Maxim Behar's Blog, page 8

Priceless Lessons by Maxim Behar: A Story with Lord Timothy Bell and Sir Mike Tully

The leading PR expert and CEO of the communication agency M3 Communications Group, Inc., Mr. Maxim Behar shared another astonishing personal story in his author���s series Priceless Lessons, which he publishes for BGLOBAL magazine.

Midnight conversations at the cricket club in Mumbai

Late drinks with Lord Timothy Bell and Sir Mike Tully, stories about ethics, and the lessons worth learning, even for legends...

Mumbai���s cricket club, the oldest ���British treasure��� in India also presents itself as the most fitting place for a drink in a friendly atmosphere. This evening, it was clamorous with numerous tables and booths totally occupied. A rich bouquet of different languages flowed through the space of the club, carried out by the large fan blades of the property.

Our dearest friend and host, Yogesh Joshi, had taken care of every single detail regarding our residence. All sorts of languages, dialects and arguments floated in the air. New acquaintances were made through the night and my new friend Solly Moeng and I sang aloud in Zulu language the South African anthem ���Nkosi Sikelel��� iAfrika��� while our performance was accompanied by the clapping of our colleagues.

And in this motley company with friends from all over the world, who had come to attend the annual meeting of the Association of Business Communicators of India (ABCI) two sophisticated, middle-aged men showed no signs of enjoyment. They seemed strict and focused on their plates. I sat down next to them, since we were ordering our last drinks for the night. It turned out at that very moment, we had not only started one long and incredibly interesting conversation, but a deep-rooted friendship. The two men are true British gentlemen and people with titles and traces in history - Lord Timothy Bell, the PR expert and trustee of the legendary Margaret Thatcher, and Sir Mark Tully, the BBC correspondent who had first reported the assassination of the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.

-���� ��Well, that is so interesting... Bulgaria... I had no idea you have PR agencies there ��� said Lord Bell in a drowsy tone ��� one day I will visit the country and have you to introduce me to the market and the experts there.

I told him more about my meetings with Prince Charles and that is when I caught his attention. Lord Bell visibly brightened up and began to question me insistently.

-���� ��Ha, Charlie has a Business Leaders Forum? I had no idea! Could you tell me more about it? I live a few miles away from him but haven���t heard of this.

Needless to say, I knew who Lord Bell was and I had read thousands of stories about him, especially about the post-Thatcher era. I was also aware of the stories about his work for Russian oligarchs and controversial political figures... So on that hot Mumbai night I chose each and every word that came out of my mouth with extreme caution.

-���� ��Well, you know, Your Excellency, today it is inconceivable to do business without transparency... So inspired by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, we have set up a forum with numerous companies who want to present themselves as transparent business leaders.

-���� ��In Bulgaria? Or in Europe?

He did not hide his great amazement towards my statement, and to my astonishment, he was highly interested in our dialogue, rather than in his dancing friends. Simultaneously, I did not want to get into unnecessary arguments with people who had done wonders in the business industry and are true legends. Sir Tully also listened to our conversation with interest, a man with brilliant journalism practices who made the world���s announcement of Indira Gandhi���s assassination. Lord Bell had the exact same historical moment in his rich biography, and only months before I met him, in April 2013, he was the first to announce the death of his ���patron��� ��� Margaret Thatcher.

-���� ��Lord Bell, - I continued even more carefully - I do not wish to argue with you during our late drinks, especially when I am aware of your undisputed professionalism, but let me share with you my opinion. It does not matter if it is Bulgaria, Rwanda, Chile, America or any other country. For more than ten years, we have been introduced to social media and no matter what we do or what actions we take, there are at least three billion people potentially observing our movements. As a matter of fact, everyone knows everything and the public control over political figures or even PR experts is irreversible. As a consequence, there is only one possibility for businesses in order to survive, and it is called full publicity.


God, I did not mean to sound instructive, but we all might have had a few drinks. Lord Bell got up from the booth, started seeking out for his driver, waved at him and said something resembling like a "good night" wish. Then he melted into the dancing crowd on his way to the exit.

The following evening, the well-known traditional Gala Dinner at the phenomenal Taj Mahal Palace took place. I had the honor of presenting one of the ABCI awards, considering that a year before the exact same association announced me for ���Communicator of the Decade���, and this automatically became part of my duties as a winner. In addition, the association had printed 2,000 copies of my booklet "111 rules' How to Make It", which we sold for 10$ each and were out of stock within an hour. It is no secret that later on I donated the funds raised to the flood victims in India at that time.

But before I got up from my seat to present the price, I felt Lord Bell���s hand from the seat next to me, which brought me back at my starting point. He then pulled the booklet out of my hands, went to the glorious stage, stood behind the illuminated chair, and lifting the book above him, said: ���Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I am Lord Timothy Bell and let me tell you something���You should buy this book! You will not only help our brothers and sisters, affected by the floods in India, but you will also have the opportunity to learn a few lessons from the man with the mustache and the red bow tie sitting next to me. I have already learned my first lesson from him.���

Believe me, this could only be done by a great man who knew very well how to teach others and did not bother telling them that he had learned something too.

Couple of years later, Lord Bell expressively left his own global PR agency, Bell Pottinger, when the entire business world rose up against his company���s unethical methods in its operations in South Africa, after leaked emails in different social media channels. And when he moved to a better place in 2019, Richard Edelman wrote: ���He was an eccentric and ostentatious man. But we must learn from his merits for the world���s PR industry. And for what he did not do right, we must learn how to do better���.��

Maxim Behar For BG On Air: Politicians Replaced with Randomly Selected People is a Leadership Failure

02.03.2021

Maxim Behar commented on the upcoming parliamentary elections and the public figures seeking an elected seat in the Government in the "Bulgaria in the Morning" show on Bulgaria ON AIR with Miroslav Dimitrov.

Host: Show business has shifted to the candidate MP lists. Celebrities who hit the music charts, walk the runway and appear on TV have found a place in the lists of parties for the parliamentary vote. We are talking here in the studio with Maxim Behar, PR expert. Good morning!

Maxim Behar: Good morning!

Host: How do you feel about such an entry of popular personalities into politics - can it be positive, can it be negative?

Maxim Behar: Sad news! As for politics, for political parties, and for the people themselves who want to be part of the public space in some way. That���s really very sad news! First because they can't do anything. And secondly, this means that the political parties have run out of candidates to such an extent that they are forced to look for alternatives. We have had similar cases at gas stations and intersections. In general, the inclusion of random people in politics, in my opinion, damages the reputation of the National Assembly, the Bulgarian Parliament. I can understand such actions by people from show business, people who don't have a job, people who sign up for the lists out of stupidity. However, I can't understand the doctors, people with authoritative titles and significant professions, some of them great experts and friends of mine. I could never understand why they choose this, instead of doing their professional job as doctors. I believe that every professional should know his main goal and chase it, in order to grow in his career.

Host: However, we speak for this type of celebrities, compromising their ability, as if it is almost a disappointment in the electorate. Let's recall that Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, an actor who played the role of president. A little while back in history, Ronald Reagan in the Cold War, an American President who was also an actor. What if we only have delusional believes about these celebrities, as actors known only in public space, when in fact they could have additional qualities that we do not know about?

