Yesterday, I spoke with a group of 40 MBA students visiting from France who came to my office.  As we spoke about job opportunities in the new market, the similarities between the new financial realities of the U.S. and the socialist system of France became readily apparent, as Newsweek in fact recently noted.  While I don’t usually blog on politics, I can’t resist the opportunity to refer to this brilliant letter on how the current political system is adversely affecting entrepreneurs, which has been making the rounds on the Internet and which a number of entrepreneur clients have forwarded to me.  I absolutely agree with the sentiments of it, and I think we are living in tremendously unique financial times.

As I remarked a few months ago in The Atlanta Journal Constitution, the era of trust in the U.S. simply doesn’t exist these days.  As the era of lies and liars emerges – Bernie Madoff, Bear Sterns, A-Rod – brands that can manage to communicate authentically can win in a major way.  I believe marketing in the short term is best done on a personal basis with niche marketing or hand-to-hand combat. Targeted strategic communications and PR plans will win a lot better in the short term.  It’s a sniper rather than a machine gun (and yes, this economy remains a war).

It’s remarkable that things are so bad these days in the newspaper business that shares in the New York Times Co. on Friday slumped to a low of $3.99, less than the price of the Sunday paper.

While many people often speak about the value of social media, there are also dangers that we must be aware of.  A competitor recently “friended” me on Facebook, and then contacted nearly all of my friends in an attempt to send them information on his agency.  Similarly, LinkedIn and other networks are dreams come true for recruiters, competitors and the like.  So be careful with your public contacts.  Risks and reward should both be considered when participating in new social media platforms.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

An interesting story appeared in yesterday’s USA Today on public relations.  While I admittedly haven’t yet read the book that is referred to in this article, I simply don’t understand why Public Relations continually gets the short end of the stick. PR is such a small industry; there are maybe 200 PR agencies throughout the U.S. (5WPR was #21 in last year’s ratings). It’s a tiny pool, so why the obsession with this relatively small industry?  Perhaps it’s because public relations is exceedingly effective.

Quotes like these which were in the article often get so little attention: A 2008 study of news stories in U.K. newspapers found that more than half contained mostly PR material. A study in the Columbia Journalism Review found that more than half the stories in an edition of The Wall Street Journal “were based solely on press releases.”

Positive PR has so much value for so many people.  We communicate important information to editors, prospects, clients, and investors.  The media placements we secure build reputation, increase sales and generally enhance credibility.  We are in the C-Suite.

While I am a doer and not a complainer, PR is a great business which drives a ton of value in every industry, so stop beating us up.
Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Public relations is often seen as the bastard step child in a variety of industries: real estate (where people spend millions and millions to build but only a few thousand to market), apparel (hundreds of thousands of tossed samples, but only $6-10K a month for PR), and apparently governments and wars.  Media outlets regularly express concern about the U.S. government’s lack of outreach to media outlets, and The Associated Press just ran this article with a subhead about “raising concern about propaganda.” In today’s world, there are many factors at play in a time of war, and governments must spend to influence the public once decisions are made.

I echo those who say money spent on media during war is necessary.  I agree with Rep. Adam Smith, who chairs the Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee when he says, “We have got to be involved in getting our case out there, telling our side of the story, because believe me, Al-Qaeda and all of those folks… that’s what they are doing on the Internet and everywhere else.”  If the other side is doing it, how can we not reply?  As Rep. Smith said “Every time a bomb goes off, they have a story out almost before it explodes, saying that it killed 15 innocent civilians.”

As I stated about a different war, but on a related topic, in another op-ed: countries need to invest in the PR battle as much as they do on the ground for military battle.  Public Relations is a big business, and millions should be invested.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Public Relations is a very difficult business.  It’s a business that is hard to measure; people pay us a monthly retainer in the hopes we will produce results.  It’s tough.

There’s been recent news of ABC firing 5 percent of their staff, and Bloomberg, for the first time ever, cutting 100 jobs, on top of daily reports of publications folding and editorial staff being consolidated.  For us, that means that we need to pitch media much longer to get the right person on the phone.  It means we have to spend a lot more time explaining to clients why their segment was cancelled or their filmed interview was postponed (less staff to interview/film).  There’s simply more confusion in the news room, with less staff to cover the same amount of news (the news isn’t stopping).

It’s a tough business, and it’s certainly not getting any easier.  Here are a few quick (free) top-line suggestions:

Write shorter and more to the point pitch letters to reach the media.

Include quotes in your releases and pitch letters which can be plugged into news stories (not self-serving)

As a PR firm, offer multiple experts and try to say yes as often as possible.  For example, this week a producer needed three experts for a story and we had two clients immediately available.  In order to make the segment work, we did the legwork and had a competing friendly PR firm find the third expert for us.  We presented it as a package to the producer – all available with one call, back to back scheduled interviews.  We effectively eliminated the back and forth time that would happen with three different PR people.

Be flexible with your schedule – the media only has so many cameras and so many reporters on staff right now.  If you wait in a newsroom (as I did, unexpectedly, this week for an hour), have your blackberry/laptop with you and prepare to be working.

Be media trained – to the point, easy to understand and quotable.

Make more phone calls than before.  Many Reporters & Producers are reading less email since the emails from laid off editorial staff are forwarded to the inboxes of the people still employed.

Oh, the joys of a NY PR agency.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Every single time a reality show ends, or a contestant is kicked off the show, my phone rings with the next want to be superstar on the other end of the line with the idea that millions are awaiting them.  They often have no PR budget in mind at all, nor any idea how to pay the bills.  How many times I have heard about the one time Donald Trump called them a genius, or Tyra Banks called them hot… so surely millions are awaiting them… if only it could be so easy.  (Not to say that some of them cant and don’t make it… they can, but it takes money time and effort.)

This week, I appeared on Anderson Cooper CNN 360 discussing the mother of the California octuplets who thinks a reality show, diaper endorsement and hefty paycheck are waiting for her, so she hired a publicist.  As I said then and will say now, she won’t make millions from this, and I think her claims of millions being offered are false (to be kind and speak mildly).  The reality is if this PR agency is paid even $5K to manage this project, it’s a lot… I doubt they are being paid much.  They will spend hundreds of hours chasing deals… and end up making minimum wage working this project.

I am sure it’s accurate that she is “the most sought after mom in the world right now,” and “everyone wants to talk to her.”  However, the reports that she’s “carefully reviewing offers which have reached $2 million” are nothing short of complete unadulterated hogwash.  While I have no doubt that the media is courting her for (unpaid) interviews, she won’t be getting any offers for endorsements.  A few weeks from now, no one will remember or call, and certainly, no one will give her a diaper endorsement deal.

What many often learn is that just because the media is interested, doesn’t mean wealth is around the corner.  No one will buy a product just because she had a bunch of kids.  She’s not a sudden child-care expert simply because she became a mom of eight.  Media’s a business – will anyone care that much? Whether Joe the Plumber or the latest reality show star, attaining quasi-celebrity status may mean the necessity for basic lifestyle changes, like a car with mirrored windows or a driver (which you pay for yourself) rather than a subway (and it’s a lot more expensive… but wealth isn’t coming).  But fame doesn’t necessarily mean wealth.

Now, if I am wrong (and I am not), and this woman does indeed get even $500K, allow me to predict a slew of women having octuplets all over the world, especially during times like these…. But I am not wrong…

Ronn Torossian
5WPR