Under Strict Embargo

It’s good to see that the Twitter effect is not stifling the supply of new PR blogs, with my old boss Brendon Craigie embracing this Social Media malarkey with the Weekly World View.

I have to say that I agree with Brendon’s take on the currently non-existent tech PR recession. As he points out the Social Media bubble has proven to be anything but and nimble, hungry and experienced agencies in this space are certainly in a position to make the most of it.

It would of course be naive to assume that there will not be an eventual PR recession. Friends working in IT sales are reporting both small investments as well as £multi-million infrastructure projects being mothballed by clients, especially those in the financial services sector.

Those agencies who are as Brendon puts it still peddling “the same old, same old” probably have a 9-month window of opportunity (at best) to ensure programmes are making a real, demonstrable and above all measurable impact on the bottom line.

So I was asked by PR Week on Monday for my views on Gordon Brown’s Ask the PM initiative on YouTube. This was the latest foray into the online world by Downing Street, following its recent embrace of Twitter. My assessment that Ask the PM “smacks of gimmickry and desperation” led the article and there was a clear consensus from other industry commentators, that this project was a typical case of ‘too little, too late’.

I had a couple of interesting conversations on Friday in response to the piece. These boiled down to the argument that as a Social Media evangelist I should have welcomed the initiative, however imperfect, as a step in the right direction. Sorry to disappoint.

I have come to a view, which has hardened in recent months, that high profile examples of digital tokenism such as Ask the PM, are actually devaluing the real potential of Social Media. They are feeding a scepticism which makes the pioneering work we are doing unnecessarily difficult.

A couple of years ago, the medium was the message when it came to organisations adopting Social Media. This was typified by those endless stories in the national press, with leading youth brands like IBM and PA Consulting opening virtual offices in Second Life. Today, the filter I always use when assessing Social Media initiatives, my own and others, is whether the communication objectives and creative approach are actually more interesting than the digital platform(s) being utilised.

Using this filter, Ask the PM just doesn’t cut it. It’s not a genuine attempt by Gordon Brown to reconnect and really start listening to a disillusioned electorate. His comment at the end of his welcome video, where he states, “I’ll be back to talk to you at some point…” betrays a total lack of understanding of the two-way conversation that Social Media enables. You may as well write a letter and stick it in the post - you’d probably get a quicker reply!

In my mind the YouTube channel, the Twitter feed and whatever online gimmick is announced next, is primarily about metaphor, the hope that some shiny digital zeitgeist will rub off on an increasingly lacklustre Prime Minister. Equally, it’s a clumsy attempt by the new Downing St communications team to ‘get with it’ and reduce the gaping void between their digital approach and that of the Opposition.

As I have been saying a lot this week in new business pitches, Social Media is not a magic wand. Ultimately whatever Stephen Carter and his team try to do, Gordon Brown at heart, will always remain an analogue politician in a digital age.

Following a string of recent client wins the Diffusion team is growing! We are looking for talented and ambitious individuals to help drive and implement next-generation communication campaigns built around our media relations, Social Media and Search marketing core. Please see our current vacancies below. We’re always on the look out for the best talent across the industry so if you’d like an informal chat about how we could help grow your career, drop me an email at daljit.bhurji@diffusionpr.com.

You really need a fresh challenge. With over three years as a PR professional you have an address book bulging with media contacts across the digital media, marketing, technology and national press. You have a real interest in how brands are using the web to engage with customers and a real desire to represent the companies who are pushing the boundaries of marketing services innovation. As an account manager you have demonstrated you can build relationships with senior decision makers based on trust, honesty and confident and considered client counsel.

Now you’re asking yourself – what next? As a Campaign Manager at Diffusion we promise you three things: innovation, responsibility and real job satisfaction. By working with leading players in our Marketing Services practice, you will be given the opportunity to help shape and deliver innovative campaigns. These will use your skills and love of media relations enhanced through the latest techniques in Social Media and Search.

You will be given the responsibility to manage and grow your own team and portfolio of clients through extensive involvement in new business development. You’ll not only get job satisfaction from doing brilliant work with great colleagues for fantastic clients, though we think that always helps. Through our commitment to Talent Management we offer fast-track career development to the brightest and you’ll be rewarded with a progressive salary and benefits package. Is this the challenge you’re looking for?

