It pays to read this section of the Wall Street Journal; you never know who you can meet!

As part of my new business strategy, I strive to make relationships with the VC and private equity communities.  While it makes a lot of business sense, we also have a lot in common and have always contended that (one day) a PR shop should go into business with a VC group to not just go after businesses that are worth investing in, but to seek out ways to merchandise the efforts of these investments.

So when I saw the following article in AD AGE this morning about Madison Avenue forming a relationship with VC partners, I got shivers down my spine.  There is hope that my vision could come true.

Investment banks look for return on assets that strengthen financial statements.  PR firms can help leverage assets–both tangible and intangible.  At SMPR, we strive to hit on any innovation buttons we can, for these are the very buttons that trigger asset development.

Anyone who knows me in the PR world has heard my explanation of PR and how it mirrors economics–clients have a supply of information, and it is our job to match the demand of the marketplace with what our clients are supplying.  Our currency is content.  In the VC and PR worlds, content is king.

If any PR folks are doing something like what this article is describing, I would be curious to learn about your feedback.

Recently, I posted an article on SMPR’s Facebook page about how the DETROIT NEWS (my hometown newspaper) seemingly threw its ethical codes out the window (not to mention selling its soul) and changed an article to soothe an advertiser’s wallet and ego.  Combined with the latest Groupon fiasco and its ad blunder (I wrote about this issue on A Sorry State), maybe it’s time to skin the cat differently.

So I thought it would be cool to share something that is cool about ethics, specifically talking about how our friends in the advertising industry are making efforts to bring more of an ethical position into their operations.

Check out the following article from ADVERTISING AGE on the industry’s attempt to get more ethical.  These are really good ideas; what do y’all think?

It goes without saying that every PR firm has some sort of new business pipeline.  What I have found these days is that there are several firms who don’t know how to fill it–or fill properly.

If I hear one more person say they have gone through their rolodex, their LinkedIn profile, their Twitter account or other forum to find people to start conversations about PR counsel, I’ll get sick.  Know why?  In many cases, these people are having the same conversation.  It goes something like this:

“Has (INSERT COMPANY HERE) ever considered its use of PR counsel?” says the agency representative.

“We like where we are,” says the client.

“Can I send you my capabilities one day?”

“Sure.  We’ll keep it on file.  You never know what can happen.”

What if you challenged convention and asked questions that MATTER to the CLIENT’S business as opposed to that of an agency?  Here is an example of something SMPR did in landing one of its most recent clients.

I asked questions that had nothing to do with PR:

• “When was the last time retailers sought ways to transform passive shoppers into active customers?”
• “Who are the companies that are researching how to transform retail’s current environment?”

No mention of PR anywhere here.  Why?  PR can help solve problems when you find other people who are asking similar questions.

We found one of our latest clients because this company was asking similar questions; we had a different answer than what they had heard before.  We started talking about the paths we could each take in finding answers.  Above all else, we proposed that our answers would unveil new opportunities for the company as it sought  new ways to reach clients.

I asked how to solve a problem.  In doing so, I solved a problem that all of us are trying to answer–where to find new business.  Now, this client and SMPR are answering more questions than just about marketing–we’re getting deep into the client’s business.

Isn’t that what a PR firm’s TRUE measurement is about?

It’s been a while since I posted anything here, more or less because life–and SMPR–are about to change a whole bunch when my wife gives birth to twins (this on top of the cutest 2 year-old girl any guy could have as a daughter).

But it’s this kind of love that makes me wonder why more PR folks don’t bring the same type of love from their personal lives into their work life (don’t ask me about relationship help if you’re single–can’t help you there).

When we talk about PR measurement, everyone talks about ROI; clips; new business generation–the realm is endless, so much so I think some people talk about it just to hear themselves. Why don’t we ever talk about such a “deliverable” as Client Love?

* Do clients not love their agencies?
* Do we need something simpler–Client Like; Client Respect; Client I Like You But I Really Cannot Commit?

For if there is a real test of the value of an agency, and the RELATIONSHIP between a client and agency is so important, then why not measure this?

Maybe–like a personal relationship–that love is a hard thing to come by. But if you prep your client and your people internally that love is what makes the world go round and not the other brouhaha of our lives, then the relationship takes on new meaning.

Am I off base here? Am I riding this wave of emotion with my new kids on the way? Perhaps. But if you ask some of our clients, they would tell you that our value is reaped far beyond the dollars invested in our services or that we deliver results over and above expectations.

We aim for Client Love as the ultimate deliverable? Do you?