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Dick Lippin, Founder and President of The Lippin Group. Photo courtesy of The Lippin Group
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"What you hear, in a vast majority of conversations, is ’This is what we are doing to reduce our expenses: We’re laying off people, we’re not allowing execs to fly first class,’ and so forth," reflects Dick Lippin in discussing the economy and its tsunami-like ripple effect on business. "I’m not exaggerating, probably 90% of conversations are along those lines, and only 10% are ’This is what we are doing to create a new revenue model, this is what we are doing to increase our potential revenue growth, this is how we are redesigning our business to deal with the changing entertainment world out there today."
Lippin, president and founder of The Lippin Group, finds this negative mentality a roadblock to a vibrant film community.
"I think that’s a real serious problem. First you have to deal with getting people thinking positively. If you get people thinking positively then the chances are great that the turnaround is going to come faster."
With over 23 years in the public relations business, Lippin has encountered many industry shifts and modifications that, to a less experienced rep, might have appeared as monstrous obstacles. Because he sees opportunity in change, Dick Lippin has built a successful firm by embracing challenges.
Lippin’s career began in the world of finance. After receiving a graduate degree in finance, he worked in the investment business before joining the newly developed regulatory department of the New York Stock Exchange. A business associate suggested he consider getting involved with investor relations, the "financial arm of the public relations industry," and offered him a job. When Lippin was ready to leave the Stock Exchange, he accepted his associate’s offer. He worked with a NY based company heavily involved in developing the burgeoning cable business.
"What happened was a matter of circumstance. I began working with a lot of companies involved in the entertainment and media business, and I felt that it was a really exciting industry to be in," reflects Lippin. "It’s constantly changing for regulatory reasons, changing because of the kind of content that was being developed, changing because of the types of delivery systems being developed. I felt that if I specialized in the area of entertainment and media, it would be something that had tremendous value."
Lippin relocated to California and in 1986 opened The Lippin Group. Within a year he would have offices in Los Angeles, New York and London. The company’s early focus was on television, and ultimately expanded to cover film, music, home entertainment, licensing and merchandising, and new media.
"What I saw was that the industry was no longer a one-platform industry. Product that was being developed had the opportunity to migrate to other platforms, and each point of migration was able to derive additional revenue," explains Lippin.
Lippin simplifies the idea of a platform and how it’s changed this way: "Let’s say 25 years ago, pretty much when a person did a feature film, it was a feature film and it derived most of its revenue from the box office. What’s happened over the years is that it’s not just a feature film anymore. It’s a feature film, potentially it’s a soundtrack album, it’s DVDs, it’s CDs, it’s licensing and merchandising products, it’s pay-per-view, video on demand, it’s domestic and international, it’s internet and mobile."
In assisting clients to achieve optimum success, he’s broken down his business structure to coincide with each platform as it’s emerged. Before this step, however, he had to determine The Lippin Group’s areas of focus. He settled on three primary areas:
the representation of companies, including large studios as well as production and distribution companies, large membership associations including NATPE, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the Independent Film and Television Alliance, and content.
"Content is the common denominator across all the platforms," confirms Lippin. "I have always believed there are three component parts to this: content, mechanism for distribution and marketing, and public relations."
Through this breakdown, Lippin and his teams can determine what the content is that people will be interested in, the means that this material will reach the end user, and developing a marketing and public relations strategy that will "drive the individual to that place."
Having worked with television shows such as "Mad Men" and "Weeds," events such as the Prime Time Emmys and the ESPN ESPY Awards, big budget and independent films, CD and DVD promotions, internet webisodes and cell phone mobisodes, The Lippin Group has developed a system that allows them to work vertically across all platforms, ensuring their program has the best method of exposure pertaining to it’s medium. "I get involved in each of the steps of the process. Sometimes it’s with Kodak’s digital cinema, or it’s working with theater owners, or it’s working with producers of films, or it’s working on the internet with websites."
Lippin explains that people need more from PR than just submitting press releases and setting up media interviews. He feels that today’s client is looking to make connections with the industry, and being "introduced to new situations and new parties that will help their business, help their career, and hopefully generate more income for them." One new innovation that The Lippin Group has developed is called "Brand to Hollywood," in which they represent corporate sponsors who are interested in affiliating themselves with events that provide a positive association with their services or company.
All of The Lippin Group accounts are handled by a team of multiple representatives. "When I started the business, I said the only way we can do this is to take a real team approach to everything we do," says Lippin. As new media has hit the entertainment landscape, individuals proficient in applicable skills such as social networking have been added to the teams. In addition to having individuals with multiple specialties involved with each account, the team approach always ensures there are multiple reps familiar with the account’s needs and activities instead of one individual. If something happens to one person, there is no learning curve or training period to get another rep up to speed, ensuring consistent, successful account management.
With changes in the media landscape, Lippin finds it is sometimes necessary to educate clients as to methods of promoting their business. "There’s a new reality out there, there’s no question. The downsizing of editorial has an effect, and so much of what is happening is happening online. You have to really start educating them so that they’re not missing the audience by virtue of not being involved with a print medium. Other outlets are still reaching a very involved audience."
In today’s public relations world, Lippin feels that clients are looking for strong strategic thinking more than anything else.
To those starting out in the pr business, Lippin offers these words: "I think that someone who absorbs information, can digest information, can figure out how effectively to use resources properly, can analyze the universe in which we are operating and can figure out the ways in which to get the message across; that to me is what is most important these days."
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