To apply and for further information, please send your CV to daljit.bhurji@diffusionpr.com. For more information on our Talent Management approach and benefits packages click here.

Closing date: 5 JUNE 2008: No recruitment agencies please.

I thought PR was about more than just endless cold-calling? Well we think you’re 100 per cent right. At Diffusion we’re looking for a candidate who wants to build their career within a 21st Century PR and Communications agency. As an ambitious graduate with a strong academic record, you will have over a year’s PR experience under your belt either in-house or in agency. You’ll also be an enthusiastic ‘digital native’, with familiarity with all things Social Media second nature.

Working across our Digital practice you will have an insatiable hunger to get real results through both media and Social Media relations. You will have equal enthusiasm for both consumer and business campaigns, for household names and new start-ups, relishing the challenges they each present.

At Diffusion through our commitment to training we will future proof your career. You will be equipped with both the traditional and online skills needed to deliver communication campaigns that really connect, both today and tomorrow. As a crucial part of a new agency you will have a unique opportunity to rapidly grow your career in a dynamic, entrepreneurial environment and carve out your own niche. Or you could carry on updating that call-round report.

To apply and for further information, please send your CV to daljit.bhurji@diffusionpr.com. For more information on our Talent Management approach and benefits packages click here.

Closing date: 5 JUNE 2008: No recruitment agencies please.

Word reaches me of two new PR blogs – the first is from the self styled ‘Bad Boy of Tech PR’, Hotwire’s very own digital media wunderkind Tom Malcolm. The intriguingly named ‘Reflections in an Open Window’ promises to “not take itself too seriously” which given the author is just as well.

The second is ‘Pete’s PR Hall of Fame’, from consumer genius Peter Bowles. He has just left the warm bosom of Hotwire and is off to do some very exciting stuff at Red. The PR Hall of Fame has a great focus which is to each day identify the one story which has used/abused the power of PR to get to the top of the media agenda. Add them to your RSS feeds now!

There are a many things which inspired the launch of Diffusion, but perhaps the most important was reading back in May ’07 a now famous article by Paul Holmes entitled “A Manifesto for the 21st Century Public Relations Firm”. It was a seminal analysis of the opportunities and threats facing the PR industry from consumers empowered by online and Social Media. Above all it was a wake up call and in many ways confirmed what I had been thinking for a while. Diffusion is really the answer to the question the piece finally triggered – ‘What are you going to do about it?’ – so cheers Paul :-)

Almost a year since it was published, it is debatable whether as industry we have really grasped all the manifesto’s core messages. There is some brilliant and innovative thinking and amazing online work being done, much of it by the people listed to your left. But a bit like the board of Kodak saying ‘that digital photography thing is all hype, it’ll never catch on,’ vast swathes of the industry remain blind to the new realities. There is an inertia grounded in inflexible business models and working practices and the limited skill sets of staff, which many agencies lack the energy to overcome.

Much has been written about the threat facing PR from other marketing disciplines, but I agree with those that argue that it is PR which is the real threat to the hegemony of advertising as the ‘owner’ of the brand. The skills required today to help clients create two-way conversations, listen and engage with audiences and harness the power of word-of-mouth are part of our territory and it’s onto to this ground that marketing as a whole is moving. Do we really want to be evicted from that space now by failing to adapt?

If I am being honest I was very tempted by the offers to develop my vision for the future of PR inside the comfortable and reassuring corporate structures of some amazing agencies. Call me brave, or call me stupid but I was attracted more by the blank sheet of creating an agency from scratch. I wanted to build an agency with amazing media relations skills where digital, Social Media and Search expertise are part of the DNA and don’t just sit in a separate division or practice. Something tells me it was the right move.

I’m very privileged to be working with Ivan Ristic and Barney Jones again, two of the most talented individuals I know. We are also lucky to already have some great clients and we’re looking forward to building a brilliant team who will do amazing work for many, many more in the years ahead. It may have become a cliché to say it, but that makes it no less true - this really is the most exciting time to be working in PR!

The CIPR have teamed up with the MOBO Awards to offer a Press Officer internship to a final/sandwich year PR student or junior PR available between June/July and October this year. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who would like to get into music/entertainment PR and could lead to a permanent job.

