The Adventures of a PR Girl: The Inside Story of Public Relations

By Bettina Rodriguez-Olmedo

“A must-read for PR professionals, CEOs, and entrepreneurs, this book offers clear and practical advice on the effective use of PR to build a good corporate reputation, earn the trust and loyalty of your consumers, and ultimately, to build a better world in the 21st century through the practice of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).”

 
— ATTY. ZULEIKA T. LOPEZ, Department Manager, Institutional Relations-Corporate Affairs Group, PDIC

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anvil Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9789712730535

Book preview

PREFACE

This book started out as a feature article on the story of my PR career. I included it in the collection of essays that I submitted to Karina Bolasco for possible publication. With a seasoned publisher’s uncanny ability to discern a good concept for a book, Karina told me to expand the essay into a manuscript. Instead of simply telling a story, however, the book, she felt, would be more instructive and meaningful if I included an introduction for each chapter that would touch on lessons learned from various episodes in my career, tips that I could pass on to young people, and insights that could guide them in the pursuit of a career in public relations. She also wanted the book to be not just a chronicle of events, but a history showing the evolution of the norms, conventions, and values that have guided Philippine society from the sixties all the way to the new millennium.

With these guidelines, I have come up with a book featuring pointers on effective PR. I do not make any claim to expertise—these pointers are just my personal suggestions distilled from four decades of experience in the PR profession.

Thus, I have written introductory sections with simple explanations of PR principles that come to life in each chapter. The chapters contain a narration of interesting events that illustrate these tenets, as well as tips that I hope will help those of you who are planning to go into PR as a lifetime career. For instance, on the technical and creative side, I have included a broad spectrum of topics including guidelines on how to plan an out-of-the ordinary product launch, what to do when your product is lambasted by the press, and how to mix mainstream and social media for maximum publicity mileage. On the practical side, I give my personal suggestions for maintaining a balanced life through a list of activities for your professional, cultural, educational, and spiritual development. I have also included guidelines on how you can ensure pleasant and harmonious relationships in the workplace.

This book, thus, hopes to help young people who are planning to take up a Bachelor’s degree course in Public Relations or a Communication Arts course, major in PR, as well as Comm-Arts graduates who are seeking internships in a PR agency. It likewise hopes to be a tool for college professors who are looking for supplementary reference materials, since the book contains both PR theories and their application in real-life, on-the-ground situations. I have included as well descriptions of successful PR projects that I personally conceptualized or participated in. There are also suggested exercises on the various aspects of PR like writing research-based feature articles to set the record straight on the safe use of certain personal grooming products, and preparing an integrated PR-promotional campaign for specific product brands.

And, of course, this book is for any reader who is interested in the many fascinating facets of life. I candidly recount my experiences in the PR profession which serve as a microcosm of human existence—the joy of success, the heartbreak brought by failure, and the courage to pick up the pieces of one’s life to face new challenges. I try to give readers a ringside view of the political, social, and economic scenarios which illustrate the paradigm shift in lifestyles, mores and value systems from the mid-sixties to the first five years of the twenty-first century. These include fascinating behind-the-scenes vignettes and human interest sidelights that I personally witnessed when I participated in various PR campaigns that are now a part of history. I have likewise provided intimate glimpses into the lifestyles of Manila’s beautiful people—the rich and the famous, the literati and glitterati of Philippine society. They demonstrate in a dramatic fashion the fact that all of us trod down different paths in our search for a purpose-driven life.

Above all, my major motive for coming up with this personal memoir is to correct common misconceptions of people regarding our profession. I underscore the cornerstone of any PR program—a policy of openness and transparency that binds PR professionals to uphold the truth—no matter what the cost. I for one had to pay dearly for my decision to follow this principle—it once cost me my job.

Through this memoir, I would like to point out to young people that beyond the glitz and the glamour, the luxurious perks and amenities of a PR job, is the vision-mission to promote understanding and goodwill in society through corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that give practitioners the chance to help marginalized sectors, toward building a better world.

In closing, I would like to thank Karina Bolasco for believing in me and giving me her full support, without which this book would not have been possible.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

II would like to express my sincerest appreciation to the following for helping me make this book a reality:

Karina Bolasco, the publishing manager of Anvil Publishing, Inc.—for accepting my manuscript for publication and for supporting me all the way until this book came off the press;

The family of the late Ambassador Luis Moreno-Salcedo—for allowing the use of an excerpt from their father’s book, A Guide to Protocol.

