In this blog, Hayley Goff, CEO at Whiteoaks International, explores:
- Why marketing leadership change is a predictable risk that PR programmes should plan for
- What pausing PR activity during leadership changes actually costs
- What a good agency handover gives an incoming marketing leader
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Joining a business as a new Head of Marketing or Director of Communications means inheriting a strategy, agency relationships and budget that you may have had little involvement in shaping. Understandably, you’ll want to assess what’s working, where improvements could be made and whether existing campaigns align with your priorities for the business.
Reviewing existing PR programmes is a sensible part of that process. If activity isn’t delivering the expected results, changing direction or stopping it altogether may well be the right decision. But there’s a difference between making an informed decision to pause underperforming activity and automatically putting everything on hold while a new strategy takes shape.
The market doesn’t pause while a business reassesses its priorities. Competitors will continue building their media presence, journalists will still be looking for expert commentary, and opportunities to contribute to relevant industry conversations will keep emerging. Building and maintaining a strong market presence requires consistent activity, and momentum that has taken months to establish can be difficult to recover once lost.
If leadership changes are an inevitable part of business, shouldn’t continuity be something PR programmes are designed to deliver from the outset?
Protecting the PR momentum
PR activities, such as building and nurturing journalist relationships and establishing subject matter experts as credible voices, require sustained effort. But achieving meaningful visibility also means taking an integrated approach, bringing together media relations, social media and thought leadership to reach and engage audiences across different channels.
Putting these activities on hold can have immediate practical consequences. For example, a journalist’s deadline might pass while an interview or comment awaits approval, or planned thought leadership content could lose relevance before it’s published, particularly if it’s tied to a developing industry issue. When activity eventually resumes, internal teams may need to spend additional time restarting approval processes, re-briefing spokespeople and revisiting plans that were already agreed.
There’s also a commercial consequence. If a business has invested time and budget in building its reputation, why risk losing that momentum, only to potentially spend more time and money rebuilding it later?
That doesn’t mean every activity should continue unchanged. The important thing is to distinguish between work that’s delivering value and should be protected during the transition, and activity that warrants further review. During this transition, an agency that already understands the business objectives, brand messaging and media landscape should be able to help the internal team keep relevant activity moving.
Helping the new marketing leader get up to speed
A clear agency handover is essential for helping an incoming marketing leader assess existing PR activity and make informed decisions about what happens next. Amongst other things, it should provide an overview of:
- The original campaign objectives and how they align with business priorities
- Results delivered against agreed commitments and KPIs
- The current budget, contractual commitments and outstanding deliverables
- Live media opportunities, planned content and upcoming activity
- Outstanding approvals and decisions requiring attention
- Recommendations on which activities to continue, change or stop
Having this information ready ahead of a leadership change can save the internal marketing team valuable time and help ensure a smoother transition. Agencies should be prepared to demonstrate that value at any point, regardless of who’s asking. A leadership change shouldn’t suddenly create the need to justify activity that should already be measurable and accountable.
Our Performance PR approach is built around fixed fees for fixed outcomes, giving marketing leaders clear visibility of agreed deliverables, progress and outstanding commitments. That transparency makes it easier for an incoming leader to assess the programme and make informed decisions about what happens next, including reviewing agreed commitments with the agency if business priorities have changed.
Balancing continuity with new priorities
New people might identify opportunities in sectors the business hasn’t previously targeted, want greater emphasis on executive visibility or see more value in developing a thought leadership campaign than issuing a planned press release.
An experienced agency should welcome that challenge. After all, the objective is to deliver value for the business, rather than simply complete a plan agreed under previous leadership. That requires flexibility, but also an understanding of how proposed changes affect existing commitments and commercial objectives.
One practical approach is to agree an interim plan while the new marketing leader reviews the wider strategy. This could mean continuing time-sensitive media opportunities, scheduled interviews and content that’s still relevant to business priorities, while holding off on larger campaign launches or new investments until there’s been an opportunity to assess them properly.
The agency and internal team should agree what needs to keep moving, which decisions require the incoming leader’s input and when the programme will be reviewed. An experienced PR partner should also be able to explain the trade-offs involved, helping the new leader make informed decisions about where to maintain activity and where to take a different approach.
PR programmes should be built to deliver consistent results, even as leadership changes. If you’re looking for an agency that combines continuity with flexibility and accountability, talk to the Whiteoaks team about how our Performance PR approach can support your business.