Maxim Behar: In Bulgaria that���s not the case. Even our current President Rumen Radev doesn���t have any professional experience in politics, but served as commander of the Bulgarian Air Force. I think politics should be taken seriously as a profession run by people who have something to do and something to say. I���m not saying that, for example, the Minister of Health have to be a doctor or a great leader, or an MP to head the Health Commission. However, he should have 10 more professors or prominent doctors, surgeons or immunologists as his consultants. And that's why I think that if a doctor abandons his operating room and profession for a Parliamentary seat to create and vote for agricultural laws, it would be a great insult to the nation, to his patients, to the hospital where he works. It would be also a great underestimation of the profession of politician, if any. There is another side of this case - the political system is clearly not working. Not only in Bulgaria, but all over the world. The simplest example could be if a politician fails or does not do his job right, we have to wait three-four years until the next election to vote for someone else. Let���s take for instance one corporation. If anyone from the board, as the CEO or the Chairman, makes the same blunder, he has to leave straight away on the next day. And if our current system requires to wait for elections and evaluate people based on different qualities or their appearance on TV, such as choosing famous singers to become MPs, this definitely means the system does not work properly and it should to be changed. The one we still call Democracy for no actual reason.

Host: Recently we notice a new trend in marketing campaigns where branding positioning is only part of an overall strategy. Many big brands reach out to vloggers, people who actually communicate with other people and are some sort of leaders. Can we interpret this as the main way to communicate with a large audience now in general? Since the advertising industry has developed in this direction, can we explain it as a normal action in politics?

Maxim Behar: Opinion leaders, such as vloggers and influencers, only express their opinion, but do not make decisions. Parliamentary seats are usually taken by people who already know how to makes decisions about laws, our future, about things that happen in business, in public life, and that is the huge difference. If a celebrity wants to express his opinion, he can do that every day on social media. But it���s insulting to let such person into Parliament and let him vote, without proving his understanding of politics or any matter.

Host: We often hear this thesis "I am not in politics". Very often, especially from actors who say "I do not politicize". Such a state of passivity for both the actors and the society, isn't that dangerous itself? Especially coming from public figures who enter politics. Or is it a positive sign that people who are in different industries, in different businesses, to have some relations in politics? Isn't that for admiration?

Maxim Behar: I don't think so, because they can't make a difference. The system is designed to be run by big parties, and it is more likely that this system can either be pressured in some way or influenced only by the general public. And we saw this last year in Sofia and other cities globally. I cannot accept such an easy excuse "���now I am going to express my civil position and influence." I have a very good friend here, a well-known percussionist, who is now in Parliament. We met at an airport, maybe two or three months before he entered Parliament, and he said, "I will change the culture in Bulgaria, I will influence this and that..."

Host: Kalin Veliov, yes���

Maxim Behar: Yes, Kalin, of course.

Host:��� an honest person with great desire.

Maxim Behar: However, these people usually can't do anything and that���s a fact. They can invest another million or one-two hundred thousand Bulgarian levs in theaters, but that doesn't change anything. It seems to me that politics really needs to be taken seriously and those people who are running for seventh, eighth, or even fifteenth place to enter Parliament, cannot change anything but rather gain more presence on national TV. A friend called me the other day and said, "Are you with me? Are you with me?" And I said "Where?". He said "I am standing for Parliament". I asked more aggressively, "Okay, why? Will they show you on TV?" And he said to me, "Hopefully they will." This is the Bulgarian dream in general.

Host: Which party has the most professional politicians, if we can look at things that way?

Maxim Behar: There is something else. I am referring to alienation or the fact that people need to be motivated just because they are involved in politics. Well, there are better ways to express your opinion these days��� we all have social media. In Parliament no one cares what you have to say. But if you have an interesting proposal, a concept, a vision, just enter social media and four or five million Bulgarians, and potentially billions worldwide will hear your brilliant opinion. In Parliament you can only meet 200 people who won���t hear a word of what you have to say. I still think this is some form of stupidity and snobbery. I had a friend of mine, who was an MP years ago. He said to me one day, "Well, I want to tell my grandson that his grandfather was an MP." These are exactly typical Bulgarian aspirations. Now people have millions of platforms where they can share their ingenious opinions. Even a taxi driver with a social media account can be a hundred times more popular than the most popular politician, if he has something to say. The usual excuse "I'm going to Parliament now so my voice and my civic conscience can be heard" belongs to number of unqualified members of political parties that even the most uneducated voters will not take seriously. We need to have serious politicians, and these politicians need to have visions, proposals, strategies and ideas, not just popular names we can read about in the newspapers.

