Since joining MP&F in 1990, David Fox has been a leader in the firm and has participated in a number of award-winning campaigns on behalf of a variety of clients in industries ranging from automotive and health care to telecommunications and public policy. A native Memphian, Fox began his career as a journalist, working as a reporter for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, the Nashville Banner, and United Press International. He is the author of two published books and worked in two presidential campaigns.
We asked David a few questions about his experiences at MP&F throughout the past 20 years. Here is what he had to say:
What’s your favorite thing about working in PR?
PR is a lot like journalism in that change is the constant. Every day is different. New opportunities are created when changes occur. New companies emerge with new stories to tell. It’s the constant refreshing of current events that makes it interesting.
What has been your most rewarding client experience?
Two come to mind, one from the old days and one recent:
In 1993, MP&F produced a video for an auto auction company called ADT Automotive. The video was to promote the national database ADT had created - on its own initiative - of all the cars in the country that had salvage titles – meaning they’d been wrecked or damaged and gotten a special title as a result. No such database existed before ADT built theirs. We created a video about the importance of the database and sent it to state Departments of Motor Vehicle around the country. At the time, “60 Minutes” was developing a story about a rebuilt wreck that had been sold without its salvage history being disclosed and become a death-trap for its new owner. The show’s producer was given our video by a DMV official in Michigan, and the producer called ADT, who called MP&F. We set up meetings between “60 Minutes” and ADT and explained the whole issue of salvage fraud. We then went to Kansas City and met Mike Wallace, who interviewed our client at an ADT auction. Mr. Wallace then went out to the car dealer who had sold the bad car and did a story there. The end result was a very bad story about a car dealer, but a great story about ADT on “60 Minutes.”
The other was the “Nashville for All of Us” campaign in 2009, to defeat the English-only effort in Nashville. That was a very rewarding project, made more so because the campaign we waged lasted less than two months, and yet it had every element of a political campaign, from public opinion surveys to grassroots organizing to television advertising to GOTV (get out the vote) events. And we won by a substantial margin, which reinforced the importance of our effort.
How has the media changed since you started working here 20 years ago?
What’s happening with the Internet and social media is changing everything. When we started out, you built up trust with reporters, you developed story ideas with your clients, and then you went to the reporters and said, ‘Here’s the idea.’ If you were convincing and the information was good, you could usually get a story in the paper.
Today, it is still important to have relationships with reporters who can send stories out to the world, but now we have the ability to send them out to the world ourselves. The Internet changes the way information is shared, however the disciplines of journalism – being objective about the facts, telling the truth and giving an honest assessment of the situation – is still valued. The online sources of information that abide by those old rules are ultimately going to have the most credibility.
Having had a career in journalism, what do you think is the biggest misconception about PR?
That it’s all spin. We’re like lawyers in the court of public opinion. We’re advocates, and like lawyers, there are good PR people and bad PR people. The good ones abide by the same ethical standards that good journalists use. They don’t misrepresent the facts in order to tell their client’s story. They present the facts in a favorable light, but the facts are the facts.
You talked about how the media has changed, but can you talk about how the city of Nashville has changed in the 20 years that you’ve been at MP&F?
When I was a freelance writer in the 1980s, I wrote an article for Advantage Magazine on Nashville. This was when the Tennessee Performing Arts Center was relatively new. The L&C Tower was up, but the Batman Building was not, and Lower Broadway was pawn shops and adult book stores, and the point of my story was the slow pace of Nashville’s growth. In the last 20 years, that pace has accelerated dramatically. We have professional sports. We have a world-class symphony. Health care has become a huge industry. Nashville is a magnet for corporate headquarters. We have a strong business community and strong leadership in the Mayor’s office. In the last 20 years, our mayors have been Phil Bredesen, Bill Purcell and Karl Dean, and that’s about as good a lineup as you’ll find in any city in the country. We’ve been blessed.
What’s your favorite thing about working at MP&F?
Friendships. Mark, Mike and I were best friends when we started the company, and we knew we were taking a risk in going into business together, but it’s paid off. And maybe that has helped to shape the camaraderie that permeates this place. Doing great work alongside your friends is a great way to make a living.
Take a young person just out of college or a business that’s thinking about coming to Nashville. If you could pitch Nashville in a couple of sentences, what would you say?
Nashville’s a pretty town, the weather’s nice, the local economy’s strong and the people are creative and friendly. There’s a whole lot to do for a city that can feel more like a small town. A lot of very smart people who could live anywhere choose to live in Nashville. There’s a spot here for you.
When you joined the company in 1990, you probably had a vision of what the company would be like today. Is MP&F today what you had in mind?
In 1990, none of us envisioned MP&F as it exists today. The long-term plan was to make payroll one more month, which meant pay ourselves. It started out as an experiment. I’d say what it’s become has as much to do with the people who’ve become part of it along the way, like Katy Varney and Keith Miles and all the employees who’ve ever worked here. It’s been a team effort all the way.
Fox receives his anniversary gift and congratulations from his colleagues.
