A quarter century of lessons learned working in the public relations world

Aquartercenturyoflessonslearnedworkinginthepublicrelationsworld

@BobPickard

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Consultant,Hill&Knowlton@Toronto

I began my PR career when my girlfriend got me a job §  PRs should possess and maintain a personal database §  ‘Connecting the dots’ between people and being a

proactive networking catalyst for offline-offline relationships is a precious public relations aptitude

§  Those contacts will determine the speed and extent of your career rise through the industry ranks

§  The ideal time to communicate with connections is when you don’t actually want something from them

§  I agree with those who say: PR = ‘public relationships’

SeniorConsultant,Hill&Knowlton@Toronto

Attach to a signature account to shine right from the start §  Client money fills your timesheet by purchasing your

hours (and make no mistake, your PR ‘product’ is your time spent doing communications activities for clients)

§  Often you don’t choose which account to start with (my first one was a scary sounding chemical company)

§  A small client can showcase your big skills to many §  Every firm is a micro-economy, so inside awareness of

your capability is key to drive demand for your time (the quality and scarcity of which creates your value)

AccountManager,Hill&Knowlton@Toronto

I went for client assignments in Brazil and Korea §  Many people in the PR world say that they are ‘global’

practitioners; alas, the vast majority have exclusively worked in one market, and only very few have actually lived overseas (which is a profoundly deeper educational experience than just visiting as a business traveler)

§  Putting your hand up early and often for international client assignments helps people see you through a global lens – and aids you getting picked for overseas junkets

§  International work stimulates rare transfer opportunities

VicePresident,Hill&Knowlton@Toronto

I ran the new tech practice – and the Microsoft account §  The application of new technology to PR helps you

communicate most effectively – and impressively §  Theoretical understanding is not enough (look at how

many senior PR executives still give speeches about social media who are totally lame online for example)

§  Rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty gives you a valuable digital grasp which eludes many

§  Be an early adopter and be seen as avant-garde (you are in the image business, which starts with your own)

SVPandFounder,Environics@Toronto

I left H&K to co-found Environics Communications Inc. §  It’s nice to make a big salary (which is reliable and

stable), but if you think clients would agree you are one of the best at the craft, then ownership is the way to go

§  If you are right, then money ‘tangibles’ can be superior but the ‘intangible’ psych benefits are even better

§  No more taking orders from often mediocre bosses who might use you as a tool for their own career gain

§  Having something to prove is supremely motivating §  Morale soars when the former firm makes legal threats

SVPandFounder,Environics@Toronto

Environics quickly became one of Canada’s top PR firms §  ‘Birds of a feather flock together’ and so we created a

magnetic rallying point to attract the best talent §  Within the PR industry, even with career ‘ups’ and

‘downs,’ most people know who the ‘top guns’ are… §  The best team does the highest quality work, is able to

charge the most money, creates the most profits §  The most successful firms don’t lower hiring standards §  Churn is a constant in professional services but it’s much

easier to hack when everyone on the team is an all-star

EVP&GM,Environics@Stamford,CT,USA

I co-founded & led the first Canadian PR firm in America §  Challenging your clients with unlikely and incongruous

ideas can create transformative chances, as my partner (and early mentor) Bruce MacLellan and I did here

§  After the new North American Free Trade Agreement, a new class of visas was created for cross-border business-builder executives, so we took the continental chance

§  The best part about choosing career risks when you are young is that it’s exhilarating and seemingly risk-free

§  Just fitting in and doing ‘same, same, same’ is so boring!


I needed to drop our biggest client because we learned they wanted to issue deliberately false news releases… §  Even though all our jobs depended on that money, we

needed to walk away from the account for ethical reasons §  I greatly respected the American employees who

courageously joined the company and stuck with it §  We replaced all the lost money within months through a

uniting experience that brought the team together §  There aren’t many outright liars in PR, but prevarication

abounds, so it’s important to stand apart – and above

Domainexpertisematters


I focused the US business on emerging technologies during the go-go days of the ‘Internet 1.0’ revolution §  There has always been a trend towards creeping

generalization within PR firms where professionals become ‘jacks of all trades and masters of none’

§  While clients do want versatile people who can adapt to change, they place a premium on people with deep domain experience in different sectors and services

§  Domain expertise is usually one client project away and can be amassed and leveraged astonishingly fast


I discovered that clients will always finance top quality §  Our American operation grew at an explosive pace; our

new clients told us that because we were the ‘new kid in town,’ they took a chance on us as so many of the incumbent firms did crap work at high prices

§  What I have since learned – in a lucky career serving clients across 20 markets – is that there is no country where clients are not prepared to pay for the highest quality professional public relations consulting

