As one of the most successful public relations personalities, he has led from the front and has moulded his tools and strategies with the times. He shares his opinion on the industry and is very apprehensive about the traditional agencies that are resisting the new mediums and sticking to the conventional modes of communication.
How do you define public relations and the PR industry in your own perspective?
PR industry is very different from advertising industry. It's a consulting industry, like the law firm or an audit agency in operation sense. As PR consultants, we are in discussions with the top of the management and work to build or enhance their image and convey the message that they intend to, without engaging the advertising tools.
It's been well used in many of the mature markets and have saturated the traditional PR, but other places like the Middle East, China and even Brazil, along with other emerging markets still have lot of room for growth and use the potential of PR for achieving the desired objectives.
However, traditional means of PR are also changing and there is need to stay in touch with the times as media itself is changing and consumers are constantly changing the modes of medium to gather information and PR firms need to alter and accommodate new means and tools to use new mediums.
What are these new tools that can enhance the PR reach in addition to traditional means?
Digital media is the biggest platform available to reach out to your target audience. Traditional approach to mass broadcasting is history and clients seek specific audience for their very specific products, services and messages. In fact, we are so confident of these new platforms that we are setting up new companies that will specialise in utilising the potential of these new platforms and formats.
W2 is a result of our efforts in this direction. While founding and building the largest PR firm in the world and leading the formation of Advanced Marketing Services at IPG, I've had the opportunity to evaluate and integrate new technologies into the communication process to bring organisations closer to their constituents.
Can you elaborate on the objectives of W2 and how will it be different in comparison to other traditional marketing companes?
W2 Group will redefine marketing services by creating an ecosystem of companies offering the most advanced digital research, delivery and measurement technologies to provide analytics and understanding of constituents and market trends and highly targeted message delivery. Clients are demanding the level of measurable, predictable results that traditional marketing services firms are not delivering.
With a group of private investors, W2 Group will identify, build and acquire high impact marketing technology and services companies. W2 Group's first two companies are Racepoint Group, which it has acquired, and Digital Influence Group, which it is launching.
I expect W2 Group to rapidly evolve into the 21st century industry model for a marketing services company. Our strategy reflects the kind of marketing needs hundreds of companies have asked for in the past year.
We are delivering deep-domain knowledge and advanced data-driven, digital solutions and will extend it with the launch of Digital Influence Group. Planned advances in areas including mobile marketing, next generation Web services and public relations will further deliver on this vision.
What triggered this change? After all you are responsible for creating one of the largest PR firms that's still using traditional media at large?
The change in technology and the emergence of younger population that uses this new technology cannot be ignored.
To communicate with this fast growing segment of young generation, we have to adapt to the times, technology and new platforms that are emerging and taking over the world.
There's an evident decline in advertising in the traditional media, while digital technology is rapidly increasing their share of attention and advertising dollar.
Combine this with consumer habits and behaviour, and you have every reason to go digital and embrace the new technology not just for ease of functioning but to communicate also.
Who, according to you decides what route to take to communicate with the consumers – professionals from the PR and marketing companies or the executives of corporates?
For the first time in my career, the clients are taking a proactive role in implementing their strategies. They are the ones who are driving the campaigns.
The clients question agencies that have been predominantly traditional as they seek more effective solutions and are questioning the effectiveness of their efforts and suggestions.
With so many new mediums available and the means to evaluate their reach, clients are becoming very demanding and seek justification to every dollar spent on PR or advertising.
Print media has been in existence for more than 100 years and only now have we mastered the science of communication through print media. How long do you think will it take us to completely understand and master the new mediums, including the digital and web world?
Things are accelerating and I feel that we understand the web world better than we ever understood the potential of print media. Reason being science is also growing along with technology. What was until very recently a fad, like Google, Facebook or Youtube; are today one of the most effective modes of communication. And those who ignore these developments will be losing not only the race, but in fact will be out of the race itself.
PROFILE: Lawrence Weber Chairman, W2
Lawrence Weber is a marketing visionary who converged the world of technology and communication and launched the world's largest public relations firm, Weber Shandwick Worldwide. At the peak of its performance the firm had a billing of $450 million (Dh1.65 trillion) making it the cornerstone of 17 companies he built, acquired or managed in forming Advanced Marketing Services, a $2bn marketing services group.
He is also founder and chairman of the board of directors of the Massachusetts Interactive Media Council and he sits on the boards of several technology start-ups and non-profit organisations, including The Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Museum of Science, and the Council on Competitiveness.
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