Is this what the modern PR agency will look like?
GolinHarris, a PR firm with 700 employees in 34 offices, has “completely redesigned” itself “to combine strategy, creativity and engagement into one seamless package that is delivered to clients—big and small,” explained the
agency’s website.
The reorganization is taking shape around a new model the agency is calling G4.
“It focuses on four key areas that we think are critical to communications,” said Fred Cook, president and CEO of GolinHarris.
According to a handout on the GolinHarris website, the four key areas:
• Strategists. They are the business analysts, who focus on research and analytics.
• Creators. These “consummate storytellers” produce the content on behalf of clients and tell stories about a brand.
• Connectors. These so-called channel experts “engage consumer and business audiences through 15 distinct touch points” and “merge social and mainstream media channels to share compelling stories.”
• Catalysts. These employees are “at the heart” of the G4 model. They are the account leaders, or “change agents,” driving the “integrated execution of client campaigns.”
Gone are many of the usual titles from PR firms, including vice president, senior vice president, and executive vice president, according to a report in
The New York Times. They are being replaced by job titles such as executive director and director.
The
Times also said that associate account executives and account executives will be known as associates. “Account supervisors and account group supervisors are to be designated as ‘senior,’ followed by job types,” the
Times added.
To reflect this change, GolinHarris offices will include a multimedia room, called the Bridge, where employees “can monitor traditional and social media in real time on behalf of clients,” according to the
Times. These rooms are inspired by Gatorade’s “mission control centers,” which track social media conversations about the brand.
The changes are based on the term “prevolve,” or to “change intentionally,” according to Cook. Prevolve, Cook notes, begins with the letters—that’s right—PR.
“We’re just excited about the future,” Cook said. “We’re excited about the business; we’re excited about our agency; and we’re excited about the opportunity for our clients.”
Among the largest clients of GolinHarris, which is owned by the Interpublic Group of Companies, include Dow Chemical, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, Toyota, and Walmart. The agency has an estimated $150 million in annual worldwide revenue.
GolinHarris’s Twitter feed unveiled the change with a
tweet this morning that links to the
Times story and says:
“Account Exec is Antiquated. Consider Yourself a Catalyst.”
The reorganization is 10 months in the making, the
Times said.