Yesterday, I started looking at some of the other results-based pr agencies out there. Partly, this is because I need to do my research on pr firms like this, as they're the competition.

(Yes, I know, I should have done this before we went ahead and set up Just In Time.... but Alan Sugar I am not.)

But I also thought it would be good for any UK businesses out there who want to dip a toe into public relations and who think a performance based pr company is the best place to start. I haven't found any other reviews/round-ups of results based pr agencies online.

So what I'm asking is this: who are the main players out there, what/how do these firms charge you for coverage generated and, equally importantly, how transparently are the charges laid out?

Yesterday, we covered 72Point, Lucre Communications and Byron PR. Today, having once again tapped the keyphrase 'results based pr' into Google (try it yourself, unfortunately Just In Time won't be there yet!), it's the turn of Results PR and Redkite PR. So here goes.




All the info you need to know about Results PR is on the
. It states clearly that the firm is a no coverage, no fee firm and there's a lot of useful information, unlike some of the other firms we've encountered so far.

As to background, Results PR is a spin-off of a successful travel-focused PR company called Rooster, so kind of like Just In Time PR is a spin-off of
.

So what does Results PR charge for each piece of coverage? The website states that 'if we generate media coverage, we charge for each cutting according to a matrix of prices', the matrix being:




Note: I am not sure who determines how the piece of coverage is ranked for impact out of five possible results, as that doesn't appear to be stated in the FAQ. Is it Results PR that decides this, the client, or both?

Results PR outlines clearly that it will focus on the sectors you want to be in, but it does stipulate — if I'm reading it correctly — that it wil need to charge you for each piece of coverage generated, even if that is in non-target media.




It's the charging model I'm most interested in, as that, and track record, is the important bit. So what and how does Redkite charge?
, according to its website, charges clients 'one quarter of the equivalent rate card. For example, if it costs £1000 to place a one page ad in the Yorkshire Post and we achieve a full page of press coverage, we would charge you an investment fee of only £250.'

That actually seems like quite a good deal to me, so fair dinkum. So let's say Redkite bag you half a page of editorial then presumably you would pay £125.

The only issue, and this is something you would need to ask them about, is that very, very few publications sell ad space at rate (card). It just never happens. For example, a full page colour in a magazine might be £3450 rate card but actually consistently be sold for £1500. Rate, as any advertiser knows, is oh so much nonsense, especially in the current market when publishers are desperate for dollars.

So, if 'real' rate card (as opposed to rate card) on the Yorkshire Post is £600, do you pay £150 (a quarter of £600) for a full page of editorial or £250 (a quarter of rate card)? Something to think about. It may be that rate card on the Yorkshire Post never budges, in which case ignore me!

Right, that's it for today folks. Again, I have to stress that I am not trying to do other companies down here. I am just trying to highlight some of the issues company owners/decision makers must bear in mind before they go for such and such a results based pr firm.