Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Are your services just for companies and organisations?
No. We work with companies and organisations of all sizes - from SMEs to large publicly listed companies - but we also offer services tailored to individuals wanting to harness and improve their own communications skills and knowledge.
Why choose Gimlé?
You get the hands-on, personal touch of a senior communications expert. We will do the work, not a faceless army of juniors on low salaries.
We have genuine pan-EU experience and have driven projects and assignments from start to strategy, and then from action plan to implementation and completion. It does not matter if you are a company, organisation or an individual: you'll get our time and focus.
Furthermore, we don't work on expensive retainers: you pay for what you need, when you need it. Above all else, we are hungry, passionate and always bring our A-game.
Why shouldn't I just opt for a big agency?
There are a number of large agencies operating on the marketplace but they all suffer from the same problems. Namely:
- They offer standardised services rather what you really need.
- The actual work is mainly done by junior members of staff with little to no experience. The senior team who pitched the business are hardly ever seen or available. This is because the agency can earn the most profit by utilising low-cost juniors.
- Big agencies have high overheads in the form of fancy offices, senior and middle managers who don't work for you, and an army of backroom staff who create administrative burdens which eat into your time. As the client, you are the one paying for this. More than 25% of the fee will be eaten up by things that offer you no added-value.
- The global network is not really a global network. Sadly, it is purely a collection of offices who hardly ever speak to each other let alone work together. Rather than a seamless, global offer you pay a premium for a disparate bunch of offices who have different owners, different ways of working and extremely different levels of quality. You are much better advised to hold a beauty contest and choose the best agency in each market where you require help.
Can you help with specialist agencies in different markets?
Yes. Whether you need to launch a new product in Latvia or you are looking for crisis support in Bulgaria, we can provide you with recommendations on who is best in class. Given our global experience, we have the contacts and can provide you with an unbiased view that you can take or leave. Alternatively we can work with you to find the local partner you need.
How important is communications today?
PR, or public relations, was invented over a century ago for elites - be they politicians, companies or organisations - to communicate with the masses. This was always a one-way process with the messages, stories and channels tightly controlled.
Today this does not apply. Now everything is open and public. More importantly, there is no way that this trend will be reversed. The neat, linear flow of information has been replaced by a plate of spaghetti characterised by multiple actors, interests and channels. A 14 or 80 year old with a social media prescence can be as influential as any politician, business leader or sports star.
In short, communicating externally - and getting this right - is as important for individuals as it is for corporations.
It's easy for native speakers: they don't need communications training, do they?
For a range of reasons, English has become the lingua franca of the globalised world we live in today. Whether we like it, or loathe it, we cannot escape this reality. While this puts native English speakers at an initial advantage, there are risks when it comes to communicating in a multi-cultural setting. Brits, Americans and Australians, for example, need to "tune in" their language if they want to make themselves properly understood. All too often in a multi-cultural setting, with a majority of the group not having English as their first language, it is the native speakers who are the least likely to be understood. Many of us may well have seen this first-hand on a number of occasions.
The key is for the native speakers to slow down and adapt their language for a global audience: this means avoiding jokes, local cultural references, slang and abbreviations. Communications training is therefore just as important for native-speakers as it is for everyone else.
