Richard, I agree with your last statement but also believe that clients need to be more educated about new emerging communication channels.

Some clients (possibly the majority) still believe that newspapers and TV are the only way to gain exposure or put a message across. It's up to PR pros to advise and educate to ensure a consistent message goes across all platforms.

To add a little extra to what you've already said, I believe we have to start incorporating content into mp3 players, video iPods and video games (if possible). Start using new online social media as tools to create customer evangelists and co-promoters similar to what Warner Music are doing with pop act The Veronicas. Creating moblogs and asking for customer participation.

There's no doubt that the media is fragmenting and will only continue to do so and it's no secret that newspaper circulations and TV views are decreasing while online continues to grow. Broadband levels are at an all time high and consumers are more tech savvy than ever. We’ve got to look at the past to predict the future. Ask ourselves, “what was the PR profession like before the Internet?” and then “what will it be like in 10 years time?”.

Richard,

It sounds like you’re thinking the future is micro-broadcast. You are chasing a very very long tail. By the time you catch it, it will be “minutia broadcast.” The bad news is, there’s no money in minutia. The good news is that if you make that mistake, no one will notice.

Better think in, not out.

Regards,

Brian Connolly
President
Furthermore, Inc.
http://wepublishing.com

Richard,

Interesting post as usual. It's good to see that you're thinking about these things.

Let me ask you a question.

What role does PR play in a world where the corporation is turned inside out by thousands of corporate employees are blogging and communicating directly to the customers?

Your post above talks about the need to deal with different shifting "media" channels (PC, mobile, newspaper, TV). But many of these channels are "controllable" because as PR professionals you can strongly influence how they present your clients' messages.

How do you control the message of the hydra of a multinational company with hundreds or thousands of bloggers writing in multiple languages?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,
Eric Mattson

Methodology must be shared in the online social arena where advertising, marketing and PR converge. The same measurement techniques used in online advertising and marketing to track and quantify user behavior online is of use to the practitioner in demonstrating bottom-line impact. However, the qualitative information produced by capturing the reaction to a message in a "blogad" or related feedback channel is an area where PR can be aggressive in shaping. If we are to maintain the essence of PR strategy -- in one respect, helping the bottom line without focusing on generating product/service lust, but trust and reputation instead -- then we must be clear on what we want to measure with these shared tools. Change in disposition toward Wal-Mart from a new blogad? Changed Web surfing behavior which favors a corporate blog, driven by a word-of-mouth (word-of-post?) initiative? Or perhaps measuring the increase in knowledge among aging Internet users about a new Medicare drug plan? All of the previous are measurable factors by using the same tools online ad/marketing professionals employ. Sticking to our guns will entail creating our own applications and desired measurement objectives, once the message has been crafted and adapted for new media.

Eric Hansen, Student:
Newhouse,
Syracuse University

It occurs to me that one response to the ongoing frationalization of media markets and the collapsing of the lines between media types (and devices, formats etc) is that many companies (likely in consultation with and perhaps in partnership with their pr firms) will start actively generating their own content that gets inserted into this flow of content to end users.

In many cases replacing other content from third parties.

In a small way, Honda has already been achieving this with a number of their very successful online ads - ads which were so compelling that people linked to them as content and referred others to them.

As the organizer of a conference on Networks (MeshForum - May 7-9 2006 in Chicago) I'm especially interested in how these emerging converations and dialogues, and the mixing/remixing of current networks will continue to evolve and change. At this year's MeshForum we'll hear from Robert Scoble and Shel Israel and we welcome other voices and perspectives.

Shannon

Richard,

after "mobile era" started, media and other channels for spreading information are and will be changed faster than we could emeaging.
I agree with You that PR need to consider this and prepare methods to use new channels as new tools.
But for PR is also very important to know that more tools we have more people need personal communication. That is why we need to think about how to reach web- or blog- communities but also other groups which will use diferent ways of communication.

