Not everyone is cut out to be in PR

ONCE upon a time, I worked in public relations.

And while I was doing mostly editorial work, helping create publicity campaigns for a prestigious PR firm’s high-profile clients and writing press releases, I still had to help out and “entertain” our targeted media practitioners quite regularly.

Sure, it’s easy to just sit around and talk shop with the media during functions, but the role of a PR practitioner takes a different turn especially when a client is in a crisis.

I remember one time there was a big issue involving a telecommunications company our PR firm was handling, and we had to deal with an impatient lot of reporters who needed answers to their probing questions. And I don’t know why I ended up answering the inquiries of one especially irate reporter, most probably because the actual spokesman—one of my bosses—was still in heavy discussions with the CEO of the company on how to handle the crisis.

That incident took a lot out of me. As a PR practitioner/communicator, one needs to have a lot of patience in dealing with nagging journalists who you know need complete facts for their stories before their deadline. I understood their predicament perfectly because I had been in their shoes before.

To explain to a bitchy reporter what our client was up to required a delicate balancing act. First, I had to try my hardest in my sweetest voice to request her to push back her deadline some more, and explained how I understood the predicament she was in. Second, even if the problem was our client, I couldn’t throw the company’s CEO under the bus and rat out his issues to the media. So that took another round of excuses, virtually lying through my teeth just to buy more time for our client.

That situation really made me uncomfortable. And while it took me a few more months and a few more publicity campaigns later for me to quit my job in that PR firm, that particular crisis with that telco already made it very clear in my head that I was in the wrong job. First of all, I have no patience in babysitting brats. And second, I hate to lie. That’s not to say that all PR practitioners are liars. But sometimes they do need to bend the truth a little to suit their client’s objectives. (It’s a lot like advertising; you say you have the best laundry detergent in the world even if there are other more effective ones out there.)

Being a PR practitioner is a special calling. You need to have a special set of skills to be in the profession. It helps to be friendly and articulate, have a good head on your shoulders to be able to absorb all the necessary information your client needs to put out his company or his product—and, most of all, tons of patience.

Of course, being articulate isn’t enough. To be able to effectively communicate a client’s thoughts, ideas and products, a PR practitioner needs to invest a lot of time and energy in forming the necessary relationships with media first. Networking is a big part of the job. It takes years to form a personal relationship with journalists; we are a naturally suspicious lot who can see beyond the free lunches or the swags handed out at press events.

(And then there are one too many PR practitioners/publicists out there who only remember to call when they need a favor. A media colleague dubs such PR practitioners as “Nokia”. Like the phone brand, these PR practitioners are “user-friendly”—they call you when they need to use you. And since the colleague’s promotion, many of these Nokias have suddenly come out of the woodwork paying her one too many visits.)

So going back, I may have lunch with a PR practitioner, but that doesn’t mean we’re friends and I’m going to write glowingly about his client the next minute. If my questions are answered convincingly and I am able to get the necessary info/data/statistics I need from the PR’s client, only then will I write a story. But even then, it’s still 50-50 that the piece will be in the client’s favor. It all depends on whether I think the story is newsworthy in the positive way President Aquino, for instance, likes all the news about his administration to be.

And even when we in media don’t see things the way a PR’s clients would like, there should be no hard feelings. A PR practitioner cannot take things too personally, and should be able to take a rejection of his client’s point of view or product as a challenge on his part to work harder at his job. Like they say, trabaho lang ’to, walang personalan. (I remember one particular female PR practitioner who would resort to banning journalists from press conferences just because she didn’t like the negative pieces those journalists wrote about her client.)

So I applaud those people who’ve managed to make a go of it in the PR profession, even more so if he used to be a journalist and had somehow successfully been able to shift his frame of mind from that one seeking out the answers, to the one giving them. Truly, I can only count on one hand the very few who are actually excellent at being PRs. (And if you think that it’s you I’m referring to, it’s likely that you’re wrong. Hahaha.)

