NEWS FROM WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS

NEWS FROM WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS


CONTACT: Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com


TOP NEW YORK ATTRACTION HITS 7.5-MILLION-VISITOR MARK

New York, NY: August 30, 2010 – NY SKYRIDE, one of New York City’s top ten attractions according to attendance figures, reached a new milestone recently – the 7.5-million-visitor mark. That’s an average of more than half-a-million visitors a year since the attraction opened in 1996.

NY SKYRIDE is located in one of the biggest tourist draws in the world for the past eighty years – the Empire State Building. And it takes visitors on the most unusual ride in New York City – up, up, and away, over the Big Apple, while never leaving the ground. It’s a virtual helicopter tour of the city, from the comfort of a seat on the second floor of the world’s most famous building. You’ll feel the sensation of flight, as you lift off and then “fly” low over one great attraction after another. The ride is narrated by actor Kevin Bacon, a New York City resident. And you’ll get an aerial “tour” of the world’s greatest city.

“Reaching the 7.5 million mark really means something,” said Matthew Day, NY SKYRIDE’S Vice President of Business Development. “This is an attraction you won’t see anywhere else, and – combined with the fact that it’s located in the most famous building in the world – it really makes for a special experience. And while you’re ‘flying’ over New York, you can get a bird’s-eye view of thirty other attractions you may also want to explore.”

One of those attractions is about a hundred floors north of NY SKYRIDE – the Observatory of the Empire State Building. The two attractions offer a joint Combo ticket that not only gets you into both for a discounted price, but also gains you access to the “Fast Track” line for the observatory. The Fast Track allows visitors to bypass most of the regular Observatory line, which can sometimes have waits of up to three hours.

NY SKYRIDE (www.skyride.com) is New York’s only virtual aerial simulator, and it’s one of only a few New York attractions that also serves as a tourist guide to the city. This “aerial” swing over the streets of the Big Apple utilizes digital technology, moving platforms, and an 18-foot-screen. And it’s also proven a very big draw for local residents, as well, along with corporate, civic, and student groups that can get special rates.

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WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS (www.winstoncommunications.com) is an award-winning public relations, marketing, and communications firm in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Its Client List includes organizations such as CitiGroup, American Airlines, Alamo Rent A Car, The Florida Panthers National Hockey League Club, and The State of Florida. Steve Winston, President of WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS, was named by “PR Week” as one of the Top Twenty Public Relations Executives in America.

WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS SIGNS MAJOR NEW CLIENT

NEWS FROM WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS


CONTACT: Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com


WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS SIGNS MAJOR NEW CLIENT

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: August 25, 2010 – Winston Communications today announced a major new addition to its client roster – NY SKYRIDE, one of the top ten attractions in New York City.

NY SKYRIDE recently hit the 7.5-million-visitor mark - an average of more than half-a-million visitors a year since it opened in 1996. The attraction is located in one of the biggest tourist draws in the world – the Empire State Building. And it takes visitors on the most unusual ride in New York City – up, up, and away, over the Big Apple, while never leaving the ground. It’s a virtual helicopter tour of the city, from the comfort of a seat on the second floor of the world’s most famous building. Visitors feel the sensation of flight, as they lift off and “fly” on an aerial tour of the world’s greatest city. The ride is narrated by actor Kevin Bacon, a New York City resident.

‘Winston Communications has a long and very successful history in the travel/tourism market,” said Steve Winston, President of the company. “For us, helping NY SKYRIDE tell its story is a natural extension of what we do. And it’s a very exciting addition to our client list – because it’s the only attraction of its kind.”

NY SKYRIDE is New York’s only virtual aerial simulator, and it’s one of only a few New York attractions that also serves as a tourist guide to the city. This “aerial” swing over the streets of the Big Apple utilizes digital technology, moving platforms, and an 18-foot-screen.

Winston Communications is an award-winning public relations, marketing, and communications firm that has worked with organizations such as CitiBank, American Airlines, Alamo Rent a Car, The Florida Panthers NHL Hockey Club, and The State of Florida. And it has regularly generated coverage of its clients in media such as CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX-TV, CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, “Business Week,” “Forbes,” “Fortune,” USA Today, and The Associated Press. Steve Winston was named as one of the top twenty public relations executives in America by “PR Week.”

“Attendance figures show that we’re already one of the top ten attractions in New York,” said Matthew Day, Vice President of Business Development for NY SKYRIDE. “And now we’re going to really get our story out, with a partner that specializes in generating new business for its clients. We’re thrilled to hook up with Winston Communications.”

POWERPOINT VS. TALKING POINTS

I probably own the title of "The Most Speeches Given Without Using PowerPoint," because I've spoken at meetings and events at least a hundred times - and I've never used it.

If you want to engage people, you don't use a stale computer program and elementary handouts that insult their intelligence.

You talk with them (not at – or even to - them).

You take the time to look them in the eye - as many of them as you can.

You connect with them...not only intellectually, but also emotionally.

You get them involved on some level, so they're emotionally invested in your presentation.

You present them with practical, actionable advice...advice they can use to be more efficient and more productive in their work and in their lives.

You tell stories. Because - still - people love a good story. A story to which they can relate. And a story that touches them.

You come off as excited and enthusiastic about your subject (hopefully you really are!)...because then your audience will be.

You speak in a conversational tone - because then they're more likely to hear what you're saying.

I could go on and on with more "talking” points. I won't. But if I decided to, you can be sure they’ll be “talking” points. Not PowerPoints.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
www.winstoncommunications.com
steve@winstoncommunications.com

TYLENOL THEN, JOHNSON & JOHNSON NOW

As I sat in a doctor’s office a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but notice the parade of well-dressed, attractive young businesspeople who entered every twenty minutes or so, each carrying a briefcase.

And though each of them tried to speak very softly to the receptionist – obviously in the hopes that the waiting patients wouldn’t hear – we did hear. The brief conversations always involved a new “must-have” product or tool (medical or administrative). And they always began and ended with an invitation to lunch from the briefcase-carrier to the doctor or his nurses or staff.

As I watched the other people in the waiting room that day, I could see that they – we – were all thinking the same thing: There’s something very uncomfortable about this process. (Particularly if you’re aware that, quite often, the incentives are a hell of a lot bigger than a free lunch.)

When I read about Johnson & Johnson being accused of dragging its feet on recalling products that smelled moldy from possibly-tainted wooden pallets (and that had made some people sick), I couldn’t help thinking about the doctor’s office. And when I read the complaint accusing J&J of paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to Omnicare, a company that sells drugs to nursing homes, it sickened me. This money was (allegedly!) paid in the hopes of getting Omnicare to persuade nursing homes to use J&J medicines on our most vulnerable patients. And I thought about the doctor’s office again.

Johnson & Johnson owns the Tylenol brand. And, for those of us in the Public Relations business who are old enough to remember the early-eighties, Tylenol remains the symbol of the greatest crisis-communications response ever.

In 1982, seven people around the country died from Tylenol that had been intentionally tainted with poison, and thousands of others were sickened, some very seriously. Obviously, the company was not to blame; some sociopath was.

Yet, the company responded in a way that I still use to teach PR students the best response to a corporate crisis. Tylenol took every bottle of its products off the shelves…in the entire country. In every drug store. Every supermarket. Every convenience store. In the country.

Tylenol showed tremendous sensitivity in the face of this crisis. It encouraged its executives to speak openly to the media. And they did, in heartfelt ways, expressing obvious heartbreak about the deaths and sickness, concern for their employees and the stores that carried their product…and a determination to learn something from the incident.

Tylenol’s response had been immediate, not waffling. The response was “up-front” – there were no “no comments,” no committees that would have to study the problem for 60 days. And – in what seems an increasingly nostalgic episode in today’s world – the company actually put people above profits.

Next time you open a bottle from the drugstore, and read the label about not using the product if the bottle has been “tampered” with, you can thank Tylenol. Because they were the ones who pioneered this concept, in response to the poisoning tragedy.

I couldn’t help but think of the 1982 Tylenol incident as I read about Johnson & Johnson’s (alleged!!) cover-ups and kickbacks. And I couldn’t help but think of the doctor’s office.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
www.winstoncommunications.com
steve@winstoncommunications.com

COULD PR HAVE SAVED SAAB?

As I drove home from the dealer that day, some years back, I couldn’t believe the magnificent machine at whose controls I was sitting was really mine.

I had dreamed about owning a Saab since I was in my late-teens. While my buddies at the 7-11 would fantasize about Camaros and Chevelle Super Sports (both of which I actually ended up owning), I was somehow taken by the quirky lines and strange shape of this mysterious import from Sweden. It turned out that you either hated the Saab (my buddies) or loved it (me).

Yes, its unusual lines were antithetical to the sleek lines of the American muscle cars of those days. And, yes, the people sitting behind the wheels of Saabs were – let’s face it – sort of dorky, often with horn-rimmed glasses and tousled hair (whether male or female) and, perhaps, somewhat “intellectual” and a bit strange. But I didn’t care.

I loved that car from the first time I saw it. To me, those weird, curvy slopes and angles were cool. I thought the Saab was “funky” before anyone I knew had even muttered the word. And I was thrilled as, during the late-nineties and early part of this decade, the car took on some sleeker, racier lines, while still (I thought) managing to preserve everything that was quirky and wonderful about it.

As it turned out, however, not a lot of other people ever loved the car. And eventually, during the past few years, hardly anyone loved it. At one point last year, American car dealers were selling less than a thousand Saabs a month.

Now Saab is closing up shop, orphaned by the Swedish government, a potential suitor from Holland, and its Ford corporate parent. And I’m very sad. Because the jet-black Saab I owned until seven years ago was the best car I’ve ever had.

When I turned the key and the engine emitted that low, throaty roar, I was in paradise. When I cruised at unbelievable speeds along the highways (only on very long drives!), I was thrilled. When I rubbed my hands on the wood along the dashboard and near the seat handles, I was thrilled. When I raced around country roads as if the car was attached to them, I was thrilled. And when I looked at (and fooled around with) the dashboard – which was the closest thing to a jet cockpit I had ever seen – I was thrilled. (Saab, after all, started out as an aircraft company. And the company still makes planes for the Swedish air force, as well as commercial jets that see service in many countries, including ours.)

In what other car, for instance, did your radio automatically reset to the stations in a distant city to which you had driven? In what other car could you have a station pre-set to the local National Weather Service station, so that you could be warned of natural disasters that might be occurring ahead of you? And in what other car was the ignition key located on the console, instead of the steering wheel?

Now it’s gone. But, as a public relations professional, I always wondered a bit about Saab’s PR approaches. I always wondered why, for instance, they constantly seemed to be appealing to a “hip” audience that loved racy-looking cars, rather than the core audience that had loved the car for so long. I always wondered why they didn’t make their perceived weaknesses into strengths.

I always wondered why, for instance, they didn’t publicize the car’s classically-funky lines, instead of making those lines “sleeker,” like everyone else. I always wondered why they didn’t promote the car’s “funky” factor, instead of using the same promo lines everyone else was using. Why weren’t Saab’s marketing campaigns aimed at the people who had loved the car in the first place?

Why wasn’t the car promoted for the things it did well, instead of pushed with sleek ads as if it were like every other car? For example, why didn’t the company run ads noting that the police department in Vail, Colorado – one of the wealthiest towns in America – used Saabs? (As one officer told me, “That thing takes a mountain like it was born to run. Incredible speed. And it hugs those curves. On these roads, nobody can outrun us.”)

Would these strategies – pitching to the choir, instead of commoditizing the product – have ultimately saved Saab? I doubt it. Increasingly, in today’s world, “mass appeal” survives, while niche products often don’t. But at least the car would have stayed true to its principles.

I must really like Swedish cars…because I now own another one. But there’ll never be another Saab.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
www.winstoncommunications.com
steve@winstoncommunications.com
(954) 575-4089

MY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

For the year 2010, Resolved:

I will no longer insist on being innovative for clients who merely want the same old thing. (And, hopefully, I will no longer sign clients who want the same old thing.)

I will only give “bonus” hours to those clients who really appreciate them…and me.

I will continue to keep learning and keep thinking and keep discussing, in a constant endeavor to be the best that I can at my craft.

I will keep fighting for the integrity of the profession in which I’ve spent the past 21 years.

I will never stop asking “Why,” or “Why not?”

I will always remember that, in our profession – especially at the beginning of a relationship – listening is more important than talking.

I will always continue pushing for a “seat at the table” for PR professionals. And I will always continue to point out that, had we been given such a seat, some of the incredibly-stupid business mistakes of the past few years might never have occurred.

When I do my 6 a.m. run every morning, I will spend more time listening to the birds and the ducks all around me, instead of thinking.

