Helping PR agencies grasp a MASSIVE opportunity

A one-day course that helps you get an advantage over the competition.
And pick up more work from your existing clients.

Take a browse through the case studies of the world’s most awarded marketing campaigns and you might notice that they all have one thing in common: they brag about how much PR coverage they’ve received. 

Every single one of them.

The best campaigns from the best ad agencies are designed to grab a disproportionate share of attention. Which is obviously the natural domain of PR agencies. I’d like to show you how you can get some of that action for yourself.

I’ve developed a one-day session to teach your team the skills and knowledge that will help them take advantage of this opportunity. 

How to have massive marketing ideas

A one-day immersive training session that builds concrete skills on how to generate big brand ideas

 

You may think that advertising ideas are wildly diverse and coming up with them is a dark art. But when you look at the most awarded work, you’ll start to see patterns. And you’ll see that PR is a vital element in their success. In fact, for many of them, PR is central to the idea itself.

In this session, we’ll look at some recent award-winning work and dissect it to find out what makes it so good. We’ll learn from it to generate prompts we can use to create our own work. And we’ll spend time applying these learnings to come up with our own ideas (maybe even for a live brief).

We’ll spend time discussing how you can apply this to your own business to open up more opportunities and get more interesting briefs from your clients.

Because this is about business, not just fluffy creative waffle.

What You'll Learn

  • How to come up with award-worthy marketing ideas
  • Techniques to get to ideas more effectively
  • Habits that will transform the ideas you have
  • How to judge ideas more effectively
  • How to use these approaches to benefit your business

 

How you'll benefit

  • Practical approaches on how to attract more work
  • The ability to have more impactful ideas
  • Ongoing habits that will improve creative abilities
  • Ideas on a live brief (if you choose) 
  • Copies of my book ‘How To Get To Great Ideas’

This workshop is designed for up to 12 attendees. That’s the best size for maximum benefits.

OTHER WAYS I CAN HELP YOU

If you’re serious about this opportunity, I can help you beyond the training course.
Here are more ways I can make an impact on your business.

Advising

I can work on a longer-term basis with agencies that are committed to elevating their creative skills. I advise on every aspect of the business that has an impact on people’s ability to have great ideas.

Workshops

I often get called upon to help companies run idea-generation sessions when they’re working on important projects or pitches. I’ve done this for PR agencies in the past. We always get a batch of good ideas.

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Training

I have a number of other training sessions that can help your business.  I teach strategy, presentation skills and how to manage teams for great ideas. Some agencies also ask me to train their clients.

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Talks

I have a number of talks that demystify creativity and innovation. As well as being entertaining and informative, they always leave audiences with practical takeaways they can apply to their day job.

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY

It’s not just me who sees this opportunity.

A few years ago Ben Titchmarsh, Director at Propeller Group, wrote about the issue in The Drum. His piece, titled “A PR postcard from Cannes Lions: Why do PR companies so rarely win?”,  described how nearly two-thirds of the entries in the PR categories were from ad agencies. And that not a single UK PR agency picked up an award in the year he wrote the article.

He then posed the challenging question: “Are many sections of the PR industry failing to evolve at precisely the point the wider marketing sector is ever more successfully embracing a real time, PR methodology?” 

Last year, the Cannes PR category was dominated by non-PR agencies yet again, so clearly the issue hasn’t been dealt with yet.

Recently, PR Week also wrote an article on this exact issue titled “‘Encourage more risk’ – PR’s battle to promote creativity”. In it they revealed the results of a survey conducted on PR leaders from across the industry. The results were rather interesting.

Respondents believed that 95% of clients recognised the creative value of PR. Thats great, right? However, only 50% thought that PR agencies were adept at fostering and encouraging creativity. So how can the industry take advantage of the opportunity?

Dan Glover, co-founder of The Academy, says that agencies need more confidence. “If you back your big ideas, clients will too, ” he said. And Lotte Jones, creative partner at Freuds, advised agencies to “Forget the confines of traditional PR and [don’t] be restricted by tactics of yesteryear”.

And this isn’t a new topic for the industry.

I’ll leave you with what some smart PR leaders were saying about this ten years ago. Because it’s every bit as relevant for agencies today.

"We have the chance for the first time in history to be the primary source of ideas for our clients. Clients are looking for new ways to reach their audiences and they don’t care where those ideas come from."

Fred Cook

President & CEO of GolinHarris

"Much more emphasis is being put on alternative ways of marketing. This shift has put a renewed evaluation of how public relations can take on a much bigger role in the marketing mix."

David Anderson

Cofounder & Managing Partner of Off Madison Ave

"There’s a huge opportunity for public relations agencies to assume the leadership position in creating innovative, integrated campaigns that ... result in a measurable up-tick in business for the brand."

Margaret Booth

CEO of M Booth & Associates

"PR buyers are looking for more return on investment. Getting coverage is not enough when you have the suspicion that your audiences don’t listen to the messages you pushed out."

Aedhmar Hynes

CEO of Text 100

"The advertising, interactive and marketing disciplines are all looking for new ways to reach the consumer and claiming expertise in the public relations space. The key question is will we adapt fast enough or cede some of our capabilities to other disciplines."

Barri Rafferty

Partner and Director of Ketchum Public Relations NY

ABOUT DAVE BIRSS

Each of these sessions is run by author and educator Dave Birss. Dave is a former advertising creative director who picked up lots of awards for his work during his years in the industry. Over the last few years, he’s been called on by a number of PR agencies – from independents to multinationals – to help them get more impactful ideas out of their teams.

Dave’s best known for teaching, speaking and writing books on creativity and innovation. But he also consults for companies to help them benefit from creative thinking..

Dave is a Visiting Professor at Kingston School of Art and has taught at universities from London to New York, Santiago to Singapore. He’s currently developing courses for LinkedIn Learning which are scheduled for release in early 2020.

"The feedback so far has been great and people are still talking about how great the sessions were."

Jose Franca, Edelman

“I don’t know anyone who’d be better at this than Dave. We’ve worked with him for years and love the way he helps people get to better ideas.”

Reuben Webb, Stein IAS

“A positive force in any organisation and someone I would highly recommend. He was also great fun to work with."

Stuart Leach, Barrister

“Dave knows what good ideas are. And how to get to them. Whatever industry you’re in, you’ll benefit from working with him. We certainly have."

Rob Morrice, Stein IAS

"Listen to Dave. He's usually right. He's also the second nicest person after your mum you'll ever meet."

Piggy Lines, Carnage Films

"The work he's done has been outstanding and he's able to communicate with clients and peers in an approachable and friendly way. I certainly hope to work more with him in the future."

Jason DaPonte, ex-BBC

"Dave is Premier League. If you get a chance to work with him, grab it and learn."

David Russell, Blue Latitude Health

TRUSTED BY BIG BUSINESSES

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