This op-ed from an industry website was published today…

PR IN 2007: WHY WE’RE WINNING…

It’s 2007 and times have never been better for the Public Relations industry. Our services aren’t just part of an integrated communications program, for many brands Public Relations is THE key facet that companies are utilizing to build corporate identity and drive sales. The old axiom for many companies was to have earned media as reinforcement for paid media but with today’s technological advances the matrix has shifted. It’s made things difficult for media planners but has presented a golden opportunity for our industry.

However, as I am fond of saying the level of mediocrity that exists in our profession is one of the reasons why we have grown at such a rapid pace and others are stuck in their ways. Brands are looking to the industry to step up and claim the mantle (and dollars) that advertising once held but few firms have the sense of urgency. The media has changed, the marketplace has changed, but our rivals haven’t…. It’s no big secret why 5W and similar minded agencies are winning today’s PR battles.

No Yes Men: The first thing I tell our new business prospects is that they need to think of us as an active partner. Your PR Agency needs to be hired as if you would hire your lawyer. Too many agencies are willing to cash the check at the 1st of the month and blindly be led by the clients to “keep the peace”. Confrontation is not always a bad thing… If for a corporation, Public Relations is one of their chief concerns and they’ve taken your agency help them meet their objectives, than it’s your duty to explain to them their              Public Relations strengths and weaknesses and what messages need to be tweaked and any potential hurdles that you will have to go through together. Ultimately, as the Public Relations professional, it is the agencies themselves that need to provide counsel on the best course of action—not to just simply agree for convenience sake.

Today’s client-agency relationship needs to be a two-way dialogue in order to determine and maximize ROI. So many of our new clients who come to 5W after leaving their previous agencies are nonplussed when speaking about them. Whenever we are pitching a new piece of business and when speaking about their previous agency the phrase “They were OK but…” is uttered, I know that this will become a 5W client. We aren’t always the nicest but our passion and honesty with our clients differentiate us from the complacency of our competition. I can’t imagine anything worse from the client side than writing a sizeable public relations expense check month after month and wondering if your agency gets or has even tried to get what makes you and your business tick.

Influence the Influencers: One of the reasons why we consistently win is that we understand the balance of media relations to influencer relations. Brands want exposure in front of celebrities and tastemakers as much as in major media outlets. We’ve built our business around having a strong stable of lifestyle and celebrity clients that not only help increase our billings but also give many of our corporate clients instant access to tastemakers that they would normally be unable to get to. When some of our high tech clients first came to the agency they didn’t ask what have you done for NICE Systems (one of our most longstanding and successful clients), they asked what have you done for Sean “Diddy” Combs and Pamela Anderson. While some agencies might compete with 5W on media relations, very few are a call away from putting brands in front of these people.

Case in point was our recent “5W Sundance Escape 2007” that we conducted at this year’s Sundance Festival in Park City, Utah. We conceptualized creating a unique venue to bring celebrities and brands together— but on short notice (less than one month), we needed to pull brands in as sponsors to make the house a reality. Because of our reputation of understanding both the celebrity and brand world— we were able to secure Evian, Budweiser Select and Boost Mobile as sponsors, knowing that they would not only gain access to major celebs but also in a way that would build brand equity. Did we deliver? We made our house THE Sundance hotspot and attracted the likes of Josh Hartnett, Sienna Miller, Harvey Weinstein and Sean “Diddy” Combs (IF you werent a celebrity or brand manager you werent getting in). Today’s brands no matter what sector, realize that they need to tap into the influencers one way or another—winning PR today is giving them this access.

Never Shut Down.. Or Shut Off: This one is simple but it’s actually probably the number one thing that we are doing right and our competitors are doing wrong. I don’t understand why the newspaper comes out every day, the evening news runs every night yet many PR firms shut off at 5PM Friday and ignore such a large part of the news cycle. We live today in a world of Blackberries and cell phones, where our clients have 24/7 access to us and we can quickly email a media outlet as a story breaks.

During the week between Christmas and New Year’s, some of the largest media outlets in the country call 5W Public Relations— do you know why? It’s because they have news to file and they know we are at work just as they are. The media is a 24-hour cycle and therefore so is Public Relations… we’re always on and have our mind on the media, whether we are at the office or now.

