Among the movie selections on my flight from London to Lima, Peru were Precious, The Blind Side and Up in the Air.
Not a bad way to describe the current state of the worldwide economy, it occurred to me.
Nevertheless, it’s an incredibly exciting and historic time to be in the public relations profession and that was the gist of my speech this morning to the International Public Relations Association’s World Congress.
I called it “From Caps to Clicks,” and with the help of my friend and colleague Bill Delaney, the address was framed around a moment early in my career that has served as motivation ever since.
It was 25 years ago and the occasion was a joint pitch with an advertising agency. And it went on and on and on. Until finally, crammed onto the last line of the last slide along with, literally, a list of ad-on’s, and sweeteners was Public Relations.
I mean, PR came after, literally, “t-shirts, caps and visors and other stuff.” Other stuff!
If I ever harboured a sneaking suspicion that to the ad guys – and to some unwitting client prospects – the PR was the poor relation to advertising – that was the moment that confirmed it for me.
And truth be told, I have been motivated by that chip on my shoulder ever since.
We have come a long way.
A chip on your shoulder isn’t necessarily dead weight!
Read all about it here: https://www.ketchum.com/Jon_Higgins_PR_and_the_Power_of_Connection_speech
