Get the most out of your PR

I’m a PR pro who specialises in strategy development, copywriting and media relations, and yet I spend a good portion of my working life managing PA, BD and even HR issues for clients.

As communication specialists, we’re privy to a suite of confidential, and sometimes controversial, information from the CEO, Operations Managers and Marketing Managers, and trusted with the subject matter to help ensure internal and external messaging is managed in the most appropriate manner.

With this level of trust, naturally comes a relationship that extends beyond the formalities of a contract.

I would never give advice in an area outside of my experience, but having been a confidant for many client contacts over the last decade, I have banked a considerable number of stories and anecdotes that have helped me form opinions for, and experiences in, a wider set of commercial issues, from gender changes to eulogies! 

While PR managers can excel in communications, it’s essential that as a client you can trust and confide in your contact to get the most out of your relationship. Agency staff are accustomed to working across multiple industries and challenges, and can often offer a birds eye view and insight into your own business from such exposure. At Elevate, we also like to provide value-added service to our clients, so do keep us in mind when you need an extra set of hands.

Here’s just a few of the not-so-PR jobs, requests or situations I’ve found myself facing over the years…. 

• Write a eulogy
• Manage the communications around a gender transition of an employee
• Manage a roadside memorial request
• Facilitate a state-wide teleconference
• Dive head first into a wall made of ice cream buckets for a photo shoot
• Un-glue hundreds of dollars’ worth of gold coins stuck together
• Have hotel cushions thrown playfully at me by an Australian television actor while he was conducting a phone media interview (and not knowing whether I should throw them back!)
• Duck last minute into Masters (RIP) for besser blocks to chain iPads to for a community information booth

Being tasked with work that is above and beyond the original scope of work is, to me, a compliment and a significant sign of trust. If you’re an organisation that engages PR services, it is my hope that you have a similar rapport with your PR team, and get the same level of service and added value as our clients receive at Elevate. If not, it could be time to switch!