PR for punks?

James Watt, the founder of drinks company BrewDog, claims in his new book Business For Punks: Break All The Rules that NOT having access to marketing and PR budgets can actually be a “massive advantage” for businesses as it forces creativity.

We know where James is coming from but we prefer to think of having access to a budget for PR and marketing as a good “problem” to have. Even small budgets can help oil wheels of your campaigns and strategies. We all know that without financial input to automate, optimise and analyse, PR can be a slog.

But we shouldn’t let access to cash make us lazy.

When money isn’t a problem, it’s all too easy to bypass your own creative spirit in favour of bought in talent. Failure to exercise your creative muscles can have detrimental effects on your future output, especially if budgets are cut and you find yourself out of practice.

If you can bottle the enthusiasm, drive and passion you have for your business in the days when money is tight, when access to a budget will only make your life more easy.

Nobody understands an organisation better than the people who work directly under its brand. Never lose your hunger or passion for what you do and never lose control of your creative output because it is easier to pay someone else. Always strive for authenticity over simplicity.

In an ideal world, creative content should always be born from an organic source (this means you). Smart agencies understand this and will help you extract, polish and distribute this content – this is where they deliver their value. In this respect, successful marketing and PR is very much a team effort.

For more proof, just ask the PR agency James Watt has just hired to promote his book. Even punks understand the value of great PR.

Featured image courtesy of Cristee Dickson on Flickr