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133-497: Burson (formerly Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW)) is a global public relations and communications firm, headquartered in New York City, focused on building reputation for clients. In February 2018, parent WPP Group PLC announced that it had merged its subsidiaries Cohn & Wolfe with Burson-Marsteller into Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW). In January 2024, WPP announced plans to merge BCW with Hill & Knowlton , forming

266-478: A public company . Edward Vick was Chief Operating Officer of Y&R Inc.from November 1997 to August 1999. In 2000, Y&R was acquired by the WPP Group , a London -based marketing communications holding company. VML launched in 1992 under Kansas City advertising veterans John V alentine, Scott M cCormick and Craig L igibel, whose initials formed the company's name. VML, or Valentine McCormick Ligibel as it

399-516: A Group A human carcinogen. The strategy employed by Burson-Marsteller was to encourage doubt among consumers about the scientific validity of the EPA report and to target legislators who supported curbs on smoking. As part of this strategy, the company organized a smokers' rights group called the National Smokers Alliance (NSA), to target politicians who supported anti-smoking legislation. The NSA

532-422: A central role in doing public relations. After a public relations practitioner has been working in the field, they accumulate a list of relationships that become an asset, especially for those in media relations. Within each discipline, typical activities include publicity events , speaking opportunities, press releases , newsletters , blogs , social media , press kits, and outbound communication to members of

665-422: A crisis. In particular, Burson-Marsteller had a close working relationship with many global producers and marketers of petroleum products, especially assisting on key communications of specific crisis situations such as oil spills and serious accidents. It also worked with these companies in the development of environmental upgrade programs. Significant clients included Shell and ExxonMobil. The company received

798-460: A great deal of negative publicity and Prince was asked to testify before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform . Burson-Marsteller's second-largest practice was its Corporate and Financial Communications group. The company's corporate PR practice focused on four specialties: corporate brand positioning , financial communications, organizational performance, and C-suite positioning. One of

931-459: A handwritten manuscript using Xerox technology, the 2017 Brother Dominic must not only make 500 copies but also have them translated in 35 different languages and shared on all seven continents. The campaign introduces Xerox's tagline “Set the Page Free” and showcases the range of Xerox's new product technology. Y&R London's 2016 campaign for Marks & Spencer “Christmas With Love, Mrs. Claus”

1064-664: A host of different types of business verticals such as entertainment, technology, music, travel, television, food, consumer electronics and more. Many publicists build their career in a specific business space to leverage relationships and contacts. There are different kinds of press strategies for such as B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer). Business to business publicity highlights service providers who provide services and products to other businesses. Business to Consumer publicizes products and services for regular consumers, such as toys, travel, food, entertainment, personal electronics and music. Litigation public relations

1197-599: A key part of their business. Clients included HP , Intel and business software corporation SAP AG . Within Burson-Marsteller's public affairs practice, the company specialized in public relations and communications for government and corporate clients. Public affairs clients included the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Hebrides Range Task Force, for whose campaign Burson-Marsteller won several awards in 2010, South Korea, including representation of

1330-455: A member of the House of Lords ; Perry Yeatman, senior vice president of corporate affairs at Kraft Foods ; Kathryn Beiser, vice president of corporate communications at Discover Financial Services ; Bob Feldman and Jeff Hunt, co-founders and principals of PulsePoint Group communications consultancy; Daniel Lamarre, CEO of Cirque du Soleil , and prominent figures in a number of PR companies, including

1463-530: A model for the public relations industry, particularly combining public affairs experience with public relations. In April 2011, industry expert Paul Holmes named Burson-Marsteller the U.S. Large Agency of the Year, citing its double-digit growth within the United States and record 2010 profits as factors in the award, crediting Penn with improved performance and Burson's "global recovery". Burson-Marsteller's clients in

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1596-739: A network of specially certified experts in crisis management located in its offices worldwide. Services included providing communication with clients' employees, customers and the general public during crises. In addition to helping clients deal with crises as they occurred, Burson-Marsteller also provided clients with assistance in developing contingency plans for potential crises. The firm provided intelligence reports to clients either hourly or daily that advise of new issues, public reception, and critical or supportive responses and carried out market research into CEO and corporate reputation. Burson-Marsteller offered services including communications tools and techniques intended to help companies to recover following

1729-501: A number of awards for its work in crisis management. In 1999, Burson-Marsteller was awarded a Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil, the public relations industry's highest award for organizations, recognizing its communications program aimed at restoring confidence in the Korean economy during the Asian financial crisis of 1998. It also received a Silver Anvil in 2003 for its work with

1862-500: A partnership, creating a new public relations firm that was owned jointly by Burson and by Marsteller's advertising agency. Beginning with a staff of four and just two main clients, operations quickly grew, and in the early 1960s Burson-Marsteller began to establish a presence outside of the United States. In 1960, they opened an office in Toronto, Ontario , Canada, becoming the first U.S. PR agency to do so. One year later, in 1961, following

1995-520: A plant in Bhopal , India, and poisoned thousands more. The plant was jointly owned by Union Carbide Corporation , now Dow Chemicals, and the Indian government, and run by local Indian management. Burson-Marsteller consultants were brought in by Union Carbide to organize communications following the leak and provide advice to Union Carbide executives. The company set up an information center to provide information to

2128-518: A political party. Those members would then be considered stakeholders, which are people who have a stake or an interest in an organization or issue that potentially involves the organization or group they are interested in. The Publics in Public Relations are: Early literature authored by James Grunig (1978) suggested that publics develop in stages determined by their levels of problem recognition, constraint recognition and involvement in addressing

2261-564: A range of much-publicized crisis management situations, from industrial accidents to acts of terrorism. Notable early cases include work involving the 1982 and 1986 Tylenol contaminations and the Bhopal disaster. Burson-Marsteller's handling of the Chicago Tylenol poisonings for Johnson & Johnson in September 1982 has been referred to as the "gold standard" for crisis management. Seven people in

