Our account manager, Ricardo Cuevas, publishes an article in Dircomfidencial to reflect on the skills that a communications consultancy should have in order to face the challenges presented by the current economic situation.
At the beginning of June, analyst firm Gartner published its annual survey of CMO expenditure and budgets (Chief Marketing Officer). In their responses, marketers already took into account the impact of recent economic and geopolitical factors such as high inflation, the war in Ukraine and supply chain pressures, which may now lead to a moderate recession, according to institutions such as the European Central Bank.
This is why, although respondents experienced the post-pandemic recovery (their budgets represent 9.5% of the total in 2022 compared to 6.4% last year), they did warn that it is more important than ever to focus on the optimisation and efficiency of all your activities. In this sense, organisations will also extend this premise to the outsourcing of services such as communication. Therefore, organisations will also extend this premise to outsourcing services such as communications, will need their consultants to have specific skills and capabilities. to give them the best possible response to the crisis scenario we are facing. These capabilities are:
- Knowledge of the sector
There are companies that traditionally seek a high degree of specialisation when choosing their communications consultants. In these cases, not only do they require a good relationship with the most appropriate media and journalists, but they also need support with services that go beyond simple public relations and require very specific know-how: from event organisation in sectors such as hotel chains or cultural institutions, to public affairs in those more regulated, such as financial institutions. Now, the context of great uncertainty will mean that they will have less incentive to take risks with those that do not have a reliable track record in their business. In any case, they will require from the outset that they are at least capable of doing a deep dive to get to know the company and its market in detail.
- Experienced team on a day-to-day basis
Most consultancy firms bring their partners or at least the director who would officially take charge of the account to the presentations: these are almost always people with years of experience and a certain degree of knowledge of the sector. However, many clients have found that once the day-to-day work begins, it is carried out directly by less experienced profiles or even interns: not only in logical tasks for their category such as following up on press releases, but also in very critical situations with journalists and other relevant audiences. These practices are due to the work structure of certain agencies: a large number of junior staff allows for a lot of flexibility in managing resources, but does not always translate into an adequate service for clients. In the current situation, an inexperienced team can be too risky for brands. It is therefore essential to be confident that senior consultants will be closely involved in all activities.
- Constant proactivity and responsiveness
Another growing challenge that companies are encountering in relation to their consultants is that, even if they have presented in their proposals or initially carried out very creative actions, they end up falling back on good but bland work. Routine has always been an enemy of creativity, but with the challenges ahead, getting carried away by it can be serious. It also tends to undermine the ability to react in the event of an incident. To avoid falling into this trap, companies should choose a consultancy that is capable of being proactive enough to come up with new content and ideas on an ongoing basis, and that also has a team that is well prepared to respond to unforeseen situations. To this end, in addition to possessing creative qualities, they must also keep a close eye on the company's current affairs and market developments.
- More transparent results and measurements
As elements of the liability, companies are going to look in much greater detail at what they receive from their suppliers, which include communications consultancies. This makes it essential for consultancy firms to provide a transparent and accurate measurement of the results obtained, both quantitatively (number of pieces of coverage, attendees at events, interactions or visits on online channels) and qualitatively: relevance of the media and journalists where coverage has been obtained or its impact on key audiences (e.g., the media and journalists).influencersanalysts, experts in the company's sector, etc.).
- Excellent value for money
Finally, in a recession, financial departments are going to exert a lot of internal pressure on organisations. As much as we professionals in our field insist that this is a mistake, the reality is that it will result in cost reductions that will affect communication, as we have already experienced in previous crises. For this reason, companies will demand consultancy firms that know how to adapt their fees, but as long as they maintain an adequate provision of services for what they demand. It is not a question of "commoditising" communication: those looking for the lowest price will always be able to find freelancers who charge tiny amounts; however, their resources are usually much more limited than those of a consultancy firm. It is, in any case, about having consultancy firms that offer excellent value for money, with reasonable fees, but at the same time, with experienced, knowledgeable professionals who are a great partner to achieve your goals and take your brand to the top.