The most notable example is the original Mad Men. Millennials learned about advertising from the impeccably dressed Don Draper, who pulls the strings of the industry in late 1960s New York. The series presents a Draper who does not hesitate to storm out of the room if his ideas are not to the client’s liking. More recent is the French series Call My Agent!, which shows the ins and outs of a Parisian talent agency struggling between ruin and success. This production satirises the eccentricity of the celebrities that ASK represents and portrays the ambition of executives who would do anything to maintain their position.

Fortunately, collaborating with external teams in communication in this case is much easier than it used to be. in communications in this case, it is much easier and (and less dramatic) than what is seen on screen. Below, I have compiled a few reflections on my day-to-day work with highly diverse teams at various agencies in different countries. This is not a list of best practices, much less a manual for being a good client, but simply a compilation of considerations that I personally find useful as a professional.

Leave your ego behind

Let the person who knows the most, has the most experience or is the most competent in a subject they deal with it is something that, in principle, falls under its own weight. However, sometimes we find ourselves resisting delegating, often guided by that little voice inside us that tells us we should manage it ourselves. “you should handle this yourself”, aka our ego.

Being aware of this bias is the first step toward eliminating it. Reaping the rewards of distributing tasks based on the skills and abilities of each member of the communication team—whether internal or external—is the second and final step.

Throughout my years in public relations, I have been extremely fortunate to work with fantastic external professionals, sometimes with more years of experience or greater knowledge of the local market than I have. During this time, recognizing my own strengths and those of others has brought me much professional joy, and I cannot recall a single occasion when I have regretted doing so.

Communication and business consultants

Public relations is not a separate entity but an extension of the business, and as such, it is essential that there be fluid dialogue between both parties. Scheduling regular meetings with regional directors or heads of other departments allows those of us responsible for designing and implementing the communication strategy to immerse ourselves in the challenges and objectives with first-hand information, providing an opportunity to ask questions and exchange ideas that enrich our work.

This also includes external communications teams. Setting aside a few hours a year to moderate the agency-business relationship and encourage open dialogue also serves to increase visibility of the value that public relations brings to the company as a whole.

Protect and manage your time with your agencies

Opening up conversations between the communications team and the rest of the business does not mean giving others free rein to use up the valuable time we have with our agencies. Although it may seem obvious, the absence of a clear procedure for managing questions and requests can result in misunderstandings, duplication and, ultimately, ineffective use of resources.

One way to avoid this would be to implement a simple protocol that opens a channel of communication between both parties, in which you are responsible for centralising, assessing and giving the green light (or not) to queries, and ensuring that internal teams are familiar with this system.

Joint preparation for crises

Developing a communication plan is a key step when starting a new project or beginning to work with an external communication team (or client, depending on the situation). However, this plan often does not include a section on potential risks, or contingency management is simply relegated to the internal team.

We must prepare ourselves together for crises, because it is precisely this preparation that ensures the best possible outcome if the worst ultimately happens. And we must do so without naivety: no sector, firm or professional is immune to crises, and although these may vary in nature and form, the way to mitigate their potential consequences is the same.

Spending time discussing the risks with your communications team, designing a joint strategy that assigns a defined role to each person, and scheduling regular meetings to review the plan’s validity can be a good way to prepare. In the best-case scenario, it will never have to be implemented and will have been a great practical exercise for everyone.

These notes are an invitation to take a step back and evaluate our relationship with our external communications team from a broader perspective. And, why not, as the year draws to a close, review whether there is anything we can improve for 2026. Don Draper would surely have fared better if he had done this exercise sixty years ago.

*Article written by Lourdes Marín, PR & Communications Manager at eToro.

La entrada Reflections on agency-client collaboration se publicó primero en Agencia comma.

Offering personalised musical experiences, whether through acoustic performances at corporate events, brand activations or sensory environments for VIP clients, allows companies to create memorable and distinctive moments. Live music not only adds aesthetic value, but also conveys emotions, reinforces brand values and creates an atmosphere conducive to human connection.

From an intimate performance with vocals and guitar at a business dinner to a sound experience designed specifically for an opening ceremony, the key is to adapt the musical style to the message the company wishes to convey. It is not just about entertainment, but emotional strategy.

