Recession being blamed on “Public Relations” ? We wish we were that important...

As the economy worsens and it begins to affect each of us personally, we begin the very human process of finger pointing and blame gaming. Lately the focus of some of that blame has been leveled at our own profession…public relations. Guess who’s to blame for the recession? It rhymes with ‘shublic belations’

I’ve had a few good rants myself on the subject. But to be fair, my criticisms have not been at the profession overall, but at certain practices and firms that seem determined to black all of our eyes. And there lies a bigger problem for some of us that practice PR a little differently…that is, smartly, honestly and fairly.

In the meantime, headlines continue to be made by not only the extravagant hiring of PR firms, like AIG running amuck, to the City of Chicago’s recent firing of PR firms. Bad PR forces City Hall to cancel contracts

Let’s be clear…PR did not cause this recession and PR is not extending it. And here’s an even bigger blow to the PR blogosphere…we’re important, but not that important in the grand scheme of world geopolitics and geo-economics to be having a significant impact one way or another. That is not to say, we’re not an easy target. We are. And that’s our own fault. PR’s job and those of us who have been proud to practice it for a living over the years, is to facilitate information, to assist in communicating, and at times to educate…and in so doing, to often influence those to whom we’re communicating. We’re our clients’ storytellers when they have things of significance to tell. But we should never be their shills nor their “spinmeisters” and we should never ever become the story itself. And most importantly, when a client asks us to tell a story that in the best case is of little or no news value or worst case, is disingenuous or misleading, we should be honest and give them the best of professional advice…no.

But the most egregious of PR practices and the single greatest target of criticism during an economic downturn is the size of many of the large firms’ fees and the lack of accountability in how the traditional PR world is compensated. Inflated hourly fees for highly subjective and non-tangible results deserve the criticism…and I personally hope the outrage continues.

We as a country and as an economy will weather this crisis, bad as it is and bad as it may yet become. And while keeping our individual and professional roles in some humble and realistic perspective, we as PR practitioners can help and make a difference. How…by demanding that PR go beyond the image of high priced counselors to a more equitable compensation system based on fair pay for tangible performance.

How many PR consultants does it take to change a… Oops! Right joke, wrong profession

AIG PR firms now up to four… and AIG CEO on Today Show just does “ok.”

Sometimes it’s really hard to keep reading the depressing headlines in this lurching economy. Oh, I don’t mean the those headlines declaring the unemployment rate has hit a twenty-five year low…or that the U.S. is now facing a trillion dollar plus deficit…or you’re your neighbor may lose his job and his home…and even Bernie Madhoff may have to give up his penthouse (God forbid.) No, I’m talking about the sad state of the public relations profession that in spite of itself, can’t seem to get it’s act together and get some good press. (Or as we prefer to call it…Ink.)

AIG, the insurance giant with the largest hand out (literally and figuratively) has decided that it simply must have additional help in spinning it’s story to an even greater number of audiences, and of course, in so doing, spend even more of our tax dollars. AIG’s actions remind me of the old adage about the lone man in a lifeboat that assumed the more people he added, the better it would float. See “AIG's dizzying PR binge ”

And what’s even more depressing is that with all these supposed heavy hitters with the astronomical hourly fees in the AIG line up, one good media trainer can’t be found to provide some sage advice and counsel to their client’s CEO before making an appearance on the Today Show? I know that Tom Cruse might disagree, but Matt Lauer isn’t exactly Mike Wallace. Some where, some how, buried within Kekst & Co., Hill and Knowlton, or Burson-Marsteller is a media specialist at a zillion dollars an hour to rehearse CEO Liddy to ward off those tricky Lauer zingers. AIG CEO draws mixed review on Today. Of course, an even more important question might be, why the Today Show?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

My preference would have been to have Liddy’s butt grilled by Congress as to why AIG is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on PR firms’ hourly fees to make excuses rather than humbly and diligently fix the problem.

As a point of full disclosure and a nod to the late Senator Bensten, I know Kekst & Co and Burson-Marsteller, I’ve worked with and for both, and they’re friends of mine…or at least the founders. Both however, along with Hill and Knowlton, the other PR counsels of record, and an enormous internal PR group, should not be above the criticism from the rest of us in the PR profession any more than AIG should be exempt from the wrath of Congress or the tax payers for wasting extremely valuable dollars to benefit the elite few over the many. Yes, AIG, could use and needs professional PR assistance…obviously. But exactly how many very expensive “suits” does it take to give a few solid pieces of common sense advice, to write a non-nonsense annual report, to tell this client to be humble, work hard, react truthfully and openly when asked, but keep a low profile and until you’ve earned back the public’s trust?