You’ll work directly with Kanya King MBE and the Board of MOBO, who are looking for:

• A genuine knowledge, passion and interest in music of black origin
• The ability to negotiate coverage in the national, music and communications trade media
• Endless ideas, energy and commitment to communicating MOBO’s messages to UK and international audiences
• The desire to put your learning into practice immediately and the confidence to start your career working on a high-profile campaign

The MOBO Awards are for music of black origin – soul/r&b, hiphop, reggae, gospel, jazz – and are screened each year by the BBC and promoted via their 1Xtra brand. They’ve been running since 1996 and are attended by both British and international artists. Last year Amy Winehouse, Ne-Yo and Kano performed and the awards were hosted by Shaggy and Jamelia. More details about last year’s awards: http://www.bbc.co.uk/musicevents/moboawards/2007/

Any interested applicants should submit up to 1500 words to - dawnc@cipr.co.uk - by the end of April. We’ll then shortlist and invite these applicants to the CIPR to present their ideas in more detail at the start of June. The successful person will need to be able to start work in London quite quickly.

More detail on what MOBO is looking for and some guidance in making the application is here: http://www.cipr.co.uk/ciprmobo/

Firstly I’d like to say thanks for the comments in response to my last post on Phorm. It’s clear there is a growing sense of public anger which is being articulated through a motivated and well organised grass roots campaign. From reading the 36 comments so far, I don’t think the same can be said of Phorm’s PR effort to date.

I think there are a couple of immediate observations that will be of interest for those of us working in Social Media relations. Firstly the tactic of instant-rebuttal, responding to every single negative blog post or forum posting written about Phorm has done little to endear the company to its critics. As Paul C puts it,”What an utter PR disaster. Trying to slashdot their way out of a storm, not realising how cynical an exercise responding to individual blog posts will appear to the community.”

There is also the perception that rule No.1 of blogger relations - be authentic and honest – has been broken. The backlash against Phorm began in the tech community in response to articles on sites like The Register. This prompted a series of postings, credited to the ‘Phorm Tech Team’ which were not seen by these communities as coming from genuine techies. As M. Bishop puts it, “In a dissertation about how not to run a PR campaign, pretending to be a tech bod from a company and engaging in a technical debate with experts, only to eventually have to admit you really aren’t a tech bod, or even a Phorm employee at all, because you got so out of your depth, is probably pretty high on the list of don’t do’s.”

If Phorm wanted to engage in a ‘Geek vs. Geek’ debate, why didn’t they get the CTO or a named member of the Tech team to respond? As the ‘Phorm Comms Team’ point out in a comment today, these spokespeople were used in ‘traditional’ press interviews but apparently not at the start when engaging with forums and blogs. I think these initial mistakes and the approach of hiding behind ‘Tech Team’ or ‘Comms Team’ umbrellas only reinforced the growing lack of trust in Phorm and did little to emphasise the key message that company had “nothing to hide”.

Taking a step back, the emphasis being placed on the technology powering Phorm is symptomatic in my mind of the fundamental misunderstanding at the heart of both Phorm’s proposition and its wider communication strategy. Phorm sees itself as offering a B2B product when in fact its service is profoundly B2B2C. There seems to have been a scenario underpinning the business model where ISPs around the world would quietly adopt the service with the hope that the majority of their customers wouldn’t care or notice, everyone would be happy and could rake in their share of the advertising cash. That was never going to happen.

The issue isn’t about Phorm’s technology and the long list of safeguards that are in place. It’s about the benefits of the service to the ultimate end customer, ordinary internet users. Basically ‘better targeted online advertising’ is not a benefit to the average person, most would be happier if there was no online advertising at all. It certainly isn’t such a life changing development that consumers would be willing to enter into a Faustian pact for it, through giving up their internet privacy (real or perceived). Phorm seem to have understood this in part, hence the red-herring focus on phishing.

It’s basically all about perception. I have no reason to doubt Phorm’s privacy claims, and having worked in online technology for a decade I can understand their technology arguments, but the average internet user isn’t going to give a toss about the intricacies of IP address tracking, selective cookies etc. They will simply distill everything down to the Costs vs. Benefits proposition being presented by Phorm and their ISP and most will say NO.