Seriously, being in the PR/communication business is difficult. The PR practitioner has to please his client by way of increased sales of his products/services. He also has to constantly make sure the media/public is happy with his client’s products/services. These days, most PR practitioners are in the business of creating news about their client even when there is nothing newsworthy to report. And that is what separates the real pros from the rank amateurs who can’t even spell the name of a journalist correctly. These successful PR practitioners will tell you that again, it all goes to the personal relationships they have formed with the media over the years.

Not everyone is cut out for this job. And if all PR practitioner and his client can do is just blame the media for not publishing the client’s projects or efforts at reform, then perhaps it’s time to quit the job.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. This piece was originally published on April 8, 2011.)

'Christmas na!'

(Having a good laugh probably over Vic Valdepeñas, Union Bank president and COO-2nd from right-not being in AEV uniform are from left: Jon Ramon Aboitiz, AEV Chairman; Cholo Bernad, EVP for Strategy and Regulations, Aboitiz Power Corp.; Sonny Carpio, EVP-managing trustee, Aboitiz Foundation; and Jovy Batiquin, EVP/COO of Therma Marine.)

MOST Filipinos know Christmas is just around the corner when the ’ber months kick in, and the Christmas carols start playing in malls.

Those of us in the field of business journalism—and I still am despite writing mostly lifestyle pieces for this paper—know that the Yuletide season is upon us because Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) holds the very first Christmas party of the year for media. And, yes, this distinguished company from Cebu holds it in September!

Due to conflicting schedules, I’d not been able to attend these AEV parties in the past years. But last week, I just had to make sure not to set up any other appointment on the night of the event. It was just one of those times I direly needed a midweek break.

(Basti Lacson, AEV Chief Reputation Officer, tries his hand at darts. Don't ask me what his job title means...I'm stumped as well. Seriously, he seemed to have the most fans among the Aboitiz crew...aba, heartthrob!)

And who doesn’t need one? We all had been subjected to the frustration and negativity stemming from the government’s botched hostage rescue, so the party was really a welcome diversion. So, sure, what’s a round of fun and games with a reputable bunch of people—I’m talking about the AEV officials here, not my media colleagues...hahaha—to take our minds off a most depressing time under PNoy administration?

AEV dubs these September media get-togethers as its Media Lechon Party, because it flies the delicious lechon Cebu is well-known for (no sauce needed!) for us Manila-based media to feast to on. Also, I suspect it’s because its officials try to get back at our sometimes-mischievous stories by subjecting us to the pressures of their complicated ridiculous parlor games. In other words, nili-lechon kami!

(AEV head honcho Montxu Aboitiz coaxes his unseen team mate into becoming a Pinoy Henyo, who should guess the word stuck to the latter's construction hat. This was one of the most challenging games of the evening.)

But how could we not just get into the playful spirit of the evening when Erramon "Montxu" Aboitiz himself, AEV president and chief executive officer, wholeheartedly dove into the activities? There were games where we had to guess movie titles; a dartboard; Taboo word game (which got me saying “eff” most of the time, because the thesaurus in my brain seemed offline that night); ring toss; blackjack, where we had to sing while we computed those darned cards (epic fail for me again, being Math-handicapped); and Pinoy Henyo (a takeoff from a TV show).

(Un)fortunately, my Pink team, led by company execs Miguel Aboitiz and Ricky Lacson, failed to make it as contenders to the top prize—some huge amount of gift certificates, which I joked was probably from the Gaisano Country Mall. (To be fair, it was not, otherwise poor winner would need a plane ticket to Cebu just to do her shopping.) Only when we realized that the winning team’s members had to literally sing it out just to claim the top prize, and with AEV officers judging a la American Idol, did Miguel and I congratulate ourselves for our team not making it. Who knew all these new songs anyway?! Ach.

(At the Taboo word game, Miguel Aboitiz, SVP for Aboitiz Power-2nd from left-is as hard-pressed as the rest of our team mates about the word I'm trying earnestly to describe. But lovely arms, dontcha think?)

So while many were not so lucky to take home any prizes, we all went home very lighthearted and chatty, not to mention with full bellies. Loved the yummy spread that evening at the Manila Polo Club’s Turf Room by the way. I especially took to the dark chocolate truffles...woohoo!

That was quite an enjoyable evening, made more special by the top echelons of the company being unafraid to let their hair down. Congratulations to the AEV management and its media handlers Carol Ballesteros, Baby Dimalanta and Liza Almonte for a hugely entertaining soiree. See you next year!


(Txabi Aboitiz, AEV SVP/Chief Human Resources Officer - standing, far right - is cool as a cucumber as his team mates, including BusinessMirror's own Lenie Lectura, beside Aboitiz, work on their Pinoy Henyo skills.)

*A thousand apologies to AEV management for the erroneous photo captions in my column, Something Like Life, published in the Sept. 10-11, 2010 print edition of the BusinessMirror. Mercury's in retrograde, that's all I can say. Ooof! (Photos courtesy of AEV.)

How to make PR work for you

RECEIVED this announcement from Edd Fuentes, president and CEO of FuentesManila. He also chairs IPRA Phils., the local chapter of public relations specialists and publicists, affiliated with the International Public Relations Association.


(For registration details, contact Ms. Sheena Ramos of IPRA/FuentesManila at 893-9355 or Ms. Sonia Tejada at 638-0010. Students will get discounted rates.)

Hmm, maybe we should send this to HP Phils. and Stratworks. Who knows, their people could actually learn a thing or two about professional PR practices. haha.

More on HP Phils. and the Stratworks issue

WE are re-posting a press statement from CyberPress:

April 4, 2010

CyberPress Official Statement

The IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress) is issuing this statement to clear the issues regarding an incident involving our board officer Melvin Calimag and co-founder and former member Red Samar.

On March 1, 2010, Mr. Calimag wrote a story on the resignation of Ms. Bernadette Nacario, HP Philippines country manager for Personal Systems Group (PSG). The company branded the story as false although it did confirm on the following day that Ms. Nacario has indeed resigned. The CyberPress firmly believes that the story is true and correct in its totality.

Calimag, a long-time IT contributor of the InfoTech section of the Manila Bulletin, was told to stop writing for the paper. Samar, on the other hand, was the editor of the same section for 14 years, was stripped of his editorial responsibilities.

We don’t question the management prerogative of Manila Bulletin. However, the drastic turn of events was a direct result of a questionable action done by HP Philippines and its local PR agency, STRATWORKS, which communicated directly with Manila Bulletin Executive Vice President – Advertising Department Emil Yap in clear violation of journalism and PR protocol and ethics.

HP Philippines executive Bernadette Nacario and STRATWORKS PR manager Harold Geronimo said Mr. Yap asked them that a “letter of clarification” be sent to him immediately. But, even if it was Mr. Yap who initiated the communication, it was patently inappropriate for them to directly engage with Mr. Yap without involving the people on the ground – the editor and the reporter.

They sent the letter to Mr. Yap, who also serves as the paper’s executive vice president for advertising, when the matter was clearly editorial in nature. They did not contact the reporter and editor until two weeks later when Mr. Samar was asked by Mr. Yap to reply to the letter.

However, Mr. Calimag, as the writer of the story and the one directly involved in the issue, has not received any communication from either HP or STRATWORKS.

In any dispute regarding factual errors, the accepted proper course of action would have been a letter to the editor or a libel suit. What HP Philippines and STRATWORKS did set a very dangerous precedent in the journalism profession. There was obviously an attempt to influence the newspaper owner, suppress editorial integrity, and press freedom.

It is very unfortunate that this controversy has marred the good relationship of HP Philippines with CyberPress, which has been covering the company ever since its establishment in 1996.

Information Technology Journalists Association of the Philippines
(ITJAP/CyberPress)

How to choose the right PR firm

THE recall of Toyota cars in the US is probably one of the best case studies in PR crisis management today. When a crisis in confidence develops in a company’s product, officials cannot just keep quiet and hope that the problem goes away.

Companies, especially if they produce well-known brands, always need to be on their toes when it comes to public relations (PR). With the onset of new media such as blogging and social networking, the need for effective PR and communication is even more imperative as even one negative review on a product by just one blogger, when passed on from one web site to another, can break a company’s back if customers start believing the review and passing up on the product.

