As we come to the end of the first month of 2016, I have been reflecting on 2015 and the amazing new clients that we have won across the year – and also, of course, on those that we didn’t! Although new country brand PR business pitches are just a part of agency life (you win some, you lose some), I never envisaged that after all the energy and time the team and I invested into creating fabulous ideas, a company would use those ideas in some shape or form – even though they didn’t go with us as an agency.
Seeing your ideas implementing by someone else (and in a comparatively shoddy way) and losing all impact in the press is frustrating and so to protect ourselves we have already put steps in place to help deter this growing practice, but I think what we have found most disappointing is the gut feel that perhaps some brands really have no intention of appointing a PR agency, but will happily use our time (and others’) to “brainstorm” FOC for their brands.
Sadly for the brands concerned, they seem to be unable to see the benefit of appointing the creative agency who came up with the ideas that they liked so much, and the fact that such an agency would know how to implement them properly and get the best results out of them… And of course, also keep creating more and more great ideas.
We are always thrilled when a company contacts us with a new business enquiry and with our new pitch protection plan in place, we’re looking forward to expanding our country brand PR client base with more quality brands who not only share our vision, but will also embrace our creative intellect, knowing that it won’t run low!