CEO web chats, sharing the code, having one to one meetings with Ged Carroll and other members of the great and the good :-) or (ahem) re-educating Tim Berners-Lee on internet technology is going to do nothing to address the fundamental scepticism of mainstream public opinion.

If Phorm were hoping that the ISPs would take on that mammoth task for them, they are delusional. So far BT has arguably not confronted the issue head on, presenting the service which its is calling BT Webwise, with a heavy emphasis on online fraud prevention. BT is currently planning to make the system opt-out, whereas Talk Talk has succumbed to customer pressure and has been forced to make the service opt-in. Online advertising is a numbers game and the Phorm business model is not based on millions being able to escape the system.

The real PR danger now shifts to the ISPs. For players like Virgin Media the problems could be acute, with disgruntled internet users not only shifting their monthly broadband subscriptions to other providers but their TV and telephone subs as well. In an increasingly commoditised broadband market, being able to claim that we don’t invade your internet privacy and sell your personal data on to advertisers would be a rather strong USP. I can see why Sky and Tiscali have had the foresight to keep their hands clean at this point.

How many different PR outfits should you hire in crisis? Well the answer seems to be three if you are Phorm, which according to PR Week has taken on Freuds, Citigate Dewe Rogerson and crisis guru John Stonborough to rescue its business.

For those of you who have missed the wave of negative coverage, Phorm is essentially an ad-serving company which has signed deals with leading ISPs including BT, Virgin and Talk Talk which allows it to track the browsing behaviour of customers and display better targeted ads - with the ISPs collecting a share of the ad revenues.

The current national media storm was triggered by claims from Cambridge academics at the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), that Phorm’s activities are ‘illegal’, as gathering information about site visits without a user’s consent could be considered to be in contravention of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which prevents unlawful interception of communication. The FIPR has called on the Information Commissioner to investigate and his report on the service is due in the next few weeks. Phorm’s immediate fate rests on his verdict.

Hindsight in PR as in everything else is a wonderful thing. Given the scale of the controversy surrounding Facebook’s introduction of its Beacon platform last year, it was however entirely predictable that similar concerns about Phorm would be vigorously voiced by consumers and privacy groups in the UK. Good crisis comms is as much about prevention as effective cure - having the Information Commissioner on side before going public seems like such a no brainer. It would have given the service legal credibility and helped reassure the ISPs, publishers and advertisers on which the service depends.

Ultimately though Phorm’s fate rests with the ordinary consumer, the internet users clicking those banner ads. Taking the national ID card debate as an example, I doubt there is any amount of official reassurance from government and regulators which could overturn the deep scepticism of the British public towards having their online behaviour tracked in such an all pervasive way. The near 8,000 strong Downing St petition calling on Phorm to be shut down and the growing volume of customer complaints directed to the ISPs supporting the service could just be the start.

Let’s see what Freuds, Citigate and Stonborough can do…

Does the PR industry have a sufficient set of guidelines on the use of Social Media? That’s the argument which has been triggered by Edelman’s Simon Collister and Colin Farrington, DG of the CIPR. Last week Simon called on the CIPR to provide clear guidance on the ethical use of Social Media in a letter to PR Week, which elicited a response from Colin pointing out that the CIPR published its Social Media Guidelines in January 2007 and that Simon had in fact been involved in their development.

Simon has responded on his blog, remembering the guidelines do exist but pointing out that his recommendations were apparently largely ignored. Having read Simon’s detailed submission I’m a little confused. One of the main thrusts of his argument is that social media practice is little different from traditional media relations, and that the guidelines make too much of a distinction. While I would agree that there are many shared principles, I don’t see how that fits with his original plea for the CIPR to produce a clear (and presuambly discrete) set of guidelines on the use of Social Media.

There is also criticism that the Guidelines lack detail. Putting to one side that it would be an impossible task, I don’t think it’s the role of the CIPR to develop a bible on how to use Social Media with tactic-by-tactic step-by-step instructions. That ongoing and constantly evolving process is one which individual agencies and consultants need to tackle in their own way.

I think that there are two key points which need to be considered. Firstly the guidelines should be just that – guidelines which communicate the core principles which should govern the implementation of Social Media PR. Secondly, the guidelines need to be designed to be used by the entire PR industry not the relatively tiny clique of PR practitioners who have been living and breathing Social Media for years.