Having the right PR counselor and a correct publicity plan in place can often help a company deal with a crisis or even before trouble occurs, and help a company portray its products and services in a favorable light. (Click Something Like Life for the rest.)

(For my earlier column on the PR-Media relationship, click How to be an annoying publicist, Jan. 25, 2008.)

An assault on editorial independence

CyberPress Official Statement concerning HP Phils. and Stratworks

The IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress) denounces in the strongest terms, what the group sees as an unfair and arbitrary treatment of CyberPress members Melvin Calimag and Red Samar* who were penalized for doing their work -- reporting IT industry news.

Calimag was a long-time IT correspondent of the InfoTech section of the Manila Bulletin and was told to stop writing for the paper. Samar, on the other hand, was the editor of the same section and was stripped of his editorial responsibilities.

On March 1, 2010, Calimag reported the resignation of a country manager of HP Philippines – a development actually confirmed by the company. The report also stated that the executive, Bernadette Nacario, had thrice been bypassed for promotion to the top post, an issue denied by the company.

HP Philippines vehemently branded the report as “wrong,” though it announced Nacario’s resignation later on. We believe, however, that the report, in its totality, is true and correct.

We believe that the proper course of action that HP and/or its PR agency, Stratworks, could have taken was to raise the concern/issue directly with the publication’s section editor responsible for the page and/or the reporter who wrote the story.

Instead, HP Philippines, allegedly upon the persistent counsel of StratWorks, HP’s PR agency, ignored this course of action and chose to address the issue in a dubious manner. In other words, there was a breakdown in basic business ethics and public relations practice.

In the eyes of the CyberPress, the manner of how this “issue” was handled is categorically unacceptable. The IT journalists involved have always kept an open line of communication to both IT company and PR agency but were never approached.

We believe that our members, if they did violate any protocol in the pursuit of their story, due process should have been followed. They deserve to be treated like any professional with respect and fairness.

Information Technology Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress) March 12, 2010

*Samar, co-founder of CyberPress, retired from the organization on March 15, 2010.

Don't.Call.Me.Liz!!!

"But like many in my generation who were born in the age of longhand and who wrote letters, used postage stamps, and mailed their letters (now called snail mail) in their youth, we have noticed how e-mail messaging has virtually reduced official business communication to informality." (Click Something Like Life for the rest.)

Dealing with mortality

"The rest of our team rallied on, and we completed the first lap successfully. But on the second round, I lost my breath completely, and I could feel my heart struggling in my chest. The kids in the group were still energetic enough to speed on, but I was panting mercilessly. 'Tita, you can do it! You can make it!' egged Benjamin Spock. I didn’t want to let the kids down, but all I could think of was to sit down with a nice cold bottle of regular Coke and just enjoy burping the carbonation through my nostrils." (Click Something Like Life for the rest.)

Chaka khan!

Since Chikkatime's real identity has been revealed, mag-chaka khan nalang tayo!

• LOTSA things are happening over in our favorite media outfit. We hear that the head of the lifestyle channel/publishing group was recently asked to go on a "sabbatical" because he did not meet the group's financial targets. This must really hit Mr. Sabbatical pretty hard. After all, this was the same issue he had raised against his predecessor, who by most accounts, was actually the one responsible for establishing the publishing group and expanding its titles.

After Ms. Predecessor's departure, Mr. Sabbatical implemented a lot of radical changes, among them fusing a cable TV endeavor with the publishing group. He reportedly caused the flight of several top editors from the publishing dept. who could not comprehend the changes in the editorial direction (e.g. advertising dictating editorial content). Also, he canned a few magazines one of which was the "baby" of the son of the media outfit's owner.

We hear Ms. Predecessor is extremely jubilant over the news though we dare not publish her juicy quote that puts Mr. Sabbatical in the same category as the media outfit's ex-PR gal who had unjustly fired two of her staff right before she decided to run for political office. Well, she lost. Long-time observers of the goings on in the media outfit were quick to conclude: "What goes around comes around." Arayko.

