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Shalon Roth: Why Do In-House PR Teams and PR Agencies Need to Work Better Together?
Interview Featuring Shalon Roth, founder of PR-it, at the PRSA Tri-State Conference
Shalon Roth, Founder of PR-it, a global collective of communications and digital experts, spoke with Raz Abrahamyan from D S Simon Media, at the PRSA Tri-State Conference. Roth was the moderator of the PR Pals Talk Shop: Spinning Shoestrings into PR Gold panel, where she talked about the notion of ‘doing more with less resources.’ She also shared insights on the benefits of having in-house teams and agencies work together.
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Transcript:
RAZ ABRAHAMYAN: We’re here at PRSA Tri-State Conference with one of the speakers Shalon Roth. She’s the founder of PR-it based in London. Thank you for joining us today.
SHALON ROTH: Thanks for having me.
RAZ ABRAHAMYAN: So, I understand you’re going to be discussing the differences between relationship between agencies and clients. So, what will be some key points that you’re hoping to emphasize in your talk.
SHALON ROTH: Sure. So, our panel is pretty unique because actually all four of us have worked for years both agency side and in-house. So, we have this really interesting dual perspective and we’re all friends We get together pretty much every year and talk shop and have done so for about 10 years. So, what we’re hoping to share with the audience today is that dual perspective on topics that are going to help them to do more with less so in PR you know we always are asked to do things on crazy timelines or with really small budgets or with not enough people resources. And so, we’re going to talk about well how you can get past that creatively in-house as well as agency side.
RAZ ABRAHAMYAN: And so, I understand you’re working in London right now that’s where you’re based, so do you notice any cultural differences between the U.S. and the U.K. or even the rest of Europe when it comes to this these issues?
SHALON ROTH: From agency versus in-house?
RAZ ABRAHAMYAN: Yes.
SHALON ROTH: Actually, what’s really interesting is although I did a lot of global work from the U.S. when I was agency side, when you were in Europe people are much more willing for you to be distributed. So, when I was in-house I was actually the only U.K. employee and the rest of the executive team of the company that I was working for was actually distributed across Europe and even some of them were in California. So, it’s really interesting and you kind of thought that there was going to be this more relaxed work ethic because you’re like oh it’s Europe European Union thirty-five hours. No, it is just as hardcore as it is in the US.
RAZ ABRAHAMYAN: Right. So, looking from the client side, what would you say are the benefits of having an in-house team versus working with an agency?
SHALON ROTH: Oh, that’s a good question. So, what’s great about having an in-house team is that there is so much institutional knowledge, right, you know all the nuances of whatever you’re working on, all the ins and outs, the issues, you know all the stakeholders. So, driving consensus around your campaigns and getting everything coordinated and executed can be much faster. However, agency teams are so invaluable because they often bring skill sets that you can’t really hire for in-house because in-house teams tend to be super condensed. Also, a lot of times who you get in-house did not previously have agency experience, so they don’t have that hustle, they don’t necessarily have relationships or the research background that you get with people in agencies. You just get this like amazing mix of specialized expertise. And so being able to have a really great in-house team and then have the agency team as an extension of your in-house family is really the best one.
RAZ ABRAHAMYAN: Great. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.
SHALON ROTH: Thank you for having me.