I will spend more time listening to my daughters – 15 and 21 – and less time lecturing.

During our once-a-month disagreements, I will try harder to understand my wife’s point of view.

I will spend more time thinking about what I have, instead of what I want.

I won’t scream as loud at the TV when our beloved – but mediocre – Florida Panthers hockey team is playing.

I will spend less time watching college football. (OK, that one’s not quite true. Hey, you’ve got to allow me one or two broken resolutions!)

Happy New Year!

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
www.winstoncommunications.com
steve@winstoncommunications.com
(954) 575-4089

I'M TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT TIGER!

Is anyone else sick of all this?

Is anyone else sick of our perverse – morose! – fascination with the rich and famous? Is anyone else – in a world of hunger and war and poverty and climate change and recession and failing schools – sick of seeing the same name in the headlines for two weeks (until another rich and famous person gets caught in the act)?

Is anyone else sick of wondering whether the media frenzy is fed by the public’s fascination, or whether the public’s fascination is fed by the media frenzy?

And is anyone else in our industry sick of hearing how Tiger Woods can use PR to rehabilitate himself?

That same night that Woods crashed his car, and Elin decided to play golf at 2:45 a.m., thousands of other cheating husbands (and wives) were discovered by their spouses, all across America. That same night, thousands of other couples across America were involved in domestic violence. Thousands of other families were broken apart by the revelations of outsiders. And thousands of other children saw the patterns of their family life snap, but didn’t understand how or why.

Why, then, this morbid fascination with the rich and famous in our society – especially when they screw up? Is it because, as some say, the common man (or woman) takes a secret thrill in seeing famous people brought down? Is it a class-hatred thing? Are we all just voyeurs? Or are we interested out of some sense of justice…because the Tiger Woods’ and the Eliot Spitzers and the A-Rods and the Mark Sanfords and the John Edwards’ of the world bit off more than they could (or should) chew? Or is it because the media doesn’t tell us about those thousands of other people caught cheating by their spouses every day?

I’ve seen Tiger’s house (the one in South Florida, anyway). His wife is beautiful. His daughter is precious. Why, when someone reaches his status in life, does it never seem to be enough? And why do we obsess over it?

Right now, his life is ruined. And he may never be able to put the private side of it back together.

But he needn’t worry all that much about the public side. He needn’t worry about whether effective public relations can rehabilitate his image. He needn’t worry about whether people will buy the products he’ll still be endorsing after the smoke clears. He needn’t worry that people will no longer want to see him play golf.

Because, as sure as I’m writing this and you’re reading it, within a couple of weeks, another celebrity will get caught…at something. Then we’ll obsess over that person. And Tiger will eventually become a distant memory.

I’m sick of hearing about Tiger!!

TRUST

Do any of us really trust anyone else, professionally, anymore?

I’m not really sure we understand the meaning of the word “trust” anymore…and that includes me. I don’t really trust a staffer or a contractor to put the same effort into a project that I would. I don’t trust what I read in the papers or hear on TV anymore…because so much of what I read or hear is being distilled through the often-partisan lens of the person saying it. I don’t trust celebrity spokespeople, for obvious reasons.

I don’t trust politicians (putting me - I trust - in the great majority). I don’t trust advertising. I don’t trust many PR campaigns.

We’ve become so used to not trusting that we’ve become almost deaf to how much a part of our daily lives – and our professional lives – it is.

It wasn’t always that way, of course. (And let’s face it…these days, a little healthy skepticism can’t hurt!) Have we all become hired mercenaries, paid pitchmen (and women) for messages we don’t really believe?

I work with a client who exemplifies “trust” – because she couldn’t do her life’s work without it.

Lisa Kristine is a San Francisco photographer whose stunning portraits of native people around the world have won her a slew of honors. She roams the world with a backpack and a camera. And with her simple, unadorned portraits of native people who live in “off-the-map” places, she’s able to touch people all over the world.

But, to photograph these people – many of whom have never before seen a camera – she needs to establish trust. She meets them on their terms, not hers. She takes as much time as they need to feel comfortable with this white woman with blonde hair and a strange-looking contraption that she points at them. She gets them to trust her…to trust her motives, to trust her work.

Her photographs go straight into the souls of her subjects, portraying them in an incredible human dignity. And it’s not only her photographs that are stunning in their beauty and in their simplicity and in their integrity – it’s the subjects in them, as well.

How wonderful that must be…to trust the human beings with whom you work. And to gain their trust.

I can’t help thinking that somehow, somewhere, there must be some kind of lesson in this for us.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com

"WHY AREN'T WE DOING THIS?"

Some years back, I had a client who would always have a folder for me – stuffed with papers – each time I came to his office.

Invariably, the papers were marketing or PR campaigns done by other companies. And on every one of them were the scribbled words: “Why aren’t we doing this?”

Several times, I tried to explain to him that there were numerous reasons we weren’t doing this…among them:

* Just because that particular medium or campaign was appropriate for some other companies, didn’t necessarily mean it was appropriate for his company.

* Because the way you distinguish yourself – in both PR and marketing – is not to do what everyone else is doing. Quite often, I’ve found, it’s to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.

* Because if you echo the same line as everyone else, your own voice will get lost in the crowd.

* Because you have to develop – and continually reinforce – your own specific message, and your own USP.

* And, lastly, because I – the expert whom you hired as your PR counsel – didn’t believe those particular media or strategies were best for your company.

I found it offensive to be asked, “Why aren’t we doing this?”

I tried explaining it to him on two or three different occasions. And then, rather than explain any more, I fired him. My explanation was simple: I only worked with clients who wanted original thinking, rather than just to follow the crowd.

That was about eleven years ago. And, recently, I fired another client who asked the same question. My reasoning was a bit different this time, though.

He would send me e-mails almost every day – sometimes several a day – with info about some company or campaign, and then the question: “Why aren’t we doing this?”

So – in the spirit of experimentation, and keeping an open mind – I started doing this, in addition to implementing the strategies that I had first proposed (and that he had agreed on).

Lo and behold, after about a month, he asked why his invoices were so high. I explained to him that, in addition to the strategies he and I had originally agreed upon, he was always asking me to pursue this. And that, as a professional with over twenty years of successful public relations experience…I actually expected to be paid for the work I did.

He grumbled a sort-of acceptance. Then, a week later, he e-mailed me that, unless we could lower his costs, he might not be able to afford PR counsel any more. So I e-mailed him back – “You’re fired!”

Simply put, the money wasn’t worth the aggravation.

My moral of the story(ies)?

Beware any client who says “Why aren’t we doing this?”

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
www.winstoncommunications.com
steve@winstoncommunications.com

THE NEWEST THREAT TO PR

Last night, I was researching various newspapers, in preparation for a release I was about to issue for one of my clients.

For one thing, I was researching who’s still there. I was researching who writes what (very important after the constant layoffs at newspapers). I was also looking at what they’ve written recently, so I could sound educated when I contacted them. I was looking at their bosses…Editors, Managing Editors, and so on. And I was also studying the general tone of the papers’ recent coverage, to discern their priorities, and those of their readers.

And then it hit me. Are we going to be able to do that next year? Next month?

What happens if newspapers – and magazines – actually do start charging for online content, instead of just talking about charging for online content? I haven’t read anything, yet, about how this will affect public relations practitioners. But it seems to me the effect could be like a tsunami.

I’m particularly concerned with independent practitioners, who are becoming an ever-more vital part of the PR workforce. These people may not have the resources to subscribe to comprehensive media databases (which may or may not provide all the information I’m able to gather by simply going to a paper’s website). And they may not have the resources to pay for online subscriptions to hundreds of newspapers and magazines.

On a larger scale, however, all the talk about (and possible movement toward) pay-for-content models affects all of us in this industry, from the solo practitioner to the large agency, as well as corporate PR departments. It’s already tough enough to connect with many journalists, because they’re now doing the jobs of two – and sometimes three – people. Putting another wall between us will only make the job harder.

Let’s remember, too, that this is hardly a one-way street. Many journalists – often, because they are doing the jobs of two people – depend on PR pros for a lot of their ideas. By inserting a barrier between PR pros and journalists, pay-for-content will only make the journalist’s job even harder than it’s already become – because it may shut them off from some good sources of ideas.

Look, no one’s saying that the current media models shouldn’t change. They must change, because they’re obviously unsustainable the way they are now. What I am saying, however, is that those of us in this industry had better start tossing around some ideas as to how this is all going to play out. And how we’re going to be able to perform some aspects of our jobs when it does change.

I’ve been reading a lot of talk about whether people will be able to – or want to – pay to subscribe to their newspapers or magazines online. But I haven’t read anything about how PR people are going to afford to pay if pay-for-content becomes standard.

And it’s something I think we should be talking about - before it happens.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com

WHO'S MINDING THE STORE?

We all know who the villains are in the economic meltdown of the past few years, right? In most peoples’ eyes, banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. (Forget, for a minute, the inability of many American corporations to think long-term, their desire to “cut overhead” at any cost, their often-false claims, etc.)

Right or wrong, most of us pretty much agree that, to a large extent, financial institutions are the villains. You’d think that these institutions, excoriated in the media and in the public discourse, would be very carefully resurrecting their reputations now, wouldn’t you? And after the public relations fiasco these institutions have faced, you’d think that they’d solicit – and heed - the counsel of their best public relations and reputation-management folks, right?

Maybe at some financial companies. But not, apparently, at Bank of America. Because – surprise! surprise! – here’s a financial company that’s burning its reputation bridges again.

Here in Florida, 452 people have lodged complaints with the State Attorney General’s office about Bank of America, relating to mis-information, stalled promises, or revocations of home-loan modifications that had been promised by the bank. Some of the complaints say that the homeowners have been trying for months to get through to B of A, in an attempt to hold onto their homes (which would also, of course, spare the bank the task of foreclosing on them, and then having to become a home-seller itself). Others are complaining that they came to a deal with the bank for a loan modification – not only verbally, but on paper – but that now the bank refuses to honor it.

The mess is receiving a lot of media coverage in Florida…a state that has been devastated by the housing meltdown. (Last year, I sold my home in South Florida. After a full year on the market, I felt lucky to have gotten half of what it had been worth just two years earlier.)

Other lenders have received complaints, as well, of course. But none of the volume of complaints against any of them comes close to the number, proportionally, against Bank of America.

I’m not taking sides here; I’m sure, in the minds of B of A executives, they have good reasons for the things that have happened. But, in an age when news spreads like a wildfire virally – and when the financial sector takes the blame for what has happened in our country – how could they have let this happen? Why haven’t they responded to these complaints in a timely manner? Why, if indeed it is true, are they changing the terms of the modifications after they have already been agreed upon? And why aren’t they bending over backwards to satisfy this relatively small group of customers (B of A has 82,000 home loans in Florida)?

Who’s minding the PR store?

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com

WHAT IF...?

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS

What if every company used Tylenol’s wonderful 1980’s response to the tainting of its products as a model for modern crisis communications?

What if someone in the PR Department at AIG had said, “Wait a minute! Do we really think it’s appropriate to reward the people who drove us into the ditch, and who destroyed the life savings of so many millions of people?”

What is someone in the PR Department at Wells Fargo had said, “Wait a minute! Do we really think it’s appropriate to be planning lavish parties when so many of the people who hold mortgages with us are going under?”

What if more companies didn’t try to be everything to everyone, but just focused on doing the best they could within their niche?

What if most company presidents who did TV commercials – or mea culpas – didn’t come off as stiff, over-rehearsed, under-genuine windbags who could never really empathize with the millions who feel betrayed by them?

What if the insurance and banking executives whose boundless greed helped create the financial crisis…actually had to experience the pain that other folks have experienced because of their folly?

What if companies stopped making claims about their products that they know – full well – aren’t true? (Or, conversely, what if they started making products that actually do live up to their claims?)

What if companies, in their advertising and marketing approaches, started talking more about us – and our needs – rather than themselves?

What if more PR and marketing executives believed that the way for their companies or clients to generate attention was not to should louder than the other guy…but to speak with more substance?

What if they banned celebrity spokespeople from the media…and products had to be hawked only on their actual merits?

What if Super Bowl ads actually spoke about the benefits of their products and services…rather than turn the nation’s most-watched television event into a competition for the most technologically-wizardrous ad?

What if we actually spoke with our publics…instead of to them?

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com

FLYING BY THE SEAT OF OUR PANTS

I fly by the seat of my pants. Literally.

I love to fly old World War II fighter planes, and to perform aeronautic “combat” maneuvers. I’m not the most experienced pilot. So, sometimes I find myself…flying by the seat of my pants.

Just about everyone in the public relations profession, in this brave new world, finds him/herself flying by the seat of their pants far more often than they’d like. In fact, there are a number of parallels…


The engine jumps to life, 600 ancient horses raring to go. I check the harnesses that feel like a ton on my torso, and I check the ripcord on my parachute.

I’m sitting in a sixty-four-year-old fighter plane from World War II, an AT-6, nicknamed “The Texan” by the cocky young pilots who flew her in combat. The “dashboard” is wood, and the cockpit instruments look like they’re out of a Humphrey Bogart movie. And I’m going to do some stunts, in tandem with Dennis Van Swol, the vastly-more experienced pilot who’s sitting behind me.

As we turn onto the runway, Dennis and I make our final check.

“Mixture is rich,” my headphones cackle as we converse back and forth. “Fuel-air ratio is good. Flaps are set. Pressure looks good...”

“The Texan departing on 8 right,” I call out to other air traffic on the radio. I open up the throttle and we gather speed. The nose is so high in these old planes that you can’t really see the runway. So, in effect, we take off and land by “touch.”

In a moment the ground is falling away, and the big yellow nose with the whirling propeller is pushing us up into a sea of blue. I pull up the landing gear.

As we climb, we begin dipping toward the right and then the left; the view becomes incredible. We head up toward puffy white clouds, and the ride turns bumpy.

“Now we’re going to do a few combat maneuvers,” Dennis says, “so you can get a feel for the aircraft.” With that he goes into a steep climb, and then a dive, and I try to imagine how it must have felt doing that with a Japanese Zero or German Messerschmitt trying to shoot you out of the sky. Then he turns the aircraft on its side, and we rip through the South Florida sky at a 180-degree angle.

Our headphones cackle with communications from all sorts of aircraft; North Palm Beach County Airport has no tower, so it’s up to the pilots to stay in touch with each other. Then we’re above the clouds, and suddenly it’s smooth.

“Now let’s do a roll,” he says. (A roll is a sideways somersault.)

Suddenly sky becomes land and land becomes sky, and clouds flash by as if on rollerblades. My head is below my body, and my hands are holding onto the balky control stick…from below it. We’re completely upside-down. Then we roll over to right ourselves.

Now it’s my turn to solo.

I hit the pedal on the extreme right of the wooden floor, forcing the nose down to gather up more speed. The ground seems to fly up toward me. Then I shove her into a climb. With the headphones cackling with Dennis’ voice and other traffic in the area, I grab the stick and pull it towards the right. And there we go…hurtling over the side at two hundred miles an hour. Again my head is suddenly under the rest of my body, with clouds flying by - below me.

I have to fight the stick a bit, as it’s difficult to hold her steady. Suddenly we’re rightside-up again. I ease up on the stick.

A minute later, I decide it’s time for a loop (backwards somersault).

I turn the nose down to pick up some speed. Then I yank it back up and climb straight up. This, by far, is the beginning of the most thrilling moment of the entire flight. A steep climb is murder on the body, and even more murderous on your mind. Normally, in an airplane, your fixed points are the land below you and the sky above and around you. Even though you’re up in the air, there’s a natural order of things, some physiological steering points. But when you’re in a steep climb, suddenly the land is gone, and you’re totally disoriented. Instead of a balance between land and sky, you’re heading straight up into an endless blue vacuum, with no horizon, no beginning, and no end.

I pull the stick toward me, and the old engine whines loudly. The ground disappears as we climb. Then I begin to flip her over, backwards. I feel my body pinned back against my seat, and my head feels like it weighs a thousand pounds (actually, in pilot-speak, I’m experiencing pressure of three “G’s). For a moment, I’m totally disoriented; I’ve lost any “compass point” in the sky or the land. I have no clear idea as to what’s “up” and what’s “down.” I literally cannot hold my head up, because of the pressure. I’m having trouble keeping my eyelids open. Upside-down images of blue and green and white are whooshing past me.

“Yee haw!” I shout out into the headphones, probably way too loudly for poor Dennis.

At that moment, it’s almost a test. You find yourself fighting for control…of the aircraft as well as yourself. And if you don’t remain calm, you’ll become ever more disoriented.

I hold her steady, fighting to keep the stick where it is. Finally, I see the ground floating up toward my face, and I begin to level her off.

“Want to try it again?” he asks.

“Yee haw!” I respond.

Again I point the nose down into a dive to get up some speed, and then pull back on the stick as I struggle to keep my eyes open from the pressure. Again we shoot up into a blue vacuum. Again we start rolling backwards and over our heads. And again I am upside-down, with colors and shapes and textures whooshing by underneath me, with the engines straining and the cockpit shaking. It almost seems like too much for the human brain to handle at once.

But when the land rolls back into view below us as we complete our circle, the feeling is one of incredible exhilaration.

As our radio cackles with transmissions from other aircraft in the area, Dennis says that it’s time to begin our descent. We go into a sideways roll – 180 degrees – and, as we pass through a cloud bank, we see a rainbow. I turn the controls back over to Dennis so I can look at it. We descend rapidly.

“North County Texan on its approach to 8 right,” I tell nearby air traffic.

We hit the runway. And as we slow down, I think of the pilot, sixty-four years ago, who sat in the seat where I’m sitting now.

So…how does this story relate to public relations? Well, the simplistic answer would be that we’re all, now, flying by the seat of our pants. But I think there are more practical correlations, as well…

* Always wear a parachute. And always check the ripcord. In PR terms, be prepared.
Make sure you have what you need in case of an emergency. And rehearse ahead of
time, in your mind, what you’ll do in case of emergency.

* If the ride’s a little bumpy, find a different altitude…think about what you can
do to make it smoother.

* Stay informed about the surrounding “traffic.” About your clients’ industries.
About their “flight plans. About their internal structures.

* Even when you feel like you’re flying upside-down, and things are whirling past
you at the speed of light, stay calm. And think clearly about your next step.

* Don’t be afraid to do loops and rolls…to experiment.

* When you lose your orientation – your “compass points” - don’t panic. Just find
some new ones.

* Sometimes things are not always obvious. So practice the art of taking off and
landing “by touch.”

* Don’t panic at the thought of flying by the seat of your pants. In our profession,
it’s becoming the norm.

And lastly, perhaps, when everyone around you seems to be losing their heads…shout out “Yee haw!” It’s going to be a very interesting ride.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com

HAVE A SAFE TRIP

“Have a safe trip,” my daughter said.

We had been talking on the phone for about fifteen minutes. I had mentioned to my daughter, a senior at the University of Florida, that I was leaving in the morning on a business trip to Texas. And, as we ended the conversation, she said, “Have a safe trip.”