Linas

It's important to remember the basics when considering new media technology. Getting the message through to the right people is important; knowing how to get it there (be it via cell phone, internet, intranet, sky writing, letter or the press)- well that IS also PR.

SD I absolutely share your commitment to rapid deployment of alternative tactics in PR to reach these emerging media formats. We need to allow co creation of content, using the Warner Music model on videos. You should watch me watching my 14 year old, using stupidvideos.com or my 10 year old sending me monkey mail with web content from Career Builders. I get it but wake up in the middle of the night thinking about what to do

What I am trying to say without eloquence
We need to provide video content that bloggers and others can customize and repurpose
We cannot just do, in effect, video press kits with prepackaged material that is just reused without creativity
We should cede control and gain credibility

My view on employee blogs
What a great way to get customer feedback
And to generate real connection to the corporation
Look at Robert Scoble at Microsoft
He has humanized that company, particularly in the developer community and in his opposition to certain corporate decisions, he has given himself a very credible platform

Eric thanks for taking the time to write back
At edelman there are now probably six frequent bloggers including Rubel Krempansky Gomes
We have employees blogging to our internal web site called infusion
I want to migrate this to our public site very soon
I believe in companies talking to their employees all of the time to allow employees to be informed advocates
More later I need to go to my daughter,s bball game

If people trust their peers most -- as you revealed in a recent episode of EARshot -- then the turf between classic advertising and classic pr is CORPORATE GENERATED MEDIA. It involves thinking beyond the press release, and beyond the blog.

As the success rate of new television programs proves, it not like the networks have a lock on creativity. And as the Jayson Blair and Rathergate scandals demonstrated, it's not like the mainstream media has a lock on integrity or authenticity.

Thinking beyond the press release means we need to stop thinking about how to pitch stories to reporters, and start thinking about how to tell interesting, compelling stories ourselves.

I'm no PR historian, but it sems to me PR was originally about public relations, not media relations. As the media grew in authority, it became about media relations. As the media wanes in power, and with a revolution in personal publishing making it just as easy for people to turn to others like themselves for information and opinions, the real opportunity as I see it is about using new media channels to empower and amplify the voices of brand evangelists.

Thinking beyond the blog means recognizing that while blogs are excellent tools for indivuals, they lack the flexibility and scope to handle interactive marketing programs that require a more complete web publishing platform.

Beyond blogs is the live web, where corporate communicators and marketers have the ability to oversee and program content online, as actively and agressively as CNN.com or nytimes.com, by transforming the static web presences into dynamic, digital conversations.

A podcast can be a program designed to promote a brand, product or service by empowering advocates to share their experiences with like minded consumers in a compelling, entertaining way, kind of like the podcast I do called On the Record...Online, which has been a more successful lead generation program for iPressroom than any other marketing initiative we've undertaken.

Good corporate gernated media will not be about products or services. It will about the people who use them and their shared experiences. Corporate generated media will be about leveraging the web, new media, email, RSS, search optimization, blogs, podcasts, measurement and reporting in coordination with offline tactics, but very differently.

Corporate generated media, the turf between classic advertising and classic PR, will about developing, producing and syndicating marketer driven programming that is every bit as compelling as American Idol or Dancing with the Stars, but only to the right audience, which will be qualified by the nature of the content itself. That is to say, it will be only be compelling to an audience that is also a prospective consumer to the organization that produces it.

I recently read Mr. Edelman's commentary on the unethical media relations conducted before and during the trial of Richard Scrushy. Since Scrushy's public relations person, Charlie Russell, claims to be an award-winning, accedited member of PRSA and its Counselor's Academy, are you considering any action? I am currently under contract with Preger, writing a book about public realtions for the accused and accusers.

Richard,

I believe you are spot on in your observations. The cellular industry is quickly traversing time and space to bring as much multi-media content as possible. Whether it is HBO or ESPN even the major record levels are moving fast to "get in". The caveat in all of this is generation Y, the prize. This generation is larger than the baby boomers with 190 billion dollars of spending power. By sheer numbers alone they can influence markets, they can resurrect companies and in turn obsolete companies by their purchasing decisions. Therefore companies are trying to "get in" with this generation because they are the barometer for everyone else. A great leveraging position would be getting into the multimedia mix via cellular technology. Generation Y is the biggest consumer and end user of these new products (according to mintel market research studies). This is one of the best ways to reach them and influence them in the market place. From a public relations standpoint if you can shape a positive image of your clients to this generation then you have the prospective of creating long-term loyal customers. I say move quickly if not you could end up like Kodak when digital film technology emerged and they could not transition their marketing strategy from film (the benchmark at the time) to digital (the clear & present future).

Djuan Smith

Project Manager,
Student: Executive MBA Emory University

Working in the Edelman affiliate company I am excited, that we're in the leading group of communication specialists. Blogs, virtual communities, changing target audiences and similar trends are realy the main issue nowadays. Nevertheless it is always a question of penetration. For example, as far we have approx. 30% internet penetration ratio in Lithuania. Such level decreeses the effectiveness of new tools and methodologies. Therefore I would add one important issue to the general excitement - we still need to look carefully at our target audiences and they should be the final criteria in our measurements

Liutauras Ulevičius,
Vilnius,
Lithuania

Hi Richard,

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I agree, it's an exciting time to be in the PR profession but at the
same time it's a little unsettling also.

I've been tracking Warner's online efforts for a few months now and
have to say they're embracing the Internet and Web2.0 like no other.
Take for example, the pop act, The Veronicas they're promoting at the
moment. Prior to their album launch they've been using a whole host
of online social media and user-generated media to build up hype for
the release of their album which was launched this month.

First of all setting up a website with branded content pushed down by
the label and social media created by the artists and their fans.
They created:

A Myspace page which has had a truly phenomenal amount of hits, links
and plays to of their songs.

A photo blog on TextAmerica where the artists were moblogging photos
up to the site and fans could comment and interact on each photo.

A 'Street Team' where fans can sign up and promote the artists in their area.

A Flickr page where fans can upload photos of the girls and tag them
under the name 'veronicas'.

A mobile phone site created by WINKsite which "glue together branded
content, ring tone partners, and audience generated social media into
a single portal and make it available to fans on their mobile phone."

A launch party where the artists video blogged the day of their album
release using the mobile photo uploader, Shozu and posted the video
directly from their phones to TextAmerica.

And finally, their fans took it upon themselves to create a dedicated
fan site which has various links to user generated media including a
'Vernonicas' style blog. I was a little suspicious in the beginning
regarding its authenticity but was quickly corrected by the fan who
created it when I made a post about it on my blog.

It seems Warner has really took the lead on this one. And it's not
only with these particular artists - they've recently done a deal with
Skype to sell popular music artists' songs as ring tones for Skype
phones.

On a side note, I've briefly chatted with the WINKsite founder, David
Harper about the plans he has in store for their mobile community, and
they're currently trying to incorporate audio and video into their
mobile sites. Very interesting! So-much-so, I've been toying with it
myself and created a mobile version of my blog. Pointing a phone's
browser at wap.prblogger.com takes you there.

To end this (rather long-winded email) I've included the sites at the
bottom of this page I referred to earlier. How this is relevant to
more 'mainstream' PR campaigns I'm not sure, but interesting
non-the-less.

Thanks again and kind regards,

Stephen

Richard,

Thanks for the prompt reply and your thoughts.

I agree with your take on Scoble's effect among the developer community.

But I think the more interesting effect on Microsoft's business will come from the thousands of other bloggers within the company.

Scoble (though still more approachable than Bill Gates) has almost become "mass media" whereas each of the more "niche" bloggers at the company may actually create stronger (more personal) bonds with smaller groups of customers and stakeholders. In addition, blogs make phenomenal learning tools for exploring an industry, writing better, and/or defining a software/product/design/company/marketing/etc. philosophy.

