REICH COMMUNICATIONS

PR -- A Matter of Degree

Jack O'Dwyer reported this week about comments made by Dr. Donald Wright, a professor of public relations at Boston University.  Dr. Wright said, in accepting the Arthur W. Page Society's Distinguished Service Award, that the p.r. industry hasn't done enough to support public relations education.  He cited a survey that showed p.r. firms rarely hire graduates with freshly-minted degrees in public relations.  PR graduates account for only 10 - 15% of recent hires at the large p.r. agencies.

Prof. Wright says some 35,000 young people are currently studying public relations at nearly 700 colleges and universities.  Most, he said, will not find work in the p.r. profession.

Amanda Chappel, writing at Strumpette, posted an interview with Dr. Wright that's worth a read.  A key reason for the apparent failure of p.r. education is that it tends to focus more on the theoretical rather than practical.  And too many schools, he said, have failed to revise and update course materials "to accommodate the reality that public relations is in the midst of a revolution that evolves new audiences, new channels, new kinds of content and new measurements."

Wright said in the interview that both the educators and practitioners have failed to keep public relations up to date.

Although I scoffed at it when it came out a few weeks ago, I can now see how the Princeton Review said a p.r. education is not needed to succeed in the field.

Yesterday I spoke with Emilie Schaum, Senior Vice President and Chief Talent Officer at Manning, Selvage & Lee, one of the biggest and most-respected public relations agencies. (I worked at MS&L nearly 20 years ago, where I headed the corporate-financial practice group.)   I was surprised to learn that  MS&L does not look for recent grads with a p.r. degree.  "It's not just the p.r. degree," she said.  "We look for the best overall candidate; well-rounded individuals who can think beyond the confines of a narrowly-focused education."

Deborah Levy, Vice President of Talent Recruitment at MS&L, said it would be short-sighted to only consider p.r. majors. "I've hired excellent candidates with p.r. degrees," she said, "as well as excellent candidates with degrees in psychology, communications, English, journalism, finance, government relations and business.  The degree is not the only consideration.  Personality, writing ability and internships are among factors we consider when hiring an entry-level candidate."

Emilie Schaum echoed a criticism raised by Dr. Wright: P.R. theory doesn't necessarily translate well into practice. She added that it's the agency's responsibility, with which I heartily agree, to train its people, teaching them the practical along with the nuances of thinking and doing that make it "your agency's way."  Recruit good people and train them well, I'd add, and they'll in turn train others to do a solid, professional and ethical job, providing real value for clients.

I believe, and Jack O'Dwyer and Emilie Schaub agree, that PR would be helped if we had a strong and effective trade association (which we seem to unfortunately lack in PRSA) that would work to elevate understanding and respect for the profession.  Collaboration between universities and agencies is needed to determine what should be taught in school so graduates come out with knowledge that will be practical in the workplace.

I continue to advocate for p.r. courses to be included in broader business curricula in colleges, so people in various areas of business -- and especially marketing -- have some idea of what public relations does and how it works.

Emilie put it beautifully when she told me, "This is, essentially, a new industry, especially as digital media continue to grow.  We're writing in practice now the textbooks for what public relations will be in the future."

from Advertising Week: Consumer-Generated Ads

It's a busy week here in New York.  Down the block from my office, the General Assembly is in session at the UN.  And over at the Time-Life Building on Sixth Ave., USA Today hosted a discussion Tuesday on consumer-generated ads, as part of the annual Advertising Week.

Theresa Howard, marketing reporter for USA Today moderated a panel, which included Ann Mukherjee, marketing vp of Frito-Lay, Babs Rangaiah, director of media planning at Unilever USA, Bob Greenberg, CEO and chief creative officer at ad agency R/GA, and Mark Wnek, chairman and chief creative officer at Lowe NY.

After showing a reel with samples and results of consumer-generated ads for Frito-Lay's Doritos, Unilever's Dove and Nike's Converse,  the panel talked about consumer-generated ads and broader consumer-generated marketing.

F-L's Mukherjee said they now look for more than just an idea for a :30 TV commercial.  Instead, they look for a holistic concept that can be integrated across many platforms.  Unilever's Rangaiah agreed, but added that agencies will always play a key role for marketers.  Consumer-generated concepts and c-g ads will play a bigger role for marketers, but the pros at agencies will continue to have a central place.  Lowe's Wnek said agencies will, in fact, play more of a management role in the future, finding good ideas from consumers and then overseeing that input as it evolves into a marketing campaign.

