A fluent German speaker, Silja started her career at SAP. She has since worked at tech PR agencies Grant Butler Coomber and OneChocolate Communications. Clients have included Amdocs, Audiocode, Clearswift, Intuit, Irisys, Mindjet, Netviewer and Pegasystems,  Redwood Technologies to name but a few.

She loves writing, pitching stories and joins Danielle Cook and Natalie Sutton on the PR team for Intershop in Europe.

At one point, one of the marketing agency consultants remarked that he’d never met PR people who knew so much about SEO. Now, while it’s always nice to receive a such a compliment..especially in front of a client…(!) it did leave me wondering if there really is a widespread lack of understanding of SEO by PRs, and vice versa.

Where are the boundaries? Perhaps it’s something along the lines of SEO aiming to ensure that the brand’s website ranks well in search engine results for relevant search terms.

PR on the other hand aims to ensure the brand has a positive reputation amongst its audiences.

The Blog Battle

Blogs are a potential area of conflict. A corporate blog provides an ideal opportunity to post lots of keyword-rich copy on the company website to attract the attention of search engines. PR on the other hand will want to use it to publish thought leadership pieces and news announcements.

I say the two objectives don’t have to be mutually exclusive. If the SEO team is willing to provide key phrase insights, PR can make subtle use of them.

Different copywriting styles

Content generation can be a battleground too. SEO practice is based around reach and volume whereas the PR content should be more focused on careful messaging and quality.

Posted by Natalie Sutton

The the press release for example. The first aim of a press release is to ensure the story gets picked up by as many journalists as possible; the release is designed to catch their attention. When the PR writes press releases, their first audience is the journalist… not the client and not the search engines (although there’s no reason why the latter shouldn’t be a secondary audience).

Get your SEO and PR people working in synch, the results can be wonderful; I’ve seen it happen.

In most organisations there’s no shortage of people with the right skills, so the barriers to achieving this are largely political. It’s really just a matter of getting them to work well together.

Kate has worked both agency and client side. She cut her agency teeth at telco, mobile and retail technology specialist, Companycare Communications back in 2000 and went onto the business-to-business world of Clarity PR in 2004.

Kate Banyard

Kate has since worked in-house for distributor, Steljes and Original Software, a testing automation company. A fan of analyst relations as well as the social media landscape, Kate is also highly proficient with online PR and writing for SEO.

She starts in January and will, amongst other things be driving the reviews programme for one of Proud PR’s newest clients, Kensington.

Kensington is the inventor and worldwide leader in laptop security locks, an acknowledged leader of Trackball innovation and offers the broadest range of premium branded iPad, Tablet, iPhone and Smartphone productivity solutions.

The web site, that can be found at http://www.datacentre.me/ is a global one-stop shop for the data centre industry and provides daily updates for specialist news, reports and events, as well as valuable insights into training courses, recruitment, networking opportunities, partnerships, recommended reading and publications and recommended PR companies.

Caroline Hitchins, Founder and Owner of DATACENTRE.ME explained, “DATACENTRE.ME alleviates the need to visit several different websites in order to locate information relating to the data centre industry.  I have spent a considerable amount of time in the data centre events industry and felt sure that a website offering a free industry directory as well as other useful information would breathe fresh life into this already hugely buoyant market.“

The site has gained a great deal of traction in a short space of time in its mission to become the primary source of global information for data centre professionals.  Many companies having already registered for their FREE listing in the directory, and it has attracted sponsorship from Red Vista, part of The Mavin Group at Diamond level and EcoCooling and sineQN at Gold level.

DATACENTRE.ME is delighted to also be working with The Green Data Center Alliance, BrightTALK, Global Strategic Management Institute, Six Degrees, Proud PR, Global Security Magazine, The Data Centre Alliance, COMMS EXPO and DataCenterPeople.

Designed by Zero One Design DATACENTRE.ME can be followed on Twitter, facebook and at its LinkedIn Group.

Marketing automation provider Pardot discovered that 91 per cent of surveyed B2B marketers used Twitter. But that only 15 per cent claimed to be generating leads directly from their Twitter activities.

The research states that LinkedIn is the most effective social media lead generation tool, ahead of blogs, Twitter and Facebook.

Pardot has produced an infographic to summarise the findings of its research.

Founded in Germany in 1992, Intershop Communications AG is a leading provider of comprehensive state-of-the-art e-commerce solutions. Intershop’s Enfinity Suite 6 is high-performance packaged software for internet sales, complemented by all necessary services including comprehensive online marketing consulting and a transaction platform for order-, supplier-, product- and channel management from its daughter companies SoQuero and TheBakery.

Proud PR will work on a business-to-business PR brief aiming to make the brand stand out from rivals such as ATG (an Oracle company) and hybris software.

