Buying PR: Paul Callow, marketing director of Lexmark

Paul Callow, Lexmark

I have a geeky respect for the print industry dating back to the first account I ever worked on when I started in PR (Xerox). As a result I was keen to speak with Paul Callow, marketing director at Lexmark after meeting him on Twitter and see if he would take part in my buying PR series.

So after a short summer break, the series is back and Paul offers some interesting insight into the relationship between PR agency and client side.

Name and title: Paul Callow, marketing director UK & Ireland
Company and what it does: Lexmark International Ltd, manufacturer of printers and printing solutions.

Paul Stallard: Have you ever worked at a PR agency?
Paul Callow: No.

PS: What role does PR have within your marketing mix and to helping you personally?
PC: PR is vital to our communications with Customers and the various sales Channels. We have limited marketing dollars to spend so quality PR helps us get messaging out, hopefully in a concise and clear manner.

PS: What most annoys you about PR agencies?
PC: Occasionally I feel that our agency has a view on a particular subject for the sake of having a view. Generally our agency adds value through innovation, good ideas and long term experience.

PS: What are the basic skills a PR agency should have?
PC: Deep understanding of the client, it’s products and services, unique selling points and features and the client’s Customers. The agency should be well connected and up to date with the most relevant and recent communication techniques.

PS: Do you think that social media is now part of modern PR?
PC: I didn’t really until I went on a SM course a few weeks ago. Since the course I have started tweeting (hence how we met) and I can now see many ways that SM can help me get my brand in front of Customers and potential Customers. It’s cheap too!

PS: Does your PR agency help with this or do you outsource your requirements to a specialist consultancy?
PC: They help with some aspects such as training and within the terms of our contract they conduct some SM on our behalf (such as LexmarkUK on twitter).

PS: What is the one thing that PR people say that annoys you?
PC: Having an opinion on something just for the sake of it!

Buying PR: Paul Alexander, Beyond Analysis

Paul Alexander, Beyond Analysis

My Buying PR interview this week is with Paul Alexander, CEO of Beyond Analysis, a company I have heard a lot about recently. My brother in law, Jon, works there and he has kept me up to date with the work the company has been doing (read, not shut up about). For those of you who are unfamiliar with Beyond Analysis it describes itself as a leading customer insight and strategy provider that has developed a pragmatic and flexible approach to deploying data to drive competitive advantage through more informed decision-making across business operations.

Name and title: Paul Alexander, Chief Executive Officer
Company: Beyond Analysis 
 
Paul Stallard: Have you ever worked at a PR agency?
Paul Alexander: No

PS: What role does PR have within your marketing mix and to helping you personally?
PA: PR plays an important role in our sales process. The ultimate aim of any PR activity – be it writing opinion pieces, event sponsorship, speaking engagements – is to drive sales. This could be by making it easier for potential customers to find us – rather than us going out to find them – and that when we meet we don’t have to spend time explaining who we are and what we do. For me personally, our PR programme forces me to clarify my own thinking about various issues I feel passionate about, and gives me a chance to put across my point of view; we do this regularly via opinion pieces or our website.

PS: How did you choose your current agency?
PA: Through a competitive pitch process.

Buying PR: David Perry, Cognito

David Perry, Cognito

This week’s Buying PR interview is an interesting one because the marketing manager I have interviewed has a background as an analyst and journalist. Now I have worked with many marketing managers who at the start of a relationship like to tell me that they have done my job before and worked for an agency so won’t be fooled by waffle.

This is never a problem for me as they will soon find out that isn’t the way I work. That said, I haven’t worked for someone with this background before and I am sure it makes for an interesting working relationship. Especially when you consider the amount of relationships and contacts he must have already without your help.

I know David from his days at Freeform Dynamics and it was this extra twist that made me particularly interested in interviewing him.

Name and title: David Perry. Head of Marketing
Company and what it does: Cognito. Mobile Application Solutions Systems Integrator

Paul Stallard: Have you ever worked at a PR agency?
David Perry: No

PS: What role does PR have within your marketing mix and to helping you personally?
DP: Key brand building and outreach program

PS: How did you choose your current agency?
DP: Having worked as a journalist and analyst I knew lots of PRs

PS: What most annoys you about PR agencies?
DP: Churn in Account managers

PS: What are the basic skills a PR agency should have?
DP: Creativity and the desire to work hard every day for the fee

PS: What sources of news do you read religiously?
DP: San Jose Mercury news online edition, BBC website

PS: Are they the same titles that your customers read?
DP: No and yes

PS: How do you evaluate the success of your PR campaigns?
DP: Ink (physical and digital)

