1. I spent the better part of this Memorial Day working.  Most of the day included sending targeted email pitches and client ideas to media and pitching breaking stories to news assignment desks.  Why don’t more PR people work holidays? Holiday or not, papers still get published the next day and TV stories still air.  The media business is 24/7.

As 5WPR continues to grow in the years to come, I would love to have an office that opens at 7 AM to focus on international markets and closes at midnight for West Coast business.  I believe those days will eventually be upon us and can’t emphasize enough the importance of always pitching media.  It’s important to recognize the incredible opportunity present in pitching on days when the news cycle isn’t as busy and when there are fewer PR people competing for attention. It’s why my firm will never be closed the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

I am also quite proud of the fact that everyone at my agency pitches media.  It’s amazing to me that so many others in the industry feel “above” pitching media; how can one counsel clients on media and not actually pitch the media?

2.  Brands that spend a ton investing in PR, marketing and the like should really pay attention to the basic blocking and tackling… the ABC’s.

A few Memorial Day examples:

*  Banana Republic (whose t-shirts I love): I went in to buy a few t-shirts, and for the second time this week, I waited on line 10 minutes before walking out.  Despite the promotions in the window and my admiration for its quality, the brand lost me as a customer.  Why?  Because it couldn’t pay the minimal amount required to have more than one cashier working in a high-traffic area.  With countless customers frequently walking out in frustration, does that make any sense whatsoever?  And it’s always the case at this Banana Republic.

*  Haru:  The food is amazing, but the location in my area fails to employ anyone who can coherently understand English.  Even though I order multiple times a week and always recite my phone number, I always have to repeat my order three times without fail.  For that reason alone, I recently switched the restaurant where I order my sushi from.

Good customer service is a basic necessity for businesses.  It doesn’t take a lot to hire someone to take and process orders correctly.  I proudly remember my first job at the age of 11 answering phones in a Bronx pizzeria for $2 an hour.  Any company which invests heavily in customer acquisition should make it a top priority to invest equally in customer retention.

Ronn Torossian
5WPR

This is an academic study conducted by Jerry Swerling, Professor and Director of PR at the USC.

* In 2007, PR budgets increased on average by 7%

* Organizations remain reluctant or unable to allocate adequate resources to PR evaluation,

* Increasingly the PR function reported directly to the C-Suite at 64% reporting to human resources, legal, finance and strategic planning.  PR was ranked as the top contributor to success among respondents at government agencies and among all but the very largest not-for-profits, suggesting that one of the benefits of working in the government or not-for-profit arena is the extent to which PR is seen as an important player.

* The recommendation for best practices in PR are as follows:

* GAP (Generally Accepted Practices)

* GAP Best Practice #1: Maintain a higher than average ratio of PR budget to gross revenue (GAP PR/GR Ratio).

* GAP Best Practice #2: Report directly and exclusively to the C-Suite.

* GAP Best Practice #3: Optimize the C-Suite’s understanding of PR’s current and potential contributions to the success of the organization as a whole.

* GAP Best Practice #4: Establish an effective social responsibility strategy for your organization.

* GAP Best Practice #5: Establish an effective digital-media strategy for your organization.

* GAP Best Practice #6: Establish an effective issues-management strategy for your organization.

* GAP Best Practice #7: Optimize integration and coordination within the PR/Communications function, and between it and other organizational functions.

* GAP Best Practice #8: Encourage highly ethical practices across the organization, beginning with communication.

* GAP Best Practice #9: Encourage the organization-wide adoption of a long-term strategic point of view, beginning with communication.

* GAP Best Practice #10: Encourage the organization-wide adoption of a proactive mindset, beginning with communication.

* GAP Best Practice #11: Encourage the organization-wide adoption of a flexible mindset, beginning with communication.

* GAP Best Practice #12: Optimize the integration of PR and reputational considerations into top-level organizational strategies.

* GAP Best Practice #13: Measurably contribute to organizational success.

