When you’re trying to do something new, you don’t always automatically get the establishment on your side. We’ve worked hard to balance the ways we are innovating in PR with the responsibility to ground it in responsible processes — that’s why, even early on, we pushed hard to achieve ISO 9001 compliance via the PRCA’s industry standard audit.
But even so, we’re delighted to have out innovation endorsed with the selection of Augur’s founder as PR Week’s 30 under 30. Read the interview, watch the video and see photos here — or see our answers to the interview below.
1) What has been your proudest achievement in PR?
I’m pleased my achievements have come from doing what I believed was right. But I’m most proud of developing my ability to learn from when I was wrong. The former opened lots of doors but I think it’s the latter that rescued me from being just another frustrated, precocious AE.
2) How do you expect PR to change over the next 10-15 years?
I think there’s a common dishonour in old PR. Insincerity, insecurity, ineptitude.
We need to refocus agencies on what they once were and can be again: smaller teams of unusually talented individuals delivering really focused strategy. Personal chefs instead of McDonalds lackies.
Great PR will help companies create value by communicating their true strengths accurately. Meanwhile, a subclass of opportunistic bottom feeders will continue to see their value erode as everyone from SEOs to ‘social media gurus’ bid their price down.
3) Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
I hope to have made progress offering great PRs a better way to spend their time, doing great work for great clients. If Augur continues to thrive, I play with the idea of handing it to one of the team to refound and reforge.
You might expect that we spend every day thinking about Augur’s future and how to build something better than the old model of PR agencies. But it’s every bit as important to us to share what we learn and raise the standards across this industry. I’ve written a little about the importance of PR’s stakeholders to its evolution before.
Having helped launch #PRstack with Prezly and Stephen Waddington earlier this year, it was natural to contribute to the upcoming book and give away some of what we’ve learned so far.
In our chapter, we talk about how Asana gives us a real advantage working with clients that allows us to concentrate on the work that really matters. Check out our original intro below or download the full book for free.
Nobody really built the way we work in PR. And for a long time, it probably didn’t even matter. But we don’t live in that time.
Anyone creating a business today should be looking for every opportunity to build something more fit for purpose as a distinct advantage over the last generation.
At Augur, we believe that starts right at the top of the stack. Communication is the oil that removes friction from any successful project — but most tools in use in the agency world today just don’t suit modern workflows.
It’s for that reason that almost every single thing a client sees from a project with Augur runs through Asana.
A small visit to the Economist’s Big Rethink event got me… thinking.
I never fail to be amazed by the way some marketers talk of the time before I arrived in this industry.
On one hand, there’s all this chat about data. As if marketers used to operate by a kind of soothsaying intuition, divining the thoughts of audiences like oracles to the Gods. Maybe it was this way. But I doubt it.
On the other hand, there’s discussion of some heady, halcyon days when audiences had no way to avoid marketing messages. When you could just pump cash into channels and guarantee your target had it rubbed in their face.
By contrast, they seem to bemoan the fact that, today, you have to actually create material people want to pay attention to. They speak with a mottled nostalgia for the power and influence over opinion that money once bequeathed them. Can that be for real?
But (and without using the increasingly over-employed term ‘democratisation’) I think there’s something even more important in all this. And it gets to the root of why the PR and communications function is so important today.
And maybe it’s something that was always true in the background somewhere.
Control
There was a time when control — of the media, of audiences’ attention etc was a matter of buying space in the right place at the right time. PR relationships were ultimately just another way to buy media attention to complement your adverts. They’d force stories into the media simply because a journalist owed them a favour.
All of this created a warped and broken feedback loop. A great, effective story needs an engaged, interested audience. That’s how you know you’re onto something. One of a brand’s key missions, especially up front should be finding a sort of message/market fit, as one facet of their product/market fit.
If you cut out a key feedback signal i.e. “your story is boring/ this isn’t news/ I don’t want to watch this advert and stupid patronising message”, then you eliminate a key, valuable signal that tells you your story isn’t good enough. That you don’t have the right fit yet. And so, you never get better.
The right to better
If it sounds like I’m talking about some form of reputational justice here — where those doing something good and finding a story that matters are rewarded — that’s no coincidence.
In a time where this is so important, I believe there’s something to be said for the idea every company deserves the best possible shot at declaring and communicating what makes them great. Today’s brutal brand transparency should be empowering those organisations who are genuinely doing a good job. But that is only true if they can communicate what makes them great with clarity and power.