Alistair Robbie

Intershop Marketing Director for EMEA, Alistair Robbie said: ‘The rapidly growing e-tail industry has led to us to develop a pan-European comms strategy that ensures Intershop maintains a clear voice and presence in key media and among other influencers such as bloggers, analysts and the social networks.”

The agency will target influencers, driving awareness and content-based lead generation for the company as well as establishing Intershop as an authority in multichannel commerce.

Proud PR Director, Natalie Sutton said, “Up to this point Intershop has grown organically and gained local exposure through its impressive portfolio of customers like Deutsche Telekom, HP and Xerox. We’re going to help tell its story, grow its users and make sure it doesn’t get left behind.”

Homebase’s ‘Create the Look’ and ‘Plant Finder’ in-store digital media solutions provided by Qmatic, the world leader and innovator in customer flow management (CFM) and underpinned by HintTech, a specialist in the development and integration of digital media software solutions, won ‘Best Use of In-Store Marketing Technology in Retail’ at the 2011 Retail Systems Awards. The entry showcased how Homebase’s vision to be the ‘First for Decorating’ became a reality through digital interactive touch screen solutions which is helping contribute to Homebase sales.

The Retail Systems Awards recognise excellence and innovation in the field of information technology within the UK retail sector. The primary criteria for this category focused on how retailers achieved innovation in relation to in-store marketing experience. Homebase, Qmatic and HintTech were awarded the title for the role digital media played in enhancing the customer experience.

In awarding the accolade to Homebase, Qmatic and HintTech, the judges commented, “Homebase with Qmatic and Hinttech impressed us with their cool and quirky way of driving footfall. They have turned the store into an interactive environment that is not only fun for the consumer, but a great innovation in in-store marketing technology too.”

Karen Moss, editor, Retail Systems, said, “This was a close fought category, but one entry clearly stood out and that was Homebase with Qmatic and HintTech. Their in-store marketing solution is just the kind of innovation that DIY shoppers have been waiting for. Many times I have bought a tin of paint, got it home, painted the walls and realised I hated it! With Homebase’s design centre touch screen, now others won’t make the same mistake.”

Jon Hamilton, Customer Service Development Manager for Homebase, said “Receiving this award demonstrates the value we are providing to our customers through an enhanced in-store experience. Our customers can trust us to provide consultancy that accounts for the actual room they are decorating. At Homebase, we will continue to push the technology boundaries with partners like Qmatic and HintTech to provide our customers significant value.”

“As customer acquisition and retention become essential to success, retailers need to realise the benefits of in-store marketing technology to enhance the customer experience,” said David Anahory, CEO, Qmatic UK. “For Homebase, we provided them with the solution required to put customer experience at the heart of their decorating operation. With the help of ‘Plant Finder’ and ‘Create the Look’, Homebase has a solution that can provide an extraordinary in-store experience to ensure that every new customer becomes a repeat customer.”

“Working with Qmatic, we were able to provide the software and technical system to provide Homebase an award-winning marketing technology in just three months,” said Derick Price, Sales Director at HintTech. “The value achieved from an extensive solution over a short period of time will be realised from Homebase every time a customer uses ‘Create the Look’ or ‘Plant Finder.”

For more information about Retail Systems Awards, including a full list of all the winners, visit http://www.retail-systems.com/awards/

About Homebase
Homebase is the UK’s largest home enhancement retailer and is recognised for choice, style and customer service. It has more than 340 large, out-of-town stores throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland. In the last financial year, Homebase sales were £1.6 billion and it employed some 19,000 people across the business.

Homebase sells over 38,000 products across its home enhancement ranges, and has a growing Internet offering at www.homebase.co.uk. Homebase serves over 65 million customers per year through its stores and offers customers the convenience of home delivery for bulky, high-value items.

Homebase was the first UK DIY retailer to achieve Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody certification and the first national DIY retailer to be recognised with a Government TrustMark Award, achieved for its kitchen installation service.

Homebase is part of Home Retail Group, the UK’s leading home and general merchandise retailer.

About Qmatic
Qmatic is the world leader and innovator in Customer Flow Management (CFM) solutions that are designed to increase sales and productivity while reducing costs for organisations in the retail, retail finance, public, healthcare and travel sectors. Its software, hardware and consultancy helps organisations such as HSBC, Barclays, DVLA, Homebase, Boots , Marks & Spencer, Post Office and UK Border Authority to value time within the physical customer experience and derive real-time management information (MI) that powers meaningful business decisions. This MI can drive important considerations such as in-store/branch/location skills-routing, store layout and design, employee training and job satisfaction, customer loyalty and retention, brand equity, opportunity sales, real-time feedback and problem resolution as well as efficiency and cost control. Qmatic’s services range from barriers, through to both independent and networked virtual and linear queue management systems, to mobile phone applications, kiosk systems and new media.