Host: Now I will tell you the popular names in politics nowadays. Evgeni Budinov, an actor and a member of this National Assembly, we already mentioned Kalin Veliov, Prof. Kostadin Angelov, Minister of Health, in fact also a surgeon. Lyuben Dilov for a constituency Bourgas and Lyuba Pashova for Kyustendil. From the political party There Is Such A Nation - Andrey Chorbanov, the cardiologist Dr. Ivaylo Hristov, the former director of Alexandrovska Hospital Nikolai Dragnev, Slavi Kirilov. From the political party BSP - Nona Yotova. Alexander Simidchiev from Democratic Bulgaria. From ABV - Assoc. Prof. Atanas Mangarov. These are the recognizable personalities. Who do you think can be considered as professional politicians - people with vision and suggestions for a positive change? Which party has the most visionaries, people who have the necessary qualifications to be called professional politicians in the present?

Maxim Behar: In general, I would say maybe the political party IMRO, because this is a formation first with a great history and second of people who know what they want and how to achieve it. They have their patriotic desires, they know how to move within their borders and that haven���t changed for a hundred and a half years. Maybe this is something, rather hereditary. There are literate people in GERB, there are literate people in BSP. You can always find a person, almost anywhere, who can express an opinion. However, if these people who are now standing for Parliament ��� doctors, showmen, popular names with no experience in politics - had a vision, they should already have said it, have written it, have declared it, or have fought for it. With the utmost respect for doctors and their profession, I have not heard any of them say what has to happen in healthcare, agriculture, or in business. And I'm almost sure that their vote will disappear among the many other votes in Parliament and most of them will leave in years just as a regular former MP that hasn���t made any difference in politics. On the other hand, as a doctor, a professional could experience much more interesting things and most importantly - save lives.

Host: We will see sooner or later.

Maxim Behar opens 2021 Davos Online Communications Summit

25.02.2021

Maxim Behar participated in the main global annual event Davos Communications Summit 2021 on Zoom, organized by the World Communications Forum Association in Davos, Switzerland. In his role as the current President and one of the Founders of the Association, Behar opened and moderated the event, which brought together over 400 participants from different parts of the world, including some of the most prominent business leaders and global communication experts.

The Summit titled ���Leadership During Turbulent Times��� aroused great interest and heated discussions focused on the critical communications and leadership issues that have dominated the Public Relations industry during the turbulent 2020 and how education is responding to COVID-19.

Among the participant were professional top speakers from over 20 countries, including: Hotwire Global CEO Barbara Bates, Omnicom University Dean Karen van Bergen, Edelman Africa CEO Jordan Rittenberry and many other prominent representatives of influential PR organizations and global companies.

���We have been doing Communications Summits in Davos for more than 10 years and going online this year made the event bigger and more impactful than ever before. It brought together the global public relations industry to people���s screens, giving them opportunity to engage in a great learning and networking environment with high-levelled professionals from all around the world.���, said Maxim Behar, WCFA President.

Maxim Behar for Eurocom TV: "Only artificial intelligence can defeat trolls on social media"

02.2021

Maxim Behar, Founder and CEO of the leading PR company M3 Communications Group, Inc., spoke to Eurocom TV with Slav Mehandzhiyski on trolling, bots and how to recognize fake profiles and their propaganda. Professor Maria Neykova, Kristina Hristova, chairwoman of the Coalition for Media Literacy and MEP Andrei Slabakov also had their say.


Interviewer: War and battles between trolls on social media. This is the pandemic that is flooding the digital space and there���s no vaccine for it. As the elections and the beginning of the elections campaign approach, we are witnessing more and more frequent publications on the network, but also more and more sharpening opposition and attempts to impose an opinion.

