With limited pages in newspapers and airtime on TV, public relations executives often compete with one another to get good press for their clients or organizations. Yet what if they joined forces?
In Rhode Island, some PR pros have found utility in combining their messages, sharing resources and building a bigger story. The strategy, they say, has also helped them increase their chances of gaining press coverage.
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“I think we live in too small a state to hold grudges or have too-large egos,” said Andy Cutler, spokesman for the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, and president of Cutler Communications. “We can’t afford that in the communications industry.”
Last summer, Cutler and his colleagues put the collaborative approach into practice in coordinating a press summit showcasing the progress made in downtown Providence.
The effort united communications staffs from the EDC, the city of Providence, Rhode Island School of Design, the Providence Foundation, Cornish Associates, and Durkee Brown Viveiros & Werenfels Architects.
The summit drew writers and reporters from national magazines, regional newspapers, local media outlets and at least one online publication. The organizers credit the two-day event for garnering coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Art New England magazine and several other publications.
“It’s the gift that keeps on giving, because the number of positive articles that resulted from that collaborative effort were way into the double digits,” said Michael McMahon, EDC executive director.
“If any one of us had tried to position a story on our own,” he added, “we would have been lucky to get one or two stories.”
With the obvious goal of fostering economic development, McMahon said, “collaboration” has helped the EDC re-brand the state as a test bed for new products and services, rather than a haven for corrupt politicians and the Mafia.
Also, the EDC’s re-branding initiative has meant advancing other organizations’ agendas. For example, “whether it’s health care, transportation, or energy, we keep using the word ‘design,’ ” McMahon said. “We’re trying to design not just a physical approach, but a business model approach … and we reinforce the RISD mantra.”
An embodiment of this strategy is the Communication Leadership Council. Cutler and fellow EDC staffer Melissa Withers formed the group last year, inviting senior public relations people from government, the private sector and nonprofits to share information and ideas about their profession.
“The subplot here is I felt that collectively there were ways we could communicate each other’s messages regarding the successes happening in the state,” Cutler said. “What has happened as a result is a greater sense of collaboration.”
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the American Red Cross of Rhode Island relied on a network of outside public relations people last September when evacuees were brought to the state from New Orleans.
Angie Henderson Moncada, director of communications for the local chapter, said she is normally the only employee in the organization who handles public relations. “Yet I suddenly had a staff of 10 or 15 people who knew what they were doing, and all I had to do was tell them what I needed,” she said. “It was great.”
To get the help, Moncada called the local chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, which has a formalized relationship with the Red Cross to lend its members during crises. Help in this case came from Lifespan, RDW Group, Duffy & Shanley, Webster Bank and more.
Jane Bruno, director of marketing and communications at Lifespan, said six members of her staff assisted the Red Cross after the hurricane. “It’s critically important that communications professionals collaborate,” she said.
