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Rhodri Harries - Agency MD

Having got his first exposure to the PR industry by handling the press for his rugby team at college, Rhodri Harries got his first job simply by answering an ad in the Evening Standard. However, his career really took off once he joined the then rapidly expanding GCI, where he quickly worked his way up the hierarchy, ultimately to the role of Deputy MD.

In 2007 he moved to independent PR and digital agency Kaizo, where he is Managing Director, running the day to day operations of the company and working on campaigns with the likes of Unilever, Serco, Cisco, CA and Flip Video, the latter winning the firm Best Consumer Marketing campaign at last year’s PR Week Awards.

We spoke to Rhodri about his career to date, asked him about some recent campaigns, and found out what his tips are for aspiring PR people.

By Unicorn Jobs

How did you first get into PR?

I had a taste for it from managing the press for the rugby club at Newcastle Poly, but my first career opportunity came by answering an ad for a trainee in the Evening Standard, which turned out to be at a very small PR and events company called David Crewe Associates.

So you didn’t study PR at college at all?

No. I don’t think it really matters what your degree is in when joining this industry, and some very successful PR people don’t have a degree at all. We look for bright intelligent candidates, who are curious, collaborative and serious about a career.

What happened after the first job?

I was lucky to join the agency GCI – now part of Cohn & Wolfe – as it was growing, and progressed from Account Manager to Board Director in less than three years! I became Deputy MD in 2006, before moving to my current role as MD of Kaizo in 2007.

How did you get the Kaizo role?

I was recommended to them by a past boss.

And what does your current job involve? What is your typical day?

Running a business and servicing clients… and everything that involves! Typical is not typical, but it always involves clients.

Tell us a bit more about Kaizo.

We’re an independent PR and digital agency that helps business and consumer brands thrive. We integrate traditional PR with social media and digital services, helping our clients to generate word of mouth, protect their reputations, increase their sales and ensure they engage with both new and existing markets. Our team’s experience includes reaching and influencing all sorts of audiences, including consumers, other businesses, employees, or more specific groups like healthcare professionals or industry analysts.

Our clients include Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Serco, Cisco, CA, Flip Video, Elsevier, Cargill, Buffalo and Energenie, and in the last two years we’ve won awards at the PR Week, PRCA and Sabre PR awards, in particular for our work in Web 2.0, consumer marketing and digital innovation.

Are there any recent projects you’re particularly proud of?

Where to start? First up, there was our winter campaign for the Flip Video camcorder, which included a week long partnership with ITV’s ‘This Morning’, developing key relationships with the ‘mummy bloggersphere’, and regional radio and print media coverage of an experiential campaign staged in the eight largest shopping centres in the UK. The campaign shifted perceptions and boxes in the run up to Christmas, and helped Flip achieve their highest ever ranking on Amazon’s consumer technology chart (number four overall and top camcorder).

Second, Flora. We have been working with Unilever’s ‘heart health brand’ Flora (Becel in some territories) since 2006, helping them with their mission “to make the world’s hearts healthier”. Our input has included engaging healthcare professionals in multiple countries, getting them involved in the wider campaign, and running the global press launch of the Flora Heart Age Test, a major initiative in heart health awareness which over half a million people have participated in since launch.

Third, in our work for Energenie, who make energy-saving ‘stand-by shutdown’ technologies, we uncovered green trends, and investigated the public’s attitude to sustainable policies in the forthcoming elections.

And finally, for dating service eHarmony we created the Perfect Mixtape Challenge with the objectives of driving registrations and building UK brand awareness. Perfectmixtape.co.uk allowed users to select the ten tracks that they believe form the perfect mixtape, and then share that mix with friends via email, Facebook, Twitter and blogs. Other activity promoted the campaign to news media, and dating, love, music and film communities online. The results included 5000+ unique visitors to the site with over 500 mixtapes being created.

Obviously digital is a key part of what you guys do. How has the rise of social media impacted on the PR profession?

It has revolutionised our ability to engage, interact, and collaborate directly with audiences. Integrating all media is fundamental to what we do for clients at Kaizo. If candidates don’t understand the impact of social media then PR isn’t for them.

Your work has won a number of awards, as you mentioned. Are these important to you?

Yes, very, for a host of reasons; profile, recognition, marketing, and attracting the best candidates.

We noticed you have also attained the Investors In People Standard, how does this affect the working environment at Kaizo?

It provides us with a useful benchmark, as does the PRCA‘s Consultancy Management Standard, or CMS.

Do you think there is a lack of ethnic diversity in PR, and how should the industry tackle it?

Yes. It is an education issue and something that the industry has been trying to tackle for years. More can definitely be done though, but it needs to be focused on schools and universities first, to ensure that there are candidates from more diverse backgrounds who want to work in PR, and who therefore apply for entry level jobs.

What advice would you have for anyone considering a career in PR?

Talk to as many people as possible, and try and meet agency heads to get a broad perspective. A simple well written email, correctly addressed and targeted is a good start.

What’s the best thing about your job?

The people I work with, and genuinely making a difference to the fortunes of the brands and initiatives we support.

What’s the worst thing about your job?

Sometimes having to give advice which is not what a client initially wants to hear… and struggling to leave work on time to get home for my children’s bath time!

What’s been the highlight of your career so far?

Too many to mention, but winning last year’s PR Week Award for Best Consumer Marketing for the Flip Video campaign was pretty special.

Tell us something interesting about yourself that we couldn’t find on the internet.

I was born with an extra finger.