Due to the pandemic, more and more campaigns are choosing the digital space, where it is also essential that the rules of the game apply for everyone. However, the people also known as trolls on the internet, do not play by the rules - they are difficult to trace, merging among all users, but they manage to have a strong impact, which is why they are often used.

What do we need to know about them and what are the consequences?

Maxim Behar: Trolls who spread fake news or comment on someone else's identity react mostly in the area of hatred and hatred. Since 2004, when Facebook was launched on May 4, they were born and it was very easy to predict that there would be so many people who would abuse social media, and they will be growing. Facebook currently has 2.8 billion users, and it's normal for some of those nearly 3 billion people who have social media in their hands to want to abuse it.

Since you mentioned this social channel, Facebook is undeniably the most recognisable, transparent and personalised media possible, and it���s quite easy to recognise when someone is trolling. Trollers don���t have many followers, but they use someone else���s identity, including images and name in attempt to provoke a reaction. In addition to that, the second you report the troll or the fake profile, their profile is gone within 5 minutes. There are more social media channels like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and the list goes on, where trolls are hard to be identified.

Interviewer: Is there any method to identify them?

Christina Hristova: Yes, there is. In most cases, these profiles do not have a real person���s photo. They easily be found via Google reverse image search. Most often, they steal photos from advertising bases and it crystal clear that these are not real people, because the photos are too good to be true or do not have a profile picture of a person at all.
Lately, we���ve been noticing a tendency, in which trolls use the Bulgarian flag, a horse or a landscape as a profile picture. It���s important to notice that these fake profiles do not have personalised photos. The whole idea behind the trolling refers to a certain cause or idea. For instance, the theory that COVID 19 is spread through 5G network and all the activity is around that topic or beautiful sunsets and animals, but there are no real human experiences on the wall, and they do not have too many friends.

Interviewer: We used expert���s knowledge to easily recognise fake profiles. In the comment section, we can always find potential trolls, but what draws the attention is that their comments provoke the most reactions amongst consumers. We did a profile check with a place of residence Jordan, but when we refer back to Google reverse search image to find out if this was a real profile, we found that the living in Jordan is famous model from Greece. The next profile that rang some bells was used mainly for games, and later the topic became political. It was more than clear that the names between the account and the link above also differ. The main question against the background of the upcoming elections is how widespread such profiles are in Bulgaria.

Professor Maria Neykova: In relations to the parliamentary elections, it seems to me that two things are particularly important. The first is the loss of common ground for discussion and debate. This common space is spreading and can serve as a trolling place. The second is the technological change, which is much greater than the one that has taken place in recent years. I was impressed by the fact that one of the party formations has already released a video claiming that in the long-running election campaign there is a similar interference with the creation of fake Facebook profiles, in which the known as the "props" are circulated. The servers are abroad as the party formation claims. I cannot see how this is can be overcome.

Kristina Hristova: What we are noticing is that the main political parties use trolls and they are largely on an equal footing. I do not know to what extent they can really influence, as the parties with the highest turnout have an equally strong presence among troll groups.

Maxim Behar: Of course, none of the parties will admit that there are trolls, but it is a public secret that each party has some people who stand in their offices, follow instructions and discredit the opposing party or the competing political force, and at the same time they write positive things for the political force that pays them. Most people understand this. About 30 percent of society can find their way around very easily. However, the remaining 70 percent read the opinions more than the information on the post itself, on any social media. Indeed, this is the purpose of trolls - to fill, to flood the space around a news or a post, so that the majority of readers focus on the opinions of these trolls, rather than the news itself.

