At the TradeTech Paris conference on 23 April, where more than 1,500 industry players from the buy side, sell side, exchanges, MTFs and technology providers gathered together to shape the future of equities trading, guest speaker Michael Portillo entertained a packed theatre with some intriguing insight into the state of today’s financial markets and how they went to “hell in a handbag”, as my US client put it!
Citing Franklin Roosevelt’s memorable words “there’s nothing to fear except fear itself”, Portillo believes that we are over the worst, in terms of numbers of great institutions crashing to the ground in such rapid succession.
Often, agencies pigeon-hole a client and propose stock campaigns with little individuality.
Whatever you think of Portillo’s political career, he makes a thoroughly entertaining speaker and blames the politicians for ignoring the “cosy” relationships enjoyed between institutions, regulators and rating agencies. He argued that the nationalisation of our banks is a social, economic and moral catastrophe – a strategy that the UK and US governments have carried out to serve a greater, political purpose.
These bail-outs, of course, were worked out over the course of a weekend – and while 48 hours may be a long time in politics, the fruits of any fast-fix labour are unlikely to be so well thought-out or water tight.
When I compare this to the business of PR and consider how little time some companies dedicate to devising a tailored strategy, it’s not surprising that many of these campaigns fall short of the mark. Often, agencies pigeon-hole a client and propose stock campaigns with little individuality. They make general assumptions and do little during the pitch process to identify and then demonstrate how the account team will help create positive coverage in the target media.
Bread and butter PR techniques are easy to find. But a well-devised proposal that shows a clear understanding of the company concerned, should consider the messaging coming out from the prospect’s competitors, the resources and skills set available within the client itself, and it must be timely, tying in with wider events and developments, regulations and initiatives.
At the end of Portillo’s speech we all guffawed over his analogy between Margaret Thatcher and the testosterone-enhanced female Meerkat who dominates her group at the expense of all other males and females – a creative way to end a speech… but perhaps creativity is what adds the final flare for true market impact.
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