The Very Broken PR Agency Model
A friend of mine was sharing a story about being interviewed by an office of a large PR agency. I could mention the name but it really does not matter because they are all the same.
What struck him at first was the singular focus of the agency on itself. The agency’s lobby was filled with statues and awards about the agency, presented by all the people or services that survive by feeding the PR industry with aggrandizing accolades, based on nothing. Awards from The Holmes Report. Awards from Jack O’Dwyer. Statues from PRSA.
What was missing – in the agency’s lobby and during my friend’s job interview – was any mention of clients or any significant work done for clients. It was all about the agency.
My friend got the usual questions:
- What are some clients or companies he might bring to the agency?
- What are some influential people he knew who might steer business to the agency?
- How long will it take to bring in a client and then more business?
You get the idea. The agency only wanted to hire a rainmaker, not a solid communications professional.
This branch office of a major PR agency only wanted to hire someone who might bring in billable hours in the short term to help feed the mother ship headquarters that is owned by a conglomerate. My friend turned down the offer.
The agency business today is singularly about billable hours, not achieving sustainable results or building trusted and valued relationships with clients. PR people today by and large are less than competent to address the needs of business and how to deliver results to business CEOs. They are focused instead on generating as many billable hours as possible and landing more clients.
And, yes, there are exceptions … generally smaller to mid-sized PR shops that provide specialty services are flourishing because they are darn good at what they do. But, that is the exception, unfortunately, in a large industry dominated by the money hungry big agencies.
By clinging to this old, outmoded model for so long, the big PR agency industry has made itself obsolete by selling clients only hours … when what clients need and want are results with accountability. It’s not unlike the newspaper industry.
Category: Featured, Public Relations
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This is a great post with some wonderful insights! It seems many are discovering that “relationships” are better than just, what you refer to as “billable hours.” I wonder why it’s take the PR world so long to catch up on this.
Just a thought.
Dr. Rus
Wonderful — but I seem to recall every PR agency I’ve entered for the last 30 years was that way, and looking at TV and news coverage from before — agencies love to show how good they are, as judged by their peers.
Successful agencies need only point to their client’s products.
I’m trying to understand the connection while looking at making the connection between my kids and the toys in the world.
We can’t afford to buy them all the toys they desire — or need
— and I enjoy taking photos of them having fun with toys.
It seemed like a good idea to team up with folks who want to advertise their product.
It also might appear self-serving… ah, the challenges of life.
When one is successful, you were brilliant, if you fail, your a nobody.
Must read more of your stuff, it is very well written, and I like the focus of relationship driven PR/marketing.
David, I usually get a lot of value out of your posts. This time, though, I see you painting the PR industry with too broad a brush. You’re a journalist and I’m quite sure understand the importance of presenting a balanced view of any scenario. So here’s my counterpoint: agencies are businesses, yes. There are revenue and margin goals to be managed. Yes, people get hired to help develp new business leads–sometimes in dedicated roles, other times in addition to their account responsibilities. Speaking as the president of a mid-sized agency that abandoned billable hours years ago in favor of a value billing model, I can assure you–we’re selling only what our clients ask for. The meter isn’t running; the work is done when the result is produced to the client’s satisfaction. We don’t churn clients and have maintained some of our relatiinships for 10, 15, 25 years. And I know we’re not alone. You have every right to express opinions based on your friend’s experience at the Omnicom shop–I don’t have to tell you that. But please, consider that in fact all agencies are *not* the same.
Stephanie,
We are mutual fans, by the way. But noticed that my brush was not that wide when I used the words “large” and “big” to describe the PR agencies in my posting. It’s big PR, owned by conglomerates, that is very broken and outdated. Sorry if I wasn’t clearer about that.
David
Fair enough, David, indeed you did!
Well now, David. Allow me to speak for big agencies, or at least one big agency. I work for one that you know well. And, while I accept that the model you describe is typical, it is not universal. The agency I work for does not fit that description. I’m a senior partner and interview many, many people. I have never, ever asked a job candidate what clients they can bring or what their connections are. In fact, I generally assert to candidates that we do not judge people on that basis because we are hiring for the long term. And I always talk proudly about our clients, the good work we do for them and the longevity of our relationships.
I will admit, however, that we have a lot of statues in our lobby.
Hope you’re enjoying Germany. I envy you.
The risk of writing commentary, based on professional observation, is that I might offend someone. You, Bill, are one of the last people I would ever wish to offend because you are a man of great principle and integrity. Your agency is extremely fortunate in having you.
Maybe I should look for a less wide brush …
To be clear, you did not offend me. And I certainly don’t want you to trim your sails or look for a narrower brush. As we both know, the nature of this medium requires provocative assertions. Then, it is the responsibility of your readership to introduce nuance, which is all I was doing.
Keep it coming!
Interesting commentary. It might be a sign of things to come. I recently saw an article on big brands such as Coca Cola and Unilever considering performance based compensation for their ad agencies (in India) .
Hello David:
I’m a newbie to your blog, but found it compelling and look forward to reading some older posts.
It’s true that a lot of large PR agencies practice that way, I know first hand. I worked for a well known agency for a brief period before launching my own boutique PR firm and it was all about the trophies and billable hours. I hated it! Now I only work for a set monthly fee that works for every one of my clients.
I will continue to follow your work, and now a big fan.
Crys,
Very nice of you to take time to write a comment. It’s welcomed and appreciated … and I hope we hear your thoughts often here.
David