December 2004 Industry Watch

Industry Watch: Public Relations Agency
December 2004

Q&A with Mario Almonte Vice President, PR Group, Herman Associates

Q: How did you get into Public Relations?
A: I was working in-house as the Information Manager for the Bermuda Department of Tourism, acting as a liaison with its public relations company. I realized that I really enjoyed talking with the media and I had a knack for getting their attention. In my next position, I worked as an assistant PR director in-house. The day after I sent out my first press release for them, all the managers were calling me because their phones were ringing off the hook. "This has never happened before," they told me. I knew I'd found my true calling.

Q: What does a typical workweek look like for you?
A: At least 35% of my time is spent doing research on the Web and answering emails; 15% goes toward teleconferencing with clients, strategizing; 30% is media outreach; 15% is writing or editing press releases and case studies; 5% of my time is spent deleting spam.

Q: You have the reputation of being an expert analyst on issues ranging from politics to entertainment. Do you see a crossover in those fields of endeavor?
A: More than a crossover: I see an actual marriage. In fact, this was the precise topic recently covered by the Omaha World-Herald, "Pop! goes politics: Boundaries blur between entertainment, elections," where I was quoted. I pointed out that nowadays it's often hard to figure out whether certain people are politicians or celebrities. For example, are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Clinton celebrities or politicians? The media - even the respected ones - have developed a penchant for treating all news like entertainment, especially when it involves sex scandals. At this point, the best career move for a politician is to get involved in a sex scandal to ensure ongoing fame after leaving office. Just like the celebrities. Look what it did for Pam Anderson and Paris Hilton!

Q: Is there a company (or person) you think is in particular need of PR help right now?
A:The "Miss America" pageant. Its officials appear to have lost their direction in the past five or so years - and they've paid dearly with poor TV ratings and, finally, being dropped from network TV. Actor Ben Affleck also needs help badly to get his career back on track. It really wasn't his fault, but that "Bennifer" media feeding frenzy destroyed the credibility he had built up, capped by the "Gigli" movie fiasco. He seems to be in a panic, trying desperately to regain his credibility. Ben and "Miss America" are brand names, just like Coke and Pepsi. They need crisis management to re-establish their brands.

Q: What are some of the unique challenges you face when working for high profile clients?
A: Telling them they need to improve their public speaking skills or that their incredibly brilliant new product is not really as intrinsically newsworthy as they think and the press release needs more substance. Also, I often monitor the important interviews between my clients and journalists. Sometimes, company heads have a difficult time explaining their product without sinking into acronyms, clichés and complex language understandable only to other people in the same industry. More than once I've had to jump in and explain a product in plain English to a befuddled reporter. This sometimes irritates the clients because they feel their explanation was pretty self-evident. Of course, PR is also about good client relations, so afterward we discuss the interview, and the clients always end up thanking me for doing what I did. They realize that that's why they're paying me so much money.

Q: What would you describe as the high point of your career? How about the low point?
A: I'd say my high point is right now. I've got a lot of experience to work from, so things come a lot easier for me. My diverse background has proven an invaluable asset in talking to anyone about anything, in understanding markets quickly and getting to the gist of a product's newsworthiness; in quickly developing an expertise about my client's products and services.

My low point came during the heyday of the Internet bubble. Cash-rich start-ups were hiring PR firms like crazy, reasoning that they would make a lot of noise quickly, attract a buyer or go public - and make a lot of money for their investors. Many firms were hiring any warm body that walked through the door to manage the PR, and creating nothing but ill will with the media. Reporters found themselves talking with PR people who were totally clueless about the products or services they were pitching. They would read to me or send me samples of some of the press releases they received, which were the height of poor grammar and logic. I felt very embarrassed talking to reporters, sometimes, when they'd tell me about the "idiots" that were pitching them.

