What were once priorities for public relations agencies now seem trivial to many local agencies in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11.
At Regan Communications in Providence, for example, promotional campaigns were put on hold by clients.
Instead of planning a Boston Celtics Block Party, George Regan’s company helped financial institutions reassure customers their money is safe.
Instead of organizing a pop music festival, his staff directed other clients to donate to appropriate charities.
“Nothing would be the same in the world, much less in the field of public relations,” said Regan, referring to the impact of the attacks.
Regan, who has offices in Boston and Providence and about 10 clients in New York, said his agency has cancelled many events in the wake of the attack.
“This has been very depressing working on these things,” he said. “You’re left feeling very empty because a lot of the hard work just doesn’t matter any more because there’s nothing to celebrate. We’re pulling the plug on a lot of these things.”
“The bottom line is that we’re a PR firm known for placement and that’s just not what we’re doing right now,” he said.
Other public relations agencies are also proceeding, albeit with caution and sensitivity.
“As we continue to pursue public relations opportunities for our clients we are careful to take a respectful tone with inquiries in light of our nation’s grief,” said Jennifer Toone, vice president of Providence’s Chaffee & Partners. “We have a few clients who have been able to assist directly with relief efforts. In these cases it is our role as public relations professionals to coordinate efforts and facilitate the flow of information between organizations.”
Mike Doyle, president of Providence-based RDW Group, said many of his clients have also rethought their strategies.
“A number of our clients are changing their advertising or pursuing activities designed to be helpful to people during these times,” he said.
One client, Consumer Credit Counseling Service is planning a way to give advice to people going through a financial crisis that might have resulted from the economic impact of the terrorist attacks.
Steve Rosa, president of Advertising Ventures, said clients getting word of financial well-being to other parties has been a priority for his firm.
Rosa said the terrorist attack was not only a wakeup call to America’s security, but also to his clients and the messages they send to consumers.
“Things have shifted, but all of a sudden we still have these messages we need to get out, but those messages have changed,” he said. “A lot of our clients are wanting to help relief efforts, but don’t know where to turn. It’s really made our clients take a second look at the messages they’re sending out to everyone, and if they are appropriate to the public.”
“Everything just became a whole lot more serious,” he said. “We’ve got to be thoughtful because there are people hurting out there, and we’re a people business, and it’s just made us reevaluate everything.”
Josh Fenton, a partner at Trion Communications said his agency also pulled the plug on a few campaigns at least for the time being.
“From a public relations strategy there were two issues,” he said. “We worked with our clients to make sure anything they were promoting was highly important. Some things became somewhat obscure because of the crisis. The second thing we did was ask our clients to make sure the messages they were sending out were 100 percent appropriate.
“With most of our clients we asked them and they clearly recognized that first week and the following week we should just wait on making any announcements,” he said.
Not only has his industry changed, said Fenton, but the whole world has changed.
