I caught up with Branded’s Giles Thomas last week for a Q&A for Speed’s fortnightly newsletter. I asked him about the relationship between PR and marketing disciplines. Branded, like Speed, is part of the fast-growing agency group, Loewy.

Who is Branded?
Branded is a brand strategy consultancy run by ex-Marketing Directors and senior agency specialists. It is run by people with real depth of experience offering real advice. We are specialists in helping organisations create or revitalise brands by developing robust, media-neutral branding and communications strategies.

Why is there a chasm between PR and marketing?
Where marketing is the dominant discipline the combined function is often overseen by a marketing professional. This means that marketing culture often prevails, and PR considered less important than it should be.

The lack of control over implementation (exactly what appears and when) can lead marketers to feel uncomfortable. Marketing is increasingly accountable, yet PR metrics are traditionally difficult to align to business strategy.

How does PR fit within the marketing mix?
PR should be close to the very centre of the marketing mix for reasons which good Marketing Directors recognise. The choice of PR channels and tone of voice should be directly influenced by the brand’s promise/story. This ‘story’ should be a persuasive source of competitive advantage that is easily delivered via these PR channels.

How can PR better engage with marketing?
Our experience suggests that PR teams are often fertile ideas generators, but too often these ideas lack a strategy. PR teams need to get involved earlier in the brand development process – they should be at the table to advise the marketers on how the brand should be crafted in order to gain maximum editorial interest – including the key brand messages and language the brand should use to maximise potential interest amongst users/audiences.