60 minutes with Scott Wilson, MD Consumer Marketing, Weber Shandwick

The public relations industry has had a hard time of late. Hindered by a crippling economic downturn, and faced with increasingly savvy clients, the life of a PR has never been tougher. Couple this with a trend shift towards project work and increasing pressure from clients to deliver integrated campaigns, it seems as though nothing in the industry is the same any more. Here, leading online PR publication, Gorkanapr talks to, MD of Consumer Marketing at Weber Shandwick, Scott Wilson about these issues and other topics currently affecting the PR industry.

Hello Scott. Thanks for taking the time to speak to Gorkanapr today.
No problem, it’s always a pleasure.

Let’s start out by addressing the biggie – digital and social media. You were a hack back in the days of typewriters and visors and the massive culture shift towards social media must have been a huge upheaval for both hacks and flaks. How is Weber Shandwick, and the industry as a whole, dealing with this revolution?
You are right about everything except the visor. Digital and social media is now an inescapable part of our personal and business lives;  and at Weber Shandwick we’ve got an approach called “Inline” that moves beyond the point where we talk about online communications in pure-play digital versus classic offline media relations. If you think about it, one neither lives one’s life solely online or offline and we now need to develop a strategic planning process that is effectively “in-line” between the two. So it’s merely reflecting the comms challenge of what our consumers are actually doing in their daily lives.

We are launching some new research later this year which is looking at consumer profiles across Europe and the UK. I can’t say too much at this point but it will be looking at how and when consumers make those critical purchasing decisions from a channel perspective, and the interrelation of different channels.  What I will say though is I do think it genuinely show that the “in-line” approach works. Our  Inline proposition is being taken on by Weber Shandwick globally which I think is a good indicator of both the strength of the thinking, as well as how digital and social media is now at the heart of consumer marketing in general.

Indeed. But has the rise of social media had any direct affect on the PR and marketing process in any way?
One of the impacts of digital marketing and the rise of digital/social media has been to make clients question how they spend their marketing dollars more effectively so they can hit the “sweet spot” in terms of their consumer base. I think in the old days it was a lot easier because to hit 50% of the population a marketer would simply buy the ad break in the middle of Coronation Street. One of the challenges (and opportunities) now in PR is to build a campaign around the sophisticated media planning tools that are available that will allow you to target a distinct group. We are fortunate to have a Head of Strategic Planning here at WS and she brings with her an intellectual rigour in planning that was once the preserve of the advertising industry.

What about the over-50s? The Daily Mail loves waxing lyrical about “Silver Surfers” but surely they are in danger of being left behind as PRs target the trendier 20- and 30-somethings? 
The over-50s (or O50s) is an interesting consumer segment and at Weber Shandwick we’ve actually got a dedicated specialism called 050 with lots of experience with this group. Their digital usage may differ markedly from the 20 to 35-year old groups but their relevance should not be undervalued. The impact of the consumer downturn means that those lucky few sitting on final salary pensions and who may have benefited from the housing boom are the very people with the most disposable income right now. Clients and agencies would be mad to ignore them.

I do think that we will see growing brand interest in the 050 audience, triggered by the downturn but also by their increased adoption/acceptance of social media. Some consumer companies have been very quick to anticipate the 050 market and going forward you’re going to see other brands too such as automotive and premium brands turning towards O50s. Youth has and will always be fashionable and punch above its weight in terms of setting trends. But I think now we’re reaching a tipping point when the goods and services associated with a good lifestyle are available largely to an older and wealthier demographic.

Interesting. But despite the rise of social media (which some have labelled “the wild west of technology”), has the economic crisis stifled any potential creativity as clients shy away from risky campaigns?
Well I have to admit I’m seeing a lot of clients at the moment who are more nervous about getting it right than they have ever been. So yes, at the moment we’re seeing more clients who are risk averse in creative terms. I just think clients are getting smarter and savvier. These days, if you talk to a client with a specific target in mind, they want to know if you have relevant experience and can demonstrate the measurable impact a campaign delivered.

The reality this year is that clients with potentially reduced budgets have fallen back a little bit and are happy to just cover the mandatories rather than maybe pushing the boat out and allowing the agency to suggest new, game-changing ideas. That wasn’t the case a year ago. I do wonder if we are seeing the first green shoots though, and whether we’ll see a return to clients willing to take a bit of a risk, as well as agencies going to a client with bigger and bolder ideas. However, I don’t think 2009 will go down as being as creatively rich or fertile previous PR years.

On a more positive side, the very agency/client dynamic has, however, changed. A few years ago it was often a case of client meeting agency across the table, but this has given way to a much more collaborative way of working.  The vast majority of my clients are keen to work together with agencies and words like partnership and collective success are much more prevalent this year.

Which leads me seamlessly onto my next question – the humdinger about consolidation. Its been a buzz word for some time in PR, along with integration. How do you see this developing?
The current economic climate has certainly had an impact on, and fuelled in many cases, the rise in consolidation and integration. I don’t think I have ever seen so many clients talking about the role of PR in terms of media neutral or 360o marketing. It means on one hand that as an industry, we need to develop a wider understanding of the role PR plays in clients’ marketing ideas but it also means we get to talk to the “grown-ups” in organisations. We’re now having conversations at the highest level as client decision makers begin to realise the value that an integrated marketing solution can bring. We are now planning integrated programmes from scratch with advertising partners and integrated multi-agency briefings. It’s not necessarily cheaper or faster but if you get it right, the outputs and impact can be  fantastic. When it works well, consumers or clients don’t care if it was  a PR programme, an ad campaign or a brand experience  because it’s all of those things plus digital which is at the heart of everything now.

Integration has been given a surprise boost by the economic conditions and I can honestly say that the trend is here to stay.

And while we’re on hot topics, I couldn’t leave without asking the retainers v project work debate. It’s all anyone seems to talk about these days...
Well it’s an important topic Nick. There is the ongoing debate about project work and retained client relationships and both models have their virtues. Being partners with your client rather than the organisation that your client merely works for requires you to understand their business quickly and appreciate the wider trends. The days of long retainers have gone out the window and in my opinion, that’s a good thing  because buttoned-down retained programmes signed off in November and delivered to plan over 12 months  are rooted in  a slightly more sedentary and predictable world.  In terms of which is better, it’s not for me to say. But one thing the economic crisis has done is made us all a little bit more accountable for the last project or campaign we did, and a little bit more honest in terms of client service excellence. So in that respect, I think the project structure is a good system.

And finally, how about a few thoughts on the current product placement debate which is likely to have a huge impact on PRs in one way or another?
The product placement (PP) debate is a very interesting one. Currently the big discussion is around whether the future of PP is best served by the PR industry or the media buying industry. My answer would be neither as actually its somewhere in between. The rules on PP are effectively out on a 3 month consultation at the moment although by the end of the year I predict that [Culture Secretary] Ben Bradshaw will announce that paid-for PP on commercial TV in the UK will go ahead.

At Weber Shandwick Consumer we’re lucky to have a great, well-established PP business in the form of Rogers & Cowan. Incidentally some of their best clients are other PR agencies, which is interesting. But what will be really interesting is just how much control brands that are paying to be featured on a TV show will be able to exert over the editorial content of that show. I think it’ll be fascinating to see how the introduction of paid-for either does or does not establish a degree of brand editorial control. To be honest, this is probably the most exciting time in PP for a generation.

It certainly seems that way. Thanks very much for speaking to Gorkana Scott.
Anytime.

Scott Wilson, MD of Consumer Marketing at Weber Shandwick, was speaking to Gorkanapr Consumer News Manager Nick Thorpe.