PR NOTABLES OF AMERICAN

1877–1934

Ivy Lee was an American publicity expert and a founder of modern public relations. Lee and his business partner, George Parker, opened a public relations agency in 1904. Their clients included the Rockefeller family, the Pennsylvania Railroad and the American Tobacco Company. In 1906, Lee issued a Declaration of Principles, which helped press agentry and publicity eventually evolve into public relations. Lee was an American pioneer of 20th century communications methods. He persuaded various business clients to woo public opinion and to use honesty and candor in their public relations. (Courtesy of the Museum of Public Relations)

PR Powers a New Level of Cause Marketing

1992

Avon Products cosmetics company long prided itself on building a special connection with its customers through its sales representatives, but in 1992, then-CEO James Preston wanted to broaden that commitment with cause-related marketing.

Working with an Avon marketing team led by Joanne Mazurki, PR professional Carol Cone helped identify a compelling cause: breast cancer prevention.

Then, as now, breast cancer was the second-deadliest cancer among U.S. women; in an Avon survey, women named it their No. 1 health concern. Yet breast cancer organizations were still in their infancy, and low-income and uninsured women in particular faced barriers to mammography screening.

Avon raised awareness and funds, initially focusing on early detection of breast cancer among medically underserved women. When Avon launched its 3-Day Walk in California in 1998, it was the first multi-day fundraising event of its kind.

Over three decades, through the Avon Foundation for Women, Avon raised more than $939 million for breast cancer causes, funded 16 million cancer screenings and educated an estimated 180 million people. Since 2004, the company also has raised $80 million for its End Violence Against Women campaign.

Avon’s Breast Cancer Awareness Crusade won the PRSA Silver Anvil award in 1997, and Cone became known as a pioneer in PR for a social purpose. Cause-related marketing has since become a common part of corporate social responsibility. “When the cause is well chosen, the commitment genuine, and the program well executed, the cause helps the company, and the company helps the cause,” she wrote in the Harvard Business Review.

The success of these Walks generated blisters, hungry walkers and great camaraderie — not to mention raising over a billion dollars for breast cancer causes and End Violence Against Women campaigns. Such cause-related marketing is now common in demonstrating social responsibility. (Bob Kreisel / Alamy Stock Photo)

PESO Media Strategies Help to Redefine ‘Real Beauty’

With the 21st century came technologies that created a converging communications environment encompassing Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned (PESO*) media channels that PR professionals have embraced and advanced. An enduring example is Dove’s Real Beauty campaign, which changed the way beauty and personal care products could be marketed.

When Unilever sought to launch a new Dove line, women working on the campaign pushed back against beauty stereotypes and the assumption that women find them appealing. Their position was affirmed when StrategyOne, Edelman’s opinion research division, conducted a survey of 3,200 women in 10 countries and found that only 2 percent considered themselves beautiful. Women had a problem with body image.

The campaign team interviewed psychologists and learned about self-esteem. The Campaign for Real Beauty launched with billboards that didn’t even show the product. Instead, they featured photos of women with tick-box questions, such as “extra-large? extra-sexy?” Women were encouraged to “join the beauty debate” online.

A Unilever campaign for its new Dove line featured a diverse group of women of different ages, sizes, ethnicities, hair colors, hair types and styles. It was an immensely successful multimedia strategy that urged consumers to be comfortable with their bodies and appearance. (Retro AdArchives / Alamy Stock Photo)

This Dove Campaign for Real Beauty asked readers to check whether a woman with silver hair was “grey” or “gorgeous?” The question underneath wondered: “Why can’t more women feel glad to be grey?” The effect wasn’t lost on readers who generated more than 630 million impressions. (Credit: Retro AdArchives / Alamy Stock Photo)

That was followed by another billboard campaign featuring a diverse group of women (and body types), smiling as they stood together in their underwear. The message: Be happy and comfortable with your body and looks. Underscoring that was a 2006 Dove-produced video titled Evolution, which showed an ordinary-looking woman being turned into a supermodel with makeup, hair styling and Photoshop.

The Campaign for Real Beauty was a blockbuster. In the summer of 2005 alone, it generated more than 630 million impressions and almost four hours of broadcast time, including segments on “The Today Show” and “Good Morning America.” The Campaign for Real Beauty won a Silver Anvil award from PRSA in 2006.

Its impact reached far beyond the product. Through the Dove Self-Esteem Project and a partnership with the Girl Scouts, the campaign seeks to build body confidence among girls. Most importantly, the campaign started a national conversation and inspired other brands to rethink their definition of “beauty.” Women were encouraged to “join the beauty debate online,” a shared media strategy that — coupled with paid advertising space — earned far-reaching publicity.

*The PESO model was created by Gini Dietrich, a PRSA member, author and founder of the agency Spin Sucks.

PAUL M. LUND

1925–1975

Paul M. Lund joined Illinois Bell in Chicago as an advertising supervisor in 1947. He left in 1955 to join the J. Walter Thompson Company advertising agency as a vice president. He returned to Illinois Bell in 1963. He then moved to AT&T in 1971 as vice president of public relations and employee communications. Lund’s extraordinary contributions to PRSA and public service remain a legacy. He received PRSA’s chairman’s citation for meritorious service in 1973 and 1974. PRSA created the Paul M. Lund Public Service Award in his honor. It is given to a PRSA member “whose participation as a volunteer in important public activities has increased the common good and reflected credit on the Society.”

Straight ‘Talk’ From Procter & Gamble

In 2017, amid a growing movement for racial justice, Procter & Gamble aired a powerful ad about the multi-generational struggle with racial bias. Dubbed “The Talk,” the video portrays Black mothers talking to their children about offensive, unfair or even dangerous situations they might face. In one scene, a mother tells her daughter, who is a new driver, “Now, when you get pulled over . . . ”

The girl protests: “Mom! I’m a good driver, OK? Don’t worry.”

“This is not about you getting a ticket,” the mother says firmly. “This is about you not coming home.”

The campaign, created by the EGAMI Group, an award-winning multicultural marketing and communication agency, and the BBDO advertising agency, was part of P&G’s ongoing “My Black is Beautiful” program, an online community for Black beauty that was developed by a group of visionary Black women and had lasted 10 years and attracted more than 2.5 million members. To develop the new campaign, EGAMI convened focus groups of multicultural influencers and engaged African American employees at P&G.

Critics called “The Talk” anti-police or even racist against Whites — pushback that P&G had expected. The company continued to use #TalkAboutBias in a social media campaign and to foster real-life conversations about race. P&G even partnered with the ABC television network to focus an episode of the popular TV show “black-ish” on “The Talk.”

“The Talk” garnered more than 1.8 billion media impressions and won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Commercial and a 2018 PRSA Silver Anvil award. The EGAMI Group became the first agency of color to win a Cannes Lion Grand Prix. In 2019, P&G launched a new line of “My Black is Beautiful” products, developed by and for Black women, “to acknowledge and uplift Black community and culture through the lens of Black beauty.” And the company produced another video titled “The Look” to further raise awareness about racial bias.

With its bold campaign, P&G showed that corporate public relations can advance important and difficult national conversations. As “The Talk”said in blue type on its final frames, “Let’s all talk about ‘The Talk’ so we can end the need to have it.”