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4As Hires PR Group to Bolster Mad Ave.‘s Image

The American Association of Advertising Agencies has tapped global PR heavyweight GolinHarris to burnish its reputation with reporters and other influencers.

The 4A’s president-CEO, O. Burtch Drake, outlined possible tactics during a meeting between the two groups on Sept. 6, including the idea that agencies could feed news to the Golin team, which would gather the information and pull together trend stories to pitch to the media, writes AdAge.

According to Julie Thompson, co-chair of the 4A’s PR committee and communications chief at Leo Burnett, “Our industry has had a reputation problem the past few years.” However, she adds, the tide has been turning with the excitement around new media.

Consumer participation and changes in technology have called into question the role of ad agencies and the 30-second TV spot. And the agency world is getting negative press for its lack of minority staff among their ranks.

The tactic could be considered a risky one, according to Thompson. For example, the last time the 4A’s hired a PR agency, in 2004, it was to help promote Advertising Week. The result was a Fortune story titled Nightmare on Madison Avenue, that included plenty of negative digs at the industry, such as: “Nearly every ad agency head repeats the same mantra: There’s never been a more exciting time to be in the advertising business. That is true—but most of the thrills are the result of things they would rather not talk about.”

As for the current campaign: “No risk, no reward,” Thompson is quoted as saying.