Day: January 14, 2004

Every industry needs effective crisis communications plans and the US BSE scare is illustrating the importance of learning from history and the difficulty in managing a crisis in a highly fragmented market ecology.

Following on from the post on Tuesday, Business 2.0 has a very interesting story on the BSE scare that looks at how the various industry parties from the US Dept. of Agriculture to the Fast Food outlets are handling the scare.

Of course the UK Beef industry has been dealing with this issue for some considerable time and their experience provides a useful reference point for the US industry. In particular the biggest mistakes they made. It’s a great example of how all PR people should learn the lessons of the past so as not to make the same mistakes in the future.

Thanks to Laura Goldberg for the link.

You have to take notice when the man responsible for many of the world’s largest PR agencies gives his view on the business.  Sir Martin Sorrell is the CEO of WPP the marketing group that owns amongst others Burson Marsteller, Hill & Knowlton, Cohn & Wolfe and Ogilvy PR.  He recently gave an interview to PR Week on what’s in store for 2004.

Sorrell on the outlook for 2004:

“We had high hopes, following the recession in the late 1980s and early 1990s, that PR, because it had become more specialized, would be insulated. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I’m not clever enough to figure out why. It may have to do with the fact that PR – a lot of my colleagues get very upset when I say this – is less global”

Sorrell on what’s important for the PR agency business:

“Focus is important. What has tended to happen is that these businesses have become too big and too sprawling. You can see that through some of the consolidations that have taken place. I’m not just talking about public relations here, but also advertising and design, all of the consolidations I have seen.”

Sorrell on what he’s like to see from his PR brands in 2004:

“More focus, less dilution. More specialization. I still think if we know more about a topic, we will succeed. I think it’s organization. Having fewer, better people at the top, and bringing in better young people who can do the implementation and learn the business over time.”

Whilst the interview obviously drives the agenda for the consolidated PR super groups, it’s interesting to see what the big boys are thinking.

 Jeremy Pepper shares his views on what’s in store for PR in 2004.

 Colin McKay has some interesting thoughts on the issues surrounding the BSE (and SARS) crisis (and its similarities to Jaws – the film 🙂

“The first death is swift, savage and out of the blue. Public officials blame it on a fluke. They predict a speedy and inexpensive resolution. When more deaths occur, the officials shift to denial and damage control. They’re concerned about bad publicity, how it will hurt tourism and trade. The menace suddenly halts and the officials rejoice: “Everything will soon be back to normal,” they say. Then the deaths start happening again … “

 Elizabeth Albrycht points to an interesting story on how the US Navy is looking at blogs as a real-time collaborative tool for teams in different locations (and different organizations).

 I’ve been reading the B2B Lead Generation blog for quite some time and it is an interesting read for anyone concerned with the business of delivering quality leads for the salesforce.

 Trevor Cook believes that employee communications should be at the top of every PR person’s priorities for 2004.

“Employee communications often get the most desultory treatment in organisations falling well behind customer, media, investor and government relations in terms of strategic focus and resources. Yet a strong case can be made for putting employees at the top of our priorities.”