You Need to Care About Your Own Brand as Much as Your Client's Brand
After 15 years of running LBB, I can see without question that there is a link between successful creative companies and their use of PR and communications. Or, at the very least, companies/brands that spend all their time doing great work for others and don’t worry about their own brand… quite often it doesn’t end well. This bothers me massively, now more than ever! After all, the truth is, successful creative companies require good marketing and PR.
Time for a bit of a backstory. I started in advertising in the late ‘80s at Saatchi & Saatchi in London (Charlotte Street). It was an incredibly successful company at that time (and had been for a long while), and they were utter monsters of PR/comms back then. Saatchi’s brand was also as good as it got. After a time, I left Saatchi & Saatchi and started working at The Mill in Soho in its early days (I think I was employee number 45). It, like Saatchi’s, was making fantastic, innovative work and totally understood the value of not only doing that, but making as much noise as possible.
Now, when I say noise, I mean great PR. To give you an example of this, at one point I started a business within The Mill that did very well, and was creative and different. It was a tech-based thing and while we sold the product well, thanks to our amazing PR team we also got a load of press. Within a year, the industry was using this globally and we were powering entry/judging for most of the big award shows (Cannes, The Clios, D&AD etc.).
Roll forward about 25 years and it seems, sadly, that many companies (large and small) are forgetting the value of great PR/comms for their own brands. They sell it incredibly well to their clients, but seem to put such little value on it – to the point that some of the biggest brands in our business are suffering because of it. We at Little Black Book can and have measured this, and I’m here to say, please think about your own fantastic brand and the people it employs. Getting written about is important, being read about is important, and it will help your new business needs. I know a load of folk who win work this way, and we see it constantly.
To add, in these tough times, thank goodness for the many big clients and brands who’ve realised that this is a great time to market and not just cut the budget. If that happened, we would all be f*cked, on both sides of the business.
In sincerity, I really believe it’s time that many businesses start leaning on their fantastic comms teams (who do a killer job with less staff and budget, mainly). After all, even if you aren’t getting covered in the same places your clients are, I can guarantee many of your competitors will be. And, as we all know, being seen will make all the difference.
Consider these few points:
- Big ideas don’t just magically win at Cannes, The Immortals, D&AD, etc. – you have to enter the campaign first, right? It works the same way with news. No one will write about your work if they don’t see it and don’t know that you did it. So, think about news like an awards show entry and give it the same effort you do when trying to win a statue.
- Good press coverage can really help you win big awards. If the idea is read about, more people will understand how to judge it – something we have seen time and time again.
- Doing this can also help you win business. After all, we all want to work with those that are perceived as ace – a reputation that good press can build.
- Please stop saying ‘the work will speak for itself’. I’m afraid that is not quite true – it needs to be seen and found, and to be written about and spoken about.
- It’s good for company morale. Getting your great work out there and talking about your brilliant people is always appreciated internally – your coworkers want and deserve it.
- Don’t say ‘if we talk about our people, they may get poached’. Look at it this way, if you don’t help them grow and get them headlines, they may just leave anyway.
In short, be constant in talking about your brand, give it the love it requires, don’t stress about it, and just do it. Be proud of the great stuff you put blood, sweat and tears into, and let the world see it. When you do that, everyone wins, and it doesn’t take nearly as much time and money as you might expect.
Let’s take our brands more seriously. I’ll repeat this again: There is absolutely a direct link between successful, great work and good PR and marketing!
P.S. If you're already a member of LBB, make the most of it – we are genuinely here to help. And, if you're not, JOIN THE MOVEMENT!
(If you just want to chat about any of this, I’m always here and would love to hear from you, even if you disagree. You can reach me at matt@lbbonline.com)