Mukherjee emphasized that consumer-generated just for the sake of consumer-generated doesn't work.  It's got to be a logical part of a brand's strategy.  "Just because 'everyone's' on YouTube doesn't mean you should be there too," she said.

Rangaiah agreed, saying consumer-generated should be part of a broader campaign.  "CG can generate fantastic consumer involvement -- engagement -- resulting in incredible p.r.," he noted.

When they spoke about CG campaigns they've developed, all the panelists talked about how much added publicity they got, adding tremendous value to the campaign.  Mukherjee told how she went to her CEO asking for $750,000 to fund the Doritos consumer-generated ad campaign, saying it would return $3.5 million in exposure.  Instead, it created literally billions of impressions valued at more than $30 million.

Public relations, I'm happy to say as a p.r. man, was a critical component of all the campaigns that were held up as successful examples.  Yes, there was a significant viral element, but effective p.r. efforts helped push these campaigns into hype overdrive.

R/GA's Greenberg discussed measurement, saying one of the great things about the web is how precisely you can track consumers' response.  He believes research and data that will come from better tracking will eventually move to front & center of agencies' work.

A clip was shown spoofing the Dove "evolution" campaign that shows a woman being transformed with makeup, cleansers, etc. from plain to glamorous and then ending up on a billboard.  The spoof, called "male evolution," showed a 20-something male smoking, drinking beer, eating and transforming into an overweight and aged guy, also ending up on a billboard.  Rangaiah, who oversaw the Dove campaign, said five years ago his company probably would have issued a cease & desist order against the spoof.  But now, he said, they recognize the parody represents consumer involvement and they applaud it, as long as it isn't vulgar or otherwise patently offensive.  It helps spread the word about our brand, he noted.

A few key take-aways from these marketing experts:

*  Be careful not to overdo it.  As more marketers jump on the CG bandwagon, it can very quickly become "so yesterday," as Mukherjee said.  What's most important is a dialogue with consumers, and not so much the idea of CG ads.  Consumers will become more critical in shaping campaigns, although the novelty of CG ads will eventually fade.

*  Authenticity is critical.  If consumers feel you are trying to steer or control them in your social media interactions, the impact will be lost.  In fact, it could backfire.

*  The sharp marketers are reading blogs.  This was repeated several times by
almost everyone on the panel.  Blogs are the new focus groups, in many ways. 

There is nothing like talking to consumers," said Mukherjee as the session came to close.  "Reading the blogs helps you get real and gets you out of the ivory tower."

Pudding and Big Brother

I love pudding -- chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, tapioca.  Mmmm!

There's a new pudding, though,that makes my stomach a bit queasy.  It's called Pudding Media and The New York Times wrote about it yesterday.  The company, based in Silicon Valley, just introduced a web phone service that will allow people unlimited free calling.  But there's a catch, which is what makes me nervous.

In exchange for free phone calls, Pudding will listen in on your conversation to see what you're talking about.  Voice recognition software will pick up on key words or phrases and then send you ads, by email or directly to your computer screen, based on what you've been talking about.

If your conversation is about movies, you may soon get emails promoting new films coming out.  Talk about pot, you may get ads for Farberware.  (Or perhaps a visit from the local police.)

It sounds a bit too Big Brother-ish for me, and evidently for some ad execs who said they'd have concerns that it's too invasive.  If I were a marketer, I think I'd opt to stay away from this, even though it can be a finely targeted medium.  Although users would know they'll be getting hit with ads in exchange for phone service, I wonder how many emails or pop-ups would simply be deleted without even getting looked at.

For those who don't mind being monitored by Big Brother in order to have free phone calls, Pudding might work.  For me, I'll just keep paying my AT&T bill every month, knowing no one is eavesdropping. 

Not that my conversations are all that interesting.

P.R. Licensing -- follow-up

The issue of licensing of public relations professionals was discussed here a few weeks ago, and I then brought it to the wider forum at Daily Fix.  Both posts drew lively and sometimes heated discussion from marketing and p.r. folks around the world.  The Daily Fix post, in fact, remained on the most active list for more than a week.

