Does time apart nurture love (PR)? ~Thoughts on the purpose of regular PR contracts~

This might seem abrupt, but... love is so fleeting, isn't it? Those fiery summer emotions seem to wither away as autumn approaches. Lately, I can't hide my melancholy. How are you all doing? At my age, I find myself wanting to pursue a deeper, more settled love, not something so intense... Yes, it's fine if it's thin, as long as it lasts looong...

Just kidding. This was just the setup, so don't skip ahead from here! Actually, today's topic is the "retainer contract" you often hear about in PR. In Japan, it's sometimes called a "regular contract," but it's essentially "an annual contract to handle a client's various PR needs." Lately, I've strongly felt that the meaning of this "retainer contract" is being misunderstood in many places, so I'm going to state my case!

"Retainer" is kinda like a butler service, you know?

The term "retainer" comes from the English word "retain," meaning "to keep" or "to maintain." In a contract sense, it means "to keep someone employed." A PR retainer contract means keeping a specific PR person or team on standby for your company, requesting consulting and PR-related tasks. Sometimes there's a six-month trial period, but usually it's an annual contract where the PR team works alongside the client, gaining an understanding of the industry while handling client work. After all, unless a PR person is an absolute expert in the industry, it's difficult to achieve anything meaningful for a client in the short term.

PR isn't about advertising messaging or proposing promotional tactics. The real challenge lies in how well they understand the core business of that company, grasp its relationships within the entire industry and society at large, and design communication strategies for all stakeholders. That's why professionals who continuously build industry knowledge and maintain/develop relationships with influencers in that world are highly valued.

In Europe and the US, it's common to hear boasts like, "I've been handling this industry for 30 years," or "I've trained every president of Client B since its founding." This long-term trust and track record becomes a key benchmark for evaluating their expertise. Clients, too, don't want to lose capable PR professionals who understand the industry to competitors, making "retaining" them the foundation of contracts. You might even witness bidding wars where clients declare, "If they're going to be poached by the competition, we'll pay double!"

Long-term relationships reveal insights

In the communications industry, new methods and technologies advance rapidly. New target audience theories like "Millennials" and "Gen Z" emerge, new expression techniques are born from new technologies, and new behavioral patterns can be analyzed...

Of course, new approaches and challenges are essential for companies seeking better communication with consumers. But blindly jumping on every trend isn't the answer. Fixating solely on novelty can actually make the company's image feel fragmented to consumers. That's why I believe the PR professional, who stays alongside the client long-term, serves as the guardian of the company's communication methods and messaging.

The ideal PR professional stays close to management.

Come to think of it, more clients are deciding all short-term, ad-focused campaigns through competitive bidding. While it's encouraging that PR and advertising are merging, leading to more integrated communication planning and execution, isn't it problematic if the PR component becomes too short-term?

The shorter the campaign, the more PR tends to become synonymous with publicity. Securing media exposure often becomes the primary goal.

We're also seeing an attitude that says, "If it generates buzz, who cares if we abandon the corporate vision or brand message?" Sometimes, they'll even push through initiatives that seem to contradict the president's message, just for the sake of creating a talking point. If departments within the client company can coordinate well, that's fine. But it's precisely in these situations that you sometimes hear someone say, "Ah, PR is such a pain, let's just report it after the fact..." From the perspective of PR or corporate planning departments, who want to manage corporate communications under a unified vision, this leads to lamentations like, "Oh great, we've scattered our messaging again. This is never going to stick in consumers' minds."

First is "sharing," second is "consultation," skip third and fourth, and fifth is "collaboration."

In my books, I consistently advocate that "when responding to client requests, the agency team must first gather around one table to design an overall optimized communication strategy to achieve results." Conversely, I also believe that "the client's objectives during the briefing should be shared across all internal departments." It's not about claiming credit or shifting work; only when all departments collaborate can everyone align their focus toward the company's overarching goals (like everyone eating their ehomaki rolls facing the lucky direction on Setsubun...?). And I believe the fastest way to achieve this is for the retained PR professional to assign personnel to each communication initiative and oversee the overall information strategy.

This is because PR professionals constantly work alongside management. They can advise on how to effectively consolidate individual initiatives into a unified direction, keeping both short-term and mid-to-long-term goals in sight. This ensures that various communication initiatives, which may have been optimized individually, progress step by step toward the intended direction even in the mid-to-long term, leaving a strong impression in consumers' minds. It's not about changing the direction of the initiatives; it's about a small tweak – tying part of them to the core of the big tree. This simple adjustment should significantly reduce the disjointed feeling.

Isn't it an interesting approach for companies to fully leverage PR professionals as these "overall conductors"? If you're only using your regular PR contract as simple outsourcing, now is the time to tap into their true potential. Try consulting them on heavier matters. You'll likely be surprised how smoothly they handle it. Huh? Consulted them recently and got nowhere?? That's exactly when you should say, "Give me a call!" I'll answer with calm, deep affection!