Philip Remollo, my husband’s nephew—for giving me his professional counsel;

Tony Cumagun, my former boss and president of the Philippine Advertising Counselors—for providing his curriculum vitae and vital historical data;

Gil Yuzon, the executive who interviewed and hired me at PAC, and later put up his own company, Hemisphere-Leo Burnett, one of the country’s biggest ad agencies—for providing background information on the history of PAC and the advertising industry in the Philippines;

Dr. Abraham Felipe, my ex-boss and former president of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education—for giving me updates on his resume;

Marinela Katigbak-Fabella and her son Vincent—for reviewing my write-up on former Secretary of Education Armand Fabella;

Rene Nieva, president of Perceptions, Inc., one of the country’s largest PR agencies—for providing a backgrounder on the public relations profession in the country;

Jo Pantorillo, publishing secretary of Anvil Publishing, Inc.—for doing the initial coordinating work in putting this book together;

Joyce Bersales, editorial assistant of Anvil’s trade books section—for conceptualizing and executing the layout and visual design of this book;

Gary de la Paz, FAPE’s director for investments, Grace Camesa, finance director, and Ariel Alfonso, my former PR assistant and desktop publishing specialist—for giving me their full support even when I had already retired from FAPE;

Bambi Araneta and Franjo Arias, my lovely daughters—for providing the inspiration and encouragement that I needed to see this book through to completion;

My late parents, Francisco and Trinidad Rodriguez, and my eldest sisters, Lulu Arespacochaga and Nora Nieva, who made a lot of sacrifices to be able to send my siblings and me to a good school and grow up in a nice neighborhood; my departed sisters, May Leynes and Tita Manuel, as well as my brother Toto, who taught me that total commitment and selflessness are the basic components of love;

Onib Olmedo, my late husband, who I’m sure would have been proud of my book and would have shown his appreciation if he were alive today;

Dr. Manuel Ramy Roxas of Medical City, who served as God’s instrument in restoring my health and physical fitness during a crucial period in my life;

And, above all, to Somebody up there who has always taken care of me and has given me countless blessings, including a loving family, supportive friends, and a PR career that enabled me to reach out to others and to make a difference.

INTRODUCTION TO

CHAPTER 1

PR PERCEPTIONS

TODAY, THERE IS, perhaps, n

o other term in the English language that is as greatly used or abused as the term PR. You see and hear this two-letter acronym at home, in school, at the workplace, at the shopping mall, on television, in the newspapers, on the movie screen, on Facebook, on YouTube, and even in church. I’m sure you’ve often heard the following comments in people’s daily conversations, or read these statements in mainstream media or the Internet:

The long awaited session with main pork suspect Janet Lim Napoles before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee turned out to be a dud so far. . . . Sometime into the proceeding Senator Miriam Santiago . . . inveighed against PRs, calling them ‘cockroaches’ and ‘assholes.’ She clearly had specific personalities and enemies in mind. (Source: raissarobles.com/2013/11/07)

Bro, ang galing naman ng PR ng tol mo. Panay ang libre niya sa tropa natin pag gumi-gimmick tayo! (Bro, your brother has such great PR. He keeps treating our gang whenever we go out!)

We’re suckers for group birthday parties. . . . A free bottle and a reserved table makes any about-to-be-older person feel so much younger. My friend once had a birthday party in at least eight watering holes. Marketing and PR are such wonderful things. (Source: Party Time in From Coffee to Cocktails, by Celine Lopez, c. 2002, page 88)

Wala namang ka-PR-PR iyang bossing natin. Ni hindi man lang tayo binabati pag birthday natin. (Our boss doesn’t have any PR at all. He doesn’t even greet us on our birthday."

Palagay ko, sirang-sira na iyang si Bong Revilla. Pagkatapos ng pagsangkot sa kanya ni Benhur Luy sa pork barrel scam, hindi na iyan madadaan sa pa-PR-PR lang. (I think that Bong Revilla’s image is hopelessly damaged. After Benhur Luy implicated him in the pork barrel scam, no amount of PR can save his reputation.)

"Hanep talaga ang PR ng talent agent ni Anne Curtis. Pagkatapos niyang magwala sa bar, nakabangon na si Anne at nasungkit pa niya ang lead role sa teleseryeng Dyesebel." (The talent agent of Anne Curtis has such awesome PR skills. After going berserk at the bar, Anne has bounced back and has even managed to land the lead role in the TV soap opera series, Dyesebel.)

Palagi na lang nasa diaryo iyang society matron. Bongga ang PR niya. Palagay ko sang-katutak ang ginagasta niyan para sa publicity. (That society matron is always in the papers. Her PR is stupendous. I think she must be spending a fortune for publicity.)

