Dear BAMf Podcast: Episode 14 with Charity Mhende

Dear BAMf // Episode 14: Charity Mhende explains the purpose of a press release, shares tips for choosing a PR agency, and what to do if your agency starts representing a competitor. 

In this week's episode of the Dear BAMf podcast, we speak with Charity Mhende, Senior Associate, Brand and Communications Lead at Anthemis Group. In this role, Charity manages Anthemis' brand and communications strategy, nurtures its community of portfolio marketers, and manages event production. She supports growth at technology startups across the U.S. and Europe. She helps us tackle this tough agency dilemma: 

Dear BAMf,

I got the unfortunate scoop today via email that my current agency is representing a competitor. While this competitor is not directly competitive to my company's industries, it sure is close enough. How do you handle the situation? I'm so mad right now that I would have at least expected a call. There doesn't seem to be anything in our contract about the agency representing a competitor or how that should be handled. I haven't seen this in my 15 years of comms.

 Listen now to hear how Charity advises this writer to move forward.

Dear BAMf: Episode 14

Episode 14 highlights:

• (02:32) Charity gives counsel on how to approach narrowing down what type of agency firm to choose, and the importance of evaluating your company brand and audience needs when making a decision. 
• (06:30) She advises agencies to work in short bursts — 90-day sprints, a quarter, or 6 months — to see how your client adjusts as people and the market change.
• (07:10) Tips about agencies representing competitors and what you can do, including how to use relationship management skills to manage and avoid conflicts of interest.
• (11:37) Charity's thoughts on why the proactive work when starting with an agency is so important: "When you pick an agency, when you pick a partner, there really has to be a level of trust and due diligence that's done. It's all the kind of setup stuff which really matters to ensure that it's a long lasting and impactful relationship."
• (20:00) The best marketing agencies are partners for their clients — almost like an extension of their team. Charity provides some advice for working with a company that may not really understand the role of marketing. 

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