§  A reputation for ‘certainty of positive outcome’ = growth


I sold my shares in the firm to the other partners §  It was probably fortunate and favorable timing to sell my

stock just before the tech bubble burst that year §  I was too fanatical about my work and got ‘burned out’ §  This experience taught me that I’m not invincible and that

if you aren’t happy or healthy with what you are doing, taking time for yourself makes a lot of sense

§  Thus I set out to travel, and drove to all 48 continental American states (I flew to Hawaii and took a cruise to Alaska in order to achieve my 50-state objective in a year)

ManagingDirector,H&KChina@Beijing*

I was offered the China leadership at my first firm §  Having traveled across the USA and internationally for a

year, I reckoned I was ready to get back into the game §  But this time, it would be across an ocean – in Asia §  I accepted an offer which was premised, among other

things, on my having full command of the operation §  When I arrived in China, it was obvious that the job

which I signed-up for didn’t exist as advertised, so I did not take office (*) and returned to North America

§  Too bad this didn’t work out, but it was best for all

ManagingDirector,EdelmanKorea@Seoul

Before telling staff what to think, I asked for their views §  After what happened at H&K, I called Richard Edelman,

(who I met in 1996 through his headhunter when Edelman was seeking a CEO of its Canadian operation)

§  I asked Richard if Edelman had the China top job open, but he said that Korea was available in the alternative

§  Having been to Seoul on business in the early 90s, I was aware of what Koreans can do and jumped at the chance

§  The first thing I did was sit down and listen to every employee, seeking their counsel to co-create success


In addition to content skills, oratory is essential in PR §  I was feeling blessed to have been able to attract/

assemble a ‘dream team’ of talent at Edelman Korea §  The colleagues who pulled in the most client custom –

and rose quickly in direct consequence – were typically the best writers and the best public speakers

§  If you think about it, a huge amount of PR money is won or lost during new business presentations in front of prospects, where the team who can command the room with convincing oratory tends to carry the day


Replacing yourself is a true test of professional character §  All too often, PR leaders will leave their jobs with no

successor in place – perhaps wanting to be the sole ‘star’ with no proximate rivals – and think the resulting ‘smoking crater’ will somehow build their reputation

§  The opposite is true: a proper succession shows leadership confidence and competence that peers respect

§  The most important thing I did in Seoul was identify and champion – and well orient – my Asian successor Hoh Kim, who I was happy to see surpass my accomplishments

President,EdelmanNorthAsia@Tokyo

Taking on the most difficult missions is the most satisfying §  Edelman had tried and failed to successfully address the

Japan market during earlier attempts (one of the few economies where they had to pull out previously)

§  I jumped at the chance to take on what sure felt like the hardest job in global PR (starting an office in Tokyo as a unilingual expatriate inside a daunting cultural context)

§  Through a 51-49 JV with the Daniel J. Edelman group, within two years we were able to build a Japanese team of 30 generating millions in profitable revenue


To be a good ‘global citizen,’ study up on the world §  I’ve always felt that there are aren’t enough smart people

in PR – and too many PRs are ignorant of world issues §  Multinational clients want practitioners who can ‘travel

well’, not just in terms of geography, but in terms of what is going on globally outside their place and profession

§  A working knowledge of trends in politics, economics, the arts and culture plus science and technology sells well

§  A subscription to The Economist is a good starting point §  Learning another language and ‘going there’ is vital


Use social networks to spotlight success internationally §  I found that many people in the firm paid much more

attention to information about the Tokyo office on the ‘new’ Facebook then compared to the company’s intranet

§  Inside global agencies, offices need to build a reputation for quality so that colleagues in other locations can confidently refer their clients to your local operation

§  Therefore, we used social networks to build image and develop a reputation for Japan & Korea inside the firm

§  ‘Inside-out’ content for digital storytelling is so important


Senior people can rise/stay high through ruthless behavior §  With a year of advance notice (as agreed in writing with

the worldwide CEO), I was to have been the leader of the global corporate practice and Chairman of Latin America & Canada starting in July 2008 based at Chicago

§  The person to whom I reported saw me as a rival, and misled me and his boss about finding my Japan successor

§  At his behest, just weeks prior to what was supposed to be my Chicago start date, I was abruptly told to stay in Tokyo

§  Given the $10 million in new fees from my turf (up from less than a million on my watch), this dishonorable betrayal precipitated my resignation on principle

Familybabybreak@Toronto

Continuous learning and relentless improvement is key §  I returned to Canada for what I thought would be just a

pit-stop, but then the global financial crisis struck §  It occurred to me that I had spent so many years ‘doing’ I

had not invested ample time in ‘thinking’ about my trade §  So I bought a big stack of books, from “Influence” by

