Public Relations

The discipline of public relations, however, is far removed from the carnival barker image that many attach to it. Instead, public relations practitioners are often sitting at the table with top corporate decision makers, helping steer the course of a company's relations with the public, the media and shareholders. More than just putting "spin" on a story or issue, PR professionals help craft the image of a company.

Says Carol Cookerly, President of the Cookerly & Co. PR firm, "All kinds of companies are taking the initiative to find out what public relations can do for them, rather than people in the public relations industry having to cold call to persuade and create desire. We're being called upon more and more as senior executives realize the potential for PR to be as vital as advertising for their given company."

Julie Davis Salisbury, President of Julie Salisbury Associates, says the discipline has gained value in Atlanta in recent years. "Five years ago, we were bemoaning the relative lack of credibility for public relations in the market," she explains. "That has taken a 180 degree turn. Our business has gotten more respect, more credibility."

In Atlanta, public relations is one of the hottest business categories around. Indeed, PR firms say that attracting and keeping top quality personnel on board is one of their greatest challenges. The firms interviewed for this article-from small one-person companies to large, multinational operations-report that 1997 was one of the best years ever, with equally high expectations for 1998.

While it was thought that the end of the Olympic experience would bring on a sort of post-event depression, public relations practitioners report that the after effects of the games were positive and brought more exposure to the city in general and to the capabilities of its public relations firms in particular.

Although it's a part of the broad overall term of marketing, public relations differs from its sister discipline of advertising in several respects. "The greatest common differentiator between advertising and public relations is paid media, which comes under advertising," explains Patty Tucker, Vice President/Director of Account Services for the Headline Group. "PR is influencing audiences with any of the hundreds, if not thousands, of different tools, other than buying an ad in a publication, or on a broadcasting outlet."

Norma Stanley, President of NFS Communications, defines the craft of public relations as, "Persuading the public to understand your corporate mission and your corporate objective and persuading them to buy your products or services in a positive way. PR helps the consumer on every level of their lives. It touches all the 'hot buttons' on a more personal level than advertising does."

According to Debbie McVinnie, Associate Director of Advertising for Sawyer Riley Compton, public relations is often a more cost-effective approach for a client. "Whereas advertising will build a brand," she explains, "public relations helps educate people about a company and what goes on behind that brand. You're usually limited with advertising in the amount of copy space. Even though you can get across your positions, your attitude, and your tone [in an ad], with PR using third party editorial and feature stories, you can explain what the brand stands for and the company's dedication to customer service and other benefits they're trying to communicate. Since it's a third-party endorsement, it's sometimes perceived by audiences to be more credible than advertising."

While Atlanta's advertising community has seen a number of defections by top local accounts for ad shops in other cities, when it comes to their public relations needs, local corporations are still retaining local PR firms for at least part of their needs.

"I don't think companies are as much inclined to go out of the market to get public relations counsel as they may be to get an ad agency on board," says Lesley Gamwell, president of Custer Gamwell Communications. "With PR, it's like there almost has to be 24-hour, ongoing communication and an exchange of ideas. It's not just job by job, campaign by campaign. It requires a lot of innate knowledge of the inner workings of a company."

Although a number of companies are creating in-house public relations operations or expanding existing departments, Atlanta PR practitioners report that these same companies are also placing greater value on the advice and input they receive from outside counsel. The demands of the modern business world require that companies have as many sources of ideas as possible.

Stating that there are times when companies might be better advised to have their public relations handled entirely in house, Charlie Farley, Vice Chairman and General Manager of Cohn & Wolfe, says, "Virtually all of our clients have inside PR professionals. We're working with those people, not competing with them. What we bring to the party is outside perspective, additional resources, and talent. We find ourselves in the role of augmenting or extending the value of what that company already has in their organization."

"The advantages of working with an outside agency," Farley continues, "is that you can handle peaks and valleys in terms of workload without having the enormous expense of a large internal staff. When the workload gets quite high, the agency can offer relief because of the staffing we have available."

Where outsiders might think all public relations firms are basically similar in what they do and the kind of clients they serve, each of the firms contacted is a unique entity. And, each reports that 1997 was a remarkable year for them and the accounts they serviced.

Cookerly says her firm is strongest at managing issues which drive performance, whether that involves the performance of a company's stock or the introduction of a new product in a crowded field. Cookerly's clients include Powertel, Nextlink General Time, and the Federal Home Loan Bank.

"We have heavy-hitter product marketing experience, and a lot of big picture issues management experience combined with strong investor relation experience," Cookerly explains. "We give companies a good comfort level that we've got an eye on their bottom line, we understand what's happening in the market, and we're out to help them satisfy them."

The past year's highlights for Cookerly & Co. include launching new markets in the Southeast for Powertel's digital wireless service, and helping congressional staffers in Washington better understand the workings of the Federal Home Loan Bank. "We've gotten a lot of pats on the head in the past year," says Cookerly of 1997's achievements. "Money is good, but pats on the head are important, too. It's nice to know they're proud of you."

Cohn & Wolfe has grown to be Atlanta's largest public relations agency in terms of billings and personnel, in addition to offices serving clients on three continents. Farley says 1997 saw the company make strides in the field of telecommunications, with the winning of BellSouth business and additional work for Equant.

"We had some talent in house that had significant telecommunications experience," Farley explains. "It didn't take us long to figure out that we could match the talent we had on staff with the needs of the local market place. We've done an incredible job with a number of our telecommunications clients, and the coverage we've generated within the telecommunications media has been phenomenal."

Farley says that while it's unusual for PR firms to feature their creativity, that focus has been a hallmark of Cohn & Wolfe in recent years. The firm has developed software to help personnel generate ideas, and other programs so clients can analyze and evaluate the pros and cons of a sponsorship they may be considering.

In addition to high tech, Farley says that his firm also has clients in the creative process. "We invite clients into creative sessions so they can participate, help us generate ideas, and provide additional thinking beyond what our own people might be able to develop," he explains.

For Stanley, the highlight of 1997 was starting her own business. Having experience as both an in-house practitioner, and with major national public relations firms, Stanley founded NFS Communications to specialize in the burgeoning field of ethnic marketing.

"With the way the demographics of this country are changing, a lot of PR firms and corporations understand the need to incorporate multicultural communications into their strategies," Stanley explains. "They understand the bottom line potential to strategically market to various ethnic segments."

While there are established companies providing such services, Stanley believes her background gives her a special insight. "Along with being an ethnic practitioner myself," she explains, "I can bring to the table both the agency point of view and the corporate perspective." To that end, she has designed and provides a one-day seminar on opportunities in ethnic communications that is tailored to the individual company.

Michael Parver Associates has long been known for its endeavors on behalf of clients in the entertainment/leisure time sector, and company President Michael Parver says that 1997 contained a number of triumphs. Along with winning the account for Dreamworks SKG in the Southeast, the firm was involved in launching the successful mall tour promoting the movie Hercules for Walt Disney Co., and the agency helped arrange the first commercial shot in space-a Pepsi spot with footage shot on the Russian space station Mir.

"I would consider us to be more of a 'big idea' firm, more of a publicity promotion firm as opposed to a public relations firm," says Parver. "Public relations is a broad stroke that's used to smooth over the rough edges of a problem. Ours is the opposite. We are here to draw attention in a media-driven way. Not too many people deal with that kind of specialty."

With clients like Disney, Warner Brothers and other movie studios, how does Parver keep such similar accounts without problems of confidentiality? "It's a matter of trust," he explains. "It works because we have a system set up so what we do for Disney, for example, people from Warner Brothers or Dreamworks won't find out ... until after the fact."

The Headline Group also began its existence handling entertainment based accounts such as the Punchline comedy club and the Fox Theater. Not only has it retained these original clients, but has expanded to serve a broad range of clients.

"Entertainment work is our mainstay," says Tucker, "but we also do strong business-to-business work. The tools, talents, and ideas you use carry over and help both types of work. It's more rewarding for our clients when their conservative, subtle message has some snap because we came up with an idea for a more creative client that we can offer to a financial services client. It helps us draw from a greater pool of ideas and resources."

Among the Headline Group's 1997 highlights were being chosen to represent Atlanta 150, the celebration of the founding of the city; and the opening of the Official All-Star Cafe theme restaurant downtown. "In the past year, we've been able to be picky about which clients we brought on," says Tucker. "It's a really fat market right now, and we've been building slowly and carefully, so there wouldn't be a rush of accounts all at once."

A move to new quarters in Buckhead was among the highlights of Sawyer Riley Compton's 1997, but McVinnie also points to increased awareness of the public relations component of the company. "We're more than a media-relations house or a publicity-generating agency," she explains. "We're very integrated with our advertising side. We can talk to a prospect or a client about their issues and goals and come back to them with a plan that will meet their needs. It may be a certain percentage advertising because a client's needs may not be all PR."

McVinnie believes this combined approach helps with both strategy and marketing. "Our goal at the end of the day is to have moved the needle in terms of awareness, and therefore sales," she explains. "Our results are based on the overall picture of awareness and sales."

Sawyer Riley Compton enjoyed success in 1997 with ESAB Welding and Cutting Products. McVinnie describes them as, "the type of client that if we come to them with any kind of off-the-wall ideas we can show will benefit their business, they'll let us do it." McVinnie says the firm tied in ESAB with NASCAR racing and the company's contributions to making safer automobiles. "We've continued to increase the awareness of welding to end-use customers," she explains.

Like her colleagues, Salisbury says that 1997 was a year to remember. "It was the best year ever in terms of new business, revenue growth and winning awards," she explains. Among the memorable events were awards for work done for Delta Air Lines and for the opening of Turner Field.

Salisbury describes her company as a "hybrid" firm because of its affiliation with the Fitzgerald & Co. ad shop. "That offers us resources that would have taken years for us to build on our own," she explains. "We have access to research and marketing strategies beyond the PR mindset as well as access to a creative department, graphic design, media planning and buying-information that isn't readily available at other PR firms."

Keeping top personnel is a challenge throughout the industry, and Salisbury believes the key to retaining talent lies in the kind of atmosphere they're working in. "When I started the company 10 years ago, I wrote a 10 word business plan: 'Do Good Work That Works and Maintain Quality of Life,'" she states. "What's worked for us is keeping our focus on both ends of that equation. By doing good work that works, you keep your clients and grow the business. By maintaining a quality of life, you're able to attract good people who want to do good work and who want to stay."

Although she counts a number of clients in several areas, Gamwell says expansion of her business is not on the agenda. A desire to balance business with family life, as well as a desire to do more creative work rather than administration, led Gamwell to downsize a few years ago.

"I'm small by choice," she explains. "I have the flexibility to sub-contract personnel I've worked with in the past who know how to help me orchestrate the event and do it successfully."

Calling the business climate a good one, Gamwell says there is a lot of work available for firms ranging from small practitioners to large shops. However, she decries the trend to place PR firms in categories. "I don't like the pigeon-holing of technology vs. finance vs. professional services," she explains. "Because I'm not in a singular area of specialization, I can remain more objective."

If there is one thing that Atlanta's public relations firms share, it's a belief that they aren't doing enough to market themselves. Like the shoemaker's children who go barefoot, the firm's own public relation needs are often neglected. Instead of the kind of strategic, cohesive campaign they would offer a client, the firms instead primarily rely on word of mouth and the referral of satisfied clients.

Both the Headline Group and Sawyer Riley Compton decided to treat their own public relations like a client's account and have someone on staff responsible for spreading the word about themselves. "Right now, we're doing a good job of communicating who we really are," says McVinnie. "We're building the Sawyer Riley Compton brand and introducing ourselves to reporters both locally, and nationally."

"One person has to sit in the weekly staff meeting and say, 'This is what I've done for the Headline Group,'" says Tucker. "We're finally able to say we're using our craft wisely."

Although Atlanta firms do a good job of retaining their clients, changes in the way information is disseminated may impact client loyalty. In the old days, PR practitioners were more like press agents-responsible only for getting their client's message in a few newspapers and broadcasting outlets. But today, there are such factors as niche publications, around-the-clock cable news programming, the 500 channel television universe, and the Internet.

In this brave new world of communications, how can the public relations firm do the kind of work that will produce the kind of results the clients desire? Gamwell believes it all comes down to the basics: being honest with the client and working hard to make sure that message is getting through.

"You have to educate clients to the realistic expectations of public relations," Gamwell explains. "Unlike placing an ad and getting an immediate response back, public relations is often an image building campaign. It requires time to nurture a reputation and an awareness in the market place. You cannot do that with one article or one grand opening event. It's a consistent image building that can takes months, or even years."

"You can develop and send out a good press release," she continues, "but if you don't follow it up with the media, you've fallen down in your responsibility for what your clients are paying you to do." No matter how you spin this story, by creating and nurturing corporate reputations, Atlanta's PR firms are assuring their own long term success.