In the end, it is not accepting mediocrity that differentiates winning firms from the firms that consistently are stuck in the past and are doing just enough not to get fired. The days of “PR” standing merely for “press releases” are antiquated—we are carrying the torch for major brands and bringing their message directly into the lives of consumers.

The demand for our industry will continue to grow—I believe that we’re following the right playbook to keep us winning and ahead of the curve.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

Having just returned on the redeye from Sundance this morning, I have to say… Wow, 5W dominated every aspect of the celebrity scene.

Major brands and celebrities alike, all chose the Sundance Escape Mansion as their favorite destination during the prestigious festival. From Sean “Diddy” Combs to Harvey Weinstein, Sienna Miller to Josh Hartnett, 5W Sundance Escape proved to be the most exclusive private event at the festival bar none.

Even though the press release is attached below, I wanted to share a few of my personal highlights:

Special thanks to Sean “Diddy” Combs’ for supporting us 2 nights in a row and spending hours with us

Harvey Weinstein being literally the last person to leave early Sunday AM (530 AM’ish)

The President of The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) going “all in” at the final table of our blackjack tournament and beating the 2006 WSOP champ, Jamie Gold

Marc Echo (who I admire greatly) giving me business tips at my request both nights

Special thanks to Nick Cannon who was in our house every second he wasn’t working… And proud we work with him and helped brand him as the face of Sundance

Realizing only the next AM that Ron Burkle had spent the night partying with us (You know it’s a great event when you are counting the amount of billionaires)

Daytime sessions for celebrities to get hair consultations from Sheila Stotts

Seeing our events covered live on the Internet at Stickam.com

Seeing Bud Select and Evian in all the trendsetters hands, Boost Mobile pillows everywheer and Luggage Express signage everywhere

What a incredible weekend – There wasn’t a celebrity at Sundance who wasn’t aware of our events and I will end this as I started when I 1st discussed the event – No other agency could do what we did… and again I am not going to provide many more details… but watch out Sundance 2008.

Our press release on this follows:

5W Public Relations’ Sundance Escape 2007: A Mecca For Global Brands and Celebrities
Sean “Diddy” Combs, Josh Hartnett, Sienna Miller, and Harvey Weinstein Join Evian And Budweiser Select at 5W Sundance Mansion -

New York, NY, January 21, 2007 – 5W Public Relations (http://www.5wpr.com/), the fastest growing PR firm in the U.S. 2 years in a row created and hosted a series of exclusive events at a private residence, dubbed the “Sundance Escape Mansion,” at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Making an indelible imprint at the festival, 5W created a unique experience for festival-goers, celebrities, influencers and brands alike. Sundance Escape 2007 was created to provide a comfortable, but exciting environment where business and pleasure could equally co-exist. Despite competing with major brands like MySpace and Motorola, 5W turned their inaugural Sundance venture into THE destination of choice during the prestigious annual festival. From Sean “Diddy” Combs to Harvey Weinstein, Sienna Miller to Josh Hartnett, the 5W Sundance Escape proved to be the most exclusive private event at Sundance, bar none.

In order to create the ultimate atmosphere, 5W worked day and night, handling everything from event production and branding to celebrity outreach and media attendance. The four day event series included gifting suites and spa services as well as private dinners. By day, the Sundance Escape was a gifting lounge and spa hosted by celebrity hairstylist Sheila Stotts. By night, the house transformed into a hotspot where celebrities, industry leaders and tastemakers all came together in celebration of the festival.

Schedule Of Events and Highlights:

Thursday PM: Welcome to Sundance Dinner Hosted By Nick Cannon

Friday PM: The after party for Independent film: Weapons’, where attendees Sean “Diddy” Combs, Harvey Weinstein, Marc Ecko and MTV’s SuChin Pak all danced till the early morning to the tunes of DJ Nick Cannon

Saturday PM: Boost Mobile presents a private dinner with Celebrity Blogger Perez Hilton, attended by Nick Cannon and a number of high profile agents and managers.

