Sponsored by 3 Monkeys Communications Research and editorial by PRmoment

An analysis of the changing roles and skill-sets required by in-house PR teams today

Future Proofing In-house PR Teams

Future Proofing In-House PR Teams

3Contents

ContentsIntroduction .................................................................................................................................................4

Who responded? .........................................................................................................................................5

Why Public Relations has become a business critical function ................................................................................6

A skills audit of in-house PR teams ....................................................................................................................8

What are the most important skills for in-house teams in PR today? ...................................................................... 10

You’ve changed! The evolution of in-house PR teams ......................................................................................... 12

Future 2020 in-house teams ........................................................................................................................ 15

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 16

The future of in-house teams ......................................................................................................................... 17

The agency perspective – Angie Moxham, Chief Monkey ................................................................................. 18

Future Proofing In-House PR Teams

Public relations is changing and therefore the skill sets of in-house PR teams are

also changing.

When it is done well, public relations is a vital business tool for today’s

networked world. Public relations practitioners can now have a greater, and more

immediate, impact on their employers’ business than their predecessors. However,

this is an environment of risk and reward. The rewards from good communications

are much greater; but if public relations people get it wrong, the results can be

very serious for their future careers and the organisation they work for.

One critical group for the future of public relations are in-house PR teams, and

specifically the leaders of these teams. It is upon these people’s shoulders that

the rest of the public relations world relies on to showcase the business impact of

great communications.

This report reveals the priorities of in-house communicators today. We will discuss

how PR has become a business critical function, why the impact of integrated

and centralised communications has increased, and how the skill sets of PR teams

have evolved.

Methodology

During September and October 2014, PRmoment and 3 Monkeys Communications

invited senior in-house communicators to respond to an online survey hosted by

independent research firm Censuswide. This quantitative research was then overlaid

by qualitative research in the form of 10 telephone interviews with senior in-house

PR leaders.102 people completed the combined online and telephone research.

Who responded?

Introduction

Fig 1. What best describes your job title?

30%Head of Press

27%Head of Communications

22%Press Officer 11%

Director of Communications4%

Other

3%Director of Marketing

3%Head of Marketing

2%Head of Digital

5

3%Utilities

3%Creative industries

1%Travel and

tourism

17%Professional/

business services

3%Construction and manufacturing

10%Financial

11%Third sector

14%Technology

3%Retail

22%Public sector

4%Pharma/Health

10%Other

Fig 2. Which best describes the sector you work in?

21% 21%

14%

22%

10%

None

Up to 50k Up to 100kUp to 500k

Up to 1 million

Over 1 million13%

Fig 1. Number of employees in in-house PR/Communications teams

18% 3 - 5

8% 2

11% just me

25% 6 - 9

3% 50 - 99

7% 35 - 49

8% 20 - 34

17% 10 - 19

Who responded?

Fig 2. Which best describes the sector you work in? Fig 3. Number of employees in in-house PR/Communications teams

Fig 4. What is your annual budget?

Who responded?

Future Proofing In-House PR Teams

For as long as anyone can remember public relations people have longed for a seat

at the top table. Frankly, this is a slightly frustrating mind-set. You can’t ask for a seat

on the board and you can’t ask to be trusted; you have to earn it.

Why Public Relations has become a business critical function

More81.90%

Less18.10%

Fig x. Is PR becoming more or less valued? 67%Yes, more than the last few years

31%It has maintained the same

level of seriousness

3%No, less seriously than previously

Fig x. Is PR becoming more or less valued?

Fig 5. Is PR becoming more or less valued?

The second is the need and desire for companies to uphold their reputation by

behaving ethically so that they are trusted by the public, their employees and

their customers. This has meant that the public relations department’s profile has

increased internally; they are the ethical compass of the business. An effective PR

department means that an organisation makes balanced decisions, not solely based

on increased profits and decreased costs.

Fig 6. Is PR taken seriously at Board level?

Two things have happened that have enabled public relations

practitioners to earn the trust of their corporate peers. The first

is digital communications. The transparency and traceability of

digital has enabled PR to show its impact.

7

The following quotes are from a series of interviews conducted with in-house PR leaders. They describe how PR teams today must contribute to the businesses’ objectives, and how

communicators must link their content and channel engagement to commercial results:

Why Public Relations has become a Business Critical Function

“We view ourselves more as reputational managers rather than PR

managers. You need to think about how you can disintermediate your

communications so you’re not reliant on media to deliver it for you.”

