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| News from Bridge |
A New Name for a New Year
Before rushing headlong into the second year of our business existence, the staff of Bridge paused to reflect on the work we have been doing and want to be doing as we move forward.
Most of our work has in some way been international or cross-cultural. All of it has involved the development of marketing or corporate communications strategies rather than simple execution of public relations tactics. Our goal is to remain focused on international communications and/or development of communications strategy.
Therefore, we have chosen to slightly modify the name of the company to reflect our true focus. Our new name, effective immediately, is Bridge Global Strategies LLC. In some ways, this is not so big a change, but to us, the addition of that one word, strategies, is extremely meaningful.
In this issue
- Bridging the U.S.-Japan Communications Gap
- New Bridge Clients and Projects
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Japan was on the minds of the Bridge staff last fall more than usual. We were involved in projects for several new Japanese clients. With several other Japanese or U.S.-Japan clients in our client roster, including Nikko Hotels International; JETRO, the Japan Export Trade Organization; and New York Pharma Forum, which has many Japanese corporate members; the Land of the Rising Sun is never too far from our minds. There are big cultural differences between East and West in the way PR is done and in the methods of business communication. Therefore, we asked one of our colleagues in Tokyo, a manager in a Japanese PR firm, to provide his observations for our readers on PR in Japan. His article is part of our continuing series about international public relations.
Bridging the U.S.-Japan Communications Gap
By German Saa,
International Operations Manager,
Kyodo Public Relations Co. Ltd.
(Tokyo, Japan)
The Japanese public relations industry has recently experienced a spate of mergers, joint ventures, affiliations and massive numbers of so-called multinationals entering the always difficult and competitive Japanese market. Our agency sees this as a major opportunity to increase business and make inroads in an atmosphere bound by tradition.
PR activities and the whole concept of "reputation management" is still poorly understood in Japan, and, as a result, not highly valued by Japanese corporations.
Current PR campaigns in Japan tend to center on public affairs, investor relations and marketing PR. However, some Japanese business people still consider PR to be "self promotion," which is not a desired business goal in the Japanese culture. As a result, programs often lack creative and complex concepts or grand (expensive) initiatives. Modesty is highly respected by Japanese customers and calls for good deeds to be performed in silence. To boast about them and communicate success would amount to self-promotion, or boasting, and be considered rather rude.
On the other hand, Western-based corporations operating in Japan consider PR indispensable for showing that they are delivering what society expects from them. They often require their agencies to come up with plans to maximize exposure by spreading news about the company's market advantages, and publicizing success stories and case studies to as many audiences as possible.
It is in this environment that a savvy PR agency can excel in Japan by advising clients and counseling potential clients on do's and don's before they commit to spending hard-earned profits on fancy but fruitless campaigns. It takes experienced and sharp PR counselors to combine the low-profile approach traditional with businesses here in Japan with high-
paced, effective programs that generate impact.
New Bridge Clients and Projects
Litigation PR for Dr. Albert Ellis
Bridge has been helping Dr. Albert Ellis with crisis public relations in recent months as he stands up to the challenges of fighting his adversaries who have banished him from the Albert Ellis Institute, which he founded in 1959 to teach and practice Rational-
Emotive Behavior Therapy (or REBT). Dr. Ellis, now 92, is the father of cognitive behavioral therapy, now the most widely used and accepted form of psychotherapy. He wants to be reinstated to the organization's board and to resume his legendary Friday Night Workshops at the Institute for those seeking better emotional health, which he has offered to packed crowds for almost 40 years. The board fired him in September and banned him from leading his workshops this summer. Dr. Ellis has donated the royalties from his many books to the Institute for almost 50 years and taken a very modest salary. He also purchased the townhouse in which the Institute is housed and donated it to the organization many years ago. Some of the board members of the Albert Ellis Institute are attempting to move the organization in a different direction. We have worked on stories about this situation with journalists from The New York Times, New York Post, New York Magazine, TimeOut New York, professional publications, and national radio shows. (Dr. Ellis is the central figure in the recent New York Times illustration above.)
PR Executives Visit from Japan
Bridge planned and hosted a visit by senior delegates of the Public Relations Society of Japan to New York this fall. Bridge Vice President Keiko Okano led the group for a week. Their goal was to learn about current trends in PR in the United States. Keiko introduced the Japanese professionals to journalists who cover public relations in New York, to the leadership of the Public Relations Society of America and Council of Public Relations Firms, and accompanied them on visits to PR agencies and PR departments of several large organizations in the New York area.
Righting a Wrong
Bridge is involved in a crisis management project on behalf of the founder and former chairman of a publicly-held corporation that was taken over in a hostile takeover by a global "mega-corporation." Alleging that illegal and corrupt means were used in the takeover, the former chairman wants his story told by the media. Bridge has been working as a liaison between the media and the former chairman in an effort to get his story told. |
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