In today's 24/7, online world with its increased globalisation, the corporate worlds of Britain and the States are identical in many ways. And our cultures, particularly in our cities, are also similar - whether you are watching a repeat of Friends, or grabbing a Starbucks coffee. Yet when it comes to PR, there are still some differences in how the two nations operate, particularly in such areas as libel (see case study, below).
Obviously, geography also separates the two as well as cultural issues. An example of how this can affect international campaigns is demonstrated by marketing group Euro RSCG Worldwide's attempts to influence key decision makers attending the current United Nations Climate Change Conference. The campaign has proved a great success in UK and Europe, but has struggled in the United States despite the success of its use of the mix of Beds Are Burning by The Hours. It seems Americans are at a different place on environmental issues as well as being unsure about where Copenhagen is, or why leaders are meeting there.
Campaigns may need to be tweaked to work on both sides of the Atlantic, but PR processes themselves do not need to be adapted. Dennis L Wilcox, author of Public Relations Strategies & Tactics, and professor of public relations at San Jose State University in California, says that not only are practices the same in the UK and the US, in fact, they are the same globally. He explains: "The principles and basic concepts of effective public relations are the same around the world. I've done research and presentations in Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe, and I've found a common understanding of what constitutes the professional practice of public relations. There's still a focus on media relations in all nations, but practitioners around the globe are getting much more sophisticated about managing issues, crisis communications, CSR, social media, and even the metrics of measurement.
As someone who has worked on both sides of the pond, Rebecca Southern, account director at PR agency Edelman (corporate), agrees that, basically, PR work in a large agency is the same in both nations. When she undertook a five-month secondment to the New York office in February 2008, she was surprised at how alike working in the US is to working here. She says: "The first thing that struck me when I started working in New York was actually how similar the day-to-day activity was when compared to my role in London. The processes, strategy and tactics underpinning client programmes were much the same."
Although Southern found more similarities than differences in her British and American roles, there were a few significant contrasts: "In terms of media activity, pitching to journalists seems to vary slightly across the Atlantic; in the UK the success of a pitch lies in being short and snappy - the aim is to capture the journalist's interest with as few words and detail as possible. In contrast, in the US the media seem to be open to a more detailed pitch supported by comprehensive proof points right from the initial approach.
Day-to-day life may be almost identical working in a New York or London office for a large consultancy such as Edelman, but the differences between the British and Americans become more apparent when working on accounts tailored to people living in different regions in the US. Because of its size and the number of states in America, there is a considerable range of communities. Andy Barr, co-founder of PR agency 10 Yetis, is now working on the agency's third client contract covering USA. He has experienced marked contrasts when working across the Atlantic. "The sheer geographic size difference between the USA and the UK means that where you can use generic press releases nationally over here it simply won't work in America, they need to be really tailored state by state."
Like Southern, Barr has also found that the US media prefer much more detailed information: "We have found that the American media scrutinise a story you are pitching much more than in the UK, mainly to make sure they understand where you are coming from and the interest your client has in what is being presented."
As everything is bigger in America, PR campaigns that stretch across the whole country need to be bigger too (and so need larger budgets to fund them). Apart from its size, there is a great deal that the UK shares with America, which is why UK PROs find it relatively easy to cross over, and vice versa. However, the differences between us should not be discounted. As Margaret Thatcher once said: "Europe will never be like America. Europe is a product of history. America is a product of philosophy."
Case Study One
1. Rod Clayton, head of issues and crisis at PR firm Weber Shandwick, who has worked across both UK and US markets, describes key differences:
The remark that Britain and America are divided by a common language, often attributed to Oscar Wilde, might be extended to encompass a shared legal system as well. For although there are many similarities, there are important differences that impact how issues management and crisis communications are handled either side of the Atlantic. There are three key differences from this perspective: juries, libel and money.
In the UK, all trials except criminal and, unusually, libel are heard by judges (so- called bench trials). In the US, many trials are heard by juries, which in transforming the legal approach also radically changes the content for the media covering trials and, as a consequence, also impinges on communications strategy. In fact, in 12 years working in the US, I only dealt with one bench trial. By contrast, I have several times watched an intellectual property lawyer attempt to explain to a somnolent jury the intricacies of some arcane technology.
A second key difference is that the libel laws that are so strong in the UK are to a large extent negated by the First Amendement in the US, which permits robust assertion of freedom of speech. By the way, for this and other reasons (such as financial regulations in the case of contested takeovers), issues advertising is much harder to do effectively in the UK than the US.
Finally, the third difference is the comparatively immense budgets that some investigative reporters in the US can command to pursue their stories, providing not only substantial research teams and travel and expense budgets, but also superb production values.
Case Study Two
Sam Howard, director of influence at Metia.
If you enjoyed this article, sign up for free to our twice weekly editorial alert.
We have six email alerts in total - covering ESG, internal comms, PR jobs and events. Enter your email address below to find out more: