Remembering Al Golin

"Kid, you need to go for it." Words of wisdom from Al Golin, a man I was fortunate to have as a mentor. He was inspirational in the launch of CommPRO.biz back in 2010.  We "went for it." While we are all sad to learn of Al's passing, CommPRO wants to celebrate the life and accomplishments of this public relations pioneer.

I first met Al some 30 years ago while I was with Bacon’s (now Cision) in Chicago.  Al and the late Robert H. Bacon, Jr., were industry pioneers.  Dan Edelman, Al Golin and Harold Burson would often be invited to visit Bacon’s to review the new PR products we’d be developing.  One of my early product "pitch" meetings was with Al Golin.I never forgot our first meeting.  There’s a certain quality that most visionaries possess that leaves an indelible impression and Al had it and more.  He founded his firm in 1956 and, like so many founders, had a unique vision for how things should be done.  His impact on our industry is still being felt to this day given his agency’s many creative and highly memorable campaigns for, among others, McDonald's, Walmart, Unilever, Texas Instruments, Johnson & Johnson and others.  As a result of his unique vision, his firm became a powerhouse within the industry.

Al Golin was part of a group of practitioners that made up the “Greatest Generation in PR” (see accompanying story), which includes such luminaries as Harold Burson, Dan Edelman and David Finn.  Pioneers, rather than settlers, they blazed the trail for others to follow.  Al will be missed; however, he leaves behind a rich legacy and a great example for those yet to come.

NOTE:  When I was Jack O’Dwyer’s publisher, I was fortunate to be part of the ‘Greatest Generation in PR’ event.  It is a treasured memory.  Much appreciation to my friends at ODwyerpr.com for sharing this feature with the CommPRO community.  We welcome your comments and memories about Al Golin

May. 18, 2005

PR LEGENDS ADDRESS THE INDUSTRY

“It’s the best of times and, in some cases, the worst of times,” said Harold Burson, the octogenarian chairman and co-founder of WPP Group’s Burson-Marsteller who was part of the O’Dwyer Company’s “Greatest Generation in PR” event on May 17 at the Yale Club in New York.

Al Golin and Harold Burson at the O’Dwyer’s event.

Burson said that at industry gatherings in previous years, the PR industry would lament its fight for respect within an organization. “People would say, ‘Management doesn’t appreciate us,'” said Burson. “I don’t think that’s happening anymore.”Burson was among featured panelists including Al Golin, chairman/co-founder of GolinHarris, Margery Kraus, founder/president/CEO, APCO Worldwide, Daniel Edelman, founder/chairman Daniel J. Edelman Inc., and David Finn, chairman/co-founder of the Ruder Finn Group.The panelists regaled the audience with stories of their beginnings, some accidental, into the PR field and discussed past, present and future issues in PR.

Dan Edelman and David Finn

Edelman acknowledged recent controversies surrounding the industry while calling on PR to fill the void left by the diminishing importance of 30-second ad spots.“We can’t have a meeting like this without realizing that we’ve been hit,” Edelman said in reference to recent PR controversies in the media. He also called on the industry to find “common ground” on video news releases.He noted recent advertising cuts by pharmaceutical companies led to only slight sales drops, one of several signs that indicates “mass marketing is over.”“The future is PR as the center,” Edelman said. “It’s the holding company. It’s not advertising. It’s not an adjunct.”

PR’s formative years

Burson said the evolution of PR from its formative years in the 1930s and ’40s hit a peak during the ’60s amid sweeping social change in the U.S. Calling the ’60s PR’s “most vibrant period,” he marked the ascendance of PR executives in corporations as a testament to its acceptance in the upper levels of companies.

David Finn jokes with the audience.

Burson noted PR directors eventually rose to be senior VPs during the ’80s, later becoming executive VPs and part of companies’ executive committees today. “I think that’s a tremendous recognition of the function of PR,” he said.He said the advent of legislation like civil rights, consumers’ right to know and environmental regulations, all of which fostered sweeping social change, also evolved the question generally posed to a PR person from “What do I say?” to today’s “What do I do?”David Finn said the practice of PR “really hasn’t changed that much” in the last 45 years as he read from a book about PR he wrote while in his 30s, which he said still applies to the field today.Finn called on PR to own up to its ethical responsibilities in the face of pressure from clients or other forces. He called on PR pros to do their “homework,” to “come closer to the kind of research a lawyer does when he takes on a case.”

Golin urged PR pros not to listen to the ‘naysayers.’

“For the most part we’re in a difficult position,” he said of decisions sometimes faced when clients put pressure on a firm to perform. “We have to find a way to advocate the positions that we ourselves respect in the bottom of our minds.”Golin channeled author John Naisbitt (Megatrends) in telling PR pros to balance high-tech with “high-touch.” Golin quipped about a colleague who was e-mailing and leaving voicemails from an office 30 feet away.On the recent PR controversies, Golin warned: “We’re now becoming more of the problem than the solution.” But he said the industry has to be careful not to overreact.“We can’t listen to the naysayers and we have to take some chances and keep taking risks,” he said. “We need to focus on reading the public mind, and not manipulating it.”

Margery Kraus sees significant growth potential for PR in Asia.

Burson lamented that CEOs today are under tremendous pressure to produce strong earnings results, pressure which he said has caused ethical lapses and some of the corporate scandals in recent years. He noted that earnings goals are no longer set by companies, but by outside entities. “Too many corporations are not going to be able to sustain investor confidence,” he said.Kraus discussed the growth potential for PR overseas. “The world is shifting East,” Kraus said, in reference to the region where she thinks PR will show the most growth in coming years. She said growth in the Chinese market is obvious, but India could be second down the road and other areas like Malaysia and Indonesia could be surprises.Asked how corporate social responsibility can benefit a company and be quantified, she said: “Many companies overseas are raising the standard of living in the areas in which they operate.” She also warned, “There are dangers now of not being a good citizen.”

Few regrets

The panelists were also asked about their best and worst moves during their decades at the helm of some of PR’s largest firms.

Jack O’Dwyer, editor-in-chief for O’Dwyer publications, at the May 17 event.

Burson, who said he got into PR for $50 week and a car (double his newspaper salary in Memphis), said his best decision in 45 years was to open an international office in Geneva in 1961 to give the company a global presence, even though B-M had not yet reached $1 million in revenue and only had about 25 people on staff. “That differentiated Burson-Marsteller,” he said. He also joked that he regretting becoming an “international expert” a year later.Burson also said deciding not to grow the firm through acquisition whenever possible to create a consistent culture throughout the world was another good move.Finn said his worst decision was opening offices all over Europe and in Japan, losing money, then closing them all and retreating to the U.S. He said it took awhile for the firm to build back.

Kevin McCauley, editor of O’Dwyer’s, introduced the ‘greatest generation’ panel.

His best decision was to focus on ethics from an early stage and to create an ethics advisory board 40 years ago, a move which came out of hiring a PR executive and a New York Times reporter who pled the 5th during the McCarthy communism hearings. After more 5th amendment “pleaders” came looking to Ruder Finn for jobs, Finn was prompted to seek advice from an ethicist and that led to the firm’s first ethics board, which is still in place and usually includes a priest, rabbi and other academics.

Mort Kaplan, professor of marketing communication, Columbia College Chicago, moderated the panel.

Edelman said his best move was bringing aboard his son Richard and let him lead the company. His worst move was to “assume that everybody you hire is honest.” Edelman said that the company dealt with a handful of people who were “as Richard would call them, ‘crooks'” over the years.Pointing out the age of his fellow panelists, Edelman joked: “PR is supposed to be a great pressure business … but it’s a good field for longevity.”Golin said he and his firm are at their best when they “follow our gut.” He said bad decisions have arisen “when we listen to the naysayers.”