Kenneth D. Makovsky, president of international PR firm Makovsky & Company, recently spoke at the Belgian National Public Relations Conference about his predictions for PR going into the millennium. He is founder and past president of IPREX, a corporation of PR firms in 53 cities and 19 countries. Agencies leverage their business capabilities by cross-servicing clients (when a firm needs to tap additional expertise in a global market, it can call on a member agency).
Makovsky is well-known for his expertise. He was a finalist for Inc. magazine's "Entrepreneur of the Year" award and was named "Outstanding Communicator of the Year" by
Women in Communications. Makovsky & Company is a $7.2 million agency headquartered in New York whose client list includes Chase Bank, GT Interactive and pharmaceutical giant Parke-Davis.
PR NEWS spoke with Makovsky about his remarks in Belgium and the nuances of international PR.
PRN: Your firm has received a laundry list of industry honors. Tell me from a strategic perspective what makes your agency different from others.
Makovsky: Our strategic ability. You can see it in the kind of people that we hire for our leadership positions as well as in the way we deal with clients and prospects. Many leaders here are either Phi Beta Kappa, have law degrees or MBAs, or have graduated Magna Cum Laude. They're smart and they relate to the strategic challenges clients are facing. Their strategic skills are further enhanced because they have worked their way up the ladder in the individual disciplines where we are focused: technology, health, financial and professional services, and investor relations. Each knows the category he or she leads intimately, so clients recognize the value of our strategic counsel.
For example, John Lovallo, who heads our IR practice, originally had his own portfolio management firm, sold it and went to Morgen Walke before joining us. He was hired in 1996 and was later named head of the group. Strategic thinking is inherent in portfolio management where understanding market plays is essential. He has been successful in transferring his strategic skills to IR.
We also ask our clients to rate our strategic abilities through our "QC" program, a client performance barometer. This program is based on clients evaluating our performance once or twice a year in a questionnaire we send them and that is followed up by a live discussion. Another aspect of this program is our "retention calls" - our vice-chairman calls clients three times a year to get an evaluation of the value-added strategic contributions of our team. Clients often comment positively about our group leaders' strategic abilities. We also recognize our employees' creative contributions as well as their strategic skills. We have just instituted a program called "T.H.IN.C." which stands for "Top Honors In Creativity." We give awards to people who come up with creative and strategic ideas who otherwise might not get singled out for company-wide recognition.
PRN: Let's talk a little about your trip to Belgium - can you highlight some differences between what you believe Belgian PR professionals are facing, versus practitioners in the U.S. ?
Makovsky: I believe we are all facing major shifts brought about by three trends: "Atomizing," the increasing fractionation of the media, the public and the investment community. Things are happening faster here in this area than in Belgium or the rest of Europe, and thus the strategies we employ to deal with this fractionation right now are different; "Avalanching," the tidal wave of mega-mergers which is affecting the entire world; and "Iconizing," the drive to create a human corporate icon or the CEO-branded company. Iconizing is an American rather than a European trend: in Europe the brand image is placed more on the corporation as a whole rather than the CEO.
PRN: Do you think firms in Europe are facing the same kinds of issues - ROI and measurement for one, M&As for another? I've heard from some pros that Europe is still behind the curve when it comes to some of the strides that have been made in the U.S.
Makovsky: I can only tell you that we have some links with agencies in Europe that I think are really advanced in integrated communications. Our partner firm, Bikker Communicate, in Rotterdam, is pretty sophisticated and looks at client problems holistically, applying what tools that are needed. They offer a range of digital communications services, research, direct response and advertising in addition to PR and employee communications.
M&As are producing spectacular opportunities for public relations on both continents, and the local independent firm with international alliances offering multiple services can be a very powerful force as mega-merged corporations, bigger than some nations, build reputations locally. Two professors at the University of Maryland - Dozier & Grunig - have produced a superb methodology on ROI on PR which more companies need to pay attention to.
PRN: Would you consider being acquired?
Makovsky: I think that there still is room for enormous development as an independent, and that is our intended course. But I will say what a client of mine once said: "I always answer all my calls. You never know when Santa Claus will be on the other end of the line!" (Makovsky, 212/508-9600)