The "Dummies" series of books from publisher IDG has become so popular that it was inevitable we would see an installment dumb-ifying the public relations profession (after
all, you can get "Bird Watching for Dummies," "Consulting for Dummies," and even "Feng Shui for Dummies.") Eric Yaverbaum, president and co-founder of Jericho Communications in New
York City, recently wrote the "Public Relations Kit for Dummies." We recently caught up with him to chat about his book and his more than 20 years in the industry.
PRN: Who is this book for? Do you really think PR people are
dummies?
Yaverbaum: Not at all.I wanted to write a book for the Fortune
1,000 crowd, but that's not the audience of the "Dummies" series. IDG books
wanted me to target PR on the mom-and-pop level, a "PR in a box" guide for businesses
who can't afford to hire an agency as well as professionals new to the industry.
But that's not to say that larger players in the PR and business world can't
learn something from it. There's a recent reader review at Amazon.com from someone
working in communications at a Fortune 1,000 company who wrote, "it's
amazing to see how much [my company] doesn't know about PR."
PRN: Have people in the upper echelons of the industry found
the book a little condescending?
Yaverbaum: Half of the higher-ups we pitch are impressed, the other half
are very offended. One [PR firm] CEO loved the book so much he asked me to autograph
it for him. In the same day, the head of corporate communications of a large
company told us how insulted he was that we sent him this book. He told us "I've
been in this business 20 years, and I don't need this book."
PRN: How about an example from the book?
Yaverbaum:
Our client Cape Cod Potato Chips wanted us to try a unique sampling strategy,
beyond handing out bags outside of sporting events. This was around the time
that the last episode of "Seinfeld" was making news for several weeks, and we
realized that Cape Cod's demographic and that of the "show about nothing" shared
similar demographics. So we engineered a PR campaign that invited viewers to
send us "nothing," and in return they would get a free bag of potato chips.
We got thousands of empty envelopes and boxes, and a huge response from the press. The show's producers called us and asked if they could mention the campaign in a press
release.
PRN: We noticed that only five pages of "Public Relations
for Dummies" are devoted to crisis control - arguably the most important part
of corporate public relations but not as important to the mom-and-pops reading
the "dummies" series.
Yaverbaum: It's a huge part of my business. I originally wrote 55 pages
on crisis and had to trim it down to five. But I believe if you're really good
at getting your messages out, there's no such thing as crisis -- just opportunity.
A few years ago a consumer reporter called me to ask me if I would talk about
one of my clients. He also said the story would not be favorable. Turns
out that information about a campaign we did for Airwalk footwear was misreported
in the New York Daily News. We had hundreds of people calling the Better
Business Bureau to complain. I went on-camera and apologized, explaining how
our PR process worked and what went wrong. It turned into maybe the best piece
ever about my agency. I even got two clients out of it.
PRN: What's the most important stuff about crisis management
that didn't make it into the book?
Yaverbaum: The biggest mistake our corporate clients make is not having
a crisis plan in place, some set of procedures that will help you act honestly
and swiftly. Years ago the CEO of Tylenol was told that the mother of a victim
of the company's product-tamperings would never forgive him. His response was,
" I would feel the same way if I was her." [Former New York City Mayor] Ed Koch
screwed up on plenty of issues - and he was also the first to say "I've made
a mistake and this is what I've learned from it." When someone is honest they
become human in the eyes of the public. When they put their hand up in front
of the camera and say "no comment," they are instantly guilty for whatever they
have been accused of.
PRN: What about technology? We've reported in past issues
of PR News that the PR industry has been slow to adopt the latest and greatest
in communications technologies. You also don't spend too much time on technology
in your book.
Yaverbaum: Technology is a moving target. When I wrote the chapter on technology
I felt it should have been longer. In retrospect I see that half of what I wrote
about it is already antiquated. It's changing way too quickly.
PRN: In this rapid-fire business world, what's your best tried-and-true
advice you could give?
Yaverbaum: I think the best thing PR professionals, large and small,
can do is to map out objectives with their clients. Put down on paper that these
are the objectives we're going to hit six months, or one year from now. Let's
check back and see if we've met them in six months. This guarantees that I don't
lose my job and guarantees my client that I have a clear understanding of where
he or she is going. If you make someone a bottomline buck, they will keep you.
"PR for Dummies" doesn't spend too much time on technology, so we asked
Yaverbaum to reveal his savviest uses of the Web.
Yaverbaum: One of the most successful things I've done recently is to send
out online videos about our company. We've also had a lot of luck with electronic
newsletters to get our name in the press. Half of everything we do is using
e-mail, our pitches and our communications [with clients]. The other half relies
on voice contact because that's still an important part of building a relationship.