Category Archives: Business of PR

Managing through the coming recession

While I was on vacation two weeks ago, the real world kept intruding by way of reports of a plummeting stock market and world leaders in full-out crisis mode. On Friday of last week the Conference Board reported that Canadian consumer confidence is at a 26 year low.

Economic CrushThe warning signs are inescapable. Challenging times lie ahead.

What does this mean for companies like Thornley Fallis and 76design? We have to prepare ourselves to receive telephone calls that start with, “We’ve decided to reduce the budget…” or “We’re holding off proceeding with the next phase…” or “We’ve decided to consolidate our spending with one agency.”

What are we doing about it?

Well, first, I am changing my own thinking from “grow, grow, grow” to “cash is king.”

In the coming recession, there will be surviviors and there will be casualties. I made some mistakes in the 2001-2002 downturn and I’m determined not to make those mistakes again.

This simple change of mindset will drive a whole series of cascading decisions. We won’t stop growing where we can, but we will be more selective in our investments. More cautious. Less open to higher risks.

How does this translate into our day to day reality?

Zero Budget

First, we’re resetting all of our discretionary budgets to zero. This will force each decision-maker to make fresh decisions about how we spend money. What worked yesterday may not work today. So, let’s reexamine what we’re doing to be sure that we put our resources behind those things that work and match up against the new tighter economic realities.

Maximize

Second, I’m asking each manager to maximize the use of our current human resources – the people who are the essence of our company. Instead of recruiting ahead of our need for people, we will wait until people are working flat out before we hire new staff. In tough times, it’s much better to be too busy and working very hard than to be sitting in an office in which you know that there are too many people for the work to be done.

Choose

Third, we will be more selective in the new business opportunities we pursue. The best opportunity is a happy client who says, “Let’s keep working together.” Next to that, we will scrutinize closely the opportunities and make pragmatic decisions based on our assessment of the prospects for success of the potential client, their business strength and why they have come to us. We won’t participate in any competitions for business unless the prospective client tells us that there is a clear reason that they have come to us. If they know our core strengths or one or more of our team and they really want to work with us, then we’ll compete. If they’ve selected us off a list so that they can round out a competitive roster, well, sorry, we’ll pass that one by.

But wait. There will be opportunities to grow

Ironically, at the very time that things are tightening, there will also be opportunities to grow and to plant the seeds for future growth.

There will be companies that look to make more effective use of their marketing budgets. There will be suppliers whose core business comes unstuck and who shed good clients as their ability to service them is diminished.

By paying attention to our business fundamentals through zero budgeting, maximizing and choosing, we will be able to answer the call when those opportunities arise. If we do this, we can emerge from the recession with all our capabilities intact and as a stronger competitor.

What’s your view?

So, that’s our gameplan this week. I say this week because in this time of uncertainty, we are  reexamining our assumptions and assessments as every week goes by. What seems right to us today may not seem quite so right next week. And we will be ready to change our stance as the world changes around us.

How about you? Have you already felt the effects of the downturn? What are you doing at your company to weather the recession?

Agency Link wants to improve the way that companies select public relations firms

Competitive pitches for new business. They’re the bane of any agency or firm that must participate. And they’re also an unavoidable fact of life.

Public relations practitioners get up every day looking forward to doing great work for their clients. But in order to get the opportunity to do this, we first must win the confidence of those clients.

This is best done by developing a reputation for doing outstanding work and the network of people for whom we have done this who will then call us directly or provide us with referrals. In this situation, the battle is nearly won by the time that you hear the words, "I have this challenge that I’d like your advice on…"

However, not all relationships originate in this way.

Competitions: Costly and Capricious

Many potential clients, especially large corporations and governments, feel they need to conduct formal competitions for their business.

The way these competitions are run is highly idiosyncratic. Short list. Long list. With creative presentations. Without creative presentations. Proposal only. Proposal plus presentation. Budget revealed in advance? Maybe. Maybe not. A blind competition in which you do not know the identities of the competitors? More often than should be the case.

And costly. Boy, does it cost a lot to win a competition. A determined firm will pull in a team to research the client, the client’s industry and the client’s competitors. Brainstorm(s) will be held to develop ideas. A formal proposal will be prepared. Artwork and mock ups will be created for visual, physical and Web elements of the program. Cost quotes will be obtained and a budget prepared. All of this will be pulled together into a bid package. Then a PowerPoint will be prepared to support the team presentation, which will itself be rehearsed. Finally the team will get a chance to present their ideas to the client.

All in all, thousands and probably tens of thousands of dollars worth of time and direct expenses are invested in a competitive bid. So, it’s only natural that communications firms pine for a simple bid process that is fair and transparent.

Agency Link says it can be better

Now, a new firm, Agency Link , wants to get into the middle of the selection process with a promise to help clients find the PR partners who best meet their needs.

Agency Link offers a range of services, including audits and evaluations of existing client-supplier relationships, assessments of RFPs, assistance with search and selection of PR firms, and contract negotiations. Agency Link will work for the clients, not the PR firms. And they have published a Code of Conduct to reassure both clients and PR firms that they will conduct themselves in a fair and transparent fashion.

This is a new concept in Canada. And most PR firm heads I know are quietly supportive of Agency Link, hoping that it will deliver on the promised of a more effective selection process for those clients who use its services.

Agency Link is the brainchild of two co-founders, Stan Didzbalis and Sheila Corriveau . Both Stan and Sheila have extensive experience as PR firm principals and on the client side. Stan was the founder of BenchMark Communications, which he grew to over 50 consultants before he sold it to Omnicom. Before establishing his agency, he worked in communications at two bluechip corporations, IBM and Inco. Sheila is a former CEO of Porter Novelli in Canada. Her corporate experience includes leadership roles in several communications functions at The Dynacare Health Group.

Interview with Stan Didzbalis

I caught up with Stan Didzbalis this week in Toronto. He took a few minutes to talk to me about what Agency Link is up to.

Stan told me that there are two sides to Agency Link’s business. "One is to help clients find the right agency fit – whether it be a public relations agency, a digital marketing agency, an investor relations firm. … The second part of our business is a consulting practice. We consult with clients to help them optimize their agency relationships and get the best that they can out of their agencies."

The benefits to agencies? According to Stan, "We hope to take some of the inconsistencies out of the search process. We hope to eliminate cattle calls. We really want our clients to minimize the agency churn. The best way we can do that it to educate the clients on how best to utilize an agency resource."

Here. Here. I’ve gotta wish Stan and Sheila total success in achieving these objectives.

You can watch the video of my interview with Stan Didzbalis here.

Interview with Pat Gossage, Chairman of Media Profile

Pat Gossage, Chairman of Media ProfilePat Gossage, the founder and now Chairman of Media Profile, talked to me recently for the series of video interviews with heads of Canadian PR firms that I’m conducting for the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms.

Some of the highlights of the interview:

What makes Media Profile a special place?

“I wanted a firm I enjoyed coming to work at every day. And I wanted a firm that had a pleasant, accepting and respectful atmosphere amongst its workers. A lot of teamwork. Bringing people up from within rather than parachuting from above. I was much more interested in creating a culture than creating a big, successful firm. The culture is here and the success followed.”

On client relations:

“The other thing we stress is being incredibly attentive to clients. We’re good listeners. Somebody once told me that when you are listening to the client your are winning. That’s been a theory we’ve put into practice and it’s been an important aspect of us winning and keeping clients.”

Advice to young people considering a career in public relations:

“The atmosphere in an office is very important. … It’s whether you want to come to work at a firm and whether the senior people are accessible, whether there’s a mentoring program, all the things that will allow you to build on your skills over time. And stay with one firm, which is very important to all of us in public relations, so that we have continuity with our people. That’s what the client respects. The client doesn’t want to be dealing with different people every couple of years.”

You can view the video of the complete interview with Pat Gossage on the CCPRF Weblog.

If you do PR for the Government of Canada, there’s a meeting tonight for you

If you live in Canada’s National Capital Region and provide public relations services as a contractor to the Government of Canada, then you will want to attend the special meeting of the Ottawa/Gatineau Chapter of the Canadian Public Relations Society tonight.

The notice of the meeting provides details:

CPRS OttawaThe Government of Canada has issued a request for industry comments (RFIC) for a draft standing offer that would be issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada that would serve as the basic Standing Offer document for a potential new system where PWGSC would offer all departments access to this master standing offer.

This request for industry comments will be available at the meeting for review. We will be drafting a response, as a society, for the deadline of March 12th.

