Proud to be a member of the Public Relations Organisation International (PROI)

Last week three of us headed over to the EMEA PROI conference in Prague. This year’s theme was centred on ‘Building Trust’ – with a particular emphasis on the current scenario playing out across Europe – and how agencies can support clients within this field.

As part of the three-day event we discussed how our clients can make an impact in the political system, how corporates and brands are dealing with trust and responsibility and how to deliver real news in an era of fake news.

We have been part of the PROI for five years now and it’s a partnership we are incredibly proud of. The PROI is a network of agencies who are the leading independent firms across five continents, 50 countries and 100 cities and according to Clare Parsons, Global Chair, PROI Worldwide, “PROI agencies tend to be the most dynamic in their market, and that’s reflected in PROI’s continued growth.”

At KISS we work closely with our PROI partners helping their clients cut through the noise in the UK market, and vice versa. We work on new business opportunities by offering UK specific insight – this is very much a reciprocal arrangement and is a huge benefit of being part of such a prestigious international organisation; across the board we all have a roster of blue-chip clients.

We’re also members of many PROI sub-groups – consumer, healthcare, crisis and tech – and we convene regularly as a group (thanks Skype!) to share views on what’s worked, what hasn’t and why? Each member can tap into a vast bank of knowledge from experts across the globe – an invaluable opportunity for any agency, and it means we really can offer our clients the very best of insight into the different sectors. Claire Parsons (chair and co-founder of Lansons, in addition to her role as Global Chair of the PROI) talks of the importance of “collaboration and cooperation” and how “tapping into local market experts helps you understand the nuances and opportunities in key markets across the world.”

All partners within the PROI have a shared commitment for delivering results for clients and, because of ongoing and regular contact with each other, we are able to act quickly on projects and ‘deep dive in one market or mobilise resources in a half-dozen (or more) in an instant.’

Our membership of the PROI is not only hugely beneficial to our clients – the opportunities for KISS staff are amazing too. Staff exchanges offer insightful, on the ground work experience in different markets and we’ve already had three of our team visit member agencies in the USA, Germany and India. Across the agency our staff have attended PROI conferences in Poland, Romania, Portugal, France, Australia and Canada – all invaluable opportunities to share ways of working and best practice, meet in person and learn about what our colleagues around the world have been up to – all in order to offer additional support to our clients.

Given the current political climate we enjoyed meeting our European colleagues in Prague at - what we would describe as - a pretty thought-provoking event!