When he started his own PR firm in 1954, Howard J. Rubenstein's first office was on his mother's kitchen table in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. But she refused to answer the phone,
"Rubenstein Associates." So he went back to law school, this time at nights at St. John's and graduated first in his class. (Rubenstein dropped out of Harvard Law School before
launching his own business.) But he stuck with PR, first moving to a tiny office in Brooklyn and then, after he scored a few more clients, across the river into Manhattan.
The rest is PR history.
Celebrating his 50th anniversary in the business this year Rubenstein now stands at the pinnacle of PR, a master strategist of crisis communications and getting his clients'
messages to the (right) media. He's also been a savior to many reputations, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York and sportscaster Marv Albert to name just two. Throughout the years
he's also been a close advisor to New York Governors (Pataki, Cuomo), Senators (D'Amato and Schumer) and Mayors (Giuliani, Dinkins, Koch and Beame). Yet Rubenstein, 72, doesn't
practice PR jujitsu but, rather, the fine art of persuasion, cooperation and conciliation. And it has served him well. His firm, one of the last of the independent PR companies,
now has 170 employees and 450 clients running the societal gamut: BMW of North America, Bear Stearns, Columbia University, Disney-ABC, the Empire State Building, the New York
Yankees, Rockefeller Center and Wenner Media. (Full disclosure: my father, Sy Schwartz, worked at Rubenstein Associates for nearly 40 years.)
Rubenstein has strong opinions on where the PR pendulum is swinging and how to get the most out of agency-client relationships. PR NEWS spoke with him recently in his mid-town
Manhattan office about overlooking Central Park.
PRN: What is instilled in the company's DNA that has led to the enormous success of Rubenstein Associates?
Rubenstein: First, I set an ethical line in the sand and never crossed it. I looked at ethics as being the grounding of my business. I've been very cautious to play on the
correct side of the road with honesty and integrity and not floating information that was inaccurate. I tell clients, 'Tell me the truth' and then we'll figure out what we have to
do...First thing I ask [clients] is, 'What's the right thing to do or have done,' not, 'What do we say?' I get them to look at what they've done, determine if it was right or
wrong and if it was wrong, correct it with an apology or substantive correction. Then I determine what's the right thing to say based on the correction. I also ask them, 'What's
your good name worth?' and they say, 'Well it's worth everything.' If you don't have a good name, no one will deal with you in any business, whether it's politics or in corporate
America.
PRN: Why is it a lot of corporate chieftains seem to be allergic to PR advice and can't appreciate the power of perception?
Rubenstein: Sometimes, PR advisors are stunned by the strength/celebrity of the CEO, so PR people turn themselves into 'Yes' men. Big mistake. You must never be a 'Yes' man.
Corporate leaders look around and say, 'I'm earning $20 million, I've been on the cover of Fortune or some such, and there's nothing I can do that can shake that position.'
Another big mistake...With all the increased scrutiny from the media and regulators through the 1990s [executives] didn't measure what they did today by what would happen to them
tomorrow.
PRN: There's great debate in corporate America vis-a-vis PR about getting away from this notion of ink and more toward aligning PR to the company's overall business goals. Is
that realistic?
Rubenstein: Too many PR firms live or die with the 'break,' the publicity break, and they measure their success by getting someone's name/picture in the paper without
determining whether that fit into the goals of the corporation. But publicity at any cost is wrong; being used as a tool towards a corporate goal is correct
PRN: Through studies we have found disconnects between how the client/agency define strategy versus tactics.
Rubenstein: I never give a client a strategy without first listening to them. They know their business better than we do. I warn any PR person: don't think you know everything
when you go into meet a new (or old) client. Too often a PR person is arrogant because, Hey, they can 'place anything.' They'll go into a meeting, won't even listen to the client
and say, 'Here's what I think you should do.' I never do that. I ask them to describe their problems and goals and after listening to them, apply our media know-how...We
understand that and very often the client will not, so you mesh the two. You've got to get it so that a third party who doesn't know you very well will not look at what you are
doing and say, 'Whoa! That's bad.' Too many people don't realize we're in a service business; we're not the principals. The principal is who you serve, so don't walk in with any
preconceptions.
PRN: What's your advice for corporate PR executives to keep their seats at the table. It's not automatic.
Rubenstein: Be valuable to the person you are reporting to; it's easier for a person to fall into a trap of saying, 'Yes.' Instead, analyze things carefully and don't fear for
your job but worry about the job you're doing. Make sure you are more than just a mirror of your boss. If you're going to be a mirror of your boss or bosses you're not going to be
worth very much. Also, understand public reactions to actions by the corporation. Be better at it than your boss. Show you're aware of what's going on. Read and watch [TV news] as
much as you can, and bring that experience to the table so that the prism you look through is not the prism that the executives look through - and then you'll be of value. If
you're fearful of the CEO dropping you for saying something contradictory then maybe you should just resign. I've never been fired for disagreeing.
Contact: Julie Goldberg, 212.843.8091, [email protected]
The Pope of PR
He knows 'em all. Or, more accurately, they know him. Throughout 50 years in the PR field, Howard Rubenstein has represented hundreds of top-notch clients from all facets of
life. Here are three of his longtime, favorite clients, and what he's learned from them:
>> Rupert Murdoch, Chairman-CEO, News Corp.: "A genius who has taught me and the world that global communications and entertainment can work and serve the public
good."
>> George M. Steinbrenner 3d/the New York Yankees: "George has taught me the value of loyalty, true grit and a desire to win. Unmatched."
>> The Rudin family: "They opened up a new world of real estate to me founded on ethics and community service. (The late) Lew Rudin founded the Association for a Better
New York and his spirit lives on in New York City. (His brother) Jack Rudin, an amazing philanthropist, carries on that tradition."