Communications as Ikor

PR 클라이언트로서의 벤쳐 유형  < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

얼마전에 저는 한 모임에서 많은 벤쳐 기업가들의 명함들을 받은적이 있습니다. 참 이세상에는 열심히 사시는 분들이 많구나.. 하면서 그 다음 생각은 참 다양도 하다.. 하는 것 이었습니다. 이제 걸음마 단계인 한국의 벤쳐 산업이 더욱 건실해지고 다양화되기를 바랍니다.

 

오늘은 그런 벤쳐분들의 더욱 멋진 PR 클라이언트화를 추구하고자, 미국 잡지 Upside의 Tia O’Brien이라는 여자가 쓴 미국 벤쳐들의 유형중 PR에이젼시들이 기피하는 대상 유형들을 기술한 글을 소개합니다.

 

그녀는 이글에서 만약 이런 종류의 클라이언트가 서비스를 부탁하면 정중하게 거절하거나, 맡더라도 위험요소를 파악. 대비책을 미리 마련하라고 귀띔합니다. 그냥 재미있게 보아주시고, 동감이 가시면 적극 피해서 가시기 바랍니다.

 

타산지석이라는 말이 딱 필요한 시기이기 때문에 한국의 벤쳐를 일구시는 분들에게 이글을 보여드리고 싶었습니다. 또한 한국 PR계의 발전을 위해…

 

그럼 짧은 글 재미나게 보시고 좋은 하루 되십시오.

 

저는 .. “홍보!” 입니다…

 

**********************************************************************

Are You a PR Firm’s Worst Nightmare?

 

Just as a startup company’s founders should be on the watch for signs that indicate potential problems with a public relations firm, the better spin doctors are on the watch for problem clients. Upside has compiled a list of danger signs that red-flag clients who should be politely rejected or, if taken on, will require serious damage control.

 

“We’re not really a startup” – (무지막지 투자형)

–This company spends money as though it were Microsoft Corp. Ed Niehaus, co-founder and president of Niehaus Ryan Wong Inc., puts the legendary flameout PowerAgent, a Web and e-mail alert service, in this category. “They spent $18 million and never shipped a product. They had consultants who were hiring consultants. We never launched [the product] because they never lived that long.”

 

The Trend Chaser – (유행파 형)

–The CEO reads the Harvard Business Review, spots a new category and repositions the company accordingly. Advises Niehaus, “Figure out what [customers] want, describe it and use PR to refine it.”

 

“We don’t need your advice” – (오만/방자 형)

–These entrepreneurs completely tune out their PR advisers. Paul Franson, who ran his own PR service before becoming an Upside contributing writer, pulled the following quotes from his archives: “I can handle Mike Wallace, much less a reporter from Electronic Buyers’ News,” boasted one cocky CEO. Another overconfident senior executive informed a journalist, “We’re a big advertiser in your magazine, you know.” And then there was the CEO who insisted, “Everyone knows about ASICs [application-specific integrated circuits]. We don’t need to explain what they are.”

 

The Big Fish Syndrome – (호가호위 형)

–This arrogant, egotistical entrepreneur has usually jumped from a large company into the startup pond. Explains Maura FitzGerald, founder, president and CEO of FitzGerald Communications Inc., “This founder thinks that because he or she is associated with the company, the company’s success is guaranteed.”

 

Founders in Denial – (미스테리 형)

–When a client wouldn’t let Barbara Kline, founder of San Jose-based Breakthru Communications, talk with customers or business partners, she smelled trouble. But after the founders assured her that these essential product endorsers would talk with reporters, she organized a press tour. Once the tour was under way, the entrepreneurs confessed that they’d failed to line up customer endorsements and still hadn’t closed deals with crucial business partners. “[Founders in denial] don’t tell the truth to themselves,” observes Kline. “But when the rubber hits the road, the truth becomes clear.”

 

The Quick Exit – (치고빠지기 형)

–These founders are more interested in chasing IPO wealth than in hitting a high-tech home run. “You’d be surprised how many people talk about their entry strategy in the same paragraph with their exit strategy,” complains Niehaus. “Sandwiched in between is, ‘We want to use PR to build a brand over the next quarter and then we plan to [go public]. Could you help us make a lot of noise before the quiet period?'” Niehaus advises these entrepre-neurs that such a greed-driven strategy will most likely backfire with seasoned journalists who “don’t want to be the butt of their joke.”–Tia O’Brien