To recap quickly, a longtime European p.r. pro and former chairman of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communications Management, Toni Muzi Falconi, called for public relations people to be licensed as a way to enforce ethical behavior.  I responded with a resounding "no way," and instead offered three specific ways to help bring better ethics and better work into the p.r. field.  I suggested:

1)  Better education about what p.r. is, how it works and what it can and cannot do should be incorporated into the college curriculum, not only in marketing programs, but in general business studies as well.

2)  Make good on-the-job training available for newcomers in the profession, to ensure they learn good work habits -- especially in terms of writing, pitching, honesty.

3)  Ethics, I said, are really instilled in us as we grow up, although some ethics discussion could be incorporated into p.r. courses, and in business courses in general.

Among the problems I see with licensing is with who will determine criteria and who will enforce them.  Certainly not the government and, unfortunately, not the Public Relations Society here in the U.S., since PRSA is not well-regarded within our industry and is too enmeshed in its own politics.

Since Toni Falconi has been teaching in the graduate program at NYU, we decided to meet face-to-face and talk the issue through.  We met two weeks ago, before Toni returned home to Italy for a few months before he comes back to New York to teach again for the spring semester.

I liked Toni right away.  Over eggs and coffee, he gave me an interesting overview of p.r. and licensing around the world.  Government licensing, he said, has not worked in the several nations where it's been tried.  Most of those nations are dictatorships or similar strongarm regimes where there's little freedom.

He also talked about some interesting things happening in the U.K. and Germany, where there are strong and effective public relations associations.  In those nations, they are trying licensing or certification, overseen by the p.r. associations.  In Germany, they are even trying to impose fines or censure on companies and p.r. people whose p.r. actions are deemed not in the public interest.  It's been difficult, Toni said, because the p.r. associations are finding themselves on the receiving end of stiff lawsuits.

It's a slippery slope made even more difficult in the U.S. by the lack of clout and credibility by the PRSA.  Toni agrees the status of PRSA makes it a real challenge here.

The longtime chronicler of the PR industry, Jack O'Dwyer of Jack O'Dwyer's Newsletter, contacted me after seeing my posts and he agreed with me about licensing and the weakness of the PRSA.

Toni and Jack agreed that something needs to be done to improve the quality and ethics of people in p.r., and that major changes need to be made within the PRSA structure and leadership.

Toni still thinks licensing will be inevitable even in the U.S., although he admits it will take a long time.  But even after hearing Toni's reasoning firsthand, I still respectfully disagree and believe that licensing is the wrong way to go.  Perhaps at some point, if PRSA can ever get its act together, there could be a certification program that could help improve practices and, possibly, ethics.  But I think there will always be -- licensing or not -- some people who will practice public relations effectively and ethically, and there will be some who won't. 

I'm afraid that's just a reality of business and of life.

----

I'll cover this again from time to time here, and I suggest you take a look also at PR Conversations, where Toni is a frequent contributor along with some other p.r. people from around the world.

----

Toni sent this clarification, after I posted:  "I have only one issue: I do not advocate licensing to raise ethics of public relations practice....I have never said this. To the contrary, I wrote that those who do so are mistaken.
I advocate licensing to protect stakeholders of public relations.
There is, you will admit, one hell of a lot of difference. The first
approach is in defence of pr practitioners from one another (nothing to do
with the public interest); the second has to do with people."

Night at the Iguana

A few weeks ago, Diva Toby Bloomberg told me and CK that she was coming to NY for a meeting and let's get together.  I said, great.  CK, of course, took it further and posted, inviting anyone to join us. 

So last night, I got a great thrill when I walked into the Iguana Cafe around the corner from the David Letterman studio, to see Toby, CK and a whole bunch of other bloggers.

My new friend Kofi came in from New Jersey, with the Age of Conmversation's Curious George in tow.  David Berkowitz, who I'd met before, was there, as was my favorite consumer on the floor, C.B. Whittemore.

It was great to meet for the first time some others who I've known online -- Greg Verdino, Sticky Steve Woodruff, Tangerine Toad, and the guru of Daily Fix, Ann Handley.  As I explained to Ann, I got there a bit late because I couldn't find a parking space for my pony. (Ask Ann, if you must.)