The challenge of having thousands of employees blogging is that corporate PR and management gives up a major element of control over their message. It would seem to demand a new level of education for all employees about customer service, sales, marketing and company strategy. It may also require new approaches to PR (policies, strategies, technologies, etc.) which is something I'd love your thoughts on.

Also, since you clearly believe in the value of blogging, I'm curious about something else. What percentage of Edelman's employees actively blog? I've run across a handful plus you've obviously just added Steve Rubel. But to truly understand the nature of the blogging and how it is changing communications, I feel one must participate. Does Edelman actively encourage all its employees to blog?

Thanks again for the reply.

Take care,
Eric Mattson

Mr. Edelman,

This is my first participation in your Blog, so I start by congratulating you for the quality of your blogging and for the mobilisation of so many intresting bloggers.

It seems that mass media are in fact declining and that we're shifting (as some have already wrote about) from e-pr to m-pr. But if we agree with McLuhan that "the medium is the message", then perhaps you agree with me that mobile means mostly on-time short information, quick response, not in-depth thinking about problems and simplification of opinions.

I'm inclined to think that the effects of these new media are altering the very nature of our publics. But while they immensely increase publics' mobilisation capabilities they also might be changing the nature of the social will that they produce: the opinion of the public.

Would love to hear your comments.
Thanks,
Joao Duarte
Lisbon's Superior School of Mass Communication and Media Arts

Shannon
Andrew Heyward of CBS News had an excellent concept Every company should consider itself a media company. Each company has stories that need to be told. If the company does not get out there, then others will tell the story--NGOs, dissident employees etc.
Without being pushy, could Rick Murray, head of WOM practice, be a speaker at your event?

ok at first blush your point is correct--McLuhan would argue that mobile phone dictates quick snapshot type of impression
but i am concerned that this superficial type of information overwhelms more substantive, significant coverage
and that the younger generation makes decisions based on emotion not fact
we need to make the cell phone also able to take substantive coverage in tolerable way thanks for reading my blog
obrigado!

Eric you are right on. Andrew Heyward, former president of CBS News said it well. Every corporation can be a media company because there are stories...about products, employees, social responsibility. You can self publish by empowering employees to blog etc etc.

I have asked the PRSA board to look at this case. Here is our problem. We are not licensed in same way as accountants or lawyers. I would like there to be at minimum a code of behavior that PR company CEOs will attest to...thereby opening up enforcement possibility. What do you think?

DS
We are all over the mobility platform as a business opportunity for PR. We had senior Qualcomm executive into our offices on Monday and he blew us all away with the incredible picture quality. The vision of the company about moving from big screen (TV) or medium screen (PC) toward mobile phone.is stunning. We have to get on this as an industry.

Note the high rate of acceptance of blogosphere in Scandinavia. We just ran a promotion for J&J's Acuvue contact lens business. A phenomenal success by pairing the Swedish Women's Curling Team with a heavy metal rock band--this is all over the world by now. Keep pushing.

You are right LS
The IT side of this is critical

I am intrigued by your comment. Tell me more

Dear Richard,

You menton high rate of acceptance of blogosphere in Scandinavia. I am very curious and would love to hear more about your experiences and your view on the state of blogosphere in Scandinavia.
I am living in Denmark and blog myself. I am very interested in blogging, the new media and social media as the challanges to the traditional communication.

Richard, I read The World is Flat and found it to be fascinating. I used the term "hyper-efficient" to describe a PR client to the Wall Street Journal and created an A2 placement. As a former summer intern at LA Edelman, I really enjoy this blog and surf in frequently.
Thanks for sharing your insight -
JT

This whole concept of power lying in the flat organization without huge buildings is fascinating. NGOs made the Battle of Seattle happen in 1999 via cell phone. Now we are beyond that early phase into blogs. Come back to Edelman some day.

Congrats! to you and to Steve. And who says that blogging can't change a market or a career or a even life?

Quite a steal there, Richard.

Steve and Mike are two people who definitely get blogging, and there's no question in my mind this move is going to pay huge dividends.

This is a great move for Steve and Edelman. Congratulations to both of you.

This is a great move for Steve and Edelman. Congratulations to both of you.

Thanks for the info. My family has a significant cancer history, particularly my mom and grandmother, both breat cancer survivors.

PR, and in this case, maybe more of a social marketing approach, is indeed the key to health among individuals.

Pharma companies, particulalry now, with pending Merck lawsuits, have always been self-appointed gatekeepers. They have the drugs, the treatments we need. When they don't work or have cause harm, we get angry. And then they are the ones who grant access to cures and treatments for the harm done by their original product. Merck is in hot water right now. Low public trust, a HR implosion, and potential financial damages as results of the lawsuit. Merck needs some good pr, some caus related marketing. And they needed it yesterday.

Perhaps the model for healthcare PR is Johnson & Johnson? Long thought to be morally strong and enveloped in family values, J&J has a pr machine running around the clock. SO when Tylenol is contaminated, they an react. Recently they won an award for their Discover Nursing campaign. They seem to promote the free flow of ideas which Richard rightfully advocates as the only means to trust and ultimately medical advancement.

I have to agree with Mike Sachs that while PR approaches are important, it's also necessary to consider them within a social context where attention is especially focused on behaviors and not just knowledge transmission and building awareness of healthy or risky behaviors. On that note I have to repsectfully disagree with Dr. Hartwell's contention that further decreasing fat intake might reduce cancers. Even if that were true (and a few small studies suggest 'possibly'), initiating a population-wide effort to drive down total fat intake to the 20% range is asking for too much from all but the truly commited. Programs like 5 A Day derive their value from the focus on making healthier behaviors relevant to people's daily lives and achievable. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the NIH meetings on implications of the Women's HEalth Study (the fount of this latest finding) next week.

The idea of tapping into the blogs and other new communication technologies is important. But I see a problem with getting the most credible sources of health information (ie, government health agencies like the NIH and CDC and major nonprofits - ACS and AHA for example) actively involved in this because of inherent structural and public accountability concerns that need to be addressed and resolved. Why not get in front of this trend with the DC office hosting some of your Me2 players, senior communications executives from these and other agencies and a few 'proof of concept' practitioners to talk about these ideas and how they can be applied in the public and nonprofit sectors and what barriers exist - or are imagined - to more fully engaging various consumers segments in their health promotion and protection?

I like the idea/project of engaging CEOs into the fight against cancer but I am really disappointed by their site: only a few big names, no detailed list of the companies involved, no detailed news. Typically an old/pre-blog site :(

On trying to help NGOs to use blogs my own experience has proved rather disappointing (until now. The tobacco control movement seems quite reluctant to blog and I have found the same at the Sierra Club (where only Carl Pope seems allowed to blog) and other environmental organizations. This is to the point where I am thinking about writing a piece about the obstacles to blogging. I was sort of relieved to read the same types of comments concerning those obstacles: will to control ther information, institutional rigidity, fear of consequences.
I also wonder about the simple (and frequent?) lack of writing skills. Not everybody is a born blogger, many are highly reluctant.
As for professional journalists it is interesting to see how some dive into the trend while others don't get it. The Bremerton Sun (Scripps) is trying to incite a few of its writers to blog: it is sad to see how some don't understand at all the new media and do nothing with it. Nothing that some blog-coaching could not cure but they also seem unwilling to learn from other, more experienced bloggers. I am amazed that a group like Scripps seems so clueless and does not try to maximize this opportunity.
Back to the CEOs and cancer: I think it would be a great idea at the European level, one to develop with David Khayat the President of the New French National Cancer Institute. There are also talks to launch a new Europe Against Cancer program, involving European CEOs from the start would be useful. I would love to work on that :)

Richard, this is fascinating stuff, and it stimulates me to ask a naive outsider's question. Traditionally, public relations was mostly (in very high percentages) about reaching the clients' audiences through intermediated media (journalists, etc.) There was always a lot of both standard and creative non-intermediated PR (events, direct mail, etc, etc.)but I have the impression thatthis was a lower percentage in past times.

My outsiders question (sorry if it's dumb)is this: what percentage of PR fees today (compared to yesterday) are spent on intermediated PR, and given the opportunities that hyperspace now offers, what percentage do you think it will be in three years? Five years?

Don't the trends you report mean that PR just doesn't NEED the media anywhere near as much as you did before? Are the days of "working" the journalists on the decline? What does THAT say for your business model?

Those are really encouraging and inspiring quotes!
Thank you!
=)

-Joa

Though it is an excellent question, I am not in a position to respond with any data about historical trends in PR fees.

I would like to raise another thought that I assume has already been brought up elsewhere, but occurred to me just now. Is it not appropriate to correlate the rise in credibility of bloggers with the findings of Edelman's trust survey that "a person like me" is the most trusted source?

One challenge, in addition to expanding PR practices into new media like the 2-minute mobile VNR, will be to use the growing influence of social networks like MySpace, Facebook, etc. to seek out the "person like me" credibility. The algorithms and underlying technology of these networks already do the demographic footwork, key to success will be adapting the message. Furthermore, since MySpace and Facebook have attracted millions of investment dollars, their business models are moving in the direction of sponsored initiatives.

Eric Hansen
Student (PR/IT)
Newhouse School, Syracuse University

I am a corporate communications student at Southern Methodist University, and instead of a comment, I am posting a question for you. I was wonderng what you think are the best ways to get ink on your clients. This topic came up in my advanced communications skills class, and I wanted to hear the opinion of an established PR professional.

Dear Mr. Edelman,
I am a junior at Southern Methodist University studying Corporate Communications and Public Affairs. I came across your blog today and I am really interested in your opinions on Public Relations. I am in a class right now where we are studying blogging and how it is affecting the PR world. I was wondering if you have any stories or tips you could share with me about getting clients good exposure. What do you think are the best, cutting edge ways for "getting ink"? I would love to hear from you and I would really appreciate any opinions or comments you may have about this topic or any others. You can write me back on my own blog at www.beccaburnitt.blogspot.com. Also, please feel free to check out our class blog at www.smuccpaclass.blogspot.com. Thank you so much and I look foward to hearing from you!

Below is my "Fishwrapper" column this week for our group's newspapers. It involves an Edelman client, Wal-Mart, so I thought it would be of interest. It's written for a mass audience, not communications professionals, but it addresses changing strategies.