I regularly help to organise and attend CIPR events and I’m no longer surprised to meet PR directors for some of the UK’s largest brands who are still in the dark about the ‘rules’ of engaging with Social Media. I remember there was a rather parochial debate back in 2006 about whether a separate set of guidelines was in fact necessary for Social Media. In my experience for 90% of ordinary practitioners in 2008 it is still seen as new and discrete and they want specific guidance.

Keeping these points in mind I think the CIPR’s Social Media Guidelines are a good starting point. They don’t preach to the converted and they emphasise the importance of transparency and integrity and the unacceptability of unethical tactics such as astro-turfing and spamming.

One year on since their first publication there have been a number of significant developments which need to be considered for inclusion in the next update of the Guidelines, not least SEO. I agree completely with Simon that they really need to be formally reviewed on a six monthly basis in order to remain relevant. You can call me a radical but perhaps that development and consultation process could even be conducted via a dedicated blog where everyone with a genuine interest can easily contribute, debate and shape the outcome?

I would be the first to admit that the CIPR has been historically slow to embrace social media and there have been some serious missteps along the way, but we are by no means starting from scratch. Going back to Simon’s original point we do need a set of Social Media Guidelines which remain robust and relevant and it would benefit the PR industry for as many practitioners as possible to be involved in their ongoing development.

Hillary Clinton’s lack of appeal with young voters is quickly emerging as her Achilles heel and a look at each of the candidate’s popularity on Facebook provides further evidence. Barack Obama has attracted almost 200,000 supporters compared to just 60,000 for Clinton. Last night saw the first of the ABC/Facebook debates and the accompanying US Politics Group - from where the chart below is taken - is well worth a look. The most striking feature for me is the contrast in Facebook support between the Democrats and Republicans overall. There are no shortage of young Republicans on Facebook but it appears the GOP candidates either don’t know how to attract them or bizarrely, simply don’t care.

6. PCTV wins the battle with IPTV
Early next year we are likely to see both 02 and Orange join the battle with BT Vision and others to displace the Sky, Virgin and Freeview set-top boxes in our living rooms. As they spend big to each attract at most a few hundred thousand subscribers, millions of consumers will instead top up their TV viewing online. The implications of the Kangaroo initiative, which will bring together the on-demand services from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 shouldn’t be underestimated. Kangaroo has the potential to bring PCTV into the mainstream via a single application and EPG. But it will need to quickly become compatible with all those Vista enabled PCs people will have got for Christmas.

In fact one of 2007’s most exciting moves for both online broadcasting and social networking, was Bebo’s landmark deal with the likes of the BBC, Sky, Channel 4 and Endemol to allow users to embed TV programmes in their profiles. A fundamental shift in taking TV to specific communities rather than trying to attract specific communities to TV. The implications of the deal for much hyped but little used services like Joost should be keeping their investors awake at night.

Finally, as millions stream TV content to their desktops, the spotlight will again turn to the performance levels of broadband providers. Download limits and throttling connections will be exposed as the disingenuous excuses for poor service they really are. ISPs and telecoms companies will need to think carefully about where they direct their infrastructure investment, or face a very public consumer backlash.

7. DIY Social Networking
Want to create your own social networking site? Of course you do and so will everyone else, well maybe. As I wrote recently vertical social networks are gathering momentum. With so many categories currently un-catered for, it will be a boom year for the software companies providing off-the-shelf solutions. Many firms will also see the benefits of creating their own social networks as a replacement or as an alternative to expensive and cumbersome corporate intranets and extranets. Whether they will give their staff enough time to use them is of course another question.

8. Traditional media decline accelerates
David Crow at The Business has a great analysis on the seismic shifts in the media landscape this year and the likely developments in 2008. To reverse the general declines in newspaper circulations, more national newspapers will need to follow the example of the Daily Telegraph and invest in their digital operations. The amalgamation of the BBC’s offline and online news operations could lead to a decline in both the quantity and quality of online content, allowing other news organisations to catch-up. The Wall Street Journal liberated from a hefty subscription by Rupert Murdoch, will also be a new force to be reckoned with. Crow also looks ahead to the growth of DAB radio with Channel 4 launching a number of stations to compete directly with the BBC. He concludes by saying, “The firms that succeed in 2008 will be those that focus on the needs, desires and interests of their consumer in the contemporary marketplace – and discard their archaic, elitist prejudices born of a different era. For those still referred to as the “traditional” media, 2008 will be the make or break year.” Couldn’t agree with him more!

9. The Press Release’s condition becomes terminal
In response to the traditional media going increasingly digital, the demand from journalists for well packaged multimedia content will be stronger than ever before. The SMNR and Social Media Newsroom will become the industry standard for modern communication with press and bloggers. The days of four pages of double-spaced waffle will thankfully be nigh.

10. Google struggles with the forces of darkness
Once one of the most loved of internet brands, ordinary internet users will begin to reassess their warm relationship with Google. As with its recent announcement to obliterate Wikipedia, the brand will behave in a way that challenges Microsoft for its evil empire crown. While doing little to damage revenues at first, the loss of public goodwill will prompt a harder line from the competition authorities and legislators, curtailing the extent of Google’s long-term growth. In 2008, while its takeover of Skype gets through, its hostile bid for Apple is seen as a step too far.

2007 has been an amazing year personally. Leaving the warm bosom of agency life was a difficult decision but I’ve since been lucky enough to work with some amazing clients, agencies and practitioners on some really ground breaking digital PR campaigns. It’s been a journey into the future of PR and the future looks very bright indeed. So what do I think 2008 will bring?

1. The Year of the Widget
I have been spending a lot of time over the past couple of months working with some great developers on the design of widgets. I’m not talking about Zombies here, but creative, engaging, viral and above all value-added applications which support wider PR campaigns. The integration of widgets into the armoury of digital PR tactics will really take off in 2008 as developments like OpenSocial improve the economics and allow single applications to access larger audiences across multiple social networking sites. Beyond their role in PR, the widget will continue to change the shape of online advertising, as they move onto the desktop and mobiles – this recent article in Adweek is well worth a read to get up to speed.

2. Do you Vlog?
Video blogging will be one of the biggest tech trends of 2008. This will be driven by high profile bloggers such as Iain Dale experimenting with the medium as well as new platforms like Seesmic and Magnify. Another driver will be next generation mobile handsets with better quality in-built video cameras combined with falling data costs enabling vlogging on the move. It could even capture the media zeitgeist from Facebook, speaking of which…

3. Facebook media backlash
A bit like Jade Goody, having devoted acres of coverage building it up, 2008 will see the media try to bring Facebook down. The Beacon disaster has seen the US press sharpening its knives and the shift in sentiment will no doubt cross the Atlantic. Despite the less favourable coverage, Facebook will continue to grow and members will spend more and more time on the site. Reports of Facebook’s imminent demise by a few over excited commentators are I feel greatly exaggerated. The positives that make the site so great still far out weigh the disadvantages. The Beacon saga has shown Mark Zuckerberg that he stops listening to users concerns at his peril – I don’t think he will be stupid enough to make the same mistakes twice. Removing the negatives in terms of poor data protection and privacy, overly intrusive commercialisation and the small but growing volume of application related spam will need to be his top priorities for 2008.

4. Jumping on the social media bandwagon
Johnny come lately PR agencies will continue to jump on the social media bandwagon. Expect PR Week to be full of more stories of traditional PR agencies appointing heads of social media and creating specialist divisions.

5. A high-profile PR account shifts to a digital agency
The fundamental shifts in the PR industry will come into sharp focus when a high-profile client shifts its PR account to a Spannerworks-esque agency with digital and search at its core. There will be much debate and navel gazing. A few weeks later agencies respond by – yes you’ve guessed it – doing more of number 4.

I pity the guys over at Computer Weekly. Following yesterday’s security breach by HMRC, they are no doubt being inundated with tenuous news-hijacking pitches from companies however vaguely connected to IT security and consumer data. Sympathies also to the PR folk whose advice not to bother has been ignored. Sometimes a rapid response online ad with a great image can cut through the noise – congrats to the guys at online back-up firm Total Recall for this effort.

Hot news! It seems Australia’s Photon Group has reinforced its great taste in PR agencies by announcing the much anticipated acquisition of Hotwire PR. An announcement was made to the Australian Stock Exchange on 1 Nov stating that Photon Group will be paying an initial sum of £10 million for North by Northwest Group, the holding company for Hotwire and sister-agency Skywrite Communications.

