Last week, Edelman PR Worldwide, found itself knee deep in the Microsoft [MSFT] v. Department of Justice controversy. Microsoft was taken to task for a PR proposal from Edelman that is meant to help the software giant rally grassroots support.
Some articles depicted the proposal, which has yet to be approved by Microsoft, as a sinister brainwashing scheme.
But we view this as a perception problem and evidence of how badly the PR profession needs a trade association, like the one that's being formed in New York (See PRN, 4/6/98, p. 8).
On Friday, April 10, PR execs at Microsoft and Edelman awoke to a story in the Los Angeles Times about a secret massive media campaign planned by Microsoft to court legislators and opinion leaders in its monopoly battle with the U.S. government. This is the Edelman plan to improve Microsoft's communications and soften the blow it is receiving in conjunction with the DOJ controversy.
The L.A. Times called the media campaign "elaborate," and said it learned about it from confidential documents it obtained. We reviewed these documents and found that the plan isn't seedy or covert. It's simply what PR is all about.
Dubbed a "Multi-State Media Relations Campaign Plan," it details PR strategies that are and should be commonplace:
- Developing a key list of journalists to target;
- Generating third-party allies;
- Placing op-ed pieces;
- Using consumer surveys as a launch pad for stories; and
- Establishing a dialogue with policy makers.
"There are parts of the plan we don't particularly like, but that's to be expected with any proposal," Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan told PR NEWS.
"This is the nuts and bolts of PR...And it's kind of an alarming precedent to say that a strategy proposal that a company gets is now news," he adds.
The plan has yet to be approved by Microsoft.
The situation points to this still-teetering issue: the vast gap between PR pros' jobs and the media's perception of PR.
We'd venture to guess the gap exists because there's never truly been a clearinghouse for advocating PR to audiences other than PR pros themselves.
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is an organization for individuals and has long admitted that its role is to help those individuals advance their careers.
The new trade association, the American Association of PR Firms, is meant to advance the profession as a whole. Principals and founders at 38 agencies raised seed money for the fledgling group. And it's the first time the PR profession will have a U.S.-based organization that represents companies through activities such as lobbying, setting standards and promoting PR as a strategic management process that can be measured.
They Just Don't Get It
This isn't the first time, however, that confusion over PR has resulted in a flurry of press coverage and misunderstanding.
Last week, Edelman came under scrutiny for another project. Adweek Online columnist, Regina Joseph, blasted Edelman for a poor demonstration of Edelman's Crisis Preparation Response software.
The thrust of Joseph's article was her lasting impression of inappropriate remarks by Edelman's IT head, Mark Golby. Curiously, very little of her review addressed the concept of using the Internet in a crisis (see, PRN, 4/6/98, p. 2).
"This ended up being a person review and it should have been a product review," says Richard Edelman. "We were really taken aback by this piece."
The software helps companies manage a crisis through Internet technology but Joseph simply saw it as a revenue stream for Edelman instead of a needed communications tool. Companies have been battered for failing to inform key audiences in a timely fashion when a plane goes down or a discrimination suit rears its ugly head and Edelman, while seeking revenue, of course, also seems to be addressing a need.
In the end, Edelman certainly realizes it ignored the cardinal rule of PR, which is to make sure your spokesperson is the best candidate for the job. But we see it as another illustration of how the media misunderstands the role of PR:
Never mind that Fortune 500s rely on this kind of tracking everyday.
Never mind that the policy had been in place since the early 1990s and many major corporations still adhere to similar requirements. (Edelman, N.Y., 212/768-0550; D.C., 202/371-0200; Microsoft, Jim Cullinan, 425/882-8080)
The Proposal They're Ranting About...
- The key audience is state attorneys general.
- The campaign, if approved, would be waged in 12 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, with key consultants from those areas coordinating media efforts.
- It would include generating stories around how Microsoft is empowering kids through education.
- And it would also involve placing stories about consumer opinion.