At a recent industry conference, PR legend Harold Burson offered his audience a stunning recommendation for the profession at large: consider becoming a “licensed” discipline much like lawyers, accountants, medical experts and architects. What’s driving this suggestion? A long-standing perception in the PR game that we just don’t get the respect we deserve. Therefore, “institutionalizing” a process and code of performance might raise the collective bar for those who work in PR and, in commensurate fashion, imbue the field with extra cachet — thus commanding higher fees while achieving some loftier status (perhaps this is a move to expunge the lingering press agentry gene in the PR family DNA). Paul Holmes has an excellent treatment on the subject in his most recent newsletter.

I feel I must weigh in. First, I have the deepest respect for Harold, for his intellect, concerns and views, and the enormous value he’s brought to this industry. I’d also like to point out that by far and away the large global PR firms, including Mr. Burson’s, are owned by ad agency holding companies. Why? Besides the dollars and margin opportunities, there is some natural kinship and functional familiarity in the world of communication between ad and PR. My point is: do the ad brethren seem preoccupied with concern about their status and respect? Perhaps yes, in some manner, due to the marginalizing of traditional paid media strategies and in a few corners the diminishment of “ad guy” influence in the hierarchy of some client organizations – but would they consider professional licensing as a way up? I suspect not. In the end it is about the value we create, the ideas we bring and how we define the business we’re in that determines where we will all end up globally in the intellectual property pecking order. Ad makers may be no different than publicists in that regard.

The undertones of this underclass worldview have been around since I got into the business 27 years ago. Are we journalists masquerading as spin-meisters? Are we C-suite insiders, counselors and advisors with expertise in public and social policy, politics, and corporate reputation management? Is PR about publicity or is publicity a lower life form subset of PR? Is PR simply any form of communication and outreach that is not paid for? Is PR about keeping corporations on the straight and narrow, maintaining a sense of balance between self interests and those of the public at large? Is PR about image and its burnishments? Are we marketers or more broadly — business communicators? Are we getting the reputation we deserve, or does PR need to do some PR for itself? Is PR the dog or the tail, and just who is wagging who?

PR is all of these things and more. Perhaps Mr. Burson’s thinking behind licensing is to create a code of behavior, norms, training and specification that makes it tougher to join the club, while also offering an aura of “profession” along the lines of what say, lawyers, may secure from passing the bar. An admirable goal. If we’re being candid, much of the lingering reputation issues faced by the PR business generally come from the disparity in assignments given to people in this field.

Writing a press release is one level, advising the CEO on a merger is another. The bookends are wide apart, with a fair amount of the day-to-day activity going on at the press release/media contact end. In fact, I think a case could be mounted that agencies have done much to commoditize the business themselves by focusing on selling arms and legs (tactics) rather than strategic ideas.

No form of licensing is going to get us to strategic ideas – concepts that have the potential to change the destiny of a business. Management consulting may be a closer model to what we’re reaching for in this context. But consultants with a bonus – we can create communications tools to execute what we recommend at the strategic end. In my view we’re in a creative field and for my part I think we should stop worrying about lack of respect and focus on performing now at a higher level. Respect will follow. I agree with Mr. Holmes who suggests that PR, at the academic level, be moved to the business school from the journalism school where it is certainly a stepchild.

We are entering the golden age of PR. The strategic thinking and communications field we’re in is best suited to the environment that most businesses are facing these days. Want to command higher fees, respect and influence? Then offer that level of expertise, which goes back to a point made earlier about defining what business you are in. To that end, in our firm we are increasingly focused on training that, in addition to building out the brains of those who counsel clients, is also intended to re-program their views about what we are on the planet to accomplish. Helping guide businesses to growth and prosperity is at the top of our list, and that is by definition a difficult and challenging task. Yes, I believe we are up to it.