Q: How have you changed since the beginning of your career?
A: I'm reminded of an oldie reggae song. "I Can See Clearly Now." Experience and success brings confidence. I can talk with engineers, scientists and doctors, tourist bureaus and travel agents, community service directors and healthcare professionals with ease and certainty. I walk into a room and tell CEOs how they need to approach the media to grow their company - and they listen to me. This is especially satisfying with new clients. Their CEOs spend years creating a new product or service and developing its market. I come in cold after just several days of review and tell them what they need to do to get the most market impact. More than once, they have said, "You've summarized for me in five minutes what took me five years to realize."

Q: What changes do you predict for the PR industry over the next few years? What aspect of the PR industry do you think will be fastest growing in 2005/2006?
A: The Internet is revolutionizing the industry. Technology has infiltrated every aspect of our lives - it has impacted every form of business - so if you can't use the Internet and don't know your way around computers, you're going to find yourself highly challenged to develop any kind of effective media strategy for anyone, whether they sell chocolate pudding or high speed lasers.

In terms of areas of growth, it's becoming increasingly important to be a generalist, because there is no one segment of business that dominates today, like technology did during the Internet bubble, for example. So you've got to be ready to pitch any client - or you'll find slim pickings in your niche market.

Q: In general, what are some of the best practices you see being used today by PR practitioners on the political side?
A: Unfortunately, there are no best practices in politics! It's kill or be killed, just like Roman gladiators in the arena. When the Republicans moved swiftly, methodically and mercilessly to cut off every angle of opportunity for the Democrats to win the Presidency in the Gore-Bush battle for Florida in 2000, they completely rewrote the rules of the games for political PR. Politics is less of a gentleman's sport than ever before. The media aren't helping matters. They sometimes seem ravenous for scandals and will sacrifice accuracy for sensationalism because the competition for circulation is so fierce. This last presidential race was an absolute snake pit of venom and bile. Both parties were energetically attacking each other, trying to draw blood, with the gusty fervor of ornery rattlesnakes. However, that said, see my answer above, regarding the blurring of the line between politics and entertainment. Without the scandal-hungry media, where would Bill Clinton be today?

Q: What skills or characteristics are most critical for a new PR hire at your company?
A: Enthusiasm, dedication, intelligence, the willingness to make bold decisions and to pitch a client in a new way. They have to have excellent writing skills, so that they are not falling back on cliché whenever they write press releases. They need to master the art of the email - creating a scintillating subject line that jumps out of the crowd of spam and gets the reporter to click on it - to open it, not delete it! They must also know how to talk on the phone, have a courteous manner that conveys to the reporter a respect for their job; a genuine appreciation for the fact that the reporter is doing them a favor in writing about their product - when they could just as easily be writing about twenty other, similar products.

Most important, they must love the challenge of the "chase;" that is, pitching clients whose products are especially difficult to categorize and consistently getting them media hits.

Q: What radio station /programs do you appear on?
A: A number of organizations that send out daily newsletters to broadcast clients include me as a guest expert, based on what the topical events of the day are. For example, I was listed as a guest expert for the Swift Boat controversy during the presidential race, because my PR background allowed me to access the impact of the controversy on the candidate's public image. On the other side of the politics/entertainment bed, I was also listed as an expert source during the whole "American Idol" William Hung mania that swept the country last summer, because I happened to have a good sense of the history of popular "bad singers" in America. Again, my PR background allowed me to discuss why America loved him - and, of course, how long his 15 minutes of fame would last."

Mario Almonte's broad knowledge of modern culture has earned him a national reputation as a spokesperson and expert analyst on issues ranging from politics to entertainment and pop culture. Mario has over 15 years of experience in public relations and corporate communications, working with a wide range of clients in travel and tourism, technology, healthcare and community relations. At Herman Associates, a full-service marketing communications agency, he leads the agency's PR teams in developing, implementing and coordinating public relations strategies and media outreach. Prior to joining the agency, Mario managed national accounts that targeted the telecommunications, e-commerce, networking, manufacturing, science and education markets. Herman Associates can be found on the Web at www.hermanassociatesnewyork.com.