A delicate duet

It takes a lot of work to find the agency that’s right for your organisation

 
How to find, hire and collaborate with the public relations firm that’s right for your organisation.
 
As an in-house communications director who also happens to have a love of music – singing and playing the piano – I have realised that selecting and collaborating with a public relations firm bears striking similarities with singing an harmonious duet with a music partner. Here, I want to explore some of these similarities. 
As with most relationships in life, choosing the right agency to be your partner is more art than science. There is no single recipe. Certainly, there is the process of developing and issuing requests for proposals, qualifications or information. There is research and due diligence that can be done to find firms with the right expertise to address your company’s specific communications challenges. But oftentimes, it is the intangibles – those things that cannot be proven in a proposal or a case study – that determine the best choice.

Martine Konorski

Martine Konorski is currently director global corporate communications for Sorin Group, a leading medical device company specialising in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. In addition to her roles on the client side, she has also served as a senior counselor at leading international public relations agencies Fleishman-Hillard and Hill & Knowlton. She has developed a wide range of experience in the public and private sectors, from governmental activities at the French Prime Minister Information Office and the Cabinet of the Minister of Research and Technology to leading chemical and pharmaceutical companies, working in France and the in US.