Robert Cialdini to “Buyology” by Martin Lindstrom §  Suddenly I found myself knowledgeable about the

psychology of persuasion, neuro-marketing, and digital storytelling – and shared insights on social media

§  I tested out new themes speaking on campus to PR classes, and sourced many ideas from the students

CEO,Burson-MarstellerAsia-Pacific@Singapore

Make sure the job is a good fit with compatible outlook §  I was offered two jobs based in Singapore: one by F-H and

the other with B-M (the latter being a much bigger role) §  I had heard a lot about Mark Penn’s reputation, but was

reeled-in by this intriguing pollster heading up a PR firm §  It was quickly clear after taking the job why my

predecessor (& his predecessor) could not abide him §  Most of what we said at Edelman about B-M was true: the

firm no longer what it was, a living museum to its glorious founder, stodgy and slow with a baleful bureaucracy


Teaching old dogs new tricks can be very challenging §  At Edelman I had become proficient at social media and

could see then that digital mastery is the future of PR §  At B-M there was push-back from a dinosaur ‘old guard’

who did not then grasp digital and were fearful of change §  I hired a number of Edelman people and Edelman alumni

to try and shake things up, but the cultures did not mix §  The infamous CEO and I had a toxic relationship; he

meddled constantly and his henchmen sowed discord §  The firm’s US-centrism was deeply demoralizing in Asia


Leave while the getting is good after things go south §  It was clear to me the job would never work out, especially

when I saw the amateur, analog, and inept handling of the crisis which arose when B-M’s ‘smear campaign’ work for Facebook against Google in the US became public

§  I was offered the Asia-Pacific CEO job at a rival global agency (which suddenly fell through at the last-minute)

§  My team and I had dramatically increased the revenue/profits of the firm in Asia (2010-11), but especially with global accounts retreating, the writing was on the wall...

On12monthgardenleave@Singapore

Embrace opportunities to get healthy and stay that way §  After I left B-M in January, I was on garden leave and

needed to observe a one-year non-competition agreement §  I sent Sir Martin Sorrell an email asking for a waiver, but

he was quick to personally respond to decline my request §  At this point I knew I would be joining Lord Chadlington

at Huntsworth as his Asia chief working with Blue Focus §  I spent the year travelling across Asia meeting PR firm

leaders, but much of the time I was working out in a gym and running in Singapore’s spectacular botanic gardens

Chairman,HuntsworthAsia-Pacific@Singapore

In the PR trade we’re supposed to be good at publicity §  I was recruited to build a new PR platform for

Huntsworth in Asia-Pacific, which was to have been financed via a joint-venture operated with Blue Focus

§  However, Lord Chadlington elected to retire as global CEO a few months later, and the JV was mothballed

§  Therefore, with no war-chest with which to expand, I spent much of the year in ‘marketing mode’ with media appearances (e.g. BBC, CCTV, Channel News Asia, etc.)

§  The ability create public awareness a core PR skill

Chairman,HuntsworthAsia-Pacific@Singapore

Working with diverse colleagues & working with friends §  I’m not great at lots of things, yet I’m a good recruiter §  My Huntsworth experience was disappointing, but a

highlight was helping bring in Chris Tang as Asia CEO §  PR is too Western-centric where firms suffer from

outdated stereotypes – Asian leaders are not championed and Asia is poorly understood at HQ (Asians absent there)

§  Chris, an Australian born in China, was an exciting Asian PR partner who is also a ‘friend for life;’ we didn’t have many resources to build with, but we had each other

Principalof(newco),launchingsoon@Toronto

Applying everything I have learned so far to a new firm §  I have returned to my home country, which is a mature

and sophisticated yet ‘same old’ PR market lacking fizz §  There are many PR opportunities in Canada and digital

technology means world clients can be served via Toronto §  I have seen in my career the power of good leaders to

improve society and the ability of bad ones to harm it §  Communication is an increasingly vital skill for all

leaders, and now social media is key to communication §  Thus my partners and I are creating a new firm – TBA!

Principalof(newco),launchingsoon@Toronto

§  If you find yourself in a situation where you have great clients, an amazing boss, wonderful peers and super subordinates – that is your PR sweet spot so don’t move!

§  Believe in your firm, but don’t drink the Kool Aid and lose perspective by becoming pretentious (even if you are #1)

§  Never allow yourself to become one of those executives who is too senior to directly deal with clients or media

§  PR is a young person’s trade, so you must keep current §  Money drives the business; meaning motivates the team §  Remember: it’s not about you; it’s about your clients!

Leadership & Management

A quarter century of lessons learned working in the public relations world