Discover our Senior PR Account Director and Head of Construction PR’s insights on PR’s biggest challenges – and how to overcome them
Since joining The Think Tank seven years ago, Henry Rubinstein has risen up the ranks and become one of the agency’s biggest characters. Now Senior PR Account Director and Head of Construction PR, Henry spoke to us about his journey from politics to Press Relations and offered up his thoughts on what changing regulations mean for construction businesses.
Hi Henry. Tell us about your journey before arriving at The Think Tank.
I graduated from the University of Leeds in 2009 with a degree in Political Studies. After toying with the idea of becoming a radio DJ, a chance meeting led to an internship with Eric Pickles, then Chairman of the Conservative Party. It was around the time of the 2010 general election, so I had a really fun year on the campaign trail, getting to know different politicians and making new connections.
Then, during the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, I spent six months as an MP’s Secretary. While in the role, I once sent said MP and some of her colleagues to an event on the other side of London, the only problem being that it was a week too early! It’s safe to say I was a terrible PA, but it was a valuable lesson in diary management.
It took a few different communications and marketing-related jobs for me to realise my true calling was in PR. I’ve always been a bit of a natural salesperson, and I love meeting people and networking, so I got on my bike and went looking for the right role.
I interviewed with an agency in Woking that specialised in B2B hospitality PR and they said yes – partly, I think, because I was the only person mad enough to travel outside of London for work. Thus I began a 12-year long run in various relationship management roles, five of which were in hospitality PR. It was great fun, but as it goes in smaller agencies there wasn’t much room for growth, so I eventually had to move sideways.
Lo and behold, a job at The Think Tank came up. I thought working in the construction sector could be interesting; much like my passion for food and cookery, it’s all about combining different parts to make a successful whole.
I got the job as an Account Manager in 2017, and have since risen through the ranks to my current position.
What kinds of industries do you have experience in and what have they taught you?
I suppose my bedrock is in hospitality. It’s such a service-based industry; it’s all about building relationships and making people feel special. In that sense, it gave me a great grounding in client relations. It also taught me the importance of first impressions, and that going into a client meeting looking smart and professional can make all the difference.
As for construction, you have to be very creative. A lot of the people that we work with are so focused on the work that they’re doing, they simply don’t have the time to come up with a load of creative ideas, so they really rely on us in PR to either bring them to the table or help draw them out. It’s taught me to be much more proactive in coming up with ideas.
What would you say you’re best at? How do you apply it at TTT?
I think most people who know me would say I’m someone who’s very enthusiastic, passionate and driven, and I love taking a product or a service and pitching it out. I often think that if I hadn’t gone into PR, I would have definitely considered a job in direct sales, or business development of some sorts. But this attitude definitely helps in my work at The Think Tank, be that in winning new clients or encouraging existing ones to take a certain angle.
In terms of my skills, it’s definitely been a case of practice makes perfect. I remember going into my first PR job thinking I was a great writer. Then, on my first day, my then line manager looked at my press release and tore it to shreds, covering it in red pen. It was a deflating experience, but a valuable one – and it motivated me to do better.
So then I spent the next two years working, working and working on my writing until, by the time I left that company, there were no corrections.
Nothing beats lived experience, and I think more people in PR should be putting themselves out there, honing their skills and putting them into practice. If you’re nervous about media meets, go out and arrange media meets. If you’re struggling to write press releases, keep doing them over and over until it becomes second nature.
Do you have any campaigns you’ve worked on at TTT that you’re particularly proud of? What made it special?
I was incredibly pleased with the work we did with James Latham for its digital showroom launch. We absolutely smashed the results and, again, ended up bagging awards at the CMAs for it. It really cemented my relationship with the client, who has now become a great friend outside of work.
An older campaign that was really special to me was one we worked on with MyEdge2, a small-scale property developer. I spent a lot of time cultivating a relationship with the Evening Standard property section and was able to broker a triple-page spread featuring a stunning photoshoot of the client’s property.
On the back of that, it snowballed into a big campaign with lots of high-quality coverage, going on to pick up three awards at the Construction Marketing Awards; a very special moment!
What are some of the typical challenges facing our clients nowadays? How do you help them overcome them?
I think there’s some big commercial challenges at the moment. There are a lot of companies vying for the same space, so it’s becoming a bit of an arms race to secure coverage and differentiate our clients’ products and services from the rest.
Likewise, tightening regulations are becoming a real challenge for our clients. As new laws pertaining to sustainability, energy efficiency and safety come into effect.
But while this might be a challenge for our clients, it’s actually making us in PR work better, helping to define our objects and refine our metrics to truly demonstrate how we add value. We’re improving the quality of our messaging to bring these important points to the forefront.
What changes are coming over the horizon that businesses need to look out for?
Changes in employment laws, such as ending zero-hours contracts, will impact the construction sector considerably, and indeed hospitality too. It’s also likely that corporation tax will rise, affecting larger clients and putting pressure on already tight budgets.
However, there are also some opportunities on the horizon. The removal of certain planning laws and the introduction of more rigid, ambitious targets on house building can only be a good thing.
The big infrastructure upgrades, arising following the Government’s upcoming Spending Review, will provide a much-needed boost for those working in the civil engineering and infrastructure sector, and it’s a great time to be a renewable utilities provider.
The data centre vertical will likely grow, which is not only great for specialist contractors, but also a boon for anyone working in the digital markets.
At the same time, there’s a huge skill shortage in construction. So who’s going to be building these things? And who’s footing the bill? Those are the questions that will need answering before anything’s set in motion.
What do you think sets TTT apart from other B2B marketing and PR agencies?
You have the opportunity to rise through the ranks quite quickly. In smaller agencies with a single sector focus, there’s often not many places to go and the work can get monotonous. The Think Tank gives you a huge amount of scope to own your projects and explore what you want to do. We also really support and look after our people. Even though we’re scaling up faster than ever, we still have that lovely, small community feel and family-focused mentality.
We’re a bunch of original thinkers and we’re not afraid to adopt a consultative approach. We’re quick to respond and we’re very accommodating with clients, often forming close bonds with them.
That’s why I think our client retention rate is high; we make a real effort to form genuine relationships and properly understand the people we work with.
And lastly, to finish on a light note: Who’s your dream dinner party guest?
I’d have to say my girlfriend, but Sir Roger Moore would be my next pick – in his James Bond attire, of course. Another great one would be David Niven.
I once got the chance to have dinner with David Suchet, which was a real pleasure. He’s done the Poirot voice so much that it now comes across his default voice, or maybe I was just imagining it!
He had some great anecdotes up his sleeve, refreshingly for a seasoned thespian, but he didn’t just want to talk about himself all the time – his passions for art, cookery and photography also got some airtime. Maybe he would be my ideal dinner party guest; he’s so affable that he’d get on with everyone.
