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The Ghost of Bad PR Practices lives on...
Following my recent piece for PRmoment.com on the ‘Ten PR sins you must not commit’, I received countless emails and tweets from the PR community and juniors in particular. While it was great to know people felt so strongly about the pressure of cold calling journalists, I felt rather sad and slightly appalled by the sheer volume of responses confirming this still takes place.
In an industry that sets great store by measurement and where we should take pride in the work we do and subsequent results achieved for clients, it’s a real shame such outdated practices survive.
For those of you who haven’t read ‘Raging against the PR machine’, I bemoaned the ridiculous practice of senior PRs forcing junior members of staff to humiliate themselves by calling up journalists to ask if they had received press releases.
Yet, it appears the Ghost of Bad PR Practices lives on. Worse still, these days it is so much harder to make a stand. When I refused to make these calls I knew I could walk into another job the next day. It’s not the same now. Listening to the horror stories of how tough it is to get your first job in PR was a sobering experience.
I’d be interested to find out why senior PRs still believe there is any real value to be had in carrying on with a procedure that only serves to alienate and antagonise its target audience – never mind the fact that it’s soul destroying for the junior members of their team.
- Tags: Good and Bad PR, journalism, PR, PR Sins
About the Author
Gina Sharp
Gina Sharp has always been ahead of the public relations curve. Not that she planned it like that. At 20 she talked her way into a job at one of Europe’s first high tech public relations firms, BIPR in London, where she became the agency’s youngest ever account director. She helped to create brands such as Epson, NCR, IBM, Neve Electronics, Bose, Sony UK, Sun Alliance, Shiva, Pace, Fujitsu and Sage. When the agency was acquired by the Shandwick Group two years later, it gave her the opportunity to gain wider experience, devising pan-European campaigns for multinationals. However, because Gina wouldn’t conform, she came up against agency hierarchy that she regularly sidestepped in her clients’ best interests. This approach did exasperate her management team and her in-house nickname of ‘the little revolutionary’ stuck. However, the clients appreciated the difference.
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