John

Fishwrapper
Evangelist for the Church of Wal-Mart
Spokesman puts out positive spin for the mega-merchant
By John F. Sugg
Wal-Mart is … well, it’s huge. And blue. Ubiquitous, too. How big? In Georgia, 97 Supercenters, 17 discount stores, 21 Sam’s Club and nine distribution centers employ 52,728 folks, as of last month. Another 105,805 supplier jobs are created by Wal-Mart.
Each one of those Supercenters dotting the landscape churns through about $140 million a year in cash register cha-chings. Add it all up — 3,800 facilities, 1.6 million associates, and $285 billion in worldwide sales last year. Whew!
So, like it or not, Wal-Mart simply “is.” Not all of the lawsuits, not all of the union activists, not all of the “evil corporation” documentary DVDs for the MoveOn.org folks, not all of the carping liberal columnists (Who? Me?) are going to wipe Wal-Mart off of the globe.
Now that we’ve got that straight, here’s my confession: Yes, I shop at Wal-Mart. I’ve got five kids. You figure.
As Michael Mills — we’ll come back to who he is in a minute — says, “I can get my organic lettuce, have my car’s oil changed and buy a widescreen TV all at one stop. You can’t beat that.”
I’m a hypocrite, too, often chiding the world’s largest retailer for squeezing the life out of small-town businesses, for pushing its employees’ kids onto public health care programs, and even for being chintzy in spreading its advertising dollars to, um, weekly newspapers.
Taking shots at Wal-Mart in the past wasn’t much fun. The giant seldom noticed detractors’ Lilliputian darts. Sam Walton, the man who put the “Wal” in “Mart,” frequently opined from his Bentonville, Ark., Mt. Olympus that his stores were the best public relations. People could easily find out the truth about the low prices and abundant merchandise. The company’s focus was directed inward, tuning the efficiency machine to a screaming penny-pinching roar.
Times change. Wal-Mart ballooned so large, it drew attention for more than its prices.
Were wages too low, and health benefits skimpy? Did women and minorities hit glass ceilings? What about those pesky reports of illegal aliens being hired to clean stores? Were local retailers sucked dry by the blue vampiric monster skulking on the edge of town? And with shelves stocked from China, whatever happened to “made in America”?

Let’s meet Michael Mills, that organic lettuce guy I mentioned. The new “face” of Wal-Mart, Mills is 32, with twinkly blue eyes, a natty blue blazer and a never-flagging, big-tooth grin.
He talks the environmental talk, having toiled on such sacred-to-the-left issues as the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. He wants buildings constructed with more attention to energy and conservation — and actually thumped his chest when he reported two new Wal-Marts were built last year conforming to such stringent standards. He tutors kids at risk for dropping into the pit of poverty and despair. He’s been active in the League of Women Voters and has labored on get-out-the-vote drives with a group headed by Rebecca Lieberman, the daughter of Sen. Joe.
Hell, if that isn’t enough, Mills beams about his latest project: “I’m starting a record label,” he says with a bit of uncharacteristic shyness. “It’s called the Barefoot Mailman, and we’ve already got our first performer lined up.”
This is not the corporate spokesman of bygone days. Wal-Mart, until about two years ago, epitomized the worst in company communications. Responses — usually in the form of ponderous pronouncements — rumbled from faceless execs in Bentonville. Problems were always discounted, without much evidence or logic. Questions were rebuffed. And Wal-Mart became a punching bag for unions, some politicians and reporters.
Two years ago, Wal-Mart began launching return volleys. It set up a website (www.walmartfacts.com) that touts its achievements. “We gave $24 million to Hurricane Katrina relief, and when we do something like that, we’re going to tell people,” Mills says. “We did good things 10 years ago, too, but we could have done a better job at getting the message out.”
Mills earned his spurs in the piranha pool called Georgia politics. A Rochester, N.Y., native, he graduated from Georgia State University and landed a job as a legislative aide to a cabinet officer. In 1998, he signed on with Democrat Mark Taylor, who was running for (and won) the lieutenant governor’s race.
“It was a brutal time,” Mills recalls. Taylor ended up suing an opponent for libel over ads claiming Taylor had used drugs. In his first recorded response to a hardball question, Mills reacted to an opponent’s broadside by telling the Augusta Chronicle in September 1998, “Maybe, um, I don’t know ... we have no comment.” Not an awesome start as a spokesman.

