MY ACCOUNT SIGN OUT

What clients want from

their PR partners
April 21, 2020 by Frank Washkuch

An examination of agency-client dynamics

as a new decade dawns.

Research

! " #

Photo credit: Getty Images

How has the agency relationship

changed in the past decade?

“The
constant
erosion of
budgets and
the drying up
of the big
AOR. The
ability to absorb that level of risk
where everything is going from
project to project instead of big,
sustaining, seven-figure AOR
relationships. The agencies that
could build that into their muscle
memory have been very well-
served.” —Stephanie Smirnov, EVP,
corporate communications,
Scholastic

“When I first
started out,
you used [an
agency] for
arms and legs
when you
didn’t have
enough sta!; you used them for
skills and then for strategic counsel.
What has changed is that I have used
my agency much more as a partner
than I ever have in the past.”
—Catherine Mathis, CCO, McGraw-
Hill

“As a group,
agencies are
certainly
behaving and
operating
more as
strategic
consultants and business advisers,
more so than the historical role they
played as tacticians.” —Torod
Neptune, CCO, Lenovo

“A decade ago, there might have

been more block-and-tackle PR.
Simple media tours. Pitch this,
message that, create a briefing
document. While that’s still all part
of the larger game, the necessity for
a true extension of your internal
team is paramount.” —Chris
Legentil, VP communications and
PR, North America, DAZN

“More and more, companies are

‘insourcing’ many of the
responsibilities for which they used
to rely on agencies. That's not to say
agencies don't still provide a
valuable resource, but it's no longer
about having a single agency of
record that provides soup-to-nuts
support. It's about having trusted
partners who can provide strategic
counsel and execution around
specific projects.” —Nick Ragone,
EVP and chief marketing and
communications o!cer, Ascension

How has the agency relationship

changed in the last few years?

“In our landscape today, the ability

to bring in an agency for ‘verti-
surgical’ work and specific work in a
defined window of time feels like
more the norm than the exception.
Ten years ago, that in-and-out
project work would have felt more
like the exception than the norm.”
—Smirnov

“There is so much
change and things
are moving so fast,
the reality is that
there aren’t any
single agency
partners that can do everything.”
—Damon Jones, CCO, Procter &
Gamble

“I need to have an open dialogue

with an agency that is a true like for
like. I don’t want to be just dictating
to the agency and they’re just a set
of hands. I want to be able to have
best-in-class dialogue, not just
somebody to carry things out in an
autocratic fashion.” —Legentil

What’s the thing that annoys you

the most about agency
relationships?

“It’s the not pushing back, the

assumption that the client is always
right. I want a thought partner as
much as an execution partner.”
—Jones

“My frustrations tend to stem from

not being heard. That feeling of not
being heard can make or break a
relationship.” —Smirnov

“When they try to sell you on their

latest product, like, ‘Hey, we came
up with the meme generator…’”
—Legentil

“It’s the ones

that are not
willing to sit
side by side
with another
firm to do
what’s right
for a client. Agencies that can work
in partnership with other agencies to
do what’s right on behalf of clients
are the best agencies.” —Dave
Samson, global vice chair of
corporate a"airs, Edelman and
Chevron's former GM of public
a"airs

“In the past, I worked with an

agency where sometimes I felt like
this particular agency made more
work and, in a quest to get billable
hours, proposed strategies that were
not in our best interests.” —Matthis

What was the best thing an

agency did for you over the last
12 months?

“Impossible
tends to work
really, really
quickly. We
decide to
launch new
products and
boom, we launch it. Allison+Partners
got nearly 500 journalists on the
ground in Las Vegas for us. It
seriously uplevels our events to have
the top-tier journalists in the world,
and they consistently do that.”
—Impossible Foods CCO Rachel
Konrad

“I’ve had partners who come to me

and say, ‘Here’s a question that
three or four other clients have
asked me, and you haven’t asked me
that question. Let’s talk about it.’
That wasn’t a direct new business
pitch, but outreach to see what I
needed.” —Jones

“Make me feel like they've got my

back.” —Mathis

How do you get the best ideas

out of your agencies?

“Provide
clear briefs
and build
shared
expectations
together.
Articulate
what success looks like for you as
the client and for them as the
agency. The clearer you can be from
the start, the stronger the ideas will
be. Clarity includes audience focus,
actions we'd like from those
audiences, strategic approach and
KPIs.” —Krista Todd, VP global
communications, Logitech

“Bring them in really close. You can

lie or cover up the truth with your
agency, but that’s like lying to your
shrink. Why bother?” —Konrad

“Setting the expectations up pretty

quickly. We do quarterly reviews and
that is a focus, and at the end of the
day, that’s accountability I have with
the agencies that support us and
being clear that this is an ongoing
iterative process.” —Neptune

How much work have you taken

in-house? What kinds? What are
the kinds you want to take in-
house?

“It’s logical to think about data and

analytics and to build an internal
team or resource to build that
acumen.” —Neptune

Is the retainer arrangement

dead?

"No, retainers are not dead. There is

a need for both retainer work and
project work. Many advantages to
both. A retainer relationship o!ers
the opportunity for long-term
strategic storytelling and programs
that are deeply rooted in ongoing
relationships with media and
influencers." —Todd

What penalties, if any, are you

imposing on agencies who are
not su!ciently diverse?

“We’ve been pretty clear in terms of

agency work that that is an
expectation. We’re being consistent
about that. We look at metrics
quarterly and that is a part of the
evaluation for considering new work
and ongoing work.” —Neptune

What critical capabilities do

agencies need to have today and
in the future?

“Strong capability in data, analytics

and reporting. It is not only
important to be able to pull the data,
but to use it to drive insights and
learnings, which should inform the
communications strategies for
clients.” —Todd

Agency Business Report North America

United States

! " #

More on this Topic

Agency Business Report 2020:

Edelman

Agency Business Report 2020:

Hill+Knowlton

Agency Business Report 2020: Golin

Agency Business Report 2020: MSL

Agency Business Report 2020: APCO

Worldwide

Text size A A A

PRWEEK

ABOUT PRWEEK
ABOUT US

CONTACT US

EDITORIAL CALENDAR

ADVERTISE

SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE TO PRWEEK

NEWSLETTERS

FAQ

GLOBAL
PRWEEK UK

CAMPAIGN ASIA

© Haymarket Media Group Ltd. | Terms

& Conditions | Cookie Notice | Privacy
Notice