Chuck Porter on Why PR Beats Advertising: 2015 Talk

Chuck Porter, co-founder of the advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP+B), told a London PR audience in October 2015 that public relations does the job of shaping popular culture better than advertising does. This write-up covers that talk: his Mini Cooper and Domino's examples, how the agency tests ideas, and how it hires.

Roles and company details below are as of October 2015. CP+B has since changed hands: its former parent MDC Partners merged with Stagwell in 2021, and the agency now operates under the name Crispin as part of Stagwell.

At the time, Porter was co-founder and chairman of CP+B, chief strategist for its holding company MDC Partners, and board chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. He spoke at The Holmes Report Press Summit in London. His message was blunt for a career adman.

"PR is typically better than advertising at really manipulating popular culture," Porter said. "And popular culture is currency."

What did "I Don't Know" mean for Porter's philosophy?

Porter used the phrase repeatedly across his talk and the Q&A that followed. His stated philosophy: do really good work today before going home. Everything else takes care of itself.

Because CP+B started small, the early client work came from newer companies building their brand, not the established giants. Porter's rule from that era: do not emulate the big companies. Move in a different direction. Otherwise the work disappears into the sea of what every other firm is producing.

How did the Mini Cooper launch work?

When CP+B took on the Mini Cooper launch in the United States, most car campaigns showed vehicles driving through scenic outdoor landscapes. CP+B strapped a Mini Cooper on top of an SUV and drove it through American cities. A banner across the SUV read: "What are you doing for fun this weekend?"

When executives from Germany traveled with the car to measure results, they said they still did not know how to quantify what they were seeing, except that everywhere they stopped, people took pictures. Nobody was stopping to photograph a billboard. The campaign, they concluded, worked.

Why does Porter say inventions beat ads?

New technology, Porter argued, is a gift to storytellers: a direct connection to consumers. But the story has to be good. Interrupting people does not work anymore. Audiences scroll past or navigate away.

Ads are useful. Inventions are better. Porter's example: CP+B helped develop the Domino's "pizza tracker," a graphic that ran along the bottom of the customer's screen showing the progress of the order, with visuals matched to whatever program the customer was watching. Simple. People loved it.

How does CP+B measure creativity and hire?

Measure everything, Porter said, except creativity, which cannot be pre-measured. CP+B uses the internet to test creative ideas at small scale, find what works, and then build a campaign around the winner.

Because the agency started small, it could not afford to hire people with the full experience set. So it set a priority order. CP+B, Porter said, hires "for brains, talent, passion, curiosity, and experience, in that order."

What is the takeaway?

Do good work every day. Try new ideas at a small level to find out what sticks. Remember the client and what they came to accomplish, then find a solution that engages people. It is fine not to know the answer; sometimes that is the jumping-off point for the creative work. And it always helps to have people around to think out loud with.

More on this topic

• PR vs. Marketing vs. Advertising