Michael Levine - Guerrilla P.R.: How You Can Wage an Effective Publicity Campaign...Without Going Broke

Saying thank you to my friends and family somehow seems so inadequate. Its what I say to people who hold the elevator door open for me.

So, to the following loyal friends and family I send my love and deepest appreciation through these words.

Special thanks to Craig Nelson, who inspired me to write this book in the first place.

My brilliant literary agent and friend, Alice Martell, and her assistant Paul Plunkett.

My encouraging friends at HarperCollins: my dynamic editor Lauren Marino, Lisa Berkowitz, Maureen ONeill, Bill Shinker, and Susan Moldow.

My dedicated and loving father, Arthur O. Levine, stepmother Marilyn, and sister Patty.

My special friends: Tina Abas, Keith Atkinson, Rana Bendixon and Sorrell, Ken Bostic, Leo Buscaglia, Bill Calkins, Susan Gauthier, Bill Hooper, Richard Imprescia, Bette Geller Jackson, Lori and Lisa Kleinman, Bonnie Larson, Richard Lawson, Karen LHeureux, Nancy Mager, John McKillop, Dennis Prager, Steven Short, Joshua Trabulus, Michael and Deborah Viner, and Earlene White.

My wonderful business partners Mitchell Schneider and Monique Moss.

My office family Victoria Archer, Kristine Ashton, Todd Brodginski, Amanda Cagan, Roxanna Castillo, Tracie Collins, Naomi Goldman, Jeff Golenberg, Rob Hazelton, Kim Kaiman, Kathy Koehler, Kevin Koffler, Matt Labov, Howard Lorey, Julie Nathanson, Robert Pietranton, Tresa Redburn-Cody, Marcee Rondan, Beth Seligman, Jane Singer, Melissa Spraul, Samantha Wright, Lesley Zimmerman, and Tami Zummallen.

My business associates Charles Sussman, Mark Kaplan, Patty Grabowski, Laura Herlovich, Joy Sapieka, and Terrie Williams.

Assembling a book like this would be impossible without the input from my professional colleagues in the various media. There are many I need to thank: Cary Darling, John Horn, Debbie Farr, Kristen Brown, Jane Kaplan, Martha Smilgis, Bob Serling, Randi Gelfand, Sandy and Howard Benjamin, Doug Washington, Rebecca Coudret, Jerry Porter, Peggy Klaus, Keith Atkinson, and Julian Meyers, all contributed enormously to this effort, and Im forever grateful.

A special thank you to my Guerrilla P.R. Commandos, who embody the spirit of this book: Bob Columbe, Luke Dommer, Wayne Perryman, Angelyne, Candy Lightner, Dick Rutan, Si Frumkin, and Andy Lipkis.

To the guerrillasDave Schwartz, Dale Faye, Richard Epcar and Ellyn Stern, Jefferey Ullman, Sandy Tang, Will Ackerman, and the thousands of others out there working hard to find their niche in the mediamy heartfelt thanks.

Deep appreciation to Lester Pine.

Endless gratitude to Dan Pine, whose constant support and timeless effort were invaluable.

I have to admit, I smiled visibly when I first read Guerrilla P.R . Not because I found anything in the text unseemly or laughable. On the contrary, this book is about as true and cogent an examination of the role media play in our society as any I have ever read. No, I laughed because, on nearly every page, I saw something of myself. Turns out, in an effort to serve my clients, Ive been practicing Guerrilla P.R. for years. I just didnt know it.

Michael Levine would be the first to state he did not invent Guerrilla P.R. Rather, he assembled its constituent parts, codified it, and gave this rather timeless concept a distinct shape and color. Clearly, entrepreneurs, businessmen and -women, civic leaders, and countless others from all walks of life have for years comprehended the importance of media coverage. Not all had the wherewithal to afford the luxury of press agentry to get it. Many, like myself, found it more expedientand more effectiveto try for it themselves.

In my life and career, I have naturally gravitated toward statements and actions that have resulted in an increased public profile. It wasnt my doing when the judge ordered the entire courtroom to rise and sing Happy Birthday to me on my eighty-fourth birthday not long ago. But having gone through it, I wasnt inclined to keep it to myself.

Likewise, it has always been incumbent upon myself to appeal to the court of public opinion when I take on certain controversial cases, like that of victims of Ferdinand Marcos torturers in the Philippines, or the sheep farmer whose flock of rare multinippled sheep was poisoned by tainted animal feed (and if you dont like the fact that I sent a photo of a multinippled sheep to Playboy magazine, well, I offer my sincerest apology). One of the blessings of our legal system is that it is indeed a very public institution, and, being so, entitles me to engage the public mind in representing my clients.

What Michael Levine has written here goes far beyond other do-it-yourself publicity manuals. As he writes early on, his goal is to help the reader think like a publicist, rather than simply plod along in a connect-the-dots fashion. I dont care how much training one receives in ones given field, real life situations almost always result in throwing a measure of the classroom theory out the window (thats certainly true in the law).

Real life is the best teacher. Even in this book, though it is replete with real-life examples, Michael makes it clear that the best way to learn Guerrilla P.R. is to do Guerrilla P.R. It is this aspect of action, of protagonism, that I find so refreshing. This is not a volume for daydreamers. Its meant for people who are prepared to rise off their duffs, roll up their sleeves, and dig in to some hard yet potentially rewarding work.

And it is work (though it need not be drudgery). I know from my own encounters with media people that they are indeed a tough bunch. Unsentimental, cynical, leery, often curt and condescendingyou truly swim in a piranha tank if you skinny dip with Americas press corps.

But dont let that ominous admonition stop you. The media are not impenetrable, nor are they altogether disinterested in the occasional unsolicited story. As Michael makes clear, theyre interested in but one thing: reporting news. The trick is feeling comfortable creating news, making news, being news. If it werent for my own zest for this pursuit, I would not have enjoyed the same glorious career.

I value Levines effort to demystify and demythologize the media. Im afraid most people have come to view them as something of a monolithic monster, unblinking and pitiless as the sun. Theres a large degree of truth to that; however Guerrilla P.R. dictates that one confront the mediaand all other people for that matteron an individual basis. The human factor plays the greatest role in Michael Levines methodology. I believe thats why it works so well.

All his life Michael Levine maintained but two vocational passions, entertainment and politics. At age twelve, while his peers were reading Mad magazine, he was reading Variety . He left college after a brief stint to enter the workplace, and he quickly excelled in public relations. In the early eighties he launched his own P.R. company and, within a short span of time, built it into one of the most dominant in Hollywood.

His warmth and creativity energize those around him, but what is most striking about Michael is his apparent inner restlessness. Though outwardly calm and collected to a fault, he is a churning caldron of ideas. His favorite word is synergism, a term that implies both synthesis and energy. I can think of no more fitting description of Michael Levine.