Check out the full study at USC.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

Today’s New York Times had an interesting article which my staff discussed at length in an AM meeting.  The article by David Brooks spoke about today’s geeks.  While I am not, and have never been a geek, I found it to be thought provoking reading… and reminded me of an interesting speech which Bill Gates gave years ago I have read about… which talked about how feel-good, and politically correct teachings, created a generation of kids with no concept of reality, and how this method was setting them up for failure in the real world.

He concluded by outlining the following 11 Rules:

Rule 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it.

Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. However, the world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you start feeling good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $40,000 a year right out of high school, and you won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers at McDonalds should not be beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping … they called it OPPORTUNITY.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in your own bedroom.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with recognizing that there are winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have even abolished failing grades, and they’ll give you as much time as you want to get the right answer on an exam. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. You are supposed to do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have
to leave the coffee shop, and go out and find a job.

Rule 11: Be nice to NERDS. Chances are you will end up working for one.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

This morning I was forwarded a brilliant article by a colleague regarding Zappos, the internet-based shoe company.  I found it simply inspiring.  Here’s the amazing concept: Zappos, famous for outrageously great customer service, trains their CSRs (customer service reps) for a week and then offers the representatives $1,000 to quit.  What does this process hope to achieve?  Very simple: the process culls the true believers from the paycheck players.

Any entrepreneur or business person in general knows how difficult it is to find dedicated and loyal employees.  I found Zappos’ concept fascinating.  Many great organizations expect dedication above and beyond 9 to 5 and are always searching for ways to increase employee commitment.

Kudos to Zappos, an industry leader for going a step further.  They have truly set themselves apart from the competition.  If someone is only about the paycheck, that someone won’t be a GREAT employee, and it’s worth the cash to find that out.

Ronn Torossian

I have just returned from a 3 day trip to the Dominican Republic, arriving 24 hours before the national Presidential election, and staying until the day after the election.  Being a student of the media, and having an obsession with international politics, I felt the need to consume all media I could on the vote (the amount I could understand in English), visit the candidates campaign headquarters in Santo Domingo (being a PR pro, I talked my way in), and study campaign paraphernalia.

Some observations:

As an American, no matter where one stands politically, we don’t appreciate the value of a truly free media, and the power of images on an electorate.  The first thing which struck me as amazing was over a 24 hour period, institutions were closed (including nearly all restaurants, grocery stores, etc) – All businesses were closed, alcohol wasn’t served anywhere, and the police and military presence was undeniable.  In the streets in very large numbers.  Simply amazing the power of the election on this country – good,  bad or indifferent.

Everyone spoke of media bias, and while neither CNN, FOX News, The Wall Street Journal nor The New York Times will admit to any bias politically whatsoever (clearly absurd as just as people can’t be completely impartial, neither can media… Fox & the WSJ clearly lean right and are pro-business, and CNN and The NYT lean left and are more liberal), media bias overseas is a completely different animal, with the question of whether media is truly independent.  Media in many countries can be bought and a few wealthy families can completely control the entire messages people can hear.  In many countries throughout the world.

At 5WPR, we are currently in the midst of a series of very high profile international issues, in Israel, and in the Ukraine.  Issues which are major major stories in the local home markets, and stories here in the U.S.  Media rules are completely different overseas, with mores of dealing with media completely different, good bad or indifferent.  Very important to know and understand local market media when dealing internationally.

And finally, on this near summer Sunday afternoon, I spent the last 3 days back and forth working on a story for a client for a major investigative piece. The crisis PR world, and dealing with investigative reporters is so much different than day to day PR (and I say this coincidentally 20 minutes after I ran into Martin Bashir in the gym, with whom I worked closely for another client very recently), and there are a few cardinal rules I believe are implicit when facing a major crisis (and the skills for crisis PR aren’t that much different than the skills or rules for being a criminal defense attorney).

A few quick points:

- Understand that the media is not necessarily your friend.  They will do and say what they can to get you to speak.  Before you speak, have someone by your side.  There’s no such thing as innocent discussion (Have a crisis PR person with you, just as you would have an attorney with you before speaking to the DA or police).

- Respond quickly and accurately.  Don’t lie.

- Don’t give an inch – Fight every single point in the hopes that you can convince the reporter not to run the damaging story.

There are many other points we give but I won’t offer here… that’s why people hire us.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR