The Changing Face of PR Leadership
I recently received an email from the CXO of a public relations firm suggesting that if I had time, I might be interested in reading the seven (7) most recent posts on his new blog. I visited his blog, and what I found were not blog postings in the normal sense but rather novelettes – each post about 4,000 words in length with subtle undertones that promoted his PR agency. Between his posting style and fundamental technical errors in how the blog was setup, I was left with the distinct impression that this PR CXO and his agency were new to today’s interactive online world.
It is not fully accurate to say that the public relations has been slow to get onboard the Web 2.0 online experience because many agencies have yet to get savvy about what’s happening online, with social media, blogging, etc. They have old-fashioned HTML Web sites, and that’s about it.
It was in January 2007, that Dave Senay, CEO of Fleishman-Hillard – one of the world’s largest PR agencies – called his top managers together to say that the agency needed to understand and get smart about the online digital revolution. Sounded like a reasonable mandate until you consider that Fleishman, like most other major PR firms, has been about four to five years late coming to the digital revolution. In fact, the agency’s own Web site had not been updated at that time since about 2000, a sore subject even in the agency.
Harold Burson, co-founder of the PR giant Burson-Marsteller, started a form of personal journal-agency promotion blog in early 2006. His personal stories tend to be long and his posts infrequent, showing up every few months or so. Aside from that, the agency has stuck with practicing mostly old-school PR even though there have been dramatic changes in the world of communications. BM is not alone … Hill and Knowlton, Ogilvy, Porter Novelli, Ketchum and others are slow coming to the table of Web 2.0.
The only agency to show any real interest in Web 2.0 has been Edelman, although some might question the agency’s style for dramatic, showboating use of blogs – such as the dishonest blog WalmartingAcrossAmerica.com – has revealed a lack of true understanding of the online world.
One reason these major agencies are slow in learning the digital revolution is a compulsive focus on growing billable hours and fees in the traditional sense, rather than learning about the new online world in order to better advise clients. Agencies have little or no training because training sessions cut into time that could otherwise be billed to clients.
What I find, instead, is the rise of individuals — bright individuals with exceptional public relations, marketing, online and social media credentials and experience who are today’s authentic leaders in Web 2.0 communications. Let me name a few, with advance apologies to anyone I have missed:
Chris Brogan
David Meerman Scott
Marsha Friedman
Sarah Evans
Steve Kayser
Todd Defren
Shannon Whitley
Google any of them, and you will see what I mean. They are writing, speaking and consulting authentically about communications in the digital revolution. They are among today’s new leaders in the world of communications and PR.
Category: Featured, Public Relations
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Comments (33)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
Sites That Link to this Post
- The Ketchum-FedEx-Twitter Saga Continues | David Henderson - author, journalist | January 22, 2009
- The Ketchum-FedEx-Twitter Saga Continues: Ed Lallo’s Blog | January 23, 2009
- Ed Lallo Photographer » Blog Archive » The Ketchum-FedEx-Twitter Saga | January 23, 2009
Hello David, enjoying and agreeing with your perspective today. I’m writing a social/media training article for my PRSA Tactics column and your thoughts help reinforce some of mine on agency learning curves. Fyi, spoke with another “bright individual” today for that piece, @jaybaer on Twitter, who has the social training and leadership vibe down quite well too.
@Ryan Zuk,
Ryan,
Thanks for the heads-up on @jaybaer. I will follow him. I sincerely hope not to offend anyone who is left off my list because the lists grows daily. I honestly believe we are entering an era of individual leaders in PR and communications rather than the old model of big agency.
David
I beg to differ with you re big agencies being slow to get onboard with the digital revolution. I was a member of H&K Toronto’s e-communications team back in 1999. Many of my former H&K colleagues blog not only at Collective Conversations, but on their personal sites as well. My former boss, Boyd Neil, live Tweeted Malcolm Gladwell’s recent talk at the Rotman School of Business – and sold me the book Outliers in a way Gladwell himself was incapable of doing.
Certainly David Jones, a current H&K Toronto employee, has been at the forefront of the digital revolution. Niall Cook’s just published a book on social media.
And I am going to say this for once and for all: Chris Brogan wouldn’t last five minutes in a PR agency.
Let’s talk about something other than marketing communications when we talk about public relations please. Let’s talk about corporate reputation establishment and management, let’s talk about corporate social responsibility and strategic corporate philanthropy, let’s talk about issues management and community and stakeholder consultations and crisis communications. Once you’re including all those practise areas, please feel free to generalize about public relations.
@Ruth Seeley,
Appreciate your comments.
David
@DH, 1999 was a decade ago.
@Ruth Seeley,
Let me ask you … in 1999, was that your initiative or H&K Toronto or H&K, as a whole?
David: Thanks so much for including me in this list. But I’m not worthy. Those other folks are real experts. I’m just an experimenter.
However, I would note, that I am the only one on this list that wears an AUTHENTIC KILT that is, thank the “Big One,” not TRANSPARENT. There are times and places that, contextually and conceptually, TRANSPARENCY IS NOT A GOOD IDEA.
I would also add to the list;
Todd Defren – @tdefren from Shift Communication to the list. He’s done a lot of work on the social media news release. His creation.
Shannon Whitley – @swhitley for the work he has done with PRXBUILDER.com
@Steve Kayser,
You are absolutely right that Todd and Shannon must be on such a list. Now added. Thanks!
And, chief experimenter makes you a leader, too. You’ve got the credentials.
dh
The e-communications team was an H&K Toronto and Ottawa initiative as far as I know, with team members working with clients across all practice groups. We also worked on virtual global teams, and had one of the first knowledge managers, Ted Graham, who then became the global knowledge manager for H&K before going on to bigger and better things. This was all well established before I left the company in 2001.
You might want to contact some of the more senior folks I’ve mentioned to discuss.
Couldn’t agree with you more re: how big agencies have either been slow to adapt or just outright wrong in their approach to digital media. Its the reason why as a vice president of one such agency I left that role to start out on my own.
Spot on analysis. To teach myself how my clients (& my business) could benefit from online SM marketing, I read books & articles by all authors named above, then followed them to learn how to use Twitter & FB. Upon realizing the indies & not the big dawg agencies were leading, I snooped around a bit to see what they were/weren’t doing. I glanced at the very (unreadable) blogs noted above that exposed former “industry leaders” as failures at communicating directly with readers. Clearly it’s not easy to retrofit big agency systems, to retrain staffers. But you’re right: until they figure out how to profitably bill clients for this work, big agencies will keep pushin’ traditional media because they’re set up to operate within that system. Eroding media broadcast commissions & sliding profits will eventually inspire big agency interest in “new” media & new revenue streams. If revolutions are usually lead by those considered out of step with the masses, big agencies best join me in the sprint to close the distance between those you’ve identified as leaders of the digital revolution & the rest of us engaged in the new game.
David,
Just to add credence to your story, I just recently reviewed proposals from three agencies. The proposals were comprehensive, but old-world traditional and very expensive. No evidence of any insight into Web 2.0. And yet clients seem to keep on retaining these agencies for what reason, I know not.
– Dale Wolf
David -
Excellent post. Indeed, disguising your marketing efforts in social media clothing doesn’t make it social media. It makes it marketing. The difference is important, and its one with which many PR firms are grappling. They’ve been tasked for so long with drawing attention to something that has a specific call to action or “hook” that the quieter, ongoing, dialogue-based social media relationship between brand and consumer seems almost quaint by comparison.
As a social media consultant that specializes in working with PR firms, I disagree with your assertion that Edelman is the only serious player. Many, many firms have changed the question from “should we get involved in social media?” to “how do we get our clients involved in social media the right way?” That’s a lot of progress for an industry that doesn’t change with particularly rapidity from a historical perspective.
Many thanks to Ryan for promoting me in his comment above. In addition to the excellent candidates you mentioned in your post, I’d also include Brian Solis (www.briansolis.com) and Jason Falls (www.socialmediaexplorer.com). Two men of considerable genius that have contributed a ton to the PR and social media discussion.
Hey David. Just come across this thread after seeing Ruth’s comments. Sorry to be late to the party.
I’d like to make a couple of points if I may.
Firstly, and most importantly, any agency is just people – whether it’s a one (wo)man band or a cast of thousands. Any one of those individuals (mostly bright, otherwise they won’t last long) can be a leader – and many are. I could point you to a number of Web 2.0 “leaders” inside small and large agencies alike (and many who have moved from one to the other as a result of their leadership).
Secondly, whilst I’m not in a position to speak for other agencies (although I suspect they will take issue with your assertion that they are slow coming to the digital table), but for the record Hill & Knowlton has had a digital capability in the US and UK since 1998 and its web history pre-dates even that. One of its first projects was almost 13 (thirteen!) years ago: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-17991175.html. As demand required, we hired in other markets.
As far as Web 2.0 goes, many agencies (rightly I believe) have chosen to listen and learn first rather than try to spin non-existent knowledge. That said, I do think it’s unfounded to say that the agencies you mention are slow coming to the Web 2.0 (although even if there are others who are, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, given my earlier qualifier). A search on Google for those agencies and “blogs”, “web 2.0″ or similar keywords will quickly highlight some of their well-established “leaders” in this space.
This is not a small agency/big agency debate in my view, so let’s try not to go there (although I suspect some of your commenters will). There are small and large agencies alike either doing this well or not at all. I don’t think there is any evidence to support a sweeping generalisation.
Niall Cook
Worldwide Director of Marketing Technology
Hill & Knowlton
What an odd and ahistorical post . . . and Ruth Seeley (Hi Ruth) is absolutely right about Hill & Knowlton Canada’s long standing digital communications practice. We have had a strong social media team headed by Brendan Hodgson for nearly four years, now including such well-known social media activists as Collin Douma and David Jones (Inside PR podcast for example. We have developed Web 2.0 strategies for clients in the oil and gas, utilities and consumer products sectors. I have spoken at international conferences on the impact of Web 2.0 on crisis communications. If you would like to follow these activities, read Collective Conversation, my personal blog or you can become one of my followers on Twitter (@BoydNeil)
@Boyd Neil, Proof that H&K is on top of social media is the fact that I didn’t give either you or Niall the heads up re this post or my comments on it. I will confess I mentioned it to @drjones via Twitter today (Thursday around noon PST). Waves.
I can speak for OgilvyPR.
We have been completely committed to developing and delivering social media-based word of mouth marketing for our clients for years. I agree that many agencies have not “gotten it” or committed the right training and hiring to really embrace doing things right. As the President of the Board of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, I get a chance to see most big brands efforts and most agency efforts in this space. More of the PR firms are embracing social media “correctly” than the big Ad agencies. Many of the small consultancies are good or simply pundits in this space without strategy or execution (“correctly” = listening, engaging, et al)
We have teams in NA, Asia and Europe
We have big brand clients with terrific engagement programs
Training is a huge priority across the agency (not just within my 360 Digital Influence team). We have trained 500+ staff and 400+ clients.
All of us are committed social media users. I have been blogging since 2005, Rohit Bhargava is a rockstar blogger, our own blog just relaunched (and check it out: http://www.360digitalinfluence.com)- you can be the judge of the quality of the content.
If we are guilty of anything, it is not being as focused on self promotion as delivering solutions. Google us and judge for yourself. Also, happy to talk more about what we are doing and what we see.
@John Bell,
John,
You have a good personal and professional reputation but I believe you would agree that the agency, like others, came to the table of social media late. Yes, Ogilvy and others have been building Web sites for clients but that’s only one piece.
David
@DH, I would not agree. But I suppose it comes down to our various versions of the timetable of social media. What is “late?” My team – 360 Digital Influence – was formed in 1st Q 2005 from Ogilvy PR’s digital practice. While we can all track the first blog back to December 1997, no one was really hot and heavy from a marketing perspective before 2004 and most years after that.
Looking at “Ogilvy” as one monolithic entity is also a mistake. We are a network of businesses. Mine is social media-based word of mouth marketing. Elsewhere, we have businesses that design and deploy web sites, others do complex online media plans and buys, etc… All are important parts of a complete digital strategy.
I know what we have done to build our business and our client’s business over the past 3-4 years. No one is has a better team or a more results-oriented and walk-the-walk social media group. Yes, I really did just say that. Happy to debate or drive into the details as needed.
I think you are right about many agencies. My group’s weakness is in our own self-promotion. We will work on that so you and others know us better but we will do it through conversations like this one.
Not to pile on and wave the big agency flag, but I left FH in October of 2007 and Dave Senay was blogging before then and many of us had been practicing online PR for years previous. Toronto, Ottawa, New York, DC, London have some very savvy individuals as part of their digital and marketing communications teams.
And if you’ll permit me to toot my own horn, a quick look at the Society for New Communications Research award winners shows that both Edelman and H&K took home top awards.
http://sncr.org/2008/11/16/society-for-new-communications-research-honors-award-winners/
What I find encouraging is that there is a real desire to share examples of new media work by agencies and individual organizations at places like Peter Kim’s wiki http://wiki.beingpeterkim.com/ and a similar one I’ve set up in Canada http://socialmediacasestudies.wetpaint.com .
@David Jones,
David,
Perhaps Dave Senay was blogging when you departed FH but he had only started in 2007 and appears not to be active now. In fact, a FH corporate blog – one of those inward-looking, chest-thumping PR blogs – has not be updated since last August.
David
@David Jones,
You on Twitter? Is Senay?
hi David,
I was sent this post by Judy Gombita and, as you mention the my CEO, Dave Senay, I felt compelled to comment – although I can’t comment for the company, i do want to share what i experience everyday at iStudio in Canada (in the business of Internet Communications since 1998) and in the Fleishman-Hillard network.
At FH, there is a worldwide team of more than 160 professionals dedicated to digital communications. i don’t know of any other global PR agency that has that sort of digital capability – from consulting to design and through the technical solution.
I believe we are the only PR agency to have ever won a Webby award and year over year, we deliver world class digital solutions to our clients across the world. while our profile among the Web2.0 crowd is small, we do have some leading bloggers, including matt dickman (techno//marketer) and david bradfield (navigate communications) in our ranks. i also have (or had) a moderately popular blog.
pick your cliche to explain why our profile isn’t higher ‘the cobbler’s children never get new shoes’ or ‘physician heal thyself’. we are usually committed to actually doing this sort of thing rather than talking about it.
if you’d care to email me directly, i would be happy to put you in touch with someone at FH who could run you through our considerable digital capabilities.
thanks,
ed
@Ed Lee,
Ed,
If you attended the manager’s meeting to which I refer, I believe you would agree that the agency turned its focus on the “digital revolution” late. Fleishman is a fine agency and would be greater were it no longer a money generating pawn of Omnicom.
David
Ed can tell you more about the current state of FH and their Twitter usage than I can, though I do follow several people from his agency. I’m on Twitter as @doctorjones.
Hello David,
I’d agree with you in that the smaller agencies and individuals are offering more creativity and awareness of emerging media than larger corporations.
Perhaps this is down to red tape – I’m a user of both corporate and boutique agency and I can say it’s a lot less stressful with my boutique PR agency. I’m not waiting for multi-department approval; I’m not hanging on until the CEO of the corporate agency has finished his golf game with the million dollar account holder; and I’m not tied into crazy monthly retainers with no guarantee of results.
My boutique agency works on value-based pricing and is bang on the money with their social media involvement and awareness. Actually, I’d add the owner of the agency to your list: Danny Brown, @dannybrown on Twitter.
I’ve used his company for just under 12 months now and corporate agencies for several years – once our retainer with he corporate finishes, I think I know where our future money will be going.
Thanks for raising this topic – it’s obviously struck a nerve, looking at some of the comments.
S.
David,
You’ve certainly opened a can of worms, and while I do agree with you, I hate to paint all PR firms with the same brush. It has been my experience that while most would like to think that by opening a Twitter account and/or “getting on Facebook” they “into social media”, by and large they truly don’t get.
Please allow me to introduce myself @LizzHarmon, as we are actively involved in social media with and for our clients, we engage in it, and we counsel them to do the same. I am an advocate for social media for building a brand and for learning from consumers. I’m anti-ghost tweeting for clients and totally against broadcast tweeting.
I’d be happy to talk to you more. In the meantime, I thank you for this post. Perhaps it will encourage the real PR firms to stand up or shut up when it comes to Web 2.0, so clients can learn the right way to do things and realize success right out of the gate.
Best, Lizz
@Lizz Harmon,
Lizz,
Appreciate your comment. You are right that I have opened a can of worms but at the core is the crumbling viability of the PR agency holding company concept that focuses solely on ever-increasing revenue steams at the expense of quality and service.
David
Excellent article. While I’m with an interactive agency that up to now is more on the website development and online search engine marketing side of things, I have become more and more interested in public relations via the web. In the years that come, how will all of our companies be defined? There is so much cross-pollination happening that all of us will have a different business model then we currently have. I’m thinking those that aren’t plugged-in, or getting plugged-in to the current changes likely won’t have a model to work with 3 to 5 years from now.
@Brent Haeseker,
Brent,
You are right on the money. Just when I feel as if I’ve kept pace, I find that I am actually behind. It is a fascinating, fun and challenging new world!
David