As a bonus, a few other bloggers who I didn't know online joined us.  So our circle keeps expanding, which is wonderful.

I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pix to share with you.  But I'm putting one shot up that CK sent me.  I like it because I learned last night that, as big a giant that Ann is online, she's actually little.  But with a big heart.

I love this bloggin' stuff.

CK, C.B. and Steve had cameras, so I'm sure they'll be posting pix for all to see.

Curious George passes through

Curious George, the Age of Conversation mascot (courtesy of Steve Woodruff) arrived at my 2 cents from David Berkowitz.  Next on the list, after me, was Kofi Annan, who lives in New Jersey.

George almost didn't make it, after he met my black lab Loki.  Loki loves stuffed animals and he can chew one to shreds in a matter of seconds.  Luckily, George's international journey didn't end at my house in Mount Vernon.




Kofi had plans in the city, so we arranged for him to stop by my office, say hello and get George.

Meeting Kofi this morning confirmed, once again, what a nice group of people these marketing bloggers are.  We chatted for an hour, talking about how we each started blogging, as well as the challenges and pressures of keeping our content fresh and interesting, and how to get new clients for our consulting businesses.
Kofi, I learned, came to the U.S. from Ghana, after stops to live elsewhere in Africa, Morocco, Amsterdam and finally here.  He left his native land at age 12.

But Africa is still very much in his heart and soul, and it's a key part of his business.  He designs and sells clothing with an African accent, and he also advises businesses in Africa who want to do business here, and vice versa.

You have to check out Kofi's blog, Annansi Chronicles, which covers African style and business trends.  I'll be adding him to my blogroll soon.

From the Neighborhood

During my 30+ years in public relations, I've had the chance to meet many famous people.  In some cases, it was just a brief chat, like when I met popcorn king Orville Redenbacher in the green room of the Regis & Kathie Lee show, or actresses Stephanie Powers and Christine Baranski when they attended a news conference I organized to accept the Polish Ham of the Year Award.  Or Chris Evert, Virginia Wade and Billy Jean King, when working on a client's nationally televised tennis tournament.  Or talking with James Earl Jones backstage at a client's awards program, savoring every syllable of speech in that deep, resonant voice.

There have been lengthier encounters, such as spending two days with Martina Navratilova shortly after her defection, as I shepherded her through a round of media interviews and learned what a great subtle sense of humor she has.    Or seeing what a pathetic, grumpy old man baseball hero Ted Williams had become, after being with him for two days when he was Grand Marshall at the Pulaski Day Parade here.  Or chatting with Jim Henson at client McDonald's press event for a tie-in with the Muppets Movie, and trying not to burst out laughing because this tall bearded man I was talking with sounded just like Kermit the Frog.

One of the most impactful encounters, though, was with a soft-spoken, self-effacing man who many of us, or our kids, grew up with -- Mister Rogers.  I met Fred Rogers exactly a year before he died, when he was being honored with a special award from client The Christophers.

It was a snowy February night -- the eve of what became a major blizzard here in NY.  The car that had been ordered to pick up Fred after the program and take him to his hotel never showed, and I was asked to help him.  While people around us were panicking because Mister Rogers was being kept waiting, he sat and talked with me.  He didn't know why everyone was making a fuss because the car didn't show, and if I didn't stop him, he would have walked in the blinding snow, suitcase in hand, the several blocks to the hotel.

While we talked, he asked about my family.  Somehow, we got to talking about my father, who had died three years earlier.  He asked lots of questions about my dad and our relationship, and after a while he told me, "Although I never met your father, I feel I know him now and he must have been a wonderful man."

With all the hub-bub around us, Mister Rogers was focused just on me and our private conversation.  He listened intently, and he responded with feedback that showed how closely he had been listening.

After a while, we found a cab to take him to his hotel.  As I helped him into the cab, he thanked me for the conversation and for sharing stories of my father.  He thanked me!  I knew I had been touched by a special person, and I felt my father's presence, which is always with me, even stronger for days after that thanks to that soft-spoken man.

I was prompted to retell this story because I just read a delightful little book by Fred Rogers, published after his death.  Many Ways to Say I Love You  ($16.95, Hyperion Books, 2006) has about 175 pages of short writings by Mister Rogers, talking about relationships between parents and children. The book has some good advice for parents  -- listen carefully, empathize and respond accordingly, with understanding.  Most of all, be yourself and respect your child and others for who they are.

