PR people should be more brand-aware than anyone

Gabbi Cahane is absolutely right – the majority of PR companies have got it wrong when it comes to defining their own brand identity (DW 21 October). Yet, when offered the opportunity to pitch for a business where brand perception is king, the same companies are amazed when their crudely designed spiral bound decks don’t make it past the first post. We’re operating in an industry where first impressions count. Surely PR people should know that better than anyone else.

But PR people are not specialist brand consultants – which is why we worked with FutureBrand to develop an identity across our network that clearly defined what we stood for and elevated us from our competitors. A PR agency can score a real point of difference by investing and believing in its own brand. Working in partnership with a branding consultancy also opens up a host of shared new business opportunities – a bonus any agency would be hard pushed to ignore.

Matt Neale, Joint managing director, GolinHarris, London WC1X