Andy Smith, Head of Media Relations & Employee Communications,

Santander

PR is becoming more important as a corporate function. Corporate

reputation is becoming better understood at the C-Suite level, including

how much PR can contribute to the business, in terms of what a good

reputation can deliver.“

Will Spiers, Global Public Relations Director, GE Healthcare

“Within this business the role (of PR) is about helping to create

centralised communications that are used in every single channel, so not

just media relations but the help and support goes out to our front line

teams in retail, customer service and digital, and to our B2B account

managers, for small businesses and corporate.“

Howard Jones, Senior PR Manager, EE

“The role of in-house communicators, more than ever before, is to hold

the business to account. We are the conduits to the outside world and

we can raise early warning flags to deliver change internally“.

Gareth Mead, Head of Media Relations at Virgin Media

Future Proofing In-House PR Teams

Like many business sectors, it is tempting for public relations to be very self-critical.

Self-criticism is healthy, but it also needs to be balanced.

There is a tendency for public relations practitioners to be relatively downbeat about

the extent to which they have embraced the new reality - a world networked by

social media and connected by digital communications.

However, many of the trends shown in this report indicate that public relations has

come a long way in a short space of time. Clearly PR will continue to evolve, and

let’s not pretend corporate communications has reached some sort of utopia, but if

you would compare skill sets and practices of public relations in-house teams today

to those of three to five years ago there is a massive change.

That said, the most in demand skills sets for PR people are the core functions of

good media relations and the ability to write. So it seems if you cannot create

good written content, or you are unable to empathise and build relationships with

journalists, you are unlikely to have a successful in-house career in public relations.

A skills audit of in-house PR teams

Media relations experience/contacts

Excellent copywriting

Strategy and planning

Social media content creation skills

Creativity

Integrated communications

Stakeholder management

Internal communications

Social media monitoring and channel management

Brand knowledge

Agency management

Public affairs

People management

Leadership

Video/multi-media production

Wider marketing skills

Knowledge of SEO

88%

68%

50%

39%

38%

36%

30%

24%

22%

22%

14%

13%

11%

8%

6%

6%

4%27%Activation

36%Content

29%Strategy/planning

Fig 7. Time spent on activities

Fig 8. What skills/knowledge are the most valuable in your team?

9

When it comes to the most common personality types in in-house PR teams, people

who are open-minded, get stuck in and learn by doing are the most prevalent (50%

Activists), followed by those with a realistic view of the world and who put ideas

into action (28% Pragmatists). Less common are Reflectors (6%) and Theorists (7%),

which may be a result of the fast-paced nature of communications and the need to

learn on the go and ‘fail forward’.

50%Activist

28%Pragmatist

10%None of

the above

7%Theorist

6%Reflector

Activist

Activists are those people who learn by doing. Activists need to get their

hands dirty, to dive in with both feet first. Have an open-minded approach

to learning, involving themselves fully and without bias in new experiences.

Theorist

These learners like to understand the theory behind the actions. They need

models, concepts and facts in order to engage in the learning process.

Prefer to analyse and synthesise, drawing new information into a systematic

and logical ‘theory’.

Pragmatist

These people need to be able to see how to put the learning into practice

in the real world. Abstract concepts and games are of limited use unless

they can see a way to put the ideas into action in their lives. Experimenters,

trying out new ideas, theories and techniques to see if they work .

Reflector

These people learn by observing and thinking about what happened. They

may avoid leaping in and prefer to watch from the side lines. Prefer to

stand back and view experiences from a number of different perspectives,

collecting data and taking the time to work towards an appropriate

conclusion.

A skills audit of in-house PR teams

Fig 9. What are the most common characteristics in your PR team?

Future Proofing In-House PR Teams

What are the most important skills for in-house teams in PR today?

Quotes from our qualitative research:

“There are two key skill sets that I search for when I am looking through

CVs. One is evidence of some sort of sales experience. I think the ability to

have the confidence in selling is absolutely critical. The other skill set usually

derives from journalism. Writing, clearly, but it may be more broadcast

than print.”

Gareth Mead, Head of Media Relations, Virgin Media

“Communication, communication, communication. I think this means

having a certain level of confidence. PR people shouldn’t just pigeon hole

themselves in thinking that PR is all about press relations. PR managers

should see themselves as communications managers and be open to using

all the tools that are available to them. I am obviously thinking of social

media as a key part of that.”