Interviewer: Two months prior the elections, 4 April, ���Yes Bulgaria��� announced that there were number of trolling comments under its post. The party linked the profiles with Pavel Valneve, who is deputy chairman of the party ���Republicans for Bulgaria.��� However, in many cases it remains difficult to whether this it���s a fake profile and real person. Political divisions in society make it difficult to determine whether or not sharp comments are trolling. The biggest saga around the trolls became the US elections in 2016. The biggest saga around the trolls became the US elections in 2016. In the first place, the city of Veles in our South-western neighbour, Macedonia became famous for spreading fake news to US voters, and in 2020 website became more active for the new US elections. In Veles, populated with around 40,000 people At least 140 websites with names containing Donald Trump were registered. The sites widely disseminated those of the Republican candidate, filling social networks and groups with their content.

This avalanche of fake news, which has spread across the globe thanks to social media, has provided Trump with extra voters, and funding for trolls.

Mark Zuckerberg (2018 video): One of my greatest regrets in running the company is that we were slow in identifying the Russian information operations in 2016. We expected them to do a number of more traditional cyber attacks, which we did identify and notify the campaigns and they were trying to hack into them. But we were slow to identify the type of new information operations. We were able to remove tens of thousands of accounts as a precaution before they did any harm. There are people in Russia whose main task is to try exploit our system and they will try to get better, which means that we also have to get better.

Maxim Behar: You remember the very recent mention of Donald Trump being blocked. I think it was a big mistake and they themselves, as well as Twitter, realized that it was a big mistake, but it was still necessary at the time. Facebook is very easy to recognise by keywords and has very strong software that deals with it. Artificial intelligence, which recognizes keywords, sends alerts, bans the account for a while. And when you don't understand and keep insulting, using swear words or any other words, they block you.

In my opinion, artificial intelligence is one of the tools we can use to fight against fake news, hatred, harsh language or pedophilia, which can be found in the criminal code as criminal acts anyway.

Professor Maria Neykova: We have a set of very complex questions to solve: What is freedom of speech? When will these technology media giants - Twitter, Facebook - be regulated? In fact, the word you used "turbulent" is in the same position as the media, because we still cannot fully comprehend and assess the impact of new technologies, including social media.
Interviewer: The European Union has started introducing regulations as the fight against fake news is one of the main priorities of the Union.

Ursula Von Der Layen (Video 2021): Activists warned of the business models of large technology companies and the implications for democracy. They described how the economic laws of social media are eating away the foundations of our society, about how fake news spreads 6 times faster than real news. They rely on Europe because the Union has proven that it can set standards that are respected in color, such as the "Data Protection Rules".

Professor Maria Neykova: In the European Union, on the recommendation of the European Commission, the broader term "misinformation" is used to mean information that can be shown to be false or misleading and was created and disseminated for economic gain or to deliberately mislead the public. the public. In addition, we stopped using fake news because of politicians who, if they didn't like something, tended to dismiss it as fake news. A number of studies, including in Bulgaria, have found in recent years that politicians are one of the big generators of fake news. In this sense, with a disintegrated public field for discussion, I believe that everyone will trust the party or the representatives of the party they have decided to vote for.

Christina Hristova: Because a truly objective news, a message built on real facts and a constructive policy has no chance against hysterical shock conspiracies that carry many threats. As you know years ago, thanks to this false news, a very large number of people stopped getting vaccinated, young people stopped vaccinating their children. So there is even a real threat to our health from fake news.

Maxim Behar: If you prevent profiles from being created without the necessary information from the creator, this will drastically reduce fake news and what is known as "trolling" or ���trolls��� who put a photo from somewhere, add a few artificial friends and photos. This is very common. In America, England, France, Germany, people are much more cautious. They look much more closely who is behind the profile and what photos they have. In Bulgaria you can catch a picture of a half-naked girl or very authoritative and intelligent person. There was a case of a man who had recently been released from prison and had been selling fake plane tickets. He had raised a lot of money from people through his fake name and photos. They saw him on Facebook and immediately believed him. We need to be much more careful and this will happen over the years.

Interview: Before the introduction of resolution of the European Parliament, MEP Andrey Slabakov shared about the problems with fake news, which he personally experienced.

