64 Media’s Julie Bennett and Pritchitt Partners’ Claudia Pritchitt

64 Media and Pritchitt Partners, two specialist communications firms in the financial services industry, have formed a strategic alliance to add further value to their client services.

The strategic alliance, The Value Alliance, will give both consultancies the ability to provide clients additional back-up, expand communication opportunities for them, offer additional specialist services and add synergy in areas such as crisis communication.  Each business will continue to operate separately, but The Value Alliance will allow joint approaches to client work in some areas, especially in new business development.

Both principals of the individual consultancies, Claudia Pritchitt (Pritchitt Partners) and Julie Bennett (64 Media), are highly regarded in financial services media relations.

While the expertise of the consultancies is very similar, each has some additional specialised services. Their clients include fund managers, financial planners, other financial services providers, mutual organisations, industry associations and professional firms.

The principals have already worked together over several years, but have formalised a joint arrangement to strengthen their relationship so as to provide additional client benefits.

As an example Ms Pritchitt points to the media training that 64 Media provides, using its specialist knowledge of financial services industry issues, opportunities and activities, as being useful for Pritchitt Partners clients. 

“Most media training is provided by generalists and focuses on handling foot-in-the-door journalists when an organisation has a problem,” Ms Pritchitt said.

“In media training, our clients need a trainer who understands their business and is capable of developing realistic scenarios that teach them how to take best advantage of the media opportunities we routinely create, so that they are better equipped to get across the points they wish to make.

“After clients have been given this knowledge, and used it in their ongoing media relations, they can then be prepared for any media crisis when required – and in the unlikely event it ever becomes necessary,” Ms Pritchitt said.

Ms Bennett added that having the opportunity for informal reviews and knowledge exchange will also add opportunities to overall client programs for each business.

“64 Media clients will also benefit from the new relationship in other ways,” she said.

“For example, Pritchitt Partners has developed a unique event approach that is included as an added benefit to client relations and which can be extended to include 64 Media clients.

“Claudia and I have been friends for a long time and provided each other with back-up and support in the past.  So it is exciting for us to formalise and extend this business relationship,” Ms Bennett said.

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