Oliver Chesher, director at Admiral PR

myi had a chat with Oliver Chesher, director at Admiral PR, about working in financial PR.

Related topics:  In The Spotlight
Amy Loddington
28th September 2012
In The Spotlight
myi: What’s your involvement in the financial services industry?

I’m a director of Admiral PR and Marketing, and one of our areas of speciality is providing marketing communications in financial and professional services. In this sector we represent organisations including lenders, outsourcers, investors and tech providers.

myi: What sort of services does the mortgage industry require from a communications agency?

Every organisation’s challenges are different. Lenders are increasingly reliant on brand and reputation to compete at the front end, so they come to agencies for consumer marketing strategies and to build relationships with influencers like personal finance writers at national newspapers.

Other players in the sector, such as outsourcers, are more focused on raising their profile within the industry in order to demonstrate their expertise, so their communications are much more targeted at a financial business audience: they use PR to position their key people as spokespersons, sharing advice, comments and opinions. Regular, meaningful coverage in influential trade magazines and websites like this one is key to building reputation and getting their messages across.

myi: How has financial services PR changed in recent years?

Financial services is an incestuous industry, and media relations still plays an important role: journalists and publications are powerful authorities and working well with them is vital. The difference today is that who you know is no longer enough: what’s more important is what you can deliver.

Having good contacts is a factor, but just because you’ve taken editors on an expensive golf day doesn’t mean you’ll get favourable publicity on a regular basis. PR people need to understand what’s newsworthy, timely and relevant to each journalist because today’s media are far more accountable for what they write and aren’t in the business of producing free advertising.

The other factor that has changed the world is the effect of the internet on publishing. Entire books have been written on this subject, but suffice it to say, every single client of ours now has to concern itself with digital and social media that didn’t exist ten years ago. Even niche companies at the back end – which have no need to engage with high-street borrowers via Facebook for example – still need to think about their digital footprint. How do people find you online, and what do they read when they find you? What search terms are your clients and prospects using? How prominent are you online compared to your competitors? What are people saying about you that might affect your reputation?

The great thing about this type of marketing is it’s measurable, so an agency can more easily demonstrate results from its communications work.

myi: Where has Admiral seen the most action recently?

We’re lucky enough to work with some clients that are truly the leaders at what they do, so we get a privileged insight into what’s going on in the market. We’ve generated some important news and feature coverage recently, looking at issues ranging from the challenges of bringing a new lender to market, to what happens to the billions worth of distressed debt that is changing hands in portfolio trading.

myi: What are your plans for the future?

Admiral has continued to develop and win awards, even through the darkest days of the recession, and we see our track record in the financial services markets playing a big part in our future growth. The clients we already work with are growing and thriving, and we firmly believe that there are opportunities for us to help others to do the same.

myi: What would you be doing if you weren’t running a PR business?

I’d like to say I’d be a professional cyclist, because I’ve been obsessed ever since my stabilisers came off. I’d be the best in the world too, except for my lack of any pace, talent, skill or training discipline.
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