ISSUE 14 | BREAKING WITH TRADITION
Octopus Group 3, Traditional Business 0
MAIN EDITOR
Susie Metnaoui
GUEST EDITOR
Suze Archibald
DESIGNER
Helen Hirst
CONTRIBUTORS
Alex Brooks
Anne Ligory
Bart Jacq
Billy Hamilton-Stent
Deborah Reid
Jack Harris
Jon Lonsdale
Kate Mills
Kavita Shergill
Laura Slade
Natasha Hill
Pete Hendrick
Sandy Purewal
Sally Brown
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2 | THE SAUCE | JUNE 2014
As you know, we’re in World Cup heaven (or hell, depending on
your outlook).
Is it about 4-4-2, 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1? It’s certainly a game of two halves,
isn’t it?
The ‘beautiful game’ remains so because it moves with the times. Teams
are forced to rethink how to get an edge as tradition is ‘nutmegged’ by
the future. This is also true for Agency PR approach. We’re going through
massive changes, we all know it.
The fundamentals of our business has been razzle-dazzle pitches to deliver
traditional PR serviced by retainer. Things are now changing faster than
ever before.
Modern comms uses traditional PR but it’s as much about the marketing
method, as it is the media. Then there’s the trusty retainer.
With five years of recession, retainers are going the same way as
winghalfs (or dodos), so it’s all about the “project” win these days. We now
increasingly have to show our dexterity and abilities in a more considered
and sober proposal format.
The implication of these changes is as much commercial as it is cultural if
we’re to thrive in an integrated way. As projects become the default mode
of client engagement, our new service proposition is perfectly designed
to handle these changes. And once we’ve all adjusted to it, we have an
approach that gives us a real edge.
So much like footie, pressure’s always on the management. These industry
changes require us to get the tactics right, or it won’t matter how talented
our ‘players’ are. Never an easy ask, to tinker with formations to create
further innovation. We’re confident after planning our game time strategy
for 18 months now. With a bit of match practice, we’re going to be scoring
more goals than we let in. Our chances for winning the Agency Cup look
pretty good!