Perveen Akhtar, UK PR Manager Business & Consumer, Intel Corporation

“In-house you have to think of all the other stakeholders that are in the

business you are working in. You must also manage the potentially different

expectations of those stakeholders. The different ways you communicate

between those two groups is a real skill.”

Howard Jones, Senior PR Manager, EE

“It feels like patience today (laughs). But obviously it is the ability to

translate complex messages into a format that will make sense to the media

and the public so as to protect and promote your organisation.”

Dee Cotgrove, Communications Director, Met Office

“I am going to be controversial and not say social media. I think initiative,

common sense and clarity of communication.”

Alistair Smith, Managing Director, Corporate Communications - Group,

Barclays

“I would say getting to the essence of the story, opportunity spotting, risk

spotting and building advocacy in others. You have to multiply what you do

to have an effect.”

Guy Middleton, Head of Corporate Communications, Three UK

“The ability to provide advice and counsel is becoming more and more

important. I think communicators now are positioning themselves as

advisors rather than implementers. So it is no longer a service function

but more an advisory function. I think having the skill sets to win those

arguments and discussions is very important.”

Andy Smith, Head of Media Relations & Employee Communications,

Santander

11What are the most important skills for in-house teams in PR today?

The role of the in-house public relations person has changed from relationship

building and communicating with journalists to a two-way engagement, multichannel

approach with numerous stakeholders. Modern public relations must incorporate

active listening and proactive, tailored communications with channel specific

content. Communicators today must understand the content consumption habits

of their audiences and ensure they align the objectives of the communications

campaign and their company.

Public relations has become far more complicated today than in the past. This

increased complexity requires a multi-layered approach, channel specific content,

and C-suite buy-in to the role and the importance of public relations.

Most in-house PR people today need to demonstrate that they have an impact upon

the sales channels of their businesses and, increasingly, this requires an integrated

approach alongside the rest of the marketing communications mix.

“I would say that it is integrated marketing communications and digital

capability. If you are a PR person that is only focused on media relations

then you are really missing a trick. For me it is being able to look across

the wider comms/marketing mix. I think PR nowadays has an integrated

marketing communications skill set that maybe other traditional areas like

advertising don’t have anymore. It means content creation, understanding

of both on and offline channels and I think it means the ability to be able

to connect the dots. I think you have to have a really strong understanding

of messaging. And, as always, the ability to be the voice of the customer is

absolutely critical.”

Wander Bruijel, Head of Brand, Communications & Digital UK & Ireland,

Philips

Future Proofing In-House PR Teams

You’ve changed! The evolution of in-house PR teams

The ability to make business better

The trend has been for in-house public relations teams to manage an increased

scope of their role. Nowhere has this enlarged responsibility been more evident

than in the financial services sector where businesses have faced a consumer

backlash because of the financial crisis. As a result, financial services firms have

prioritised, invested in and increased in size their communications departments.

The increased breadth of the communications function is evidenced by Santander’s

Andy Smith, Head of Media Relations & Employee Communications, when he points

out that one of his responsibilities is to liaise with the risk department because:

“Reputational risks are one of the things the FSA insist on you reporting on. So I get

four or five reports every week asking “if banks do this does it carry a reputational

risk?” and I have to make an assessment.”

When you consider that this is happening alongside the product and brand

communications, it demonstrates the extent of activity within a modern PR

department.

Greater insight will create improved products and improved organisation results

In any job, if you don’t know why you’re doing an activity it should cause you,

your team and indeed your boss great concern. For too long some in-house public

relations professionals have not been concise or sufficiently accurate in their

analytics and measurement relative to their objectives. The trends already discussed

in this report - namely digital technologies, social channels, two way stakeholder

engagement and the importance of content - combined with the recent difficult

economic times have meant that in-house public relations leaders must now show

how their performance has impacted on the business objectives.

When asked what departments she had the most amount of contact with, Perveen

Akhtar, UK PR Manager Business & Consumer of Intel Corporation says: “In the UK

we work in very close collaboration with marketing, and we are also very strongly

aligned with the sales guys.”

The improved opportunity for impact, transparency and the improved speed of

analytical feedback has meant campaigns can be adjusted and messaging altered

very quickly. There is also potential for stakeholder communications to feed into

product development. This trend is clearest when a company’s customer relations

department, product team and communications department communicate daily

to improve products and services. This is another example of public relations’

increasing importance to business.

