How to Hire and Get the Most from Outside Israel Marketing and Media Counsel

By Joel Leyden and Jack O'Dwyer

Marketing is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as "selling". Many sales people would quickly disagree with this description. So would marketing people! In this age of mega information, we have twisted the meaning of many words, especially in the realm of promotion. Sales has become "business development". Public Relations has become "marketing communications". And market research has taken on the James Bonding of "Business Intelligence"! For a solid definition of Marketing - we choose the protection and the use of an umbrella. As one of the three main pillars of any business (including operations and finance) - marketing is that all encompassing entity which oversees the elements of market research, public relations, advertising and sales.
We will be focusing on that element, which we perceive to be as the most powerful - Public Relations. For even if one has an advertising budget of 100 million dollars, what the third party, authoritative press says is far more potent and everlasting.

Potential users of PR (Marketing Communications / Corporate / Media Relations) also need a solid definition of what it is lest they be sold all sorts of other services. We like the definition given by John Wolfe in 1989 when he was New York bureau chief of Advertising Age: "The ad agency's job is to convince consumers of something; the PR firm's job is to convince the media of something." Wolfe, who is now PR Director of the American Assn. of Advertising Agencies, stands by that definition. There is currently almost no promotion of PR as a stand-alone service. One factor is that 17 of the 20 biggest PR firms are now owned by advertising agencies. Another factor is that PR firms get plenty of business from ad agencies and don't want to say anything negative about advertising. The PR firms also want to perform as many services as possible for their clients in order to maximize their own growth.

The Israeli perspective

Professional Marketing and Public Relations is only now starting to come out of its infancy in Israel. Israel, which only has a hand full of major mass circulation print and broadcast media, never really had the need to develop public relations. The late former Prime Minister Golda Meir was famous for stating to the White House: "we don't need your PR, we need your F-15's". As the advertising media blossomed in Israel and was and is equal to the best of Madison Avenue, Israeli PR was seen in the context of a young secretary calling the local paper with some stats. In addition, professional international marketing manpower is limited. Some Israeli organizations request candidates to undergo psychological tests - illegal in the States and humiliating to the few real pros who come to Israel with years of solid and proven experience. Many of the choice marketing, pr and advertising positions fall victim to nepotism, family members or friends securing positions for which they are not qualified and keeping the real professionals on the "outside". The word for this is "protectia" or protection, - far more common in Israel than in the States. But all of this is slowly changing. It was only recently when Israel's military Hi-Tech beat many of their swords into commercial plowshares that the words MARCOM have appeared in the help wanted ads. Today, Israel's international marketing departments, with the aid and influence of many parent USA and European organizations, have been forced to recognize the importance of marketing, market research and public relations. The image of the "aggressive and pushy" Israeli sales person is slowly being replaced with native Israeli-American and other professional marketing "locals" who can relate to their own native markets effectively. This international professionalism and PR maturation is slowly finding it's way to the local Israeli media with Israeli PR gaining the same respect as Israeli advertising. This can be illustrated no better than by Israel's foreign intelligence agency Mossad recently opening up and working with the media with an in-house PR spokesperson. The Mossad has claimed that they cannot, for good reason, speak about their successes, so all the public has received is their shortcomings. The Israeli's realize today that they need "both" the F-15's and professional public relations to survive and profit.

Media relations - keeping it's own low profile

We have PR being soft-pedaled to an industry that is almost afraid to speak its own name. Three major PR organizations - PR Society of America, Council of PR Firms and the Institute for PR - plus many individual firms, talk about PR as "building relationships" through any and all means with audiences such as employees, customers, suppliers, stockholders, etc. The media is usually at the end of any such lists. These organizations almost never mention the value of "third-party endorsement," the basic building block of PR. That what others say about you is more important than what you say about yourself is a truism that is rarely heard in PR circles these days. The Council of PR Firms, founded in 1998 and made up of almost all of the big ad agency-owned PR firms and some independents (the biggest firms pay $50,000 a year in dues), counts income from corporate and issue ads; research in support of PR; consulting fees, and profits from graphics, video, special events and printing in addition to PR counseling fees. You can see what way the wind is blowing. Users of PR need a sharp knife to cut through this barrage of hype and salesmanship about what PR is or isn't. Unless you have a huge budget, the impact of ads, direct mail, graphics, etc., is going to be small potatoes compared to what is said about you in the media. Improving relationships with employees, stockholders, local community, suppliers, etc. is a fine activity for a mature company. But you may have a warehouse full of computers that if not sold will mean layoffs of employees, plummeting stock price, inability to pay suppliers, etc. This is not likely to improve your relations with them. You need to get the word out about those computers at a price you can afford. The other list you are likely to be given also mixes apples with oranges. You'll be told that besides press mentions you can also reach target audiences via ads, speeches, direct mail, special events, booklets and pamphlets to employees, etc. The list is almost endless. But the general and trade media, which have exploded in number in recent years, don't belong in this list because you have no control over them. They are likely to write not only about you but all your competitors in the same article. They will want as many details (maybe more) about your failures as well as your successes. Faced with this lack of control, many big companies have cut press relations to a minimum.

This Banner Ad Says It All!

A tool not for all

Some companies are so big they don't need the press nor care what is said about them in the press. They try to eliminate such messages and let their ads, promotion, etc., carry a single-minded theme. Speaking to your own executives, employees, customers, suppliers, etc., is not even "preaching to the choir." It's preaching to your own self. Again, it's small potatoes when you want to reach at an affordable price the vast audience that never heard of you or your products. So many companies have opted for controlled communications programs, behaving very prickly to reporters who probe sensitive or negative areas, that you have the opportunity to be the "good guy or gal" when the press comes calling. You'll reap numerous benefits including getting invaluable intelligence on your field and what your competitors are doing. Reporters and writers "make the future" since they know what articles they're planning. You'll know the future and will also get lots of facts, opinions, data, etc., that never gets into stories. One of these "stray" facts could be of priceless value to you.

Create bridges

You, as a client, can seek to build relationships with reporters and can order your PR firm to do so. Media relationship building by individual PR pros is at an all-time low. George Lazarus, veteran marketing columnist of the Chicago Tribune, whose column is one of the most sought-after business "placements," has complained that PR has become "depersonalized." Only one PR pro in a hundred attempts to strike up an ongoing relationship with him, he said the opposite of previous practice. An officer of the National Investor Relations Institute told a conference that his corporate PR counterparts in at least 20 companies that he knows about "experience a call from the press as a drive-by shooting." He said the PR pros are spending no time in the 'hood (neighborhood) building ties.

PR consultants receive advice

Keeping an honest and objective view

A false "straw man" picture of the media is painted in some PR quarters. Reporters and editors are described as biased, lacking in knowledge, vengeful if subjects don't cooperate, and as pursuing their own ideological aims. All or some of these charges may be true for some reporters and media. But this is not an accurate view of the media and hasn't been for many years. When a company or subject "comes into play" in the media, reporters search out experts for their comments. Even if unasked, experts will write op-ed pieces and letters to the editor. The experts, only a few of them reporters, will start appearing on influential TV and radio talk shows hosted by such figures as Ted Koppel and Larry King. The latter allows the public to call in questions. Media, which smarted under charges of being "unfair" to subjects, provide an unprecedented amount of space and time for all to present their views. PR is influencing how you appear in the media not how you are treated by the media. PR people who mostly know methodology rather than subject matter cannot be effective in such a venue. Prospective PR clients must realize that unlike the past large numbers of people working in PR now have had no experience in the media and are uncomfortable in dealing with reporters. Media relations experience of people on your account should be checked.

Working with the media - no picnic

Michael Wolff, whose Internet company ran into financial difficulties, hired a PR firm to win ink but found that doing that was far from easy. Wolff, who is also a writer, later wrote for The Industry Standard that "it's hard, really hard, to influence the media - especially for people and companies with no news." Wolff was sued by the PR firm for non-payment and a New York City Civil Court judge ruled in early 1998 that he only had to pay for the two of six months that the PR firm worked for him (because placements were made in those months). Wolff also wrote he thinks clients hire PR firms because it's "unpleasant" to deal with reporters. "They're peremptory, cranky, and ego-bashing," he wrote. Titles and reporting lines are sacrosanct at companies and organizations but apt to mean little or nothing to a reporter pursuing a story. Pulling rank on a reporter or talking down to him or her is likely to make the reporter redouble his or her efforts to get the story.

PR fitting into the "marketing mix"

While ducking the press is one approach, making PR part of a marketing "stew" is another. You might be told that Public relations cannot exist on its own - it has to be part of a mix of communications methods that delivers a "consistent" message to "target" audiences. This is the language of advertising and marketing being applied to PR. The consumer is seen as "prey." It's almost as if clients are being told they can't have PR unless they also have advertising, graphics, direct mail, sales promotion, etc. An extensive study by the 4As and Assn. of National Advertisers in 1991 found that most clients oppose integration of ad/PR on the agency side, seeing it as a transfer of power to the agencies. Clients want competition among their various agencies - not coordination. They find that agencies are not apt to be equally talented in advertising and PR. PR operations that are owned by or related in some way to an ad agency typically boast that few of their clients are shared with the ad agency. They like to say that their clients are "independently" managed and spared any possible advertising considerations. The bottom line is that PR should work with advertising in order to create a consistent and cost-effective message

Request Qualitative Research

Anna L. West, of Kearns & West, San Francisco, recommended emphasis on qualitative research rather than quantitative research (formal projects involving large numbers of respondents). Kearns, writing in the March 1998 newsletter of the Counselors Academy of Public Relations Society of America, said five or ten calls can be made to the right people in only a day or two and "can have a tremendous impact on a project's strategy, direction and outcome." Time-consuming and expensive quantitative research is useful when a large audience is involved such as consumers or voters, she wrote. But this, too, can benefit from qualitative research, she added. Some PR people believe deeply in research and recommend it to all clients. But some of the same people have little to do with reporters although the latter are full-time researchers and their organizations usually have voluminous files and databases on specialized areas. Clients and PR firms that form relationships with reporters will find they can come up with answers quickly and usually at no cost.

The salesman's most potent tool

Knowledge is power

This is the arena in which PR people should operate. PR can have an immense effect in a short period of time and at a comparatively low cost. But the CEO of a company must be personally involved in the PR efforts including press relations. Advertising and sales can be well handled by various company units, but not PR. What you want from your PR firm are the two "I's" - intelligence and ink. You want top-flight business intelligence in your specialized area - such as what reporters and security analysts are saying about you not only in print but informally. You want knowledge of upcoming stories and surveys, news of your competitors, and news of your industry before it hits print. Sometimes, you can ward off a negative story by showing a reporter he or she is way off base. You can make sure your company is included in stories that mention all your competitors.

Advertising influence felt

Advertising-style PR tends to be more formal, more research-driven and more interested in controlling the "messages" which are sent to the media. Full partnership may be advocated with the ad campaign, sales promotion, direct mail, design, etc. Months may be spent with a new client, setting goals and coordinating programs. CEOs are generally protected from the rough-and-tumble of the public arena. The less formal (and usually less expensive) PR school favors a fast start. Research may consist of asking general and trade reporters what they think about a company or product, talking to employees, and using existing research. It does not waste much time on post-campaign research, either. It believes there are plenty of measuring tools already available such as whether store traffic or sales went up or a piece of legislation was passed. A favorable story in a prestige medium can have all sorts of results, including increasing employee pride in a company, members of this PR school say. They do not believe the effects of PR can be reduced to numbers. The media-oriented, less formal PR firms do not talk about "branding" or "messages." They deal in "stories" and "story ideas." Their programs often require the CEO to be available to the media. They usually do not want to be part of an integrated marketing team, although they can coordinate with the team's efforts. They believe PR has a much more detailed story to tell and that part of their job is sitting in judgment of the team's efforts.