The answer evidently is the same number as it takes some to change a light bulb...

Smaller independent PR firms…surviving the unsurvivable…

At the risk of being labeled with the new, old buzzword…dare I say, “socialist”…I actually believe that the new administration is doing everything it can with the knowledge and skills it has available to it, to push, drag, cajole this economy back to a level of respectability. But I also know that if we sit, wait, and expect the newly elected folks in Washington, D.C. to do all the heavy lifting than economic failure is a certainty. This is particularly true in the entrepreneurial and small business sector of this country…dare I say, “capitalist?” ( see WSJ article “Entrepreneurs Can Lead Us Out of the Crisis”)

We in the public relations business that are proud to be considered smaller non-traditional and boutique PR firms, certainly fit within that sector. Most of us have built our businesses and practices, large and small, through innovation, a fierce independence , and an awful lot of hard work over more trial and error than any of us wish to remember. Ok, not all. There are the “lemmings” in the world of boutique PR just like everywhere that believe duplication of the big old boys is the greatest form flattery and quickest path to PR riches….an oxymoron if ever there was one. There is a reason that our, not their, client rosters are most often weighted heavily with entrepreneurs and start-ups beyond smaller budgets. There is a kinship and an understanding of what drives these young companies as well as the processes needed to reach and convince their audiences that “different is good.”

So what can those of us that have taken more of an entrepreneurial PR path be doing to survive and maybe even grow during these days before we all begin to see some light over the horizon? First and foremost, recognize and remind ourselves that two of things that got us here are key to our survival…innovation and a smaller more flexible size. We’re built to adapt and move quickly to rapid shifts on both a macro and micro economic level. We’re the sailing sloop darting amongst the waves compared to the mega tanker with all its bloated weight charging headlong to an unseen reef.

At the risk of offending my fellow PR firms with my audacity and even possibly strengthening my competition, here are a few specific tips that this smaller size and flexibility allow…

1. Realize and accept that your clients and everyone’s interest and focus is totally on efficiency and accountability… and savings. Be prepared to demonstrate value in the form of real price/performance for your fees. Time to drop the B.S.
2. Listen to them and be prepared to adapt if necessary. Again…listen to the client. It’s a buyers market.
3. Shore up what you do best and make sure your current clients are highly serviced (extremely important).
   
4. But honestly analyze where there may be weaknesses in your firm and form alliances to offset these. There are other complimentary firms…advertising, marcom, web design, social media…also in the same slowing predicament. It is much less cost intensive to form a complimentary alliance to compliment your strengths than investing in new people and infrastructure.
   
5. Market yourselves aggressively with the tools and expertise at hand: publicity and the Internet.
   
6. Stay alert to the market. Keep listening to the client marketplace and stay flexible.

Lastly, keep the faith… and keep moving forward. We entrepreneurs have been through tough times before.

Much ado about nothing. Seriously... nothing.

Too much PR spin about nothing…way too much.

Where exactly does it say, and in what great volume of proper human conduct, let alone some PR book of knowledge, that every thing written or visually presented absolutely must be given its fifteen minutes of fame?

I recently read two different pieces on two completely separate “news items” that made me aware all over again that not everything is worth my time of reflection let alone your time. But for the sake of discussion, I’ll discount that to another five or ten minutes. The first was the hoopla generated over a rather badly drawn political cartoon in the New York Post last week attempting to humorously tie together stimulus packages and dead chimps…and the second was a book review in USA Today on a new PR tome titled, “PR: A Persuasive Industry” . The former received considerable coverage over several days on national television while the latter was relegated to an interior page of the newspaper. Both however, suffer from the same identical maladies. First, the subjects of the criticism, a cartoon and a book, are inferior examples of their breed…and second, the criticism itself is ineptly presented.

Starting in reverse order, all of the critical comments pro and con surrounding the cartoon focused on the issue of suspect racism in it’s content by the media and the talking heads who were determined to take advantage of the potential controversy of the perceived subject. Give me a break! First and foremost, it was a stupid political cartoon, by an institution protected under the 1st Amendment for two hundred years. But more to my point, it wasn’t even close to being a good political cartoon…it was in fact, a badly conceived and drawn cartoon, not worthy of publication, let alone comment, based on its lack of aesthetics and humor alone.

