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Friday, October 26. 2007
The most powerful man in advertising believes PR has a very bright future, driven in part by the social networking wave that is reshaping how people communicate. He sees a brewing revolt among young people against ads. They don’t appreciate advertising one-way/top-down method of delivering sponsored messages. Social networkers want to be part of the conversation.
 That scenario is why staffers at Hill & Knowlton, Burson-Marsteller, GCI Group, Ogilvy PR and Cohn & Wolfe are walking a bit taller these days.
WPP Group may not be the largest of the communications conglomerates, but its CEO Martin Sorrell is the most eloquent man in the ad/PR business. For instance, does anyone know where Omnicom CEO John Wren stands on the future of PR. Or any other issue? Interpublic’s Michael Roth gets a “pass” for the moment. He is struggling with weighty financial matters— though Bear Stearns believes IPG stock is set to pop (sub req'd).
Sorrell, according to a piece in the Guardian, believes web users are turned off by advertising. They don’t want to be “advertised to” or “monetized.” Networkers want to be viewed as more than a set of eyeballs. It’s a simple matter of respect.
Sorrell believes PR is the way that brands and ideas get around social networkers’ aversion to advertising. The third-party credibility of PR is how marketers’ inject themselves into that conversation. Or as Sorrell put it, social networkers are hungry for ideas and knowledge from “independent sources.”
WPP’s PR and PA group was the star performer in its third-quarter. That upbeat performance was powered by H&K, GCI, Public Strategies, Finsbury and Quinn Gillespie.
Sorrell told investors that WPP has its eye out for small to mid-sized acquisitions. One can bet that PR firms are near the top of that list.
Wednesday, October 24. 2007
Rudy Giuliani fashions himself as the No. 1 fan of the New York Yankees. He has been dethroned and banned in the Bronx.
 As New York Mayor, Rudy was a fixture in Yankee Stadium, resplendent in full Bronx Bomber regalia. That finery included hat, jacket and earmuffs for when the Yankees used to play in the World Series. [For the record: Rudy was spotted once or twice in Shea Stadium, home of the beloved Mets, but he slithered out after a couple of innings.]
Rudy is now running for the Republican nomination for President. A top contender is Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts.
Hence, Rudy is rootin’ for the hated (by all true Yankee fans) Boston Red Sox. What a hypocrite! What a turncoat! Rootin’ for the Sox is like a Hatfield rootin’ for a McCoy. It’s like Dick Cheney and Nancy Pelosi going out for tea. Give me a break.
Treacherous Giuliani may hope to score a couple of primary voters in New Hampshire by trampling on Yankees tradition, and cheering the BoSox. It ain’t going to happen. Granite Staters can spot a phony a mile away.
Rudy used to poke fun at Hillary Clinton when that former Chicago Cubs fan cheered for the Yanks upon becoming an Empire State Senator. It’s now payback time. You can bet Hillary’s chief strategic guru Mark Penn is going to make hay over Rudy’s decision to go for the Sox.
Rudy’s World Series choice may have something to do with Sox opponent, Colorado Rockies, a team with a strong evangelical streak. Giuliani should have bitten the bullet and gone for the Rockies. (Is Colorado Congressman Tancredo still in the GOP race?)
Born-again voters are a tad skeptical about the thrice-married, abortion-supporting Manhattan dweller. Rudy should be sizing Rockies caps. It couldn't hurt.
Tuesday, October 23. 2007
With wildfires displacing hundreds of thousands of people in Southern California, the task of doing business in the region has been -- to put it lightly -- disrupted. PR Newswire is waving its fee for any company or group that needs to issue a release about the natural disaster in progress out west. Here's their message:
PR Newswire has suspended fees associated with the distribution of press releases on issues regarding the Southern California wildfires.
PR Newswire members and non-members wishing to send press releases and media advisories relating to the wildfires at no charge, should email releases to wildfires@prnewswire.com along with a contact name and phone number for verification.
