Ketchum's nine-year campaign for Russian is emblematic of a Washington PR and lobbying scene that no longer feels the stigma of "unsavory" foreign accounts, according to a 5,600-word feature on the relationship in Politico Magazine this month.
Ketchum had access to the highest levels of the Russian government as it worked the burnish Russia's image with mixed results, Politico reporter Luke O'Brien writes. O'Brien sees the Ketchum-Russia relationship as evidence that the ignominy US lobbyists and PR pros used to fear in representing shady overseas accounts has lifted.
"...Washington lobbying has turned into a multibillion-dollar enterprise in which much of the stigma attached to shilling for the unsavory has dwindled or been anonymized by big firms of lawyers and spin doctors; they are selling services these days, not salvation. The thinking goes something like this: It’s just business, and besides, lobbying performs a useful function, as it’s important to communicate with—and comprehend—rivals and adversaries."
O'Brien outlines the Omnicom firm's lucrative campaign for Vladimir Putin's petro state, including difficulties presented amid military flare-ups, rancor between Ketchum and its Washington Group lobbying operation, and Ketchum frustration that Russian officials often failed to heed advice about opening up to Western media.
In one example, Ketchum is seemingly caught off guard as war breaks out between Russia and Georgia in 2008.
…"Ketchum publicists suddenly found themselves trying to line up media interviews with Russian officials and to credential reporters for a war zone. It didn’t go well. The conflict generated angst in the firm’s New York office, where employees are more accustomed to selling Crystal Light than spinning a war. Georgian officials, meanwhile, were on the air nonstop railing against Russian aggression. Their PR operation ran circles around Ketchum, which copped to its 'communications failure' in an internal document obtained by Politico Magazine."
Read O'Brien's full report at politico.com.
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