Maximizing the public relations agency—client relationship in the sports industry
Despite the undoubted importance of Public Relations (PR) in the sport industry and the increasing reliance on external PR agencies, the study of the PR agency – client relationship within this context remains in its infancy. In this study, we focus on the question, how can PR agencies develop and maintain strong relationships with their sport clients for the benefit to both parties? Qualitative data generated through semi-structured interviews with twenty “business elite informants” comprising senior PR agency executives reveal a new multi-layered conceptualization of the PR agency – client organization relationship. The findings uncover a “surface” layer to the relationship captured by a client satisfaction – dissatisfaction continuum, a core layer of relationship management and trust, to the deepest layer characterized by power (im)balance between the two parties. Uncovering the complex, nuanced and multi-layered dynamics of the relationship highlights effective PR outsourcing practices to be utilized for future value maximization.
History
School
- Loughborough Business School
Published in
Journal of Public Relations ResearchVolume
36Issue
5Pages
426-440Publisher
Taylor & FrancisVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© Taylor & Francis Group, LLCPublisher statement
This is an Accepted Manuscript version of the following article, accepted for publication in Journal of Public Relations Research. Manoli, A. E., Keefe, P., & Hodgkinson, I. R. (2024). Maximizing the Public Relations Agency—Client Relationship in the Sports Industry. Journal of Public Relations Research, 36(5), 426–440. https://doi.org/10.1080/1062726X.2024.2312196. It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Acceptance date
2024-01-24Publication date
2024-01-31Copyright date
2024ISSN
1062-726XeISSN
1532-754XPublisher version
Language
- en