PRs are ‘the smartest person in the room’ at cross-agency briefings argues n2n boss

“We’re the smartest people in the room. In the last decade the average ATAR [Australian Tertiary Admission Rank] score for a person that we employ would be north of 95.”

So no one else in the industry could hire people with ATARs 95 plus? And anyone with an ATAR under 95 isn’t as smart then?

Well known fact that many successful business people weren’t so good at school. Using an ATAR as an argument for PRs leading client briefs… that’s even a stretch for PR.

Hahahahaha

“In the last decade the average ATAR [Australian Tertiary Admission Rank] score for a person that we employ would be north of 95.”

this can’t be true, surely

show me some data

Yes, because the smartest people are always the ones with an ATAR score of 95+. What is this backwards crap?

I think in this instance and based on this ‘article’ ATAR stands for Australian Total Arrogance Rank. In which case north of 95 seems about right.

A really smart person would have kept this to themselves

Yeah. Cos super geniuses naturally gravitate towards public relations. Missed the cut for law did you champ?

Not smart enough to recognise that insulting everyone else in the room will get you nowhere, should have stuck the comment up your ATAR

Meanwhile on the graph with wanders on the x axis and tosses on the y axis this bloke is invisible because he has disappeared up his own arse.

Oh turn it up mate.

“shots fired”

I have met many a Doctor and Lawyer that are clueless when it comes to basic everyday issues…

i would never hire someone with an atar under 95, whatever industry it may be

Sure you are, darlings 🙂

Typical self infatuated PR claptrap. Talking themselves up and others down.

ATAR of 70..

http://courses.curtin.edu.au/c.....-relations

ATAR= 70

http://courses.curtin.edu.au/c.....-relations

Full disclosure

UNSW and UTS are 85

USYD is 95.5

Curtin 70

etc

I recently graduated from one of the best universities in Sydney with a distinction average mark and achieved an ATAR over 90 in my HSC, and I think both are much more an indicator of work ethic then they are intelligence

If you have to tell someone you are, you probably are not. But nice bait for comments…

Maybe you are the smartest person in the room, however I am reminded of 2 things my father used to say to me – who, for the record, was sickeningly smart.

1. If you have to say it, you’re probably not it.
2. Being smart does not mean you are automatically good at everything.

But let’s sign off with a quote from the great Lucille Ball – someone that the author of this piece could well do learning from.

“If a man guesses my age, he may be smart but he’s not very clever.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

“We only employ people who did their homework at 17” yeah good on you mayte

What a flog! Mate, if you have to say it, you’re definitely not it…

“In the last decade the average ATAR [Australian Tertiary Admission Rank] score for a person that we employ would be north of 95” says the bloke who hasn’t backed up his argument with any evidence whatsoever.

If ever I’m the smartest person in the room, I’m in the wrong place.

LOL

I’m glad this guy isn’t advising clients on messaging strategy… Oh, hold on.

PR haha. You must be kidding. If I wanted gas in a meeting room I can provide my own.

Cringe worthy remark rating of 99.99%.

The smartest guys in the room.

Any chance of finding out which subjects the high-achievers studied? If they are all “soft” subjects, it’s not that impressive. The low number of students doing the hard yards in NSW – physics, applied mathematics, advanced economics etc – is seriously concerning. That’s why the ATAR ratings are being re-assessed so that schools with a higher number of students attempting more difficult subjects will achieve higher rankings over the next few years.

If I was his client I’d be questioning if I’m dealing with the right communications partner.

That’s ironic.

1. Why are your employees disclosing their ATAR? Are you hiring straight out of high school? I work in marketing in a reputable company and all my colleagues have bachelors or higher.

2. I have nothing against PR, I think it’s great. But if you’re such a good PR person why does this article have such a negative reception? You obviously don’t have a very good understanding of your audience and this is an example of poorly crafted messaging.

What agency did you say you came from again? I’ll make sure we go elsewhere.

“If you’re the smartest one in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” -Richard Tirendi

Also, you would think.. being a PR company… they would understand that saying this could be bad PR for them.

This is a PR disaster

I don’t usually comment on these things, but after graduating from a state school with a ‘not-so-intelligent’ 67.9, and enjoying a fruitful PR career for half-a-decade, I couldn’t have been happier to get out of the PR industry and migrate into digital marketing and advertising, effectively doubling my salary in the process.

I’m sorry to say, but public relations agencies – as a general rule – have no clue about digital. They are completely backwards, and are most certainly out of their depth when it comes to all things social. Sure, they might spin a nice pitch on Microsoft Powerpoint 2008 to get the business, but when it comes down to implementation, they’ll likely just pass anything with the word digital in it on to the new Account Coordinator. Did I mention she’s probably working sixty hour weeks for $34,000?

Meanwhile, the rest of the agency focuses on pumping out dull media releases that nobody, particularly in 2015, will ever want to read. The future of brand management is content marketing and visual storytelling, and to get there the industry needs to switch on to the demands and intricacies of short-form content. PR’s – like always – are last to the party, and nobody really wanted to invite them anyway.

If you want an agency that can set up highly-targeted, conversion-pixel led social media campaigns that really drive home some meaningful outcomes, go and see your local digital marketing guru, because safe to say, the PR guys and girls just don’t get it.

@Ben Having just had a short stint at a PR agency recently, I can’t agree more. I couldn’t believe how stuck in the past PR is.

High IQ (arguably) but super-low EG (proven0

My experience (long & substantial is that PR types are mere dumbasses compared to Training Managers. Have you ever been to a meeting with more than one Training Manager in attendance. There’s just no point in any mere mortals attending at all.

This is so embarrassing – this guy should have gone down with Enron. Smart PR people, are smart, don’t need to say so and may well have flunked school, while dumb ones are dumb.

The real art is to come away from the cross-agency meeting with custodianship of the big idea, then being smart enough to realise you need to work with experts in their fields to deliver it…

I used to work there. I got an ATAR of 72. They must have hired some actual geniuses to get that average up after I left. I really like Jamie, he is an incredibly smart guy with amazing business nous.

I’m now trying to get into the digital marketing field, something that is far more relevant these days and more likely to control social in the future – so I disagree with him in this case.

is this a what not to say? or a test to measure article comments and engagement… if so well played… otherwise, I’d consider this a PR disaster

The ATAR comment in this article is one hell of a dubious one that’s received its deserved backlash.

I wasn’t exactly proud of my ATAR score but I never wanted it to be a permanent stamp on my forehead that would forever limit my career prospects. Subsequently, I worked hard for my bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees and notched up six years of experience in the publishing industry. And after all that, I’d feel pretty damn insulted if I was interviewed by an employer who was more interested in how I performed when I was 17 or 18 over all my other accomplishments in the following decade of my life.

Ironically, this demonstrates profound intellectual laziness to measure employees by a an inconsequential numerical score from your teen years over your experience and the words of the references of your previous employment.

I’m assuming the meeting is in a toilet cubicle…

Wow

Sad thing is the majority of people I’ve met in PR have a very similar attitude.

Good luck working off the back of other departments though.

I dropped out.

The PR person “is the smartest person in the room” when it comes to collaborating with other agencies to solve a client’s problem.

If that problem can be solved by spinning lots of hot air with no tangible result, then maybe.

PR agency giving PR positive PR? Job done. The result? Even more cycnicism.

i got an ATAR of 97, studied, Commerce/Law, worked in law and banking, and can run intellectual rings around 99% of advertising industry people i meet – although they are far more accomplished hucksters than I. On the other hand, the business journalists i have to deal with are way smarter than agency people….

When I studied Graphic Design, you needed a UAI of 97.8 – the same level as Vet Science, higher than Engineering and almost as high as Medicine.

Since I realised designers get paid sh!! and are often at the lower end of the spectrum in the communications industry, I’ve had varying roles and founded varying companies across all disciplines.

I can say one thing however. PR people may have a higher UAI / ATAR / RETARD score than everyone else in the room, but they definitely are not the innovator, in fact they scarcely come up with an original thought.

I see PR people like media people who just can’t quite hit the same numbers.

Good luck tho 🙂

What’s that James Watson quote about the secret to chasing success?

“If you’re the smartest person in the room you’re in the wrong room.”

As a journo who deals with PR folk from all over the country every day and marvels at their general ineptitude and how badly they generally serve their clients, it terrifies me to think of a room in which the PR person was the smartest.