“You need to do a press release on that!” As communications professionals, we’ve all heard this phrase many times in our careers. In some cases, it’s a totally valid request, but sometimes it can be used in the context of a bygone age, where press releases were one of only a few tools in the PR arsenal and PR was treated as a bolt-on activity. This is not the role of PR and communications in 2025 and, nowadays, if you’re told “you need to do a press release on that”, more often than not, the logical and indeed correct answer is “no.”

Of course, as communications professionals in an agency or in-house, simply saying no is not an adequate response, nor should it be in the majority of scenarios. But on the flipside, communications should also not be treated as an afterthought and only looped in when a campaign or activity is well underway, or even complete. If this happens, it’s very difficult to conduct meaningful communications activities that have a discernable impact. I’ve seen a few comments on LinkedIn lately about the elevation of communications to the C-Suite level and this is great – communications is a crucial strategic function and should be treated this way. Unfortunately, this is still not always the case and, as communications professionals, this is what we should be striving for.

Communications supporting marketing and sales

I have to caveat here that I’m not saying that PR does not have a big role to play in support of sales and marketing, as it absolutely does, particularly when it comes to product communications. In this context, perhaps more than any other, I’d suggest the lines blur between PR, communications and marketing to ensure integrated activity which delivers maximum impact.

With today’s omni-channel environment, there is of course an increasing overlap between communications and marketing – influencer engagement crosses the divide, as does social media. Indeed, there are a range of tactics in communications the sit at various points in a traditional sales funnel. But tactics alone, without a strategy, will not maximise impact.

In addition, supporting sales and marketing is just a part of PR and communications. A quote that resonates with me in this context is from customer experience expert and speaker, Jay Baer: “If your stories are all about your products and services, that’s not storytelling. It’s a brochure. Give yourself permission to make the story bigger.” 

PR and communications goes beyond just talking about products and services. Used well, it can be a strategic function, focused on creativity and storytelling, to elevate the brand as a whole. It is also key to the management of a brand’s reputation.

The role of an agency partner in strategic communications

In any organisation, a good PR agency can add tremendous value to the in-house communications team, but they must have an understanding of the challenges and pressures faced within the organization. I’ve already talked about the importance and challenge of establishing PR and communications as a strategic function within any organisation, and key elements of this are stakeholder management and internal communication. In relation to this, agency teams should understand that, while in-house professionals are not managing multiple clients, they have multiple stakeholders and a much wider range of tasks that reach far deeper into the organisation. PR cannot operate in a silo and, as a result, gone are the days when it’s all just about coverage numbers – quality over quantity is the mantra and the more KPIs we can track in any campaign, the better.

The quality vs. quantity point is an interesting one and strong communications functions (and indeed, organisations that have a strong regard for the value of communications) will always be looking at the potential positive and negative impact of any story – the job of any senior communications specialist in my opinion is to aim for the best, but plan for the worst.

As far as I am concerned, there are some key characteristics that are required of any agency partner to truly add value from a strategic communications perspective:

• They can be relied upon – reliability is a crucial and an all too rare characteristic.
• They provide consultancy and ideas – I’m never just looking for an agency partner that says yes to every idea, we pay for expert consultancy.
• They have senior support on-hand – this is a key element of the first two points in my view and it’s crucial that this senior support is on-hand in the course of normal operations, not just when there are problems.
• They see the corporate angle, not just the coverage opportunity – this comes back to an understanding of both the positive and the negative potential for any activity.
• They are proactive – Ideas, content, enthusiasm – it should be a two-way street.
• They get results – As I’ve said, it’s not just about numbers and quantity, but any agency that understands the importance of effective measurement and supports in this kind of reporting, in addition to achieving great results, will be a great strategic communications partner.

So, how about that press release then?

I’m lucky enough that throughout my career, I’ve always had the necessary support that values communications as the strategic function that it is.

However, if you do hear about some activity or campaign after the fact and are told “you need to do a press release on that,” I’d suggest you request to be involved earlier. If the communications team is involved at the strategy stage, they can input and advise on if and how communications can best support any activity – there are many elements in the communications mix and a press release is often not the best approach.

As for agency partners, they can be an extremely valuable complement to and extension of a strategic communications function. To ensure this, they must ingrain themselves with the organisational communications team to ensure a shared understanding of priorities, challenges and a shared vision.

(2) Jon White | LinkedIn