Is Golin Harris’ restructure relevant for the future of PR?

I attended PRmoment.com’s PR: The Future conference last week. The panel session asked which type of agency clients would appoint for different types of social media work.   The thinking behind the debate was that if you are a client and you want to put together a witty video (for example Cravendale’s Cats with Thumbs campaign) it seems more likely that an ad agency would have the skills to make this happen.   Likewise, on the basis that the best campaigns are integrated, what would you do if you wanted to add a Twitter personality or a Facebook group to this campaign? Perhaps I‘m biased but I would have thought PR agencies should be better at creating words and stories than an ad agency.   Roo Reynolds from Wieden+Kennedy talked us through a fantastic campaign that they put together on behalf of Cravendale. But my point is; if you are a client, who do you pick up the phone to? Who is doing the best work?   The answer given at our PR: The Future conference was the agency: client relationships should be so close that ideas should evolve and that it is simply a case of best idea wins. I thought this was true to an extent. The trouble is that it relies upon the best person being around the table when you are putting together the strategy for the campaign.   For example, Nick Garner, an SEO expert at the online betting site Unibet, having listened to a number of the case study campaigns at the conference was quick to point out that a number of SEO opportunities may have been missed.   I thought all of this put news of Golin Harris’s new structure into context. I was lucky enough to meet up with Jon Hughes a couple of weeks ago, where he talked me through the logic behind Golin Harris’s plans. Before I voice an opinion as to whether they are a good idea or not, I thought it might be an idea to share the theory:   Essentially Golin Harris’s point is that the chances of a generalist multi skilled individual being capable of doing everything involved with a modern PR campaign is highly unlikely. People just aren’t built that way. We tend to be good at something rather than good at everything.   So with this in mind, Golin Harris has split their people into 4 different skill areas:   Strategists (Essentially business analysts with an accent on communications) Creators (The people who come up with the ideas) Catalysts (These people ensure the client work is integrated) Connectors (Essentially these people sell/place the stories and content in to the media)   To be clear, what this does not mean is that the whole agency is split into 4 generic teams. Rather that within the specific sector areas within GH, for example consumer, the teams are split into the 4 skill areas above.   But is it a good idea?   Well, of course we don’t know yet. However, on the basis that the content requirements of PR people have changed, and that we have seen proliferation of media and social media channels, it seems that new skills are likely to be required within PR agencies.   It goes back to my point earlier in the article. Right now, would a PR agency be able to put together a viral video like the Cats with Thumbs campaign? Technically they might be able to – but would they come up with the idea? With some exceptions, probably not. Likewise, right now are most PR agencies capable of building an App, which might help build a community around a client’s customer base? Again, with some exceptions probably not.  Technically maybe, if not you can buy in that expertise, but I'm talking more about the nugget of the idea.   I could go on. But I’m sure you see my point. The game has changed. Golin Harris is the first to jump. Is their model perfect? Truth is they don’t know yet but we’re at the start of a re-structuring of the PR sector, so other agencies are bound to follow, be it an exact copy or an updated version.   From a recruitment perspective this throws up some interesting potential trends. Using Golin Harris’s terminology, agencies are likely to have quite a few connectors and creators, but if you think you are a “strategist” or a decent “catalyst”, I reckon your price has just gone up!   Interesting times.