How can advertising agencies and PR companies better compliment each other in realizing their objectives?
It’s not always easy to work hand in hand together, but it is much more effective—from a marketing viewpoint—to have advertising and PR work together. The recent Dow Chemical campaign is a good example of this; with the “Human Element” theme. We were able to extend the reach of the paid media with excellent programs that dramatically illustrated this. Advertising agencies and PR firms have to meet with their mutual client right from the beginning to plan this and not wait until one or the other meets with the client separately. Do you have any advice for budding PR professionals and fellow veterans on how to avoid unnecessary gaffes? We try to tell our people to “fight” for a good idea when they know it’s the right thing for a client. When clients engage us it’s because they want good ideas and advice for their organizations, and we should never be “yes” people because we want to always agree with the client. We want our people to be curious and probing to be effective in this business