PS: What is the most essential skill that a PR professional should have to ensure you get a quality service from them?
DP: To understand our product and market

PS: If you had to cut either your advertising or PR budget which would you choose?
DP: Advertising every time

Previous Buying PR interviews
Ben Keene, Tribeswanted
Zak Edwards, Prezzybox.com
Helen Farrier, Samsung Electronics
Nicola Green, O2
JoAnne Hughes, Cisco
Ben Roome, Nokia Siemens Networks
Andy Lulham, Betfair
Jo Baker, Pegasystems

Buying PR – Ben Keene, Tribeswanted

Source: Ben Keene

When I dropped the latest subject of my buying PR interview a line asking if he would be interested in taking part it felt a bit like a wild shot. I had been a big fan of the documentary series, Tribewanted on BBC, and if I am honest it was the show which got me thinking about the power of a network.

The star of the show was Ben Keene, who’s quest in 2006 to create a new cross-cultural sustainable community on a Fijian island via an online social network captured international attention. Three years on Tribewanted and its Fijian partners have built their community, welcomed 1000 tribe members – who have each played a part in its development – and invested over $2m fj into the local economy.

I was interested in speaking to Ben as the PR surrounding the show was what captured my attention to start with and his interview didn’t let me down. As he says: ‘we don’t have an advertising budget, because we have good PR.’ Couldn’t have writen it better myself.

Name and title: Ben Keene, founder, Tribewanted
Company and what it does: Starting on a Fijian island, Tribewanted is building cross-cultural communities from scratch

Paul Stallard: Have you ever worked at a PR agency?
Ben Keene: No

PS: What role does PR have within your marketing mix and to helping you personally?
BK: It launched us and it continues to propel us forward. It’s given me the opportunity to meet a diverse collection of fantastic people.

Buying PR: Zak Edwards, Prezzybox.com

Source: Zak Edwards

The latest in my series of Buying PR interviews is a slightly different one. I have been working indirectly with Zak as a partner of one of my clients on a couple of media opportunities and thought he would provide a different perspective. Zak is the MD of Prezzybox.com, where they run their PR campaigns inhouse. That said, he understands the strength of working with the PR agencies of partners to help them get exposure and to also spread the word about what they are doing.

Name and title:    Zak Edwards – MD
Company and what it does:  Prezzybox.com – online gift retailer

Paul Stallard: Have you ever worked at a PR agency?
Zak Edwards: No.
    
PS: What role does PR have within your marketing mix?
ZE: We promote all new “champion products” with traditional press releases as well social networking with blogging, twittering etc. We also send out Press Releases about milestones and achievements we reach

PS: What most annoys you about PR agencies?
ZE: In my experience they promise a lot and often deliver little.

PS: What are the basic skills a PR agency should have?
ZE: Networking, organisation, flair

PS: Do you think that social media now part of modern PR?
ZE: 100% yes. Social Networking is an integral part of the online marketing mix.

Buying PR: Helen Farrier, Samsung Electronics

Source: Helen Farrier

This week’s Buying PR interview is with Halen Farrier, European PR manager at Samsung Electronics. Helen started her PR life working at an agency before moving to client side. Some of her most interesting points made during the interview are about how she chose her current PR agency and what most annoys her. In particular, the point that chemistry is one of the key factors for choosing an agency. I agree with this.

A good PR agency should not just be brilliant at what it does but also an extension of your internal team. It is essential that an in-house PR manager not only trusts the PR agency to deliver what they have promised but also enjoys working with them.

Name and title: Helen Farrier, European PR Manager
Company and what it does: Samsung Electronics, global leader in digital technologies

Paul Stallard: Have you ever worked at a PR agency?
Helen Farrier: Yes. I started my PR life at a fantastic technology PR agency where I learnt all the basics. To anyone starting out in the industry today, I would totally recommend a spell working in an agency. Most agencies have structured induction programmes and they’re a great environment to develop essential writing and media selling skills and network with peers.

PS: How did you choose your current agency?
HF: Criteria, creativity and chemistry are key factors for choosing an agency. At a European level we work with a roster of agencies who we invite to pitch for various projects. We use a scoreboard to evaluate the agency’s experience and creativity against set criteria, however chemistry and gut-instinct is usually the deciding factor.

Buying PR: Nicola Green, O2

Source: Nicola Green O2

I have particularly enjoyed working on the Buying PR series of interviews recently as it has proved to be an insightful view into client side. This week I have interviewed Nicola Green, head of media and communications at O2.

