Guest article: Matt Baldwin, Coast
There is a challenge facing PR and comms teams in professional services firms.
Some practice areas always seem to be the media’s best friends, and some are, well, just difficult.
We all know that employment, tax, intellectual property, real estate are relatively easy to secure good press. There is often that all-important human-interest element or quirk that grabs attention.
After all, who doesn’t like to read about families falling out over an inheritance, frustrations surrounding planning regulations or Colin the Caterpillar.
But what about audit, litigation, public law, corporate finance? There are plenty more.
Yes, there are those transactional moments – and for some teams that might be enough. For corporate finance teams, celebrating deals done pretty much does the job.
Yet that can still leave a huge gap in a firm’s media profile. This perception gap is often at odds with a firm’s revenue make-up. If a firm says it is a ‘litigation powerhouse’, its media profile needs to back that up.
And then there is the internal politics. Teams that have a quiet media profile are rarely quiet internally. Any shortcomings – perceived or real – will land, sooner or later, on the CMO or PR chief’s desk.
It does not help that internal PR and comms teams are pulled in every direction. They can all too easily find themselves without the time to give to these more challenging practices. And time is what they need.
So how do you solve a problem like audit or litigation?
Start by digging under the skin of these ‘difficult’ practices. You will find they are not so challenging after all.
For example, consider audit as about governance, risk, ESG reporting and credibility. Litigation as reputation, crisis and regulatory scrutiny. Break it down and it doesn’t seem quite so difficult.
Here are four tips to help unlock those challenging practice areas.
1. Find the tension
Transactional teams are episodic, moving from one deal to the next. Tension is ongoing. Discover what keeps clients of those teams awake at night.
2. Start small
You don’t need to involve the whole team. Find your stars and start with them. Others almost always follow.
3. Two (or three) big things
Consider a campaign-led approach. Do two or three things well each year and repeat. Consistency builds reputation.
4. Build slow-burn authority
Don’t expect change overnight. Maintain activity over longer periods of time. Its impact will be felt.
And finally, add discipline. Spend time with those teams, get under their skin and understand the relationships they have with have with clients.
It is often the perfect standalone project to hand to an external media relations agency. It is focused, defined and with clear outcomes. With specialist support on your side, you then have those not so difficult teams onside too.
Because if you can win over the difficult teams, everything else will fall into place.
Matt Baldwin is the joint managing director of Coast, a media relations agency.
