Executive Media
Public Affairs Public Relations
Mar 2008
We are PR
03/12/08 01:45 PM Filed in: General
Recently, one of the best-known firms for public
relations in Indiana announced that it now would
promote itself as a full-service communications
agency. The company has brought in a creative
director from out of town and merged what had been
two cooperative shops: creative and public relations.
These are all good folks and I'm sure they'll bring
the same skill to their marketing and advertising as
they have to their public relations.
Meanwhile, here at Executive Media we're going to stay focused on public relations. We believe that working with an independent PR agency is best for most clients. Here's why:
At many full-service agencies, advertising eventually crowds out public relations. To be effective, advertising needs a group of staffers working on an account: an account rep, a creative director, a media buyer, a copy writer and a producer, who will work with an illustrator, a video editor or an animator. To keep a crew like that paid, you have to focus on bringing in large campaigns. PR work on a campaign doesn't pay anybody but the account rep. So over time, the agency tends to find advertising solutions to the client's problems rather than PR solutions. That helps the agency solve its own problem of paying for the advertising crew. That's why you'll find, at many "full-service" firms, the PR staff more stretched and less experienced than the advertising staff.
As a result, the public relations work can become relegated to a secondary role.
Here at Executive Media, we believe in PR solutions to challenges in relationships with publics. We believe in advertising solutions to challenges in paying to put a specific message in front of a specific person at a specific time. Most often, public relations does not serve a need for advertising and advertising does not serve a need for public relations. Marketing, of course, spans both disciplines.
We also believe that by focusing on public relations, we can stay small and responsive. We can do something today. We can work only when you need us. When we need creative services, we're not limited to what we have in house. We move around a network of artists, video and photo experts, web designers, event planners and others who can fit our clients' requirements.
So when you need help with public relationships, think about working with experts in public relations. It's what we do.
Meanwhile, here at Executive Media we're going to stay focused on public relations. We believe that working with an independent PR agency is best for most clients. Here's why:
At many full-service agencies, advertising eventually crowds out public relations. To be effective, advertising needs a group of staffers working on an account: an account rep, a creative director, a media buyer, a copy writer and a producer, who will work with an illustrator, a video editor or an animator. To keep a crew like that paid, you have to focus on bringing in large campaigns. PR work on a campaign doesn't pay anybody but the account rep. So over time, the agency tends to find advertising solutions to the client's problems rather than PR solutions. That helps the agency solve its own problem of paying for the advertising crew. That's why you'll find, at many "full-service" firms, the PR staff more stretched and less experienced than the advertising staff.
As a result, the public relations work can become relegated to a secondary role.
Here at Executive Media, we believe in PR solutions to challenges in relationships with publics. We believe in advertising solutions to challenges in paying to put a specific message in front of a specific person at a specific time. Most often, public relations does not serve a need for advertising and advertising does not serve a need for public relations. Marketing, of course, spans both disciplines.
We also believe that by focusing on public relations, we can stay small and responsive. We can do something today. We can work only when you need us. When we need creative services, we're not limited to what we have in house. We move around a network of artists, video and photo experts, web designers, event planners and others who can fit our clients' requirements.
So when you need help with public relationships, think about working with experts in public relations. It's what we do.
Tell the truth
03/07/08 12:26 PM Filed in: General
At the top of our "to do" list when we advise clients
on responding to crises is this: Tell the truth.
To tell the truth, it should also be on the "to do" list for not getting into a crisis. Morality aside, there are just too many ways these days to be found in a lie.
On February 26, the New York Times ran a positive review of a book called "Love and Consequences: A Memoir of Hope and Survival" by a woman named Margaret B. Jones. It told the story of a half-white, half-Native American girl thrown onto the tough, gang-ruled streets of the South-Central neighborhood of Los Angeles when she was just eight and a half years old. The reviewer wrote, "What sets Ms. Jones's humane and deeply affecting memoir apart is not just that it's told from the point of view of a young girl coming of age in this world, but also that it focuses on the bonds of love and loyalty that can bind relatives and gang members together, and the craving after safety and escape that haunts so many lives in the 'hood."
As it turned out, what set Ms. Jones's memoir apart was that it was a lie. The book's author actually was Margaret Seltzer, a woman who grew up in suburban Sherman Oaks section of LA and went to a private Episcopal day school. She had taken many elaborate steps to hide her fraud during the three years her publisher spent editing the book, including producing photos of people who she said were her foster siblings and a letter purportedly from a gang leader.
The big mistake was allowing her photograph to be taken for a profile in the Times. Her older sister saw the picture and called the book's publisher to tell the editors the story was untrue.
Add this to a list of recent frauds and you realize it's a lot easier to get caught than it used to be. You can't tell a story one way in Indianapolis and another way in Washington any more. So play it safe and tell the truth. You might even get a reputation for it.
To tell the truth, it should also be on the "to do" list for not getting into a crisis. Morality aside, there are just too many ways these days to be found in a lie.
On February 26, the New York Times ran a positive review of a book called "Love and Consequences: A Memoir of Hope and Survival" by a woman named Margaret B. Jones. It told the story of a half-white, half-Native American girl thrown onto the tough, gang-ruled streets of the South-Central neighborhood of Los Angeles when she was just eight and a half years old. The reviewer wrote, "What sets Ms. Jones's humane and deeply affecting memoir apart is not just that it's told from the point of view of a young girl coming of age in this world, but also that it focuses on the bonds of love and loyalty that can bind relatives and gang members together, and the craving after safety and escape that haunts so many lives in the 'hood."
As it turned out, what set Ms. Jones's memoir apart was that it was a lie. The book's author actually was Margaret Seltzer, a woman who grew up in suburban Sherman Oaks section of LA and went to a private Episcopal day school. She had taken many elaborate steps to hide her fraud during the three years her publisher spent editing the book, including producing photos of people who she said were her foster siblings and a letter purportedly from a gang leader.
The big mistake was allowing her photograph to be taken for a profile in the Times. Her older sister saw the picture and called the book's publisher to tell the editors the story was untrue.
Add this to a list of recent frauds and you realize it's a lot easier to get caught than it used to be. You can't tell a story one way in Indianapolis and another way in Washington any more. So play it safe and tell the truth. You might even get a reputation for it.