1.- Remember the birth of your agency.

Our company was born in the middle of the crisis, in 1993, and 20 years have already passed. We had, I speak in the plural because I also include my other two partners, so much courage for various reasons: our youth, little experience, complicated environment,…, that now looking back I am surprised at how brave we were. That is why I admire today’s entrepreneurs. They were very tough beginnings. During the first year we had only one client, what a disaster! But our perseverance and tenacity have meant that we have been going for twenty years and we have worked for, I could say, all types of industry

What I do remember, and we have not lost this, is that our work has always been oriented towards the journalist and the client, and this has brought us to the position we are in today. And always with a very optimistic spirit and atmosphere, even if sometimes the environment makes it difficult. We like our day-to-day work at the agency.

2.- What are the main differences between the world of communication 20 years ago and today? How has it improved and how has it deteriorated?

The technique and methods used have changed, not the form. Public relations is very simple, you have to produce interesting information for the audiences and offer it to the media. Before we started, press releases were sent by post. We started with faxes. And this method has evolved, but always with the information as a product, changing only the sending technique. The dissemination strategy has not changed at all. The fact that, nowadays, journalists receive much more information than before, the volume of communications has grown exponentially, has also changed. Therefore, the agency that attracts the attention of the professional with quality information works.

What has improved is that there is now an awareness of the importance of public relations and business communication. When we started, more than one senior manager of important companies confused us with public relations at a discotheque, and we had to explain to them what our work consisted of. Today that has become anecdotal. We understand that we are an intermediate element between companies and journalists, and our job is to elaborate and offer useful and quality information so that people can make their own decisions.

And where has it got worse? In every evolution there are many improvements, but there is always something that is generally or individually considered a setback. In my case, perhaps it is that it is a sector that is becoming saturated and journalists receive more and more news every day, which often reaches them without them being interested in the section where they write or the editorial line of their publication, and this means that on many occasions, quality information is not treated as such and ends up in the wastepaper basket. And on the other hand, saturation or bad experience with communication agencies on the part of companies, which sometimes results in a negative image of our sector.

3.- What key factors would you highlight in the evolution of your agency during this time?

We have an ethical stance that after 20 years we continue to follow conscientiously: agreements that prohibit the duplication of clients, i.e. working for two competing companies, which obliges us to be an agency that works in all sectors of activity, as we have access to sensitive information on each client and it would be unethical to work for other companies in the same segment.

Our added value is centred on the fact that in addition to being permanently at the client’s disposal, working and thinking for them, we offer results. It should be stressed that not every company can be our client. If we do not see a clear communication strategy, we understand that we are not the right professionals to carry it out. We do not take on any project if we have no guarantee of success. I believe that after so many years focused on developing useful and beneficial information strategies for the media, their audiences and society in general, we have achieved credibility with the media. And this is the best we can offer our clients.

4.- Would you like to comment on any other topic of interest?

I would like to add that the qualities that a communications and public relations firm must have are mainly based on the fact that there must be a vocation for communication and collaboration with the journalist, as well as possessing sufficient knowledge to achieve the objectives of each client. And on the part of the professionals who make up the communication and public relations agencies, the qualities I would highlight are that they must be committed, hard-working, extremely creative people, capable of providing that distinctive approach and with a great capacity for learning.

Interview with Susana Moré Torres
Comunication Director of Recursos de Mercado
Published on 26 October 2013 in: