When it comes to PR, does size matter?

For real estate firms, as well as other types of companies, when evaluating and hiring public relations counsel, does size matter?

In a word: yes--but it is not the most important factor--and bigger is not necessarily better. There are a number of reasons why "one size does not fit all".

Like most service businesses, public relations includes large multi-layered firms with well-known names that handle a variety of clients in a variety of industries, and smaller firms that tend to specialize.

There are pros and cons to both and, to a degree, the right choice varies with a company's own in-house staffing and capabilities.

Working with a smaller firm, the client gets more attention from senior officers, whereas in a larger PR firm junior staff are often assigned to the account. At the same time, a larger firm may have multiple offices and the ability to assign additional staff to special projects.

Over the last several years, technology has dramatically increased the ability of small firms to compete with larger firms. The Internet has streamlined the news distribution and contact process in a way that makes quality of representation more important than quantity of bodies working on accounts.

In evaluating a PR firm, the first question is: Given a client's needs and internal staffing, what level of service is appropriate? Is it enough to have an agency with good contacts who can be called when a PR issue arises, or is it more appropriate to have a firm with current, intimate knowledge of the client's business and business plan and who can be proactive with opportunities for publicity plus react quickly to specific events as they occur?

The next two issues to be addressed are: A.--What is the firm's overall experience and where are its media contacts? B--What is the firm's knowledge of my industry (i.e., real estate)?

A good way to evaluate a firm's contacts and experience is to determine how long the firm has been in business, who their clients are and have been, the length of relationships with those clients and what continuity exists within senior management.

Additionally--What access will the client have to the firm's resources? Who will be the contact person? Do they have direct industry experience as well as PR experience? Timely access isceritical in addressing a media opportunity or reacting to an event.

Technology has transformed this area--especially for small firms. As an example, a few years ago on December 30, a significant financial judgment was awarded against one of our clients. The event required immediate legal, internal and external responses. Thanks to a powerful laptop, we were able to participate in the client's board meeting, develop strategy, prepare a press release, communications to employees, customers, lenders and partners with review by the client and client's legal counsel--all within less than 24 hours.

Anyone who has ever developed a property, sold a building, negotiated a lease, financed a project or gone through a restructuring knows what is typical, unusual or part of an emerging trend. This is the stuff that good real estate press is made of. However one needs to be able to recognize it, articulate it and, on a timely basis, reach targeted media.

In real estate PR as in the real estate business itself "Timing, Timing, Timing" can be as important as "Location, Location, Location". And, thanks to technology, size doesn't matter nearly as much as it used to.