| | Widespread public relations services firms influence how businesses, governments, and institutions make decisions and, in so doing, affect the lives of almost everyone. Often working behind the scenes, these firms have a variety of functions. In general, firms in public relations services advise and implement public exposure strategies. For example, a public relations firm might issue a press release that is printed in newspapers across the country. Firms in public relations services offer one or more resources that clients cannot provide themselves. Usually this resource is expertise—in the form of knowledge, experience, special skills, or creativity, but sometimes the resource is time or personnel that the client cannot spare. Clients of public relations firms include all types of businesses, institutions, trades, and public interest groups, and even some high-profile individuals. Clients are large and small for-profit firms in the private sector; bodies of State, local, or Federal Government; institutions, such as hospitals, universities, unions, and trade groups; and foreign governments or businesses.
Public relations firms help secure favorable public exposure for their clients, advise them in the case of a sudden public crisis, and design strategies to help them attain a certain public image. Toward these ends, public relations firms analyze public or internal sentiment about clients; establish relationships with the media; write speeches and coach clients for interviews; issue press releases; and organize client-sponsored publicity events, such as contests, concerts, exhibits, symposia, and sporting and charity events.
The vast majority of firms in the public relations services segment are small, primarily because new firms, particularly those engaged in consulting and public relations, can easily enter the industry.
In an effort to attract and maintain clients, advertising and public relations services agencies are diversifying their services, offering advertising as well as public relations, sales, marketing, and interactive media services. Advertising and public relations services firms have found that highly creative work is particularly suitable for their services, resulting in a better product and increasing their clients' profitability. |
| Firms in the advertising and public relations services industry prepare advertisements for other companies and organizations and design campaigns to promote the interests and image of their clients. This industry also includes media representatives—firms that sell advertising space for publications, radio, television, and the Internet; display advertisers—businesses engaged in creating and designing public display ads for use in shopping malls, on billboards, or in similar media; and direct mail advertisers. A firm that purchases advertising time (or space) from media outlets, thereafter reselling it to advertising agencies or individual companies directly, is considered a media buying agency. Divisions of companies that produce and place their own advertising are not considered part of this industry.
There are 47,000 advertising and public relations services establishments in the United States. About 4 out of 10 write copy and prepare artwork, graphics, and other creative work, and then place the resulting ads on television, radio, or the Internet or in periodicals, newspapers, or other advertising media. Within the industry, only these full-service establishments are known as advertising agencies. Almost 1 in 5 are public relations firms. Many of the largest agencies are international, with a substantial proportion of their revenue coming from abroad.
Most advertising firms specialize in a particular market niche. Some companies produce and solicit outdoor advertising, such as billboards and electric displays. Others place ads in buses, subways, taxis, airports, and bus terminals. A small number of firms produce aerial advertising, while others distribute circulars, handbills, and free samples.
Groups within agencies have been created to serve their clients’ electronic advertising needs on the Internet. Online advertisements link users from one Web site to a company’s or product’s Web site, where information such as new product announcements, contests, and product catalogs appears, and from which purchases may be made.
Some firms are not involved in the creation of ads at all; instead, they sell advertising time or space on radio and television stations or in publications. Because these firms do not produce advertising, their staffs are mostly sales workers. |
| Businesses often look to advertising as a way of boosting sales by increasing the public’s exposure to a product. Most companies do not have the staff with the necessary skills or experience to create effective advertisements; furthermore, many advertising campaigns are temporary, so employers would have difficulty maintaining their own advertising staff. Instead, companies commonly solicit bids from ad agencies to develop advertising for them. Next, ad agencies offering their services to the company often make presentations. The real work for ad agencies begins when they win an account. Various departments within an agency—such as creative, production, media, and research—work together to meet the client’s goal of increasing sales. |
| Lobbying firms, a special type of public relations firm, differ somewhat. Instead of attempting to secure favorable public opinion about their clients, they attempt to influence legislators in favor of their clients’ special interests. Lobbyists often work for large businesses, industry trade organizations, unions, or public interest groups. |
| Consulting is a relationship business. That means we must develop trusting relationships with internal partners and clients. To me, trust means that both parties have the underlying conviction that the other person has the partner’s absolute best interests in mind. If I believe that about you, then I’m much more likely to listen to unprecedented, painful, and/or counterintuitive advice. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt (as you will extend that to me).
One of the key problems in internal consulting is a lack of trust. We address this as we progress, but we all know that a lack of credibility attached to a department or function also attaches itself to individuals representing that department or function. When that’s the case, it’s far easier to build individual trust and credibility than it is to change an entire department’s reputation. When enough individuals have made the change, the department will benefit. But functions do not change perceptions; people do. Departments don’t earn trust; individuals do.
The role of an internal consultant should place an emphasis on anticipation, improvement, and innovation. There has been an inordinate concentration on problem solving. While always important, problem solving has become a fairly mechanized routine and therefore of less value, despite its frequency. Problem solving basically restores performance to past levels.
But innovation raises the bar and is of much higher value. Since most managers have their noses pressed tightly to the glass of their own operations, they often fail to see the opportunity surrounding them. Catching up with the competition is important, but creating a gap between yourself and the next closest competitor is invaluable.
As a rule, internal consultants have been far too reactive and not nearly proactive enough.
Finally, an important part of the role is to disagree. We’re often swept along in the fervor of an executive’s bright idea, but no one has had the fortitude to point out that no one is wearing any clothes. Outstanding (and trustworthy) consultants push back. They consider legality, ethics, pragmatics, risks, and costs to other parties. They don’t blindly implement.
We have an excellent plumber. He arrives on time, fixes the leaks, and charges according to his efforts. But we would never ask him to come in and discuss the way the kitchen is decorated or the location of the bathrooms.
We need plumbers to fix the leaks. But I don’t think anyone reading this sees his or her future mending the corporate pipes. |
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