Bijl, partners in public relations

Theo van der Meer

Left-hand photo

The following text can be read on our building in Rotterdam:

‘In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes'

A world-famous statement by Andy Warhol that suits our profession perfectly. As head of strategy and partner at BIJL PR I like to think up ways in which you can develop a company, organisation or brand into a household name. Rapid press attention is excellent, but you have to have a strategy to ensure that you are both seen and heard in relevant places. The first step in achieving this is to put a clear PR strategy in place. I really enjoy conceiving PR campaigns for our clients. With the right strategy, it's really great to see it generate significant and important new ideas. That gives me 15 minutes of happiness every day, just like that.

In addition, Andy is often quoted incorrectly - as he actually said ‘world-famous'. In this sense, too, he was well ahead of his time. With YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Hyves, the world is of course always at your feet.

Central photo
Every Saturday morning, around 80 five-year-olds go through football training with SV Kampong in the shadow of the Galgenwaard stadium in Utrecht (i.e. the stadium of FC Utrecht). We start with a warm-up and communicate in a very simple manner. You whistle using your two fingers and shout loudly ‘follow me', which they then do, obediently, for about ten seconds. They then sprint past you on all sides. If the shirts that the kids are wearing are anything to go by, it definitely proves one thing - Barcelona must be running a highly effective marketing operation.

Right-hand photo
Also nice to do. Involving the audience - in this case, at a STIVORO conference.

Music works wonders
It is September 2008. An evening in Ahoy. It is the first time Stevie Wonder has performed in the Netherlands in 15 years. Everything is right this evening. Everyone in the room feels this special ‘vibe'. Stevie gives a phenomenal concert. Many real music fans who go to a lot of concerts agree: it was the best concert of 2008. They were able to enjoy it later as well on YouTube. Music remains a very powerful means of communication. When you hear this song, it automatically makes you happy and you forget about all your worries.