Command Brief: Who We Are and How We Operate
Publicity Tactics was established in 2009 on a simple premise: the PR industry had become undisciplined. Agencies were bloated, reactive, and addicted to vanity metrics. Media relations had devolved into mass email blasts. Crisis response was a scramble, not a system. The founding team set out to build a different kind of agency — one that treated every campaign as an operation, every press release as a communique, and every client relationship as an alliance.
We recruited practitioners, not just graduates with media degrees. Former journalists who understood newsroom economics. Former corporate communications directors who had managed reputations under fire. Strategists who could construct a 12-month communications roadmap and execute it without drift. We built systems before we built slide decks. We invested in processes that would deliver repeatable results, not impressive-looking presentations that gathered dust after the pitch.
Fifteen years later, the model has proven itself. We have deployed over 340 campaigns across technology, financial services, professional services, retail, and the public sector. Our crisis unit has contained situations for FTSE-listed companies and high-profile individuals. Our media relations team maintains active relationships with over 800 journalists across the UK national press, broadcast, and trade media.
We remain deliberately small. Our headcount has never exceeded sixteen. We do not chase growth for its own sake. We chase results for clients who value precision over volume. Every client is served by senior practitioners, not delegated to junior account executives. Every campaign receives the direct attention of a principal strategist. This is not a volume operation. It is a precision instrument.
Operating Principles
Seven non-negotiable principles that govern every operation we undertake. These are not aspirations. They are standing orders.
- I.Intelligence Before Action. Every campaign begins with reconnaissance. We never pitch, publish, or deploy without first understanding the terrain: your market, your competitors, your media landscape, and the journalists who matter.
- II.Precision Over Volume. One well-placed story in the Financial Times outweighs fifty mentions in obscure blogs. We target strategically, pitch selectively, and measure what matters: influence, not impressions.
- III.Speed of Response. In crisis situations, the first 60 minutes define the narrative. Our crisis protocol is tested and rehearsed. When activated, holding statements deploy in under an hour. No committee meetings. No approval chains. Speed saves reputations.
- IV.Message Discipline. Every spokesperson is briefed. Every quote is pre-approved. Every public statement aligns with the strategic narrative. We do not tolerate message drift. Consistency builds credibility.
- V.Radical Transparency. You see everything we see. Weekly situation reports with full metrics. Monthly strategic reviews. No black boxes, no jargon walls, no manufactured mystery around what we do and how we do it.
- VI.Results-Measured Operations. Every campaign has success criteria defined upfront. We report against them honestly. If a campaign underperforms, we conduct a debrief and adjust. We never hide behind unmeasurable objectives.
- VII.Confidentiality as Default. We never use client names without explicit authorisation. We never brief journalists off the record about client matters. The trust of our clients is not a negotiable asset.
Operational Sectors
We maintain deep sector expertise in six verticals. Each sector team understands the specific media landscape, regulatory environment, and stakeholder dynamics relevant to the industry.
- ▸Technology & SaaS — B2B and B2C, Seed to Series C+
- ▸Financial Services — Banking, insurance, fintech
- ▸Professional Services — Law, accounting, consultancy
- ▸Retail & Consumer — High street, D2C, luxury
- ▸Property & Construction — Residential, commercial, PropTech
- ▸Public Sector & NGO — Government, charities, trade bodies