Have you seen that bit on the Tonight Show where Jay Leno goes out into the streets of Burbank and asks someone walking down the street “What is Watergate?” and he gets a ridiculous response like “It’s a new water-theme park in the next town!” We all laugh, roll our eyes, muttering how anyone could be that dumb. You’d be surprised how little the average American knows or remembers about his or her own history. I was.
Why has it become so crucial for PR people to honor themselves and sit gazing knowingly at their navels? I’m sure you know: this long adhered-to tactic of talking about PR as if it’s The Most Important feat on earth.
Sure most journalists have had at least one negative experience with a PR professional. That’s a given. But there are a lot of corporate PR folks who have also had negative experiences with PR. The most common complaint I hear—and pretty often—is “Yeah, we need an agency, but the last one I worked with charged a fortune and didn’t do anything.” Then there’s the chirpy “We’re happy with our agency; we don’t want to consider that there are other activities we could be doing to drive our objectives.” Or: Just no!