Maxim Behar: The PR Magician

Maxim Behar is founder and Chief executive of M3 Communications Group, Inc., Bulgaria's leading public relations and marketing company, which leads the Bulgarian PR Top 10 since it was launched seven years ago. In an interview for popular men's magazine Club M, entitled “The PR Magician”. Behar claims his company has two formulas, on which it builds its successful work. The first is: Skills x Efforts x Concentration – a multiplication, which means that if any of the three figures is zero, the result will also be zero. The second formula is called The three Ss: Speed, Simplicity and Self-Confidence and it helps us manage the dynamic process of building somebody's image in a responsible way.

(PRWEB) August 4, 2006 -- "Speed, simplicity and self-confidence are key for successful PR business," says high-profile PR expert Maxim Behar in an interview for popular men's magazine Club M, entitled “The PR Magician”.

Maxim Behar is founder and chief executive of M3 Communications Group, Inc., Bulgaria's leading public relations and marketing company, which leads the Bulgarian PR Top 10 since it was launched seven years ago.

Behar claims his company has two formulas, on which it builds its successful work.

"The first is: Skills x Efforts x Concentration – a multiplication, which means that if any of the three figures is zero, the result will also be zero. The second formula is called 'The three S': Speed, Simplicity and Self-Confidence" and it helps us manage the dynamic process of building somebody's image in a responsible way," he said.

Heading a company which is exclusive representative of the world's largest PR corporation Hill & Knowlton, Maxim Behar is convinced that manipulation is the last word to describe the PR business.

"The PR business consists of two main words. The first one is 'Public', that is we are transparent. The other word is 'Relations', that is we rely on our relations and communication with the media, the people, the government," said Behar.

"The PR business stands where dynamics and creativity meet making money. And that, at the end of the day, is the ultimate goal of any kind of business. That was one of the reasons why I said goodbye to journalism," says Behar, a popular face in Bulgaria not lastly due to the fact that he was a co-founder and shareholder in one of the first private Bulgarian daily newspapers, Standard.

Asked about the lack of clear difference between advertising and PR in Bulgaria, Behar describes the borderline between the two with a metaphor:

"Imagine a man enters a discotheque, pushes away the dj and declares, in the presence of all the women there, that he is the best lover they could ever meet. This is what advertising does. Now imagine a man enters a discotheque and all the women present there swoop down upon him because they already know him to be the best lover and would not like to miss their chance. This is PR and this is what we do in the public space," Behar said.

Chairman of the prestigious and influential Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum since 2001, Maxim Behar is confident "there is nothing but ethics in business."

He said, "My idea is quite simple: we should make money in a transparent way! Everyone, who does business, does it to make money. Because the more we earn, the more society needs us: taxes are bigger, investments are bigger, and more jobs are created. The moment we start doing this in a transparent way, we are doing it ethically. Any non-ethical business is inevitably kicked out of the market. There is no place for it there."

In his capacity of head of Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum, part of the International Forum of the Prince of Wales, Behar was also the first to prepare the Business Ethics Standard project, a document that adorns the offices of more than 1,000 companies across the country.

Two years ago Maxim Behar was appointed General Consul of the Seychelles by the islands' president.

"The smaller the country, the more difficult the job of the honorary consul. Because the big country thrives on its popularity and money, it is well-known. The small country, in my case the Seychelles, which consists of 115 islands, is a big challenge. My goal is to promote the country. With islands as exotic as the Seychelles, my job is pure pleasure.

"The Seychelles are the destination that gave birth to his first personal photo exhibition, since as he puts it "photography is how I relax best."

"I am still a romantic man mainly because I follow one principle - never do business, for the sake of business itself. I keep telling my colleagues: "The moment you feel your work is dull and you don't make the best of your time, this is not the right business for you. What I want is that my colleagues find their work interesting. There is a big dose of romanticism in that," he said.

Along with doing business, Maxim Behar has another passion: men's toys, magazine Club M says.

"Many people know me for investing in men's toys. For example buying the latest iPod, so that I can watch movies while flying. Or buy the latest model of a cell phone or a computer. It is a pity that three months later these gadgets get outdated and I have to replace them," Behar said.

Behar is a symbol of many young Bulgarians, who see an obvious success story, achieved only with a lot of creativity, ideas, positive thinking and great international vision. And – of course – achieved with undoubted managerial talent.

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