Saturday PM: Celebrity attendees included Josh Hartnett, Sienna Miller, Harvey Weinstein, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Jamie Kennedy, Damon Dash, Mathew St. Patrick, Aubrey from Danity Kane, Marc Ecko, Ron Burkle and Perez Hilton dancing to the tunes of DJ Nick Cannon.

Sunday afternoon: Todd Brunson hosted a celebrity poker tournament where $10,000 was raised for Operation Smile. Arriving together were Lance Bass and on again beau Reichen Lehmkuhl who played against Danny Masterson, Nick Cannon, David Moscow, David Denman, World Series of Poker Champion Jamie Gold and Todd Brunson, who were all beat by SAG President Alan Rosenberg.

“We created a brand presence for our sponsors at Sundance that was unmatched, with celebrities and brands able to come together and have a great time. Our events were intended for people to spend hours at a time, as they did and return time and time again,” said Ronn Torossian, President & CEO of 5W Public Relations. “Literally, bar none the 5W Sundance experience was the highest profile private events at Sundance and created longlasting brand awareness for our clients.”

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

So as I am travelling a few days this week was thinking about how PR people (and I believe successful business people in general) need to constantly be reading in order to be successful. (I always think books before I travel as I always buy a few new ones pre trips).

My reading for this trip consists of “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”… and a fiction book (I’d rather not name as it’s nothing that exciting… of the Grisham ilk)… and generally my reading consists of 1 business or serious book and a fiction book (Last trip I read The 33 Strategies of War which I greatly enjoyed)…. And often times reread great books (In last 6 months have reread The Tipping Point, The Prince and Jewish/Israel history books more times that I can recall). (Less of a routine when one travels, so I read during breaks or downtime…)

Whenever I travel I print dozens of articles I have been meaning to read for days, have magazines from my office and catch up on reading. I read at least 3 papers a day, dozens of magazines and as many books as I can… I am yet to meet a great Public Relations professional who doesn’t endlessly read and encourage it endlessly amongst my staff (although I will admit to also packing my PSP to play Madden while I travel.).

Want to succeed in PR, and particularily at a PR agency ? Reading would be one key to success…

Ronn Torossian
5W PR

I am really proud that 5W Public Relations is taking a mega house at Sundance 2007. We are using our unique relationships and expertise in the PR industry of marrying celebs and brands and have lined up a series of private events, parties and an exclusive celebrity poker tournament for the VIP attendees of the Sundance Film Festival at a private residence in Park City.

Our keynote sponsors are our clients Evian Water, Budweiser Select, Boost Mobile and Doyle Brunson… and we also have brands like Stickam, Sheila Stotts, Luggage Express and Hot Hand Advantage involved. Few agencies would be able to do anything of this magnitude – They simply can’t.

We have partnered with PM Lounge, a leading NYC Meat Packing District nightclub to bring in more celebrities…. And we expect a major celebrity turnout, with a series of private star studded dinners – Every year, the Sundance Film Festival attracts the top celebrities and trendsetters… but few mainstream PR firms are able to offer access to influencers as we do…. Our presence this year, much like our Hamptons estate this summer offers a unique ability for us to continue to be the leaders of the PR Branded entertainment space.

Don’t want to give away too much pre-Sundance…. But will post Sundance.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

I published the following op-ed in an industry trade magazine today…. I welcome your thoughts and feedback.

2007: The Year Brands Fight Back—Will Their Agencies Be Ready?
By Ronn Torossian, President and CEO, 5W Public Relations

Over the last year, brands, public leaders and entertainers have seen themselves as the victims of having their brands hijacked by the changing face of media. In the year of “You,” getting caught in the crossfire of the world of user generated content and the vast blogosphere has made the public relations game more challenging than ever—especially for those who remain grounded in the “old” media school.

So is 2007 about PR jumping on the new media and social networks? Not necessarily—one need only need to look at Wal-Mart to see that it’s going to be very difficult for brands to recreate the organic experiences of the MySpaces, YouTubes and blogs that are driving Web 2.0. From their shortly lived social network “The Hub” to the Wal-Marting Across America blog that appeared organic (but later was revealed as a creation of Wal-Mart and Edelman), the brand learned the hard way that following a trend does not guarantee success—and in many ways, dooms a brand to being exposed as out of touch.

