Did you know that LEWIS London hosted 16 of its international colleagues for secondments last year? And that 25% of LEWIS London staff visited another office in the network? I didn’t, until recently when I had the opportunity to participate in LEWIS PR’s global secondment program. I visited LEWIS’ London headquarters with my colleague Jessica Winter, where we got to know the team and share best practices for running both traditional PR and social media accounts. It was a great experience and I wanted to share a few thoughts on some of the more notable similarities – as well as differences – between Silicon Valley, where I’m normally based, and Silicon Roundabout (the British equivalent).
If I were to identify a single theme that came up in conversation more than any other, it’s undoubtedly the rise of social – and what we at LEWIS are doing to evolve with the times and integrate it into our service offering. I come from LEWIS Pulse (formerly Page One PR), which LEWIS PR acquired to bolster its social media capabilities and expand its presence in Silicon Valley. People in the London office have been keen to speak with us about our social media best practices, and we’ve been equally eager to hear what they’re doing on this side of the pond.
On both sides, we’re focused on identifying best practices in the rapidly maturing social media market. It was interesting to share notes on how social media support is worked into different accounts. If you’re not using social media to support your brand and messaging, you’re not so much missing out on an additional opportunity to differentiate yourself in the market, you’re facing a competitive disadvantage. Social media is here to stay, and it’s of vital importance for organizations across the board – from enterprise tech startups, like those I represent – to global 1000 brands as some of those represented by LEWIS London – to connect with their communities on social channels and manage their brand and messaging.
Beyond social media, it’s been interesting to see how traditional PR activities are carried out in the UK. I was particularly impressed by the content media team that LEWIS has in place in London. The team is comprised of a group of former journalists whose job is to review all content (press releases, blog posts, bylines) for quality and newsworthiness. It’s not something I’m used to seeing in the U.S., but it’s an interesting tactic that has been well received by clients here – definitely something worth exploring once I return to San Francisco.
Perhaps the most noteworthy difference between PR in the UK that I noticed was its tendency to take on more of an educational tone. I was witness to the formation of one pitch in which a member of the content media team recorded a video interview with a senior diplomat from the Obama Administration about the trade relationship between the US and UK. The video content was then leveraged for a pitch involving several LEWIS clients, to a strong degree of success.
One of LEWIS’ greatest strengths as an agency is its global reach; The secondment scheme isn’t just a vague idea – people all over the agency are benefiting. Both Jessica and I have formed strong connections on this trip and are planning to hold a monthly call with some of our colleagues here in which we share account best practices and discuss general trends we’re seeing in the field.
Until next time!
You can read Jessica’s overview on the visit on the LEWIS Pulse blog here.
Tags: communications, journalists, LEWIS, LEWIS PR, media, media relations, Public Relations, Social Media
