Created by Stalwart Communications' Founder!
TechCrunch - The Reality of PR
PR folks pay attention - not only do you need to fully understand social media and online PR, but if this article doesn't speak to the need for performance-based firms, I don't know what does!
The Reality Of PR: Smile, Dial, Name Drop, Pray
by Michael Arrington on July 4, 2009
One thing I hated about being a corporate lawyer at Wilson Sonsini back in the day - we got to work on really cool deals (the last deal I worked on before leaving for a startup was the AOL/Netscape merger), but we were only brought in at the very end to paper everything. We fought over the fine print in the contracts after the meat of the deal was ironed out by CEOs. Skinning and dressing whatever the hunters bring back to the cave is fine for some people. But it’s not exactly being in the middle of the action.
PR firms today aren’t much different than corporate lawyers. They are paid to perform a service. They like to think of themselves as core to the strategic action of their clients. But more often, they’re just there to spin whatever happened in the most favorable light possible. Then they smile and dial and pray for coverage. Occasionally they are called in to smother a story, which is mildly more exciting, I imagine. But when a CEO is wondering what she should do next to drive her business forward, she generally doesn’t call her PR firm for advice. Or at least I hope she doesn’t.
PR firms are apparently just as frustrated by always being in the back seat as the law firms are.
Read the rest of the article here.
The Reality Of PR: Smile, Dial, Name Drop, Pray
by Michael Arrington on July 4, 2009
One thing I hated about being a corporate lawyer at Wilson Sonsini back in the day - we got to work on really cool deals (the last deal I worked on before leaving for a startup was the AOL/Netscape merger), but we were only brought in at the very end to paper everything. We fought over the fine print in the contracts after the meat of the deal was ironed out by CEOs. Skinning and dressing whatever the hunters bring back to the cave is fine for some people. But it’s not exactly being in the middle of the action.
PR firms today aren’t much different than corporate lawyers. They are paid to perform a service. They like to think of themselves as core to the strategic action of their clients. But more often, they’re just there to spin whatever happened in the most favorable light possible. Then they smile and dial and pray for coverage. Occasionally they are called in to smother a story, which is mildly more exciting, I imagine. But when a CEO is wondering what she should do next to drive her business forward, she generally doesn’t call her PR firm for advice. Or at least I hope she doesn’t.
PR firms are apparently just as frustrated by always being in the back seat as the law firms are.
Read the rest of the article here.
Comment
About
© 2009 Created by David Oates on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
You need to be a member of Pay-on-Performance to add comments!
Join this Ning Network