Today more than ever, companies are seeking authentic ways to build loyalty and surprise their customers. When used with intention and sensitivity, music becomes a powerful tool for connecting, moving and leaving a lasting impression. Of course, for the event to be successful, it is necessary to have a comprehensive and detailed briefing and to have both the artist and the client on the same page. With all this in place, a unique and unparalleled moment can be achieved. As Nietzsche said, “without music, life would be a mistake”.

Music as a strategic resource (not an accessory)

For many brands, music continues to be an ornamental or atmospheric addition. But in reality, it should be integrated from the strategic design stage: what emotions do we want to evoke, how do we want the public to relate to the brand, and at what key moments can music become an ally?

Research into emotional branding shows that music not only moves us, but also shapes our perceptions. Recent studies on the subject point out how music can be the link between the mind and the consumer, generating emotional associations that influence purchasing decisions. Furthermore, in sensory marketing or audio marketing, physiological and psychological effects have been observed: rhythm, timbre and harmony activate regions of the brain associated with pleasure, which ‘prepares’ the person to receive the brand’s message with greater openness.

When music becomes part of a brand’s sound identity—not just at isolated events—it fulfils key symbolic functions: it reinforces brand attributes, shapes a perceptual universe, and leaves deep impressions on the memory.

Keys to using music as a tool for connection

1 · Design a music briefing that is as rigorous as the visual or content briefing. Key questions: What emotions do we want to evoke? What brand attributes do we want to resonate with? What musical styles are in tune with our audience? When (time of event)? Where (physical space, digital space)?
Sharing musical references with the performer ensures that the performance matches the intention.

2 · Consistency with brand identity
Music should dialogue with the brand’s words, colours and communication tone. It cannot contradict them. If your brand is elegant and understated, loud trap music will sound like dissonance. Music should amplify what you already are, not try to ‘cover it up’.

3 · Sound segmentation by target audience
Not all audiences respond in the same way to the same genres. What excites a segment of urban millennials does not necessarily work with a senior audience. Conducting studies or preliminary tests with music samples can help you get it right. Even within an event, you can organise ‘micro scenes’ (spaces with different sound environments) for different attendee profiles.

4 · Live experiences versus designed sound environments

· Live: voice and instrument(s) create closeness, spontaneity, and human presence.

· Soundscape: curated playlists, background music, themed loops, or soundscapes allow you to modulate intensity according to the moment (reception, break, closing). You can combine both: key live moments and then background music.

5 · Adaptability and flexibility
Music must adapt to change: programme delays, technical glitches or pitch adjustments during performance. Having flexible ‘musical modules’ is key.

6 · Measurement and feedback
It is not enough for everyone to enjoy the moment. It is advisable to measure perceptions afterwards. Short surveys can be conducted: “How did the music make you feel?”, “Did you perceive consistency with the brand?”.
Also analyse qualitative metrics: comments on social media, content generated by attendees, spontaneous mentions, but above all, what remains in the memory after some time has passed.

Music, when properly understood, is a way of communicating without words. When a brand manages to make its sound speak with authenticity, it not only accompanies its message, it amplifies it. The right melody can transform an event into an experience, a message into an emotion, and a memory into a lasting relationship. That is why integrating music into communication strategy is not a fad, but a decision based on corporate emotional intelligence: a way to make brands not only heard, but felt.

Article written by Miquel Fernandez, Chief Executive Officer of Idea Events LLC

La entrada Music as an emotional bridge between businesses and customers se publicó primero en Agencia comma.

While PR is essential to reputation building, crisis management and trust building, the evolution in measuring its impact has not received the same attention or kept pace with other disciplines such as marketing. And this continues to affect the perception of its value on many occasions.

On the one hand, PR is not an isolated discipline. Communication campaigns intertwine activities in media, branded, digital marketing actions and social networks, influencers, events, etc.; which complicates the attribution of results in isolation. In addition, they often deal with intangibles such as perception, reputation and trust, which are inherently difficult to quantify.

And while metrics exist to measure exposure and engagement (such as press release reach or social media interactions), these outputs do not fully capture the deeper, longer-lasting impact a PR campaign can have on brand perception or purchase intent.