Beware of awards "game"

Potential clients should be aware of the numerous advertising and PR awards programs that have sprung up in recent years. Some media firms, like certain advertising agencies, make a huge effort at winning awards. Talking about their awards becomes a key part of their new business efforts. An advertising or PR firm may earmark your effort for an award program, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. Several of the leading programs mandate heavy original research at the beginning and end of AD / PR campaigns. They look for entries that are one-quarter initial research; one-quarter planning; one-quarter execution, and the remaining quarter, studying results. Some Ad and PR pros say this is far too much measuring and that it is an attempt to make a "science" out of advertising or PR when advertising and / or PR is an "art." You can ask that your campaign not be an award entry. You don't want any artificial formula or process imposed on your special needs. These formulas have often been created by people who espouse a particular school of advertising or PR.

Be source, not supplicant

You want to build relationships with reporters and analysts so that you become a source for them and not a supplicant. The worst form of PR that can be practiced for you is the junior PR firm account executive who calls up reporters and asks, "Did you get the release on (your) company?" The best type of PR is when the reporter calls you with a story idea and asks you for advice. He or she does this because you have been helpful in the past - sending newsclips, feeding tips or helping the reporter to understand your industry. You want a PR firm that knows all the major analysts and writers in your field and can broaden your range of press contacts. The analysts and reporters will need plenty of help from your firm or PR staffers but there will be times when only a discussion with you will suffice. You become a source for reporters and analysts when you readily provide needed documents such as financial reports, newsclips and lawsuits (whether or not the legal actions put you in a good or bad light). Reporters and analysts, meanwhile, can help you by supplying documents, clips, background, etc., on a subject you want explored. Returning calls of reporters will build your list of press contacts because reporters will tell their fellow scribes you were helpful.

Keep them on their toes

PR is the business of words and you want to make sure you are getting a minimum number of words from the PR firm aimed at you and a maximum number of words that are aimed at your target audiences - reporters, analysts, and in some cases, legislators and their aides. A lawyer who worked for a large PR firm once commented it was his impression that most PR was practiced "on" clients, and not "for" clients. You don't want that happening to you. You want a maximum of up-to-the-minute business intelligence and stories or just mentions of your company name or its products in the media and a minimum amount of intellectualizing over what PR is or isn't. You especially don't want grandiose future plans and strategies described in glowing terms. Beware of such buzz words as "strategy," "management," "integrated" and "marketing" or any combination of them. PR people are well aware such talk just gets to be "bafflegab" after a while. Too much analysis of your "goals" and "strategies" gets to be time-wasting and remember you're footing the bill. You shouldn't have to undergo psychoanalysis just because you want better relations with the press. And people who tell you PR isn't press relations are like restaurant owners telling you there's more to their restaurants than food. Companies are paying large sums of money these days for sponsorship of sporting and other events, stadiums, etc. They're satisfied that their names are being seen by large numbers of people and aren't worried about exact demographic breakdowns or exact measurement of the effect of such plugs. The fashion among some PR firms in recent years has been to deride "plugs" (company or product mentions in the press) as worthless unless they accomplish some specific goal. Many of these firms stress the importance of longterm "strategy." But what you can wind up with is plenty of advice and no mentions whatever, leading you to wonder why you ever hired a "PR" firm in the first place. It could be the PR firm has a hard time getting plugs and that's why it derides them.

Work only with the best

Your firm may want to deal directly with the public or with your employees, customers, suppliers, etc. But this is not the best use of a marketing or media relations firm. The most leverage will be when the firm supplies useful information to influential reporters and analysts who have large audiences. You get third-party endorsement and wide readership or viewership at comparatively low cost. PR people for several decades have been preaching "integration" with other disciplines such as advertising and direct mail but the thinking lately is that PR, instead of working "along" with advertising, works "in tandem" with it. The ad campaign will create the desire and PR will move in with the information. One PR agency president compared advertising to "air cover" (smartbombs) which "soften up" a target while PR is "the Marines" who go in and occupy the territory. Clients also seem to be getting much more sophisticated about the "marketing babble" that is often foisted upon them. They'll listen but they also want "ink." Numerous PR firms have told us in recent months that if they don't much advice and strategy has been given to the client.

