The thriving PR agency is a vibrant place with a fine assortment of characters and personality types. The merging of these personalities is what makes agency life so brilliantly unpredictable and lively. I thought about this and thought about the five types of people you might find in a PR agency. I have deliberately shied away from the hard drinker but here are my top five:
- The Creative
The creative lives for the early stages of a campaign when he can release his stream of consciousness to the rest of the team, most of the time for as long as until they are stopped. Prone to the occasional sulk if their ideas are overlooked, creative team members are worth their weight in gold for the occasion when they propose that big idea as long as it doesn’t consist of floating something down the Thames! - The plate spinner
Some could say this is all of us but the plate spinner was built for PR. He/she is nonstop, switching from sell-ins, to content back to sell-ins, a round of coffee, on to a meeting and finishing with a PowerPoint deck. This is the way they work, and always have: so much so that it’s now pretty difficult to hold their attention for more than 10 seconds. - The eternal optimist
The agency ceiling has just caved in, every computer in the building is on fire and the rapture itself has just begun. Still, the eternal optimist sits with his coffee and tells everyone to calm down, proclaiming ‘this could turn into an opportunity for us’. Whilst an annoyance to some, every agency needs one in times of despair and as an MD I can tell you we rely on them. - The networking extraordinaire
New business is the lifeblood of any agency, and the serial networker is the one who keeps it flowing by shaking far too many hands. Turning chats into meetings and meetings into retainers, never underestimate the effect a brilliant networker can have on your agency. The chatty nature isn’t exclusive to networking though, as everyone in the office will know and some others in the office can find it annoying that they get all of their expenses covered taking our their “contacts”. - The trend chaser
The trend chaser constantly has an ear to the ground, they are probably like me a tech geek that likes to try the latest tool or software to see if it gives them a 1% edge increase. They suggest campaigns including the latest craze, be it virtual reality or PokemonGO. Granted, it may well not always be a suitable time for a Pokémon themed campaign, yet this individual is essential for day to day ideas and keeps the agency fresh with the latest pop culture. In PR you need to stay innovative and this is the guy or girl that will help you do that.
I realise I have only covered five here and there are probably more, what other characters do you think you have in your agency?
@chris_norton Minion? Dogsbody?
— Matt Peden (@mattpeden) July 26, 2016
Spot on @chris_norton! ‘The top five personalty types Of #PR people (minus the hard drinker).’ https://t.co/QMBjXEqdks via @CIPR_UK
— Heather Dawn Peebles (@HeatherPeebles) July 27, 2016
@CIPR_UK @chris_norton The Analyst, The Consenus Builder, The Consultant, The Evaluator, The Big Brain Strategist … oh, and The Flash
— Matthew Silk (@MatSilk) July 27, 2016
