believe that working in PR must mean working in a PR consultancy (thus ignoring the majority of PR roles and work experience opportunities). Then, later, many still believe that to further their in-house career ambitions, they need a stint in a consultancy. The belief seems to be that all high-powered PR work goes on in consultancies, not in-house.

There are great niche consultancies serving specific sectors and there is some thought leadership amongst the international firms (this is a good example involving blogs). Julian Henry's piece in Media Guardian a week ago sparked some response on this week's letters page. But I would contend that the centre of gravity in the PR industry has moved in-house, and that consultancies are now at best a niche business. You may disagree.

It's the blog wot got it!

Congratulations to Jeremy Pepper who has been appointed to Weber Shandwick's San Francisco practice. Their news release cites his weblog as a strong asset, hence my headline (derived, for those outside the UK, from The Sun newspaper).

The Future of PR

Brendan Hodgson's late night glimpse into the future of PR manages to be simultaneously sensible and insightful.

He doesn't quite address the nagging question I have, though. What are PR consultancies for? What service do they provide that cannot be delivered by marketing managers, in-house PR teams, HR directors, legal advisers, management consultants and the others encroaching on the vital sphere of communications.

Surely the answer isn't outsourced media relations. Not even in 2005. His answer appears to be to act as consultants to chief communications officers. Possibly.

The wages of spin

The barriers to entry are low; fixed costs are minimal; fees are high; and services are in demand. So why is it so hard to make a profit out of public relations consultancy?

They won't thank me for the reminder, but Tim Dyson and Andrew Smith were well-established PR consultants when I entered the business (this was back in the late 1980s when most of the students I now teach were just being born). Both have posted some thoughts on this problem: Andrew Smith focuses on timesheets and billable time - and Tim Dyson points to a possible way forward.

Questions for consultancies

Michael O'Connor Clarke's series on The Seven Deadly Agency Types is building to a damning indictment of lage PR consultancies - and the clients who hire them. All the more so because O'Connor Clarke writes as an insider.

His types so far are: The Classic Sweatshop; The One Trick Pony; and The Behemoth.

Andrew Smith, another insider, shares some of these concerns and considers the 'small is beautiful' paradox of consultancy service.