I’ll take one from Column A and two from Column B
The PR Store has finally arrived in Phoenix. Should we embrace them as friends, or chastise them for cheapening our vocation?
I for one am torn. On the one hand, maybe now all the cheesy little businesses with no money will stop calling me and asking me to do PR on spec. On the other hand, maybe people will flock to the store like Kinko’s the night before final papers are due.
The PR Store does not come to town without controversy. In fact, 13 current and former PR Store franchisees are suing the franchise owners for fraud as we speak.
I really am not sure what to think. I can see where the centralization of graphic design, web sites, collateral development, printing and such can be cost effective for a small client. I could even be convinced that a franchisee in a strip mall can write a decent press release — although I’d like to see their degree and test them on their knowledge of AP Style. But I can’t believe they can craft a strategic public relations campaign with well thought out tactics across multiple platforms.
Ultimately, I think the concept of a “PR store” is just a gimmick to get clients. Though the business is not really not well named. Looking at the company’s web site it appears to be much more focused on marketing collateral, logos, web sites and other design jobs. It’s no different than if Alphagraphics started offering press releases as a menu item, knowing full well it makes its money on design and printing.
I’ll give local franchisees Wynne Angell and Rebecca Richardson credit for trying this. It will be interesting to see how they do. At least it appears they both have marketing backgrounds, which is great considering that’s not a requirement to be a franchisee. And they did manage to get a hit for themselves in the Business Journal today!
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Comments
April 14th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
I’m all for the entrepreneurial spirit. It is one of things I value most in my clients. But public relations must be strategic and well thought out. It is not something that can be or should be bought off the shelf.
April 14th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
One possible benefit to other PR firms:
–People who just want a little bit of help (e.g. design business cards)and don’t want to pay for top professional services. This frees the large firms to pursue the large clients.
Some people only want to buy something “off the shelf”. Perhaps we should just let them.
Also, is our concern and apparent disdain similar to what traditional physicians did a few years ago when the “doc in the box” clinics opened up?
April 15th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Buggy whip makers? Thank you Len. I read it online somewhere but did not have your perspective. They can have the contacts I get – “How much do you charge to get us into Businessweek.” “How much do you charge to get us on Oprah.” Buggy whip thinking in the 21st Century. Thank you for that perspective, Mr. Gutman.
Marketing sociology is about building relationships. For 20 years I’ve called reporters offering story ideas. Now Internet god Seth Godin recommends that tactic for building blog relationships. It works. It resulted in me being invited to write for Billboard Magazine, Arizona Republic, Associated Press and more.
Glad to see this store will serve those who believe you can become famous overnight. It is like those who think you can go into a gym once and come out looking like Arnold in his prime. That thinking has lead to public relations becoming like buggy whip making. Ask 10 people what public relations is, they’ll say getting a story in the news. PRStore – like most public relations practitioners – misuses “brand” on its site (please refer to any textbook by Philip Kotler). Most PR practitioners have no concept what ROI truly means. PR people – like newspapers – have done a great job of eliminating themselves.
Similarly, I am finding those who promote SEO as a means of getting famous are as lame as those pushing press releases to a shrinking media.
In six months my blog – unintentionally (so much for strategic planning) has moved from the bottom of the blog-o-sphere to being in the top 8 percent (marketingsociologist.blogspot.com – and its sister publications). I have two other blogs in the top 15 percent. Not as famous as ValleyPRblog yet, though.
In that six months, I have learned about pinging, Technorati, Alexa and other tools for building a following. I now scoff at people who tell me about how SEO is the end all. It is like telling a business they need press releases to build an image. Send them to the Wal-mart, I mean PRStore.
April 15th, 2009 at 8:21 am
I’m a wait and see kinda person myself. You can’t really judge a book by it’s cover. Both of the franchisees do have a marketing background, so maybe they will be successful…you never know. I give ‘em props for thinking outside the box, at the very least.
April 15th, 2009 at 8:24 am
I checked it out when my husband and daughter came home from Pei Wei several weeks ago and couldn’t wait to share the news. The name of the franchise is genius, considering it’s really a glorified Alphagraphics or Kinko’s.
April 15th, 2009 at 8:44 am
I think this is a ridiculous business concept. It cheapens our profession, misleads customers about PR and provides junk to the media. I am saddened and frustrated that the business journal essentially wrote an advertisement for this company.
