Managing public relations can often be difficult for PR agencies, as the amount of work that goes into promoting clients’ objectives and popularising them and their campaigns may not often get the limelight.

While a client’s leadership sets the vision and direction and provides purpose for the PR campaign, the PR agency, on the other hand, builds up the momentum on the ground and jump-starts the communication and engagement process.

So how does one decide who gets the ‘credit’ if that campaign gets a PR award?

CAMPAIGN OR IDEA?
The managing director of Spread Communications, Shamim Kassibawi, reasons: “I feel that both parties participate when making a campaign come through. When applying, they need to explain who came up with the idea, because sometimes the client comes up with the idea and the agency simply executes. However, sometimes the agency comes up with the idea and the client approves, and then the agency executes.”

If the award is based on a campaign’s PR success, obviously it would be for the agency. If the award is for the idea or the brand/product, then “I would say it is for the company”, she adds.

A recent study by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School explored how and why companies use a PR firm. The research found that the number one reason why organisations use a PR agency is for its strategic as well as its market insights.

Companies come in all sizes and so do their PR needs. Therefore, how they work with their PR firms can vary greatly. According to the US-based PR Council, a large multinational corporation, for example, may have different resources to commit to PR than a small start-up company would.

The fundamental ingredients that contribute to a strong and productive working relationship, however, are universal. Successful working partnerships are rooted in such basic principles as trust, open and honest communication, and respect. If the partnership has these elements as building blocks, both will maximise their productivity and prospects for success.

The regional account manager MENA at Clipatize, the Polish digital content agency that recently opened regional office in Dubai, Olga Vazhnichaia, takes a balanced view. “I firmly believe that agencies can gain more traction and business through real success stories rather than competitions,” she says.

“Of course,” she continues, “reviews of cases by professional jury members brings some transparency to the market and opens a discourse on creativity and service delivery levels. Yet it is the real life, day-to-day work that can build success and long-term viability for any agency.”

MEASUREMENT
The good news is that there are several ways to measure the progress of a PR campaign. The bad news is that there is no universal method of such measurement in the public relations segment.

The critical step for a client is to work with its PR firm to establish a benchmark that allows the client to track progress/success for specified criteria, whether they are media coverage, sales or enhancing the client’s reputation.

The creative director at Digital Ape, a Dubai-based digital campaign, content and marketing firm, Paul Kelly believes it’s the client who ultimately gets the credit.

“I’m a firm believer of the old adage that without the clients there’s no work and, if there’s no work, then we don’t have the creativity, ingenuity and data to enable us to further their objectives. It sounds like a cliché, but it’s really something that I think we are guilty of forgetting from time to time as we descend into self-congratulation,” he says.

In a nutshell, no matter who gets credit for the award, the bottom line is that a successful PR campaign should be closely aligned with its client’s business goals. And that is why it is only when the client succeeds that the public relations firm also succeeds.