5 Important Values

Never has the PR industry been as competitive as it is now. A good PR agency must consider the changing media landscape. Where once this might have been focused on getting coverage in print magazines, the shift to digital has fast gathered momentum. You only have to look at how many print magazines have closed their doors in the last few years – it is becoming clear that consumers value online media more than print. That is not to say that print media should be ignored – it still has its place in our world, and I for one hope it continues to do so. The feel of reading a magazine cover to cover cannot be replicated by scrolling endlessly through a news feed on a phone.

We understand that, used side by side, both print and online coverage help to boost brand awareness if the right audience is targeted. Bleat PR was founded in 2001 when Kathryn Lamb saw an opportunity to provide a more transparent PR service than the one she had used herself. She understood that PR was not just about providing a glossy report at the end of the month – PR is about providing results. The foundations she laid nearly 20 years ago still stand strong with the work that we complete on behalf of our clients, and can be broken down into 5 segments:

Trust

Trust is integral to any PR campaign – long or short. The client needs to trust that an agency will provide what they have asked for. The agency needs to trust that the client has been honest with communicating expectations and that they will provide what they have agreed to. The journalists need to trust that an agency will send them relevant pitches and products. The agency needs to trust the journalists to work with them to get the key brand messaging across. Trust is prevalent across every aspect of PR and is the one thing that we work on every day. We build relationships based on trust – both with clients and with journalists. It is part of the reason we have client relationships that span decades.

Honesty

Honesty is important in all walks of life, but especially so in any PR relationship. Our clients know we will be honest with them – it means they can rely on us to deliver what we say we will. There is no ‘fluff’ in our existing client relationships. Honesty goes hand in hand with trust, and the combination of both means that we can plan and execute campaigns that we know will benefit a brand in the long run. Trying to work with a brand without honesty and trust is a bit like trying to put a square peg in a round hole – it doesn’t work.

Flexibility

Our long-term clients know that we offer flexibility – whether that is the hours that we work, the number of review products we can have for a media campaign or the option to build a bespoke package that works just for them. We don’t believe that one size fits all when it comes to PR and as such are constantly looking at the ways we work and how we can improve. We are used to promoting a brand as a whole, or just one specific product – we work with each of our clients to develop an understanding on what works for them and are happy to revise this at any point. We are always on call for whatever a journalist may need – we accepted long ago that everyone has different working hours, and if that means getting an image over to someone at 10pm at night then that is what we do!

Creativity

An integral part of working in any part of public relations is creativity. Whether that is product pitching, developing new media relations, social media or more, it is important to be creative and build a story depending on who the product or brand is being aimed at. For example, different media outlets have a different audience, therefore it is important to enhance the brand or features according to who will be seeing it. We are constantly looking at how we can place brands and products and reach different audiences – this means we achieve continuous coverage for our client’s month on month, all helping to build a brand image.

Results

Results are just as important to us as they are to our clients. We want to get the best coverage we can and will always strive to maximise each opportunity. We never sit at our desks twiddling our thumbs – we push for outreach every day. We are constantly in touch with journalists from all different genres looking for new opportunities for where we can work with them. We work extremely hard and have helped to build brands from the ground up and establish them firmly in their identified market.

If these sound like values you would like working with you, please contact us to discuss how we can work with your brand to tell its story.