Eighteen months ago, Richard Edelman saw the future. And he knew that the convergence of PR and the World Wide Web was on its way.
At that time, Edelman Worldwide, one of the largest PR agencies in the United States and abroad, had been approached by only a handful of its clients inquiring about online PR campaigns. One of them was Butterball, the market master of turkeys, which had turned to Edelman to develop a Butterball Web site where food aficionados could find a URL to call home. It is now almost two years later and Edelman has become one of the PR agencies whose marketing campaigns can now include interactive elements handled in-house.
One of Edelman's most recent ventures is the popular http://www.bacardi.com site, created for Bacardi-Martini U.S.A. and launched Nov. 15. At the online Club Bacardi hangout, visitors can email bartenders questions; follow the goings-on of regular bar goers; or turn to the drink wizard to find out what drinks they can make with ingredients they have at home.
Competing in cyberspace is the wave of the future for PR, according to Edelman Internet project manager Jennifer Harris who worked on the Bacardi site. Harris wouldn't reveal what Bacardi paid for the site but said it's in line with Forrester Research findings that promotional sites with branded messages cost about $300,000.
Helping With Crisis Communications
The Internet is allowing companies to implement crisis communication plans to reach their audiences - the press and their customers - more quickly and more easily. In fact, Edelman developed a site for juice company Odwalla after E. coli was found in its apple juice, and an informational site for Primitine Mist, distributing information about the proper usage of the medication after model Nikki Taylor's sister died after using the product. (Taylor hadn't been diagnosed with asthma but still used the inhalor.)
PR on the Web
Edelman Interactive Solutions (EIS), which is co-headquartered in New York and Chicago, was formed in 1995. It launched its first two Web sites when it developed the Butterball site and a Land O' Lakes site.
"Those in management and those with an interest in what was happening online brainstormed the idea of having an interactive department to stay on the edge of technology," Harris said. "We knew that the World Wide Web was a new medium and would become an extension of what PR practitioners would do for their clients."
Edelman advises against starting interactive PR programs from scratch. Instead, executives and managers have better luck extending existing PR brand campaigns into the online world without abandoning longer-established approaches.
In its first online venture, Harris said what Edelman decided to do for Butterball was take the 16-year-old, 1-800 Talkline (callers ask turkey questions) to develop an online program. The plan was to break new ground by using a PR arm - the talkline - that would become part of a corporate Web site eventually netting millions of hits.
Since its initiation into online PR/marketing campaigns, EIS has headed 14 Web site developments for its clients. Early on, Harris said, it cost about $20,000 to conceive and implement a site, but that number has ballooned to over $300,000.
"You can see the development of our sites and of our staff. In the beginning, on the Web, graphics were flat and sites didn't have as much funtionality.
Today, we have about 8-10 people working on the sites - everyone from graphic artists and those who are HTML-savvy to those who are technical consultants."
Another PR firm, Erin Edwards, based in Glen Head, N.Y., has also experienced an increase in clients who want Web-integrated markeing programs, according to Edward Brennan, president. (Erin Edwards also offers interactive and video promotion and printing services.)
"An online campaign is no longer just a special area where some companies are heading," Brennan said. "They're becoming an extension, a component of what we do when we develop an overall program."
Brennan said that when his company first began developing online projects several years ago, staffers worked on about four or five sites. Today, they have developed, or are in the process of developing, about 30 sites.
And Brennan said the sites have evolved considerably from those of yesteryear. Today's sites use elements such as animated features, enhanced site maps; downloadable movies, or links to rebates or prizes. They also are easier to navigate and are more aesthetically pleasing.
"Companies are realizing that it's just another place to reach people," Brennan added. "And we're beginning to see sites that boast consistent, high-quality, branded images."
Harris and Brennan both say the future of PR will be tied to what happens on the World Wide Web and how adept PR practitioners become at using the Internet's interactive features without being overwhelmed. (Edelman, Jennifer Harris, 312/240-2623; Erin Edwards, Edward Brennan, 516/674-2472)