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Our four PR all-stars, clockwise from top left: Miki Higasa (photo Miguel Villalobos), Paul Wilmot, Leslie Stevens, Fergus Lawlor

Clients often ask us for recommendations on public relations firms. Having worked with a great many over the years, we thought we’d invite five of the best to speak for themselves. Included  in our virtual roundtable are:
- Paul Wilmot of Paul Wilmot Communications
- Leslie Stevens of LaForce +Stevens
- Fergus Lawlor of Purple
- Miki Higasa of Kaleidoscope

Another firm we work with a great deal, BPCM, was unable to participate in this interview as both partners, Vanessa von Bismarck and Carrie Phillips, were unavailable due to personal reasons.

We asked each participant the same 20 questions then compiled and sequenced their responses. The result speaks volumes about the philosophies of each respective company, and is a fascinating four-way commentary on public relations today.

Base: Video is becoming increasingly prevalent on the web. How are you preparing your clients for this shift?

Paul Wilmot: We love video too and are always looking for ways to get our clients on youTube.

Fergus Lawlor: We are trying to film every event. But this will be a feature moving forward much more than at the moment.

Miki Higasa: Video, web… all of these new genres are important and need to be considered. I think about this a lot, and discuss about it with my clients frequently. But at the same time, my approach may be more deliberate and careful. But I have to say, despite this, I have never “missed the boat.”

Leslie Stevens: We are telling our clients to look at web videos like TV in the early days. People are shifting away from TV and heading to their computers for content. And content is king. If it is funny, useful, visually exciting, it will be watched.

Base: What do you feel is your greatest individual strength?

Paul Wilmot: Our greatest strength is that we are in our 14th year of being in business and we represent some of the great fashion, accessory, cosmetics, and lifestyle brands in the world.

Fergus Lawlor: Youthful outlook. PR is a young-person’s industry.

Miki Higasa: I am hard-working, diligent, analytical, straightforward but diplomatic.

Leslie Stevens: My greatest strengths are energy, creativity, dedication, and persistence.

Base: What do you feel is your firm’s greatest individual strength?

Fergus Lawlor: Flexibility, contact base, international outlook, and ability to deliver day after day.

Miki Higasa: We are old-school in some ways, but unconventional in many ways too. We don’t take on clients unless we really understand and believe in what they do. We like to be involved in the creative process of the clients’ work.

Leslie Stevens: The agency’s greatest strengths are creativity, respect for others, and the ability to have fun.

Base: What’s the most difficult situation—your classic “PR nightmare”—that you’ve ever had to deal with and how did you handle it?

Paul Wilmot: Anytime a client gets in trouble with the law or financially there is a problem. Our motto is to always tell the truth and try to get in front of the story. That is, have the Q and A done prior to going out to face the media.

Fergus Lawlor: I honestly can’t think of one. We can cope with most things thrown at us.

Miki Higasa: I don’t know if this would be considered a “nightmare” but when I was still working at Comme des Garcons, I once had to tell a very important editor that if she wanted to bring her boyfriend to this particular fashion show—where seating was extremely limited—it would mean one less seat for her magazine. I “created” a seat for the boyfriend just in case, but she came without him. She was very respectful and said, “I felt that it was more important for my editors to see it.” I tried to be very nice, calm, and rational about it, and perhaps she appreciated that.

Leslie Stevens: There are too many classic PR nightmares to mention. If I dwelled on them, I would never leave the house.

Base: We find ourselves in what has been coined “The Paris Hilton Era,” where people are “famous for being famous.” How do you feel about this? Do you feel that influential public relations firms have played a role in perpetuating this phenomenon?

Paul Wilmot: I think there is just so much media, with shows like TMZ (which can be very funny) and Perez Hilton (also witty), that the new media has created these “celebutantes,” and while everyone keeps saying it will be over, we see no end in sight.

Fergus Lawlor: Yes but more so the media. They are only interested in photographing young, pretty women.

Miki Higasa: There is certainly a place for everyone. But this “famous for being famous” is not my forte.

Leslie Stevens: The Paris Hilton era is the result of the proliferation of news and entertainment outlets with content to fill. But yes, PR people are guilty for serving up the flavor of the month. Twenty years ago, a good idea, event, or stunt would capture the media’s attention. Now, every event requires a celebrity connection to obtain media coverage. But it really is a symbiotic relationship: The celebs and famous-for-being-famous personalities want exposure and we do, too.

