This song is dedicated to all you PR Consultants out there

Boss shared this with me. We sniggered.



This is dedicated to all the PR Consultants out there coz you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. If you're my client, this is not aimed at you. I love all my clients *saysng*. It's just, so, funny. :)

*addendum*

In case you can't hear the lyrics, here it is:

Sometimes you call me up and beg me for free advice...
You're stealing from me, and wondering why I'm not nice...
My mind and my time--are my merchandise.
Don't make me say this twice:

If you come to my office or call my phone, I'm billing time.
If you stop me at parties to whine and moan, I'm billing time.

You say you want the best but then you don't pay the fee.
Motions cost money, but you think they should be free.

You cry "Oh why, is my bill so high?" [my bill so high?]
Well let me clarify:

If you come to my office or call my phone, I'm billing time.
If you stop me at parties to whine and moan, I'm billing time.
If I think of you when I am all alone, I'm billing time.
If you're late for appointments, I will be waiting... and billing time.
Still billing time...
I'm billing time.

Also, I found this on the net, and am not sure who to attribute to. So if this is your work, (and I'm speaking to "you") let me know ok? You're brilliant!

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Chieng / Good Media Friends

First, I'd like to wish Mr. and Mrs. David Chieng a very, very happy marriage :). Just got back from their sloshing party-cum-wedding dinner and I've got to say, they sure look like they are made for each other *tips my hat in their direction*.

Secondly, I just want to say what a great thing it is to have good (media) friends. Nigel Yap totally acted like my mommy - warning me off driving whilst still a bit sloshed (actually, I wasn't at all, otherwise I wouldn't be typing this) - but I really appreciated it. That's so touching man. (Oh, see, I got back in one piece).

But you know, it made me think, that, on the way home, as PR people its so often easy to just make "friends" without being "friends" (you know what I mean.) Yet, I have in about 4 years on the job made some really good friends whom the word "media" really takes a secondary role. One of them got married tonight. The other made sure I got home safely. Kudos guys, this is what makes our industry tick.

I'll have a pic up once I get round to uploading them to flickr. ;)

Malaysia's very own PR awards - a coming of age

I remember being a very young PR consultant who didn't know head or tail about the industry once; so I asked my boss, how do I join the industry association?

Ku brought me to one of those PR Consultant's Association of Malaysia (PRCAM) AGMs and instructed me how to cast the companies' corporate vote. Back in those days, the PRCAM itself was pretty small and we rarely heard from other fellow PR Agencies except when Ku attended meetings or there was an activity here and there (Speakeasy comes to mind).

Fast-forward three years and the landscape has changed. Several key things happened within the industry body (best as I know):

1. The accreditation process which now allows PRCAM members to opt for accreditation voluntarily. I remember following stories of the "official" PR Practitioners association (the IPRM)'s bid for enforced accreditation (2 years down the road and we don't hear about it anymore), and the PRCAM's resistance in offering an alternative in voluntary accreditation. Also, somewhere along the line, someone made a comment about "even karaoke singers can be PR consultants..."
2. Increased activities by PRCAM such as the Speakeasy series and the Straight Talk series. I think having talks and gatherings where practitioners in the industry meet is really an important activity. The strategy of focusing on younger practitioners was genius - and I personally think these activities have added vibrancy to the community.

And just today, in my inbox, comes point No. 3. - The Malaysia PR Awards.
Having a credible local awards programme is incredibly important in underscoring the credibility of a creative industry. The advertising industry has the Kancil and the Sledgehammer awards. Below the Line agencies have the DMAM awards. Media buyers have the Malaysia Media Awards. Now, the PR Industry has the Malaysia PR Awards.

Yes, we had the IPRM Crystal Awards earlier, but this newer award has to take the cake in terms of credibility. Endorsement (?? Need to clarify if it's just endorsement ??) from Media magazine which runs the annual Asia PR Awards lends the credibility of not just the Malaysian industry, but the Asia Pacific industry. It's like the region applauding the coming of age for the PR industry in Malaysia.

Kudos must go to the PRCAM leadership team for putting this together, but perhaps working out the mechanics of the entire awards programme was the easy part. The next big question is: "Who will the actual winners of this programme be?"

And: "What is the quality of the awarded campaigns?"

And perhaps even more importantly: "Who are the judges?"

A balance needs to be struck (and I'm not even sure what that balance is) in order for this next step in Malaysia's PR industry's growth to succeed. We need to find credible industry judges and award the most deserving campaigns. Because, there is no second chance. A poor example of a winner in the first year will surely extinguish the credibility of this awards and drive us a step back.

So here's crossing my fingers and waiting in anticipation of some really outstanding examples of the really great PR work being done in Malaysia. Let's move forward summore.

Media list for sale!

No, not mine. But it's amazing the kind stuff you can buy on eBay nowadays.

Checkout this posting for a Advertising Newspaper Media List.


A media list is usually regarded as a PR / Ad / Media Buying agency's rice bowl (or pasta bowl, depending on where you're from) and it takes a lot for any agency to share you their full media list.

