Random musings from some weekend reading:

• Of course at the Oscars and at other celebrity events, brands will pay celebrities for associations.  “There’s a hugely evolved culture of paying to wear clothes and product. Some actresses sign four-event contracts to wear designers, with giant perks and huge money,” says a Hollywood insider.  It’s quite true that those who know won’t speak specifics – but it absolutely does happen. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/a67a61c0-5c87-11e1-8f1f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1nM9zqvGG
• Richard Edelman is one of the few big PR Agency CEO’s who gets it – and I found this article from an India paper to be a great read. “I differ with the traditional view of public relations as image and message manager. Smart PR is sitting at a table in the C-Suite advising a company what the policy for the firm should be. When you have the appropriate policy, the communication follows. There has too often been a divide between what you do and say. And it is not good enough any more to say smart words. You have to have smart deeds. The big difference in the post-2008 world is that trust in business has fallen substantially.” http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/today-public-approval-is-central-to-business-richard-edelman/465636/
• Even the normally reclusive private equity industry now understands that everyone today is in the world of public relations – “The Private Equity Growth Capital Council released a video detailing Blackstone Group’s purchase of The Detroit Medical Center in 2010 through platform company Vanguard Health Systems Inc. and the firm’s subsequent $850 million investment to fund capital improvements. The video and attached press release said the investment is expected to create about 5,000 construction jobs, as well as have a “lasting impact on the city of Detroit.” The video is part of a series of steps PR firms are taking for the private equity industry as part of a campaign known as “Private Equity at Work.” http://blogs.wsj.com/privateequity/2012/02/24/private-equity%E2%80%99s-lobbying-group-goes-viral-to-stem-attacks/

Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, a leading US PR Agency.

Over the weekend I had a chance to reflect upon my Friday. As people often ask what a day looks like in running a PR agency, thought to write about it. Tiring, exhausting and great all at the same time.

Started early with a 530 AM job, bike and light lifting – followed by 8AM midtown breakfast with the premier US NY Russian attorney, Edward Mermelstein.  Ed’s a client and friend we have worked for many years – and always enjoy hearing his take on the world.

• Had a 930 AM strategy meeting with a client, followed instantly by a client conference call with my team
• Quick internal meeting followed by returning 2 calls – 1 new business call (scheduled a meeting for next week), and returned a call to a Reporter
• The afternoon saw a 30 minute break to return emails, catch my breath, and before I turned around it was time for a internal staff meeting with 1 of my teams
• Had a new business meeting end of day – and then more returning emails, calls to Mark Birnbaum of EMM Group about an upcoming event for a client, Elie Hirschfeld about a recent media story, and the like.

Its always something different – moving fast and making it happen.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Some interesting recent stories wanted to share regarding the Public Relations industry:

• A retort from Peter Himler to Mark Cuban’s article: “Never Hire A PR Firm”: http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhimler/2012/01/16/pr-for-startups-deconstructed/

• “Survey of worldwide boutique public relations agencies predict moderate to high growth for their businesses in 2012, and nearly half see social media as the major trend impacting communications in 2012.” http://www.techjournalsouth.com/2012/01/boutique-pr-firms-see-moderate-growth-ahead/

– 5WPR wont quite qualify as a boutique – but we certainly see 2012 as being a growth year (YTD up almost 20% over last year)

• Public Relations experts criticize Carnival Cruise lines: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/19/us-carnival-idUSTRE80I02P20120119

Ronn Torossian, CEO, 5WPR

Public Relations Tips from Ronn Torossian

“Publicity geniuses are different from you and me. They have the stomach for it. This temperamental combination of imperviousness and egomania that allows them, compels them, to dominate the media . . . means, too, that they dominate reality, that’s their world and we just . . . well you know.”

—Michael Wolff, writing in Vanity Fair

10 rules for success in Public Relations:

1. Attention is the most valuable form of currency in PR and marketing. Getting the right attention must be done strategically and consistently.