2394-466: A real menace to democracy as it renders the public discourse powerless. Corporations are able to hire public relations professionals and transmit their messages through the media channels and exercise a huge amount of influence upon the individual who is defenseless against such a powerful force. He claims that public relations is a weapon for capitalist deception and the best way to resist is to become media literate and use critical thinking when interpreting

2527-447: A satisfactory phrase to describe what I do." In 1948, historian Eric Goldman noted that the definition of public relations in Webster's Dictionary would be "disputed by both practitioners and critics in the field." According to Dr. Ren, the public relations counsel is the agent working with both modern media of communications and group formations of society in order to provide ideas to

2660-762: A set of fundamental guidelines that people within the public relations professions should practice and use in their business atmosphere. These values are: Other than the ethics put in place in the United States of America there are also International ethics set to ensure proper and, legal worldwide communication. Regarding these ethics, there are broad codes used specifically for international forms of public relations, and then there are more specific forms from different countries. For example, some countries have certain associations to create ethics and standards to communication across their country. The International Association of Business Communication (founded in 1971), or also known as IABC, has its own set of ethics in order to enforce

2793-408: A set of guidelines that ensure communication internationality is legal, ethical, and is in good taste. Some principles that members of the board of IABC follow include. The IABC members use the following list of ethics in order to work to improve values of communication throughout the world: Spin has been interpreted historically to mean overt deceit that is meant to manipulate the public, but since

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2926-402: Is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics." The UK-based Chartered Institute of Public Relations focuses its definition on reputation: "Public Relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. Public Relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with

3059-411: Is also a part of broader PR activities. An example of good public relations would be generating an article featuring a PR firm's client, rather than paying for the client to be advertised next to the article. The aim of public relations is to inform the public, prospective customers, investors, partners, employees, and other stakeholders , and persuade them to maintain a positive or favorable view about

3192-409: Is available for iOS and Android devices and allows users to explore as well as place virtual female statues in locations that are predominantly filled with male statues. Y&R New York's "Brother Dominic" campaign for Xerox places the original Brother Dominic (used in a Xerox Super Bowl campaign in 1977) in the digital age. Whereas the 1977 Brother Dominic, a monk, only had to print 500 copies of

3325-442: Is essential to mitigate negative impacts and maintain public trust. Public relations professionals both serve the public's interest and private interests of businesses, associations, non-profit organizations, and governments. This dual obligation gave rise to heated debates among scholars of the discipline and practitioners over its fundamental values. This conflict represents the main ethical predicament of public relations. In 2000,

3458-525: Is mentioned in the 1997 movie Picture Perfect , starring Jennifer Aniston and Jay Mohr . Jennifer Aniston's (Kate) boss Kevin Dunn (Mr. Mercer) commented, "When I got my first job at Y&R, I told them I graduated first in my class. Truth is, I was lucky to graduate at all." In May 2012, a controversial ad made for the Argentine government by Y&R Argentina aired. In the video, an Argentine Olympic athlete

3591-567: Is not controlled and contributed by external parties. Public relations may include an organization or individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. The exposure is mostly media -based, and this differentiates it from advertising as a form of marketing communications . Public relations often aims to create or obtain coverage for clients for free, also known as earned media , rather than paying for marketing or advertising also known as paid media. However, advertising

3724-514: Is proud of the company's work in helping the media cover the story. When the Three Mile Island accident of 1979 became the biggest accident in the history of U.S. commercial nuclear power, Burson-Marsteller conducted public relations work for Babcock & Wilcox, the plant's manufacturer. The company organized a campaign for Egypt's Ministry of Tourism following terrorist attacks on tourists in 1993. That campaign focused on Western Europe and

3857-592: Is shown training in The Falkland Islands , including running up the steps of a British war memorial. The video quickly went viral and caused offense in Britain. The tagline was "To compete on British soil, we train on Argentinian soil." Y&R was quick to condemn the ad and released the following statement: "Y&R's agency in Argentina created an ad for the Argentine government that has deeply offended many people in

3990-599: Is split into divisions by geographic region: North America, Latin America, Europe and Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. Each region is led by a regional CEO who reports directly to the global CEO. Notable employees include Karen Hughes , former senior aide to U.S. President George W. Bush ,Ari Fleischer, former White House Press Secretary, Tom Reed , a former six-term Congressman from Corning, New York , Thomas Nides , Former US Ambassador to Israel; Lord Watson of Richmond ,

4123-548: Is the management of the communication process during the course of any legal dispute or adjudicatory processing so as to affect the outcome or its effect on the client's overall reputation (Haggerty, 2003). Public relations plays a crucial role in crisis management by helping organizations prepare for, navigate, and recover from unexpected events that threaten their reputation, operations, or stakeholders. A crisis can range from natural disasters and product recalls to scandals and cybersecurity breaches. Effective crisis communication

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4256-404: Is the use of Internet tools and technologies such as search engines , Web 2.0 social bookmarking, new media relations, blogging , and social media marketing . Interactive PR allows companies and organizations to disseminate information without relying solely on mainstream publications and to communicate directly with the public, customers and prospects. PR practitioners have always relied on

4389-594: Is to produce content that users will share with their social network to help a company increase brand exposure and broaden customer reach. Some of the major social media platforms currently include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat. As digital technology has evolved, the methods for measuring the effectiveness of online public relations have improved. The Public Relations Society of America, which has been developing PR strategies since 1947, has identified five steps for measuring online public relations effectiveness. Publicists can work in

4522-477: Is ultimately to undermine the central goal of building trust and nurturing a good relationship." The techniques of spin include selectively presenting facts and quotes that support ideal positions ( cherry picking ), the so-called " non-denial denial ", phrasing that in a way presumes unproven truths, euphemisms for drawing attention away from items considered distasteful, and ambiguity in public statements. Another spin technique involves careful choice of timing in

4655-400: The 1982 Tylenol crisis ; and Union Carbide Corporation following the 1984 Bhopal disaster . The company was also involved in the introduction of New Coke in early 1985. In interviews Burson has stated that the negative reaction of the public to the new product was unexpected. Following the reintroduction of the original Coke recipe, the strategy that Burson-Marsteller advised for Coca-Cola