About HintTech
HintTech develops, implements and manages large-scale software applications based on Java™ and DotNet™ technology. The company was started in 1997 and works with innovative and proven technologies and methods including partners such as Microsoft, SDL and ADAM Software. HintTech currently employs 120+ people with branches in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, USA, Sweden and Serbia, and provides qualitative custom solutions for its clients including ING, HMV, KLM and HP. For more information www.hinttech.com.

John Taylor, CEO of M2 fronted the presentation and was supported by the M2 Value Award Winners, the first and last colleagues to join M2 and Dan Morton from Pannone, one of the company’s key customer accounts.

After a successful visit from the judges, M2 has been short listed as one of four finalists. The final stage will be a presentation to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Pinsents Masons, The Co-operative Bank and the M.E.N panel early in October. The winners will be unveiled at a gala dinner at Lancashire County Cricket Club on the 17th November.

The ‘Create the Look’ and ‘Plant Finder’ project aims to improve the customer experience, help consumer purchasing decisions and increases sales for the UK’s largest home enhancement retailer.

Qmatic's 'Create the Look' solution at Homebase

See the full shortlist of awards finalists here.

Qmatic's Michael Slevin (far left), Stuart Batt and Proud PR's Natalie Sutton are judged best cake by the Head Chef at Highgate House

You might be wondering why you’re looking at pictures of grown ups and rather unattractive confectionery on a PR blog? Let me explain. It was a team building exercise at a sales meeting for one of our newest clients, Qmatic. The ‘Team Cakes’ challenge involved expressing the Qmatic brand as a cake-based logo, which competing groups of three created… blindfolded.

It was not only an extremely entertaining way to knit together the wave of additional hires in Qmatic’s sales team with its PR and marketing teams, but had also been a genuinely productive and valuable day of brainstorming and planning.

It started us thinking about the sentiment of PR agencies working as an extension of the in-house marketing team. It’s certainly a platitude that both agency and client pay lip service to. But, is it always appropriate for clients to ‘open their kimono’ to external consultants and invest valuable time and budget in having their PR partner present at events and meetings? Against the backdrop of a fiercely competitive landscape or a stock market sensitive environment, is such openness and sharing just too risky? Or, does the value outweigh that risk?

Qmatic Sales Director, Steve Williams creams the competition with a little help from Proud PR's Danielle Cook

We asked a few clients, past and present and the summary answer was the latter. Here is some of their feedback: -

Motivation

Every good manager knows, that happy employees make much more creative, motivated and engaged workers. Whilst clients might reasonably expect their PR team to just get on to achieve the objectives they’ve been set, the opportunity to learn more about their clients, their products, services and employees etc., can add relish to their efforts, stimulate creativity and even encourage them go that extra mile.

This is important for organisations of all shapes and sizes, but can be particularly important for start-ups, innovators or companies undergoing a step-change in their evolutionary growth.

Agility

The more personal relationships a PR has within a client organisation and even within their clients’ customer portfolio, the more agile and responsive they can be within the PR programme. Whether its news jacking, feature and awards pitching or speaker opportunities, the closer a PR is to users and sources of information and insight, the better placed they are to serve the press, analyst and influencer community on their clients’ behalf.

Allowing a PR partner to invest the time to understand their clients’ organisational structure, get to know personalities and business styles, to ferret out pockets of expertise and go-to people for answers and how best to navigate it all, also helps to accelerate decision-making and avoid any faux pas’ related to internal politics and policy.

Depth and Insight

Of course, given enough time served with a client, most PRs can develop a level depth of understanding and market insight that can add a great deal of value to the day-to-day campaign. But, perhaps by engaging with their agency more, clients can also accelerate the time-to-value from their PR?

At the end of the day, relationships matter. Once they have found a good PR consultant that they can work with, it’s not at all unusual for sales, marketing and business development executives to form pretty strong relationships with them. There are many reasons for this, not least: -

• That if their PR process isn’t broken, they don’t usually try to fix it
• To mitigate their risk in hiring future PR and spending valuable marketing budget
• To make them look good!
• Because they genuinely like each other on a personal level
• Or, perhaps because they PR account handlers have done an excellent job of proactively consolidating client relationships

There’s probably another important element though that’s highly relevant to this post. That sometimes, whether they realise it or not, some clients perceive great value in a cultural PR ‘fit’. I have known agencies get hired on this last quality alone. That’s not a criticism, far from it. It makes perfect sense for client organisations or all sizes.

What do you think about the client/agency PR relationship? I’d like to hear about your experiences, good and bad.