Given that the PR terrain is being dotted with more and more mergers and acquisitions (holding and parent companies such as WPP, Omnicom & Shandwick now own many of the major PR brands - Hill & Knowlton, Ketchum and Golin/Harris, respectively) we thought this a perfect time to give you the inside scoop on how you should proceed during mergers.
PR NEWS turned to Peter B. Kates, coordinator of advertising and PR for HealthCarePlan, a nonprofit HMO based in Buffalo, N.Y.
His employer's HMO is currently merging with two other HMOs: Independent Health (Buffalo) and PHP (Syracuse).
Here, Kates equips you with some survival tips for surviving - and thriving - during these competitive times:
1. Make sure you're brought in early in the process: That's usually not your decision but if upper management has faith and trust in you, they'll bring you in. Remember, you build that faith and trust with day-to-day work - by managing small crises, giving valuable advice and showing you can keep a secret.
2. Appear composed, professional and worthy of being a grown-up at the "table." Your first merger, or your next merger, could be a multi-million, if not multi-billion-dollar deal. You'll find yourself sitting with the CEOs and lawyers and high-priced consultants and asking: "Do they really want my advice?" The reality is that you do belong there and your input is important. As a PR pro, you have skills that others in the room don't have: you know the media and their wants and needs. And you know how the story will, or should, play.
3. You may be working with former rivals on a communications or PR team so check your ego at the door. By their very nature, mergers spread fear and apprehension through an organization. Forget about worrying where you'll fall in the new merged company. Upper management must know that you are above all the posturing and that you can be "an island of stability."
4. If you don't have an office with a door, request one and build a "war room" - you'll need the privacy. You'll likely be privy to information others shouldn't see so make sure your room has a printer, fax and speaker phone.
5. Don't be afraid to beg, borrow and steal. Scan every newspaper, magazine and professional journal for stories about mergers and clip the articles and keep them in a file. Study the coverage. Analyze the media biases. Read and highlight all the quotes so you can find them at a glance. There will be verbiage you can use in your releases, your testimony and in communications pieces to your key audiences.
6. Follow other stories in the news so that you'll know with whom you'll be sharing space on Page One. Two days before our announcement, newsrooms started to call for confirmation on merger rumors. These calls stopped the moment the Timothy McVeigh/Oklahoma City Bombing verdict was announced.
7. Write one main message, the definitive text of what is happening and why. Make that the first thing you do. Get it approved by the CEOs, the lawyers and the consultants. That message will be your basis script for all future pieces.
8. Find a fulfillment house you can depend on. You'll need to coordinate mail drops and delivery dates so that your employees learn about the merger or acquisition before the general public.
9. Make sure your vendors all sign a confidentiality agreement that has consequences for leaking information; and
10. Stay healthy - get plenty of sleep and make sure you don't work through too many meals.
Peter Kates can be reached at 716/847-1480.