Day Thirty-Three (still): Janzen PR
There needs to be a bit of a disclaimer with any story I do on Janzen PR. And not just because Scott Janzen, principal and owner, bought my much yearned-for fish n’ chips and accompanying Hefeweizen during our meeting.
I have had the privilege of being one of the many PR people that Janzen has mentored over his 30-plus year career.
He’s one of my original champions in this field.
Oh, and he’s a pretty darn good friend, too.
That’s not all to say that he’s also not one of the best damn PR pros in the biz. Because he most certainly is.
And this isn’t his first go at running his own shop.
In 1991, Janzen & Associates was a burgeoning PR shop complete with view, slick furnishings, employees and happy clients.
“I learned a lot during the three years that I ran the company,” Janzen explained, “and told myself I’d never do it again.”
Never say never.
Turns out, when he said “never” he had no idea that technology would change in such dramatic ways that he could relaunch the business without all the brick and mortar trappings that can get in the way of doing what we all love about PR. Namely, getting great results for our clients.
“I joke now that anyone with a laptop and a cell phone can open a PR shop,” Janzen added.
Underneath that slight tone of facetiousness, Janzen speaks to my heart having pushed the boundaries of the “virtual PR shop” to its limits with this mobile office experiment. But he’s right.
“Clients don’t care where you do the work,” he added, “they just want strategic counsel and the confidence in your abilities to know that you will do what you say you are going to do.”
OK…so I guess not EVERYONE with a laptop and a cell phone can open a PR shop. It helps to actually be good.
Janzen’s sweet spot is consumer PR. He’s worked on more than 175 local, regional and national clients. And he gets results by stepping out of the comfort zone and getting people to stand up and take notice of those clients in bold new ways.
Whether it’s reconstructing the deck of a Holland America cruise ship in the train station at the World Trade Center or touring the city with the San Diego Chicken, Janzen has more-than-the-average fair-share of crazy “you did WHAT?!” PR stories.
These days, he’s imparting some of those stories, along with his more traditional PR acumen, to the next generation as a guest professor at a host of state colleges and universities.
Last Thursday, he taught a class to a group of University of Washington students and walked away having learned something himself.
He asked the class how many had read an actual newspaper that day. Three people raised their hand: two students and the instructor.
He then followed by asking how many had read the newspaper online. Only one other person raised his hand.
Seriously? Four people!
People get their news from many places now. It’s not to say that traditional news is dead, but there is no such thing anymore as that one “slam dunk” hit. Good PR is about weaving together a tapestry of communications through vehicles that will reach your audience from many different angles and engage the conversation where they are at, instead of waiting for them to come to you.
Janzen has begun extending his own reach into that process with his aptly-named PR blog: “And please..get us on Oprah.”
In relaying the many stories from his rich career and commenting on modern trends and news, Janzen is engaging the conversation beyond just his clients, his classroom…and the lucky few who get to count him as mentor.
As we polished off our beers at Ivars, Janzen added one more thought to our conversation about running his own shop again after all these years:
“I truly believe if you want your own shop, you have to be all in.”
Since I’ve had the opportunity to work with Janzen both in a traditional agency role, in pro-bono work and now as an “agency partner” on a host of different businesses, I’d say that’s one thing his clients never have to worry about. Janzen’s dedication and professionalism is unmatched. And he manages to maintain that commitment without losing something that might even be more important.
After all these years, he still has fun.