Avoid media "bashers"

There is a large subset in the PR world that never tires of criticizing "the media." Reporters are said to be egotistical, sloppy, driven by the desire for fame and money, beholden to their conglomerate employers, etc., etc. Such media critics almost completely ignore the information and intelligence-gathering function of PR and instead stress the ability of PR to deliver "messages." Reporters are apt to share little if any information with such types. PR people who see reporters as fellow information-seekers rather than as the "enemy" are likely to do better for you.

Keep the Reporter smiling

The Delahaye Group, Portsmouth, N.H., which does research on the media for dozens of blue chip companies, says mistakes in the media are a rarity - occurring in about one half of one percent of stories. In a project for one client, Delahaye was only able to find three mistakes in 500 stories about the client. Outright hostility on the part of a reporter or medium is also a rarity, says Delahaye.

Use a Four-member team

In-House staffer is essential

PR firms work best when there is a staffer at the company who knows PR and can act as both a buffer and liaison with company executives. The staffer can be helpful to the press and analysts by always being available (and this means at night and on weekends). A big problem in the PR counseling industry these days is that it often takes days for a reporter to reach an A/E or executive. They're out at a client, on new business pitches, in meetings, etc. Faced with this unavailability, reporters stop calling the PR firm. Press-savvy executives follow the advice of West Coast author Regis McKenna who advises companies to treat media representatives "as though they were a major customer." Of course, a few rules are needed in dealing with media. Reporters should be cautioned that everything is "on background" and not for quoting unless quotes are specifically approved. Reporters, and particularly trade reporters, want to build relationships, not destroy them. An occasional bad experience with a reporter or publication should not cause a client to adopt a bunker mentality.

Getting Market intelligence

PR industry practice for many years has been to deprecate press relations and simply never mention the importance of intelligence gathering among the press and analysts. The assumption that the company and PR firm know everything there is to know is false and dangerous. One fact can change the course of a company for better or worse. As Chicago PR pro Steven Lesnik has pointed out: "The single most precious commodity today is information...more valuable than gold or diamonds." Failure of a PR firm to stress the importance of market intelligence is a danger signal. Media relations is the hardest thing to do for a PR firm and it may not be the most profitable. It's up to clients to keep the noses of their PR firms to this grindstone.

Give up control

Good PR pros will advise you that there's no telling where or when the media will use your story and no control over the contents. Spending too much time on strategy and preparing a story that has most of its elements set in stone and that strives to create a certain impression can lead to the story not being used at all. Reporters know that parts of a possible story come in all sizes and shapes and many of them do not fit together too well. They are suspicious of anything that has been too pre-arranged. The better policy is to provide a number of interesting facts and possible story angles and let the reporter put together his or her own story. This saves you a lot of time and money spent for writing. The writers at the media, and especially the major media, may be better than the writers at the PR firm.

Work the Negatives

CEOs must realize that the negatives that can be ignored in ad campaigns cannot be ignored in dealing with the press. Reporters, to protect themselves from charges of inaccuracy or even libel suits, are more apt to probe for details about negative developments than positive ones since few companies are likely to complain about a questionable statement or two in a positive story. The same mistakes made in a negative story can be used to attack the credibility of the entire story and get the reporter and news medium in heavy trouble. Therefore, information on negative aspects or developments must be given out as freely as information on positive aspects. It's best if reporters find out about negatives from the company rather than on their own. The Lund Group, New York PR firm, asks new clients for a complete list of negatives about the company, or at least the ten most negative things. "We don't want the press suddenly coming across major negatives or skeletons in the closet," says Bea Lund, President. "If you know the whole story before you approach the media, you can figure out how to deal with the negatives, or even bring them up yourself - defusing the issues before the reporter can make a big deal out of what he or she has 'uncovered,'" she says.