Thus it's ironic that someone has gone ahead and posted this onto eBay. Of course, it's entirely legal if the list was compiled on their own free time. But if the seller pinched it off his own agency, that's illegal.

Here's the pitch from the seller:
_____________________________________________________________

Use this list to contact newspapers for all your advertising needs and media information. All 955 newspaper has names, addresses, and phone numbers

List was compiled in 2006.

It is 26 pages long and in alphabetic order with newspaper name, address, phone number.

You will have access to the most popular list in the United States. Get your list and start making contacts.

For a limited time only get shipping for $1.00.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

I'd be interested to know if he actually manages to sell it.

Hey, if you're looking to start a PR / Advertising / Media Buying outfit in the US, this might be a good first investment for the low-low price of just US$9.99 (+ $1 shipping, of course).

The lost generation: Malaysian PR industry short of good middle managers?

Yesterday, Malaysia's valiant resistance in the PR industry held its Annual General Meeting. The Public Relations Consultants' Association of Malaysia (PRCAM), who's long-drawn out battle with the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM) over the issue of accreditation, for once saw a significant jump in it's membership - possibly due to the new membership rules (you don't have to be a PR consultant of 3 years to join now).

A relatively hum-drum affair with little excitement, there were two stark issues that did make me sit up and think a bit. I'll list them here:

1. PRCAM recognised that the PR industry in Malaysia lacked talent in the middle management.
2. PRCAM would put, on its website, a guide to PR fees.

I'd like to keep the issues separate, and deal with the first of these issues in this post. I'll keep the 'fee guide' saga for the next post.

Missing middle managers

So what's a middle manager?

At the AGM, one head of an international PR firm mentioned loosely that this includes consultants with circa 3 years experience (that's me!). Another colleague in the industry made a better distinction: your title would state: Account Manager, Senior Consultant or some equivalent. You'd have about 3 - 6 years of experience. Your day-to-day job would include heading client accounts and ensuring your clients are happy and work is well-delivered.

So, apparently, according to PRCAM, the PR industry lacks people who can fit into this Job Description and a plan needs to be drafted to ensure the next tier of people to reach this level needs to be well-trained. The immediate reason for this is so that the industry players stop cannibalising talent from one another.

Now, therein begs thequestion that the PR industry needs to ask itself: Why is there a lack of these people in the first place?

Education system does not produce suitable candidates
I have got to disagree. More mass communication courses are available than ever before and more and more students are taking them. Some mass comm graduates three years ago couldn't find jobs when they graduated.

Moreover, there were enough Account Executives and entry level staff to go around years ago. What's happened to them? Shouldn't they be the Account Managers now?

Education is only a problem in Tier one. If we were lacking in quality candidates to be entry level consultants (and we are), that'd be the key problem. But when you're talking about middle managers, you'd have to point the finger right back at the agencies - did you train your AEs well enough to become your AMs? Perhaps it's the education system in the agency that's been a bit out of touch?

Competitive remuneration
More than one person I know who's joined a PR agency from another industry or started fresh with high hopes of high pay has been disappointed.

For the job and stress PR consultants handle, the job usually does not reward as well as other vocations. Invariably, entry level staff who've taken one or two years under their belt feel challenged to continue their tenure as PR consultants and leave the industry. Or settle for a cushy job in-house.

With a lack of empirical information, I'd say this is the major reason why so many young consultants become disillusioned with the industry. Honestly, not everyone in the industry has passion and drive at the level where those alone will keep them at their desks, toiling away for clients. For most pragmatic people, it's a strategic combination of drive and love for PR, and monetary realities that keep them where they are.

So PR agencies really have to consider - what are they paying their young? Does it help their young keep up with their modern lifestyle? ($$ barometer check - prices at Starbucks have gone up in the past 2 years)

What most PR agencies do, from observation, is pay well on top to keep their top guys, but skimp on what junior staff take home. Perhaps there is a need for agencies who have wonderful corporate philosophy's to ensure this gets translated into pay packet. What's the point of playing for Manchester United when you take home Cardiff pay?

Let's face it, in-house marketing, communications or just a job in a whole different industry becomes more enticing to the lower-levels of PR consultants when money is more material than job satisfaction.

Work-life balance
Many bosses repeat this mantra. Yet the sad reality is that most PR practitioners in the junior levels see their lives fade away into nothingness.

Each agency has its way of dealing with this. Perhaps what is needed is to evaluate if your agency is dealing with this effectively? Do your staff really want to hang out together for a movie? Or would they just prefer to go home early?

The direct counterbalance to this is the need and lust for more business. Both agencies I've been in subscribe to the "entrepreneurial spirit". That's a great thing in itself, but in the drive for more business, we just need to be aware that our junior staff are not crying for salvation silently.

Conclusion
My take on the whole issue is that most young consultants jump ship before they ever reach middle management. For them, the wait wasn't worth it when a quicker solution was available. The REAL solution? Consider what I've just written. You may be worth more than you're paid.

If you're a middle manager. :)