The second example personally caused me more discomfort because it delves into a profession (Public Relations) and a skill (reporting and smart writing) I hold with some esteem. If the reviewer, Seth Brown, doesn’t do his research or write any more skillfully than is presented in this “review” than he should be eternally grateful for every check he receives while masquerading as a writer…. "Public relations doesn’t have great PR.” Wow…that’s insightful! “Perhaps the most alluring thing about being a PR consultant is that no formal training is required: no certification, no universally acknowledged test, no courses offered at many prestigious universities…” Really? Someone better tell that to the Northwestern’s, Boston University’s Cal State’s, KU’s or the PRSA.

The book itself as quoted in his review sounds a bit sophomoric and defensive…. "There is much more gray than black and white in the field of PR ethics.” Duh! The authors define PR according to Mr. Brown, as “the planned persuasion of people to behave in ways that further a sponsor’s objectives.” Makes us sound like ad agencies for breakfast cereal on Saturday morning TV.

But Mr. Brown does end well…”If you’re looking for a book to conclusively answer your PR questions, keep looking.” Hear, hear. (In difference to full disclosure, I have not read it, only Mr. Brown’s review, which does not make me want to spend the money or time to do so.)

Sometimes, some things just simply do not require nor deserve their fifteen minutes of fame nor to be reviewed. These people, these things, these attempts at art, at communication or aggrandizement are just inept. And that’s ok. Try again.

Sorry, Andy Warhol.

The new PR economy…let’s make a deal

I was recently in a luggage specialty store shopping for a rolling carry-on (one of the greatest inventions of the latter half of the 20th century…should any of us have thought of it first, we’d never be laboring in the PR mineshaft again.) As I asked the store clerk about various brands and sizes, I was struck by his not only giving me this information, but his insistence on disclosing the discounted price for each as well. I inquired as to why; and he said, “no one is paying retail any more, so why chance losing the sale. Better to cut to the chase.”

Indeed. Are we are all looking to play “Let’s Make a Deal” in our daily lives these days, even when it comes to PR?

The evidence is certainly pointing in that direction particularly in light of the fact that money is harder to come by (unless of course you’re a major financial institution) and therefore each dollar must stretch further in spreading your good word. The good news, if there is any, appears to be that the need and desire for PR is staying strong to a degree because of the recession, i.e., PR is often considered a credible promotion tool of lesser cost than advertising. Advertising Age magazine recently stated…“While the recession showed its teeth in December—the U.S. economy shed 577,000 jobs—the public relations industry added 1,200 jobs. Meanwhile, advertising and media companies eliminated 18,700 jobs in December. Ad and media industry job losses total 65,100 since the recession began” according to the publication.

And while PR is demonstrating a resurgence in attractiveness in these tough times, (if not in quality…please refer to my earlier rants on the PR’s wastefulness of the media’s time on Blago, Jessica, et. al.) the industry’s costs of providing it’s services are seeing a downward pressure commiserate with it’s increase in need. In many cases this is absolutely justified and is a natural reaction to years of bloated hourly fees and retainers. But I believe it is more than a natural pushback to traditional PR firm’s charging for their own self-designated importance than their client’s actual needs. This drive for a “deal” when discussing PR compensation is becoming part of the fabric of the recession itself. “Everyone is dealing these days, from auto dealerships and luggage stores to the government itself…so why not PR?”

It’s a valid question and is particularly relevant given the often abstract and obtuse nature of the service our industry provides. Thank goodness that there continue to be enough media left to receive our outreach, and we still seem to be a better “deal” than wasteful advertising. And those of us that have been preaching accountability while being compensated under a “pay-for-performance” structure all along, it’s even smugly gratifying to see clients demanding more “value” for their tightening budgets. But we can’t get too complacent congratulating ourselves with how much better our accountability factor is over those fat hourly fee folks. Value as it’s now being defined in recessionary terms means less cost but with the same service/result.

“Pay-for performance” PR may have to make a few deals of its own to survive.

Good PR, bad PR…or not PR

Those of us in this profession that have made the decision to make a living the hard way by asking to be paid only if we actually land positive press coverage for our clients rather than ‘counsel’ them, may be passing on some good income these days. I hope it’s not a sign of the dour economic times, but it’s apparent there are a lot of clients out there in need of some solid counsel rather than publicity. Do Michael Phelps, A-Rod, Jessica Simpson, and continuing fan and press fav, Blagojevich, come to mind?

