The Business of Influence: Reframing Marketing and PR for the Digital Age

External Agency and Partners

According to Steve Earl, Managing Director of Speed Communications (jointly with Stephen Waddington who we quoted earlier), the majority of organizations have no idea how to procure marketing and PR services, and I have to say he is not a lone voice in expressing such frustration. And I agreed with him again when he intimated that in-house marketing teams have hardly changed in three decades beyond recruiting some people with the word ‘digital’ in their job title. I feel his dissatisfaction that his team isn’t always allowed to deliver the full benefits it could in every instance, in collaborating with the in-house team seamlessly. His sentiment to me in writing this book is simply: ‘hope you’ve cracked it!’

One of the OIPM’s responsibilities is to review existing agency and partners for their suitability in executing the influence strategy. The communication and training role of the OIPM extends beyond employees, and this is particularly pertinent during the early years when such discussion may be the first time an organization’s partners encounter the Influence Scorecard. Of course, consultants are equally as likely to be the ones raising it with clients.

From an agency perspective, gone are the days when an ad agency can acceptably offer up one of their ad prescriptions, or a PR agency one of their standard media relations campaigns. Same old same old, in unaccountable isolation, at least in comparison to the Influence Scorecard.

So, in response ...