Obsolete measurement methods

Another significant obstacle is that professionals and brands that hire these services sometimes continue to use obsolete measurement methods, either due to lack of familiarity with new measurement tools and techniques, organizational inertia that prefers to stay in the comfort zone, or because there is a limitation of investment to do so.

Yes, effective measurement requires resources in terms of time, money and personnel, and brands often have difficulty investing in access to advanced measurement systems or in the necessary training to implement more sophisticated techniques, which leads them to prioritize easily accessible and low-cost metrics, even though they do not offer a complete or accurate view of the impact of a campaign.

Added to this is the pressure to show quick results with short-term metrics, rather than prioritizing the evaluation of long-term results, such as a change in brand perception or customer loyalty. And all of this undermines the ability to demonstrate true strategic value.

Overcoming these barriers requires a systematic and collaborative approach between agencies and brands to apply consistent frameworks based on key metrics.

But it also requires the right allocation of resources and investment in measurement. In other words, in addition to clearly defining the objectives of each campaign and the activities necessary to achieve them, design, clearly define the parameters that will be crucial to measure for the organization and, based on this, ensure the necessary resources in terms of tools, resources and time, as well as collaboration with other departments that must provide information, which will allow this to be done effectively.

Correct allocation of resources and investment for measurement

It is necessary to adopt an approach that goes beyond the measurement of immediate results(outputs), which is where measurement is still often focused.

Again, this implies a commitment to measuring outcomes and long-term impact as well. But to do so, brands must be patient and understand that, although immediate results can be valuable, the real impact of PR is reflected in deeper and more lasting changes that often require time to manifest themselves, such as, for example, the variation and evolution in brand perception, the improvement of reputation or change of activity towards a specific topic:

• The outputs are the immediate and tangible results of communication activities. For example, the number of press releases sent or the number of publications in networks, the coverage obtained, the number of visitors to the website, etc.
• The outkakes are the initial reactions of the target audience to the messages received, the degree of interest generated, the attention they pay to the message, whether they understand and retain it, and whether, upon retention, they correctly relate the messages. For example, the percentage of people who remember the key message, the level of understanding of the content shared, the number of downloads of a document, the number of people who requested more information, etc.
• The outcomes are the results, the medium-term effects, if the public relations efforts resulted in opinions, attitudes or changes in the behavior of the target audiences. For example, change in brand perception, increase in purchase intent, improvement in corporate reputation, change in attitude towards a specific issue, etc.
• And finally, impact is the long-term change attributable to the campaign, in the organization or in society. For example, increase in market share, change in public policy, improvement in relevant social indicators, sustained increase in sales or revenue, etc.

It is important to understand that effective PR measurement is a collaborative issue and not just the responsibility of communications agencies where brands have an active role to play, and to embrace new methodologies, invest in measurement and work closely with their PR teams to establish clear objectives and metrics for success.

Work together to design customized measurement frameworks that align with your specific business and strategic objectives and through this collaboration ensure that campaigns are not only effective, but can also clearly demonstrate their impact for the business.

Effective PR measurement is a matter of collaboration

There are also practical solutions to overcome today’s challenges.

On the one hand, technology plays a key role in improving measurement. Big data and machine learning offer unprecedented opportunities to analyze large volumes of data and extract valuable insights to gain a more complete and accurate view of campaign impact. And as there is no one-size-fits-all solution, that collaboration determines the customized measurement systems that will best suit the specific needs of the campaign and organization to ensure that all PR activities are measured in a consistent and meaningful way and again match the resources needed to make it happen.

And finally, as the PESO (paid, earned, shared, owned) model is widely adopted in communications campaigns if the goal is integrated work, so too must be measurement. If changes in reputation, influence, increase in brand awareness are demonstrated, then yes, communication conversations will be strategic and yes they will be on the board of directors.

So, professionals and brands must drive this change with a commitment to measurement and continuous evaluation, making sure that everyone in the organizations is aligned with this approach.

*Article written by Mónica González Ortín, Country Manager of Axicom

La entrada An evolution of PR measurement is urgently needed and it involves measuring strategies. se publicó primero en Agencia comma.