And I realized that it was about the twentieth time I had heard that phrase in the previous few days…basically, whenever I had mentioned to a client or an associate or a friend that I had to go to Texas on business. It’s not like I’m not familiar with the inside of an airplane. I was just in North Carolina a few weeks prior to this trip. I have to go to New York next week. And then, a few weeks later, back to Texas.

But, for some reason, this time, whenever anyone said, “Have a safe trip,” it really hit me. Of course, we never said that to each other prior to 9/11. My Dad spent the better part of his life on planes – he was a member of the million-mile club way back in the sixties, when that really meant something. But I don’t remember ever telling him, “Have a safe trip.” I think we probably just assumed he would.

Last week, every time I e-mailed someone that I’d be out of the office for a few days, a short reply would come back: “Have a safe trip.” One guy even responded, “Have a safe trip. After all, you know those Texans…”

Of course, there are other ways to die on a plane without being hijacked by terrorists. A few years ago, a co-pilot for a Middle Eastern airline decided to commit suicide by crashing the plane – and its few hundred passengers - into the Atlantic Ocean. And right after 9/11 – if the speculation is correct – the crash of another airliner was caused by a rocket fired by our own jittery military.

At heart, I appreciated the good wishes, of course. But – every time they said those four words - they made me think about something I really didn’t want to think about. And what did that guy mean, anyway, when he referred to “those Texans?”

For those of us in this profession, our “trip,” recently, has often been somewhat turbulent. The “vehicles” that take us on these trips seem to be changing right before our eyes, and at warp-speed. Sometimes things even seem somewhat out of control. And I believe that this has become a permanent feature of our (and many others’) profession. Nothing will ever be the same. And nothing will ever stay the same.

All we can do, I suppose, is just hope for a safe trip.

THE UNDYING ART OF STORY-TELLING

Traditional mediums of communication are dying – or, at the very least, on the critical list - all around us. But there’s one form of communication that must be preserved at all costs – the art of telling a story. After all, isn’t that, in a very real sense, what we do for our clients, or for our companies? We’re communicators…and the essence of good communication is knowing how to tell a good story.

The best communicators know that this is still essential to the practice of public relations. And they’re constantly honing their ability to tell stories. Compelling stories. Provocative stories. Stories that move us emotionally. Stories that spark a need (or a want). And stories that can make us act on this need or want.

The media platforms upon which we tell our stories may be morphing even as we speak. But stories - well-told, engaging stories - are still the best means of generating action (or satisfaction) by our publics, or by our customers. And companies that are unsuccessful at telling their stories eventually end up in that proverbial “dusts-bin of history.”

People will always want to hear about other people, and what makes them act the ways in which they do. It stands to reason, then, that the best way to sell products or services - or ideas - is to tell stories, often about people. It may be about how people can benefit from a certain product. How they can join a certain cause. How they can find out more about a certain idea. Or, simply, how they overcame an obstacle in life (and, truth be told, it wouldn’t hurt if they overcame this obstacle with the aid of your company’s or your client’s product or service!). But, whatever the goal, if you use good stories, you've got a better chance to achieve it.

Marketers and PR people (all the emerging technologies notwithstanding) should take note. Stories - stories with which the target audience can identify and benefit from - are the best way to generate trust on the part of that audience. And trust is the best way to generate action. Period!!

And we ignore that fact at our peril.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com

HOW TO SEND SPAM

If you haven’t yet read “The New Rules of Marketing & PR, by David Meerman Scott, you should. One of his chapter-headings is “Non-Targeted, Broadcast Pitches are Spam.”

A pretty wide definition. But I couldn’t agree more. Very few things about this industry make me as mad as these so-called “pitches.” They show absolutely no respect for the writers/editors at which they’re aimed. Think about it: In how many other industries can you expect to “make the sale” after blatantly disrespecting the person to whom you’re selling? This practice is the biggest reason why so many journalists don’t respect us (to put it mildly!).

I started out as a journalist. I grew up in a newsroom. I was a newspaper reporter. And then a magazine editor. And I can’t even begin to estimate the thousands of releases I’ve tossed or deleted because I could see instantly that they had been sent to a thousand other journalists, as well. I could see without even opening them that they were not targeted specifically to my demographics or my beat or my magazines. They were just tossed blindly against as many walls as the tosser could think of, in the hope that maybe a few of them might – just possibly – stick.

I can tell you, though, that, with most journalists who receive these blind pitches, the only thing that sticks is a lifelong distain for public relations people.

I'm forever trying to educate clients that their "great" story is great only if it offers the readers (who are, after all, the end-users) actionable advice that can help make their lives or their businesses better. If there's not a real "news" value to what I'm asked to pitch...I won't pitch it. It's cost me a client here or there - but it's damned worth it.

More than ever, coverage in the appropriate niche is worth much more than coverage in scattered media that are of no value to your clients' businesses. Ideally, clients would be more open to understanding this. But it's not their fault.

The real fault, actually, lies with the agencies and the corporate PR practitioners who have a golden opportunity to educate their clients (or senior management), and don't do it. As long as PR people are willing to practice this approach, some clients will think it's best.

I'm still waiting for the day when the quantity of pitches matters less than the quality of the resulting media coverage.

In other words...when output matters less than results.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com

CAN PR SAVE THE MEETINGS INDUSTRY?

CAN PR SAVE THE MEETINGS INDUSTRY?

Perhaps nowhere has the “AIG Effect” been as pronounced – or as toxic – as in the corporate-meetings industry.

Consider, for a moment, the devastation caused by the cancellations of thousands of meetings across the country, by companies afraid their meetings would be perceived as “excessive,” even if all they were doing was…meeting. The effects on the travel, tourism, convention, hotel, rental car, airline, attractions, advertising, and restaurant industries have been crushing.

The drip-down effect is more immense than we can even imagine. It’s affected part-time dishwashers as well as airline pilots, convention-center janitorial staff as well as presidents of convention & visitors bureaus, rental-car ticket agents as well as busboys, taxi drivers as well as catering companies. It has caused hundreds of thousands – perhaps even millions – of people to lose their jobs. It has resulted in extraordinary strains on state budgets, because of unemployment claims. It has resulted in crises for city and local budgets, because of the diminished “bed” and “hotel” taxes.

For companies and organizations, bringing your people together to discuss ideas, network, address company-wide issues, or just reward good work, is essential – especially if they want to encourage information-exchange and best-practices. As a person who spent most of his life in the corporate world, I can tell you that I always emerged from those events with a new sense of energy and purpose, with new connections (and advocates) throughout the company, with a new understanding of what other people in the company did, and with a sense that I was not “alone”…that I was part of a real team.

So what can we do to help? We specialize in shaping – and changing – perceptions of value. Is there anything we can do to help the meetings industry? (And, in the process, our own business?)

Ben Stein, for one, says yes. You know Ben Stein. He’s played the middle-aged, personality-challenged professor or insurance agent or psychologist in a number of movies, with his thick glasses and his droning monotone. He’s also, however, a respected economist, speaker, and author.

“Are the meetings of Congress a waste?” he writes in his blog in “The American Spectator.” “They are business meetings. Are the meetings of the Supreme Court wasteful? They are business meetings.”

Addressing the misperceptions about meetings in “resorts” such as Las Vegas, he writes, “As to meetings in resorts, the reason to have them is that there are a lot of rooms close to each other with good ways to get together. Often, as in Las Vegas, rooms are inexpensive. Traffic jams and people getting lost do not happen because everyone is under the same roof."

I’ve spoken with a couple of “expert witnesses” over the past few days. And they both agree that this is one area in which public relations can really show off its ability to use facts to change harmful misperceptions.

Jaki Baskow is Owner/CEO of Baskow &Associates, a well-known destination management company in Las Vegas (destination management companies help meeting planners with arrangements for every aspect of their meetings). And because of where she’s located, she’s had a front-row seat on the meltdown of the corporate meeting.

“PR can definitely help save the meetings industry,” Baskow says. “In fact, we need it to help save the meetings industry. There’s just so much at stake. PR can help spearhead the positive message to America. It can keep reminding corporate America that cancelling meetings can cost them profits in the long run. And it can keep reminding the rest of America that meetings help make people more motivated and more productive.”

In actuality, the meetings infrastructure has begun taking some steps to prove its value. On websites such as www.keepamericameeting.com and www.meetingsmeanbusiness.com, people can read about how important meetings are to the American economy. In addition, many cities (and many resorts) now have their own websites dedicated to meetings, with practical information countering the popular misperceptions.

Roberta Guise, President of Guide Marketing & Public Relations, is also located in a popular meeting destination – San Francisco. She’s seen first-hand the devastation caused by innuendo and misperception. And she agrees that PR should be an active agent of change in addressing those misperceptions.

“There are some very practical steps that PR professionals can take,” Guise says. “You can try to get meetings-related stories in your local media, with information about how such meetings help the local economy. You can write letters to the Editors – or Op-Eds – about how meetings are vital to the local economy. You can sign the petition at www.keepamericameeting.com or at www.meetingsmeanbusiness.com. to send the same message to legislators.

“And we can always keep in mind, ourselves, the new rules - that our emphasis on the meetings we publicize should be on value and learning, rather than on flash and hype.”

In my own experience with clients in this industry, I’ve come to see that the “value” meetings bring to a local community is often more than economic. Many companies, for example, donate unused food to local food banks and homeless shelters. Many donate floral arrangements to local senior centers. And I know of one company that always joins Habitat For Humanity to build houses in the cities where it meets.

Jaki Baskow says that companies are finally starting to be more proactive themselves abut their meetings.

“They’re starting to use PR to let the world know they’re still doing business as usual. I’ve spoken to many companies around the country that are still booking great venues, still holding their meetings. And they’re still doing incentive meetings to reward productivity…but they’re doing them in a smaller way.”

Think locally for a moment. Think about a corporate meeting of, say, five-hundred or a thousand people in your community. Translate the economic benefits of that one meeting. And then multiply that figure by a hundred…or, if you’re in a big meetings-destination city, by a thousand. The figures are staggering, aren’t they?

“We can play an active part in getting a vital segment of the American economy back on its feet again,” Roberta Guise says.

And, in so doing, I might add, helping to address misperceptions about our own value.

TED KENNEDY AND ME

I was practically jumping with excitement as my Dad and I boarded the shuttle out of LaGuardia Airport, bound for D.C.

It was September, 1975. We were going to Washington to buy my first real car (if you don’t consider the 1960 Studebaker Lark I had been puttering around in until then). I had no doubts about the seller, either - he was my Dad’s brother, Uncle Sandy.

Uncle Sandy wasn’t selling me just any car, mind you. He was selling me a blue 1970 Chevelle SS (Super Sport), with a 375-cubic-inch engine and nearly 400 horsepower. In mint condition. Suffice it to say that my cousins all referred to the car as “The Jet.” And, oh, yeah…it was a convertible, to boot.

After what seemed like 45 hours rather than 45 minutes, we arrived at the gate in Washington, and the captain turned off the seat-belt sign. Everyone crowded into the aisle to get their stuff from the overhead bins.

My Dad got into aisle behind me. As I turned around I saw that he was having a hard time getting his sport coat on in the cramped space. From behind him, a tall, ruddy, red-faced man grabbed the loose arm of the sport coat, and helped my Dad get it on.

My Dad threw a “Thanks” over his shoulder, never even looking at the man. But I did. It was Senator Ted Kennedy.

I frantically tried to signal my Dad to turn around and look at the man. But he wasn’t picking up on my signal. Finally I just said – when I could finally get the words out of my mouth – “Dad, turn around.”

I had always been fascinated by politics; I had even recently served as a part-time aide to a Congressman from Long Island named Lester Wolff. And the Kennedys were America’s political royalty.

We started talking, me and my Dad and Ted Kennedy. As we walked off the plane and into the terminal, I told him of my love for politics, my work for Congressman Wolff, and my desire to eventually serve my country in some way.

I remember being fascinated, as we walked, that no one seemed even to notice Senator Kennedy; and those who did, didn’t seem to think it was such a big deal.

“You’ve got to remember,” my Dad whispered to me. “This is Washington. They see him all the time.”

I was struck by the fact that Ted Kennedy listened to every word I said as if I was testifying at a congressional hearing. His face lit up when I told him of my passion for politics, and my determination to use my communications skills to help my country.

And when he responded, it was with sincere interest, and with animation. And he didn’t seem to notice any of the people who were noticing him.

Then, to our amazement, he invited us into a private lounge. He ordered a drink for himself and my dad, and a Coke for me. And he motioned us to sit down at a table.

And there we sat, probably for another half-hour, as he listened intently to what was probably incessant babbling on my part. He talked about various ways that I could, indeed, use my passion to change the world. He talked of his boyhood summers in Hyannis Port. We all laughed about his family’s famous touch football games on the lawn of their compound. He even, at one point, made reference to his dead brothers.

He also talked a bit about the Senate, and how difficult it could sometimes be to forge a consensus that would allow important legislation to be passed.

I watched him with fascination. And I felt the burden that must have been his every day of his life. The burden of sadness, and the burden of responsibility.

But he didn’t show it outwardly. He was quick to laugh, and it was a sweet, loud, deep laugh.

And then he had to go.

As we said goodbye, he wished me luck with my ambitions, and urged me to be involved in the causes in which I believed. And as he shook my hand, in front of everyone else in the lounge, I had an incredible feeling of newfound self-importance.

I never saw him again. Never spoke to him again. Thought about writing him after that…but, somehow, I never did. I guess I figured he probably wouldn’t remember me.

But now, I wish I had.

I’m filled with a sadness now, at the passing – whether you loved or hated his politics – of an American icon, of the Lion in Winter.

But, whenever I think of that afternoon at Dulles International Airport, I can’t help but smile.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com

I'M UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE WORD "PITCHING"

I DON'T LIKE THE WORD “PITCHING!”

By Steve Winston
www.winstoncommunications.com

Sometimes I think we demean our profession – and ourselves – when we use the word “pitching.” And I think that's particularly true these days, when there are more self-centered voices than ever screaming for attention from the precious few journalists who still have jobs.

Maybe it’s because I started out as a reporter…and I still vividly recall those 3 a.m. calls from the City Desk to run out to the scene of a murder or a fire or a tornado or an alligator attack (I live in South Florida). And maybe it’s because I still recall being pretty much the only one driving on the dark roads at that hour of the morning…and the awesome responsibility I felt about providing accurate and insightful coverage for my readers.

I’ve now been in PR and marketing for twenty years. And – although I, too, am sometimes guilty of using the term “pitching” – I’m very uncomfortable with it. That’s because - probably due to my background – I tend to view journalists as partners. I respect the work they do. I respect their needs. I respect that “awesome responsibility” that most of them, believe it or not, still feel. And I don’t see them as faceless enablers whom I should try to manipulate into publishing something about how wonderful my clients are.

I see myself as being in symbiotic relationships with them; relationships in which the back-scratching doesn’t only go one way. I believe that if I help them, they’ll help me. And it’s worked.

I’ve been telling clients for years: When pitching the media, it's not about how great you are...it's about how we can address our own needs by addressing the journalist’s. How we can serve as a resource for them, and for their readers. How we can provide their readers - after all, it's the readers who are the end-users - with actionable or interesting information they can apply to their daily lives.

Every so often, if you're lucky, you get a client who understands. Unfortunately, though, one of the curses of our industry is that many clients seem to think that the media is simply dying to write about their company...and that it will happen if you keep "pitching" them enough. And many clients, no matter how hard you try to educate them, still believe in the old-fashioned "pitch" - where you just keep throwing mud against the wall and hope some of it sticks.

Wake up, PR people!! Now that there are fewer journalists than ever before - and now that most of them are doing the work of two or three people - we need to help them if we want coverage for our clients!

We need to think strategically. We need to educate our clients as to what's now going on in the real world, and as to reasonable expectations. We need to think of ourselves as a resource for the media...not as shills for clients who simply don't get it (and probably never will).

And, certainly, once this recession is over and we’re all less desperate, we need to start seeking out clients who "get it." And we need to get it, as well…if we do business with toxic clients who view us only as pitching-machines, our own reputations can be poisoned.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com

IS THE BIG-AGENCY MODEL BROKEN?

There's a major - perhaps fatal - flaw in the big-PR-agency model. The flaw is the model itself. It really hasn't changed all that much, while the rest of the world has.

In my experience, big agencies often get caught up in bells and whistles, rather than substantive strategies. And this is true even in the pitching stage, before they even have the account.

As former Director of Public Relations for a substantial public company, I've sat through a lot of big-agency presentations over the years. And to say they were long on style and short on substance is a dramatic understatement.

True, they each trotted out their home-run hitters for the presentation...but we knew that, if we hired them, that would probably be the last time we'd see the big stars. The actual work would be done by minor-leaguers.

These presentations were invariably masterpieces of technical wizardry, meant to prove that this particular agency was on the cutting-edge of technology. And they piled on layer after layer of reasons why we should hire them...how wonderful they were, how talented, how "proprietary" their "advanced" systems were, how thrilled their clients were, their company's history, etc. (Suffice it to say that, after a half-hour or so of this, my eyeballs were not the only ones in the room that were rolling.)

What they didn't do, however, was to ask us about our needs. To ask us about our internal structures. To ask us about our goals and objectives. To ask us how we would measure results. To show us that they had any understanding at all of our company's history, or our company's clients, or our company's areas of pain.

They didn't ask questions. They didn't probe. They didn't show any interest at all in getting to know our company or our markets. They didn't show any interest at all in learning what we expected from an agency relationship.

And they didn't get our business, either. After sitting through a number of dog-and-pony shows, we decided to keep the work in-house.

It's dangerous to generalize, of course. But it just may be that, in this day and age, when swiftness and flexibility and real-time responses and fewer layers of management/accountability and increased personal initiative are required, that many larger agencies can't keep up. Or haven't learned how to keep up.

It just may be that many haven't yet learned that technology is - still - not as important as talent. That bells and whistles are - still, and hopefully never - as important as substance. That stifling corporate structure is not as effective - especially when a quick response/action is called for - as individual initiative. That top-down management is not as nimble as employee-empowered management. That bloated "org charts" and command-structures serve only to inhibit timely response. And that one pro who knows what he's doing is worth more than ten juniors who just push "send" buttons without having a clue as to the real principles of effective public relations practice.

No one should be saying that the era of the big agency is over. What I'm saying, however, is that these agencies need to do what the rest of us have been working on for a while now - change your structure, your management philosophies, and your operating systems to reflect the fact that we're in a new age. That things are changing - daily - and we must change with them. That what worked in the past will not work today.

That most clients, or potential clients, don't give a damn about what you did for others in the past...they only care about what you can do for them today. And that the best way to prove what you can do for them is by asking questions about them...not bragging about yourself.

If big agencies have the foresight and the strength - and the courage - to adapt to this new world, there's no reason they can't flourish.

But right now, in some cases, the big-agency model may be in need of some real structural overhaul.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com