13

Integration as standard

Integration has become critical in any marketing communications campaign and

our research indicates that in-house teams are perhaps ahead of many agencies

in this regard. The advantages to companies when ensuring their messaging and

communications are part of the connected and integrated campaign are pretty clear,

both from an effectiveness and from a cost saving perspective.

You’ve changed! The evolution of in-house PR teams

The need, therefore, for in-house communicators to liaise with marketing, customer

services departments and product teams is clear. The evidence in this report

suggests that this co-ordination between in-house departments is happening, when

relevant. This is clearly a very positive change.

The extent of integration does depend on the objectives of the communications

department. If your objective is to help the business sell stuff, then increased

co-ordination with marketing may be necessary. However, if your primary goal is,

as a communications department, to uphold the reputation of the business, you are

far more likely to require daily interaction with the CEO.

When asked which internal department he had the most contact with, Will Spiers,

Global Public Relations Director, GE Healthcare states that: “It really depends where

you sit. I would say the product marketing guys would be first for most (people)

but not for me. For the corporate PR team it is mostly the CEO or the business

leadership. But for my whole team the balance would be my commercial guys. It

would be more the product marketing teams.”

Med

ia re

latio

ns

Exte

rnal

cop

y

Inte

grat

ed c

omm

s

Idea

s ge

nera

tion

Soci

al m

edia

(mul

ti m

edia

)

Issue

s

Even

ts

Inte

rnal

cop

y

Soci

al m

anag

emen

t

Inte

rnal

com

ms

Agen

cy m

anag

emen

t

Com

mun

ity re

latio

ns

Stra

tegi

c co

nsul

tanc

y

Publ

ic a

ffairs

Spon

sorsh

ips

72%68%

90%

61%

49%

39%36% 36%

32% 31%

24%22%

21%17%

83%

Fig 10. What are the most important activities for in-house PR people?

Future Proofing In-House PR Teams

38%Sales

49%Marketing

61%The Board

60%Digital/Social Media

22%Product

Development

39%Human Resources

55%Customer Service

2%Research &

Development

Fig 11. What departments/teams do you work most closely with? Weekly & daily contact:

ConsumersBusinessesCorporate/The City

Business & Consumers

Consumers and businessEducation

Legal, political

Local community

Patients

Public, and policy-specific partnersResidents

Stakeholder organisations & industry bodies

Stakeholders

Students

The general public

The publicTrade unionUK population

Fig 12. Primary audiences for in-house PR teams

15Future 2020 in-house teams

Surprisingly, given the increased scope of most modern communications departments,

only 25% of in-house leaders believe that their teams will grow in the next 3-5 years.

68% said that their departments were likely to remain the same.

Future 2020 in-house teams

65%

25% 25%

15% 15%

10% 10%

30% 30%

Media relations

Social media content creation skills

Creativity

Video/multi-media production

Integrated communications

Social media monitoring

and channel management

Strategy and

planning

Public affairs Others

The quantitative research suggested that in-house teams spent the most amount of

their time on strategy and planning while they were most likely to outsource media

relations (65%), social media content creation (30%) and creativity (30%.) These are

interesting trends and have implications for the agency market.

PR agencies presumably want to move up the value chain, and PR agency revenue

growth and recruitment trends would suggest that they are succeeding in this

approach. However, the data in this report suggests that the strategy is likely to be

completed in-house, implementation is more likely to be outsourced.

Fig 13. What work will you outsource to agencies over the next 2-5 years?

Future Proofing In-House PR Teams

Conclusion

The type of personalities that were most common in PR teams was very revealing.

According to this research Activists make the best PR people. By definition

“Activists need to get their hands dirty, to dive in with both feet first. Have an

open-minded approach to learning, involving themselves fully and without bias in

new experiences.” While all teams require a balance, bearing in mind that PR is

a business function that is in transition, the fact that Activists are prominent, should

perhaps not come as a surprise.

There are some macro trends that mean that the in-house public relations

departments must have a wider scope of influence. These macro trends include

digital technologies, the rise of social networking and the importance of creating

engaging content.

New technologies have increased the potential of public relations to help the C-suite

improve a business or organisation. Two way engagement, made possible through

digital and social technologies, has amplified the importance of PR as a business

tool. This has meant that communications can improve products and identify market

opportunities.

The integration of marketing has never been more important and there is no doubt

that good public relations can empower marketing to make it far more effective.

