A few weeks out of the agency has made me to discover so much that an agency does better than the Corporates.
One of the strongest quality of an agency is their ability to identify and cultivate mutual beneficial relationships with influencers.This used to be confined to “the media” but now includes bloggers,twipple, Facebook Group admins,and even You tube specialists.
They are also good at spotting and pocking their nostrils in all communications both private and public. (e.g., “we noticed someone on Facebook has a beef with ; and they have 4000 friends, let’s respond ASAP with a note like " We are sorry for the inconvenience caused we will resolve the anomaly shortly"
Their big picture thinking is also evident by the virtue that they work on several lines of business at a time, which provides a perspective that is commonly missed on in-house communication teams.They will probably be able to cross-pollinate the different clients to get mass publicity for all. This can help you if your name is even remotely associated with other large, well-known, good companies.
They also seem to be good at writing,making follow-up. And reporting results be it financial or brand audits.
Though rare, good PR companies have mounds of examples and/or experience they can draw upon to generate new ideas to help your company get out of its PR comfort zone.
A good publicist should know what works, what doesn't, and can probably find new and creative ideas that you never thought of.
In conclusion the Agency should be the organizations PARTNER, they should be given the chance to handle assignments ranging from Social Media Marketing Strategy, to Policy Development & Training, to Outreach & Response,
Thats why they end up being becoming the unofficial voice of the corporation because they can impact on customer service,Business strategy or even Sales.
