CorpComms Magazine

(1) You're not from 'round 'ere

It is tempting to think that, armed with a media database and encouraged by the border-busting reach of the Internet and social media, you can run an international PR programme from your desk. It may be that budgetary pressures leave you no choice. But effective global corporate communications need an effective global network. There is no substitute for the local knowledge and experience of a team based in the country, or very least region, being targeted. If it is not viable to establish a multi-country in-house resource, then consider extending your international reach through a network of PR agencies, either on retainer or on a project basis if the requirement is not ongoing. Inmarsat's global corporate communications team is modest in size (a department of two), so we rely heavily on a network of ten agencies around the world, most with geographic rather than sector-specific briefs, and featuring a mixture of small independent and large Big Name agencies.

(2) Power to the people

Having established a regional presence, it is essential that the team or agency has the authority to make decisions. We treat our PR agencies like extensions of the in-house team, delegating enough power to allow them to manage a proactive media outreach, to react suitably to media enquiries, and to work directly with our regional business development teams. We selected them for their expertise, so it is only sensible to allow them to use their initiative. If nothing else, time differences dictate that approach; our Singapore agency knows it can progress activity without always waiting until the UK wakes up, for instance.

(3) The calm at the centre

That's not to say that our network of agencies has complete autonomy. One of my key roles is to supervise and guide our PR programmes around the world, working with the regional heads and the PR agencies to agree goals, approve plans and monitor the results. Certain issues can only be picked up at the centre: from ensuring consistency of messages to being aware of particular corporate sensitivities.

(4) Getting to know you

If you are co-ordinating activity across regions, you need a good insight into each region. You need to know why a press conference works in the Middle East, a roundtable is preferred in China, but one-to-one briefings are recommended in the US. You need to understand where your media are located across the country or region, because it won't always be where you expect. You need to be aware of the business environment, regulatory requirements, and customer trends. And you need to be able to judge, to use a recent example at Inmarsat, whether a press conference in Cairo attended by 40 journalists is a success or not. (Verdict: a great turnout but, were it not for a clash with an unexpected Ministerial announcement, we could have had more.)

(5) Keep in touch

Of course you must keep in regular contact with the teams or agencies in your global PR network, but it's also important to choose the form of contact. We have evolved a system of weekly conference calls with some agencies, and monthly calls with others. It depends largely on the amount of work underway in the region. This is in addition to daily contact via email and phone. People talk of a 'Crackberry culture', but my day always starts and ends with responding to emails from around the world, and it would be difficult to manage otherwise.

(6) Share resources

The administrative side of running international corporate communications is a major task in itself. In a fast moving business, you could find yourself constantly sending updated corporate profiles, biographies, photography, press releases, briefing notes, Q&As and other materials around your network. To improve the efficiency of information sharing, we use an online document management system, into which we upload all the latest material for the agencies to access when they need; again, often outside of normal UK office hours.

(7) Putting a face to a name

So you have complete faith in your regional team or agency, and you've worked out the best way to maintain contact and provide resources. That's enough, right? No, you still need to visit them: at least once a year, preferably more if distance and budget permit. The last time they saw you should not be when they were recruited or when they pitched. Spending time with the team or agency is invaluable. Briefings are most effective when delivered in person, and working relationships always improve once you've had a chance to spend time together.

(8) Recycle ideas

I've yet to meet a PR professional who didn't believe in recycling or reworking ideas, and international programmes offer plenty of opportunity to transfer successful activities from one market to another. We hold a quarterly conference call for all our PR agencies, partly to brief them on news or business developments in the coming quarter, but mostly to facilitate the sharing of ideas between agencies and ensure that a good idea is exploited globally.

(9) Keep at it

Like all corporate communications, successful international PR comes from sustained effort and building hard-earned relationships with journalists. It takes work, and because senior executives might only visit the region a few times a year, it can take longer than you might like; but you have to keep at it. Every time our chief operating officer was in New York, our US agency would secure an interview with the Financial Times. On the first three occasions, no coverage

was generated; but after the fourth, we got a half-page profile.

(10) Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate

Often the neglected part of corporate communications, the need to evaluate is multiplied as you extend a programme internationally. That also normally results in costs multiplying, of course. But it is better to employ a simple and cost-effective evaluation system that you can extend to all markets in which you run PR activity, rather than a patchwork of different monitoring and evaluation methods that won't allow comparison

share me: del.icio.us | digg | reddit | Tweet