"I must admit that I'm not as prolific (nor as on-target) as many of my fellow SMT bloggers," says Peter Himler, this week's Blogger of the Week. "Every week or so I try to post on a topic that's editorially suitable for the site. And I guess this inconsistency reflects the current divided state of the PR industry. Clients still desire and pay for ink and airtime...in spite of the diminished influence of both."
Himler, who proudly wears the sobriquet "flack" (in fact, his blog is called The Flack) has been around the block a few times in the world of big-time public relations. Before he launched his own firm--Flatiron Communications LLC--in 2005 he was Chief Media Officer for Edelman Worldwide. Before that he spent 11 years with Burson-Marsteller as head of the agency's U.S. corporate media team and its worldwide spokesperson, and before that he was media director for six years at Cohn & Wolfe and before that he spent five years at Hill and Knowlton where he led H&K's broadcast and consumer media relations group. He began his career with three years working for the legendary showbiz flack Bobby Zarem.
Himler turned to blogging and social media, he says, because it's a great way to maintain reputation, build business and share his knowledge and experience with junior members of the PR ranks ("mainly to avoid the wrath of the Chris Anderson or Bill Holsteins of the world.").
"When you have a big position at a big agency, it's relatively easy to remain 'on the radar,'" he says. "But today, even if you don't, you still have the ability to take control of your own brand (versus being tied to the employer's brand). It's a way to stay relevant."
Himler, who prepared for a career in public relations by studying political science and French at Tufts, says that much of what he's learned in "traditional PR" remains valid today in spite of a vastly changed media landscape and consumers' media consumption habits.
"The client's essential needs haven't changed," he says. "Here are the questions I ask myself every day:
- "How does a story gain traction, i.e., go viral (digital or otherwise)?
- "When and how to effectively engage an antagonist blogger?
- "Which tools and channels are best-suited to advance a client's communications agenda, and which are superfluous?
- "Who are the new media influencers and how can one capture their narrowing attentions?
- "How should a CEO act in a company crisis?
- "How can one bypass the media filter to engage customers directly?
- "And what special skills do PR professionals possess that grant us first dibs on the social media revolution?"