Season’s Bleatings: A PR person’s guide to Christmas

 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and yet, for those of us working in PR agencies, it’s fair to say that Christmas generally adds an unwanted dash of chaos to proceedings no matter how prepared you think you are for every eventuality.

Last week was a particularly eventful one for me for several reasons – all of which make me glad this week has been a (mostly) productive and successful one…

 

1. I was out of the office for a significant chunk of the week, leaving me with an inbox akin to that of an O2 social media manager after a period of spontaneous network disruption…

 

2. I was floored by what can only be described as the mother of all colds which left me with a head like a brick, dosed up to the nines on Beechams Max Strength, and with no alternative but to vomit at the side of the A19 as I desperately attempted to get to an all agency meeting for an important client…

 

3. I began the arduous task of online Christmas shopping. There are benefits to online shopping of course, but with the never-ending choice available, it does leave you with an overwhelming feeling of despair when you’re trying to locate an inexpensive secret Santa gift amongst a sea of tat (especially when the budget’s only a tenner).

 

All the above aside, Christmas is a tricky time for PR pros (with or without blocked sinuses).

Here’s a (condensed) list of how things generally go down for PRs at this wonderful time of the year…

 

It’s time to pull together the end of year review(s)…

 

 

When next year’s brief arrives in your inbox…

 

 

And you realise you’re going to be grappling a budget the size of a walnut…

 

 

So, you sit down for a team brainstorm…

 

 

Time to get down those BIG ideas…

 

 

But first – let’s tackle next year’s features lists…

 

 

Who’s going to watch the social feeds over Christmas?

 

 

Come back to that – time to present those BIG ideas!

 

 

Then you find out the brief has changed…

 

 

Back to the drawing board…

 

 

Time to sell-in that Christmas news while everyone else is trying to sell-in their Christmas news…

 

 

And remember to keep updating those WIP documents, so you know who you are next year…

 

 

Before you know it, it’s time for the Christmas party…

 

 

Out of office on = ON.

Emergency telephone numbers = ISSUED.

 

 

And rest.

 

xAx