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PR firms played a major role in the dot-com collapse, Richard
Edelman told the Reputation.com Conference in London today.
"We willingly canonized CEOs, created buzz and relied on
hype," he said during his keynote speech. Edelman said PR
firms were lured by the "hot money" of "impatient financiers"
who poured millions into the marketing communications sector.
Those investors demanded a quick return on their investments.
PR firms took that money and conducted "whoopee-cushion PR."
They cooked up various stunts for dot-com clients, and fell
back on "press agentry" gimmicks. Edelman said PR must develop
new standards of excellence.
"We must have publisher-level content, and we cannot rely
on media to correct factual errors.
"We must have transparency, disclosing sources of information
and revealing our presence in chat rooms.
"We must also offer fact-based information, not hype or spin.
"We need to encourage dialog and inform all stakeholders
simultaneously as information becomes available," he said.
Dot-com
advertising also flopped
Edelman said PR faces an unprecedented opportunity
to make inroads against advertising.
He noted that Ad Age publisher Rance Crain said
he is appalled by "dot-com advertising that was so pointless,
so stupid, so tasteless that it shook the faith of corporate
chieftains in the power of advertising for their own brands."
PR can step into the fray, according to Edelman.
"We are the kings of complexity.
"Advertising must now follow public relations
because we build the credibility of claims and establish the
positioning," he said.
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