I personally think that Nicola’s answers demonstrate her passion for the industry and as someone who works client side, how important attention to detail is. Her response to why she works with a PR agency is one I agree with. “A good agency should be the extra eyes and ears of the in-house PR team.”

Please note that Nicola isn’t a client of my PR agency Berkeley PR, so there is no bias in her responses.

Name and title: Nicola Green, Head of Media and Communications, O2
What it does:  Telecommunications Company
 
Paul Stallard: Have you ever worked at a PR agency?                    
Nicola Green: Yes – I’ve worked for several. I always knew I wanted to work in PR and that I would need to have as much experience as possible. I first worked for a PR agency when I was 16 as part of my school work experience. Back in the spray mounting days!

PS: How did you choose your current agency?
NG: We actually work with several agencies, all of whom were selected following a thorough pitch process. We invite each agency to respond to a brief outlining a business problem that needs to be addressed through PR.
 
Care, creativity and chemistry. I like to understand the thought process behind the response and also like to give each agency the chance to demonstrate creativity. Chemistry is important too – getting on as a true team is really important. An agency is only as good as the people that work for it.

Buying PR: JoAnne Hughes, Cisco

Source: JoAnne Hughes

I’m delighted to introduce the PR manager for European markets at Cisco, JoAnne Hughes, as the next of my Buying PR interviews. JoAnne makes some insightful points about what she expects from her PR agency, the skills that she sees as essential and most interestingly for anyone in our industry, how she justifies spend on PR to her boss. Oh, and like me she also hates time sheets.

Please note that Cisco is not a client of Berkeley PR so there is no bias in JoAnne’s answers.

Name and title: JoAnne Hughes, PR Manager for European Markets
Company and what it does: Cisco, technology provider of networking, communications, collaboration and virtualisation solutions
 
Paul Stallard: Have you ever worked at a PR agency?
JoAnne Hughes: Yes, that’s how I started in PR full time (as opposed to doing it as part of a marcomms role). I started at a very small tech agency which I respected. They set some high standards on what good PR should be which I still try to follow today. I was on the agency side for just over 6 years before going in-house.
 
PS: How did you choose your current agency?
JH: Through having worked with them previously and knowing they have high-calibre people. 
 
PS: What are the basic skills a PR agency should have?
JH: Understanding how to communicate a story well – which means you have to have good industry insight, know what the press are interested in and be able to organize all the information into a coherent story that is expressed in good, clear English.

Buying PR – Ben Roome, Nokia Siemens Networks

Source: Ben Roome

After following him on Twitter for a while I was delighted when Ben Roome, head of media relations at Nokia Siemens Networks agreed to take part in my buying PR interviews. Please note that Nokia Siemens Networks is not a client of my technology PR agency so there is no bias in Ben’s answers.

Name and title:  Ben Roome, head of media relations
Company and what it does:  Nokia Siemens Networks. We invent, build and run the world’s most efficient and innovative telecom networks for service providers all over the world. My take is that as a company we want people to love their telecom provider, to cherish what it is they bring to their lives. That’s a challenge.

Paul Stallard: Have you ever worked at a PR agency?
Ben Roome: Yes, a couple. you can see them on my linked-in profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/benroome

PS: What role does PR have within your marketing mix and to helping you personally?
BR: PR is everything to me, it’s what I do for the company.

PS: What most annoys you about PR agencies?
BR: When I think of PR agencies – any I’ve worked at or with, now or in the past – I just don’t think in terms of what’s annoying about them as a group. I think it’s a bit lazy to bundle agencies into a monolithic entity with common characteristics. Things that annoy me in general – and this can be applied to anybody – are people involved in PR without a passion for a particular industry, or people that don’t seem to be able to empathise with whoever they’re communicating with. I’m in telecoms because its possibilities fascinate me. The technology itself blows me away and

Buying PR – Andy Lulham, Betfair

Source: Andy Lulham

Last week I spoke to Jo Baker the European PR manager at Pegasystems and this week I have continued my ‘Buying PR’ series by speaking to the UK PR manager at Betfair, Andy Lulham. Betfair is a successful Tech Track 100 company and due to the fact that it is an online company I was particularly interested to find out how Andy saw the influence of social media on modern PR.

Paul Stallard: Have you ever worked at a PR agency?
Andy Lulham: Yes, I spent almost three years working at a boutique sports agency across some fantastic accounts. Whilst I don’t consider it vital to have worked both at an agency and in-house to understand the world of PR, I do think it helps with regards to understanding the politics of the industry. I very much enjoyed working at an agency and also now as a client, although the two can be very different.

PS: What most annoys you about PR agencies?
AL: Lack of research and attention to detail.