HOW TO MAKE PR WORK FOR YOU

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Public Relations Feature Part 2
HOW TO MAKE PR WORK FOR YOU
by Tony Bradley, FCIPR, President of the CIPR
We established in the last issue that your organisation’s reputation is key to business success and
that it should be entrusted to PR professionals who have the right level of training and
experience to manage it.
But how do you find the right public relations advisor? Do you employ a
freelance practitioner; PR consultancy; or in-house practitioner? How do
you ensure the money you spend on PR is money well spent?
When businesses run into PR teething troubles it’s often because of
misunderstandings about the role of PR and what it’s expected to achieve.
the most significant thing you can do to ensure you get the best from your
PR is to be very clear on why you want to use public relations in the first
place.
So, brief your PR provider on your needs and expectations, and together
set clear and measurable public relations objectives that are aligned to
your business goals – do you want to change attitudes, raise awareness
or increase sales? That way, you’re both very clear about the results you
want from your PR.
Put PR at the centre of your business strategy and decision-making
processes. As expert communicators, public relations professionals are
ideally placed to advise you on how different audiences feel about you
and how they will react to your business strategy.
They can play a crucial role in identifying emerging issues and handling
them before they become crises. And it’s much more effective to take
advice and deal with potential problems early. Don’t wait until things go
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wrong before calling on a PR professional to help to sort it out. It’s
unfortunate, but true, that many businesses only really wake up to the
true value of PR once a crisis is looming.
Make sure you’ve got the right professional with the relevant training and
experience for the job. Ask what continuous professional development
they’ve done to keep their skills and knowledge up to date. Ask to see
evidence of their achievements.
Above all, check they are members of the Chartered Institute of Public
Relations and have signed up to the CIPR Code of Conduct.
Finally, make sure the ‘chemistry’ is right – that you feel comfortable
working with this person and you are happy to trust them with
confidential business information. After all, you’ll be working closely
together and they’ll be managing one of your most precious business
assets, your reputation.
To help you find the right PR professional for the job, the CIPR offers a
‘match maker’ service. For more information about this and the CIPR visit
www.cipr.co.uk
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Tony Bradley, FCIPR,
President of the CIPR
Tony Bradley FCIPR is President of the CIPR and a partner in Newcastlebased Bradley O'Mahoney Public Relations.
Public Relations Directory
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Description
Regions Covered
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Description
Regions Covered
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Description
Regions Covered
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Description
Regions Covered
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Description
Regions Covered
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Description
Regions Covered
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Description
Regions Covered
Louise French Communications
0113 242 4999
www.lfcomms.co.uk
[email protected]
Business to Business PR - specialists in the Property
sector
Based in Leeds - UK Wide
Pebble Communications
01322 624535
www.pebblecommunications.co.uk
[email protected]
CIPR member specialising in PR for SMEs. Fixed
price packages.
UK
ISIS Communications
01737 248 300
www.isiscomms.com
[email protected]
Specialists in Business to Business, Shipping &
Transport
Surrey - UK Wide
Niland PR Ltd
01772 768706
www.nilandpr.co.uk
[email protected]
Successful & cost-effective PR, newsletter &
copywriting service tailored to your needs & budget
North West- UK Wide
WSK Marketing Communications Limited
01622 840011
www.wskmarketingcommunications.com
[email protected]
Attention grabbing - It's what we do for all our
Description
clients!
Regions Covered Kent/UK-wide
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Lea Graham Associates Ltd
01444 235475
www.leagraham.com
[email protected]
20 Years of Professional PR & Marketing Services
Description
Regions Covered Sussex - UK Wide - International
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
The PR People
0161 976 2729
[email protected]
Media campaigns, news releases, features, brochures,
internal or customer magazines.
Regions Covered Manchester & Cheshire - UK Wide
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Description
In-house Associates Ltd
07748 770103
www.inhouse.uk.net
[email protected]
Description
Public Relations, Direct Marketing, Event Management
& Mystery Shopping
Regions Covered South West - UK Wide
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
LBW Communications
01295 275079
www.lbwcommunications.com
[email protected]
Specialists in PR/internal communications/writing
Description
and writing training
Regions Covered Thames Valley - UK Wide
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Media Outcomes
0845 058 9429
www.mediaoutcomes.co.uk
[email protected]
Description
Listening, engaging & delivering bespoke PR
solutions for small businesses
Regions Covered Northants/ Leices - UK - International
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Description
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Urban Telegraph Public Relations
01829 771020
www.urbantelegraphpr.com
[email protected]
Offering press coverage, lead generation,
product/company launches, ad-hoc or fee-based.
North West England, The Midlands and North
Wales.
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Simply MarComms Ltd
0870 199 4044
www.simplymarcomms.co.uk
[email protected]
B2B PR/Marcomms – big results from small
budgets!
Coventry - UK Wide
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
AM Communications (CIPR Member)
0131 445 7334
www.amcomms.co.uk
[email protected]
Practical Public Relations and Communications
Training Packages for SMEs.
East of Scotland - UK Wide
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
CreAD Media Ltd
01379 870876
www.cread.co.uk
[email protected]
Description
Creation Assembly & Delivery of Business
Communications
Regions Covered East Anglia- UK Wide- International
The Words Workshop Ltd
01908 695500
www.thewordsworkshop.co.uk
[email protected]
Description
Save money on advertising with a well-managed PR
campaign
Regions Covered Nationally
RGPR
01765 640736
[email protected]
Focusing on corporate & business 2 business media
relations programmes.
Regions Covered Yorkshire
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
David Winpenny Public Relations Ltd
01765 607641
www.winpennypr.co.uk
[email protected]
Description
Experts in the written word for media relations
Regions Covered North Yorkshire - UK Wide
REDPEAR
020 7033 9990
http://www.redpear.co.uk
[email protected]
Description
Public relations to help you achieve your commercial
objectives
Regions Covered UK and International
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
Howard Dobson Press & PR
01677 450518
www.howarddobson.co.uk
[email protected]
Press releases, distribution to key press, features, web
Description
editing, newsletters
Regions Covered Yorkshire - UK Wide
Company Name
Tel:
Website/ Email:
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Cameo Communications
01442 878588
www.cameo-communications.com
[email protected]
Description
PR for B2B and B2C SME’s. CIPR Accredited Practitioner
Regions Covered Hertfordshire
Cargo Cult Communications Ltd
0207 292 3610
www.cargocult-communications.co.uk
[email protected]
Description
Cargo Cult Communications is a fashion, interiors
consumer PR agency.
Regions Covered London - UK Wide
www.businessnetworkmagazine.com • December/January 2007
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