2. Digital media and self-created content give everyone a voice. For good and for bad, self-created content is tremendously important—and realize with today’s media world everyone’s opinion counts. Blog, comment, and join

the conversation when it suits your purposes and goals.

3. PR works best with evolution rather than revolution. If you gradually take two steps forward, you might fall back a step. That’s okay. It’s easier to recover from one step backward than it is if you hurry and take four steps at once and then another four. You might trip and fall three or six steps behind—

It’s much harder to get back up to speed from that point.

4. PR has been and will always be about building relationships. In an earlier era, you needed only to worry about a few beat reporters, gossip columnists, or talk show hosts. Today it’s also about knowing bloggers, Twitter communities, influential Diggers, Facebook groups, or other collectives.

5. Everyone loves a great storyteller—become one. Your story is your ticket to people’s hearts and minds. A great story can motivate a person to go from passive to participant. Participate in media training and then rehearse and

prepare. It matters.

6. Write well. Understand the value of communicating properly, particularly in press releases, because they will often be used verbatim as news stories—it’s called “churnalism.” Yes, there’s a name for it now.

7. Gossip is information delivered personally. Make it work for you and not against you. Think strategically: how can you use what you hear to do better, be better, and serve better?

8. Success and media attention come with a price; learn to accept it and adapt accordingly.

9. Don’t try to be something you’re not: authenticity may mean saying no to opportunities that may not fit your brand or work against your core mission and values. Politicians need 51 percent of a market to succeed; brands can

win with a much smaller market share and become very successful.

10. Don’t expect privacy. Privacy doesn’t exist in today’s open

social media world. If you post something on Facebook, employees, clients, and the media can see it.

Writing my book was a major accomplishment of which I am very proud and I hope many more read it. The book can be bought at www.forimmediatereleasebook.com, or any major book website or bookstore.

Ronn Torossian is the CEO of 5WPR, a Top 25 US PR Agency.

My crisis PR agency, 5WPR was pleased today to read the announcement that Liberty Mutual Insurance has added a crisis management endorsement to its new commercial lead umbrella policy form –It’s great that insurance companies recognize the vast importance of good crisis communications.

In today’s world, bad communications can cost companies millions – or even billions of dollars. As Liberty’s spokesperson said when announcing the policy “Sometimes a situation is clearly a crisis that needs immediate action.”

Working in PR is often like working the ER night shift on a 100-degree summer weekend. You never know what’s going to happen next. Product recall. Sexual harassment. Not wanting to rat to the police. Involvement in a shooting. Bankruptcy. Corporate merger. Affair with a secretary. Fraud. Government investigation. Protests at corporate headquarters. We have worked through all of these situations and more with our clients. I’ve helped major corporations, small businesses, and celebrities get through a fair number of troubling times, from financial scandals at a Fortune 100 company, to countless indictments and accusations, to arrests at New Jersey construction companies, to trials and legal proceedings for celebrities like Lil’ Kim, as well as average Joes.

One key lesson learned from these experiences is that even though there are times when you can get away with burying your head in the sand, a crisis that brings media attention isn’t one of them. Drop what you’re doing and address crisis situations as they happen; it’s impossible to sit behind a computer and “outwork” catastrophes. Your entire business, or your whole life, can be changed by one article or one rumor, true or untrue.

The court of public opinion doesn’t wait – and anyone involved in a crisis must understand the need to respond quickly to the media.

Of course, Liberty’s announcement was also good Public Relations by their PR agency – Liberty’s policyholders can use the $50,000 in crisis management work only at Weber Shandwick, the PR firm that represents Liberty – and its doubtful Weber has ever taken any PR clients for such a low fee – let alone a crisis PR client.  But nonetheless, following in the footsteps of Chubb who last year offered up to $300K in crisis PR services in its corporate policies and other insurance companies, this is good for business and good for all of us in Public Relations.

As Warren Buffett has said “It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”

Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, 1 of the 25 largest US PR Agencies, and author of “For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations” an Amazon best selling Public Relations book available for purchase at: http://www.amazon.com/Immediate-Release-Deliver-Game-Changing-Relations/dp/1936661160