Mills is no longer tentative. He’s been with Wal-Mart for six months, and his portfolio has expanded from Georgia to include seven Southeastern states.
One of his early assignments was to meet with an environmental group. “They wanted to know why we flatten so much land. It was 45 minutes of getting beat up.” But Mills and the treehuggers found some common ground. As a result of the meeting, Mills had many non-indigenous “predator” plants pulled from stores.
“It’s easy to sleep at night,” he says while sipping latte at a downtown Atlanta Starbucks — and looking like he could be the urbane, hip, wired poster child for the coffee dealer. “I know, I know that there are a lot of good things we’re doing, and to me it’s a lot of fun getting that word out, breaking preconceptions.” As an example, Mills handed out $8.5 million in charitable contributions in Georgia last year — this year, he’ll be playing Johnny Appleseed around the Southeast.
Or, he beams, “We’re expanding by 20 percent our fleet’s mileage, and we’ve put in place a program to reduce waste at stores by 25 percent. How can anyone argue with actions like that?”
Critics contend their anti-Wal-Mart campaigns are muscling the company to change. Mills shrugs at that suggestion, saying the company is responding to its own associates more than anything else.
He confronts criticism head on. What about all of the kids of Wal-Mart employees who end up on taxpayer-paid-for health care programs? Mills answers that Wal-Mart has 18 new insurance programs, beginning at $11 a month, with all a family’s kids taken care of for 30 cents a day. “Thirty percent of our associates didn’t have health insurance before they came to work for us,” says. “I like to talk about the 160,000 that have been taken off the rolls of uninsured.”
Low wages? Mills: “Pay is competitive” with other retailers, and average income is double the minimum wage. Dead-end jobs? “Our regional vice president, Tony Samples, started 30 years ago pushing carts for one of our stores. Three-quarters of our managers started as hourly associates.”
As for killing small business, Mills points to the growth of new retailers around Wal-Marts — and mixed-use residential-retail projects at many urban centers. “Retail is changing,” he says. “We’re part of that. Some people want convenience and price. Others want something else. The mix will be different than today, but there will be room for everyone.”
Mills is evangelical in his zeal. I don’t convert easily. But I’m thinking about attending Mills church this weekend for a sermon on low-priced big-screen TVs.

Senior Editor John Sugg’s blog is at www.johnsugg.com. He can be reached at john.sugg@creativeloafing.com.

Wow, impressive initiatives on Wal-Mart's behalf. Thanks for sharing the article John. So, what is Edelman's relationship with Mills? Is most of their PR done in-house, or does Edelman handle it?

Eric Hansen
Student (PR/IT)
Newhouse School, Syracuse Universit

Eric, my colleague Kevin Cook runs the Mills program from Chicago office.

Eric, As Richard noted, for Edelman this is a national account. I didn't deal with the account supervisor in Chicago. However, I did rely on the Edelman office in Atlanta, specifically Howard Lalli, a senior VP. I've known Howard for several years (I was his editor when he wrote an excellent media column for my newspaper). Without getting too effusive, the teamwork of Howard and Wal-Mart's Michael Mills was a model of how media relations should work (and I owned a PR and marketing agency in Miami for years, so I know both sides of this street). I sensed a contrarian story about Wal-Mart, called a public relations professional I know and trust (Howard), and asked him for help. Howard expedited getting me background material, and set up the meeting with Michael. I wasn't doing a "puff" piece, and Howard knew that. He also knew that I wasn't going to snooker him with promises of a smiley-face column, and then butcher his client. Michael was more than I could have hoped for -- a very likable straight-shooter. My column addressed the criticisms leveled against Wal-Mart by allowing Michael to speak directly to my readers. It was effective, I believe, for Wal-Mart because Michael came across as very real and believable. The credibility was enhanced because it was my column -- I'm known as a pretty tough guy, so if someone gets my approval, I think people will believe it. Indeed, I heard from several union friends -- who still aren't in love with Wal-Mart, but are at least conceding that the retailer is taking many positive steps.

John

My name is Lauren Shults, I am a CCPA major at SMU. I am fascinated by your blog in particular. I am in the middle of writing a research paper about PR. Although this does not pertain to this particular article, I was wondering if you could give me a couple of tips about PR. How have you been successful getting ink for your clients?
You can email me at Lshults@smu.edu or you can blog me at www.laurenshults.blogspot.com

Thank you so much for your thoughts and consideration and I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
Lauren Shults