Stay business minded while riding the wave of positive PR

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/fashion/09michelle.html?src=me

The article above which appeared in yesterday’s New York Times is a worthwhile read.  As the CEO of a PR agency, I often field questions about how PR positively impacts a brand and the aforementioned article illustrates how First Lady Obama’s super star power brings buzz and affects the businesses of the designers she chooses.

Key Points to Take Away….

By reinforcing the quality attributes of a brand, PR can often result in increased awareness amongst core consumers. As the article states, the young designer, who was lucky enough to dress Michelle Obama on Saturday night commented: “By the next day, traffic on his Web site had shot up. By Monday, he was hearing from stores that do not carry his lines but were now, suddenly, very interested.” Now, its on him to close.

That being said, it is important to stay business minded as the increased attention and sales flood in. As the article states, “you can definitely win the PR race, but there’s still a business to manage.” Certainly, good PR doesn’t mean you can ignore business fundamentals. It is the important to realize that PR is a means to an end, but it is the responsibility of the company’s leadership to take the attention and turn it into a profitable, and sustainable boost to the bottom line.

Different segments are impacted differently by different types of PR. As one designer noted “…clients who have the taste and the money for high-end designer clothes are looking for something they feel is special — not, say, a dress that everyone has seen on magazine covers and on TV.  As a designer of a $3,000 dress noted, “I can promise you I have not sold one Alaia dress because Michelle Obama wore it.”

Via sustained positive buzz and increased visibility, PR remains one of the cheapest ways for a company to build their brand. Food for thought.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

It’s said that Public Relations professionals read the newspapers not to get the news, but to study angles and understand what stories are planted in newspapers by people with PR in mind.

This morning reading The New York Times, the crossroads of Public Relations & legal was smack in my face while reading an article about Jeffrey Conroy, who has been convicted of killing a Hispanic immigrant in a hate crime in Long Island New York.  He’s in jail, awaiting sentencing on May 26th, and this article, which fawned all over him, was planted in an attempt to soften the public’s image of him (and of course influence the atmosphere in the court to give him a light sentence)…

Amidst pictures of his smiling, All-American looking family, we learn in this page-long NY Times story at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/nyregion/30patchogue.html?hpw

He’s 19 years old “and it shows….  he has the face, the demeanor and the vocabulary of a boyish teenager.” Sub-text: He’s young and made a mistake – Give him another chance.

He was a “friendly, athletic teenager willing to stick up for others, of someone who counted several Hispanics among his closest friends, including the girl he had been dating off and on for years.” Sub-text: He’s no racist.

He spoke of his “love and concern for his family: After the guilty verdict was announced in the courtroom… he turned and saw two of his sisters in tears, and told them not to worry, that everything would be all right.” Sub-text:  His family will suffer too.  

He spoke of “praying in his cell, for his family and for Mr. Lucero’s family” and his mother “had taught Sunday school for seven years at her church…” and his father is now “on disability… and is who a leader in organizing youth sports.” Sub-text:  Good people – Religious & helps kids.

He was a “mentor to children… and helped coach 11-year-old football players at age 16, and spent one summer improving one boy’s lacrosse skills, because the boy’s mother had asked him to help her son.” Sub-text:  He’s a good kid.

He recounted confronting two white men outside a convenience store in 2007, defending a Hispanic man.  He warned men not to steal the Hispanic’s man bike “whom he believed to be an immigrant day laborer.” Sub-text: Conroy (the only of the 7 defendants who has received any media coverage) doesn’t hate Hispanics and in fact has helped some.

A 40-year-old is quoted as saying: “I believe that he got roped into events that others had started, and being 17 and filled with testosterone, sometimes you do things that get the best of you before you can think about it clearly.”  (The next line goes on to state that: Mr. Conroy’s intent to kill was evident because the entire blade went into Mr. Lucero’s chest area and was stopped only by the handle.”) Sub-text: He made a mistake – Maybe don’t let him play video-games for a few weeks?

The article ends by stating: If Mr. Conroy were not in jail, he said he could imagine the life he would be leading: playing midfield on a college lacrosse team, either at the State University at Albany or at Plattsburgh. And his thigh would no longer have the swastika. “It doesn’t mean anything to me at all,” Mr. Conroy said.

I’d venture this article was planted by someone on Conroy’s Public Relations team, and will have sway and influence (I believe it was very biased, and amazingly no one from the victim’s family was interviewed at all).  The PR agency which I own does a tremendous amount of crisis communications and litigation work which we cannot often discuss, and PR firms absolutely are hired to influence judges & juries.

Public Relations pros read the papers differently – Or did this article simply belong as an OP-ED ? Food for thought.  I welcome your feedback via comments, or directly via email at Ronn@5wpr.com

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

During this morning’s monthly networking meeting at 5WPR, Laurence Haughton, a New York Times bestselling author, told an inspirational story that serves as a great lesson to entrepreneurs.

The story which captivated twenty of us:

In 1949, 13 firefighters lost their lives at Mann Gulch. In 1994, 14 more firefighters lost their lives under similar conditions at South Canyon. In both cases, these 23 men and four women were overrun by exploding fires when their retreat was slowed because they failed to drop the heavy tools they were carrying. By keeping their tools, they lost valuable distance that they could have covered more quickly if they had been lighter. All 27 perished within sight of safe areas. The question is, why did the firefighters keep their tools?

The imperative, “drop your tools or you will die,” is something businesses today should watch, and know.  “Dropping one’s tools is a proxy for unlearning, for adaptation, for flexibility, in short, for many of the dramas that engage organizational scholars,” according to Haughton.