It is claimed that the total sale price could exceed £20m dependent on tough earn-outs over the next 3 to 4 years. Rumours that Hotwire and Frank PR (also bought up by Photon last month) are to move into a single Soho ’super-hub’ office in the new year, alongside the Groups two other UK businesses – Corporate Edge and REL Field Marketing - are described as being “wide of the mark”.

Today’s musings are inspired by this evening’s viewing on Channel 4.

First up was Property Ladder with the amazing Sarah Beeny. Apart from the obvious Property Porn, the real joy of the show is watching the invariably clueless and over confident DIYers set about ignoring the advice of a woman who has literally made millions from property developing, only to regret it later.

Brilliant TV and not dissimilar to the situation which can exist in the client agency relationship – but with two critical differences. Firstly our advice and expertise is not being offered for free. Secondly when Beeny’s warnings are ignored and the project goes tits-up as predicted, she’s not the one that gets all the blame anyway.

It’s the same story with the show that follows, Gordan Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Again the advice of a Michelin starred chef is ignored because the near-bankrupt proprietor thinks he knows better. However, crucially unlike Beeny, Ramsay almost always gets his own way eventually. He’s persistent, doesn’t give a toss about the other guy’s ego, doesn’t roll over at the first sign of trouble and above all remembers he is the Expert. And despite the initial rows and fisticuffs by the end of the show the owner usually worships him as a saviour. I think there is a clear professional lesson to be learned from the Ramsay approach, don’t you?

All of this reminded me of some fantastic rules developed by Ogilvy’s Rohit Bhargava on how to be a better client and therefore get better results from your PR agency. Please read his seven great tips below. I know seven rules may be nowhere near enough, but for me two key ones are definitely No. 4 - Take the advice you are paying and No. 5 Know what you don’t know.

As always would love to hear your suggestions on what should be added to the list! Tomorrow the lessons that PR professionals can learn from BBC1’s Spooks…

1. Provide clear direction - This was a clear No.1 priority for many agency creative workers in particular who have struggled to interpret vague instructions. Making something “more corporate” in look or language is not clear direction, though you may know what you mean by this. The best clients are the ones who are able to articulate what they are looking for.

2. Invite us to the table early - The earlier we learn about a campaign or new marketing initiative, the smarter recommendations we can bring to you. This may seem in contrast to the first point, as inviting your agency early might also mean you don’t yet have clear direction to offer … but at the early stage it matters less because as long as we have enough information, we can produce the best work. That comes from clear direction, or from early participation.

3. Be honest about success factors - The easy thing to say is that a campaign needs to get X number of views. Many times, the motivation for a campaign are more subtle. The smart agency guys (or gals) understand that part of your motivation is also to look smart in front of your colleagues. That’s nothing to be ashamed of - our job is to help you look smart. If we work together, we can all win.

4. Take the advice you are paying for - One of the toughest things to do as your advisors is to tell you when an idea doesn’t work. Too many agency people roll over and obey commands, but my experience with clients is that they respect you far more when you have a distinct point of view. The challenge is that once we share it, if you choose not to take the advice, we need to understand why. You don’t need to always follow what we say, but the thing we hate most of all is telling you something won’t work, being forced to do it anyway, and then getting blamed when it doesn’t work.

5. Know what you don’t know - We all have limitations in what we know and what we do. The clearest example of this comes when looking at design. If you don’t have a design background, you need to tread carefully with design feedback. Take the time to understand why a designer chose to do something a particular way rather than just sharing your personal dislike. A lot of thinking often goes into designs like this, and the most disheartening thing for a creative person is to just be told to arbitrarily change a colour or font or image that spent hours to select based on someone else’s personal choice.

6. Understand that changes affect timelines - This again is one of the common gripes from people in agencies, that clients change requirements or requests and still expect things to be done within the same amount of time. This isn’t reasonable, and the best clients know it. If you need to make a change, its ok - we get it. But work with us to get a real timeline for when we can make the change and get something back to you. We’ll respect you for realizing that.

7. Ask our advice - There is a book called The Trusted Advisor which has become the bible for many people who are in service businesses. As the title indicates, the book is about building a relationship of trust that gets to a level where you are considered an advisor even on things outside of your expertise. This remains the ultimate relationship between clients and agencies, and the one we all strive for.