This same advice can make a world of difference for marketers as they deal with customers.

Words of wisdom from Mister Rogers Neighborhood.

 
 

Almost there

Less than two months ago, 103 of us -- led by Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton -- published The Age of Conversation.

In addition to hoping to get exposure for the authors, providing quality content and expanding the discussion about "conversation," Drew and Gavin set what many thought was a very ambitious goal -- to raise $10,000 for Variety, the international children's charity.


And here we are, less than two months later and we've sold 1,274 and raised $9,997.60.

Drew has issued a challenge to help boost sales and the Variety donation way over the top.  Whoever buys a book and emails the receipt to Drew between now and Sept. 16 will be profiled on The Age of Conversation blog. 

Here's the chance to get your 15 minutes of fame... and help some needy kids to boot.

For more info and to buy books, go to the Age of Conversation blog.

Never forget

Remembering When -- From 0 to 100

 

Hi folks, CK here to honor David’s 100^th post milestone. For the occasion David asked me to write a post for him.

And I told him that was lame.

I’m not against guest-blogging. But I don’t think it’s right to have someone else write your 100^th post for you. Then it’s not really YOUR 100^th post. Nope, if David’s hittin’ 100 then he’s gotta walk the walk ;-).

For those who may not know, David’s been a pal of mine for years. A friend couldn’t have a better friend, or a more solid one. We listen to one another, advise one another on business, debate the profession (and politics) over burgers and beers and catch heady movies together like An Inconvenient Truth (and hilarious ones like Borat). He’s sincerely genuine and genuinely cool to hang with.

But what you need to understand is that while David is a blessing he’s also a stinker and likes to mess with me. So while I will not write his 100^th post for him, I’m honored to write it with him—and equally glad that I get to mess with him (just a little). So join with me, and David, in remembering when…

May 2006: Remember when I first launched my blog, why not share the feedback you had for me with your readers?

DR: I said you were wasting your time, talking to yourself online. Boy, was I wrong. I wrote about it, as my very first post nine months later. 

January 2007: Remember when you moved from commenting at a few blogs to launching your very first, very own discussion thread during Book Club Round #1? What did you think of blogging then?

DR:  It felt great to get responses, including some comments from the author of the book I had just read. After that first Book Club, I made the decision to start blogging. In fact, I wrote my first post right after Book Club, although the blog didn’t go live until I returned from vacation in February.

March 2007: Remember The Manhattan Blogger Meetup, with a dozen bloggers from all over came into NYC?  To refresh, it was the event where you took a small vase of flowers off one of the tables, put a straw in it, and said you’d bought the fancy drink for me, just to see if I’d fall for it.  How did it feel about to actually meet some of the people you had been chatting with for months?

DR: I was flying for days after that. I felt like had a whole bunch of new friends all over the place, and we had something very special in common. And, I wouldn’t have let you drink from the flower vase. (Well, maybe just a sip.)

June 2007: Remember how, at your birthday party, you introduced me as “the blogger” to, um, everyone? And thy all bombarded me with a battery of questions all night long (e.g. “what’s a blog? “what’s the deal with MySpace?” “why do people say such idiotic things for everyone to read?”).  Being that you’re also “a blogger,” what key things do you want for people outside the conversation to understand about blogging/ bloggers/the blogging community?

DR: We’re not just crazy people spending our lives at the computer. We (the marketing community, anyway) are professionals who enjoy sharing ideas and information about the work we do and the challenges we face. We sometimes get personal and have some fun, which makes the whole thing that much more meaningful. If you’re not a blogger, it’s hard to fully comprehend. 

Today/100^th Post: Remember all the great stuff you keep telling me about bloggers/blogging/the blogging community? Being we’re at your milestone, why not end this walk down memory lane with what you’ve found through 100 posts?

DR: It’s a great group of people -- as varied and diverse as anyone could imagine – who enjoy sharing and helping each other. The marketing blogosphere is really a special place, and I’m happy to be part of it. I thank all who’ve welcomed me so kindly and generously, and who made it easy and fun to get to my 100^th post. I look forward to lots more, and to making many new friends along the way.

I like this bloggin’ stuff.