Company must want marketing communications

Before the current hard-sell era of PR, when PR firms are hustling after business as never before, one of the biggest PR firms never made any new business pitches. It would only handle a client if the prospect came to the firm and sincerely said it needed PR. The reasoning paralleled that often given by psychiatrists: the patient cannot be helped until the patient admits this to himself or herself. This approach puts the responsibility for PR where it belongs: in the lap of the client. If a PR firm pitches your account and makes all sorts of promises, even for marketing PR, without pointing out the need for CEO availability, new corporate policies, marketing data, access to line executives, willingness to take lumps in print as well as kudos, etc., then you should be highly suspicious. The more the firm promises to do, the costlier it will be for you. It's better that you should promise the PR firm what you will do. Only you can call dangerous products off the market; make sure all environmental laws are being obeyed; order your staff to take lessons in courtesy; contribute to community charitable efforts; practice good labor relations, etc.

PR defined

One definition of PR is that it is "doing good and getting credit for it." Another is that PR is "winning good will." The latter was the one used by Bert Gross, longtime head of Hill and Knowlton. Our definition of PR is that it helps the client in appearing in the public forum. It's the business of explaining. The media provide more space and time than ever before to all sorts of opinions and voices via letters-to the-editor columns, op-ed pages, and call-in radio and TV talk shows. The media constitute a platform rather than the exclusive preserve of writers and editors. Those who are articulate and well prepared are the ones who will fare the best in the public forum of news and opinions.

Excessive secrecy is bad news

A media relations firm that is a good member of the business community as well as the PR community will have a published list of its current accounts. The fact that a PR firm is working for a client should not be kept secret from the public. In Great Britain, members of the PR Consultancies Assn. are required to divulge all clients at all times. Keeping clients secret is considered an unethical practice. No U.S. PR association demands as much although there is no reason the same policy should not also hold in America.

Seize PR opportunities

Clients should also be aware that PR must be much more flexible than advertising, where a hard-and-fast schedule is usually set up a year in advance. PR should take advantage of opportunities that pop up during the course of a year. The client as well as the agency should keep their eyes open for such opportunities. Anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent of a budget can be spent "hitching your wagon to a star."

Demand list of clients

All of the 50 largest PR operations list clients and there is no good reason why the other firms shouldn't. The firm may have no continuing clients. It may be hiding a conflict with your account. It may have a bad record of keeping clients. If you don't know the clients, how can you call any of them up and check out the firm? The firm can claim to be working or have worked for all sorts of impressive companies. But this could be utter fiction. The firm knows it could not use these names in print without getting into trouble. Ask for an up-to-date list of clients along with the contacts at these clients and their telephone numbers. If too many clients are suddenly missing, you can wonder how much fiction was in the original list and whether misrepresentation is a habit of this agency. The new business pitch for one New York firm for many years consisted merely of giving the prospective clients a complete list of its accounts, contacts and phone numbers and urging the clients to call all of them. The agency usually got the business - even when other firms made full presentations.

Look for reality - not puffery

The agency's listing should be real - real accounts, real people and real branch offices (if any). If most of the "current" accounts turn out to be past (and sometimes, long past) clients; if much of the work done was minor projects; if "staff members" turn out to be freelancers or future employees being "lined up" if your account comes in; if "branches" turn out to be affiliates over which the agency has little if any control - then the best advice is to quickly move on to the next contender. It's better to deal with an agency that candidly describes itself - no matter how humble that reality may be - than deal with one that manufactures dreams. Affiliates are often mentioned in new business pitches as the agency tries to puff up its size. The agency makes it sound like it has people across the country waiting to do its bidding. Claims of dozens or even a hundred or more affiliates are not uncommon. Such claims may be nothing but hot air. Certainly, an "affiliate" can not hold a candle to an owned branch office. It would not be fair to the firms that have gone to the trouble and expense of setting up their own branches. A few networks, such as Worldcom Group, Pinnacle Worldwide, IPREX-International PR Exchange, and PR Organisation International have a formal existence and more substance than the usual network. But you should inquire carefully about their exact role in your account.

