If there was to be a publicity hall of fame for greatest stunts ever, Sacha Baron Cohen would absolutely have a place for some of his various shticks.  This weekend, at the medal ceremony at the Arab Shooting Championships in Kuwait, Cohen’s version of the national anthem (from Borat) played – instead of the real one.  Naturally, Kazakhstan officials (where Borat was banned) were very upset, and the foreign ministry said that the incident “is, of course, a scandal and demands a thorough investigation, which we intend to conduct.”

I’d imagine that someone checked Google for the national anthem and this came up and they didn’t bother to check if it was real (and how many would know what the real anthem sounds like anyway?). The clip is hilarious (and looks like a scene that would appear in Borat), with the Kazaki medal winner listening to lyrics like: “Kazakhstan, greatest country in the world/All other countries are run by little girls….Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, you very nice place, from plains of tarashenk to northern fence of jewtown.”

Of course with Cohen and his gimmicks you never know if he was somehow behind this, and with his new movie, The Dictator taking place in the Middle East, maybe this was another one of his shticks. This PR agency owner says Cohen is a genius.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

So following last week’s article on Business Insider regarding the best PR books (Available at http://www.businessinsider.com/must-read-public-relations-books–the-required-reading-list-of-pr-books-and-marketing-books-2011-9 wanted to take this opportunity to provide a list of the Top 10 PR movies which I recently published at: http://www.businessinsider.com/top-10-best-pr-movies-and-a-few-great-public-relations-tv-shows-2011-9

Anyone working at a PR agency or in Public Relations should find great interest in this list. I welcome your thoughts and feedback.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

In past years, institutions ranging from Wall Street to politics, and clergy to sports have seemingly become soiled. We see this as legends like Mickey Mantle and Joe Dimaggio, who were both seen as legends, give way to Tiger Woods, Mike Tyson, corrupt referees and the DWI or arrest of the weekend.  It has been a never-ending saga of poor conduct, greediness, sky-high ticket pricing and all around bad behavior.

One of the very few people who kept themselves above the terrible conduct was Derek Jeter, who sacrificed his body diving into the stands to win games, stands as a positive influence to fans and players, and – even off the field – upholds a great image, despite being considered a “playboy.” Now, however, both the Yankees and Jeter seem determined to ruin that story, with the Yankees urging their team captain who has played his entire career for the team to “test the market” and Jeter retorting with a $23-$24 million ask.  Neither action scores many points. Many of us in fairytale land were hoping that they’d make a deal; but, of course, that would be just too good to be true and before this is settled they will both do a tremendous amount of Public Relations damage to one another.

If you ask me, more people should follow the sports views portrayed in one of the greatest movies ever, A Bronx Tale, where the character Sonny explained to Cologero that his baseball hero, Mickey Mantle, didn’t care about him or anyone else. So, why should the boy care about him? Sonny explained, “Mickey Mantle would never pay your rent or do anything for you,”, and the boy went home and tried to throw away his baseball cards because Mickey Mantle would never pay his rent.

My view on sports was never the same after seeing that movie, and I’d venture the longer this Jeter story continues the more likely it is to destory one of the few positive images which exists still in professional sports today. And, I’ll bet many boys will throw away their baseball cards if this behavior continues.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

We are in the midst of a new economy that is still being defined.  A new economy where years of wealth have been lost, where a debate on Fox News I saw this weekend asked if all banks should be government operated, and where bailouts are the most popular form of financing.

I had breakfast yesterday at The Loews Regency, one of my favorite NYC breakfast locations and a 5WPR client.  An older couple there, playing with their grandkids, told me that in 28 years of owning their own business, they had never before had layoffs.  But now, they’ve already had two rounds, and they’re worried about whether or not their business will survive.  In the gym that afternoon, an entrepreneur who rented a new, 6,000-square-foot office six months ago told me he’s closing his company and giving his landlord back his keys.  Scary times.

5WPR’s answer?  We are looking at many new hires and ways in which we can invest in our clients’ businesses and our business.  We’re looking at items (and people) that don’t require ramp up time.  We’re demanding more from employees.  We’re delivering more to clients.  We’re conserving cash, but investing in the future as we believe we will be one of the few PR agencies to emerge from this recession stronger than we went into it.

We also continue to look at PR firms, or one- or two-person PR consultant operations, that may want to stop running their own business and be absorbed by a larger agency.  We have had many discussions, made some offers and will emerge stronger.  Are you a small PR agency with a client base?  Let’s chat. Email me directly at ronn@5wpr.com

It’s a new economy, and the rules have changed.  As an employee, look around and realize what needs to be done today.  As an entrepreneur, it’s war.  And I only continue to learn what this new economy means: the unemployed financial executive who just accepted a 200k job, even though he previously earned in excess of 700k, or my countless friends in real estate who aren’t doing even 10 percent of the deals they used to do.

It’s a new economy, and the rules have changed.  Without knowing when it will change back, everyone needs to adapt to the new rules and change accordingly.  I continue to be focused on continuing to grow and hopefully change the PR industry.  The line from The Notorious B.I.G. movie (which I saw this weekend) epitomizes it: “You can’t change the world until you change yourself”.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

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