What the Flack? Why No 2 Days Are the Same in PR with Victoria Fairclough
Victoria Fairclough is global communications director at Wavemaker and PR consultant at Fair Communications.
LBB> Tell us about your current role and what you do?
Victoria> I’m global communications director at Wavemaker – and I also work as a freelance PR consultant for a raft of small and medium advertising technology companies.
LBB> And how did you get to where you are today?
Victoria> I started my career making TV programmes for ITV. I worked in the Plymouth-based Westcountry regional office - in the features department. We got to visit beautiful gardens, antique shops, local vineyards and film in some of the most stunning locations in the South West, including the Isles of Scilly. It was, even to this day, the best job I’ve ever had. It was a fun ever-changing role with a brilliant group of colleagues – many who are still friends 20 years later.
I worked my way up from runner to assistant producer – and even trained to be a studio director – I really wanted to direct Top of the Pops! I’d been interested in the media industry for years – gobbling up my monthly Empire magazine and honing my DJ skills (!) at the local hospital radio and then later student radio at university. I got to know the PR team at ITV Westcountry and they kindly gave me an opportunity to learn more – which was the other side of the coin to TV production - so I had a lot of transferable skills.
LBB> What does your average day look like?
Victoria> The joy of PR is that no two days are the same. Some days involve lots of writing including thought-leadership articles, social media posts and press releases. Other days can be out and about meeting journalists or catching up with key spokespeople or clients. Tonight, I’m hosting a media dinner for a group of journalists and spokespeople which should be fun – and is a great way to get people together informally. I love that PR is so varied – and you never really know what’s next – despite my best efforts to plan everything to the hilt.
LBB> For your organisation, what is the key function of PR and comms? Is it about company culture? Attracting clients? Empowering talent? Something else?
Victoria> I work with a variety of the clients and for most of them attracting new business is typically their top priority. PR can help by sharing expertise and leadership to benefit business reputation, sharing news about new business wins, new campaigns or new hires and ensuring journalists understand the business and why it’s important for the wider industry.
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?
Victoria> Regularly talking to journalists and experts in certain areas for example retail media, technology innovation or addressability to find out what's new and what trends they’re watching. Reading absolutely everything I can that’s written in the press. Trying to stay across the latest trends, topics or technology is a constant battle – but always incredibly interesting. PR is about taking incredibly complex topics and simplifying them for mass consumption – so it’s important to understand as much detail as possible to do this effectively.
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?
Victoria> I’m pro collaboration and taking an omnichannel approach which typically delivers the best campaign results for any business, product or service. PR, like digital advertising, out of home or tapping into social media influencers, can deliver good standalone results but if the same message is relayed to customers across a range of media channels it makes the result more impactful. Also, if a brand is investing a lot in certain media channels – there can be ways to leverage that or find a supplementary PR story. I’d always advise CMOs or marketing teams to ensure the PR folk are at the table from the start of campaign planning because we have ways to help elevate and enhance paid for activity. We’re all trying to achieve the same goal, so in my view, it shouldn’t be a tension fueled competition but a team effort.
LBB> And what other common misconception do you advertising/production people have about comms and PR?
Victoria> That it’s all very fluffy! Great PR can dramatically impact the reputation of a business or person for the better – we can elevate messaging, ad campaigns and people far beyond advertising campaigns. In the event of a crisis, your PR team will be at the coalface fighting the fire – not the advertising team. We can find the stories that both advertising and content teams are looking for – and help to create quality on message content. Not tapping into your PR team is short-sighted at best and misguided at worst. It’s often the only team, other than the leadership team, which has a helicopter view of the entire business as well as key industry trends and what journalists are looking to write about. Don’t underestimate them!
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?
Victoria> PR is a slow burn – if you want fast results then paid for is the way to go – but if you want to build a consistently excellent reputation and be known for a certain skill set then PR is well worth the investment. Just one piece of press coverage can generate a multitude of new business enquiries for a client – or help to attract that expert they’ve been trying to recruit. PR delivers a regular drumbeat of activity which over the longer term delivers big results. It’s about staying top of mind regularly, rather than big ad hoc bursts of action. It works at every stage of the business lifecycle. I work with smaller startups and big multinational companies – they all benefit from a good reputation and consistent presence. And, of course, the work always speaks for itself.