• Anent to the above, the one said to be replacing Mr. Sabbatical beginning tom, March 23, is the current marketing head of the media outfit's broadcasting department. The guy is said to be top notch and had been pirated from a very large advertising company which he was connected with for about 20 years before leaving as its managing director. While some publishing guys are wary if he has the smarts to oversee the editorial direction of the magazines, Mr. Replacement's fans say that one thing that he has going for him is that "he listens." We've heard about all the awards Mr. Replacement garnered while he was in the advertising biz, and how he was able to hit the financial targets of the broadcasting department last year. We await with bated breath if Mr. Replacement can weave his magic for the lifestyle channel/publishing group as well.

• But these economic times are just difficult for the publishing business. With too many titles out in the market and declining readership, as well as reductions in advertising budgets by many companies, expect more changes in store for several publishing companies. One of these companies, owned by Filipinos of Chinese descent, is said to be dropping two of their imported titles – one dealing with career women, and another, teen-agers. One editor of another giant publishing company told us that this will probably be the trend for most magazine publishers, i.e. to give up their franchised titles and focus more on the homegrown brands. It actually makes a lot of financial sense.

• Over in the art world, who's this well known Filipino artist reportedly charging over P50,000 just to conduct painting lessons for one day? A friend who attended Mr. Artist's workshop felt shortchanged bec. of the level of artistry of the students. Our friend, who's had advanced lessons in sketching, drawing and painting, was surprised to find himself in the same workshop with an eight-year-old who was just attending his first painting lesson. Perhaps finally realizing his other students were discomfited by the beginners in the group, Mr. Artist approached our friend and taught him a few 'advanced' techniques then hung around for some drinks after to talk about art. Referring to the workshop fee he paid, our friend says, "That was a really an expensive bottle of wine."

• The supposed latest wedding date of this newsgal to her politican beau is August. We don't know what year though. Well she's the one who keeps talking about it!

Yun na!

The news embargo

WTF?!?! What is all this fuss about whether or not newspapers or news organizations should have respected the request of ABS-CBN News management for an embargo on the kidnapping of its broadcaster Ces Drilon and her crew?

Look, the issue was pretty simple and straightforward. ABS-CBN's Maria Ressa requested her colleagues not to print or broadcast the kidnapping story until 6 AM Tuesday because the network was trying to ensure the safety of its missing staff and to hopefully, secure their release.

I don't think ABS-CBN was stage-handling or "managing" the news, as some pseudo-journalists and talking heads are claiming, because there was really a clear and present danger that harm could have fallen on Ces and her crew. These talking heads claim the "public interest" was not served by withholding the news of the crew's abduction. What public interest? If I were an ordinary citizen, what could I have gained by knowing a day earlier, that the ABS-CBN news team was kidnapped? That Sulu isn't a safe place to travel to? Duh.

If I were still back in mainstream journalism and still an editor, I would've also acceded to Ressa's request, not just because Ces is a friend, but because it was the right thing to do. No doubt, the story was a big scoop for anyone who published it first. But at what cost? A scoop shouldn't mean endangering the safety of the news subject/s.

So I applaud those news organizations who respected the embargo, because of your decency and humanity.

* * * *
BTW, I would like to point out that in the business media, we routinely receive embargo requests from international donor agencies or multilateral banks regarding their reports which are released a day earlier than their press briefings. Granted that these reports aren't as big a story as a kidnapping of broadcaster, to us publishing them just the same could mean a front page or banner story (which does wonders to our ego, but very little on our salary might I add).

I don't remember a time that my colleagues and I have not granted such embargo requests. Although there have been cases in the past when wire reporters broke the embargo much to the disappointment of the requesting agency and our other colleagues. (The misbehavior of a handful of these wire reporters have been dealt with severely as stories are withheld from them, or they are treated virtually as pariahs by their colleagues.)

My point being, if we in the business media can respect embargo requests on stories like these, why can't our other colleagues do the same when lives are at stake? The choice is very clear, friends. And I'm glad that many in our industry made the right one.