Comments on: Weber Shandwick ‘bitesize’ http://www.pr-consultant.co.uk/bitesize-weber-shandwick/ Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:28:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Richard Hamer http://www.pr-consultant.co.uk/bitesize-weber-shandwick/comment-page-1/#comment-40275 Richard Hamer Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:07:13 +0000 http://www.pr-consultant.co.uk/?p=588#comment-40275 We've now stopped talking to companies of a certain size, they really do take up too much time and you can tell when they have little or no budget. And one-off release do little to boost sales so you thne find that the one-off client then badmouths PR. A would-be client even came back to us the other day, nine months after we originally saw them and said they liked what we offered but could we work for them for £150-£200 a month. PR does give a great insight into how not to launch a business. It's remarkable how many people come to us without having factored marketing etc into their business plan, or if they have they have spent it - usually on a Blackeberry or laptop so they look the part. We’ve now stopped talking to companies of a certain size, they really do take up too much time and you can tell when they have little or no budget. And one-off release do little to boost sales so you thne find that the one-off client then badmouths PR.

A would-be client even came back to us the other day, nine months after we originally saw them and said they liked what we offered but could we work for them for £150-£200 a month.

PR does give a great insight into how not to launch a business. It’s remarkable how many people come to us without having factored marketing etc into their business plan, or if they have they have spent it – usually on a Blackeberry or laptop so they look the part.

]]> By: Stephen Bray http://www.pr-consultant.co.uk/bitesize-weber-shandwick/comment-page-1/#comment-32049 Stephen Bray Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:46:50 +0000 http://www.pr-consultant.co.uk/?p=588#comment-32049 This is nothing new, but we need to be careful as PR pros not to appear overly protective about this and other 'budget PR' offerings. The commercial reality is that PR agencies are twitchy and will seek to generate work wherever possible. Big agencies have big overheads and it's clear that they'll take a hit on usual day rates in order to maintain volume and subsidise their wage bills and office leases. But it's going to be loss leading and therefore not sustainable longer term. My take on this is that it is a flash in the pan. Anyone taking up bitesize PR clearly isn't serious about proper PR. They probably aren't the sort of organisation that would normally engage a PR company, though perhaps freelancers and single handed PRs should be wary of this new development in their market place at this time. As for the damage to our profession, I suspect it will be minimal. If anything, it will serve to help us to explain to non PR people 'how it shouldn't be done'. This is nothing new, but we need to be careful as PR pros not to appear overly protective about this and other ‘budget PR’ offerings. The commercial reality is that PR agencies are twitchy and will seek to generate work wherever possible.

Big agencies have big overheads and it’s clear that they’ll take a hit on usual day rates in order to maintain volume and subsidise their wage bills and office leases. But it’s going to be loss leading and therefore not sustainable longer term.

My take on this is that it is a flash in the pan. Anyone taking up bitesize PR clearly isn’t serious about proper PR. They probably aren’t the sort of organisation that would normally engage a PR company, though perhaps freelancers and single handed PRs should be wary of this new development in their market place at this time.

As for the damage to our profession, I suspect it will be minimal. If anything, it will serve to help us to explain to non PR people ‘how it shouldn’t be done’.

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