The PR Office

How would you sum up 2009 for your agency?

2009 was definitely a challenging year. We began the year by implementing a ‘no risk’ strategy for the year. We ensured that costs were controlled, staffing levels were maintained and most importantly that all of our retained business was secure and that clients were happy. We upscaled our already ferocious networking activity and we were able to increase our project work significantly as the year progressed as a direct result of this. 2009 ended showing a marginal increase in turnover with a notable reduction in our costs base. Flat is the new up, don’t you know?!

What was the high point of 2009 for your agency?

It has to be reaching the end of the year with an increased turnover, happy clients, a significant number of new business wins and a smiling team.

What was the low point of 2009 for your agency?

Starting the year against a daunting backdrop of deep uncertainly and excessive media scaremongering about what the year held.

Please give an overview of your staffing through 2009, including significant hires and internal promotions.

Our staffing levels did not really alter during 2009 although there was some natural turnover of staff and a handful of junior and medium level recruits across all sectors. We focused our energies on ensuring that career progression and professional development was a priority and made internal promotions including – two Associate Directors joined the Operational Board, one senior account executive to Account Manager and three Account Executives became Senior Account Executives.

What was your best client/account win of 2009 and why?

We were appointed by BMI in early 2009 to run a campaign to create awareness of double daily flights and launch of A330 airbus on London to Tel Aviv route in order to increase bookings. This was a huge and significant win for us, not only because we did a great job on it, but also because it was entirely non-competitive and we won it purely through recommendation. We were pretty chuffed with this!

What were your three best campaigns of 2009?

This is a tough one as we are proud of all of our work but if we have to choose three:

1. LAFTAs
Our Arts & Entertainment Team, headed by Katie Philips, won the job of managing the campaign for IPC Media's Loaded Comedy Awards, The LAFTAS 2010. Part of the brief was to ensure that the coverage achieved would clearly message that the LAFTAs sponsor for 2010 was Durex Ora! It was also crucial to manage part of the talent handling leading up to and during the event, as well as ensure that the national coverage surpassed the previous year. The nominations announcement received an unprecedented amount of coverage and the public voting increased compared with the previous year. The event itself was a huge success with a number of national journalists and photographers attending across print, radio and online. The client was extremely happy with the amount of coverage and has told The PR Office that they will not be putting next year's awards out to tender, as The PR Office has already secured the business.

2. BDO LLP
Our Corporate & Professional Services team, headed by Jo Rosenblatt, was appointed by BDO LLP, the world’s fifth largest accountancy practice to handle the complex task of promoting the firm’s expertise in overseas tax opportunities for UK residents hooked to the launch of the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility – a complex tax agreement made between the UK and Liechtenstein to encourage Britons to make a full disclosure of overseas assets to the Revenue. The PR Office managed to secure a consistent number of comment, feature and interview opportunities for the key partner in this area of specialism which in turn led BDO to being inundated with queries about the LDF and created a media ‘personality’ out of the lead partner in this area, so much so that she is now a firm press favourite for comment on an array of relevant topics.

3. Holocaust Educational Trust
For two years, our Voluntary Team, led by Nikki Saunders has worked with the Holocaust Educational Trust in raising the profile of British men and women who undertook exceptional acts of bravery in order to aid or rescue people during the Holocaust. These brave individuals had never been formally recognised in Britain, and the team has worked hard to publicise their courageous endeavours in the press. This campaign reached a successful and important milestone when the Government introduced the Holocaust Heroes award to honour these extraordinary people.

How did the recession affect your performance in 2009 and what trends did you notice throughout the year – e.g. clients taking longer to sign off budgets etc?

We were extremely focused and driven during 2009 and were determined to ensure that our clients were more than satisfied. We really focused our resilience and enthusiasm in order to get through the challenging year as a team. In terms of trends, we saw that there were still plenty of new business enquiries particularly for short term projects but that decisions to go ahead with PR activity took much longer to make.

Of which achievement in 2009 are you most proud?

By far the achievement of which we are most proud has to be the incredibly successful campaign to have Nelson Mandela’s birthday officially designated by the United Nations as international Nelson Mandela Day.

Describe your agency in five words

Honest. Reliable. Effective. Intuitive. Friendly.

How have you embraced social media in 2009?

Our team has participated in a variety of training activities on social media and ensures that social media tactics are applied where required for our clients and in new business pitches. We see social media as another media to add to our thorough comms strategies and campaigns. We don’t see it as rocket science but we recognise the importance of the appropriate application of social media tactics.

What are your plans for 2010?

We are focused on growing the business through an acquisition strategy which we had put on hold in 2009 but have reignited for 2010.

If your agency were an animal, what animal would it be and why?

I guess we are a team of ants. We work brilliantly together as a team towards common goals, we’re unpretentious, straight forward and don’t fuss unnecessarily. We regularly overcome challenges that are seemingly beyond us and are incredibly sociable, resourceful and thrive in any environment. And we now know alot about ants!