PRCA relaunches Business Development Group

The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) has relaunched its Business Development (BD) Group with co-chairs Rebecca Wagstaffe of 3 Monkeys Zeno and Anouska Leon of Richmond & Towers.

The relaunched group will aim to help PRCA members with business development activities by sharing materials on best practice, insight and opinion. Part of this will be its 7 December inaugural event with partner Ingenuity to explore the evolution of business development within the last 18 months as well as how agencies can make sure their channel strategy is right for attracting new business. Tickets for the free event can be booked here.

New co-chair Rebecca is the Head of Business Development & Marketing at 3 Monkeys Zeno, helping its European offices.

‘When it comes to agency growth, business development has always acted as the thread that ties together a company’s functions or departments,’ said Rebecca. ‘Coming out of the pandemic, our role as experts needs to be more sharp-focused than ever and I am very excited to co-chair this group, helping hone skills and best practice to develop the brightest minds in business development across our industry.’

Co-chair Anouska began her career in corporate sales before making the move into the creative industries. She moved to Richmond & Towers in 2014. Of the importance of the BD Group, she said:

‘Agency growth is always a top priority, but the last two years have shone a spotlight on Business Development like never before, proving once again that it is the lifeblood of agencies. During uncertain times, the going gets tough for BD professionals and the last 18 months threw a few curveballs our way with everything on Zoom, clients and prospects working from home and navigating the sensitivities of ‘selling’ during a global pandemic.

‘The inevitable consequence is ever more stringent procurement processes, budgets that need to ‘work harder’ and a focus on delivering tangible ROI.  I’m thrilled to have been invited to take up the position of co-chair of the PRCA Business Development Group during such an exciting period of change.’

Ingenuity’s CEO and founder Chris Kemp sees lots of opportunity for PRCA members:

‘As part of Ingenuity’s ongoing relationship with the PRCA, we’re thrilled to be working closely with the leading PR and Communications trade association to help their agency members understand the true potential of new business and B2B sales & marketing. We’ll be exploring the themes that are consistently of relevance to business development professionals, and to their agency’s growth potential.

‘Having worked with hundreds of leading agencies in our 16 years, and running 160+ pitches annually, we’ll be collating insights from both sides of the fence to deliver workshops around best-in-class agency shop windows, what brands are truly looking for in their partners, how to win pitches virtually and the evolution of effective channel strategies. This also coincides with a new chapter for our Events (link), of which PR, Social and Content will continue to be a focus next year.’

More information on the Business Development Group can be found here on the PRCA website. To book tickets for the 7 December event, find out more here.

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