My word is not dogma, I know. I speak only from my experience and with the sole objective of contributing something to the growth, improvement, consolidation and reputation of the communication sector to which I have dedicated my entire working life (and which is no small thing given my year of birth). And also, why not, to make an appeal not to enter into a spiral of ‘anything goes’ in order to get our own way.

Today, as we enter the summer season, it occurs to me that it is appropriate for us to talk again – as I have done on other occasions in the past – about the value of the work we do. And, logically, of their just retribution.

The proliferation of agencies of different sizes; of understandable and ununderstandable communication channels; the large portfolio of journalists affected by the ERES of the different media; the urgent need to achieve size at the expense of specialised services; the dilution of the barriers between marketing, advertising and public relations (in which everyone does everything and in any way)… are causing our sector to become a gibberish difficult to understand for the uninitiated and, what is worse, to respect. Why?

This is the key. A few months ago, we received the tender specifications for the contracting of the communication service, web maintenance and social networks of the technological clusters of the Community of Madrid. So far, so good. We are talking about 4+1 different clusters, each with a different management team, different content, different audiences… and to which we had to provide, in addition to the services indicated in the call, analogue and digital communication strategy, design, audiovisual production, coverage and promotion of events, workshops and conferences, SEO, monitoring, design and implementation of campaigns for different audiences, photography, evaluation report, strategy and management of social networks… In the tender documents a team of 7 professionals is required, although they gave the option of having the professional orchestrator (the one who does more than one thing).

It is embarrassing to even repeat the budget: €60,000 per year for the 5 clusters. This amounts to a monthly fee per cluster of €1,000. Who charges €1,000 per month for all these services? The competition has been awarded, i.e. there is an agency/consultancy/professional that has won this jackpot. In other words, it has accepted the budget and may even have lowered it in order to be competitive with other candidates. Are they paying to be able to include the Community of Madrid in your client list?

A question of quality

No matter how hard we try, the figures don’t add up. And here there are only two options. That there is something going on behind the scenes (it would not be the first case of a questionable tender or that a ‘modification’ is already planned, i.e. deviations from the award budget to make the work more economical for the companies awarded the contract) or that the quality of the service does not matter. If you pay with peanuts, you’ll get monkeys.

Consultancy services have to be remunerated accordingly. Just as we buy a product, let’s say a suitcase, we know perfectly well that the price is directly related to the quality of the product, its durability, its image and its service. Let’s not fool ourselves.

The problem is that we all know what a suitcase is, what it is for, what shapes it can have depending on what we want it for, the size and whether it does not go against good taste. However, not all of us know what communication is and what it is for. This post is not about that, for that you have many posts on this blog to enlighten you. This is about what is a fair price for our work and why people accept such reckless casualties that it is laughable. Is it ignorance? Has communication lost the real value of its impact?

We have already talked about the consequences of the insistent refusal not to ring-fence the budget of the competitions when we call on several agencies. The most repeated phrase is “we don’t have a figure” to which later, after the presentation of your proposal, they add: “it’s out of our budget”. Excuse me? Would it not have been more sensible, professional, fair and logical for them to say from the outset what this budget was that we are supposed to have gone outside?

Of course we are in a free market and everyone can value their work as they wish; but, let’s not fool ourselves, there are certain limits that should never be crossed because the only thing we are achieving is that our work is less valued every day; that our specialisation is undervalued and that communication consultancy is, in short, something anecdotal instead of strategic.

And the only ones responsible are ourselves.

La entrada The price of communication versus its value se publicó primero en Agencia comma.

Understanding public relations

As its name suggests, it is the discipline that manages the relationships between organisations and their publics; There is often a tendency to use public relations and communication interchangeably, although they have many things in common, they differ in their basic subject matter: while public relations deals with relationships, communication emphasises information; Yes, I know, it is very subtle and often very difficult to separate because both work with and for both, but it is less so if we think of communication as the whole, and public relations as a part that complements communication;

How does public relations come into being?

