Brands need to be beware of “bullshit” from agencies that claim to be able to lead social media efforts without having the rights skills, the Mumbrella Question Time audience was warned.
After a question from PHD boss Mark Holden about where social media should sit, Stuart Gregor, owner of specialist PR agency Liquid Ideas argued that it should not be run by clients. But he warned that not every agency – including his own, he admitted – was yet equipped to lead the work.
Mango Public Relations boss Simone Drewry added: “I don’t think that traditional PR agencies lead from the front in social media. We can see that media agencies are quite often pipping us at the post in some things.”
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James Greet, CEO of Mindshare, said that although his agency had already seen through a social media only campaign, he was also working with other agencies, including fellow WPP company Wunderman.
Meanwhile, the question of who owns social media is also tackled in today’s marketing section of the Sydney Morning Herald. Mediacom’s Nic Hodges tells the paper: “Ultimately I would like to see my clients own the messages they’re putting out there.” And Douglas Nicol from The Works also argued for clients taking social media in-house.