Ang astig siguro ng PR machine ni Kris Aquino. Kahit anong gawin niya, pinag-uusapan ng buong bayan. (Kris Aquino must have a fantastic PR machine. Whatever she does creates such a big buzz.)

Mag-PR ka na lang sa teacher ng anak mo. Bigyan mo na lang ng iPad para seguradong hindi bumagsak si Ricky this year. (Just use your PR skills in dealing with your kid’s teacher. Just give her an I-Pad to make sure Ricky won’t flunk this year.)

That singer has no talent at all. Her PR agent just props her up with a lot of media hype.

Idaan mo na lang sa PR si Mayor. Bigyan mo na lang ng kickback para ma-expedite na iyang ina-applyan ninyong business permit. (Just use the PR approach with your mayor. Just give him a kickback to expedite the approval of the business permit you’re applying for.)

Ibang klase naman ang PR ni Cesar Montano. Palagi na lang may panibagong bola ang istorya niya pagkatapos ng hiwalayan nila ni Sunshine Cruz. (Cesar Montano’s PR is something else. He kept putting a new spin to his story after his breakup with Sunshine Cruz.)

Palpak naman ang PR niyang si Deniece Cornejo. Papalit-palit ang mga detalye ng kuwento niya tungkol sa pagkikita nila ni Vhong Navarro. (Deniece Cornejo’s PR falls flat. She keeps changing the slant of her story about her encounter with Vhong Navarro.)

An analysis of these statements would reveal that people use PR in different contexts and with different connotations—a lot of them unsavory. People seem to associate PR with a lot of things—publicity, visibility, patronage, bribery, influence-peddling, people skills, image-building, spin, buzz, hype, quid pro quo, wheeling and dealing, et cetera.

What exactly is PR? Chapter 1 of this book is a primer on the subject, complete with its basic definition and capsule history.

CHAPTER ONE

A Guide to PR,

Its Definition and History

M

y experience in a homecoming at St. Theresa’s College (STC) Manila, my alma mater, convinced me that PR is one of the world’s most misunderstood professions.

During lunch time on the school grounds, I found myself at the same table with a college batch mate who I had not seen since graduation. Catching up on each other’s lives, she asked me what my job was. I told her that I was a hotel PR manager. She looked disappointed. I could sense that she may have felt that I was meant for loftier endeavors.

One of the nicest persons I know, she is an achiever for whom I have the highest regard. She is a government official with the rank of Cabinet member. She’s neither nasty nor judgmental. Her unspoken reaction convinced me that the PR profession needs not only a cosmetic makeover, but honest-to-goodness surgery.

When one refers to professions like law, medicine, education, or journalism, the reaction of people is one of awe and respect. Mention PR, and people’s knee-jerk reaction is sometimes one of dismissal, condescension, or disdain.

The male PR practitioner seems to fit the stereotype of a good-looking, well-dressed guy with a glib tongue, a charmer who can make you believe that black is white. The female PR practitioner is a fashionista, the epitome of glamour, highly articulate but flighty and frivolous, long on style but short on substance.

Smart alecks like to crack when defining PR: It means just that—having a relationship with the entire public! This seems to slur a legitimate profession. A few bad apples have given this profession an unsavory reputation.

This wise crack reveals PR’s basic definition. PR means having good, harmonious, professional relationships with the publics that a company wants to reach: the consumer, the government, the press, the community, the company’s own stakeholders and employees.

Because of the bad reputation ascribed to the PR profession, companies today have renamed their divisions that perform the PR function into anything but public relations. Among the terms in use are: corporate communications, corporate affairs, public information, institutional networking, and public affairs.

The term public relations conjures different images in people’s minds. Let me cite some examples.

Sarah Jessica Parker of Sex and the City fame graced the opening of the high-end SM Aura Premier at the Bonifacio Global City of Taguig. [She wore] a basic black snug dress with sheer flowing skirt that gave us a faint glimpse of her thighs and legs. (Sioson-San Juan, Philippine Daily Inquirer, May 19, 2013). And, of course, she was wearing her signature Manolo Blahnik shoes with 6-inch heels. The TV icon was twenty-first-century-glamour personified. Hers is one of the world’s most photographed faces—compellingly imperfect, with the shape a trifle too long and the bone structure sharply angular, but you can’t help being mesmerized by her blue-gray eyes that have a soft, vulnerable look.

Another example is Kris Aquino who stunned Filipinos on national television with a confession of her affair with Joey Marquez. She said he infected her with a sexually transmitted disease.

Then there’s Gretchen Barretto. She once got inside an elevator of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. building, then ordered her bodyguards to shoo away another lady who turned out to be Susan Yuchengco, one of the building owners.