4788-528: The Clinton administration , was named CEO of Burson-Marsteller in 2012. He served in that capacity through February 2018, when WPP merged Burson-Marsteller with Cohn & Wolfe to create Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW). Burson-Marsteller provided public relations and advertising services to clients, including multinational corporations and government agencies. It was known primarily for its crisis management services and political lobbying . It won numerous awards from

4921-647: The Colombian government (then seeking a free-trade agreement with the United States) became a political liability for the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton , who was opposed to a free-trade pact with Colombia. Penn described the dual role an "error in judgment" following which the Colombian government terminated its client relationship. Clinton later revised her opinion in favor of the free-trade pact. Penn's leadership at Burson-Marsteller has been cited by PR Week as

5054-583: The Federal Communications Commission , and Colgate-Palmolive . Burson-Marsteller established a technology group in its New York office in the early 1980s, specializing in "high-tech PR services". The company's technology practice expanded rapidly over the 1990s with major clients including Apple , Sun Microsystems and Qualcomm and its headquarters moved to Silicon Valley in the late 1990s. The practice focused on public relations for technology companies and organizations using technology as

5187-512: The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) responded to the controversy by acknowledging in its new code of ethics "advocacy" – for the first time – as a core value of the discipline. The field of public relations is generally highly un-regulated, but many professionals voluntarily adhere to the code of conduct of one or more professional bodies to avoid exposure for ethical violations. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations ,

5320-778: The Seoul Olympics in 1988, it became the first foreign public relations firm to open a wholly owned communications and marketing office in South Korea . Burson-Marsteller also expanded into Central and South America during the 1980s. Offices were established in San Juan, Puerto Rico , and São Paulo . A regional headquarters was established in Miami, Florida, in May 1989, and the company won MasterCard International's Latin American account, which became one of

5453-567: The United States Postal Service for managing communications during the anthrax crisis . In 2002, the company received a Golden World Award, the highest award from the UK-based International Public Relations Association, for its crisis management work on behalf of GlaxoSmithKline following an extortion attempt involving its Panadol brand. Since the early 1980s, Burson-Marsteller had dealt with

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5586-539: The World Wars (compare journalism ). World War I (1914–1918), which affected not only military but whole populations, is considered to be "modern propaganda's launching pad". This led to more sophisticated commercial publicity efforts as public-relations talent entered the private sector. Most historians believe modern-day public relations was first established in the US by Ivy Lee (1877–1934) in 1903 when he started working as

5719-509: The Xinhua News Agency (New China News Agency) partnered with Burson-Marsteller in 1985, providing commercial public relations for foreign firms in China and for Chinese companies internationally. This subsidiary later became China Global Public Relations, mainland China's first specialized public relations consulting firm. Following Burson-Marsteller's appointment as public relations counsel for

5852-436: The press , arranging interviews for company spokespeople, writing speeches for company leaders, acting as an organization's spokesperson , preparing clients for press conferences , media interviews and speeches, writing website and social media content, managing company reputation ( crisis management ), managing internal communications , and marketing activities like brand awareness and event management. Success in

5985-622: The 1950s has shifted to describing a "polishing of the truth." Today, spin refers to providing a certain interpretation of information meant to sway public opinion. Companies may use spin to create the appearance of the company or other events are going in a slightly different direction than they actually are. Within the field of public relations, spin is seen as a derogatory term, interpreted by professionals as meaning blatant deceit and manipulation. Skilled practitioners of spin are sometimes called "spin doctors." In Stuart Ewen 's PR! A Social History of Spin , he argues that public relations can be

6118-400: The 1960s, Y&R produced the first color television commercials . In the 1970s, under the leadership of Edward N. Ney as chief executive officer, Y&R expanded with the acquisition of Wunderman Ricotta & Kline in 1973, Cato Johnson in 1976, and Burson-Marsteller in 1979. Throughout the 1980s, Y&R bought diverse firms like Landor Associates in corporate and brand identity. By

6251-583: The 2017 Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity, the "McWhopper" campaign was awarded a total of 76 Lions and two Grand Prix. Burger King was also named Cannes Lions’ "Marketer of the Year" in 2017. The Whole Story Project by Y&R New York with the goal of increasing gender parity in public representation. Addressing the issue that only 8% of all public statues in the United States represent historical women, The Whole Story Project featured an app that uses Augmented Reality (AR) to place virtual statues of influential women in historic locations. The app

6384-599: The Best Countries Report with U.S. News & World Report and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In 2017, BAV Group launched BAVSocial – a social analytics tool that measures the impact of social media on long-term brand performance using BAV data and a large variety of social listening metrics. Bravo Group and Kang & Lee create multicultural marketing and communications programs targeted to

6517-463: The Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Public relations Public relations ( PR ) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business , government agency , or a nonprofit organization ) to the public in order to influence their perception. Public relations and publicity differ in that PR is controlled internally, whereas publicity

6650-667: The CEOs of Ketchum Inc. , Cohn & Wolfe and Wunderman . Burson offers clients creative content and strategic communications services across the following sectors: business-to-business , consumer, corporate, crisis management , corporate social responsibility , healthcare, public affairs, and technology. The company focuses on building and protecting reputations. It uses a framework and consulting methodology to assess and actively manage what it refers to as “reputation capital” across four areas: company actions, communications, social narratives, and stakeholder beliefs. Burson traces its roots to

6783-514: The Chicago area were killed when they took Tylenol capsules tainted with cyanide , and Johnson & Johnson went to Burson-Marsteller for advice on how to approach the situation. After an eighth death, which occurred in California, the response by Johnson & Johnson was to announce a nationwide recall of all Tylenol capsules. Burson-Marsteller organized a press conference televised across 35 markets in

