Questioning Ourselves
One of our new employees – someone who’s been in the business world (as a management consultant) for a number of years, but without much PR experience, came into my office today.
He said he had a bunch of questions. Of course, I was all too happy to answer them. After all, as a father of six, I’m used to hearing a lot of questions.
But these questions were different. You see, at home, I’m used to a world of "Can I have a snack?" and "Why did HE get more ice cream than I did?" And at the office, the questions are only slightly different: "Can I have a raise?" and "Why did SHE get a bigger cube than I did?"
All joking aside, it’s not often that I am faced with the kinds of questions this account executive had for me. He asked the following:
- What are the characteristics that make a good PR firm?
- What makes a good PR professional?
- What are the key skills necessary to be a good PR professional?
- What are the skills that differentiate the good PR professionals from the great PR professionals?
- Are there any specific skill sets that are critical for a PR professional in Israel as opposed to other cultures?
It is my view that the Israeli PR world is still in its adolescence. I believe most agencies don’t even ask these questions. And that is one of the reasons why our craft is seen as somewhat of a commodity here, with the lowest bid often winning competitive pitches, and agencies being judged solely on the relative height of the clip piles they can produce.
We’re doing it to ourselves.
So I think we need to start asking these questions … and answering them, of course. And over time, it will elevate our entire industry.
By the way, there isn’t enough space here to provide the answers I gave to the above questions. However, if you’d like to hear the answers, please contact me (glenn@ruderfinn.co.il) and I’ll be glad to walk you through them.
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