Promoting a PR Firm

Very often, public relations firms are hired to promote a person, an organization, or product. These firms have to be creative, too. However, what about themselves? How should a PR firm promote themselves? Should they be strictly business and professional? Or should they show that they have a sense of humor?

If you visit the websites of one of the bigger PR firms such as Edelman or Ogilvy, they're more clean-cut and straight down to business. However, for boutique PR firms who aren't as well-known, their websites have to grab the potential client's attention while still portraying a professional look. Some firms like JS² Communications have catchy music and flashy graphics. They also include a "Team" page which shows the members of the firm, which allows the potential client to see who they will be working with.

Lots of boutique PR specialize in certain areas. For ID PR, their specialization in within the entertainment industry, mostly as publicists of our favorite actors and actresses. One of the interesting sections of their website is the "Giving Back" section. For most of us, we see celebrities as these wealthy individuals without really helping others; it's a negative image that ID PR wants to remove, thus the inclusion of the section in the website.

One PR firm website that I came across is Maloney & Fox. At their "Happy Place" section, you can download the firm's theme songs, one of which plays on the opening page. You can also sign-up to be on the mailing list to get free stuff. Lastly, the firm made self-promotional videos or “advermations," as they called them. One of them is below.



As a PR person, I find myself strangely drawn to these boutique firms. They have more shots of personality than the larger firms. I would like to work for a fun, hard-working group of people, even if it's based solely on their websites.