What Does a PR Agency Do?

By Jim Oliver, Consulting Partner · Published 14 November 2026

Public relations is the management of the relationship between an organisation and the people whose opinion affects it. Those people include customers, but also journalists, staff, investors, regulators, government, local communities and partners. PR is concerned with reputation: what these groups believe about you, and whether that belief matches how you actually operate.

Most of that work happens through earned attention. A journalist decides to report your news, an editor decides to publish your opinion piece, a stakeholder decides your explanation is credible. Nobody pays for the space, which is why it tends to carry more weight than an advertisement, and why it cannot be guaranteed.

The work varies with the client, but most of it falls into a handful of areas:

Media relations

Finding the news in what an organisation is doing, preparing media releases and statements, pitching stories to the right journalists, arranging interviews and responding to media enquiries. See our media relations page for more detail.

Issues and crisis communications

Identifying problems before they become headlines, preparing positions and answers, and managing communication when something goes wrong. Our pages on issues management and crisis communications explain the difference.

Corporate and internal communication

Announcements of results, appointments and changes; messages from leaders; communication with staff during restructures and new directions.

Stakeholder engagement

Planning and running consultation with communities, members, government and other groups affected by a decision, and reporting honestly on what was heard.

Content and media training

Writing opinion pieces, speeches and articles for senior people, and preparing spokespeople to handle interviews well.

Behind all of this sits a quieter role: giving candid advice. A good adviser will sometimes tell you that the announcement is not news, that the statement is too defensive, or that the real problem is operational rather than a communication one.

The three overlap, but they are not the same. Advertising is paid space: you control the message and the timing, and audiences know it is paid for. Marketing is the broader discipline of promoting products and services to customers, usually through a mix of paid, owned and digital channels. Public relations deals with reputation and relationships across a wider group of audiences, relies mainly on earned coverage and direct communication, and is often most valuable when something is going wrong rather than right.

A practical way to think about it: marketing asks people to buy; public relations asks people to believe. The two work well together when the messages line up, and badly when a marketing campaign promises something the organisation’s conduct does not support.

Most engagements follow a similar shape:

1. Brief. You explain the situation, the objective and any constraints, such as legal issues, timing or approvals.
2. Scope and fee. The agency sets out what it will do, for whom, by when and at what cost. This should be in writing.
3. Plan. Messages, audiences, channels, spokespeople and a timetable are agreed.
4. Delivery. The agency prepares materials, manages media contact and supports your spokespeople. You approve everything that goes out under your name.
5. Reporting. The agency reports what happened against the objective and recommends next steps.

Some work is a defined project, such as a launch or a media training session. Other work is ongoing, where the agency acts as an adviser across months of announcements, issues and opportunities.

Agencies generally charge in one of three ways. A project fee covers a defined piece of work with a clear end. A monthly retainer covers ongoing work at an agreed level of effort. Hourly or daily rates are common for advice, urgent work and anything hard to scope in advance.

The cost depends on the scope, the seniority of the people involved, the timeframe and how much hands-on work is needed. Before agreeing, ask what is included, who will actually do the work, how extra work is approved and how either party can end the arrangement. Be wary of any proposal that ties fees to a guaranteed amount of coverage; no agency controls what editors publish.

For years, PR was measured by volume: the number of clippings, or an “advertising value equivalent” that priced coverage as if it were paid space. Those measures say little about whether anything changed. The Barcelona Principles, published by the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) and updated in 2020, reject advertising value equivalents and call for measurement tied to objectives and outcomes.

Useful measures depend on the goal, but often include:

• whether coverage reached the outlets your audiences actually read, watch or hear
• whether your key messages appeared accurately
• the tone of coverage and commentary over time
• changes in stakeholder views, measured by asking them
• business outcomes the communication was meant to support, such as enquiries, approvals, applications or staff retention

• Announcing without news. Journalists are not interested in what is important to you unless it matters to their readers.
• Approval by committee. A statement edited by ten people usually says nothing and arrives after the deadline.
• Forgetting staff. Employees who learn news from the media stop trusting what they are told internally.
• “No comment.” It sounds like guilt. A short, accurate statement of what you can say is almost always better.
• Measuring the wrong thing. A large number of minor mentions can matter less than one accurate article in the right publication.
• Hiring for crisis only. Relationships, messages and spokespeople prepared in calm periods make the difficult weeks far easier.

When you speak to an agency, ask who will work on your account day to day and what relevant experience they have. Ask how they would approach your situation, and listen for whether they ask good questions in return. Ask how they report, how they handle conflicts of interest and whether they will put the scope and fee in writing.

The right agency is one you would trust to tell you something you do not want to hear. If you are weighing up whether to engage one, you are welcome to make a confidential enquiry. Our public relations services page sets out what we do.

This guide is general information, not advice. For advice on your situation, contact us. Read more about the author on our About & people page.