The Rear View Mirror: Whatever you do, don’t do this!

By David Josephs

There’s a very British thing I want to write about, which we call the ‘Blooper Reel’. It’s a very cheap way of generating laughs. Basically a TV show dedicated to clips of things going wrong – with ‘hilarious’ consequences of course…..

These days, Instagram and TikTok is full of this kind of ‘you’ll never guess what happened next’ content. So it is in the spirit of the Blooper Reel that I want to talk to you about things that go wrong in PR campaigns, in the hope it will help you to avoid them. I found this list all too easy to write, which demonstrates how easy it is to mess things up. There have been so many examples over my 30 plus years in the industry.

So here goes:

“The CEO is too busy to do the interview”

I’ve heard this all too much, and it is a disaster. If the company leader cannot devote even a little of their time to enhancing their organisation’s reputation, we are in trouble. It suggests that the company does not sincerely value its reputation. Not a good look.

“Let’s see what you can do in three months”

I know many organisations find the idea of an ongoing retainer a little uncomfortable. But, in reality, you are not signing up with an agency for life. There is always a notice period. Three months gives you time to test drive the working relationship. It does not give sufficient time to determine if PR will drive revenue to your business.

“We’ve just got to run it past a couple more people”

The slow and tedious approval process. It’s just a waste of your time and budget. And news is often a time sensitive commodity. Move too slowly, and your window of opportunity shuts.

“Could we add a comma to the second sentence of the fourth paragraph?”

You’ve hired an agency, presumably, because they have a skill set you don’t have in-house. Don’t then tell them how to do their job. This happens way more frequently than you might imagine. And yes, I did once have a client that insisted on this level of checking.

“Can’t we just send the same announcement all over the world?”

Guess what. German media tend to want work that’s been developed specifically for the German market. So do the French. And the Brits. And everyone else for that matter. One size most definitely does not fit all.

Vile behaviour

Happily, I have not witnessed this too often in my career. But about five clients I’ve worked with over the years have been guilty of seriously abusive behaviour. I know a couple of them who still work in the industry. They stay in a role for about 18 months and then move on before they are found out. It’s not just bad for the client – agency relationship. It means the client will be wasting much of its investment in PR.

If someone is behaving toxically towards your PR agency, they are most likely not a great colleague either. And if you are hiring, a few phone calls to senior people can help you avoid this cardinal sin.

Trust us, we know a boring idea when we see one

Not every idea that emerges from a company is a good one. Some have been tried so often before that if we work them up on your behalf, we will be doing you a disservice. Trust our feedback on this.

Just be honest with us

And this works both ways round. If you don’t like one of our proposals, please just tell us rather than ignoring it. We won’t be offended.

I think the key issue here is trust. Of course I think Laika is a wonderful PR company, and I very much hope you choose to work with them. But in truth there are few ‘bad’ PR agencies. Choosing an agency with an appropriate level of experience, and of an appropriate size, is critical. But once you’ve completed your due diligence, trust your chosen agency to do the job for which they have been hired. Work together, listen, collaborate, challenge. But most of all, maintain trust.