PR as a Strategic Partner | Bill Southard of Southard Communications

PRGN Presents • Season 5, Episode 1 • Originally published as an audio podcast on July 18, 2024. How can a PR agency help a client build its business as well as its reputation? Bill Southard, founder and CEO of Southard Communications in New York City, joins Abbie Fink and Dr. Adrian McIntyre to talk about the agency’s growing role as a strategic business partner, 30 years after he founded his firm. Bill remembers when success meant dropping a clip book on the client’s table. Today, especially for consumer brands, clients want to know how the agency’s work drives sales, retail distribution or licensing deals. So he starts every relationship with clear deliverables and teaches his staff how each client’s business works. He explains how to work alongside in-house sales and marketing teams and share the credit. An e-commerce client needs PR, paid social and Amazon optimization working together, inside and outside the walls of Amazon. He also describes how his agency prices partner services, including a share of sales, and why proposals should list each service as its own line item. He also makes the case that a brand is built through awareness, frequency and trust, which takes longer than one sales cycle. KEY TAKEAWAYS • Clients increasingly judge their agencies on business results such as sales, distribution and partnerships, not on clip books. • Start every relationship with clear deliverables tied to the client’s business goals, and teach your staff how the client’s business works. • Succeed or fail together with in-house sales and marketing teams, and share the credit for results. • For e-commerce brands, PR, paid social and Amazon optimization work best as one program, whether the agency offers them in-house or through partners. • Building a brand takes awareness, frequency and trust over time, well beyond the next sales cycle. Read the full episode notes and transcript: https://prgnpodcast.com/episode/build... --------------------------------------- ABOUT THE GUEST Bill Southard is founder and CEO of Southard Communications, a New York City agency he established in 1994. With four decades in public relations, he leads PR, digital marketing and social media campaigns for B2B and B2C companies, several of them award-winning. The agency has worked on iconic toy and game brands including Etch A Sketch, LeapFrog, The Elf on the Shelf, Pound Puppies and Slinky. He was previously executive vice president and general manager of Dorf & Stanton Communications. • Learn more: https://prgn.com/agency/southard-comm... • Connect with Bill:   / bill-southard-1874899   --------------------------------------- ABOUT THE HOSTS Abbie Fink is president of HMA Public Relations, the oldest continuously operating PR firm in Arizona and a founding member of PRGN. • Learn more: https://prgn.com/agency/hma-public-re... • Connect with Abbie:   / abbiesfink   Dr. Adrian McIntyre is an anthropologist and communications advisor specializing in the marketing and selling of expertise. He is a founding partner at Speed of Story, where he helps entrepreneurial experts and boutique firms clarify their positioning, package their intellectual property, market their premium services, and get paid for their thinking, not their time. • Learn more: https://adrianmcintyre.com/ • Connect with Adrian:   / adrianmcintyre   --------------------------------------- CHAPTERS 00:00 Podcast Intro 00:59 Meet Bill Southard of Southard Communications 01:25 How PR Agencies Become Strategic Business Partners 05:10 Defining Deliverables That Support Client Business Goals 09:37 Working With In-House Sales and Marketing Teams 12:30 E-Commerce and Expanding PR Agency Services 15:36 Combining PR, Paid Media and Amazon Optimization 17:56 Pricing Retainers, Partner Services and Sales-Based Fees 21:05 Measuring Business Value Beyond Immediate Sales 22:47 Questions That Connect PR to Business Goals 25:01 Building Brands Beyond Short-Term Sales 26:13 Podcast Outro --------------------------------------- PRGN Presents features conversations with members of the Public Relations Global Network. No matter where you do business, there is a PRGN member agency in your region with the deep industry expertise, international experience, and local market knowledge you need to connect with your target audience and achieve your goals. Find a PR firm near you: https://prgn.com/pr-agencies/