This is akin to a dermatologist taking a 3-day course in Florida on plastic surgery and then performing procedures in their office.
Small business is better served by getting coaching from a real professional so that they can do much of the work on their own, use a graphic artist to create their collateral information (even printers have staff on board who can help) so that when their revenues permit, they can hire a REAL PR professional.
T
Off the shelf PR « Cut Me Some Flack Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 8:51 am
[...] Gutman of Valley PR Blog: I really am not sure what to think. I can see where the centralization of graphic design, web [...]
April 15th, 2009 at 9:15 am
The name of the company implies they provide PR services yet they’re focused on marketing support and paid advertising.It’s misleading and confusing, creating more difficulty for REAL PR professionals.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I think it’s a brilliant idea (in theory). I wish I would have thought of it myself. However, who knows how quality the work will actually be. We’ll all have to wait and see.
Sam
April 15th, 2009 at 9:55 am
It’s neither public relations nor marketing. It’s publicity. They offer a mix of highly tactical elements, not necessarily interrelated as you suggest Len. That’s just not smart.
If you are in PR and feel threatened by PR Store, then you shouldn’t be in this business. You’ve seen the enemy and it is yourself. Good PR people help build businesses and provide long-term value. This is entirely superficial and short-term. It is a get-rich-quick scheme that can be replicated in every market in the country.
Abbie Fink had a great post about it last night on the HMA blog.
Businesses wanting PR on the cheap would be much better off going here.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:35 am
“cheesy little businesses with no money”
Aw, this line totally offends me and breaks my heart. That is how I started my business and is it was people saying things like that that fueled my ambition. I couldn’t afford to hire a fancy PR firm and did it all myself.
Now I’m represented by The William Morris Agency, just published my seventh book, have a web series on Lifetime TV, a product line coming out at two national retail chains, plus profiles in the New York Times, USA Today, NPR among others.
I had zero money, but a lot of heart, and worked on my business all through the night while my family slept. I’m glad I did!
With all due respect – please, give some cred to “cheesy little businesses with no money”…you never know where they will end up!
Peace, love, and glitter,
Kathy
April 15th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Thank you, Tony Felice. You opened my eyes. Another free Business Journal ad (maybe it wasn’t free – maybe they only get it if they advertise – anyone know for sure?).
Kitchen Market Cafe begins breakfast catering
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/04/13/daily38.html?surround=lfn
April 15th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Let me tell you from an experiensed PRstore owner, now closed with 31 other store owner. PRstore is being sued!
Why: It doesn’t work! Is is a good idea with bad business franchisor’s attached!
Yes, it is not a PR firm. Actually, they write like 10 year olds. Ok, to use them to send your own article to the newswire, but to write it…we had to rewrite almost every piece that came back from them, or we usally lost the customer with a refund-
Sorry, for the bad news; If a PRstore open near you, you’ll see it close or change names soon! New owner’s should have been warned with all the other stores closing down. The Franshisor’s usally have an excuse or blame everyone else. 32 stores closed and most of them within the first 6 months!!!
April 16th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Let’s get “the rest of the story”. How about Valley PR Blog interview them and ask them the following questions:
1. What credentials PR experience do you offer your clients?
2. What types of services do you offer and what are your price ranges?
3. Do you have a referral process in place for those clients who have larger needs than what you might be able to provide?
4. What do you see your company doing in the Phoenix community to give back now that you are in business here?
Just some of these can help all of us gain more insight.
Thanks.
April 16th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not slamming the Biz Journal. I think it would have been a great story if it was fleshed out and PR professionals had been interviewed for their reaction. To respond to Kathy’s comments, I totally applaud those who strike out on their own, learn what they have to do for their PR by themselves. That’s the sign of a real entrepreneur. However, to open a bricks and mortar location and call it the PR store which in and of itself is a huge branding mistake displaying naivete and offer nothing but some creative tactics with absolutely no strategy is misleading to the consumer. Why not just call it what it is … collateral to go or something like that.
April 17th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
I agree with Dan Wool’s “If you are in PR and feel threatened by PR Store, then you shouldn’t be in this business”.
Designers went through this in the early nineties with “desk top publishing” and then with the web–”you want to charge what? I have a [friend or relative] who has a computer…”
Photographers are still going through it with people thinking all you need are megapixels to make a good photo.
It’s unfortunate that some people will be “duped” but they were never going to be your clients anyway—because they too know someone with a computer who can type.