“How can PR increase accountability and where should it be located in an organisation?”

As appeared in Marketing Magazine's 2010 Media Survival Guide.

Yasmine Gray – Director of Gray Media Services


There is no question that ROI and accountability are the big buzz words of recent times and whether we like it or not in some measure we need to address this.


Accountability well and truly lies on the shoulders of the executives that have to best decide how to spend a company’s available funds and as they get increasingly publicly scrutinized for justifying their positions then it’s understandable why they may be nervous about spending on something that is intrinsically creative.


Creativity doesn’t, and never has, really lent itself well to the nuts and bolts of life. It is about expression and innovation and often involves an element of risk. The best PR campaigns are run on instinctive decisions that grow from fantastic ideas – not on cheques and balances.


However if those who hold the purse strings are nervous about making decisions without proof then we have to find a way to make them feel more comfortable about investing in PR.


Results can be very comforting and there is no reason why the PR industry can’t provide charted measurements on the success, or failures, of their campaigns for clients.


As an industry we should never rest on our laurels and take it for granted that companies need us. The marketing world is constantly evolving and as an industry we need to embrace new methods in terms of both creativity and best business practice.


Why would anyone invest in something if they didn’t think it was going to work? We have to provide enough evidence to show that PR can, and does work, and while there are no guarantees, at least more people will be likely to take that creative risk.