…

To help draft the document, we want to invite our members interested in responding to join us for an evening meeting on Wednesday, March 7th, at 5 p.m. We will be hosting the meeting in the boardroom at Thornley Fallis Communications, and we would welcome all those interested in providing feedback to the process to join us at that time. Please RSVP if possible, but we will welcome anyone who can join us for this session.

WHAT: Special meeting of the chapter membership, CPRS Ottawa-Gatineau WHEN: Wednesday, March 7th, from 5 to 7 p.m. (coffee will be served)

WHERE: Boardroom, Thornley Fallis Communications, Suite 730, 55 Metcalfe St., Ottawa

If you care about the way that the Government of Canada buys public relations services, this is a great chance to be influence the position that will be taken by the local chapter of the CPRS .

Tell the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms what you think about the government PR Standing Offer process

Have your sayLast week, I posted about the Government of Canada’s Request for Industry Comment on its proposed new public relations Standing Offer selection process. I’ve also cross posted to the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms‘ Weblog with the aim of stimulating some discussion that the Council could reference in preparing the submission on behalf of its member companies.

If you run a public relations firm in Canada that has bid for assignments from the Government of Canada or that would like to compete in the future, drop over to the CCPRF site and share your views about the draft Standing Offer.

Canadian Government wants industry input on how it buys PR services

Have you ever worked late into the night preparing a proposal for a large assignment and thought to yourself, “There must be a better way to do this?”

Canada WordMarkWell, Canada’s largest purchaser of public relations services, the Federal Government has just invited industry comment on a new standard Draft Request for Standing Offer that would be used to select firms to provide PR services to departments and agencies.

The Standing Offer system allows the government to pre-qualify firms as suppliers through a competitive process. Firms then may be contracted for specific services by the departments and agencies for which they have been pre-qualified.

Parliament of CanadaI’ve been told that the Federal Government purchases between $5 million and $7 million in public relations services each year. That’s a big target that entices many companies to compete for assignments.

We all benefit from a fair and effective selection process for work. The current Request for Industry Comment provides us with an all-too-rare opportunity to suggest improvements to this process.

If you have bid for government work in the past or if you have been discouraged from doing so because of the bidding process, don’t miss this opportunity to comment on the government’s proposed new selection process. Download the Draft Request for Standing Offer and submit your comments before February 26, 2007.

Creating a positive culture and a winning team

I’m a big fan of David Maister’s approach to creating a successful professional services company. Effective leadership is an essential ingredient to his approach.

Real leadership is earned, not bestowed as an byproduct of one’s position in an organization. Many managers have discovered that the technical skills that have propelled them into management are not the skills they need to be successful as leaders.  People vote with their feet every day, especially in an organization that is staffed by knowledge workers with highly valuable expertise and skills. If these people don’t have confidence in the leadership of the company they work at, if they don’t trust them or like them, they can easily take their talent elsewhere.

That’s why today is a happy day for me. Today I was able to recognize one of those true leaders people choose to follow, who inspires loyalty and encourages people to excel.

As I try to walk the talk myself, I thought I’d share with you the email that I sent out earlier today announcing the promotion of one of my colleagues, Keelan Green. I hope that it conveys the right signals to the people with whom I work about what is important and what is valued in our organization.

You’ve probably noticed that the Ottawa office has been on a real roll during the past year. We’ve added some great new consultants (you know who you are!!!), done great work for clients who not only continued to place their trust in us but also provided positive referrals to other clients, and won additional business through straight-ahead competitions. Equally important, the sound of laughter and the sight of smiles is a regular part of the work day.

Every person working in Ottawa has made a real contribution to this success. And I thank you for this.

Today, I want to recognize the particular contribution of Keelan Green. Keelan has been our leader in many ways for the past two years. He leads us literally in being the first person in the office most days. He leads us in showing how to use our work time effectively to get results for clients. As a colleague, I know that Keelan can always be counted on to pitch in when I or someone else needs help. And when the chips are down, he won’t give up until we’ve achieved what we set out to do.

Keelan can also be counted on to show us how to maintain a good balance in our lives (because it’s not only about work.) He taught us that summer Thursdays are for golf. And beware the person who tries to cut into that time!

But most important, we know that Keelan always cares. He cares about our company, the people who work here and making sure that together we are successful. Because if we are successful we can all realize our dreams.