Shortly after the First World War, in New York, a very young Edward Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud, decided to use psychoanalysis (and work with the unconscious, with emotions) to offer on a platter to the Washington Hill tobacco company, manufacturer of Lucky Strike cigarettes, the solution to their problem: half of the population did not smoke because they considered it inappropriate; That is, women do not smoke, especially not in public; Bernays’ intervention changed that perception and gave women a subtle tool with which to challenge male power; But how?

Bernays hired a group of women to light a cigarette at his signal during the Easter parade that year and to start smoking as a sign of defiance of the established order and to hold up a symbol (like statues of freedom) that might well represent their power, their strength; In addition, he arranged for all the press and photographers to be there, and under a slogan (claim) created especially for the occasion –Torches of freedom– sowed the seed of ‘cigar equals independence, equality, freedom’; The next day, newspapers in New York, across the country and around the world reported the event as a unique and revolutionary gesture for women’s freedom;

This campaign with Washington Hill was followed by others, such as the one for the meat industry and the changes in the eating habits of Americans who, from then on, began to include bacon and eggs in their breakfasts; or the one aimed at creating the need to lighten the cooking time of these breakfasts through ready-made products such as Kellogg’s cereals…

The concept of ‘selling’ begins to shift from the ‘need’ for a product to the ‘desire’ to own that product and in the process acquire the attributes that product bestows on its consumer; After the war and the Great Depression, money starts to flow, industries modernise and production increases; A new mentality was born and the consumer society as we know it today was born; Bernays had just become the father of public relations; In his book Crystallising public opinion (1923), Bernays laid the foundations for understanding and influencing public sentiment and this was used by businesses, politicians, tycoons, presidents and public figures of all kinds to change perceptions, gain reputation and improve image;

From citizen to consumer

Persuasion, propaganda, consent engineering… These are some of the terms with which public relations became identified; In fact, Bernays himself published a book entitled ‘Propaganda’ (1928) in which he promotes the power of communication to influence the masses, which, after the Second World War and the Third Reich’s use of propaganda, was relatively questioned; Indeed, Bernays himself used his powers of persuasion to convey the idea that the United States should enter the fray as a way of guaranteeing democracy in Europe;

It was then that strategies that took into account principles of psychology and sociology began to be used as a way of influencing people’s wants rather than their needs; Many of those ideas are still used today by products and brands and where advertising, marketing and public relations are interconnected;

Main features

• Public relations is clearly abidirectional, as they involve fluid and constant communication between brands or organisations and their audiences. These seek to establish a direct, optimal and constant relationship between a brand and the people who interact with it;
• They work forbuilding perceptions and restoring trust. All public relations actions are aimed at shaping consumers’ perceptions of products and services and building a relationship of trust between the two;
• Leveraging reputationof brands and organisations in order for them to show a concrete image and a solid reputation.
• Persuade. design and use persuasive strategies to influence public opinion and behaviour;

What are its objectives?

• Define the brand image. Concrete perceptions about the values, characteristics and basic principles of brands will be derived from public relations actions;
• Raising public awareness on certain issues that have a direct bearing on the product to be sold; We saw it in the tobacco case: it was not about selling cigarettes but about raising awareness among the target audience of the need for a change of attitude; This requires solid arguments based on sound information;
• Create interest. Brands must attract the attention of consumers and public relations is the perfect tool to feed this demand based on information that provides content to attract that interest;
• Democratising knowledge. Thanks to the different actions, brands are able to disseminate much more widely the knowledge about certain topics that, although directly related to the product or service to sell, brings a democratisation of knowledge that, until then, was much more limited;

Types of public relations

We can define three types of public relations:

• Corporate public relations: centradas en construir y gestionar la imagen global de una corporación.
• Product public relations : its purpose is the promotion of specific products or services.
• Crisis public relations: they involve the management and mitigation of crises that may damage an organisation’s reputation.

