Many members of the “elite” media are criticizing Jasper Schuringa, hero of the Northwest flight terrorism attempt, for requesting payment to conduct media interviews. Why is this so shocking? The media is a money-making business (or at least supposed to be). Why shouldn’t its subjects be entitled to monetary compensation as well? This rings particularly true for those who have been thrust into the media spotlight out of circumstance, not by choice—like Jasper.

I, for one, am not surprised by his request. The media will invade his life and make it much more difficult for this hero to regain some semblance of normalcy post-frenzy. PLUS, interviews are very time consuming. Like it or not, it’s the way of the world. He is doing a job and should be compensated accordingly.

Kudos to Jasper Schuringa – I am sure I am not the only one hoping you make millions of dollars.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Celebrity Endorsements

In the wake of Tiger Woods scandal, there are many lessons to be learned regarding celebrity spokespersons. Although I am not interested in naming names, I will provide this bit of insight based upon my own experience managing celebrity personalities: it is necessary to find out who a celebrity really is and not solely rely on their manager/agent.  There are ways to do this… and we’d be happy to discuss it off-line, as we regularly do with our clients.

As a PR agency CEO who spends a lot of time with both celebrities and brand managers, we are intimately familiar with this world.  Like it or not, the media closely follows celebrities, therefore tremendous opportunities exist in leveraging their fame to maximize public interest for a product/service. Can it be a risk? Yes, but I don’t see celebrity endorsements going away any time soon.  In fact, in today’s economy, the amount of celebrities asking for endorsement deals has increased significantly. We do many deals each month where celebrities hold products or appear at parties in exchange for a check…and this trend will continue.

Entrepreneurial Insight

As someone who thrives when busy, the last 10 days of December are trying. Many are very complacent during the holiday season and it bothers me tremendously. Rightfully, clients still demand work product, and bills still need to be paid, so we as a PR agency continue to put our best foot forward even during the slower months. We continually realize that urgency is the key to our success and we are far from complacent. We are hungry for it and want to win.

During this time period, I make an extra effort to do the little things: go to the gym every single day, thank our clients for their devotion, and our employees for their hard work.  All in all, we at this PR firm are quite pleased to say it has been another profitable year. We are also proud to say that every single employee received a bonus, unlike many of our industry peers.  Our numbers are great, and continue to deliver a consistent and high quality work product.

As we prepare to end the 7th calendar year of 5WPR, we are proud of our accomplishments.  Even though not everyone loves our style we are quite ok with it. In fact, there aren’t many successful people or organizations who don’t have critics and opponents. Jealousy always exists, and its easier to criticize than create. We don’t let that drag us down, and to the contrary, use it as motivation to continue forth.

Onward and upward, we say thank you all the time for the great work and clients we have had over the years.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Here are some random musings of a PR firm owner:

· Every year, I say the same thing right about now – as long as newspapers are published, TV stations are airing, and news is being reported, we as a PR agency will work during the holiday season.  In fact, with snow causing extensive flight cancellations, there are now many more opportunities available for guests who would not otherwise be booked.

· The beauty of working in Public Relations is you really wont know what your day looks like until you arrive—this is even more true at a PR agency.

· There is a consensus amongst reporters that they have the right to inquire about whatever they want. I agree, they do. But, on the other hand, people/companies have the right to push back and say “No, we will not allow you access to this information.”  Here at 5WPR, we do a tremendous amount of crisis communications work for companies, brands and individuals. Most of these clients we cannot name and we often turndown requests from reporters, knowing they will run negative stories…

For example:

To assume, as this article does, that allowing a reporter access to privileged information will result in a positive outcome is not only inaccurate, it’s naive.  It seems more likely that the organization mentioned in the article realizes they are doomed to negative coverage, and therefore they see little value in disclosing more information to an individual with malintentions. Oftentimes, I agree with this approach.

As an example: There is a producer who has hounded a client of mine 3 years or so in an effort to get an interview. Finally, 3 months ago, he called me and said, “If you don’t give me this interview, I will never contact you again regarding this client”….and my response was, “Promise?”  We all understand that reporters have to try and secure the story. But, why doesn’t the media understand that PR people have to serve and protect our clients in times of crisis?

It’s a real winter day here in NYC…. And we toil away at our desks here at this PR firm.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I hosted a networking event today. In attendance were a plethora of executives and professionals, including dentists, lawyers, consumer goods and real estate pros.  As I sat around the conference table surveying the crowd and assessing the discussion, I was reminded how hard it is to be an entrepreneur these days. There is so much responsibility associated with owning your own business and it is a continual struggle and challenge.

Interestingly enough, I met with a new business prospect last night who inquired how I was able to grow 5WPR so quickly.  The answer is hard work, being a straight shooter, and giving everything we have on a daily basis.  In my book, giving means introductions, going the extra mile for your client and going to war for them when they need it.  5W demands this of our staffers— it’s a quality we believe anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit understands and possesses.

These are just random musings on a December day while eagerly awaiting our annual company holiday party tonight.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Working day to day with the media is a humbling task. Reporters are very busy, overworked, always stressed, and notoriously impatient.  As PR professionals, we work hard to convince reporters to write stories about our clients’ issues or products– and it’s a tough job.

It will become even tougher with the recent announcement that the Dallas Morning News will now have journalists reporting to sales executives.

This will further blur the lines between advertising and media relations. As it stands now, I often get calls from clients excited about news opportunities. But oftentimes these “opportunities” are just representatives from cold-calling to offer editorial space for a fee, which is all fine and dandy, but it’s called advertising.