So, I am absolutely delighted to recognize Keelan’s achievements and place in our company by promoting him to General Manager of our Ottawa office. (sound of applause, whistling, foot stomping)

This is not an end, but the beginning of an even more exciting year that lies ahead. In the coming days, Keelan will be working with both the Thornley Fallis Communications and 76design teams to lay out plans to continue to excel in each of our practice areas while also exploring the potential synergies that can be realized by combining our different areas of expertise. I know that he’ll be talking to each of us about the opportunities for us individually to grow and contribute to our collective success.

Congratulations Keelan! It’s your time.

* Thanks to Hugh McLeod for the great drawing. Always a source of inspiration.

Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms launches its Blog

Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms

Are you interested in knowing more about the public relations consulting industry in Canada? Then you will want to subscribe to a new blog launched by the recently formed Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms (CCPRF).

The CCPRF is the organization that represents public relations consulting firms in Canada. Its membership is restricted to the principals of the firms. So, it will be worth watching this blog to see if it develops as a place where the senior officers of its members talk about important issues facing the industry.

Disclosure: If you’ve wondered why I haven’t posted on ProPR for the past several days and if you noticed the name on the first post on the CCPRF blog …. Thornley Fallis is a member of the CCPRF and I spent my spare time the last few days finalizing the CCPRF blog and getting it up and operating. So, I’m hopeful that this new blog will in fact flourish.

Cohn & Wolfe acquires Courtney Rainey

Passing the Torch

News today that independent PR firm, Courtney Rainey, has been acquired by Cohn & Wolfe. Cohn & Wolfe operates in Canada as the conflict agency of National PR. (In a separate transaction several years back, Burson Marstellar acquired 20% of National.)

Courtney Rainey has been headed up by founder Susanne Courtney and Sharon Rainey. They will join Cohn and Wolfe as Senior Vice Presidents.
Both Courtney and Rainey have played an active role in founding and shaping the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms. Their energy and dedication will be missed by the other members of the CCPRF.

* Thanks to Julie Rusciolelli for the tip to this move.

The full text of the release announcing the acquisition follows:

TORONTO, Ontario – January 16, 2007 – Cohn & Wolfe | Canada announced today the acquisition of Courtney Rainey Group Inc. and the integration of its 13 employees with the 55 employees of Cohn & Wolfe’s Toronto office.

The new organization will offer clients of both firms access to an enhanced team of public relations professionals and to a broader array of communications services. It will operate under the Cohn & Wolfe name, leveraging the brand’s strong reputation for creativity and communications excellence as well as its international network of offices.

The merged firm’s clients include leading corporations from the corporate, financial, healthcare, technology and consumer products sectors.

Founded as Courtney Public Relations Inc. in 1999 by Susanne Courtney, the firm became Courtney Rainey Group in 2002, one year after Sharon Rainey joined as partner.

“Courtney Rainey is a great addition to our team,” said Carol Panasiuk, executive vice president and general manager of Cohn & Wolfe’s Toronto office. “It’s a like-minded firm that over the past seven years has established a strong and loyal client base, and delivered results-driven programs and flawless execution for both Canadian and U.S. organizations.”

“Our common commitment to senior, hands-on counsel, in-depth sectoral expertise, creativity and cultural fit is what makes this such a great move for both firms,” said Susanne Courtney. “Our team is looking forward to integrating with a more fully resourced organization and our clients will benefit from an enhanced offering, including the same high quality service Courtney Rainey Group has always delivered.”

The move will see Susanne Courtney and Sharon Rainey become senior vice-presidents of Cohn & Wolfe and members of the management team led by Ms. Panasiuk.
In October 2006, Cohn & Wolfe | Canada acquired Extend Communications in Calgary which now operates under the name Cohn & Wolfe | Calgary. With the acquisition of Courtney Rainey, Cohn & Wolfe | Canada now has 85 employees in its Toronto, Montreal and Calgary offices. It is wholly-owned by RES PUBLICA Consulting Group, which is also the, parent company of NATIONAL Public Relations. Cohn &Wolfe | Canada is an affiliate of Cohn & Wolfe Worldwide, a leading international firm with 12 offices around the globe, providing business results and marketing communications solutions to clients in a wide range of business sectors.