So what is 2007? For smart companies and PR professionals it is it the year the industry fights back. The same philosophy that agencies like ours have taken with the small to mid-sized clients of a full court press of media centric public relations will go from being seen as “overly aggressive” to a categorical imperative. Big brands are finally recognizing that because today’s media is all encompassing, you cannot bury bad news—through crisis communications you can control it, but it will come out one way or another. But being proactive with the news cycle and spreading “the positive gospel” in the press is one of the few things that is controllable in today’s media relations with the sheer number of news outlets.

Look at arguably the first major corporate communications crisis of 2007: Apple’s backdating of stock options. For a media still hungry for corporate malfeasance since Enron, this would seem to be a huge PR setback for the company. But I think Apple is one of the few large corporations that understands aggressive media relations, and while this news will surely throw the stock into turmoil, the company churns out consistent and positive publicity at such a breakneck pace that I don’t see this issue defining the company within the media for long. Apple is in the field both local and nationally, opening stores, celebrating the brand at events like MacWorld Expo and constantly going to the press with new gadgets, product enhancements and corporate partnerships. They’ve had high profile products like the first generation cell phone iPod (the iTunes enabled Motorola ROKR) get killed in the press … but they keep moving forward. Why is that, and how come other brands can’t rebound?

Apple is constantly in the press and isn’t just reactive when negative news arises. It’s why they’ll get through this stock crisis relatively unscathed. They understand that they can’t stop the negative press entirely, but they keep the media talking about things like their innovative partnership with Nike. It’s already achieved consistent traction in the press for over six months by creating unique public relations initiatives around the Nike+iPod Sports Kit and could very likely outlive the current stock options crisis in terms of being top of mind amongst Apple’s consumer base.

Brands like Apple already understand that passivity and mediocrity can no longer be a part of public relations. Because soccer moms to teens to the elderly are all empowered to serve as media with the click or a mouse or the flip of a webcam, 2007 will be about more big brands coming to grips with the seismic shift in thought of “what is media” that occurred in 2006.
We’ve gotten a reputation in the industry over the last few years as “fast paced” and “aggressive”—it has gained us our share of business (“Fastest Growing PR Firm” in the U.S. three years in a row, according to O’Dwyers PR Report) but it’s also gained us some detractors… and that’s OK, because the world has changed and very few of our competitors realize it. The amount of brands calling us that wants to sit down in the last six months is amazing … and they all say, “We need to be out there more,” “We need to be talked about everywhere from Middle America to New York”.

Brands get it—they have finally woken up that in 2007 PR is going to be a simple equation: Your story is going to be told, but are you spinning it or are you getting spun? There’s no duck and cover anymore. The gloves have come off and PR firms that sit back and don’t pound the pavement for major brands simply relying on maintaining brand image instead of enhancing it will find themselves on the losing end of the 2007 media equation. I’m excited with this change of thought as I think we’re uniquely qualified to handle this new marketplace … and my competitors still don’t get it.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

Spent the last 24 hours with Dennis Rodman who I really consider to be a marketing genius…. Someone who has come up with irreverent ways to fascinate the media for years, and the rare athlete who transcends sports (How many athletes 10 years retired are remembered by individuals and non sports fans?)

Without getting into details, as a person I find him to be very different from people’s perceptions of him.. and found him to be the rare celebrity I thought was a decent person. Very impressive… and a real marketing genius…always provides me with marketing tips for consumer brands… and gave me some we will use…

(I’d put him in the league of Donald Trump, P. Diddy and Richard Branson in terms of personal branding)…. Really impressive and the personification of not judging a book by its cover…

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

As a small business owner, it’s difficult to like politicians or governments of any sort as they seem to impede business progress rather than encourage it.

Today’s pet peeve is no mail service – How, after a long weekend can mail not be delivered ?

Bills to pay, invoices waiting on, client deliverables expected… but no mail because a President died ? As important as that may be (and it is), how is there any correlation between showing homage to a President and mail not being delivered ?

I fail to make the connection… and find it frankly absurd. Business can’t stop functioning because a President died.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR