Government Affairs Blog

CIPR seeks PR agency

According to PR Week, The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is seeking a PR agency.  The report states that the brief is to increase its membership.

The report also says that only members of the CIPR will be considered.  Putting aside issues of restraint of trade this could strike one as rather short-sighted.  After all wouldn't you want people who aren't members of your organization involved on the team?  The non-members will after all know why they haven't joined.  That insight could then be applied to what will make them and others change their minds.

The other point is that the majority of CIPR members are in-house practitioners in the public sector.  This means the CIPR are restricting their selection of potential talent. 

I joined the IPR (before it was chartered) because my line manager thought it would be a good idea.  I became an associate to begin with and only earned membership when I completed the CIPR diploma.  I did that because my employer has a policy of encouraging professionalism.

So one key drive must be to encourage employers who are not necessarily PR or marketing people to champion membership.  This is easier said than done.  One way of doing that is for the CIPR to strengthen its leadership brand: it needs to be seen as the authoritative voice of the profession that offers an excellent qualification.

In fact, the qualification is very good, probably could be better but there is nothing wrong with always looking at how to improve.  Where the CIPR doesn't appear to excel at is being the authoritative voice for the profession.  That is odd given it is representing PR people.  But it or its spokespeople aren't often quoted in the media.  All the running appears to be made by trade bodies. 

So there is my advice, for free.  The other thing I would do is use the PR agency to develop high level strategic objectives and then bring in an in-house specialist to implement the strategy.  But I would say that as I am in-house.

Simon Goldie is a member of the GAG CIPR executive and Head of Communications at The Chartered Institute of Taxation - www.tax.org.uk