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6916-510: The Chicago-based advertising agency Marsteller Gebhardt and Reed (later renamed Marsteller Inc.) in 1951. Burson and Marsteller met in 1952 when Marsteller needed a PR agency to work on an account for his client, Rockwell Manufacturing , and was referred to Burson. The two agencies shared the Rockwell account and, later, an account for Clark Engineering Equipment Company. In 1953, they entered into

7049-519: The Public Relations Society of America, and The Institute of Public Relations are a few organizations that publish an ethical code. Still, Edelman 's 2003 semi-annual trust survey found that only 20 percent of survey respondents from the public believed paid communicators within a company were credible. Individuals in public relations are growing increasingly concerned with their company's marketing practices, questioning whether they agree with

7182-639: The Seoul Olympics Organizing Committee in the late 1980s, and the Brazilian government tourism agency. The company received awards for its public affairs work, including an award for the Europe/Middle East/Africa public affairs agency of the year at the 2009/10 SABRE awards, the world's largest awards competition for the public relations industry, and a Silver Anvil from the Public Relations Society of America in 2004 for their work for

7315-547: The U.S. Hispanic and Asian communities through advertising, promotion and event marketing, public relations, research and direct marketing. TAXI is a marketing communications company that was founded in 1992 in Montreal. The company has three locations in Canada and one in the United States. Services include integrated branding campaigns; strategic planning; creative; and digital, design, print, and broadcast production. In 2009, TAXI

7448-462: The UK and around the world. We strongly condemn this work and have asked the Argentine government to pull the spot. While we don't believe it was ever the intention of the ad's creators to desecrate a war memorial, they behaved in a manner that is unacceptable to our company. Furthermore it is against our policy to be involved in anything that is politically motivated. In addition, this spot was also offensive to

7581-411: The UK, the equivalent job titles are Account Executive, Account Manager, Account Director and Director. Public relations specialists establish and maintain relationships with an organization's target audiences , the media, relevant trade media, and other opinion leaders . Common responsibilities include designing communications campaigns, writing press releases and other content for news, working with

7714-503: The United States, addressing the recall and reporting that the product tampering had occurred on the shelves, not during manufacturing. During late October 1982, a brief television campaign was undertaken asking for the public to trust Tylenol, and Burson-Marsteller carried out nationwide polling which found that the majority of the population still had confidence in Johnson & Johnson. Ninety percent of respondents stated that they did not hold

7847-500: The United States, and featured TV commercials and other media coverage of new archeological discoveries and the role of Egypt in the Middle East. Blackwater USA , the private military contractor, hired Burson-Marsteller subsidiary BKSH to help founder Erik Prince prepare for a congressional hearing in 2007. In September of that year, Blackwater guards were involved in a shooting in Baghdad in which 13 Iraqis were killed. Blackwater faced

7980-518: The agency's longstanding corporate clients was the Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). The company began working with the petrochemical producer in the late 1970s when they first entered the market in the Middle East. Other corporate clients have included Huawei , Procter and Gamble , British Gas Plc , Philips , Unilever , Du Pont , Coca-Cola, GlaxoSmithKline, Merrill Lynch , General Electric , Monsanto ,

8113-457: The aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics." Public relations can also be defined as the practice of managing communication between an organization and its publics. Quentin Langley argues the use of the word "publics" in

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8246-499: The areas of managed care, medical devices and equipment, nutrition, veterinary medicine and general healthcare. Communications programs produced by S&H on behalf of its largely pharmaceutical industry client base were directed to healthcare professionals as well as patients and their support networks. For a time, it developed general advertising. According to the New York Times, 9-2-88, p. A 3, John J. Graham and Herb Lubalin created

8379-499: The bills in ten years, with the intention of preventing counterfeiting. Burson-Marsteller had also been involved in research prior to the redesign to ensure that the new designs would be acceptable to the public. In December 2005, Burson-Marsteller acquired the Indian firm Genesis PR as a wholly owned subsidiary. Following this acquisition India and China became Burson-Marsteller's second and third-largest markets worldwide, based on number of employees. The renamed Genesis Burson-Marsteller

8512-400: The campaign, Burger King sent an open letter to McDonald's asking if they could come together to make the "McWhopper" – a burger combining both fast-food restaurant's key ingredients. The campaign increased Burger King's brand affinity among consumers, earned over 7.6 billion media impressions, over $ 144 million in earned media, and increased awareness on World Peace Day by 40%. In addition, at

8645-473: The company launched Burson-Marsteller University, providing comprehensive training to its executives in developing corporate communications that are consistent worldwide while remaining culturally appropriate. In 2009, when the firm debuted a new approach to public relations called "Evidence-Based Communications", Burson-Marsteller also introduced an extensive training program designed to help employees apply it to ongoing projects and new proposals. Specific training

8778-496: The company received attention after an executive at Burson-Marsteller was killed by a mailbomb sent by the " Unabomber ". The Washington Post reported that Ted Kaczynski targeted Burson-Marsteller executive Thomas Mosser due to a belief that Exxon had consulted with Burson-Marsteller during the Valdez oil spill . Burson-Marsteller stated that they had advised Exxon in the past and had been asked to review and analyze Exxon's handling of

8911-510: The company's alumni network as of 2010. Through its crisis management work, Burson-Marsteller was identified with many major corporate crises of the past half-century. Burson-Marsteller added crisis management as a service following Young & Rubicam's 1979 takeover of the company. In 2008, Burson-Marsteller established a global practice called the Issues & Crisis Group (ICG) that focus specifically on this area of communications. The practice had

9044-420: The company's social responsibility. They seek more influence over marketing and more of a counseling and policy-making role. On the other hand, individuals in marketing are increasingly interested in incorporating publicity as a tool within the realm marketing. According to Scott Cutlip, the social justification for public relations is the right for an organization to have a fair hearing of their point of view in

9177-462: The company. GM remained a client of Burson-Marsteller for the next 11 years. At the time they took on GM, Burson-Marsteller was the 10th largest PR firm in the United States. In 1974, Wolcott and Company, a Los Angeles-based public relations firm founded by Robert "Bob" B. Wolcott Jr., merged with Burson-Marsteller. Wolcott Co. had offices in New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Bob Wolcott joined