But it is also important to divide public relations according to the audiences we are addressing, whether they are internal or external audiences;

• Public relations targeting internal audiences. They refer to all those actions and communications whose focus is on internal audiences, understood as employees, shareholders, suppliers and investors; Through different campaigns, organisations create and consolidate a sense of belonging, ensure transparency, create brand ambassadors and attract both talent and investment;
• Public relations aimed at external audiences. These are actions whose main objective is to create, transform, consolidate… perceptions about a brand, a topic and/or product of interest to the organisation; External audiences include:
  • Clients and potential clients
  • Media
  • Public administrations
  • Political parties
  • Agents of the sector in which we carry out our activity: employers’ associations, associations, competitors, etc;
  • Social organisations and community

Public relations tools

In order to reach all the audiences of an organisation and having already defined the audiences we are targeting, we have a huge variety of public relations tools that we can use appropriately according to the objectives to be achieved, the available budget and the defined action plan;

• For internal audiences;
• Offsite: meetings of all staff or of a specific department offsite to work on the feeling of belonging and to consolidate relationships and links between people; They usually have a working part – either through lectures, talks, or through the use of a team building ordesign thinking– and another for leisure (games, dance, competitions…).
• Parties: gatherings and celebrations for different reasons;
• Intranet: internal information channel;
• Own social networks: which serve as a channel of communication and consolidation of brand perception; They also serve to attract talent;
• Periodic meetings by organigram or areas: key meetings by department and/or organigram;
• Voluntary actions: collaborative actions of the organisation and its employees to participate in actions with the local or social environments in which the organisation is involved;

• For external audiences;

It is important to determine through which channels (media) we reach these audiences; These means can be:

• Own means:

• • • Web: it is the organisation’s window and a perfect platform for the transmission and dissemination of any kind of initiative or information;
    • Blog: consolidates the sectoral and professional content of an organisation for an appropriate reputational positioning, both as an expert and as an opinion maker;
    • RRSS of the company: a much more dynamic and daily window of conversation with the different audiences;
    • Podcast: is the voice of the organisation; It gives other tools to participate in the conversation by leading both the focus and the protagonists and giving greater authority to the brand;
    • Newsletter: organisations regularly meet their audiences directly in their inbox. It also has a return in the form of a monetisable database that should not be neglected;

• Earned media

• • • Media: relations with the media are the transversal axis of public relations since any content or any action is likely to be of interest to the media;
    • Participation in events as guests by reputation and knowledge: the participation of a brand as a guest at any event is the fruit of a correct public relations policy as it has placed its main spokespersons as representatives of the brand in its key territory;

• Paid media

• • • Advertising: The brand has the ability to determine the format, spacing and content, i.e. it controls from start to finish.
    • Events (congresses, seminars, round tables, webinars…): powerful tool for brand positioning and institutional relations management, with the potential to influence the legislation applicable to the products, the brand or the sector in which it operates;
    • Branded contentUse of journalistic content for branding purposes.
    • Brand journalism:positions the company as the leading expert in content related to its activity.
    • Sponsorships: allows the brand to be linked to social and sporting objectives…

Differences with other disciplines

Public relations is often confused with other disciplines that adhere to communication in the broadest sense of the word; If we were to mark the main differences, we would say that public relations differs in that it covers a broader spectrum of contact with the target audiences of brands; Advertising relies on promotional activities through paid channels that ensure control of content while public relations works on attracting interest without the need to pay; Moreover, these are based on reputation and relationships whereas marketing focuses on products and services; And obviously, there are marked differences with institutional relations, which refer to those relations directed at government and politics and in generally regulatory environments;

In any case, all the tools encompassed within the communication umbrella must go hand in hand, work together and establish strategies that are coherent with each other and with the organisation, avoiding that each one of them seeks its own objectives and blurs the perception and reputation of the brand;

Public relations sector in Spain

In Spain, the public relations sector is largely unknown and its activity is largely forgotten, despite the fact that it deals with, looks after and shapes the reputation of the main and largest companies, political parties, the administration and all the agents that make up the daily life of a country;

The communication and public relations consultancy sector, although has grown by 20% in recent years represents a very small percentage of our country’s GDP, and companies such as LLYC, Estudio de Comunicación, Marco or Atrevia, even though they are leaders in the sector, are still too small to achieve wider social recognition outside professionals;

There is no doubt that public relations has evolved since its beginnings in the 20th century, becoming an essential discipline for the management of organisational communication, and that it will continue to do so in the years to come if we also take into account the important and strong irruption of the artificial intelligence that is set to change our industry;

La entrada Public relations: the whole and the parts of communication se publicó primero en Agencia comma.