Public Relations is really all about private relationships, we all know that. And I have some very beloved friends in PR to prove it. But I saw the potential problems that can arise from this via a post by Miss_PR Piggy – the Instagram handle for an otherwise anonymous (and very funny) fashion PR whom I’ve mentioned before.
She posted about how if a client knows you have a genuine friendship with a certain editor, writer or stylist, it can seriously backfire on a PR.
They might want you to exploit that friendship with an inferior product (cue, shocked voices all over London. Never!). Well, of course, that kind of thing happens all the time and a good friend/good journalist will only understand the position you’re in and also be able handle that scenario in a way that’s respectful to all parties.
But Miss Piggy also suggested something I hadn’t considered before: that a known friendship can actually undermine for a PR any coverage you subsequently receive from that friend. “Well, they just put that in because you know them, didn’t they?”
Wait, what? The ingratitude!
I’d never thought about the risk involved in declaring a friendship to a client. Had you?
I’d genuinely be interested to know, send me an email to katefinnigan.creative@gmail.com and let me know your thoughts!
