by Herman Manson (@marklives) marcusbrewster Public Relations is rolling out a new on-demand PR service which will match a large, curated pool of communications professionals with brands requiring communication expertise on a short-term or project basis. According to managing director Andre Fourie, it aligns the agency to changes being wrought by technology in the communications industry.
Changing trends
Tech and changing trends in employment — specifically towards freelancing by top talent — is disrupting public and media relations as a discipline, he says. His agency wants to use its huge professional freelance base to leverage accessing a wider, more-diverse base of clients by matching client needs with specific skill-sets.
As a first step, it will allow clients to select media requirements off a menu (which also indicates cost) and match them with freelance communications professionals it feels would be a professional match. The service offering will be nimble and cost-effective, Fourie promises. Access will also be close to immediate, assisting smaller brands to access, eg, communications quickly.
The agency will also be focusing upon management consulting for venture capital raising. These clients generally don’t require long-term communication strategies.
Billed for outcomes
Clients are billed for outcomes, meaning clients will pay for what they get, rather than simply promises. He wants to position the service as a business tool with a transparent offering: both client and consultant knows what the expectations are upfront.
Fourie says that, according to the Global Communications Report conducted by Holmes Report, client-side budgets are expected to increase slowly over the next five years, by just 13% by 2020 — about 2.5% annual compound growth.
“In South Africa, we can feel how the economic slowdown has tightened the purse strings of all clients,” he continues. “Not only have budgets shrunk, clients now increasingly demand greater accountability of PR agencies, especially in terms of encouraging and assisting business development. Clients are also looking for more than just traditional or even ‘new’ (ie digital, social media) PR — they want management services, assistance with raising venture capital, business plan support, and an ever-increasing list of strategic services.”
Slow growth, coupled with changing communication needs, means agency headcount needs to be managed carefully; accessing freelancers is one way of addressing the issue.
Future plans
After the initial testing phase is over, marcusbrewster plans to invest in a technology platform matching clients and consultants directly online.
“As the examples of Uber and Airbnb have shown, the on-demand economy offers a measure of convenience and accessibility that consumers — and businesses — not only hope for but expect,” he says. “We believe the introduction of the new service model will not only bring huge value to our clients’ businesses, but also unlock an entirely new mobile workforce with skills that extend beyond traditional PR roles.
“The shift to on-demand services is inevitable, and we are proud to pioneer the first on-demand PR service model in SA.”
Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com. He was the inaugural Vodacom Social Media Journalist of the Year in 2011 and has, over his 20-year-plus career, contributed to numerous journals and websites in South Africa and abroad, including AdVantage magazine, Men’s Health, Computer World and African Communications.
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