Update 10/24: Business Wire has followed suit today:
Business Wire is providing access to its media/web distribution networks at no charge for organizations and companies with critical press releases related to the Southern California fires. The free news release offer pertains to support services, information, operations and events directly related to the wildfires.
Member companies are asked to submit press releases as they normally do via Business Wire's online order interface and to follow up with their local newsroom. Other organizations should contact Business Wire at 888.381.9473 or info@businesswire.com for more details.
Monday, October 22. 2007
The board of Iowa’s Sioux Gateway Airport has finally lightened up and embraced its unforgiving identifier – SUX.
 After years of trying to get a new three-letter code from the FAA and showing little sense of humor or strategic thinking toward the matter, the airport is making a go at the classic PR strategy of trying to turn a negative into a positive with a new marketing slogan “Fly SUX.”
The airport is peddling “Fly SUX” hats and t-shirts via its revamped website, flysux.com.
As board member and concert promoter Dave Bernstein told the Sioux City Journal, “Let’s make the best of it. …As long as they’re talking about you, go with it.”
Mayor Craig Berenstein, who once called the SUX moniker an “embarrassment,” now proudly owns a $20 “Fly SUX” t-shirt.
Things are looking up for the airport in other ways, too. Frontier Airlines has started routes from SUX and Northwest Airlines expanded its service from SUX to Denver.
Thursday, October 18. 2007
Plans for an upcoming experiment by Ogilvy PR's New York office reminded us of one of PR's great enigmas: an industry of communicators' inability to explain what it does.
 We had a running feature on odwyerpr.com for a few years starting in early 2001 that posted definitions of PR by our readers. The responses ranged from lofty (even self-righteous) manifestos, to simple mission statements of a few words. I resurrected the list today and have made it accessible for anyone wanting to browse it or add their $0.02. Here is the page.
Ogilvy is doing its part to answer a question posed by many puzzled parents, spouses and children: "What exactly do you do?" The firm's New York office will host Bring Your Parents to Work Day, which will include a PR 101 lesson and an overview of what goes on in the life of a PR professional.
From a release the firm sent over:
Employees have found that their parents are often confused about PR, even though they are exposed to it every day when they read a great review about a new product or respond to coverage of a company’s crisis, to name a few. Ogilvy PR realized that this was an opportunity for the company to illustrate the connection, while strengthening its ties to its employees. ...Similar to “Bring Your Child to Work Day”, “Bring Your Parents to Work Day” will allow attendees to learn more about the profession as well as the challenges and experiences communications professionals experience on a daily basis.
As for the definition of PR, here are a few of the gems from our readers:
Public relations is conveying to the public what you want them to know and hoping they receive it the way you spun it.
PR is whatever the client wants it to be.
Promotion of a product or company in the guise of an editorial, feature or newsletter.
PR is establishing and maintaining the client's reputation while creating goodwill. The challenge is in the maintenance.
Public relations is the art of taking all the credit and none of the blame.
For the record, the Merriam-Webster definition is this:
public relations: the business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm, or institution; also : the degree of understanding and goodwill achieved
Wednesday, October 17. 2007
The AP’s Michael Lidtke did a bang-up job of examining the rise of Google’s brand without heavy spending on marketing. He notes the company has relied on word of mouth marketing and taken advantage of the media’s “obsessive coverage of its every move” to establish the company in a relatively short span.
 Among the highlights of the piece:
Rivals Microsoft and Yahoo dumped 20 percent of their annual revenue into sales and marketing, while Google allocated 8 percent, or $849.5M, in 2006. That includes $188M for advertising and promotions alone, or the same amount Microsoft spends every two months.
Lidtke gives a great deal of credit to the company’s PR savvy and ability to capitalize on “the media’ fixation on the company,” noting some outlets even filed stories in 2005 on the company’s search for an executive chef.
Consulting firm Millward Brown Optimor puts Google’s brand worth at $66 billion, tops in the world, while Interbrand pegs it at $17.8 billion, or No. 20.
Google's marketing chief David Lawee hinted that the company will probably need to boost its marketing spending to support its "peripheral products" beyond its search engine.
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