While the potential of public relations as a business tool to help create income has

never been greater, it is also true to say that the role of PR as a protector of the

business is more important than ever.

17

The future of in-house teams Quotes from our qualitative research

The future of in-house teams

“Social media has had a massive impact on PR. Most good practitioners

have adapted and got on board; but PR is going to change even more.

There is a real debate brewing about the whole paid vs earned media

and PR is very much at the centre of that. The boundaries and lines are

beginning to get blurred. In-house PRs who work with marketing teams

have got an opportunity to influence the message of paid content. PR is in

a position of influence to build a narrative and a message that is credible.”

Perveen Akhtar, UK PR Manager Business & Consumer, Intel Corporation

“If you’ve got a background in PR you are in a good place because you

should have the skill set and ability to look across various channels. Free

publicity, (and I hate to use that phrase), has become about integrating

content and messaging across multiple channels. PR people through their

experience, education and by their very nature, are the voice of the

external customer or consumer and that is a skill that translates across all

these different channels.”

Wander Bruijel, Head of Brand, Communications & Digital UK & Ireland,

Philips

“The experience of the last 7/8 years has shown that your communications

and PR are enormously important. Therefore PR is more strategically

important than it was pre-crises, especially because people have seen what

confidence and reputation, or lack of, can do.”

Alistair Smith, Managing Director, Corporate Communications - Group,

Barclays

“PR will become more integrated with digital and online. The blurring of the

lines between things will continue.”

Mark Smith, PR and Public Affairs Manager, Deloitte LLP

“I don’t think PR has changed at all. I still think it is there to protect and

promote an organisation. But where it has been enhanced is in the power

it has to do that - such as the tools that social media has afforded us -

because in PR we can now talk directly to the public and hold the media to

account in a way we were never able to do pre-social media.”

Dee Cotgrove, Communications Director, Met Office

Future Proofing In-House PR Teams

The agency perspective – Angie Moxham, Chief Monkey

How have you found the demands of clients have changed since 3 Monkeys started in 2003?

For 3 Monkeys, the demands haven’t changed in essence; more the channels of influence.

We’ve always offered and been asked to deliver strategic reputational counsel and delivery

through earned channels. In 2003 this was clearly more geared towards traditional earned

media. As social and digital channels have grown exponentially, so has our and our clients’

thinking and propositions. I don’t think our discipline has matured, more our stakeholders’

understanding of the importance and role of PR. This has again been helped by the rise of

social and digital channels. With these channels, there’s nowhere to hide; and that’s where

the ability to understand and deliver the science and art of storytelling and influence – PR’s

core skill – is the most pivotal and critical for a business, brand or individual’s reputation.

How have agencies adapted their client services to this change?

Of course; massively. We’re now offering complete end to end storytelling services,

sometimes through the line. The line is only blurring further, so this provides a huge

opportunity and threat to PR agencies. There are many advertising and media buying

agencies now offering earned media capabilities too. It will be fascinating, challenging -

and fun - to watch how this plays out over time.

How do you see the PR agency: client relationship evolving over the next 2/3 years?

For enlightened clients, more proper partnering so that consultancies are truly integrated

into the business and the other marketing and communications disciplines, boardroom to

newsroom. I also think clients will look to buy more specific services rather than one, all-

encompassing offer – be that strategic planning, creative concept development, or simply

outsourced community management or news room services.

How has the need for multi-channel engagement changed the nature of public relations?

I think it has put PR more front and centre of newsroom marketing and communications.

In increasing instances, we’re the lens through which all marketing and communication

is shone. That’s because we’re the experts at advising on what’s best in class, in both

appropriate and joined up content, since we get storytelling better than any other

discipline. This comes from years of being in the saddle with the world’s most cynical media

who require a compelling elevator story pitch; quickly followed by a robust retort to a

challenging Spanish Inquisition about the story we’re trying to land. We have the potential

customer perspectives nailed before we even get out of the block. PR thinking is unique in

the marketing communications mix since it has to promote and protect in equal measures.

How can public relations agencies help businesses create end-to-end engagement with their external customers?

By allowing us all - in house and consultancy side), to be privy to and counsel on all

marketing and communications. Good clients brief all their agencies in the same room at

the same and sensible time, and welcome challenge from all disciplines and perspectives.

In this model, full integration is achieved, both in terms of compelling, consistent content,

and multi/multiple-channel activation.

19Conclusion

Watch this space…

w w w. 3 - m o n k e y s . c o . u k