Maybe it’s a backlash to the seeming adulation and feel-good nature of the coverage of the historic inauguration and charismatic new president, but we, as represented by the media we subscribe to (and ingratiate ourselves to as PR people) lately seem to have veered toward a fascination to report and elevate the weaker and sillier side of our nature. It’s as if we needed a good old-fashioned, what my grandmother used to say, “come-uppence” for being so smug in our reporting of real news that seriously affects our lives and incomes. “Enough” said the media kings and the publicists that feed off of them…"bring back the court jesters!” And of course, there are those amongst us, more than happy to do so.

The fact that we’re in the midst of an important debate with valid issues on all sides of the aisle that will affect all of us in the most personal ways over the next few years does not preclude us from the enjoyment of entertainment news, of sports, of even some fluff to lighten our day. Not at all. We all need and deserve a guilty pleasure or “silly fix” once in a while. But to be transfixed on it, to have it become a story with legs is an embarrassment to the media covering it, the audiences into it, and to the PR-types behind the scenes promoting it for income and profit.

Having been the PR renegade for most of my working life, it’s not entirely comfortable for me to wear the cloak of professional indignation in discussing my brothers and sisters in the business. The battle I’ve waged against fat retainers and hourly fees versus a pay-for-performance model is not the issue here, however. Public relations and specifically media relations under any compensation model can be a really tough business with more than enough justified criticism from within and especially from without. But for that very reason, it’s especially important to note and separate the pros from those that simply feed off the weaker side of our and some of the media’s nature. Too many of us have worked way too hard for way too many years fighting to squeeze in some justified media attention for clients deserving of the public’s attention, to be lumped together with the self-anointed “PR Gurus” or “PR Impresarios.”

Call it and them what you may, but please don’t call it “good PR.”

PR at its low point… the Blagojevich media circus tour

What we witnessed this last week was one very sad spectacle for a profession that, while never held to the standards of say, investment banking or even politics, nevertheless continues to at least strive for a modicum of respectability. The sadness lay not so much in the now ex-governor’s search for his version of truth and justice, but in the “publicity plan” and firm that devised it; and one assumes was paid handsomely for its execution.



It’s not that Blagojevich didn’t deserve PR advice, for he surely did every bit as much as insurance giant, AIG, did upon learning of their need for redemption in the press (as well as a large hunk of federal cash.) But rather than pay the princely sum of $100,000 per month in retainers and hourly fees to Burson-Marsteller, Governor Blagojevich chose to summon the keen insights of the PR firm that gave such great advice to Drew Peterson, run by the guy that none other than Ms. Media Credibility, herself, Nancy Grace, refers to as “The PR Guru”…Glen Selig and the Publicity Agency. Just how much, I wonder, did the ex-governor have to pay to gain exposure on just about every talk show currently on the air...not surely enough to make up for becoming a walking, talking target and joke. Mr. Selig clearly was not responsible for the ruination of Blagojevich’s political career or alleged illegal acts. Blago did a wonderful job of this all on his own. But without question, his subsequent descent into becoming a truly memorable and long standing punch line and poster boy for modern media self-flagellation is owed to the modest efforts of Mr. Selig and his firm. A firm that bills itself as “the only PR firm created and staffed by former journalists.Which means we know news better than any other agency out there. So if your goal is to land news coverage or manage news coverage, there is no agency better than our agency.”

Really? The only PR firm staffed by former journalists? I can name literally hundreds, including my own, INK inc. No agency better at news coverage or managing news coverage…? Was this sad spectacle of a ruined Illinois politico traipsing from one talk show to another, a sound example of garnering coverage or managing the news? Not to most of the PR agencies I’m familiar with, nor the clients that really deserve coverage of newsworthy happenings that might actually enrich or expand or inform their audiences. Most of us in this profession take pride in the real work and process of gaining both the attention and the coverage of the news media. It’s damn hard work and it takes a collaborative effort between the client, the news media and the PR rep to see it through to success.

But the media itself is not without blame for this spectacle, or for PR firms like Mr. Selig’s, that cater to its insatiable appetite for the bizarre, controversial, and even grossly sad. I wish the media that truly pander to this type of “news” were still the exception, and by and large, they are. But broadcast media in particular, is seeing sensationalism crowd journalism for airtime. It doesn’t take much skill (and little to no scruples) to “manage the news” by asking these types of media outlets for interview time with a controversial subject…newsworthy or not. (If David Frost could get a “confession” from Nixon, no telling what Whoopi will get out of Blago!)

Unfortunately this type of “Blago PR Circus” is growing and going to be around as long as there are clients in search of perceived media redemption, media outlets more interested in gotcha’s and scoops than journalism, and PR firms willing to suck up to both.