The Old Lions Roar
PRWeek organized a luncheon yesterday in Chicago for the founding fathers of the PR industry, including my father, Dan Edelman, Harold Burson, David Finn and Al Golin. All of these octogenarians (Golin is on the door step at 78) are still active in their firms and passionate about the PR business. Here are some of the highlights from the lunch (I was invited as an observer—was told that I would be invited as a participant in another thirty years!)
1) At the Creation—All of these gentlemen had served in the military and had experience in journalism. Harold Burson began his boutique in New York City in 1946, David Finn with Bill Ruder in New York in 1948, Dan Edelman in Chicago in 1952 and Al Golin in 1956 in Chicago. Burson was quick to point out that there were literally hundreds of PR practitioners (there were 500 listings for publicity or PR in the 1947 Yellow Pages for Manhattan) who had been in PR in the armed forces. Edelman and Golin were in the consumer marketing business from the beginning, Burson focused on business to business and Finn always had an arts/cultural unit though he “had to get commercial clients as well.” Burson merged his firm with Bill Marsteller’s advertising company based in Chicago in 1953 to form BM.
2) The Breakthrough—For Al Golin, it was a cold call to a fast food restaurant owner named Ray Kroc who had a small company named McDonald's; this is still Golin Harris’ top client. For David Finn, it was the merger with Harshe Rotman in Chicago, which propelled the firm to the top of the profession in the late 70s. For Harold Burson, it was the decision to go global in the early 60s, pushed by large clients such as Clark Equipment, and the win of the General Motors account. For Dan Edelman, it was the California Wines account which enabled the opening of two offices in the state, then the success of the Washington office, both in the late 60s.
3) The Operating Style—Each reflected on a life of hard work and sacrifice. Dan Edelman said he worked every Saturday until 3 pm. Burson noted that he had been in Chicago over 500 times in his career; he was given an award by the Park Hyatt near the Water Tower as one of the top five lifetime customers of the hotel. Golin said that he had to go without a paycheck several times early in his career but that his employees never had to do without one. No private planes or yachts for these entrepreneurs; they reinvested in growth of the business.
4) On Remaining Independent—Dan Edelman and David Finn gave the predictable response, the superior growth potential in PR and its position at the apex of the communications business, counseling the C suite. Burson noted that ad agencies had long been interested in the PR business, initially through their own subsidiaries (JWT, Benton and Bowles, BBDO, McCann Erickson all had PR units in the 60s) then by acquiring firms such as Hill & Knowlton (bought by JWT in the 70s).
5) On Family in the Business—Finn said that he had shown each of his children a study that indicated the high risk of failure of second and third generation owners, to discourage them from coming into the firm. It had the opposite effect; all four of his children work at Ruder Finn, along with three of his grandchildren who dine with him at least once a month. Dan was very generous in his remarks about me, while giving credit to my two siblings for their contributions to Edelman.
6) On Continuing to Work—Golin had the most unbelievable story. One of his erstwhile friends suggested that Golin was still working because he was “greedy.” Quite to the contrary, Golin said. “I work because I love what I do. I am still making a contribution. I am off to Singapore next week for a client roundtable on the Olympics.” Each of the other men comes to the office and is involved with clients.
7) On Competing—The gentlemen professed deep respect for each other, noting that their skirmishing for clients had always been done on a highly ethical basis. It came to light that Ruder Finn had tried to acquire Golin Harris in the early 80s!
In holding this event, Julia Hood and Keith O’Brien of PRWeek recognized the power of example and the importance of individual initiative in the creation of the modern public relations business. None of the present CEOs need to justify the profession to clients. In fact, these four men set the stage for the present success of the industry. For that, we owe them our respect and gratitude.