Journalists look for known names and strong images. To be published in magazines and online, be they trade or consumer, architects have to produce immaculate images untouched by wear-and-tear and layers of maintenance.
It seems that no matter what the publication is, be it The New York Times, Architectural Record or Domus the same names will always appear, Frank Gehry, Norman Foster, Herzog De Meuron, they just keep popping up.
These big name practices have mastered the black art of ‘spin’ and are reaping the benefits of the growing public interest in architecture and design.
Public relations is now accepted as being a vital component of contemporary marketing. A successful marketing communication will educate, inform and influence a firm’s target audience and deliver the highquality results that will support the continued growth of a business.
However, many firms are naive and lack understanding about the way PR works. Too many architects still believe that the building will ‘speak for itself’ and that the average editor will be blinded by the brilliance of the building alone.
This is the heart of the problem: a building cannot speak for itself, however with the right tools it can help tell the story.
All editors and reporters, regardless of whether or not they are trade or broadsheet, will always hunt down a story, the key is to make it as easy as possible for them, the more work that a practitioner can do, the easier it is for the journalist to make the story.
The basic rule of PR is quite simple: if you want to get noticed and achieve results, you must deliver timely, topical, relevant and newsworthy information to the right people in the right place.
To make it happen there has to be a commitment from the practice to provide a senior person to take responsibility for PR. Too often, PR comes way down the list of priorities, by which time the story is old news.
Getting the right message to the press can often be challenging, but the benefits can be significant. The most important element is to have a thorough understanding of the product, it is also critical to ensure that you understand current trends, such as sustainability. This understanding can often be important to contributing to the bigger picture.
This includes looking at what is important to your practice, taking into account its style, company goals, its strengths and weaknesses and its particular market sector.
PR must be an essential element of a company business plan, contributing to the creation of strong communication links between a company and its target market. To ensure good and favourable coverage it helps to foster close contacts with the leading members of the national, trade and professional press.
How the press information is written, presented and delivered is critical. Journalists have to deal with more and more information, if the release that they receive is well presented and stands out from the crowd it is more likely to land on the editors desk and stay there.
The key element of PR is the ability to respond quickly to any press enquiry with the right material and information.
Duncan’s five tips for successful PR:
Respond to enquiries quickly
A news release should be short and precise
Information should be relevant and factual
Images and drawings need to be good quality, Hi resolution and free of usage fees
The contact on the press release should always be contactable
Duncan Bainbridge is communications manager for HASSELL and former assistant to British architect Lord Norman Foster.