Apparently, Karl E. Weich studied the conditions for smokejumpers during tragically difficult fires, and throughout interviews discovered that smokejumpers who survived very dangerous fires were those who dropped their equipment in the midst of the fire.  The smokejumpers who held onto their equipment were killed, and those who dropped their equipment survived.

Lesson for entrepreneurs:  Know when to drop heavy unnecessary baggage, and always be prepared to adapt to situations as they develop.

Interesting food for thought for this owner of a PR agency.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

This article ran in The New York Times over the weekend. It speaks about the MLB rookie camp, which brings together professional baseball’s brightest prospects for three days to prepare them for “life under the lights.” It is a must-read for all CEO’s and company leaders as there is also much non professional athletes can learn from this article – Success requires change and attention.

In today’s tech driven society, any speech or even off-handed discussion can be captured by a camera phone, or recording device, posted online, and then instantly registered on the Public Relations machine known as Google. These simple sound bites that may not have been intended for public viewing can easily be misinterpreted and distributed online where they will live for many years.

Among the lessons to be learned from this article — leaders across the board should be well-trained and prepared to speak publicly.  As a general rule, always ask if you are being recorded when making a public speech, and remember, in the world of PR, people who are paranoid will survive far longer.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

One of the most challenging parts of the Public Relations industry is validating experts.  In today’s Internet-driven society, anyone with a blog, or any form of social media can anoint themselves an “expert” in a particular field. It is difficult for the average consumer to distinguish between information on the Internet written by someone widely recognized as a reliable source by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, OR information by someone who is simply regurgitating the expertise of many others. Just because Google News aggregates a blog’s headline alongside one from The New York Times, doesn’t necessarily mean the author is an “expert.”

The work never stops in the demanding world of PR.  Since “work” ended Friday evening, I had dinner with a prospective client Friday night at his fabulous Central Park South home.

Then, I had lunch on Saturday at the home of one of the richest people in the world and a member of the Forbes 400. In attendance at the small intimate gathering was a Nobel Peace Prize winner who I greatly respect. I wish I could name names, but I can’t. Let’s just say it was definitely one of those weekends where I pinched myself and said “Wow. Is this real?”

Sunday, I spent a few hours on the phone with another member of the Forbes 400, who we represent, working on a vital press announcement.

Hard work, but is it really work if I love it?

I wanted to end with a quote I think any entrepreneur will enjoy. “Keep getting it wrong until you get it right.” Don’t be afraid to make mistakes…

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

We have a number of high-profile clients who pay us, and pay us well, to keep them out of the media – they simply don’t wish to appear in the media, and we are paid monthly retainers to ensure that happens. They are concerned about negative, harmful media coverage and a major part of crisis communications work is keeping stories out of the media. It’s often very far from easy, as a reporter’s job is to pursue stories and angles of interest.

This weekend, I, along with the rest of the world learned that I that David Rohde, a NY Times Reporter, had, thankfully, escaped from his kidnappers. I was amazed this story hadn’t run anywhere despite the fact that many in the media world knew about it.  Thank goodness he’s home safe, but I wonder why the media didn’t report this story. Would they have reported it had it been someone else’s child, say, a Republican politician, or a celebrity ?

I found this quote from today’s Huffington Post  quite interesting: I wonder now if a great debate will break out over media ethics in not reporting a story involving one of their own when they so eagerly rush out piece about nearly everything else. I imagine some may claim that the blackout would not have held if a smaller paper, not the mighty New York Times, had been involved.

As a student of the media, I look forward to reading more in the days and weeks to come.  Food for thought.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I read this NY Times article this AM, and for me saw validation of last week’s post.  This quote for me summarized it: “The sizzling reception… shows how fast a mature corner of online media can change.”

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Before I get lost in the battles of the week, I want to take the time to share a few weekend joys that really resonated for me…

With the first hints of spring arriving in NYC, I allowed myself to take some time to clear my head.  As I’ve said before, a good run (and lots of sweat) is always a physical and mental release.  (Vigorous exercise is necessary in any economy to help maintain balance.)  After, I spent hours in Barnes & Noble reading book after book after book to gain perspective and do some mental calisthenics.  Really relaxing and invigorating.

I was also able to spend some time this weekend praying and learning.  One story I heard from my Rabbi had a great impact on me:

“When people are born, they are their purest as babies and purity is, of course, good and they should try and revert back to pure basic behavior as often as possible.  Babies cry about 300 times a day and man laughs only about 15 times a day (in good and normal times, and less in times like these).  If people can laugh a lot more, everything in their lives will be better – business, financial, personal.  Everything.”

Optimism breeds success. 

And lastly, I read a very interesting story in the New York Times about one of NYC’s most successful real estate brokers.  The closing quote held special implications for me, as she said about her work, “It’s challenging; it’s interesting. It’s just not as fun.”

Ronn Torossian
5WPR

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

Sunday’s article in The New York Times addresses a relevant concern for not only lawyers, but many of us in the professional service industry, such as myself who owns a PR agency.  Whether during good times or bad, pricing by the hour has never been a favorite practice of mine as a general rule.  (There are exceptions, primarily when it comes to crisis communications work). 

For example, does a client who prioritizes media relations care if we secure Fox News or CNN in 10 minutes rather than in 3 hours?  Should that client be billed for the time or should they only be billed for the results?

The NY Times is accurate when it states that “firms that charge by the hour can suffer if they are too successful.”  And it’s one of the reasons 5WPR primarily charges a flat retainer, which is “estimated” against time spent.

I welcome your feedback privately.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR