Some years back, right after listing “Providing Strategic Counsel” as a priority in a PRSA survey, I changed that to “Providing Strategic Counsel and Leadership."
It’s going a step farther than just counseling management about a certain strategy. I believe we should have the guts – risky as it may seem – to tell them if we believe their strategy may not deliver the desired results. And I believe we should be reminding them, if circumstances merit, that no matter how hard you publicize a product or service…if it’s a mediocre product or service, it can come back to bite you.
Suppose, some years back, PR people had told senior management at certain automobile companies, “You’re producing cars that don’t excite people. Instead of spending millions to advertise these cars, why don’t you start spending these millions on producing better cars? Then we can create communications strategies reinforcing that ‘quality’ image. And then people who drive our cars can become brand ambassadors."
What if, some years back, PR executives had told their clients what at least a few of them must have been thinking? For example, “It’s really not a good time to be planning a huge, lavish event that people might see as over-the-top, when the company’s not doing well.” And what if those PR people had said to their clients, “Are you really sure you want to give out such huge bonuses, at a time when you’re accepting billions of dollars in loans?"
If we genuinely want “a seat at the table,” we should be providing leadership, not just counsel.
Suppose that certain companies’ PR teams or agencies had been able to spare them the outrage that was later attached to their brands for some years. Suppose they had counseled the client’s management not to have luxurious meetings in faraway, extravagant places. Suppose they had counseled them not to give out huge bonuses to executives who were running the company into the ground?
They might have saved their clients billions of dollars. And their reputations. And they might have prevented the loss of millions of potential customers who would never again consider doing business with these companies.
Several years back, I sat in a meeting with the senior management of a well-known professional sports franchise that was my client. The team had been mediocre for years...and, as a result, was losing both fans and goodwill. After listening to them toss around ideas for “marketing” promotions for twenty minutes, I interrupted the conversation.
“People,” I said, “instead of spending all this money on big promotions that will never buy long-term goodwill, how about trying the best marketing plan of all...spending the money on better players?” They all looked at me with surprise, and a bit of hesitation.
Finally, the CEO said, “We’d love to, Steve. But we just can’t afford it right now."
My answer was simple: “We can’t afford not to. Promotions may put fannies in the seats for a particular game. But good players – and a winning culture – put fannies in the seats every game."
Happily, I was able to change the culture somewhat. And they eventually did go after better players. And better executives. And they became champions.
All this is by way of saying that we not only need to provide strategic counsel. We also sometimes need to remind clients or management about the obvious – that the best PR of all is a better product or service.
That, folks, is when we really deserve that “seat at the table.”