At my PR firm, we believe in good old-fashioned media relations.  We build relationships with the media, pitch journalists and place stories. It’s certainly not easy, but now with situations like the Dallas Morning News, it’s going to get harder.  That being said, we will keep pushing, and keep succeeding with the continued hope that this will help clients realize the vast undervalue of PR and PR agencies in general.

“The toughest thing about being successful is that you have to keep being successful,” said Irving Berlin.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Am pleased to share with you an op-ed I wrote which was published today on
Sphere News/AOL -
http://www.sphere.com/2009/12/07/opinion-how-tiger-should-have-dealt-with-his-crisis/

(Dec. 7) — It’s not uncommon for celebrities to face a potentially image-killing crisis. It is, however, uncommon to see one handled as poorly from start to finish as Tiger Woods’ recent wreck and subsequent sex scandal.

At each step, Tiger made missteps that could have been avoided, leading to stories along the lines of “Tiger’s real crime? Not playing the media’s game” and “Tiger Woods Dodges Cops for Third Time.”

There’s no excuse the behavior that led to Tiger’s predicament, but the still-expanding fallout from his mishandling of these events provides lessons to celebrities, companies and anyone else who suddenly finds themselves at the center of a crisis.

Here are my top three crisis management rules:

Rule No. 1: Come clean and come clean quick. Instead of accepting his role in the spotlight and addressing the facts head on, Tiger ran for cover hoping it would all go away. But the fastest road to redemption in the public’s eye is an early and honest mea culpa.

That’s what Alex Rodriguez did earlier this year, when he stood in front of his teammates and the media and addressed his alleged steroid use head on. While certainly not an easy statement to make, it undeniably saved A-Rod’s career from taking the Barry Bonds route, and served as a launching pad for the best season of his career and praise from many of his former critics.

Rule No. 2: Keep your message consistent. As Bill Clinton can attest, the truth eventually comes out. So be clear, be honest and keep the story consistent. When similar allegations arose regarding David Letterman and young staff members, Letterman immediately took to the airwaves, admitted his wrongdoings and the circumstances surrounding them, and saw no ill effect in his ratings.

In contrast, Tiger’s only message for nearly five days after the accident was silence. And while he did eventually admit to his “transgressions,” his promise to “strive to be a better person and the husband and father that [his] family deserves” seemed to ring hollow as information surfaced regarding a renegotiation of his prenup in an effort to keep the family together.

Rule No. 3: Leave no gray area. From the moment reports of the accident happened, the only color surrounding the facts was gray. How did Tiger sustain the injuries he did in such a slow-moving, low-impact crash? Was his wife chasing him with a golf club? Was he impaired? And so on until another round of questions surfaced regarding alleged romps with various women. Tiger then made his brief admission of guilt but still failed to explain how the accident happened, why he was reportedly snoring on the ground as the family waited for an ambulance, etc.

Fortunately for Tiger, most if not all of his sponsors remain by his side, and his mastery of golf will continue to wow fans for years to come.

But no one will ever look at him the same way again, and this distinctive trademark is tarnished. The days of invincibility are over, if not on the course then in relationships, honesty and integrity.

Let’s hope others who make mistakes in life and business take a look at Tiger’s self-inflicted wounds and choose a different path of redemption in the public’s eye.
__________
Ronn Torossian is president and CEO of 5W Public Relations, one of the 25 largest PR firms in the U.S.

I have just returned from a whirlwind business trip where I visited 2 countries in 5 days. The trip was exciting, invigorating, but at the same time, exhausting.

En route to the airport, I received a call from a major political consultant. During the conversation, I realize we were both booked on the same flight. So, we sit in the business lounge and chat for over an hour and a half. Oddly enough, once on the plane, I ran into another acquaintance – the owner of a competing PR agency.  Good news: I got caught up on the industry. Bad news: I didn’t do the work I had planned to do during the flight.

During my time overseas, I was able to make some interesting cultural observations. Mainly, I am amazed by how intertwined business and politics are in smaller countries. Also, in comparison with the US, media impacts people’s daily lives on a much larger scale. To me, people overseas consume a higher volume of media hence PR messages and marketing are much different.

Lastly, before I go home for the evening (jetlag), I have a final observation – international travel and presence allows marketers and PR folks, like me, to conduct hands on market research and observation.  Watching people and the media in other countries surely impacts the Public Relations messages I use here at my agency.  Always food for thought.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Woods wants privacy, but he surrendered that a long time ago

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/telander/1918371,CST-SPT-rick03.article

 
Ronn Torossian
5W PR

Arrived at the office pre-7 AM today as I have a major international business trip planned for 5 days; and it means preparation and extra work for ongoing items. Overseas travel always means exhaustion (and of course the necessary annoyance of airports and flights).

Nevertheless, international travel, and travel in general, I believe is a necessity for anyone successful in public relations or marketing, as it allows minds to widen, trend spotting and observations of different consumer, media and government behavior.  All necessities to succeed in this crazy business called PR.

Don’t have the time this week to really follow the ongoing Tiger Woods saga, but this issue will not go away without him addressing it.  The concept of privacy in today’s celebrity driven era of course doesn’t exist, and one who has made millions of dollars in corporate sponsorships frankly doesn’t deserve said privacy. 

As I was quoted today saying in numerous papers, the ultimate PR question is: At what point does he answer these questions and make these doubters go away to ensure his legacy and his earnings?

Ronn Torossian

5WPR