Flack's Revenge

PR News has published my article Mastering the Inner Game of PR.

This article discusses the
psychology of the media relations pitch.  It draws from lessons I learned in
sales about the importance of enthusiasm and efficient work routines.  It covers
the art of negotiation and how mental toughness and confidence can help you meet
your media goals.

Please take a look, I hope you find it to be informative and helpful.

As readers of this blog know, I like to help educate about the PR profession and defend it when necessary.   The field of work is often misunderstood and mistrusted (as some have said "PR needs better PR").

My radar goes up when I see absent-minded slights on the profession.  So I thought I'd chime in about a WSJ story that ran yesterday.

The good news is that PR gets front page treatment, in the article "Bernanke's PR Push Rewrites fed Script."  The bad news: in the mix the practice is once again cast in a somewhat of a sinister and cynical light.

I have to admit I can be reactive, reading the article quickly I first thought that it was more about self-promotion and less about what anyone who works in the field likely would agree has anything to do with the profession.

The reporter writes:

Ben Bernanke became the Federal Reserve chairman intent on making the central bank less personality driven than it was under Alan  Greenspan and Paul Volcker.  But as he confronts an economic crisis…  Mr. Bernanke is waging a public-relations offensive that casts him in the starring role.

I do try to be fair and took the time to read through the entire article again more carefully.  The first sign of trouble was right there in the lede, where the reporter seemed to equate PR with hogging the limelight and also implies that there is some kind of organized public relations campaign behind Bernanke's actions.  To many, and the way it is often portrayed, "waging a PR offensive" sounds subversive and conspiratorial.

The article goes on to list Bernanke's efforts to get out in public, educate and generate a sense of optimism.  It relates a recent "101" session Bernanke gave at a college "with television cameras" rolling, his CBS 60 minutes gig and a February appearance at the National Press Club in Washington.  The reporter pointed out that bank officials are discussing "whether to hold regular news conferences."

Clearly, Bernanke is taking his efforts to the media and in some cases directly to the public.  Perhaps he feels he has some explaining to do.  As the article points out:

…the Fed is coming under often blistering attack from Congress and its responses to the crisis have been met with confusion by the public

The article does in my opinion do a very effective job of analyzing of Bernanke's communications style, explaining how this differs from predecessors, calling out gaffes and exploring the ins and outs of his various communications moves.  It points out the careful line a fed chairman must walk, and the great responsibility to communicate without unduly influencing markets.

Clearly the job comes with a high profile and Bernanke does (I feel) have an obligation to (albeit carefully) get out there, educate and be somewhat of a cheerleader.  Greenspan may well have had more of a low key, cryptic style but these are different times.

It might seem like a quibble, but my issue is with the article's implication that there is some kind of organized PR campaign and that this should be viewed as big news and something deserving of a gimlet eye.

I have blogged about the need for marketers to adjust their messages and approaches based on the sorry state of the economy.

Do I say this because I think we should wallow in depressing topics and remind people of how bad things are?  Certainly not.  Do we want to feed into a cycle of fear and panic, as some say the major news organizations are doing?

No, I am not saying that at all.  After all, marketing, especially advertising, is to a large degree about escapism and feeding into hopes and dreams for a better way.

But it is difficult to connect with people if you are indifferent to their needs and experiences. Messages and tactics that are tone deaf to the pain people are going through can turn them off and show that you don’t care.  Therefore, marketers might want to tailor your message accordingly and make sure it reaches your target audience.

Above and beyond that, there are a variety of drivers behind buying behavior and, as conditions change, you may need to find different levers.  Clearly, buying for status and performance – bling for bling’s sake – has taken somewhat of a hiatus.  See my post, which relates to how the tone has changed in tech PR.

Having said all this, I thought I’d do a reality check to see if PR folks are adjusting the language in their press releases to reflect the realities of the day.  I attempted to investigate the question through a series of searches as described below (I know the exercise might not be rigorously scientific but I thought it might shed some light and make for an interesting post).

I ran two searches using Factiva, across the press release wires from yesterday to find out how many mentioned “economy” or “economic,” and compared this with the results using the same search terms for the second Tuesday in April 2006 (4/1//2006) – a time well in advance of the current mess.

I also searched for occurrences of the terms “cost effective” OR “low cost” OR value OR ROI to compare numbers for the same days.  I tracked the total number of releases for each day to account for differences in volumes, and factored this in by stating the numbers as percentages.

Here are the results – the upshot is I think we have some work to do.

I have spent much of my time this week and last in airports, and thus have not been able to get to this blog until today. One topic I wanted to chime in on relates in equal parts to a client I visited on this latest round of travels and an article that ran in the WSJ last Thursday.

My CEO and I traveled to meet the client’s team and stage a kind of PR intervention to calm them down after they saw some new business metrics were way off.

The client had wanted to respond to the poor numbers by doing the marketing equivalent of throwing paint against the wall. They were considering some ill-advised advertising campaigns and cutting back on PR.

Who is to say why their numbers were off? It is easy to envision a cycle of panic that begins when some sales prospects do not respond as hoped to a solicitation because they have seen some depressing headlines about the economy. Or, the poor results could indeed be a symptom of deeper problems.

My CEO and I talked the clients down off the ledge and advised them to not lose their heads and go off in some crazy new directions. We told them that the best driver of new business is a strong and well-recognized brand, and reminded them of the progress we had achieved, and of the ways that PR can support both long term branding and short term new business goals.

In short, we effectively calmed the clients down and advised them not to forget everything they knew about PR and marketing. The meeting left them with a better sense of how we can work together to address short and long-term business needs.

Second, it seems that economy is driving renewed interest in the idea of pay for performance in the realm of professional services (including PR and marketing) as reported in an article in the WSJ Firms Try Alternative to Hourly Fees.

I take issue with the reporters seemingly off hand comment about “pricey retainers and uncertain results of traditional public relations” when comparing hourly fee-based arrangements with alternatives such as pay for performance.

Tell me, please, which marketing tactics offer guaranteed results? And PR, which typically does tie back to an hourly fee (or wage) has been proven to deliver outsized returns when compared with other forms of marketing.

True, with pay for performance you do not pay until you get the result. But coverage (typically the measure used) does not guaranty sales, and a short term focus on coverage to drive sales could come at the expense of taking the time needed to cultivate the brand and execute effective strategies over the long haul.

In other aspects, the article was on target and I applaud those who are introducing innovative billing models, especially the ones that combine elements of hourly or minimum fixed fees and performance incentives. Additionally, the help of virtual bookkeeping services may be sought to keep track of ledgers and finances, so that when it is time for tax return toronto (or any other location of business establishment), companies are prepared for the eventuality.

I do think PR and other marketers need to do a better job of proving the value they deliver. If the metrics can be tied back to results that really are proven, like sales conversions, all the better.