Good public affairs basically hinges on one thing: balance.
The task for PR firms heading public affairs programs is that they must become immersed enough in the issues they lobby for - or the communities where the clients they represent are based - in order to be seen as experts. But the challenge is they have to know where to draw the line so they're not viewed as biased spin doctors.
"We present information to educate, not to influence," said Michael Kempner, president and CEO of MWW/Strategic Communications Inc., East Rutherford, N.J., which two weeks ago entered into an agreement with three clients it will represent on Capitol Hill during the 1997 budget process. MWW will lobby on behalf of its clients for legislation dealing with student loans and during upcoming debates over the Higher Education Reauthorization Act.
The three clients MWW will represent are the Pittsburgh National Bank, which provides student loans nationwide; The Education Funding Services, Hyannis, Mass., a marketer of student loan programs; and BAC Education Finance, a division of BAC International Credit Corp. and a Federal Family Education Loan Program lender.
For anyone trying to master government and public affairs, it's a very tweaked style of PR that requires an unprecedented kind of industry immersion. Quite literally, it's tireless PR that's based on getting out information - not using well-manicured persuasion.
Even though some of the services MWW will provide for the three differ, the overall approach will be the same: "What we will do for these clients is put a face on these issues," said Kempner. This kind of strategic communication, Kempner and MWW Senior VP Jonathan Slade pointed out, is unique because it occurs in a kind of cloistered environment where professionals are under the microscope and challenged with having to stay up-to-date as issues unfold.
And for the three estimated $100,000-plus accounts, that means putting together a multi-faceted plan which involves:
- Conducting research on proposed cuts or changes;
- Forming strategies that can be easily altered;
- Preparing materials and gathering statistics;
- Forming alliances;
- Meeting with legislators and their staffers;
- Providing congressional testimony; and
- Implementing an educational campaign involving media relations and grassroots efforts - including identifying students who have benefited from student loans or could suffer from cuts.
For MWW, and for other companies dealing in public affairs, much of what transpires centers around community-flavored approaches. PR routes often involve community activism (like sponsoring public forums) and targeting regional journalists - versus buddying up to editors at major dailies and coming up with jazzy press kits.
For example, one facet of MWW's approach is likely to include getting op-ed pieces published in newspapers in college communities. And another tactic will certainly involve making elected officials aware of constituents who could be affected by new taxes or new student loan regulations.
The end result requires what Kempner called "good guy PR...This kind of PR is as American as mom and apple pie but it's different from other kinds of PR because there are many trying to influence a small number (i.e., legislators) versus a small number trying to influence many."
In public affairs, what's also key is seizing on the proper opportunity - as has been the case with GreenLight Marketing & Communications Inc. of Newport Beach, Calif. - to become a part of the very community you are targeting.
For less than a year, GreenLight has handled marketing and PR projects for the Calavo Growers of California, a produce cooperative whose audience is growers and buyers of the estimated $154 million Calavo avocado industry.
Through the years, Calavo has used several routes - including hosting public meetings - to educate and influence its target demographic.
But last year, GreenLight found another way to influence its audience when it publicized that Calavo donates avocados to the Orange County Zoo to feed a bear named Samson who was removed from the wild after dipping into too many area residents' backyard spas.
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Since Feburary 1996, Calavo has donated 25 pounds of avocados to the zoo on a weekly basis - all for Samson and for a way to become part of the public they devise PR plans for.
"This kind of PR is very different," said GreenLight VP Robert Mooers. "With this kind of PR, there is constant hand-holding and we want to be seen as advocates in a very tight community that's driven by integrity."
Like MWW, GreenLight's public affairs campaigns revolve around grassroots efforts. Because the communities where the growers live and where the avocado buyers are based are key to their public affairs efforts, "the rural media is one of our major focuses," said Mooers.
For instance, The Packer, a Lenexa, Ks., newspaper, ran a Jan. 27 story about GreenLight sending out postcards to buyers to remind them of the peak buying seasons.
And in another move, GreenLight planned a contest for a business couple to win a weekend to a Calavo "Mystery Grower's Ranch" as a way to kick off and publicize an industry convention for avocado growers.
"What's key in this kind of PR is citizenship. We don't want to come off as [being] the company because we want to be able to present information that has editorial value instead of pure promotional value," added Mooers.
"But at the same time, we want to be immersed enough in the business culture and the day-to-day issues and underlying currents affecting our client so that we can apply the needed level of PR. It is a fine line."
(MWW, Michael Kempner, 201/507-9500 and Jonathan Slade, 202/296-6222; GreenLight, Robert Mooers, 714/719-6400)