One hundred years after Edward Bernays laid the founding infrastructure on which the public relations industry has prospered on the corporate nipple, News Bureau is unbuttoning the conventions of traditional consulting relationships by segregating bundled agency services into accessible, affordable service bureaus and shifting the onus of performance from the client to the agency.

News Bureau has installed accountability between the masthead and bottom line of agency billing statements. Binding annual service agreements, fat monthly retainers and self-perpetuating monthly activity reports are out – replaced by Performance Fees paid on bi-monthly Accountability Statements which detail results and provide tangible supporting evidence that clients can touch and feel and read on a positive balance sheet.  If we don't perform, we don't get paid.  Period.

We believe Mr. Bernays would be impressed.

PERFORMANCED-BASED PUBLICITY

News Bureau indemnifies qualifying clients from unwarranted expense with performance fees predicated on a discounted percentage of the equivalent advertising cost of each publicity placement.  This fixed percentage, known as the Performance Fee Quotient, customarily ranges from about 40-85% of equivalent print and broadcast advertising rates. Interactive media placements are most often predicated on web traffic and/or ezine circulation.

Prevailing performance fee quotients are determined by a composite evaluation of a client's newsworthiness, campaign budget and duration, media placement opportunities, media targets, topical crossover values, reach and frequency, logistics, distribution of out-of-pocket expenses and client tenure.  The higher the score, the lower the performance fee quotient.

In some instances, performance fees may be reduced by as much as 15% by adopting a hybrid fee structure which diminishes the agency's risk by incorporating a modest monthly service fee.  In most cases, the hybrid service fee amounts to about 20-30% of monthly fees charged by traditional, retainer-based public relations agencies.

If your PR firm won't share risk and take equity in results produced, check your bottom line.  It's leaking.