Selecting PR firms

One way of learning how to shop for a PR firm is to see how others do it. Here's how one client conducts his searches: "First, I call in four or five agencies. They prepare nothing. Rather, they are asked about themselves. The PR firm you pick should speak your language. You must be comfortable with them. Otherwise, the agency might try to mold the company into what the agency is. The PR firm must fit in with the company's personality - not vice versa. "Then I ask two or three to make written proposals - for which they may be paid. Nothing too elaborate. Most of the agencies who get to this stage will come up with run-of-the-mill PR ideas and programs. But one or two will come up with some really good. . .even great. . .ideas. Those are the agencies I hire. "You can expect plenty of meetings but you can't expect too many press placements or other results in the first three months. During that time, you educate them on your business and the business of your competitors. "Above all, make the PR firm part of your company. Too often, it's an adversarial relationship. A company hires a firm and says, "Okay, let's see the SOBs do it.' Don't dare them to do things. Trust them." One corporate PR director who has supervised some of the larger firms said briefing of the agency can get out of hand: "First you have to spend three months providing background to the account executive. Then, they want you to spend another three months filling in the publicity staff. Next is the research team and then it's three months with someone else. Whole careers have been wasted educating agency people. Have one informed person at the agency and let him or her fill in the other agency departments." The PR director of a blue-chip company which has a number of PR firms likes to follow the news to see who is winning the important new accounts and who is doing good work. He will then call in a few firms and let them do the talking. "We can tell what type of people they are by the kinds of questions they ask," he says. "We ask them to send along whoever would be working on the account. We get their account list and call up the clients for further checking." The PR director then takes written proposals. He discourages "big, glamorous flip-chart presentations." One of the firms is picked without too much hesitation and notes are kept on the rest for future possible use. F. Bradley Lynch, longtime New York PR counselor who is now retired, said clients should visit the offices of the two or three finalist agencies before making a decision. "You can judge the size and strength of an agency best by a visit," he said. "Bad things to look for are offices that are empty, outdated clippings on the walls, secretaries who read magazines (unless they are looking for placements!) Pluses you may find are staffers busy at computer terminals, the frequent jangle of incoming phone calls, some clutterÑthatÕs often the badge of busy, creative people. "Look at the back-up facilities. Is there a modern, copying machine, heavy-duty fax machine, addressing, mailing and collating equipment? You'll need these to get out fast-breaking news stories. Ask about the kinds of mailing lists the agency uses and how they keep them up to date." And last but not least - do they have an e-mail address and web site? Being at the forefront of communications and information, they should be leading - not following.

Don't expect too much, too soon

New York consultant Tom Leighton, who also helps companies find agencies, says the most common mistake clients make is hiring an agency in a hurry to fight fires that have been burning for years. The clients want the fires put out fast - preferably overnight. "During 14 years in PR consulting and previous years on the client side at Sears, Roebuck and other companies, I learned that the people who hire agencies often don't know anything about PR and the people pitching the account often don't work on it. The inexperienced people at the company are confronted by the best sales people at the agency and what the company usually makes is a chemical guess. The result is often a bad match," says Leighton. Often clients don't need a PR firm at all, he continues. "Going outside won't solve their internal problems nor correct anti-communications attitudes deeply rooted in the company." Here are some other observations Leighton makes: "The smaller the search committee, the better the choice. Too often, the search for a PR firm is viewed as a semi-social occasion, an opportunity for deserving executives to enjoy a number of agency dog-and-pony shows in the big city. Almost invariably, the committee sees too many agencies in too little time and winds up choosing the winner in a blur of fatigue." "Clients don't know how much a solid PR program costs. They expect too much, too soon, for too little. Clients are inclined to hold back essential information during agency briefings prior to the presentation. Later, they are surprised that the presentation is off target." "Clients foolishly equate size with excellence - the bigger the agency the better. What counts is the ability of the person or team on your account. PR firms are frequently denied the opportunity to advise clients. Instead, they are encouraged to tell clients what the clients want, rather than what they need." "Companies continue to confuse advertising with PR and they evaluate PR firms by ad agency criteria. Clients are generally unaware that a PR budget can often be as effective as an ad budget four or five times as large." Robert L. Ferrante, now with Heyman Associates, says he asks clients who are looking at PR firms to separate their real needs from their imagined needs. The new business people at PR firms, he also cautions, are expert salespeople and their pitches must be taken with a grain of salt. An objective framework of tasks and goals must be set up and the substance of PR presentations separated from the "smoke and mirrors," he adds. One of Ferrante's aims is to coordinate the possible input of the prospective PR firms with any in-house capabilities the client may have. Another aim is to set up a means of evaluating performance. He prefers that one person or a small committee make the choice. Since "chemistry" between client and agency is important, a large committee only creates a variety of chemical reactions and quite possibly confusion, he notes.

