MINUTES OF IPRN CLEVELAND AGM 14-17 MAY 2000
Sunday, 14 May 2000
I. Introduction/Business Matters
1. Welcome to the 20 IPRN agencies in attendance, and introduction by Gary Wells of Dix & Eaton to the Cleveland AGM. Personal introductions were made by each member. Meeting turned over to Ellis Kopel for business and administration issues.
2. Welcome to new members and notation of new member in Hungary by Ellis Kopel. Apologies for absence of 13 members, including Karri Vesa and Eva Veludakis, who had planned to attend but were forced to cancel due to illness.
3. Approval of vote by proxy submitted by Anne Harkonsalo, for Karri Vesa.
4. Approval of minutes for Amsterdam AGM.
5. Copies of administrator’s report submitted to members.
6. Copies of financial-matters report submitted to members, which was approved.
7. Annual accounts submitted to membership, which was approved.
A. Discussion on 2001 AGM budget deferred.
B. Discussion on 2001 AGM subscriptions deferred.
8. Madrid as venue for 2001 AGM, as agreed last year in Amsterdam.
9. Luis Canomanuel as chairman for 2001 AGM, as agreed last year in Amsterdam.
10. Ellis Kopel as president, secretary and administrator, which was approved.
A. Auditors report approved.
B. Administration Committee approved.
Ellis closed the business session and returned the AGM to Gary.
11. Gary reviewed the agenda, including issues such as membership, standards and business development as suggested by members; guidelines on agency and Project of the Year presentations, and external social/marketing events, etc.
A. Guido Minerbi offered Buenos Aires as the site of the 2002 AGM.
B. Mary Crotty, via letter, offered Dublin as the site of the 2002 AGM.
12. Other business:
A. Gary opened discussion on the issue of membership, focusing attention on the need to determine those markets where IPRN needs more members, how we recruit new members and who assumes responsibility for identifying and recruiting members.
However, this open forum led initially to a discussion on other topics, largely budgets.
First, Jonathan Choat, noting the letter from Pascal Kempf outlining his reasons for resigning from Edelman and his indecision on rejoining IPRN, suggested the president send a note to Pascal expressing our best wishes and extending an invitation to rejoin.
Second, Jonathan suggested that the budget and accounts are four months out of synch and should be “put back in order.” Tom Curtin agreed that it would best for these to occur simultaneously at the end of each calendar year. Luis Canomanuel suggested the current budget and accounts reporting structure remain intact. This led to a discussion largely among Jonathan, Luis and Tom about operational and marketing budgets.
Geoff Drucker noted that the group should determine where we go and what we do before making decisions on budget issues. This comment closed the budget discussion.
Gary revisited the need to determine where the organization needs more member representation, how we recruit members and who assumes such responsibility. This led to a wide-ranging discussion involving most members present.
Alfred Koecher said we need help in France, Germany and Austria, and in financial services, telecommunications and pharmaceutical industries. He said Central Europe has become a key region for growing business. He added that France and Germany remain huge markets but are nations where we do not have enough representation.
Jonathan said that we need sophistication in some markets, to reflect the expertise in the markets we do have representation. Alfred suggested that each member list all of their extra-IPRN contacts, to which the members agreed. These will be sent to Ellis and Luis.
The discussion moved to other markets where there are holes in representation, including Asia. The suggestion was made, although not in the form of a motion, that IPRN create a geographic map of where the members do business.
Guido Minerbi suggested that each member should be responsible for submitting that information. Alfred suggested that each member submit a list of nations in which it does business with a percentage of sales earned in these nations. Geoff suggested that we also check regional or national organizations of public relations agencies.
Anne Harkonsalo noted that it is important to focus on independent agencies as possible new members, as the strength of the network is its independence.
By common consent, members determined that there are established commissions or committees that will be responsible for identifying and recruiting agencies in certain geographic regions. There are chairmen for each commission, and they are responsible for seeking other members to assist. Here are the assignments:
1. Commission on Western Europe: Alfred Koecher.
2. Commission on Eastern Europe: Anne Harkonsalo.
3. Commission on Latin America: Guido Minerbi.
4. Commission on North America: Gary Wells.
5. Commission on Asia-Pacific: Geoff Drucker.
6. Commission on Middle East: Jonathan Choat.
Further discussion on deadlines for submitting information on possible new members was deferred until later in the AGM.
In the last work of the day, Jonathan suggested that the organization end the practice of going to the senior member in any nation and that members be permitted to contact any other member for assistance. There being general agreement, Jonathan made such a motion, which was seconded by Maggi Bonner Fox and was approved by members.
Monday, 15 May 2000
I. Agency and Project of the Year Presentations
The agency and project presentations began alphabetically by member country.
1. First presentation was by Guido Minerbi and Carmen Silveira of Minerbi Silveira Comunicacion Corporativa of Argentina.
Presentation Background:
Their presentation was an entry for Project of the Year and involved Ledesma, a company in northern Argentina. The presentation outlined how the agency helped Ledesma deliver its messages about leadership and quality to employees.
· Ledesma was one of the first companies in the region, dating back to the late 1800s, with the main product being sugar. It is the largest sugar producer in the nation.
· South America is a common market, although Brazil has the larger market on sugar cane and less expensive price for sugar cane.
· Internationally, price for sugar is very low. Retainer fees and low budget film.
· Ledesma employs 5,000 people and does not want job losses in their company.
· But because of low prices, Ledesma needed to improve productivity and reduce costs. The company sought government assistance for modernization of its irrigation system and in other production techniques.
M/S, working on small retainer fees, produced a low-budget video about the company for use in outlining messages of industry leadership and product quality, for government, customer and employee audiences.
Originally, the company wanted to deliver some 30 messages, but M/S was able to reduce these to seven in a highly successful project.
2. Second presentation was by Geoffrey and Inge Drucker of Corporate Kudos of Australia.
Presentation Background:
Their presentation was an entry for Project of the Year, and involved Sausage Software Ltd., an IT company that produces software packages and web designs.
· Corporate Kudos (CK) began working with Sausage Software Limited, an IT company, in 1996. Sausage Software produces web designs and software packages.
· Corporate Kudos assisted Sausage Software with its initial flotation and stock listing as Sausage Software became a publicly traded company.
· The CEO began making statements in public that did not engender confidence among investors. When a large investor sold its holdings, the stock price plummeted.
· CK initiated a “six pillars” branding strategy to reposition the company and its chief executive officer as among the leaders in this industry, and to create alliances within the target industries.
· This strategy employed specific and different tactics for each audience, which included investors, analysts, brokers, customers and media. This branding project relied heavily on the news media, to rebuild credibility.
· The success of the project was reflected in a rising stock price.
Also, Geoff offered an overview of Australia with these points:
· Same land mass as USA.
· Population – l8 million
· 80% of population on eastern seaboard
· 6 states and 2 territories
· System of federal, state and local governments
· Rate of economic growth – 3.4%
· Unemployment 6.8%
· Inflation – 2.25%
· Business ownership – multinationals/service sector/natural resources and low prices/manufacturing.
· Media diversity is small, with few major newspapers, and radio/TV stations.
· Proliferation of small PR agencies but an influx of large international agencies.
· Weather/wind free with sparkling beaches.
· Soccer/football and “best cricket team in the world” as major sports.
3. Third presentation was by Gert Trager of TL Kommunikation of Denmark.
Presentation Background:
Gert focused on the Danish economy, and TL Kommunikation.
· High growth, high exports, as Denmark expects 15% growth in 2000.
· High interest rates, etc. for smaller companies.
· Economy is strong and growing. Main political issue now is the EU and the Euro, and opinion is split 50-50. If Denmark does not join, then the economic situation for smaller companies may become more unstable.
· Danish PR industry features high degree of professionalism and ethical consensus, but now is marked by concentration through mergers and acquisitions.
· TL Kommunikation Co. has four consultants, but lost two consultants in l999 and has not been able to replace them as the job market is tight. We are working on a strategic business plan.
· Major clients include Teledanmark, a subsidiary of Ameritech; and the Danish ministries of food, farming and fishing, and of trade and industry.
· TL Kommunikation conducted work via IPRN for other members.
Questions:
· How do you recruit people? We look at competitors first, then at younger people out of college. Older, experienced people are harder to find for public relations.
· What is the average salary? $10,000 (Danish currency). Denmark is one of the most expensive countries in Europe.
4. Fourth presentation was made by Anne Harkonsalo of Harkonsalo and Vesa Public Relations of Finland.
Presentation Background:
Anne focused on Harkonsalo and Vesa.
· The agency, which was founded in 1995, now has five consultants, four of whom are women. This is the trend in public relations in Finland.
· We have been experienced an annual growth rate of 30%, in a strong economy. Our revenue in 1999 was $5,000,000 (Finnish currency).
· We lost one of our major customers last year, which is a natural evolution in communications, but added more accounts and now are quite busy.
· Major accounts include Motorola, on their semiconductor and cell phone business. Most of our clients work with us on an annual or program basis.
· Strengths include strategic vision, understanding of client business, wide network of contacts.
Questions:
· Why is economy growing well? Competition is strong, for example, in the telecommunications sector, where Nokia and Motorola are strong competitors.
· How do you manage with a small number of employees? We need to recruit more people so projects get done on time. This is part of our business development plan.
5. Fifth presentation was by Annekathrin Koch of Pentacom in Germany.
Presentation Background:
Annekathrin focused on Pentacom.
· We have a small number of employees who conduct strategic planning, and then use a group of free-lancers and other companies to handle the work, for example, with technology consultancies.
· Our specialization is working in France for German companies, and working in Germany for French companies. For example, Le Club Des Creatures, a French company, for which we handle E commerce projects in Germany.
· We are involved primarily in food, beverages, textiles and cosmetics.
· Research is growing on how to use E commerce to help clients grow, and we are working with a growing number of clients. We are also combining brands and clients wherever possible.
· One client example would be Sopexa/Vin de Pays. We are handling a positioning program of a generic product in branded wine segment. Other clients inlude Evian, Chantelle Lingerie, the Central Marketing Association of German Agriculture etc.
· Also we have a network of companies to which we can refer potential clients if the work is too technical for Pentacom.
6. Sixth presentation was made by Claude Sauber of Oxygen Public Relations (Binsfeld) in Luxembourg.
Presentation Background:
Claude focused on Luxembourg, and Oxygen.
· The government is a democracy headed by a constitutional monarchy. There are some 429,000 residents of Luxembourg. We speak three languages, French, German and Luxembourgish.
· Luxembourg has a strong economy with low unemployment. There is a particularly strong financial services industry. Other strong industrial sectors incluee chemicals, rubber, plastics, glass and ceramics. The Saar is the main industrial region.
· Binsfeld split its services into three divisions earlier this year, and Oxygen is the public relations unit. Overall sales of the company are about $7 milllion USD.
· Clients include: BP Oil, Du Pont, Schindler, Trachtel, Villeroy & Bosch, Astron, CFL, Caves Bernard-Massard, Autocenter Goedert, Auto Tech, Bram, Jones Lang Lassalle, MiniCash, RTL, Auto Club of Luxembourg, FirstMark Communications and others. We resigned Coca Cola in the aftermath of the crisis last year. The company shut down all local communications and paid no heed to local counsel, and suffered the consequence in badly damaged image among European publics.
7. Seventh presentation was made by Herman Verkroost of Verkroost & Partners of The Netherlands.
Presentation Background:
Herman focused on Verkroost & Partners.
· The Netherlands similarly has a strong economy, in a culture based on consensus.
· We have a staff of six people, and use outside assistance for graphic design, Web design, photography and other requirements.
· Verkroost & Partners is a full-service agency, with media relations, marketing communications and other services.
· We are at present working on a strategic alliance with another agency as we still need to grow, but in the face of fierce competition. We may also pursue other partners.
· One of our largest clients at present is Xerox. Interestingly, our alliance partner works for Hewlett-Packard, and these two companies compete. This may be problematic.