Base: Considering the increasingly competitive marketplace, the number of distribution channels, and the requisite financial wherewithal, is it possible to have another Ralph, Calvin, or Donna?

Paul Wilmot: For an upstart designer to get to the volume of a Calvin or a Donna will probably never happen. These companies all started when there was far less competition, and now with hundreds of jeans lines, perfumes, eye wear, and the like, how can any one company do large business in all of these categories the way the big ones have? No. Today the smaller design houses have to develop niche businesses like accessories or contemporary sportswear, be very good at it, and stay the course.

Fergus Lawlor: No idea.

Miki Higasa: I think there will always be a place for another Ralph, Calvin, or Donna. Of course, like anything else, since things revolve in a cycle, not all of the new ones may survive, but I think we will continue to see it happen. But one thing that we need to be aware of is that now, compared to the times when the Ralphs, Calvins, and Donnas were starting, there are many other dimensions that are being added to the idea of “luxury.” Or rather the definition of “luxury,” at least in the way it’s been defined until the beginning of this century, has not only been changing but mutating.

Leslie Stevens: If there are companies to invest, there will be another emerging star. But it takes time, persistence and a lot of money to create an image in the market today.

Base: Who are the emerging fashion designers to watch? Beauty companies? Luxury products? Hotel groups?

Paul Wilmot: We love ADAM by Adam Lippes, Naeem Khan, L.A.M.B. by Gwen Stefani, Rosa Cha, Lucky Jeans, and Uniqlo as fashion brands on their way up. We think it is brilliant the way Payless has rewritten their approach as the “democratization of fashion.” We think Nancy Gonzalez has done a great job with her bags, and love Martin Katz of Beverly Hills for fine jewelry, Slane & Slane for more affordable things, and Carolee for costume Jewelry. We think the Dr. Perricone brand is going to become huge, really respect what MAC Cosmetics is doing with the fashion and charitable initiatives, and are having a great time with Aramis Lab Series for men.

Fergus Lawlor: Peng Loh from New Majestic Hotels, the Viceroy chain, owned by Mubadala.

Miki Higasa: There are many talented designers out there and, of course, innovative and interesting beauty companies too. I am, of course, as I imagine the others on this panel would be, partial to the designers I work with. So, Tom Scott, Sacai, Isabella Tonchi, and Tess Giberson, who is back with her own collection after working with Tse. Sacai is not an emerging designer by any means but not as known as she should be.

Leslie Stevens: Emerging designers: Prabal Gurung, Alexander Wang, Lisa Perry. Emerging beauty: anything that is organic or biodynamic. Luxury products: Kimberly McDonald, Tamsen Z. Hotel groups: Ian Schrager’s new Edition hotel, the Viceroy Group. And Jetsetter and Gilt for luxury online flash sales.

Base: Though you largely focus on fashion and beauty and luxury, are there other areas that interest you or that you are targeting?

Paul Wilmot: Someday we would like to handle a country, from tourism to the arts to trade. It would be a dream assignment.

Fergus Lawlor: Property development, hotels, restaurants. Art actually accounts for a higher percentage of our turnover than fashion or beauty.

Miki Higasa: My firm also works with an interior design firm, Wonderwall, and a documentary filmmaker who is also an artist who creates interactive videos. Depending on the company and/or the project, we also do sometimes act as consultants for large companies on specific projects, or advise them on the strategy and planning level.

Leslie Stevens: Travel and spirits because it’s great to get away and toast with friends. Also, personal wellness to recuperate.

Base: Where is the world of public relations headed? What’s the “next big thing” in your world?

Paul Wilmot: The next big thing in public relations is to see where it all lands as the economy claws its way back to some normalcy. Housing will once again gain back value; retail will come back and so will advertising. It may be in a different form but people will advertise. With the almost countless ways to communicate with the consumer and the trade, public relations is here to stay; what it will look like we will see unveiled over the next couple of years. It will be different and it will be new because all that public relations is is newness if you stop to think about.

Fergus Lawlor: The industry is maturing. There are lots of 40-year-old PR owners and I can see a period of consolidation.

Miki Higasa: Please tell me. I am all ears.

Leslie Stevens: In the right direction: Jail.

Read part 1 of this interview.