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Regis McKenna: The P.R. Guru of Silicon Valley : CloutWith HighTech Firms and Press Is Great, but Some AreDisenchantedAugust 04, 1985 | VICTOR F. ZONANA | Times Staff Writer
PALO ALTO — Even by the standards of Silicon Valley, it was a highvoltage party.
Among the guests were the heads of Apple Computer, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, venturecapitalists Ben Rosen and Arthur Rock, and technology analysts and market researchers galore.
"If someone were to drop a bomb here," Rosen quipped, "I'd invest in Japan."
The gathering's host, resplendent in red tie and white sports jacket as he greeted new arrivals near abuffet groaning with caviar, smoked salmon, roast beef, crab and shrimp, was an unassuming man knownto most of his guests simply as "Regis."
For the uninitiated, that's Regis McKenna, Silicon Valley's preeminent public relations man. He has beencalled a "guru," "czar," "wizard," "Svengali," even "philosopher king." Some of the accolades come fromreporters who depend on Regis McKenna Inc. for press kits and interviews with the firm's corporateclients. Clearly, this is a man with clout, and he and his associates don't mind letting people know about it.
"This agency knows more about Apple Computer than Barbara Krause (Apple's inhouse public relationschief)," asserts Andrea Cunningham, who is Regis McKenna Inc.'s group account manager for Apple.
McKenna is best known for taking the story of Apple Computer's founding in a Palo Alto garage by acouple of young entrepreneurs and weaving the tale into part of our national folklore. He also helpedpopularize Intel's microprocessor, or "computer on a chip," and focused attention on the wonders ofGenentech's genesplicing technology.
More recently, by skillfully doling out facets of the story to different publications, he was able to get thestory about the introduction of Apple's Macintosh computer onto the covers of no fewer than 16magazines. Such "multiple exclusives," an oxymoron if ever there was one, rankle some journalists whofear that McKenna can control coverage by determining who has access to a new product.
McKenna's power comes from the fact that good public relations are crucial for hundreds of smalltechnologyoriented startup companies. "For a startup, visibility is the name of the game," says EdwardR. McCracken, president and chief executive of Silicon Graphics Inc. Visibility can lure investors andcustomers, he says.
"I think he truly is the best p.r. man around in the hightechnology business," says Robert Henkel, editorinchief of Electronics magazine and formerly the technology editor of Business Week, who countshimself among McKenna's friends.
"He knows the business, and he knows the publications and their needs," Henkel adds. "But does thatalways result in good journalism? I'm not sure."
Some journalists chafe at restrictions McKenna imposes when he gives them advance looks at newmachines. For example, reporters are asked to sign confidentiality agreements, which preclude them fromdisclosing details toand thus seeking comments fromcompeting manufacturers.
Journalists can, of course, get comments from analysts to whom McKenna has given peeks at a newproduct. But one reporter frets that "few analysts will risk being cut out of the information flow bydumping on a new machine."
Some Unimpressed
Nor are all of McKenna's clients impressed with what his agency has done for them, especially someclients who were drawn by an adulatory 1982 Fortune magazine profile, which stated that "simply being aclient of Regis McKenna Public Relations has become a kind of anointment for a hightech business."
Take Richard Nedbal, president and chief executive of Personal CAD Systems, a 2yearold Los Gatos
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based maker of software for computeraided design. "We felt that if Regis picked us, we'd experienceNirvana," Nedbal says.
Instead, he says, his firm's account was assigned to "an account manager who didn't understand ourbusiness, and then, after we complained, to another one. Basically, they wanted us to pay them a lot ofdollars to educate them."
After six frustrating months, Nedbal moved the account to Franson & Associates, Silicon Valley's No. 2 firmspecializing in hightech public relations. Franson, he says, has helped the startup company gain theexposure it needed to achieve credibility in its sophisticated industry.
And what about the legendary Regis? "Never met the man," Nedbal says. "He was always on tour givingspeeches about how great Silicon Valley is."
McKenna acknowledges that his firm sometimes slips up. "I try to get involved with as many accounts as Ican, but sometimes it's impossible."
Being Spread Thin
Nedbal's criticism is echoed by other disappointed clients, who say the quality of Regis McKenna Inc.'semployees hasn't kept pace with the firm's rapid growth. The firm now employs 152, a sixfold increase from1981. "It's very hard to find good people in this business," one competitor says. "Regis is being spread thin."
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