Switching PR Agencies in Brazil: A Handover Checklist for International Teams

Thiago Carneiro, Co-founder and Client Servicing Director, The New Standard. Thiago leads client servicing at The New Standard, running corporate affairs mandates for multinationals across Latin America.

When switching PR agencies in Brazil, start with an agreed record of open work, approved materials, access permissions and decision owners. If The New Standard is taking over your mandate, this checklist can help structure that conversation. The objective is to give the incoming team a reliable starting point and make responsibility for every active commitment clear.

Agree the transition scope and name the owner

Appoint a person inside your company to coordinate the handover. That person should confirm which activities end with the outgoing agency, which continue and who can approve the transfer of materials or access. Set dates that reflect actual commitments and availability rather than assuming every transition fits the same timetable.

Record what the incoming agency is expected to receive and who can provide it. If ownership, licensing or transfer permissions are unclear, ask the appropriate internal contract or legal owner to resolve the question before materials are shared. Do not assume that every tool, contact list or working file belongs to your company.

If the agency decision is still open, use our PR agency evaluation guide first. This checklist addresses the operational work once a transition is being planned.

Create an open-work register

A folder of finished press releases will not show a pending interview, an unanswered journalist question or a statement awaiting approval. Build a register of active work and review it with the people responsible for each item.

Use these fields for each commitment:
Item: The interview, request, announcement or deliverable.
Current status: What has happened and what remains unresolved.
Next action: The specific action needed to move it forward.
Current owner: Who handles the item before responsibility transfers?
Incoming owner: Who takes over, at what agreed date and time, and who handles requests if the handover is delayed?
Deadline: Any confirmed date, with the relevant time zone.
Approved materials: The current source documents and their versions.
Restrictions: Embargoes, permissions or other agreed limits on use.

Make the route for incoming requests explicit. Relevant journalists and partners should know whom to contact when responsibility changes. Coordinate that communication so the two agencies do not make duplicate approaches or give inconsistent answers.

Transfer the approved story and its local context

Identify the current company description, executive biographies, message documents, published statements and approved images. Mark the version and approval owner for each. Keep obsolete material separate so it cannot be mistaken for current guidance.

For Brazil, include the approved Portuguese wording and the reasoning behind any local adaptation. Explain terms that headquarters uses differently, claims that require technical approval and topics on which a spokesperson should seek advice. Context helps the incoming team understand the documents it receives.

List available spokespeople, their subject areas and the internal route for arranging interviews. Share only materials and information that your company has authorised for the new working relationship.

Review access with your internal system owners

Inventory the systems needed for the agreed scope. These might include a newsroom, asset library, reporting workspace or publishing account. For each, record the company owner, administrator and permissions required by the incoming team.

Use the access process approved by your organisation. Ask system owners to provide appropriate individual access and verify it before removing access that is still needed for agreed transition tasks. Avoid putting passwords into the handover document.

Where a service belongs to the outgoing agency, agree whether an authorised export or final report is available. A new agency may need its own service rather than a transfer of the old account.

Keep reporting comparable across the change

Save the latest approved reporting period, metric definitions and relevant source exports. Record which activities are included and how results were counted. If the new team uses a different definition, document the change instead of presenting the two figures as directly comparable.

Carry forward the business objective as well as the coverage record. Explain which audiences matter, which messages are priorities and how communications results will be discussed with the business. An agency change is a useful point to correct unclear measurement, but it does not erase the need for a baseline.

Confirm readiness before the new team takes over

Ask the incoming team to confirm receipt, access and understanding. The practical check is whether it can find the approved facts, identify the next deadline and reach the person who can make a decision. Keep unresolved items in the register with an owner and next action.

Schedule a review after the handover to check outstanding commitments and any assumptions that proved incorrect. For public relations work in Brazil, continuity depends on people understanding their responsibilities as much as on files changing hands.

Contact The New Standard with your current scope, priority markets and intended transition date. Explain what must continue during the change and where your team needs help establishing the new arrangement.