9310-491: The disaster afterwards, but had not been engaged to manage the crisis itself. In the 1990s the company also received considerable attention for PR campaigns on behalf of tobacco company Altria (formerly Philip Morris Companies Inc.) in which it was engaged to discredit anti-smoking research and legislation attempts. In 1993 Burson-Marsteller helped organize a response to a 1992 United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report which had identified secondhand smoke as

9443-423: The disease are stakeholders, but the audience is anyone who is likely to donate money. Public relations experts possess deep skills in media relations, market positioning, and branding. They are powerful agents that help clients deliver clear, unambiguous information to a target audience that matters to them. A public is any group whose members have a common interest or common values in a particular subject, such as

9576-408: The effect of social media in 1999, was controversial in its time, but by 2006 the effect of social media and new Internet technologies became broadly accepted by the general public. Public relations professionals present the face of an organization or individual, usually to articulate its objectives and official views on issues of relevance, primarily to the media. Public relations contributes to

9709-765: The end of the decade there were nine companies formally owned. In the 1990s, Y&R was charged with bribery related to a Jamaican tourism account, and a partnership with Dentsu and Eurocom fell apart when Eurocom withdrew. Y&R and Dentsu reformed as Dentsu, Y&R Partnerships. Peter Georgescu became chief executive officer in 1994 and began to streamline the company's operations. In 1995, Y&R began an acquisition push again, increasing ownership in advertising agencies and public relations firms across Africa , Asia , Europe and Latin America . In 1996, Hellman & Friedman became Y&R's first outside investor , and on May 15, 1998, Y&R closed an initial public offering of its common stock , and became

9842-613: The enduring Lays Potato Chips tagline: "You can eat a million of them, but you can't eat just one." The campaign featured Bert Lahr, whose brand eventually became synonymous with the product. Y&R was frequently cited in the AMC television series Mad Men , most notably in the Season 5 premiere episode " A Little Kiss ", which recounts an actual incident from May 1966 in which Y&R employees poured water on and pitched water balloons at civil rights protesters on Madison Avenue. The company Y&R

9975-423: The executive management team and was in charge of West Coast and Asian operations. In 1979, the company was sold to the communications group Young & Rubicam. In his memoirs, Burson described the decision as being made for two primary reasons. First, Burson-Marsteller needed capital to finance its expansion. Second, Marsteller's advertising agency had declined in profitability and "needed management fixing". After

10108-478: The field of public relations requires a deep understanding of the interests and concerns of each of the company's many stakeholders. The public relations professional must know how to effectively address those concerns using the most powerful tool of the public relations trade, which is publicity. Ivy Lee , the man who turned around the Rockefeller name and image, and his friend, Edward Louis Bernays , established

10241-680: The firm acquired Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly (BMSK) , which was perhaps most well-known for their work with prominent Republicans and businesses as well as foreign governments, including controversial autocrats and despots. International work carried out by Burson-Marsteller in the early 1990s included a public relations campaign undertaken for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism in 1993, following terrorist attacks on tourists in Egypt. The campaign aimed to encourage tourists to visit Egypt, focusing on recent archaeological discoveries. In December 1994,

10374-531: The firm's largest accounts. The agency's business grew about 24% annually during the 1980s, according to Burson, and PR Week stated in 1988 that Burson-Marsteller was "the largest international PR firm in the world". The following year, Burson stepped down as CEO. He continued to work on major accounts such as Coca-Cola and Merrill Lynch, while James H. Dowling succeeded him as the second CEO of Burson-Marsteller. By 1990 Burson-Marsteller had branches in 28 countries, with 52 offices and over 2,300 employees. In 1991,

10507-492: The first definition of public relations in the early 20th century as: "a management function, which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interests of an organization... followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance." However, when Lee was later asked about his role in a hearing with the United Transit Commission, he said "I have never been able to find

10640-866: The founding of Burson-Marsteller in 1953 and Cohn & Wolfe in 1970. As part of a restructuring strategy, in 2018 parent company WPP PLC merged Burson-Marsteller, the sixth-largest PR firm worldwide, and Cohn & Wolfe, which ranked 12th. The merger created the third-largest PR firm, which was named Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW). WPP stated that it merged the firms due to their complementary skills, including Burson-Marsteller's public affairs and corporate work and Cohn & Wolfe's digital creative content, consumer, and health care work. In August 2018, BCW acquired HZ, an integrated creative agency, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland , with additional offices in Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. In April of 2024,

10773-746: The founding of the Common Market in Europe, the company established its first European office in Geneva , followed shortly by an office in Brussels in 1965. At this time Hill & Knowlton was the only other U.S. PR firm with an office outside the United States. In 1967, Burson-Marsteller opened its first London office. One of the firm's earliest clients was the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (GM) that made diesel locomotives , beginning in 1956. It

10906-405: The health risks of secondhand smoke exposure with a range of other activities. This campaign received significant coverage in the media across Europe. Burson-Marsteller was criticized in the media for its involvement with Philip Morris, and in 1999 a demonstration was held outside the firm's headquarters, protesting their role as PR for Philip Morris. Those involved went to great lengths not to reveal

11039-437: The image maker for and corporate advisor for Rockefeller. Edward Bernays (1891–1995), who handled the publicity of theatrical associations in 1913, then spread internationally. Meanwhile, in the nascent Soviet Russia of the 1920s, artists and poets (such as Mayakovsky ) engaged in public-relations campaigns for various state agencies and causes (note for example Likbez ). Many American companies with PR departments spread

11172-507: The issue. The theory posited that publics develop in the following stages: Messaging is the process of creating a consistent story around: a product, person, company, or service. Messaging aims to prevent readers from receiving contradictory or confusing information that could instill doubt in their purchasing choices, or other decisions that affect the company. Brands aim to have the same problem statement, industry viewpoint, or brand perception shared across sources and media. Digital marketing

11305-503: The late 2000s included Ford Motor Company , which hired the company as crisis management consultants in 2009, and American International Group (AIG), on whose behalf the firm undertook crisis management work in 2008 and 2009. Burson-Marsteller was brought in by AIG to help respond to requests for information from customers, employees and the media, due to the liquidity crisis it suffered in September 2008. In 2010, Burson-Marsteller announced its commitment to no longer accept work on behalf of

11438-447: The leadership of HZ completed a buyback of the firm from BCW. In January 2024, WPP announced the planned merger of BCW with Hill & Knowlton. The merger was completed in July, and the new company was named Burson. It has over 6,000 employees, making it one of the largest PR agencies in the world. Corey duBrowa was named global CEO of Burson, and Hill & Knowlton CEO AnnaMaria DeSalva

11571-452: The manufacturer responsible for the deaths. At a Burson-Marsteller organized press conference in November 1982, Johnson & Johnson introduced new tamper-proof packaging, becoming the first company to introduce triple-sealed packaging, which later became the industry standard. The conference gave Johnson & Johnson the opportunity to announce that they were reintroducing Tylenol capsules to

11704-419: The market and would replace any Tylenol that consumers had thrown away. In addition, Johnson & Johnson published advertisements with coupons for consumers to use to replace Tylenol that had been thrown out, and produced commercials and print advertisements thanking the public for their "continuing confidence and support". Within six weeks of the introduction of the repackaged product Tylenol's sales returned to

11837-668: The marketing perspective of seeing public relations as part of marketing, which he claims is too focused on just one of Hayward's six publics: customers. Public relations has historical roots pre-dating the 20th century. Most textbooks regard the establishment of the "Publicity Bureau" in Boston in 1900 as marking the founding of a public relations profession . Academics have found early forms of public influence and communications management in ancient civilizations. Aristotle 's Rhetoric , for example, explains core foundations for persuasion . Evidence shows that it continued to evolve during

11970-446: The media and help to transmit news from the remote location to newspaper, TV and radio outlets, and facilitate daily press conferences that reported on steps taken following the accident. Under advice from the consultants and corporate lawyers, Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson traveled to Bhopal where he was placed in custody by the Indian government. Anderson posted bail, returned to the United States, and refused to return to India. He

12103-671: The media such as TV, radio, and magazines, to promote their ideas and messages tailored specifically to a target audience. Social media marketing is not only a new way to achieve that goal, but also a continuation of a strategy that existed for decades. Lister et al. said that "Digital media can be seen as a continuation and extension of a principal or technique that was already in place". Social media platforms enable users to connect with audiences to build brands, increase sales, and drive website traffic. This involves publishing content on social media profiles, engaging with followers, analyzing results, and running social media advertisements. The goal

12236-474: The merger of Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R into a new agency VML . In 1923, John Orr Young and Raymond Rubicam established a small advertising agency in Philadelphia. The company moved to New York in 1926 as a condition of securing a contract with the newly formed Jell-O company. Soon the company moved into offices at 285 Madison Avenue, which remained the company's location for 87 years. During

12369-598: The needs and desires of the audience they are trying to appeal to. Sometimes the interests of differing audiences and stakeholders common to a public relations effort necessitate the creation of several distinct but complementary messages. These messages however should be relevant to each other, thus creating consistency in the overall message and theme. Audience targeting tactics are important for public relations practitioners because they face all kinds of problems: low visibility, lack of public understanding, opposition from critics, and insufficient support from funding sources. On

12502-529: The new agency, Burson . The merger was finalized in July 2024. Donna Imperato served as global chief executive officer (CEO) from 2018 to 2023. She was previously CEO at Cohn & Wolfe. She announced her retirement in January 2023 and was replaced in August 2023 by Corey duBrowa, who previously served as head of communications and public affairs at Alphabet and is now Global CEO of Burson. BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe)

12635-492: The organization and the public interest ." The Public Relations Society of America , a professional trade association, defined public relations in 1982 as: "Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other." In 2011 and 2012, the PRSA solicited crowd-supplied definitions for the term and allowed the public to vote on one of three finalists. The winning definition stated that: "Public relations

12768-537: The organization of the AT&;T Olympic Torch Relay , sponsored by the telecommunications company . This was the largest promotional event that the company had undertaken to date, with up to 150 people working full-time on organizing the 8,000-mile relay. One year later, Burson-Marsteller executive Geoff Nightingale came up with the idea of Hands Across America as a fundraising event for USA for Africa sponsored by its client Coca-Cola. By 1983, Burson-Marsteller had become

12901-596: The organization, its leadership , products, or political decisions. Public relations professionals typically work for PR and marketing firms, businesses and companies , government , and public officials as public information officers and nongovernmental organizations , and nonprofit organizations. Jobs central to public relations include internal positions such as public relations coordinator, public relations specialist, and public relations manager, and outside agency positions such as account coordinator, account executive , account supervisor, and media relations manager. In

13034-523: The original NBC Peacock at Sudler. S&H was founded in 1941, was acquired by Y&R in 1973 and was rolled into VMLY&R in 2018. BAV (BrandAssetValuator) Group is VMLY&R's consultancy practice that advises global clients on brand and marketing strategies using consumer insights and the largest database of brand perceptions. The BrandAssetValuator (BAV) identifies the most important dimensions and characteristics that drive brand momentum, advocacy, and financial success. Each year, BAV Group publishes

13167-403: The other hand, stakeholder theory identifies people who have a stake in a given institution or issue. All audiences are stakeholders (or presumptive stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are members of a target audience. For example, if a charity commissions a public relations agency to create an advertising campaign to raise money to find a cure for a disease, the charity and the people with

13300-462: The plural is "central to the understanding" of public relations, writing "all organisations have a series of publics, or stakeholders, on whom their success depends". He follows Roger Hayward (1991) in dividing the publics into "customers (past, present, and future), staff (past, present, and future), investors (past, present, and future), politicians and regulators, neighbours, and business partners (suppliers, distributors, etc.)". Langley also contests

13433-575: The practice to Europe when they set up European subsidiaries in the wake of the Marshall plan of 1948–1952. In the second half of the 20th century, public relations entered an era of professional development . Trade associations, PR news-magazines, international PR agencies, and academic principles for the profession were established. In the early 2000s, press-release services began offering social-media press releases. The Cluetrain Manifesto , which predicted

13566-399: The press. Video and audio news releases (VNRs and ANRs) are often produced and distributed to TV outlets in hopes they will be used as regular program content. A fundamental technique used in public relations is to identify the target audience and to tailor messages that are relevant to each audience. Audience targeting requires public relations professionals to have a deep understanding of

13699-420: The previous level. In 1983, Burson-Marsteller was awarded a Silver Anvil for "out-of-the-ordinary crisis management" for its work with Johnson & Johnson. The company was brought back to handle crisis management during a second Tylenol crisis, involving cyanide tainting in New York in 1986. The Bhopal disaster was one of the world's worst industrial catastrophes. In 1984 a gas leak killed over 2,000 people at

13832-478: The public forum, but to obtain such a hearing for their ideas requires a skilled advocate. Marketing and communications strategist, Ira Gostin, believes there is a code of conduct when conducting business and using public relations. Public relations specialists have the ability to influence society. Fact-checking and presenting accurate information is necessary to maintain credibility with employers and clients. The Public Relations Society of America has established

13965-614: The public relations industry over the years for its work in high-profile crisis management, including the late 1990s Asian financial crisis , a 2002 extortion attempt against British company GlaxoSmithKline , and a response described as the "gold standard" for its crisis management of the 1982 Chicago Tylenol poisonings. Other high-profile crisis cases include the manufacturers of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station and Egypt following terrorist attacks on tourists in 1993 . At times it has also been

14098-400: The public relations industry. From early in the company's history, employees were expected to participate in ongoing training. Due to this practice, Harold Burson estimated in the early 1980s that 65 percent of the company's costs were related to human resources. The aim of Burson-Marsteller's training was to create a uniform approach to public relations across all clients and locations. In 2005,

14231-587: The public's consciousness. Furthermore, he is also concerned with ideologies and courses of actions as well as material goods and services and public utilities and industrial associations and large trade groups for which it secures popular support. In August 1978, the World Assembly of Public Relations Associations defined the field as "the art and social science of analyzing trends , predicting their consequences, counselling organizational leaders and implementing planned programs of action, which will serve both

14364-618: The release of certain news so it can take advantage of prominent events in the news. Negative public relations, also called dark public relations (DPR), 'black hat PR' and in some earlier writing "Black PR", is a process of destroying the target's reputation and/or corporate identity . The objective in DPR is to discredit someone else, who may pose a threat to the client's business or be a political rival. DPR may rely on IT security , industrial espionage , social engineering and competitive intelligence . Common techniques include using dirty secrets from

14497-628: The role. A White House political pollster for six years, he was best known for his work with President Bill Clinton , Tony Blair and Bill Gates . Penn (who had not previously worked within PR) introduced new strategies at Burson-Marsteller, including one called "DIGS" (digital, integrated, global, strategic) and "Evidence-Based Communications", described by the company as a scientific and data-driven approach to communications, which drew from Penn's background in research. Penn and Burson-Marsteller received negative media attention in 2008 when his work on behalf of

14630-512: The same year, Harold Burson was named by PR Week as the PR industry's "most influential person of the 20th century". Young & Rubicam became a subsidiary of the media group WPP Group PLC in 2000, and Burson-Marsteller became part of WPP. The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing hired Burson-Marsteller in 1995 to publicize the new designs of U.S. paper money, both in the United States and internationally. The Bureau had launched its second redesign of

14763-639: The settling of the New World and during the movement to abolish slavery in England. Basil Clarke is considered the founder of public relations in the United Kingdom for his establishment of "Editorial Services" in 1924. The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and others used the concept of propaganda , which later evolved into public relations, to rally domestic support and to demonize enemies during

14896-417: The subject of protests and criticism for its work for regimes facing severe human rights criticisms ( Argentina and Indonesia ). The firm also worked in corporate PR , public affairs, technology and healthcare communications, and brand marketing. Within the industry Burson-Marsteller was known for its effective company employee training programs and for having helped to develop the careers of many members of

15029-401: The takeover, Burson became executive vice-president and a board member of Young & Rubicam. As part of Young & Rubicam in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Burson-Marsteller became known for its crisis management work. Clients consulting Burson-Marsteller for crisis management included: Babcock & Wilcox , following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979; Johnson & Johnson , during

15162-613: The target, producing misleading facts to fool a competitor. In politics, a decision to use negative PR is also known as negative campaigning . The T.A.R.E.S. is a five-point test that evaluates ethical persuasion and provides boundaries in persuasive practices. Young %26 Rubicam Before the merger with Wunderman Thompson , VMLY&R employed more than 13,000 employees in 80-plus offices worldwide with principal offices in Kansas City, New York, London, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney. On October 17, 2023, WPP announced

15295-500: The tobacco industry support of these organizations, to give the appearance they represented grassroots opposition to anti-smoking laws rather than the business interests of their sponsors. At the end of the 1990s, the firm had retained its position as the largest PR agency in the world, with fees of over $ 274 million that year. As part of the company's continued growth, it acquired grassroots lobbying organization Direct Impact in April 1999. In

15428-486: The tobacco industry. In May 2011, Burson-Marsteller was hired by Facebook to conduct a PR attack on Google. Burson-Marsteller contacted a number of media companies and bloggers in an effort to get them to write unflattering stories about Google. The campaign backfired when one of the bloggers went public by posting the emails he received from Burson-Marsteller on the Internet. Don Baer , the former communications director for

15561-404: The various mediated messages. According to Jim Hoggan , "public relations is not by definition 'spin'. Public relations is the art of building good relationships. You do that most effectively by earning trust and goodwill among those who are important to you and your business... Spin is to public relations what manipulation is to interpersonal communications. It's a diversion whose primary effect

15694-528: The way an organization is perceived by influencing the media and maintaining relationships with stakeholders. According to Jacquie L'Etang from Queen Margaret University, public relations professionals can be viewed as "discourse workers specializing in communication and the presentation of argument and employing rhetorical strategies to achieve managerial aims." Specific public relations disciplines include: Building and managing relationships with those who influence an organization or individual's audiences have

15827-622: The world's largest PR firm, with $ 63.8 million in revenue for that year. The following year it acquired Cohn & Wolfe, an Atlanta-based public relations firm, which operated as a subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller until 2000. Burson-Marsteller had established its first offices in Asia in 1973, in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo. By the mid-1980s it had further expanded overseas operations with offices in Australia and New Zealand. A subsidiary of

15960-443: The world, VML joined forces with Y&R to become VMLY&R. Sudler & Hennessey (United States) was a healthcare communications firm that developed promotional and educational programs for a wide spectrum of healthcare companies. S&H created advertising, direct marketing and sales promotion programs for prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications. In addition, S&H provided consultancy and communications support in

16093-433: Was acquired later by WPP Group PLC . In 2018, it merged with Cohn & Wolfe and was renamed Burson Cohn & Wolfe. Prior to the establishment of Burson-Marsteller, co-founders Harold Burson and William "Bill" Marsteller owned separate agencies focused on public relations and advertising, respectively. Burson had established Harold Burson Public Relations in 1946, based in New York City. Meanwhile, Marsteller had founded

16226-411: Was also provided to employees relevant to their practice areas. In the Issues & Crisis Group, employees were trained to communicate the correct information during crises for a variety of different clients and issues. In an interview in 2003, Harold Burson was quoted as saying that Burson-Marsteller has been "A training ground for the industry," with more than 35,000 people continuing to participate in

16359-622: Was announced as the company's hub for the South Asian market in 2008. Prior to the acquisition, since 2002 Genesis had been Burson-Marsteller's exclusive representative in India. Mark Penn became the CEO of Burson-Marsteller in December 2005, following a period of instability during which there were three leadership changes in one year. Penn's predecessor, Tom Nides, had left Burson-Marsteller after eight months in

16492-486: Was awarded Platinum status by Deloitte based on six consecutive years among Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies. In 2010, TAXI was named Agency of the Decade by Toronto-based Strategy magazine. Led by Y&R New Zealand, the "McWhopper" campaign for Burger King was created to bring together two of the world's largest fast-food restaurants – McDonald's and Burger King – to raise awareness for World Peace Day. To initiate

16625-699: Was declared a fugitive from justice by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal on February 1, 1992, for failing to appear at the court hearings in a culpable homicide case in which he was named the chief defendant. While his visit to India several days after the leak was viewed positively by the media and other corporations and brought attention to Union Carbide's actions in showing its concern for what had happened in Bhopal it did not deflect criticism of Union Carbide for cutting costs on safety measures. While Burson-Marsteller has been criticized for its involvement with Union Carbide, Harold Burson has stated that he

16758-404: Was directed by Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper and featured actress Janet McTeer as Mrs. Claus. Instead of making another campaign centered around Santa Claus, the modern Christmas campaign placed the spotlight on a stylish, empowering, helicopter flying, Mrs. Claus. The campaign shows Mrs. Claus on a mission to successfully help a little boy's Christmas dreams come true. The goal of the campaign

16891-421: Was for M&S to form an emotional connection with consumers and relate to the lengths that people go through to make the holiday season special. The 1975 "Band-Aid" campaign by Y&R New York introduced the memorable jingle "I am stuck on Band-Aid because my Band-Aid is stuck on me” to help sell Johnson & Johnson's Band-Aid product. This Y&R New York campaign from 1967, "Betcha/Devil," introduced

17024-563: Was founded with an estimated $ 4 million in Philip Morris seed money and the involvement of some fifty other tobacco industry players. Their activities also included support for The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), which was created in 1993 by APCO Worldwide , another major public relations firm, with funding from Philip Morris. In Europe, Burson-Marsteller provided support for an advertising campaign in 1996 carried out by Philip Morris. Advertisements were published comparing

17157-440: Was named global chairman. Prior to its merger with Cohn & Wolfe, Burson-Marsteller comprised 77 offices and 85 affiliate offices, operating in 110 countries across six continents. The company was founded by Harold Burson (1921–2020) and William Marsteller in 1953, and, by the early 1980s, had become one of the largest public relations companies in the world. In 1979, it became a subsidiary of Young & Rubicam , which in turn

17290-459: Was originally called upon its founding in 1992, had claimed to offer truly integrated online and offline services, such as advertising, business consulting and creating software applications. It also boasted an impressive client list, including Colgate-Palmolive, Coca-Cola and American Express. In June 2001, a deal was announced in which VML would become part of WPP as a stand-alone agency group. In 2018, with 3,000 employees in 33 locations around

17423-415: Was the only PR agency retained by GM at the time. In 1970, Burson-Marsteller was engaged by the main division of GM to manage its PR, following stiff competition from larger firms. According to Harold Burson, GM was seeking outside PR management following the publication of Ralph Nader 's book Unsafe at Any Speed , which called into question GM's design practices, and led to negative media representation of

17556-483: Was the world's third-largest public relations firm by revenue, as of 2018. According to PRovoke Media, the merger with Hill & Knowlton in 2024 made the newly formed Burson a top two global PR firm. It employed more than 4,000 people in 42 countries as of 2019. The company is the flagship brand in the Burson Group, whose brands include: AxiCom, Buchanan Communications, GCI Health, and Hill & Knowlton. Burson

17689-460: Was to "be humble" and apologize to the U.S. public for deciding to change to New Coke. Just two months after original Coke was reintroduced as Classic Coke, sales of Coke, Coca-Cola Classic and Cherry Coke had risen 10 percent compared with the previous year. The 1980s also saw the company become involved in large-scale publicity events. In 1984, Burson-Marsteller first brought entertainment and sports together to generate publicity for its clients with

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