Just as lawyers must represent their client in court, agencies should look at their responsibility as identifying companies’ singular, core strengths and help them express that to thrive. Of course, noise alone won’t get them far, so the measurement, the strategy tied tightly to real business objectives — all these pragmatic elements are essential too.
But at its heart, the right to a good story is something I think even the worst and most incompetent companies should be able to enjoy. Because then, once you have given them every chance, if you still find them wanting, it’s because they are genuinely inferior or flawed.
https://i0.wp.com/augur.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_0312.jpg?fit=3000%2C1996&ssl=119963000Max Tatton-Brownhttps://www.augur.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/au_black-300x73.pngMax Tatton-Brown2015-03-24 13:43:522015-07-08 18:22:32The Right to a Good Story
Just recently, Danny Whatmough and I were discussing the future of PR tech on our semi-regular podcast “Digital Wake”. I’ve embedded it below (so now’s a good time to catch up…)
Toward the end of our discussion, we agreed there’s a long sprawling tail of agency-shaped businesses that know they could be adapting and upgrading their offering — but just don’t know how.
We must acknowledge that outdated techniques are not just suboptimal for those who deliver them — but bad for us all (not to mention the poor bloody clients.)
It’s with that in mind, that we’ve taken great pleasure working with Prezly and Stephen Waddington to launch a couple of initiatives next week — designed precisely to narrow this divide. In PR, there will be no such thing as the digital haves and have nots. Anyone will be able to find the tools they need — and implement them with smart strategy and advice.
#PRstack
#PRstack is the initiative that started it all — a creation of the indomitable Stephen Waddington, fresh off his year-long CIPR presidential stint. What began as a crowdsourced Google Doc, has quickly grown to over 150 tools for PRs in areas from measurement to management.
Prezly has stepped up to build a simple interface that makes it easy for any PR to find tools fit for purpose and get a short description of key characteristics. The new #PRstack front end is, quite simply, made for you.
PRgeeks.co
But if it was a matter of just finding the tools, this problem would have been solved long ago. In tandem, Prezly has created PRgeeks.co, a resource that guides everyone from novices to masters on putting #PRstack tools straight into practice.
And, just for good measure, it has a ton of useful top 5s as well, including everything from who to follow on Twitter to which regular PRchats will help unlock your inner PR Geek. Check it out.
We’ve got the PRCA on board (since I help run the technology group.) We’ve got the CIPR on board (through @GemGriff) and Stephen Waddington), we’ve got the infamous TechJPR group (formerly UKTJPR) involved. And we’re working on the rest.
This industry will only change if we take action. The breadth of tools and skills needed to understand great communications strategy today is greater than ever. But the ways in which they actually simplify our focus are often underestimated.
These tools and techniques are key to everyone doing a great job in PR. I hope you’ll all support and promote them as much as we plan to at Augur.
https://i0.wp.com/augur.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Screen-Shot-2015-03-03-at-08.44.40.png?fit=376%2C166&ssl=1166376Max Tatton-Brownhttps://www.augur.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/au_black-300x73.pngMax Tatton-Brown2015-03-03 08:46:002015-03-03 08:46:00#PRstack and PRgeeks.co give PRs the tools they need
Augur founder voted PR Week 30 Under 30
AugurWhen you’re trying to do something new, you don’t always automatically get the establishment on your side. We’ve worked hard to balance the ways we are innovating in PR with the responsibility to ground it in responsible processes — that’s why, even early on, we pushed hard to achieve ISO 9001 compliance via the PRCA’s industry standard audit.
But even so, we’re delighted to have out innovation endorsed with the selection of Augur’s founder as PR Week’s 30 under 30. Read the interview, watch the video and see photos here — or see our answers to the interview below.
Augur’s #PRstack
AugurYou might expect that we spend every day thinking about Augur’s future and how to build something better than the old model of PR agencies. But it’s every bit as important to us to share what we learn and raise the standards across this industry. I’ve written a little about the importance of PR’s stakeholders to its evolution before.
Having helped launch #PRstack with Prezly and Stephen Waddington earlier this year, it was natural to contribute to the upcoming book and give away some of what we’ve learned so far.
In our chapter, we talk about how Asana gives us a real advantage working with clients that allows us to concentrate on the work that really matters. Check out our original intro below or download the full book for free.
The Right to a Good Story
PRA small visit to the Economist’s Big Rethink event got me… thinking.
I never fail to be amazed by the way some marketers talk of the time before I arrived in this industry.
