The following post on the Mediations site – Julian Henry in the Guardian – tipped me off to a rather extraordinary polemic about PR.
According to Mr Henry:
Most of the major
PR agencies in the UK construct their business around writing
strategies, drawing up Q&As, drafting positioning statements,
scripting advertorials, collating briefing packs, printing press kits
and countless other bits of waffle that underpin our daily trade. This
rationalising process gets charged to the clients, who in most cases
seem happy to pay for it…Get rid of all this stuff and you would demolish half the industry at a single sweep…
If you were to reduce the role of the PR consultant to its most
basic function what do you have? The man or woman on the phone whose
job is simply to offer a description of their client’s product in a
topical, creative and engaging way.
Now let’s take a look at Mr Henry’s own company website: "Henry’s House has a full time staff of 20 executives with experience and skills in media relations, strategy and brand planning.
We are big thinkers with extensive brand experience". (My emphasis). Based on his own analysis, does that mean he will be firing 10 people this afternoon – namely his own personnel involved in "countless other bits of waffle that underpin our daily trade."
Perhaps his clients will be pleased to know that they’ve been spending money on such "waffle."