If ever there was a time to accentuate the positive, this is it - at least as far as the accounting industry is concerned.
In the wake of the Enron/Andersen debacle, and faced with a rising tide of corporate accounting maladies, the nation's number-crunchers are increasingly turning to PR
practitioners to help salvage their industry's tarnished reputation. "It has obviously called into question the entire industry's credibility and reliability," says Larry Parnell,
director of global public relations at Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young.
The international-level scandals have touched not only the mega-corporations, but also smaller firms and the PR agencies that support their efforts. "This has damaged the
reputation and credibility of all accountants," says Michael Cherenson, a VP at The Cherenson Group.
Expert Advice
Accounting firms and their PR teams have largely chosen to resuscitate their image by focusing on the expertise of their employees.
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, for instance, has launched an "Image Enhancement Campaign" complete with TV, radio and print ads, sporting tag lines
like, "You don't need a crystal ball to see the future of your business. You just need a CPA." The association is backing up those ads with a coordinated public relations effort
that takes much the same tone, while also confronting the growing sense of public distrust.
"The messages we are sending out today are that we acknowledge that change is necessary and that we are going to do everything as a profession to agree to changes that will
lead to the results that in turn will lead to restoring investor confidence," says Geoffrey Pickard, VP communications and PR at AICPA. Along those lines, the association has held
numerous editorial-board meetings with the media since the beginning of the year and has fielded some 1,500 media calls, which have led to hundreds of print and broadcast
interviews.
The nation's accounting firms meanwhile have shied away from such acts of self-defense, preferring instead to emphasize their unique and proven skills.
"It is not about getting a full-page article on that firm. It is all about getting them quoted as the experts," Cherenson explains. In order to bolster that perception,
"accounting firms now have to go the extra mile, for example, by developing collateral materials that explain how they work, which is something people simply took for granted in
the past. They may develop materials that explain their code of ethics and their operating procedures. They may get involved with civic groups, developing a speakers' bureau of
people who can talk about the role of the accounting profession in the community."
A past national chairman of the PRSA, Samuel Waltz Jr. backs this approach, but he cautions accountants to get their own houses in order before going out to talk to the Rotary
Clubs and Chambers of Commerce.
"You first want them to take a good look in the mirror and ask whether they are in good shape. And if they are not in good shape, they need to deal with that ethics problem"
before beginning any PR effort, says Waltz, president of Sam Waltz & Associates Business & Communications Counsel.
"Then we would advise an aggressive ethics education program within the firm," he says. "Now you have created the moral high ground around your own ethics. So, when the
industry is under fire, you have a way from the PR perspective to differentiate yourself."
Taking the Heat
It may be too late to do that kind of work in the big national firms, the ones presently under fire. At Ernst & Young, Larry Parnell has been in the hot seat for months
now, and things are only getting hotter. "From a direct media-relations perspective, the tone and direction of a lot of these stories are challenging," he says. "There is a
presumption of guilt, frankly. Any time something happens, whether it is a disclosure or an accounting irregularity, it reinforces these credibility issues."
And that is not the worst of it. "The biggest problem we have is that there are probably eight to 10 key reporters at the major media who have followed the industry for years
and who have some perspective on accounting and financial reporting," he explains. But with the sudden increase in coverage, reporters who may have been covering high-tech last
month have suddenly been added to the mix covering complex business and accounting issues which they may not fully grasp.
Outside the United States, the firm has held some half-day and full-day sessions with these newcomers, "to explain, away from the heat of the story, what the issues and
challenges are that are going on," says Parnell. He may try the same tactic stateside once he is convinced that enough reporters will be willing to devote the time to such an
exercise.
In the meantime, Parnell says big accounting firms do best when they can sit reporters down with the key executives. The trouble is, those accounting executives are not always
keen to chat. "This is not a group that is historically used to being in the spotlight and dealing with the media," he explains. "As auditors, you don't go out and talk about what
you are doing for your client. You lay low and stay behind the scenes."
In order to overcome accountants' reluctance to offer face time, "you have to keep your own perspective and remember your training on crisis management," he says. "When the
crisis is over, people will remember you as much for how you conducted yourself during the crisis as for the specifics of the crisis itself. I talk about that [in meetings with
executives], and I talk about how important it is for everyone to be active and to speak out on the issues."
(Contacts: Larry Parnell, 212/773-3000, [email protected]; Michael Cherenson, 973/992-7800; Samuel Waltz Jr., 302/777-4774;
Geoffrey Pickard, 212/596-6200)
Choose Your Battles
When the media called Long Island, N.Y., accounting firm Weisberg, Molé, Krantz & Goldfarb, the firm's director of marketing, Jon Lieb, opted not to comment on the Andersen
mess. "I didn't feel it was appropriate for the firm to get involved," he explains.
But when TheStreet.com wanted to do a story on efforts by Andersen clients to change auditors, Lieb offered up his boss as a spokesman.
"We did decide to talk for that one, because it allowed our managing partner to talk about the positive nature of the event, in so far as the death of Andersen could present a
fresh start for many of Andersen's clients," he explains. "There is a sense that a new set of eyes could provide a new insight into how they operate, and I would rather have my
managing partner talking in that vein than pointing a finger at Andersen."
Lieb is not alone: Many in accounting-industry PR say their goal is to accentuate the positive these days instead of helping the media play up the negative implications of the
Andersen crisis.
(Jon Lieb, 516/933-3800, [email protected])