In these days of business consolidation, when advertising conglomerates are snapping up public relations companies to provide integrated marketing to clients and to expand globally, it isn't easy for small, independent public relations shops to keep up.

One edge the independent company has, says Gerhart L. Klein, partner at Anne Klein & Associates in Marlton, is that it can assure clients the attention of top executives.

"We think that is a very distinct advantage over multi-office firms that simply have hired people in the various cities who may not even be from that city, who may be working their way up the ladder, and who may not be there in a couple of years," he said.

Another edge, Klein said, comes from joining other firms in an informal network that can give clients the same kind of geographic reach provided by the multinational public relations companies.

On Sept. 1, Klein, 50, of Medford, became the president of Pinnacle Worldwide, an international corporation created by independently owned public relations agencies with 63 offices and 900 employees around the world. Pinnacle was established in 1976, generates $100 million in combined revenues, and covers 33 nations in North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. The group will hold one of its annual meetings in Philadelphia on Friday and Saturday.

How does it work? For example, Anne Klein & Associates has a client that cleans up oil spills. When a spill occurred in the Delaware River, the company handled public relations tasks. When oil spills occurred in Houston and Miami, Klein hooked up his client with Pinnacle members in those cities.

Klein came to public relations circuitously. As a teenager, he became fascinated with tape recorders, and that led him to an interest in radio. He worked as a news editor for KYW-AM (1060) and the old WCAU-AM. Later, he switched to law and worked as a litigator for Montgomery McCracken in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile his wife, Anne, had started a public relations business in their home. The business grew and Klein decided to join her.

"I think it's the best decision I've made. We've had a lot of fun."

Klein says his combined journalism and legal backgrounds "gives me a very unique perspective, especially in crisis situations," he said. "I'm able to talk to the counsels and the outside attorneys, not only about how [the issue] will fly in the court of law, but also, more importantly, how it will fly in the court of public opinion."
-- Jane M. Von Bergen