Paper Peviews

The banner advertisments scream like an old school special programmes about advertising.

“Guaranteed placements!”

“If we don’t book, you don’t pay!”

“Big time public relations ( Public Relations Melbourne ) without the big-time retainers.”

In between the come-ons, however, is the reality that pay-for-performance (PFP) public relations ( Publicity PR ) is coming of age, according to one expert.

“Trades are struggling in this economy and success in today’s world demands trade leaders to operate in a way they may never have done before,”said Marsha Friedman, author of Celebritize Yourself from Warren Publishing, (www.celebritizeyourself.com). Just as people believed that there are people like Bernie Madoff has been removed in handcuffs, there are actually positive changes in the business world that is so incredible. There is a myth, pay for performance PR - if executed correctly - can overwhelm the efforts of traditional agencies to mount a much lower cost.”

The advent of PFP PR began in the late 80’s and was considered revolutionary at the time, Friedman said.

“It hit with some fanfare with an article in the New York Times, and soon after, other companies opened up with the same approach, but varying degrees of effectiveness,” said Friedman, who is also the CEO of EMSI Public Relations ( PR agency ) , a pay-for-performance agency for nearly the last 20 years. “At the end of the day,whether it is a retainer-based agency or a PFP agency, the consequence will different relying on the quality of their work. Just as there are good lawyers and bad lawyers, public relations firms in the area of customer service, so its effectiveness is less and less to do with their business model, as their skills
.”

One recurring criticism that retainer firms have leveled against pay-for-performance firms is that they lack the strategy component. Friedman said that the PFP model does not eliminate good strategic services
. Actually ,she has a relief that it actually improves the attention on strategy.