On one hand, there’s all this chat about data. As if marketers used to operate by a kind of soothsaying intuition, divining the thoughts of audiences like oracles to the Gods. Maybe it was this way. But I doubt it.
On the other hand, there’s discussion of some heady, halcyon days when audiences had no way to avoid marketing messages. When you could just pump cash into channels and guarantee your target had it rubbed in their face.
By contrast, they seem to bemoan the fact that, today, you have to actually create material people want to pay attention to. They speak with a mottled nostalgia for the power and influence over opinion that money once bequeathed them. Can that be for real?
But (and without using the increasingly over-employed term ‘democratisation’) I think there’s something even more important in all this. And it gets to the root of why the PR and communications function is so important today.
And maybe it’s something that was always true in the background somewhere.
Control
There was a time when control — of the media, of audiences’ attention etc was a matter of buying space in the right place at the right time. PR relationships were ultimately just another way to buy media attention to complement your adverts. They’d force stories into the media simply because a journalist owed them a favour.
All of this created a warped and broken feedback loop. A great, effective story needs an engaged, interested audience. That’s how you know you’re onto something. One of a brand’s key missions, especially up front should be finding a sort of message/market fit, as one facet of their product/market fit.
If you cut out a key feedback signal i.e. “your story is boring/ this isn’t news/ I don’t want to watch this advert and stupid patronising message”, then you eliminate a key, valuable signal that tells you your story isn’t good enough. That you don’t have the right fit yet. And so, you never get better.
The right to better
If it sounds like I’m talking about some form of reputational justice here — where those doing something good and finding a story that matters are rewarded — that’s no coincidence.
In a time where this is so important, I believe there’s something to be said for the idea every company deserves the best possible shot at declaring and communicating what makes them great. Today’s brutal brand transparency should be empowering those organisations who are genuinely doing a good job. But that is only true if they can communicate what makes them great with clarity and power.
Just as lawyers must represent their client in court, agencies should look at their responsibility as identifying companies’ singular, core strengths and help them express that to thrive. Of course, noise alone won’t get them far, so the measurement, the strategy tied tightly to real business objectives — all these pragmatic elements are essential too.
But at its heart, the right to a good story is something I think even the worst and most incompetent companies should be able to enjoy. Because then, once you have given them every chance, if you still find them wanting, it’s because they are genuinely inferior or flawed.
#PRstack and PRgeeks.co give PRs the tools they need
PRJust recently, Danny Whatmough and I were discussing the future of PR tech on our semi-regular podcast “Digital Wake”. I’ve embedded it below (so now’s a good time to catch up…)
Toward the end of our discussion, we agreed there’s a long sprawling tail of agency-shaped businesses that know they could be adapting and upgrading their offering — but just don’t know how.
We must acknowledge that outdated techniques are not just suboptimal for those who deliver them — but bad for us all (not to mention the poor bloody clients.)
It’s with that in mind, that we’ve taken great pleasure working with Prezly and Stephen Waddington to launch a couple of initiatives next week — designed precisely to narrow this divide. In PR, there will be no such thing as the digital haves and have nots. Anyone will be able to find the tools they need — and implement them with smart strategy and advice.
#PRstack
#PRstack is the initiative that started it all — a creation of the indomitable Stephen Waddington, fresh off his year-long CIPR presidential stint. What began as a crowdsourced Google Doc, has quickly grown to over 150 tools for PRs in areas from measurement to management.
Prezly has stepped up to build a simple interface that makes it easy for any PR to find tools fit for purpose and get a short description of key characteristics. The new #PRstack front end is, quite simply, made for you.
PRgeeks.co
But if it was a matter of just finding the tools, this problem would have been solved long ago. In tandem, Prezly has created PRgeeks.co, a resource that guides everyone from novices to masters on putting #PRstack tools straight into practice.
And, just for good measure, it has a ton of useful top 5s as well, including everything from who to follow on Twitter to which regular PRchats will help unlock your inner PR Geek. Check it out.
We’ve got the PRCA on board (since I help run the technology group.) We’ve got the CIPR on board (through @GemGriff) and Stephen Waddington), we’ve got the infamous TechJPR group (formerly UKTJPR) involved. And we’re working on the rest.
This industry will only change if we take action. The breadth of tools and skills needed to understand great communications strategy today is greater than ever. But the ways in which they actually simplify our focus are often underestimated.
These tools and techniques are key to everyone doing a great job in PR. I hope you’ll all support and promote them as much as we plan to at Augur.