Some people also associate the word PR with the bad publicity generated by the commencement exercise speech delivered by corporate titan Manny Pangilinan at the Ateneo de Manila University on March 26 and 27, 2010. Alert Facebook netizens posted portions of his speech that were plagiarized from other graduation speeches delivered by J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, and TV personalities Oprah Winfrey and Conan O’Brien. After discovering the hoax, these netizens compared Pangilinan’s speech line by line with the original versions.

In Pangilinan’s words, what followed after started to spill beyond graduation. He claimed that people were alluding to my misconduct with respect to Meralco, with former President Erap and so forth. He admitted that he had some help in the drafting of his remarks (two ghostwriters from the Ateneo). But he took full and sole responsibility for them. The brouhaha died down only when he wrote a letter of apology to Ateneo president Bienvenido Nebres, SJ.

Pangilinan admitted his mistake, stating that he was taking the honorable and principled way out. He retired from his position as chair of his alma mater’s board of trustees.

The term public relations also brings to mind the front-page photograph of Vicente Paterno, former Cabinet Secretary who was then the 7-Eleven proprietor. He visited one customer who had suffered from food poisoning along with more than 30 others. They had eaten cheese hot dogs at the convenience store. The photo was accompanied by a news story announcing that the company would shoulder all hospitalization costs that these customers incurred. He also announced that lab tests would be done to find out what happened. (Source: PR Net, No. 3, Vol. III, September 1997, p. 11; reprinted from Isyu, July 1997)

These images reveal that what sticks in the public’s mind is PR’s glitz, the national scandals, the gossip items or situations that require crisis management. Depending on the PR professional’s client roster, these are actual examples of cases that he or she must deal with.

PR goes above and beyond all of these situations that need defensive tactics. It is a pro-active strategy, and publicity is just one of the many communications tools that a PR practitioner uses to convey his/her message.

What is PR really? It is ironic that a profession that claims to be in the field of communications still faces the problem of defining itself and explaining its function to the public. At the seminars I attended as a member of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP), one definition stands out: Doing good and telling the world about it.

This definition is brief but comprehensive. It has two key words: doing and telling.

Doing good means that a company follows the strictest standards of product quality control, keeps its employees happy, pays taxes to the government, keeps an eye on the bottom line to realize a profit, gives back to the community, and protects the environment. These are part of a carefully thought-out strategic plan of action.

Telling is the communications portion, the plan that a company executes to inform the public about an organization’s or an individual’s vision-mission. To do this, the company uses various kinds of vehicles, including publicity releases; information and technology (IT) tools like company websites and social media messages; promotional materials or collaterals like direct mailers, brochures, annual reports and in-house publications; corporate or institutional ads; company supplements; advertorials (these combine the features of advertising and editorial materials); special events like product launches, sales conventions, public service fora, and speakers’ bureaus; and community outreach programs.

Any sound PR program cannot stand on press releases alone or a lot of media hype. PR should be based on a good track record of performance (represented by the initial P) before it can gain public acceptance or recognition (represented by R). PR is not about creating a buzz; it’s about a company earning the buzz that it generates.

A good way to understand what PR is all about is to find out how it all started. PR is an American invention. The International Handbook of Public Relations (Roualt Communications, 1996) states that PR began in the 1880s-1890s. That was when industries in America developed rapidly after the civil war. This was when husbands went home to their wives after the war and made up for lost time, triggering off a population explosion. This was the period of technological discoveries and advances in the oil, steel, electricity, railroad, and automobile industries that made the mass production and transport of goods possible. The US rapidly industrialized. This industrial revolution resulted in the massive migration of families to urban centers. Opportunities for employment and a better life lured people to move.

Industrialization did not improve the lot of the masses. Vast amounts of wealth were still in the hands of a few. The industrial pioneers of America, portrayed in the CNN documentary series The Innovators, have surnames that are household terms: Carnegie (for railroads), Vanderbilt (steel), Rockefeller (oil), J. P. Morgan (electricity), and Ford (automobiles).

History books refer to them as robber barons because they became rich by using dirty tactics to eliminate competitors. By establishing monopolies and exploiting their employees with starvation wages and life-threatening work environments, they grabbed the entire market pie. Their tactics fueled a wave of protests from the public while the government demanded reforms.

President Theodore Roosevelt first pressured corporations to defend themselves in the arena of public opinion. Business leaders had to tear down the secrecy that shrouded their operations. They felt the urgency to air their side to the public, but were clueless on how to go about it. They first turned to their lawyers to lobby for legislation favorable to them. Then they used paid advertisements. But neither of these tactics proved to be effective.

At the height of this tumultuous but booming business environment in the early 1900s,