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"It's the best of times and, in some cases, the worst
of times," said Harold Burson, the octogenarian chairman
and co-founder of WPP Group's Burson-Marsteller who was part
of the O'Dwyer Company's "Greatest Generation in PR"
event on May 17 at the Yale Club in New York.
Al Golin and Harold Burson
at the O'Dwyer's event.
Photos: Thomas Johnson, Camera One |
Burson said that at industry gatherings in previous years,
the PR industry would lament its fight for respect within
an organization. "People would say, 'Management doesn't
appreciate us,'" said Burson. "I don't think that's
happening anymore."
Burson was among featured panelists including Al Golin, chairman/co-founder
of GolinHarris, Margery Kraus, founder/president/CEO, APCO
Worldwide, Daniel Edelman, founder/chairman Daniel J. Edelman
Inc., and David Finn, chairman/co-founder of the Ruder Finn
Group.
The panelists regaled the audience with stories of their
beginnings, some accidental, into the PR field and discussed
past, present and future issues in PR.
Dan Edelman and David
Finn |
Edelman acknowledged recent controversies surrounding the
industry while calling on PR to fill the void left by the
diminishing importance of 30-second ad spots.
"We can't have a meeting like this without realizing
that we've been hit," Edelman said in reference to recent
PR controversies in the media. He also called on the industry
to find "common ground" on video news releases.
He noted recent advertising cuts by pharmaceutical companies
led to only slight sales drops, one of several signs that
indicates "mass marketing is over."
"The future is PR as the center," Edelman said.
"It's the holding company. It's not advertising. It's
not an adjunct."
PR's
formative years
Burson said the evolution of PR from its formative years
in the 1930s and '40s hit a peak during the '60s amid sweeping
social change in the U.S. Calling the '60s PR's "most
vibrant period," he marked the ascendance of PR executives
in corporations as a testament to its acceptance in the upper
levels of companies.
David Finn jokes with
the audience. |
Burson noted PR directors eventually rose to be senior VPs
during the '80s, later becoming executive VPs and part of
companies' executive committees today. "I think that's
a tremendous recognition of the function of PR," he said.
He said the advent of legislation like civil rights, consumers'
right to know and environmental regulations, all of which
fostered sweeping social change, also evolved the question
generally posed to a PR person from "What do I say?"
to today's "What do I do?"
David Finn said the practice of PR "really hasn't changed
that much" in the last 45 years as he read from a book
about PR he wrote while in his 30s, which he said still applies
to the field today.
Finn called on PR to own up to its ethical responsibilities
in the face of pressure from clients or other forces. He called
on PR pros to do their "homework," to "come
closer to the kind of research a lawyer does when he takes
on a case."
Golin urged PR pros not
to listen to the 'naysayers.' |
"For the most part we're in a difficult position,"
he said of decisions sometimes faced when clients put pressure
on a firm to perform. "We have to find a way to advocate
the positions that we ourselves respect in the bottom of our
minds."
Golin channeled author John Naisbitt (Megatrends)
in telling PR pros to balance high-tech with "high-touch."
Golin quipped about a colleague who was e-mailing and leaving
voicemails from an office 30 feet away.
On the recent PR controversies, Golin warned: "We're
now becoming more of the problem than the solution."
But he said the industry has to be careful not to overreact.
"We can't listen to the naysayers and we have to take
some chances and keep taking risks," he said. "We
need to focus on reading the public mind, and not manipulating
it."
Margery Kraus sees significant
growth potential for PR in Asia. |
Burson lamented that CEOs today are under tremendous pressure
to produce strong earnings results, pressure which he said
has caused ethical lapses and some of the corporate scandals
in recent years. He noted that earnings goals are no longer
set by companies, but by outside entities. "Too many
corporations are not going to be able to sustain investor
confidence," he said.
Kraus discussed the growth potential for PR overseas. "The
world is shifting East," Kraus said, in reference to
the region where she thinks PR will show the most growth in
coming years. She said growth in the Chinese market is obvious,
but India could be second down the road and other areas like
Malaysia and Indonesia could be surprises.
Asked how corporate social responsibility can benefit a company
and be quantified, she said: "Many companies overseas
are raising the standard of living in the areas in which they
operate." She also warned, "There are dangers now
of not being a good citizen."
Few regrets
The panelists were also asked about their best and worst
moves during their decades at the helm of some of PR's largest
firms.
Jack O'Dwyer, editor-in-chief
for O'Dwyer publications, at the May 17 event. |
Burson, who said he got into PR for $50 week and a car (double
his newspaper salary in Memphis), said his best decision in
45 years was to open an international office in Geneva in
1961 to give the company a global presence, even though B-M
had not yet reached $1 million in revenue and only had about
25 people on staff. "That differentiated Burson-Marsteller,"
he said. He also joked that he regretting becoming an "international
expert" a year later.
Burson also said deciding not to grow the firm through acquisition
whenever possible to create a consistent culture throughout
the world was another good move.
Finn said his worst decision was opening offices all over
Europe and in Japan, losing money, then closing them all and
retreating to the U.S. He said it took awhile for the firm
to build back.
Kevin McCauley, editor
of O'Dwyer's, introduced the 'greatest generation' panel. |
His best decision was to focus on ethics from an early stage
and to create an ethics advisory board 40 years ago, a move
which came out of hiring a PR executive and a New York Times
reporter who pled the 5th during the McCarthy communism hearings.
After more 5th amendment "pleaders" came looking
to Ruder Finn for jobs, Finn was prompted to seek advice from
an ethicist and that led to the firm's first ethics board,
which is still in place and usually includes a priest, rabbi
and other academics.
Mort Kaplan, professor
of marketing communication, Columbia College Chicago,
moderated the panel. |
Edelman said his best move was bringing aboard his son Richard
and let him lead the company. His worst move was to "assume
that everybody you hire is honest." Edelman said that
the company dealt with a handful of people who were "as
Richard would call them, 'crooks'" over the years.
Pointing out the age of his fellow panelists, Edelman joked:
"PR is supposed to be a great pressure business …
but it's a good field for longevity."
Golin said he and his firm are at their best when they "follow
our gut." He said bad decisions have arisen "when
we listen to the naysayers."
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