Could YOU cut it at a hot new London PR agency?
What is it about start-up London PR agencies that makes them so appealing? You might think joining one could be a risky move. Smaller and younger, with a shorter track record, it’s easy to see why long-established agencies might feel like a safer bet, even if the economy does seem to be emerging from the doldrums.
When it comes to recruiting, however, competition for jobs with the newbies is fierce and we never struggle to fill their roles. So, what’s the appeal? We talked to three of the hottest new agencies in town to find out why they are so sought-after and what it takes to land a job there.
The 2013 PRCA census reports a leap in the percentage of agencies with a turnover under £500k (small agencies with up to around five people), up from 14% in 2011 to 25% in 2013. Agencies reporting a turnover of between £500k and £1m also rose, from 14% in 2011 to 19% in 2013, suggesting a big rise in the number of new agencies and significant growth in the sector.
Fresh! Shiny! New!
Part of the allure of a new agency is the entrepreneurial vision and energy that drives them. Working on the assumption that you don’t set up a PR agency for no particular reason, we asked our contributors what inspired them to establish their own company.
“I got frustrated with poor quality thinking and ideas in the PR agency world and knew there was a better way of doing things. We’re not trying to be ‘iteratively better’ than other leading agencies, we want to get beyond the banal and the obvious,” says Kaper founder, Chris McCafferty. “We work with clients who see PR as a commercial tool, not a publicity tool. We’re the antidote to the clichés other agencies rely on.”
Co-creation is the driving force for Surname and Surname, established by Kev O’Sullivan and Lotte Jones. “We deliver creative and strategic thinking in equal measure. We’re passionate about co-creation where we work directly with our clients’ audiences to generate ideas we know will work. It’s a highly successful approach for clients from a wide range of sectors.”
The rise of social and the blending of media channels is what inspired Dan Neale to set up Alfred with business partner Gemma Pears. “We could see the comms landscape changing rapidly with the explosion of social and we saw a very clear opportunity. Agencies and clients have been trying to get PR and social to play nice for a few years but no-one has really cracked it. We’ve created a truly integrated agency with digital in its DNA from the outset.”
Wanted: enquiring minds
Three exciting, unique and very distinct approaches, but what they do have in common is the qualities they look for in their staff. In a small, fast-growing agency there’s no room for passengers, everyone has to contribute. Challenging, energetic, curious, passionate, intelligent and questioning are qualities they are all looking for. Most PRs would probably say they were smart and proactive but why the need to have such enquiring minds?
“Each member of the team is a significant part of the business so we expect a huge amount. They have to perform over and above what other companies demand,” explains Chris McCafferty. He continues, “We also want all our people to be commercially minded, it’s part and parcel of being in a growth business. You just don’t get that exposure in a larger agency, you don’t feel the commercials to the same degree.”
Kev O’Sullivan agrees, “We can’t allow for weak links, we have important brands and identities to preserve so any recruit needs to roll his or her sleeves up and deliver. We only hire truly passionate people – there’s nowhere for the lazy or ambivalent to hide.”
“People that are self-starters and can think for themselves are like gold dust,” says Dan Neale. “We look for individuals who are challengers, prepared to get stuck into everything, care about what they’re doing and want to achieve.”
Working for a hot new agency: pros and cons
So, what’s it like to actually work for a new agency? We spoke to several candidates we recently placed in new and thriving agencies to find out.
Pros:
- You work closely with the senior members of the team and get greater exposure to clients, which means you learn a lot and you learn fast
- A fresh approach – there’s no ‘this is the way we’ve always done it’
- A flatter structure / lack of hierarchy means you can make a valuable contribution whoever you are – your ideas are valued just as highly as anyone else’s
- Exciting, fearless new brands are attracted to exciting, fearless new agencies because they are both challenging the status quo, so you can really push the creative boundaries in a way established brands rarely match because you’re less risk-averse
- Lack of internal politics – it’s a really close-knit team with a shared vision and shared objectives so there’s a real sense of camaraderie
Cons:
- You may not have the luxury of access to in-house specialist support teams – e.g. creative, HR, finance – you have to do a lot more yourself
- If you’re very status conscious / fixated on your job description it might not be for you – you may be asked to deliver tasks that you perceive as better suited to a junior / the cleaner with a smile on your face
- Smaller budgets and a tighter focus on financials mean perks such as regular team lunches and cars home may be a thing of the past
- Less management – this may be a positive but if you’re someone who needs their hand held or likes to be micro-managed, you probably won’t get that level of detailed support in a busy new agency
If this has clarified that you’re looking for a new challenge, whether that’s in an entrepreneurial start-up or a more established agency, contact Workfish on hello@workfish.co.uk.
A big thank you to the candidates who were candid about life in a new agency, especially Jenny Carter at Light Brigade.
Quiz: Could YOU cut it a hot new London PR agency?
1. What’s your 2014 work resolution?
- To find a rut and get stuck in.
- To reject the status quo, challenge yourself and your clients to reach higher goals.
- Darling, resolutions are soooo last year, I already work hard. Nuff said.
2. A client calls at 5.28pm on a Friday asking for a costed proposal by Monday morning. Do you…
- Immediately flush your phone down the nearest toilet creating a failsafe reason for not picking up their message.
- Talk to the client and get the deadline extended to lunchtime. Get the message out to the team, have a quick brainstorm, divide the brief and get in early on Monday to pull it all together.
- Re-engineer something you tried to sell to another client and pass it off as original – it was good the first time round, why reinvent the wheel?
3. You’re on your way to a big meeting when your co-presenting colleague calls in sick. What do you do?
- Actually, you’re feeling a bit queasy yourself – must be something going around. Best call the office and get them to cancel it for you while you get yourself home to bed….
- Do the whole meeting yourself – you work as such a tight team you know it all backwards and if you cancel it will just slow everything up.
- Cancel the meeting and reschedule – it’ll keep.
4. A client wants to run a story that seems completely wrong for the strategy you’re working on, do you:
- Do it anyway. They’re the client, it’s their choice. If they want to pour their money down the drain who are you to stop them?
- Interrogate the client to establish why they want to run the story – maybe they are under pressure from someone who doesn’t ‘get’ the strategy.
- Just say no – they never know what’s good for them anyway.
How did you get on?
Mostly As
Never call us. EVER.
Mostly Bs
You’re the bomb! Call us immediately!
Mostly Cs
You need to relight your fire. Call us for a chat and we’ll see if you just need a change of scene.
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About the Author: Lorraine Barker
