The appointment of a PR Agency is a serious and potentially expensive step for any company. Having selected from a number of competing agencies the one you think will best serve your company's interests, the management of the day to day contact with them becomes every bit as serious. It is usual for your company to appoint a central contact point with whom their executives should liase on a day-to-day basis. That person, usually supported by a competent staff, should have the confidence of the marketing and sales department, be well versed in marketing skills and able to react quickly and effectively to the advice and marketing data supplied by the agency. It will also be this person's responsibility to relay comments and instructions from the company to the agency. Another vital function is to monitor expenditure and ensure that the budgets are not exceeded without authority.

The marketing and sales objectives of the company will have been agreed with the agency at the outset of their appointment, it will be necessary for them to report back, on a regular basis, the progress toward the goals set out at the beginning. To maintain the flow of accurate information between your company and the agency it will be necessary to hold regular meetings with all concerned, in particular the Marketing and Sales directors from the company should attend such meetings and from the agency the overall Account Director and the Creative Director. Without these senior people no new initiatives can be formulated or enacted. In the early stages probably this will be once a week but fortnightly thereafter. At all times the decision takers must be kept informed of progress so that adjustments can be made quickly to react to market changes.

It would be wise to construct identical progress charts that are kept in the offices of both the agency and the company so that everyone knows what is happening at any given time. Review meetings should be held at suitably agreed intervals and any longer term changes agreed and planned into the critical path towards the objectives of the campaign. At all times the flow of market intelligence between agency and company should be considered a high priority.

Learn more about this author, Derek Rogers.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about How to manage your PR agency for maximum success?
We want to hear your view. Write now!