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?
Victoria> Involve the PR team at the start of the process so they understand the goals, process and outcomes that you’re trying to achieve. Share as much information with the PR team as possible. The more information they have – the easier it is to generate creative PR ideas to support the campaign. Pictures are a must – and behind the scenes always a good angle too – so ensure you generate brilliant visual assets for the PR team to use too.
LBB> When a business is faced with very bad news, what’s the key to getting through it?
Victoria> Preparation is key. Great crisis communications is based on endless preparation – planning for the worst case scenario so you’re ready when it happens. There are of course issues that you can’t anticipate, for example a global pandemic or cyberattack, but you can get your ducks in a row ahead of time for the big issues that could come your way. Typically, health and safety, IT teams and senior leaders plan for most incidents – so my message is to involve the PR team. Forewarned is forearmed. Also, PR people are not psychic so share information with them well before the issue escalates. Too often they’re the last team to be looped in during a crisis – by which point little can be done to rectify the reputational damage.
LBB> Generally speaking, how do you approach the hack/flack relationship?
Victoria> Positively. I wanted to be a journalist back in the day and I have a lot of respect for quality responsible journalism. It’s a tough gig and getting tougher every day. We need to protect and support our quality news outlets in the face of a daily barrage of misinformation. I try to be as helpful and collaborative as possible – I want to make their job easier, avoid wasting their time and ensure they understand complex topics. It’s also important to read what they write about and understand their patch.
LBB> How does doing comms/PR/marketing for the advertising/production [as appropriate] world differ from any other industry you’ve worked in?
Victoria> I’ve worked in TV, consumer, corporate, food and a raft of other industries and disciplines. The basics don’t really change – just the publications and journalists.
LBB> What are the most useful tools in the arsenal of a PR / comms professional working in advertising / creative industries right now?
Victoria> I’d like to say writing – and I do love writing – but really it’s good working relationships. In PR, you live and die by the information and expertise you have access to, and the journalists who answer your emails. Most PR requests within a business are over and above someone’s typical day job – from the CEO or subject matter specialist to media buyer or new business teams – PR isn’t typically top of their to-do list. Equally journalists are busy - so we need to interrupt their day with consideration. We constantly need to demonstrate the value of what we’re asking for - the value to them personally, their team and the wider business / publication - and be easy to work with / make it easy for them.
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?
Victoria> When I started working in PR we were cutting out press articles from newspapers and pasting them into coverage books – so technology has helped with some of the more dreary admin tasks. Newspapers and magazines have been squeezed horribly and there are far fewer pages and opportunities for PRs to tap into than ever before. Previously, you could call journalists on the phone to pitch ideas – which was sometimes terrifying. I lost count of the number of times a journalist swore at me down the phone when I was wide eyed twenty something starting out in my PR career. So yes, it’s changed dramatically but the core of sharing compelling news and building positive working relationships with journalists remains much the same.
LBB> What frustrates you about the way the media and PR have changed over the years?
Victoria> The demise of quality journalism and quality publications.
LBB> And what excites you?
Victoria> Seeing the article or news I’ve worked on for weeks or sometimes months run in a publication. Whether it’s online or in print - it still gives me a huge sense of pride. Many people don’t realise how work intensive PR can be - but the results are incredibly rewarding.
In terms of the future of PR, I’m excited to see how AI might change the way we work - and at the very least help speed up the admin tasks like transcription and coverage collation. Which thankfully it’s already doing! Businesses and people will always need support around thinking outside the box, good working relationships, mining stories and reputation management among other PR contributions, so I’m confident we’ll all still have jobs in 20 years. But how will AI impact the media we consume, the way we write (articles and books), develop strategies, create successful businesses and impact the way we work? I’m fascinated to see how it all unfolds - for better or worse.
