What the Flack? Greer Bland
Greer Bland started working as the senior accounts manager at Undertow Media 10 years ago. Today, Greer has worked her way up to managing director as well as co-director of Liquorice NZ.
Greer has worked with clients such as Bondi Sands, Better Beer, Logitech, Instax, the Salvation Army and Dulux. Creating gold standard communications campaigns, experiences and social media content that appeal to the consumer of the brands.
LBB> Tell us about your current role and what you do?
Greer> I’m the managing director of NZ public relations and influencer agency Undertow Media.
LBB> And how did you get to where you are today?
Greer> Undertow used to operate in Australia (now part of Bastion group) and I ran its consumer division over there. When I went to move back to Aotearoa, we conjured up a NZ business and got to work. Since the sale of Undertow Aus (and subsequent name change) to Bastion back in 2015, I’ve taken ownership entirely of Undertow.
LBB> What does your average day look like?
Greer> Every day is different though I tend to start very early, around 530am and clear my emails, sort a plan for the day with some non-negotiables, do something I’ve been ostriching about and then it’s usually head down either working through strategies for clients, meeting new ones, and rallying the team to keep making things happen for the brands in their care. I’m not a late-night worker, so prefer to do the hard stuff first.
LBB> For your organisation, what is the key function of PR and comms? Is it about company culture? Attracting clients? Empowering talent? Something else?
Greer> We personally didn’t do any marketing on ourselves until just a couple of months ago, as there certainly is a lot to be said for doing an epic job and people hearing about you that way which is how we’ve achieved the level of growth to date. We do prefer to fly under the radar (hence our name), though I think PR and comms do play a significant role in actually celebrating the wins and showing your category trump cards as well as giving a nod to the people that contributed to the campaign’s success.
LBB> PR has always been about finding the story / finding the angle. What is your process for staying ahead of the content curve and serving up something fresh and engaging?
Greer> Being all across youth through to Boomer culture trends, and thinking very carefully about how different generations consume is key to our success. We make it our business to find out who orbits with who, what patterns we see that others might not, and of course, where the blindspots are from competitors in the industry that provide the gap for our clients to win. Unfortunately, to be really good at PR this does mean you are always, always on as something as mundane as watching people at a supermarket can give a ‘tell’ or spark an idea that frames a whole campaign.
LBB> Historically Advertising folk have a very different relationship with the media, especially the press, than PR folk. Advertising is about buying ad space and being able to dictate how and where something is presented - that’s a degree of control you can barely dream of in PR. Does that tension still exist, and if so how do you navigate that tension?
Greer> Yes that tension certainly does still exist. Being asked by advertising agency partners to simply provide a ‘fame’ idea to support their creative isn’t going to fly, and too often than not we find that ad people have misinformed the marketing department of what PR can achieve. PR and advertising do work very well together (note, PR always needs to come first!), but more often than not the actual execution for both looks quite different and we believe being in the room from the very get go is key to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Of course in this age, a blended approach to media can also provide so much more value and open more doors (rightly or wrongly!) for editorial, particularly in consumer land.
LBB> To what extent do you feel 'the work speaks for itself'? To what stage of growth can a business rely on this mantra to gain more clients?
Greer> We have run by this mantra, and good people follow good people. We’ve had multiple clients take us from role to role as they’ve clambered up the ladder, and we are often approached by brands from our core industries that have seen our work, heard about our ‘frank but effective’ style and are keen to get involved. I would say that the same applies to a lot of service based industries, but there is always smart plays any company can do that sets you apart and makes people ‘choose’ your brand (beyond a price metric) and this is what PR adds. It’s reputation and ‘need, want, now’ mentality.
LBB> When it comes to getting coverage/PR for a creative campaign in the consumer press, how should creative teams go about working with their agency’s comms and PR experts?
Greer> Open briefs that talk to what their business challenge is, what the problem is that their business fixes, and a clear outcome in mind as to what success looks like from the PR relationship, plus an upfront discussion on funds available. We don’t beat around the bush and can find solutions (or realign them) for most briefs but we simply won’t take on projects that can’t articulate these four things.
LBB> When a business is faced with very bad news, what’s the key to getting through it?
Greer> Fess up, front up and fix it!
LBB> Generally speaking, how do you approach the hack/flack relationship?
Greer> Build good relationships from the get go, nurture them, be persistent and give them something that’s useful in the format (and this is key as every media/medium is different) that makes things as easy as possible for them to do their job.
LBB> What are the most useful tools in the arsenal of a PR / comms professional working in advertising / creative industries right now?
Greer> Being able to write, being well-read and being tenacious are key.
LBB> In your opinion, how has the role of a PR / Comms professional evolved during your career span ? Have things changed greatly or do core tasks / principles remain the same?
Greer> I think the 24/7 news cycle really came into effect while I was coming up, and obviously, social has offered up a whole new dimension to this which can be rather relentless.
LBB> What frustrates you about the way the media and PR have changed over the years?
Greer> Publications that are in effect a glorified catalogue and very rarely publish content without either payment or some large in-kind relationship frustrate me, not because they shouldn’t be able to do it, but the consumer should be very aware via disclosure that this is the business they run (i.e. cash for comment). We have a firm belief that the rules and regulations that have been placed on influencer disclosure in NZ do not match the same standard as traditional media, which seems unfair and needs serious reworking.
LBB> And what excites you?
Greer> I love that PR agencies were first to market in identifying the influencer realm and how they would translate into the real world too. With smart social and earned media/PR and activations, this trifecta is arguably producing some of the smartest work we see nowadays and almost every ‘all agency’ brief we receive has a decent weighting on genuine influencers and how to harness their power to effect change these days.
