BOOKS about public relations, especially on PR in the Philippines, come few and far between. Most of them are formal, impersonal and theoretical in nature—as if the authors suffered from inferiority complex and wanted to emphasize that PR was not a shallow and frivolous, but an important occupation.
In fact, PR has already gained more respect and credibility over the years, which is not to say no more PR for PR has to be done. But these too serious books only succeed in making PR sound like a dull profession that young people would not be attracted to get into.
There are exceptions, of course, one being the book How to Make it in PR edited and published by our fellow International Public Relations Association Philippine chapter member Romy Virtusio. It is a compilation of first-person accounts by several Filipino PR veterans of their climb up the ladder of success. Their stories are not only interesting but instructive as they convey lessons the “veterans” have learned along the way without being pedantic about it. I think there are still copies available in bookstores. If you are in PR, or even if you are not, this is certainly a book worth reading, seeing as to how PR now plays such a big part in our society.
• An exciting and engaging read. Recently, a similar type of book as Virtusio’s titled Adventures of a PR Girl was written by Bettina Rodriguez-Olmedo and published by her and Anvil Publishing Inc. Olmedo has had a long, successful and quite an exciting and colorful PR career in the past several decades. (This qualifies her as a PR veteran although she still does not look like one, still exuding a youthful quality.)
Olmedo wrote about her PR career candidly and at times, edgily but without crossing the line of taste and diplomacy—she’s still a PR girl at heart. This makes reading her book an engaging and in parts, a downright exciting experience (as the word “adventure” in the title connotes and largely lives up to). For the book dwells not just on the PR history of the Philippines, but also on its social history, as well (naming names that would still ring a bell in the minds of many Filipinos except in a couple of cases where she does not out of delicadeza). This was especially during the hotel PR phase of her career when she dealt with the who’s who of Philippine business, politics and society.
This is not to say that the PR history part of it is not as interesting for the general reader or as relevant and instructive for young and even not-so-young people involved in PR. For she wrote—again always interestingly and engagingly—about the many aspects of PR that a PR professional worth his or her salt should learn and become adept at. These include media relations, special events, PR crises, PR ethics, employee relations, corporate social responsibility and even the protocol to follow in the proper seating of people in a dinner involving VIPs. This may seem a lot of needless fuss for many Filipinos who are generally informal and are wont to “play things by ear.” But not seating VIPs in the right place befitting their perceived stature could not just ruffle feathers, but even precipitate a PR or even diplomatic crisis and would not reflect well on the host or the venue for the dinner, which are expected to have experts in such matters.
• Groundbreaking Miss Caltex contest.Olmedo also dwelt at length and in great, revealing detail about one of the most successful PR projects ever in the Philippines, the well-known and groundbreaking Miss Caltex contest undertaken by the Philippine Advertising Counselors (PAC), Olmedo’s employer and one of the country’s then-leading advertising agencies.
What made the Miss Caltex contest different and successful? To use the words of Olmedo herself, “in a country obsessed with beauty contests, this competition was a cut above the rest because the main criterion was not merely physical pulchritude, but the woman’s total personality.” Thus the desired image for the Miss Caltex winner would be one who was not just beautiful but “charming, articulate, intelligent and morally upright”—in other words, the ideal Filipina woman.
The contest brought to the fore many Filipina women with the aforementioned ideal qualities who or whose families were hesitant to have them join such contests before. For the sponsor of the contest, Caltex Philippines, it generated a lot of positive publicity and goodwill and enhanced its reputation as a respectable, ethical and culturally sensitive multinational corporation that held the Filipino woman in high esteem.
Incidentally, our late, eminent Ipra colleague Virgilio Pantaleon, who was at one time the PR head of Caltex, was personally involved in the Miss Caltex contest. He took great pride in it as one of the best, most fulfilling and enjoyable PR projects he has ever handled in his career. He often regaled us with his collection of vignettes from that project, telling the stories with his characteristic enthusiasm and gusto as if they only happened yesterday.
But Olmedo’s book is not just all about PR history though but more recent and contemporary PR and even to what she foresees as a bright future for the profession in the Philippines. She sees PR going more and more into the digital media arena and veering more and more toward CSR or PR designed to promote the public and community interest whether it be health, poverty alleviation, environmental conservation, and many other such worthy causes.
• PR must create ripple effect. I Would agree with Olmedo in this observation about the direction PR is going. In fact, for me and I am sure for most of my colleagues, PR has always been and must always be aligned with the promotion of the greater public interest, or else it will not gain the necessary public support for a PR campaign to succeed. So, in this sense, all PR is—and must be—CSR. Otherwise, it will just be a case of self-indulgence and self-glorification.
Olmedo ends her book by quoting Mother Teresa: “I cannot change the world, but I can throw a pebble that will create a ripple.” Not to say that all PR professionals could aspire to be Mother Teresa in terms of holiness (I know I can’t) but, like Mother Teresa, they should always try to do something good for society in their PR projects.
“Creating a ripple effect” is supposed to be what PR professionals are good at. Olmedo, in her successful and colorful PR career, has certainly done her share.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the UK-based International Public Relations Association, the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world. Rene Nieva is the chairman and CEO of Perceptions Inc.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.