Keep expectations real and known

Find out from the agency principal or principals before you sign the contract how often you are going to see them each month. You should also meet the account executive who is assigned to day-to-day contact with you and should know on what other accounts he or she is working. "Most clients do not want their A/Es working on more than two or three other accounts," said one PR executive. "They really can't handle it. Their minds become too fragmented." Not only should you meet the account personnel, but also the support people. If a big agency is involved, your work may be farmed out to writers, artists, placement and other specialists. You should meet them from time to time. What you want from a firm is "instant accessibility," as one PR person put it. Some of the smaller firms keep all their employees up-to-date on all their accounts as much as is possible. A client who calls can always expect some kind of help or at least knowledgeable interest in his or her problem. One longtime New York public relations counselor says that for tens of thousands a month a client should get almost daily contact with his or her PR firm. "For a hundred thousand a year a company could have a full-time PR pro although there would be secretarial and other costs." "If you're doing a day-in, day-out job," he continues, "you'll find that monthly review meetings will take care of themselves. They'll arise spontaneously. You won't have to lock yourself into a schedule, such as having the meeting on the 25th of each month." "And if you're at the client every day, you won't need to do a lot of reporting about your activities. You and the client will know what you're doing." Going by the client once a week or waiting for him or her to call doesn't work. Too many firms wait for the client to take the initiative. Successful account executives do not operate that way. While daily contact with the account executive is stressed by some PR people, others point out that the monthly meetings with agency principals are also important. "If you don't like your account executive, that's the time to bring it up," says a corporate PR man. "Don't be afraid to ask for a new one. Many companies have switched agencies when all they really needed was a new A/E," says one PR pro.

Measuring performance

There are many ways of measuring the performance of a PR firm. Some are so cumbersome and costly that they would take more time and money to complete than the PR effort itself. A New York PR counselor with more than 25 years experience said that for $20,000 a month the PR firm should be able to come up with four or five major placements a year - besides counseling and the day-in and day-out product, personnel and other routine announcements. "These are the 'home runs' of the business," the counselor says. "I mean a 'personality profile' in the New York Times, a feature in Newsweek or Time magazine, a healthy time segment on a nationwide TV program or a prominent mention in the Reader's Digest" "This is the most efficient way to reach big audiences. Stories in the trade press don't count that much. They're too easy to get into. Many trade books are understaffed and in bad need of material. The company may be an advertiser in the magazine and can easily put pressure for editorial coverage. But even aside from that, the company may be so important to the field that the trades have to pick up just about every word it says. "PR firms have a tendency to coast after a 'home run' - say a piece in Fortune or an item on the first page of the Wall Street Journal. There is a tendency for them to say, "That ought to hold them for a month or two." But the client should continue to put pressure on the firm...keep feeding them information. Actually, the PR firm should lead the client...be ahead of it. "Time sheets should be kept by the agency so it can tell who spends how much time on what account. The client who is paying you $5,000 a month wants as much service as the one who is paying you $30,000. You have to keep a certain rein on the $5,000 client or his time will eat into that of the bigger one. "But the time sheets are for internal use only. They only confuse the client. About 25 per cent of the budget should be allotted to capitalizing on unforeseen events," says the New York counselor.