Andrey Slabakov: If we have to talk about freedom of speech, I think the main problem is not freedom of speech. The main problem at the moment has become misinformation and fake news, especially on the Internet. Misinformation platforms are everywhere. I can tell you that I have not given interviews since May, and in the last few months I have read dozens of my interviews given by me, as well as statements that some of the information sites allow themselves to sign on my behalf.

Interviewer: The relocation of social media campaigns raises questions about whether trolls and fake news can influence public opinion and if they can be regulated.

Mark Zuckerberg (video 2018): For the language of hatred, I feel optimistic that for a period of 5-10 years we will have artificial intelligence that will be able to cope with the linguistic nuances of different content and will be more accurate with the reports, which are sent to our systems. We have policies that prevent subjectivity, but until we introduce artificial intelligence, mistakes are more common than what I would ideally like.

Professor Mariya Neykova: People deepen their beliefs over the years, and eventually they become their characteristics. If a person is a clear supporter of a party, they will not change their beliefs. Rather, it is aimed at the hesitant. Furthermore, we must not forget that the situation is such that suspicions of low voter turnout are very real. We don't really know what will happen on April 4th.

Maxim Behar: It���s a simple recipe. In my opinion, fake news should be criminalized in law. If you push a person on the street or enter a house with a burglary, all these are criminal acts are subject to appropriate treatment by the penal code. However, if you insult someone or pour a bucket of lies against them, if you break their business and a bunch of other consequences that the writings of a fake profile that creates fake news can have, all this goes unpunished. Why? And I am sure that sooner or later false news, untruths, rude language and hatred will be included in the penal code as criminal acts. This will drastically reduce their spread.


Watch the whole video here.

Maxim Behar for Capital: The priceless lessons of the incredible 2020

04.02.2021

Maxim Behar, Founder and CEO of M3 Communications Group, Inc., speaks to Capital magazine about the many successful projects and impressive achievements accomplished by his company in 2020, despite the challenges and changes his team faced during the pandemic.

What impact has COVID 19 had on your business and what changes have you made? ��

- The pandemic taught us things we would never have learned if COVID hadn���t occurred, no matter how many books we read, no matter how many projects we realize. The main lessons were in the field of management. At M3 Communications Group, Inc. we managed to extract all possible lessons. The results we reported at the end of last year are indicative of this. We have maintained our financial stability by generating additional revenue through new services and attracting more customers. Even though the year was difficult for the entire business, we managed to enrich our portfolio with impressive names, such as the global technology giant, Huawei, one of the most innovative beauty-tech brands currently on the market, FOREO, international financial services provider, Euronet, the global satellite company, Gilat, the global leader in the production alcoholic beverages, Pernod Ricard and the list goes on.

We took the necessary precautions at the right time and we did not allow the pandemic to negatively affect our business. Since March 2020, the whole company have embraced the home office because the health and well-being of the team has always been number one priority for us. The transition from a dynamic everyday life with lots of meetings and events to work from home was the most difficult part for all of us. Indeed, we adapted quickly and, most importantly, this change did not result in lower performance for our clients. On the contrary - as soon as we felt where the situation was going, we immediately contacted all of our clients to reassure them that we support them and we will be there whenever they need us. Moreover, in due course, we changed the already prepared 2020 strategies for all of our customers to ensure that we best address the challenges of the pandemic.

What did you learn about the business thanks to COVID?

