On the PRmoment podcast this week, I'm talking to Matt Wilcock and Mark Perkins of Cow PR about being a creative director in public relations.

10 years ago there weren't many creative directors working in PR but now there are quite a few!

In this podcast, we're going to look at the role of the creative director in public relations.

Thanks so much to our PRmoment podcast sponsors, the PRCA.

Here are summary of what we chatted about:

1.00 min Are Matt and Mark creative partners? Are they a pair? How often do they work on a brief together and how often do they look at it in isolation?

4.30 mins and 9 mins How much of the creative process involves the wider agency at Cow?

5.40 mins Mark recently rejoined Cow after 8 years away. They are among the most high profile creator directors in PR, why did they decide to work together again? Is there a danger they'll get in each other's way? Is there a competitive element?

11 mins How do you create an environment to help people’s creativity to thrive.

13 mins Critical thought is an important flip side of creativity - “why does this matter, who will give a shit?”

15 mins How can you become a “Student of Ideas?”

20 mins Matt talks about how he categorizes ideas.

22 mins Mark talks about some techniques that have helped him come up with some of his ideas.

23 mins How does Cow, as an agency, build ideas?

25 mins Where does planning and creativity meet?

26 mins Why Matt and Mark reckon they are better creatives because they don’t outsource the planning part of the job.

27 mins Why the PR creative process is not as structured and formalised as it is in advertising. 

29 mins How often are Mark and Matt stuck for an idea?

29 mins How do you know when you’ve come up with the right idea?

31 mins “A simple idea can help solve business or social problems”.

34 mins “It takes a second to have a good idea, you just don’t know when that second is going to drop”.

37 mins How do you charge for creativity?

39 mins How do you make the jump from an account director to a creative?