I attended a major movie premiere last week and found it to be amazingly well organized. Between the after party and the attention to detail, the event must have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars – a major spend for a studio. I enjoyed myself because I had the chance to view influencer marketing at its finest. They really reached key people.

I am a huge proponent of influencer marketing – talking to people who talk to people –for consumer brands, B2B and many additional purposes. Clearly, influencer marketing varies when it comes to Facebook and other forms of social media, but little compares to being in front of someone who talks to many others. It is worthwhile on many fronts.

That said, while I was at the movie premiere, I couldn’t help but wonder why public relations gets the short end of the stick. Events are held costing tens of thousands of dollars, advertisements are placed costing hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of dollars, but in general, the largest companies in the world don’t spend more than $1 million a year with PR agencies. It is a fact that ANY PR firm in the U.S., regardless of its size, would chase after a $500K RFP like there was no tomorrow.

Such an RFP would be front page news in every PR trade magazine. For any PR firm, a major budget is considered to be $15-$25K a month. That’s considered next to nothing to ad agencies. Time and again, PR seems to get short shrift. Because the industry is relatively immature, despite talk to the contrary, it is not given enough financial share or deserved emphasis. Too many companies fail to see the true value of PR, and that is to their detriment. I am sure my colleagues share this viewpoint with me.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Every day this week, I walked one block south of our offices to the tents at Bryant Park. Out on the street in front of the Fashion Week tents, lights were flashing and people were gawking. But while some were there for the fashion, I was there to people watch. As a marketer, I’m always inspired by the creative street theater and guerrilla marketing events saturating the Bryant Park sidewalk during Fashion Week. People watching allows me to see trends and make observations first hand. Reading a media report is a far cry from the palpable excitement on the street.

This morning, for instance, I encountered a few cross dressers promoting the Janice Dickinson show swarmed by photographers and a crowd of people. It’s a great example of a low cost, high impact way to capture influencers.

While I won’t reveal here the many successful stunts 5WPR executed for Fashion Week, I can say that street theater and guerrilla marketing are amazing ways for brands to capture mind share and media share at huge events, without incurring huge costs.

If you’re open to big ideas and have a entrepreneurial mindset, you can always find a way to incorporate your brand into the mecca of huge events, without having to pay the multimillion dollar price tag. Whether Fashion Week, The Superbowl or Sundance, 5W PR always finds creative ideas and angles to enter the media landscape, permeate the discussion and penetrate the tastemakers who attend. Brands need to seek creative, winning concepts… and winning sometimes means being outside rather than inside the box. Those who take the biggest risks with their brand often reap the biggest rewards. And by far the most attention.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Yesterday’s arrest of Kanye West at LAX was surprising to me primarily because it doesn’t happen more often.  West was arrested for suspicion of vandalism after confronting paparazzi media and allegedly smashing their  cameras.  The struggle between celebrities and the paparazzi is an issue that high profile people must deal with on a day-to-day basis, and it is extremely trying on both physical and emotional levels. It is incredible that today, even after the death of Princess Di, celebrities still have very little protective barriers between them and an intrusive swarm of prying media. Yes, people in the public-eye lose their right to complete privacy when they perform, appear in movies, or get rich by possessing rare athletic ability, but does that mean that there should be no boundaries whatsoever?  Should their children be endlessly subjected to flashing lights? Should they not be allowed to lead somewhat normal lives?

5W has worked with countless celebrities.  I vividly remember walking out of court with Lil’ Kim after she was sentenced in her perjury trial a few years ago. We were managing her crisis communications, and as we walked out the front door, we (Lil’ Kim, one security escort, two attorneys, two of her family friends and I) encountered at least 100 members of the media all jockeying for a shot or a comment.  It was a wall of reporters and photographers, flashbulbs blinking in her face. To say it was a mob scene is an understatement.  After the paparazzi got their pictures, they still wouldn’t move.  There was no choice but to push forward for the two blocks we were required to walk.  It was a very dangerous situation, and in LA, this happens every single day.

Managing the media for corporate clients is far different than managing celebrity-driven paparazzi media.  Every type of public relations, whether crisis-based or paparazzi, consumer or technology, requires different skills and a completely different set of “rules.” I don’t believe for a second that today’s incident between Kanye West and a swarm of paparazzi is an isolated occurrence, nor will it be the last time we read about a celebrity fighting for his privacy with paparazzi.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Reporters surrounded Lil Kim

I always tell clients involved in court cases that there are two courts – the court of law and the court of public opinion.  With the changing nature of media today, a forum doesn’t exist where the media doesn’t play a major part.

This past week provided ample opportunity to study this theory in action, with high-profile celebrity affairs and divorces receiving almost continuous attention.  NYC coverage of Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook’s divorce proceedings was truly great media. 

One colorful quote I saw from Brinkley included that she needed to settle on that particular day because she had run out of outfits to wear.  Brinkley was determined to use the court of public opinion to her own advantage, countering Cook’s claim for custody with a terse, but loaded, strategy: “Well, I’m going to let the world know what you’re all about,” according to Stephen Steinberg in the New York Times.  And she wasn’t lying, as you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who wasn’t privy to Cook’s now-public indiscretions.

There are plenty of PR agencies and firms hired both openly and quietly to influence judges and juries of all sorts.  And with the recent success rate, I suspect that it won’t end anytime soon.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Today’s unrelenting, 24/7 tabloid media is a concern for any business person at any level, which is why I found a recent Village Voice article detailing the contents of Harvey Weinstein’s trash to be somewhat concerning and amusing at the same time.  Having met Harvey Weinstein on a few occasions, I found him to be a very blunt and direct person. Seems his trash is no exception.  There are just so many different things going on in any successful person’s office at any second; it’s somewhat surprising to me this sort of thing doesn’t happen more often.

Media is everywhere, omnipotent and a constant cause for concern…

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I am an immense fan of Mark Cuban for many, many reasons. Having interacted with him on a few occasions (admittedly on the basketball court), I find him to be brutally honest and the quintessential entrepreneur - smart, focused, fun, accessible and real.  For that reason, I often read his blog.  Recently, I found his brother’s blog post about Evander Holyfield’s bankruptcy to be especially interesting.

Over the years, we’ve worked with many high profile athletes and entrepreneurs, from Sean Combs to Pamela Anderson to Roy Jones.  In the process, I’ve learned the truth behind many misconceptions of celebrity wealth, so I don’t find Holyfield, Tyson or other bankruptcy examples surprising. I’ve met many celebrities who aren’t wealthy in the least, for many reasons:

* Stars usually have very short career spans, without proper financial planning for when they are no longer relevant and large checks no longer appear. 

* Becoming a celebrity creates basic lifestyle changes.  A sex symbol from a single movie may suddenly need constant security (which they pay for themselves), or a black car to chauffer them, since public transportation poses a threat or a nuisance.  As a star of a humongous HBO movie recently told me – “many changes.”     

* Celebs often lack the desire to really work. They pay a ton of lip service, but often refuse to show up on time, take advantage of interviews, and focus on important decisions that need to be made about their businesses, careers, etc.  

* Everyone wants to make a dime off them.  I can’t tell you how many cold calls my entertainment staff and I receive from pariahs who seek or want something from these folks.  The dozens of money managers who cold call me wanting to manage celebrity finances, or sell them something, is unreal.  I have on occasion asked them, “Why not chase my countless entrepreneurial CEO’s who have less people around them, are easier to sell and more likely to hire you?” 

Articles like this are one of the reasons why 5W has built a tremendously successful business of athlete-entrepreneurs who are smart, focused and realize that there is a life after professional sports.

There is a tremendous need for better managers and better advisors who will be straight with these folks.  Additionally, these stars need to realize that on-air, on-court antics are one thing, but the same behavior won’t fly when it comes to doing business with corporate America.  Many stars who are infamously difficult are in fact a charm when it comes to marketing or sponsorship deals.  At the same time, those regarded as charming are, in fact, sometimes dishonest. This is another reason why stars need calculating managers to help them make decisions and need brands off the court or off the screen.

We have worked very hard to build a niche in the arena of being “cool enough to work with the stars/athletes, but buttoned up enough to work alongside decision makers in corporate America.”  It’s a fine balancing act.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Just came back from 5 days at Sundance and am tired to the bone. Literally we worked 20+ hour days under intense pressure (parties ended 7 AM… and gifting started 10 AMish)… Simply exhausting… and no, I didn’t see any movies.

5W Public Relations had a series of events at the 2008 5W Sundance Escape Mansion, in partnership with Butter, a leading New York City nightclub, hosted a myriad of celebrities and VIPS, including Paris & Nicky Hilton, Mary Kate Olsen, Kim Kardashian, Eliza Dushku, Reggie Bush, BET Networks CEO Debra Lee and more. Bar none, we were the premier after hours destination for the 2nd year in a row - The most exclusive late nite events.

Some party highlights:
– Paris and Nicky Hilton dancing on a table (It’s just odd… in the living room of a house I rented… in the middle of nowhere, Utah seeing the Hilton sisters in your living room)
– DJ AM, one of the world’s leading DJ’s playing for 3 hours in the living room of the house (and many of the other biggest DJ’s watching him - Samantha Ronson, Steve Aoki, and others - Its like watching Michael Jordan play basketball I suppose).
– All of our partner brands receiving tremendous influencer relations.

Sunday night, The 5W Sundance Escape Mansion hosted a BET Event which featured the who’s who of entertainment, including Chamillionaire, Miss USA Rachel Smith and Danny Glover.

Additionally, we housed a private Style Studio at 625 Main Street, with retail partner leading Los Angeles retailer m. fredric. Special thanks to partners: Anheuser-Busch, Rocawear, Evian, BET Networks, LifeStyles Condoms, Ahava Skincare and Complex Magazine.

Sundance this year seemed much quieter than in years past - Foot traffic was way down, as was general celeb traffic I thought. Didn’t have time to attend many events other than my own… but it was a blast, productive for our clients and am already thinking of what we do at Sundance 2009.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

11:58 pm – New Year’s Eve – NBC National News. Who happens to turn up dressed as an ordinary New Yorker wearing a Yankees hat and all? Who else but A-Rod – Alex Rodriguez who only a few months ago alienated millions of New Yorkers and Yankees fans worldwide.

What better way than to appear as a normal New Yorker (He made sure to mention he was born here, kissed his wife for New Years’ and wore jeans)… All this despite being worth hundreds of millions of dollars. (I wonder if he also had to wait hours and hours to use a bathroom to get that prime spot ?)

Smartest PR move of 2008 (It’s only past noon on Jan 1. 2008)…

On a side note, an inspirational message I just received and wanted to share:

“Today is the day to begin. This New Year is a blank canvas upon which you have the opportunity to paint. As you do, be authentic. Your greatest accomplishments are the ones that contain the greatest quantity of you. Be innovative and creative. The challenges you face will melt away when you apply fresh, original thinking to them. Remember not to take yourself too seriously. You’ll climb much higher when you’re thoroughly enjoying the effort. As you move forward, do so with genuine and persistent integrity. That way, the results you create will be results that are actually worth attaining. Today you stand at the beginning of a grand adventure, with the very real and present opportunity to shape this year into the best one ever. Begin now, take the initiative, and never stop living life according to who you know you are.”

 Ronn Torossian

5W PR

On the eve of 5W Public Relations’ office move (around the corner to a 22,000 square foot office….), some random thoughts:

Wow has the Spears’ family crashed and burned, I did a number of media interviews today, including my favorite quote: ‘‘Frankly, I don’t see any ‘Spears Family Christmas Prime Time Specials’ being sold into syndication anytime soon. … If Michael made LaToya look like the normal Jackson, Britney might be the Spears with the better moral judgment.”

Professional Sports as a whole has taken a major beating in the PR category in 2007 – This was the year that we see asterisk placed next to all records of this decade’s greatest pitcher (Roger Clemens), and greatest hitter (Barry Bonds). I think sponsors are still somewhat undecided as to how to respond – Steroids certainly isn’t dog fighting.

We are moving tomorrow… and any entrepreneur who isn’t nervous… is nuts in my book (although all entrepreneurs need to be somewhat nuts by nature.).

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

I read this feature article in The Wall Street Journal last week (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119317864699068959-email.html) regarding Nike cultivating its relationship with lesser known influencers like tattoo artist Mister Cartoon and Brazilian graffiti artists Os Gemeos. As usual, brilliant…

For a brand that utilizes celebrity endorsers better than almost any other leveraging such talents as Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Tiger Woods to devote an entire article to a brand’s association with lesser known influencers might seem strange. However, Nike wins and continues to win because of their ability to reach the mass market but also stay a step ahead of their competition by minding the niches and keeping the brand ahead of the curve.

The Nike brand ties into two previous blogs that I posted several months back—The first one is regarding the “faceless influencers”, individuals who might not be known to mainstream American society but help drive today (and tomorrow’s) pop culture trends (http://ronntorossian.blogspot.com/2007/03/faceless-influencers.html). Nike understands not only the value of celebrity association but reaching those individuals who celebrities watch. Nike has constantly managed to turn a mass market brand into something trendy and hip that individuals “in the know” want to be a part of. Their limited edition runs and collector’s editions allow the influencers to buy into the brand but do it with their own sense of style. I remember a few years back before Nike had broadly introduced their ID line to the mass marketplace. Around the city of New York, the brand reached key influencers: everyone from fashion editors at major lifestyle publications to fashionistas and hipsters. Giving them special invite only passes to have their custom sneakers designed gave Nike a relevancy to these faceless influencers that the brand otherwise would struggle to find.

The second post which I found relevant to this article http://ronntorossian.blogspot.com/2007/07/know-thy-market.html was a piece I had written regarding reaching and understanding the value of niche marketing. For a brand like Nike, tattoo artists and graffiti artists would appear to have little to no value to a brand’s bottom line. But Nike sees the broader appeal to these markets and how reaching today’s niche could turn out to be the next mass market hit. Take the skateboarding culture—twenty years ago this was a segment that was seen as slackers and certainly not a desirable demographic for marketers. While they weren’t the first to see the tide turning, ESPN and Activision saw the sport growing from niche to having serious mass market implications and have been amongst the best at monetizing what was once a niche market. ESPN created the X-Games as a way of giving major brands a central engine to reach this demographic and many brands are opting to throw sponsorship dollars behind reaching the “extreme” audience via the X-Games as opposed to the Olympics (and note how many of the “extreme” sports are quickly becoming events in the Olympics). Activision on the other hand saw skating personalities becoming mainstream sports figures and created the Tony Hawk video game franchise, one of the most successful video game series’ of the past decade. Mixed Martial Arts fighting (MMA) is becoming today’s skateboarding and thus another sporting niche is permeating the mass market.

Nike’s ability to constant assess and reassess not only where the brand stands today but where it can continue to grow is why it continues to win. While tastes change, brands that constantly reassess their value and relevancy to all consumer audiences is how today’s most successful brands remain tomorrow’s. The fact that Nike puts “influencer relations” as such a key brand initiative shows me their genius and why I have always admired standing as a mass market brand that speaks to consumers of such diverse tastes and styles.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR