[.ca] Value-Added Public Relations: The Secret Weapon of ... (ISBN 0844234125)

not very useful:
I read this book and I was dissapointed. It's out of date and not really relevant. My girlfriend hyped this book Gurilla PR Wired by this Livene guy which I read and was really impressed by. For anyone who is thinking about reading Value Added Public Relations read this other book instead

Valuable, But Not Up-To-Date:
Value-Added Public Relations argues that public relations are key to any successful marketing campaign. The book predominantly rests its premise on the belief that public relations adds credibility, and, thus, "value" to the marketing campaign. While I know plenty of marketing executives are unhappy about admitting it, I'm not sure I would call it a secret weapon. The book is loaded with several case history examples. While it's well-written, overall, it fails to convey its message while taking into account the Internet. For that, I suggest Michael Levine's Guerrilla PR: Wired, which accepts the Internet's uses in a public relations and marketing campaign. Overall, Value-Added Public Relations is a strong, if outdated, piece of work. While its suggestions are still useful, and it is a thorough piece of work, it would be worth considering to wait and see if an updated edition is released.

Not a true PR book:
This book is one of an increasingly common genre: the marketing book in PR clothing. Essentially, the author claims that to "add value" to public relations, the latter should be turned into marcomm. I found the author's condescending tone to be extremely grating, and his suggestions superficial. It's a matter of outlook, I suppose, but if you are interested in a relational approach to PR, this book is a huge disappointment. If you are interested in the field of marketing communication, you probably won't hate this book nearly as much as I did.

NO NEW THINKING HERE:
I just can't figure out who this book is written for. It was highly disappointing - instead of finding fresh thoughtful new insights and innovative suggestions for how to build on what's already tried and true and been done to death in Marketing PR from an industry "thought leader", or so Mr. Harris positions himself, I found tired old industry award case study submission retreads GALORE (fyi - these case studies are submitted by PR agencies and spun like no one else can spin 'em to advantage so they can win the award to get new clients). What that means to the reader is the facts presented in these "case studies" are highly slanted, and for starters, give no "fair and balanced" counsel in terms of explaining reality (the very same one we have to market in every day), such as, OVER HYPING with PR isn't any better than blowing your wad on ineffective national TV commercials that don't cut the marketing mustard anymore. Essentially, the case studies are PR themselves.<...Regardless of the date this book was published (1998), doing what worked yesterday was dated as soon as the campaign was implemented, which was long before Mr. Harris repackaged these case studies for a book publisher (no wonder self-publishers are flourishing). MY KEY LEARNING TO YOU: If your strategy is to focus on how "they did it yesterday" and what worked yesterday, this book is for you. However, if you're a little more forward-thinking, concerned about constantly improving to stay ahead of the competition, and prefer seeking inspiration for creative new strategies, ways of thinking, and of identifying connections between seemingly unrelated concepts to get your marketing in high gear, do some real work: start digging for inspiration, it's everywhere, unlike what's in this book.

Kotler journal writings are more interesting:
The book was just okay. Kotler's business industry and journal writings are much more insightful and interesting. Too basic for marketing practicioners.