PR Poised to Rebound Says Top Exec Recruiter

When Dennis Spring talks we listen. Why? a) he’s the only PR exec recruiter smart enough to advertise on PRBlogNews. b) he’s seen ‘em come and he’s seen ‘em go, recessions that is c)he was tough enough to play basketball at Sheepshead Bay H.S. in Bklyn.

Spring says he sees “renewed hiring activity” recently and he is “actively seeking candidates for financial communications, health care, non-profit and consumer positions starting at $80K annual.”

“The good news is that people who are getting hired during this slow recovery are commanding base salaries similar to what they had before being laid off,” Spring, President of Spring Associates, told PRBlogNews exclusively.

So, economic indicators are pointing up, Bernanke has declared the recession over, but PR always lags the economy by about a year, as Spring told PRBlogNews May, 2007.  Still, Spring’s outlook is considerably brighter than it was February 12, 2009, when we were in the depths of a grim economy. There are signs of improvement - cautious hiring in a variety of PR specialties.

“The searches we’re handling are highly specialized and narrowly focused on specific skill levels and industry knowledge. Social media skills are definitely needed today, more so for agency candidates,” says Spring.

Spring says that his firm regularly scans social media channels for A+ candidates, although a phone conversation and a face-to-face meeting are necessary to take full measure of the candidate.

Many candidates, especially the younger less experienced ones, tend to exhaust all of the social media venues for sometimes months before contacting us. I feel this is a mistake. We should be contacted first. Not only because we may have a brand new search with their name on it, but also because the candidate will now have another promoter and advocate in his/her corner. What’s wrong with that? - Dennis Spring

The Official PR Salary & Bonus Report is compiled from Spring Associates’ proprietary database of more than 21,000 credentialed corporate communications and agency public relations professionals nationwide. Founded in 1980, Spring Associates, based in New York, has emerged as the premiere public relations executive search consultancy through innovation, relevancy, and results.

PR/Media Week in Review 01-04-2009

Israel Escalates PR War. With Israel pushing deeper into Gaza, 512 Palestinians dead so far, the PR war on both sides is intensifying. The Israelis have Pres. Bush and Condoleezza Rice at the White House delivering a well-scripted, well coordinated message:  Hamas invited this incursion with its behavior, and can stop it any time by ceasing rocket attacks.

Joel Leyden, a self-professed ”Internet media, SEO, PR pioneer” is betting that it is all a matter of perception. Leyden has enlisted Facebook to fuel a worldwide propaganda buzz machine that justifies Israels massive and bloody military operation.

This is a particularly aggressive, activist PR campaign that Leyden Communications is running and it is working through social media channels. I get Twitter tweets defending Israel. There are dueling Israel - Palestinian YouTube videos.

“Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Saturday instructed the Foreign Ministry to take emergency measures to adapt Israel’s international public relations to the ongoing escalation in the Gaza Strip. 

Livni instructed senior ministry officials to open an aggressive and diplomatic international public relations campaign, in order to gain greater international support for Israel Defense Forces operations in the Gaza Strip.” See Israel to mount emergency international PR effort in wake of Gaza campaign

Israel’s foreign ministry is skilled at this sort of high-stakes, global perception building.  British PR firm Saatchi & Saatchi helped Israel’s Foreign Ministry “free of charge” in the effort to repair its image after the state lost the Second Lebanon War.

From Reuters: 

“The campaign is a departure from the government’s long-held practice of ‘hasbara’, or ‘explaining’ itself to Western audiences that may have little sympathy for crackdowns on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 

Now Israel wants to create an alternative image abroad, focused exclusively on assets like tourist attractions and business innovations. In the words of one campaigner and ad executive, the aim would be to create ‘a narrative of normalcy’.”

“The blogosphere and new media are another war zone. The important thing is to get the truth out there,” Major Avital Leibovich, an Israeli army spokeswoman, said.

MORE GLOBAL/POLITICAL PR: Ukrainian infighting gives Russia the edge in public relations war, from the FT, 1/2/09

THIS WEEK’S BEST PR FOR PR: How did this happen?  Image need overhaul? Hollywood PR vet offers help is the title of the incredible Associated Press puff piece on the appropriately named uber publicist Howard Bragman.

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PR/Media Week in Review 08-03-2008

Politics & PR rumble, tumble, toil ‘n trouble

McCain’s Obama onslaught, launching negative ads that generate buzz in the pre-convention lull, is smart PR, what you expect from a wounded combatant. He’s using the media to generate media attention way beyond the ad buys alone. The first “negative” ad, which reportedly ran only six times in local markets, serves as the shot off the bow of a skirmish that will employ aggressive and creative PR tactics. It is proof of the power of PR - leveraged beyond its cost if employed correctly. McCain now has a Rove-trained attack dog who knows how to apply pain that reverberates through traditional and social media. Early advantage: GOP.

Barack Obama has so much money (his real advantage) that he can employ the best PR minds (sic) that money can buy.  Can Demos fend off the ‘wimp’ and ‘neophyte deluded celebrity’ tags the GOP is trying to pin on Obama? The answer to that could lead to victory in November. Lieberman and Kerry squared off on “Meet the Press” today to set the tenor of the escalating attack vs response cycle that will spin out as we head to the conventions. Obama can gain advantage by sticking Kerry in a corner and taping his mouth shut for the next couple of months. He seems to embarass Demos, and himself (not that he has that much self-awareness) whenever he speaks. He’s a loser - didn’t anybody tell him?

Mark Penn, head of Burson-Marsteller, is still smarting from the lashing he took as head Hillary Clinton pollster and message maven. Upfront it was obvious that Penn would go down in flames - you can’t head a PR agency involved in as much high level weirdness as Burson and not bring down a Presidential candidate. Penn has been on a mission since rejoining Burson to to present a non-partisian face to the public, most notably by hiring failed Republican spinner Karen Hughes to bolster business from both sides of the aisle.

Apparently, top-level Demo and GOP spinsters agree that money is infinitely more important than beliefs. And Hughes showed right off that she is perfectly suited for the PR agency business by dispatching an email to Bursonites full of hyperbole, obfuscations and excalmations that reads like a qualifying statement for $600+/hr PR consultant:

“today’s leaders in business and government face the challenge of thinking globally and acting locally, developing broad umbrella themes that shape perceptions of their industry, brand or product, while also customizing those messages for many different customers and cultures.” - excerpt from Karen Hughes email to Burson employees

This week 23/6 (Some of the news/Most of the time) launches its Get Your War On animated series by comic David Rees. First episode below, new episodes weekly. The political season is upon us.

Digital / New Media Drives PR Growth

We are heading to a recession, if we are not there already. That’s when the PR industry begins to quake and tremble and budgets are indiscriminately slashed and AEs start jumping out windows. OK, maybe it’s not that dramatic, but the PR business is no fun - for agency owners, account people, or clients - during a recession. Why should this time be different?

There is one big difference: Digital communications and new media have opened up new distribution channels for PR and require a new set of skills from savvy PR people. Clients are beginning to realize the powerful ROI possible through creative online communication programs. Online communications is redefining the PR industry. Traditionalists, bigger agencies tied to old methods and operations, will suffer greater during a recession 

WPP is trying to cash in on the PR 2.0 move. WPP is listed in Wikipedia as “one of the world’s largest communications services groups.” Among WPP’s PR holdings are Hill and Knowlton, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe.

Sir Martin Sorrell (left, with finger raised), CEO of WPP,  singled out the positive impact “new technologies” are having on WPP’s public relations operations, due to increased demand from clients for “editorial publicity through fast-growing new applications of new technology such as MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and Wikipedia,” Sir Martin wrote in his year-end update for shareholders.

Huh? Editorial publicity to Wikipedia? I thought Wikipedia was supposed to be an accurate, objective source for information, not a malleable online flack catcher. 

Anyway, Sir Martin is following the money. Traditional public relations practices can be more time-consuming and less effective than digital PR that takes control of the creation, packaging and distribution of news and information. Distribution is the key. With the Internet distribution is free and only limited by your imagination. It takes time (billable hours) but there is no barrier to entry into the global info marketplace.

During a recession maximum value-added becomes becomes the prime motivator in the engagement of services - especially a service as intangible as public relations. 

Related, see: Media, Interactive Services Propel WPP Growth: Social Nets Prove A Boon For PR, Not Advertising from Online Media Daily.

Fake Richard Edelman Protests Suspension

EXCLUSIVE. This just in: The attorney for Fake Richard Edelman has contacted PRBlogNews to vehemently protest his client’s suspension from Strumpette due to alleged plagiarism. Fake Richard Edelman is charged with lifting the words of Joseph Goebbels for a speech in Davos.

“My client is a fake,” said Joseph Santangelo (left), partner at Santangelo & Morello, legal counsel to Fake Richard Edelman. “How do you charge a fake with plagiarism? He should be given a raise and promotion for his brilliant work. Now that he has been vilified and tainted in the public media I am sure that he will find it extremely difficult to get another Fake gig. We are mulling our options.”

Fake Richard Edelman is accused of “a wholesale lifting of source material” from Joseph Goebbels, “Der Rundfunk als achte Großmacht.” by Martin Turnbull, Dean of the Communications College at the Kepler School of Management.

Fr. Brian Connolly of Strumpette said in a statement: “We’ve launched a thorough investigation and intend to review this matter fully. Until such time as we can make a final determination, we are suspending Fake Richard Edelman without pay.”

“You have not heard the last of Fake Richard Edelman,” said Mr. Santangelo.

Meanwhile, the real Richard Edelman has made his annual pilgrimage to Davos to release findings of the Trust Barometer. This year, it seems that for some reason people trust business more than ever. According to the Financial Times the Trust Barometer includes this breakthrough insight:

The Edelman study confirms this view: most of those polled said they would not buy products and services from a company they distrusted and, conversely, would take their custom to one they trusted.

RedHot PR Sex on Desk Draws Heat

How was your Christmas party this year? Not as steamy as the bash at RedHot PR in London I bet. The “sex on desk” memo below has been making the rounds. Exclusive: PRBlogNews has obtained a tape of the couple.

From: Mark XXXX
Sent: 14 December 2007 11:43
To: . All RED All Users
Subject: Extra Curricular Activities

Good Morning Everyone,This morning the Office Manager from Sthree (company that occupies the 2nd floor) informed me that last night two people were caught enjoying ‘relations’ on one of their desks. The member of staff from Sthree was working late and heard something going on around the corner, after deciding to investigate he discovered the couple having sex and to his astonishment they noticed that he had noticed, but decided to continue anyway. Once ‘finished’ the lady in high boots asked the member of staff if there was a toilet she could borrow. Classy!

Ok, this does raise a few questions. If a horny couple decided to enter the office from the street they would have had to get past the main street doors without a fob and into Sthree’s offices without a fob, which is a bit tricky. Sthree’s main reception door in situated in the main atrium and is always open. Therefore, there is a good chance that they were already in the building. The member of staff describes them as dressed casually, pretty much like we are dressed most days. Also they appeared to be under the influence of alcohol…oh, that’s right we have a free bar on the 5th floor.

So, the message here is quite clear, please make sure you know who is coming in the door behind you, make sure you can trust your friends when they visit the bar and make sure all office staff have gone home!

Thanks

Mark

P.S. If anyone does know who the copulating couple were, you can drop me a little email to save me the task of trailing through a whole evenings worth of CCTV! Thanks

Review of the Jew - so long ‘07, hello ‘08

EPIPHANY OF THE YEAR - You Don’t Need to Blog

November 19, 2007 broke like any other morning with one big difference - the thought of blogging made me ill. I had plenty to say, just didn’t feel like saying it, at least in this forum. And so it was for more than a month, a blissful break that could reactivate at any time. During my hiatus I discovered that we as Jews involved in the grand conspiracy to control the media, entertainment and banking businesses of the world, sometimes need to take a break, especially after such a fruitful year. I need to read the Talmud and go to shul, I don’t need to blog. So what I need to do right now is to celebrate Jews (and a couple of goys) who have had an exceptional year in creative and clandestine media manipulation.

VICTORY OF THE YEAR - Feldman Defeats French in Epic Battle

Loren Feldman is not only a Jew, he is a New York meshugenah who enoys good food and women with ample bosoms. His 1938media videos were entertaining and often hit on uncomfortable truisms driven by the force of Feldman’s Stanley Kowalski personality. In 2007 Feldman was making his mark in a tight little circle, and then he unknowingly picked a fight with the Frenchies and took the whole thing to a higher level.

For a few days in December as Loren banned the French from his site (you can ban country-specific entry to your site) and the French Seesmic people tried to ban Loren in some pathetic display of ‘retaliation,’ we were witnessing real time prime video theatre that showed why unabashed French baiting is now a divine right of all Americans. It also showed that Loren is one tough Jew.

It started with the Seesmic Review, 12/16/07, but the heat of battle lasted more than three days through a torrent of videos on both sides of the Atlantic. Loic Le Meur CEO of Seesmic had run into the Feldman buzzsaw and he was completely Frenched. The lame-o videos that the Seesmic-ites produced to counter Feldman confirmed every French cliche going and created a few more.

Loic made two critical errors: he thought Loren was racist and he thought he was serious. And because of that Loren decided to get real serious and to taunt and antagonize and mock and humilate the French. It was amazing how many others wanted to join in. 1938Media attracts a sometimes rabid gang.

Vinny Says:
December 16th, 2007 at 10:59 pm

I love all the people calling Loren a racist. I know him personally. NONE of you do. The man is OBVIOUSLY not a racist so get the hell over yourselves.

Secondly, he made some valid points in the review. If your stupid asses watched it instead of looking for something to be offended for, you’d realize he was pretty much right. The interface sucks, the quality is dreadful, and the idea of having to watch multiple RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE: videos to see a reply.

Oh, and the Flash use on the entire site? SUCKS, and it’s slow as ass.

So maybe all you wounded Frenchmen should pay better attention and stop venting your inferiority complexes as cries of racism.

Pay attention, and learn.

VIDEO OF THE YEAR - Jew Hip Hop /Crank That Kosha Boy

BUG OUT OF THE YEAR - Jason McCabe Calacanis / Goy Wonder 

Baby faced Greek thumb sucking serial entrepreneur and dog face licker JasonMcCabe&Mrs.Miller CalacanisOuzo III (left, at NYC dim sum orgy) bowed out of a scheduled face-to-face one-on-one basketball showdown in a New York City schoolyard with Feldman the Mad Bald Jew. Bloated and surly from a dim sum fest in a dowdy Chinatown emporium with lowlife hackers and blogger wannabes, Calacanis blamed his bow-out on the weather and an over stuffing of kalamata olives.  In ‘07 Calacanis aggressively hawked Mahalo, the first human powered search engine. Can it work? I question the following in its Guide Notes on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto: “Although shots were fired at her, she died of a fractured skull from hitting her head against the sun roof of her car.” Is that true or Pakistani government propaganda? Does the “human” in the Mahalo equation simply cut and paste “facts” from unreliable sources and further solidify a false story? ‘08 will be a dangerous time in Internet communication as questionable sources gain credibility with unquestioning distribution channels. Calacanis is from Brooklyn. He should know about this.

PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR - Brian Connolly & Friends

Actually Brian (right) is runner up, third, fourth, fifth and sixth place in this category. “So, when I get an email from Amanda it’s really Brian?” somebody asked me, perturbed by the various genders and shadings of Brian. “Actually,” I said. “That is one of Brian’s personalities. And then Brian himself has several personalities. These days it’s best to keep a scorecard before responding.” One of Brian’s personalities likes to confront adversaries in postings, email and on the phone. That is the Brian that over-thought Strumpette into oblivion and then resurrection. Where does Strumpette go in 2008? I couldn’t venture but now at least my cell phone minutes are down 50% since I started talking to only one Brian. Despite the name that implies a long line of patronage in the Chicago police force and prominence at St. Patrick’s Day beer bashes, Brian actually claims Orthodox Judaism in his immediate family. Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote about Connolly and one of his personalities in Sex and the Shtetl.

PRBLOGNEWS POST OF THE YEAR - Psychedelia baby 

See PR & LSD - a long strange happy tradition

MOST CHASTENED - Steve Rubel

I apologize for calling Microconfusion blogger Steve Rubel a shiny head Yoda and incorrigible link whore. Now that he has admitted that everything he has been frantically flogging for the past two years is bull he can only be accused of being the latter. 

MOST STALWART - Richard Edelman

Talk about a big shot Jew. Richard has his name on hundreds of doors all around the world. This year he finally admitted that we don’t need the established goy media and we can manipulate the masses directly through social media. My mother Shirley, God rest her soul, would be in love with this man. Plus, he blogs consistently even when he has nothing to say except that he had drinks with a journalist and commissioned a new study that will prove a greater need for his PR services.

MOST IMPROVED - Eric Schwartzman

He got a haircut and picked up his pants. Bravo.  But the goofball video he has on iPressroom looks geeky and dated … but maybe that sort of thing works in L.A. Is he a Jew?

BEST LOBOTOMY - B.L. Ochman

It has to be why she is like that.

PodCampNYC2 Announced - It’s in Bklyn!

PodCamp NYC Wows The Masses , April 9, 2007, was a revelation for me. In one location teeming with idealists and raw talent I saw the personification of all that was wrong with the public relations business and why PR would fail at social media. Among the 1,000 or so scraggly masses I ran into at PodCampNYC there was only one other PR person and he was purely ‘underground’ - his day job was with a big agency in Washington D.C. If PR could recognize and harness this Podcast/Blogging/Video talent we would have a real revolution on our hands.

Fat chance. In the seven months since that seminal event social media for PR has zoomed like a rocket and fizzled like a Challenger o-ring disaster. Steve Rubel says we should try talking to human beings again. It is encouraging that Rubel is finally getting his head out of his Twitter but those of us who have heard him rant might prefer he stick to gadgets. It’s like Terminator when the circuits go haywire. What can you say? There is no ‘Second Life’ in the cutthroat PR agency business.

But now PodCampNYC2 is coming (I refuse to call it 2.0) and we have reason to rejoice.

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