The new season of AMC’s hit TV series Mad Men started off with a bang (pardon the pun), with a peek into the bedroom of creative director and new bachelor Don Draper.  It also revealed the tensions inherent in the pursuit of new business at fledgling ad agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

I confess I’m a “Mad-dict,” in part because I’ve worked at a few advertising agencies in my career and many of the situations hit home for me. 

In my experience, some clients view advertising as the golden child and public relations as the bastard at the proverbial family reunion. PR can be an after-thought, while creative gets the lion’s share of the attention.  After all, how do you quantify something you can’t storyboard or plot into a media plan?

The season premiere of Mad Men, entitled “Public Relations,” opened with Don being interviewed by an Advertising Age reporter.  Don’s lackluster responses and subsequent dismissal of the interview as a waste of his time reminded me of a few clients’ view of doing media interviews.

When the article showcases Don in a less than favorable light, he’s called onto the carpet by his agency partner Roger Sterling:

Don:  He never asked me that. Did he check any of the facts?

Roger:  You didn’t give him any facts. He had to make some assumptions.

Don:  My job is to write ads, not go around talking about who I am.

Roger:  Who knows who you are? This was supposed to be an advertisement for the firm…this is a missed opportunity.

By the end of the episode, Don has an “aha” moment when he realizes the value of PR as a tool to tell the agency’s story the way he wants it to be told.  During his interview later on with the Wall Street Journal, it’s obvious Don’s in control.

Smart organizations (the Roger Sterlings) know the value of leveraging editorial coverage to their advantage.  For those that don’t (the Don Drapers), we’re here to tell them.

It’s an age-old perception. The Democrats aren’t tough enough in their rhetoric or their actions. And in the face of terrorist threats and devastating disasters, many people want a leader who is ready to … well … kick ass. President Obama’s handling of the BP oil spill in the Gulf has generated a lot of criticism about his approach as being too calm, cool and collected. So when he told the “Today” show’s Matt Lauer that he was in the region a month ago talking to local fishermen and experts to get answers that would help him determine “whose ass to kick,” it created quite the buzz. I even saw one person on Facebook suggest that he sounded like our former president.

What most people seemed to miss is the lead-in from Matt Lauer that lead to this tough talk from our President. He was talking about the critics and said people feel this isn’t the time for him to meet with advisors. He said they feel he should spend more time in the Gulf and, “…I never thought I’d be saying this to a president, but kick some butt.” When Obama responded, he used “ass” instead of “butt.”

Much of the buzz was around how Obama is finally getting tough and whether it’s appropriate, genuine, etc. or just the work of his speech writers. Again, no one seemed to factor in that he was set up to give that quote. When we prepare spokespeople, we counsel them to be aware of “quote trapping.” Sometimes journalists will use the language they want you to use in an effort to get a specific quote. In this case, Obama gave Lauer what he wanted and took it one step further. From there, it took on a life all its own.

Back in the 70s, my friends used to come over and watch in awe as I played games on our family’s little Mac with the cute multi-colored apple logo on the monitor.

My father was a successful computer scientist and programmer with NASA and NOAA, and so we were the first ones in our neighborhood to have a home computer.

Dad died more than 27 years ago. He had always advised me never to socialize with the people I work with; he believed people should keep their private life separate from their professional life. So I often wonder what this early adopter of computer technology would think about the cultural phenomenon that is social networking.

Many people thrive on putting their daily activities and innermost thoughts out there for the world (or at least their friends or followers) to see. Chances are good that a friend-of-a-friend is the friend of a co-worker, so it’s common sense to think twice before posting pictures of yourself getting your drink on or tweeting about how much you cannot stand your job.

Those of us in the public relations profession have always had rules about separating one’s personal and professional lives, especially when counseling C-level execs. We advise clients to think carefully before firing off a letter to the editor that’s based on personal opinion, since their position may be taken as representative of their company’s stance on a particular issue. Sometimes the two don’t match up, and that could be problematic.

Is that limiting free speech? To some degree, I suppose it is. But it’s worth the time to thoughtfully consider ways to express personal views that don’t cross the boundaries between home life and work life.

Now that the means to communicate quickly, easily and broadly have increased so dramatically, it’s more important than ever to think twice before posting your answer to the question: “What’s on your mind?”

Campus CEO book cover

With what may be the biggest political corruption scandal in New Jersey history unfolding, I am likely the only person writing about its gubernatorial race. But yesterday it was big news when Randal Pinkett, entrepreneur and winner of The Apprentice 4, held a press conference to announce that he’s still interested in running as incumbent Jon Corzine’s lieutenant governor – if the governor will have him.

There has been a great deal of media coverage about Mr. Pinkett’s readiness for the role since Governor Corzine announced he was on the short list. Numerous articles, blog posts and editorials have essentially laughed at the notion of a winner of The Apprentice running the state should something happen to the governor. These days, it seems anything associated with Donald Trump generates at minimum a chortle, if not a heavy dose of skepticism. It’s a shame, because we know Randal and his time on The Apprentice is a blip on the continuum of his accolades and accomplishments.

I am not interested in recapping his resume; other pieces have done that. Instead I’d like to shed light on Randal, the person. Rose Communications represented the publisher of Randal’s book, “Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur’s Guide to Launching a Multi-Million Dollar Business.” We worked directly with Randal for several months leading up to the launch of the book as well as in the weeks that followed it. He is at once intelligent, charming and approachable. He definitely had a point of view about his book and how it should be introduced. But he was also impressively collaborative, bringing in his own public relations counsel as well as the firm that handled The Apprentice. He is as passionate about helping people as he is about achieving success. Randal was always accessible to us, listened to our perspective and expressed his gratitude for our work.

Of course, I have no say as to whom Governor Corzine selects as his running mate and I’ll do my own due diligence when that choice is made. But what I know now is that Randal is the victim of media outlets that took the easy route by focusing almost singularly on his time on The Apprentice. It was deplorable how they placed the focus on his handling of individual tasks on the show without making mention of all the things he’d achieved before and after that short season on television. Randal seemed to stay out of the fray, which is the smart thing for a potential running mate to do until he’s officially named. But he wisely took control of the message yesterday when he offered his perspective to the media.

Governor Corzine supposedly has until Monday to make his decision. Whether Randal’s time is next week or in the future, I hope voters take the time to get to know him beyond what they or someone they know saw on “reality” television.