- M3 Communications Group, Inc. is a company with more than 26 years of history. So far, we have encountered a number of crises and challenges, but the current situation is far different from all of them. The world stopped and we had to manage our businesses remotely. Despite the initial shock, we quickly adapted to the ���new normal��� and became more flexible and even more focused on our customers. The most valuable thing I learned about myself, is that it is important to be pragmatic, whatever the circumstances. The remote working gave us an opportunity to understand that we do not need mandatory face-to-face meetings and constantly being in the office to be efficient and serve our customers with quality. On the contrary, we save valuable resources, such as time and money and we are far more productive.
A surprise for me was the positioning of my book ���The Global PR Revolution��� among top ten best PR books in the world of all time, according to the ranking of the American company BookAuthority, less than a year after it was published, by the American publishing house, Allworth Press. After all, I am an author from a small country called Bulgaria! The international rankings of BookAuthority are based on recommendations by thought leaders and experts such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Tim Cook, Jack Ma and Richard Branson. Indeed, some of them vote on which books they prefer. This motivated me to publish my next book, just a few months later ���The Morning After��� whose two circulations have been almost sold out in just three months since its publication. The book is completely subordinated to what happened in our business, and in the world, during the last few months of this strange 2020. I am currently working on my third book, which analyzes everything that awaits us after this severe and unpredictable crisis.

What are the innovations that you introduced in 2020 or are about to be introduced and offered to your customers and the market?

- The most important change is that we have completely changed the way of management in the company. Now I rely much more on the collective decisions on board, we have fully implemented horizontal management structure - everyone is already a leader in their workplace, everyone makes important decisions on the various projects of our clients, brings complete responsibility for them and in fact, that���s how managers became leaders, literally in a day.
And the difference is too simple to say, but not so easy to implement. Managers rule, while leaders guide. This is what happened here in M3 Communications Group, Inc. last year. I claim that sooner or later it would���ve happened, the pandemic accelerated this process. Even a cursory glance at ���The Global PR Revolution��� immediately proves that this is something I have always considered as a trend in our business. And yet the change is drastic, revolutionary and extremely innovative, it requires a lot of experience and a lot of courage, and that's it appreciated extremely highly by our partners from the global corporation Hill + Knowlton Strategies, which we represent in Bulgaria exclusively for more than 20 years.
Immediately after the announcement of the state of emergency in the country in March 2020, we presented an entirely new specialized service - COVID-19 monitoring. It was developed by HeadLine, a media monitoring company that is part of M3 Communications Group, Inc. Clients still receive daily monitoring of the most up-to-date pandemic information, as well as independent reports in case of extraordinary news concerning the development of their business. So we attracted a lot new customers who subscribed to this service. We also emphasized a lot more on market analysis and we assessed what communication niches there represent, we expanded the social media team and made strategic decisions on how other departments of the company can work more efficiently with the new media.

What is the biggest and most intriguing communication campaign you have worked on
in 2020?

- Despite all the turbulence, 2020 was an extremely fruitful year for M3 Communications Group, Inc. The changes in the management immediately paid off. Our role as a consultant with experience and expertise has been further strengthened and therefore, we actively participated in the decision-making process together with our clients, not just in its implementation. We worked on many valuable and successful campaigns in the past year for customers such as Loreal, Shell, Huawei, Danone, MARS, Wizz Air, Allterco, Pernod Ricard, Gilat, Cash Credit, FilmBox. You may be astonished, but one of the projects that provided us with great professional pleasure, and for which we partnered entirely pro bono, is the NEVEREST expedition. You all already know 17-year-old Maxim and his father, Stefan, who crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a rowing boat and set a few world records. It was an honor for our entire team to be global communication partner for this project, which glorified Bulgaria around the world and proved that nothing is impossible for people who have set high goals. With our help, their achievement became top news for Bulgaria and the world, and we made all professional efforts to tell an inspiring story, in response to the backdrop of the avalanche of grunts and complaints that flooded us.

The strange and key 2020, was undoubtedly the ���Year of Virtual Events���. We organized dozens of such for some of our largest clients including L���Or��al, Wizz Air, MARS and many others. We also brought to fruition some extremely interesting digital campaigns for Danone brands - Activia and Danonino. Another exciting project, which we worked on last year, is M3 College - the first fully-licensed PR College in Bulgaria, which our company created more than 15 years ago. M3 College has already embraced the distance learning and offers the expertise of amazing professionals like Georgi Milkov, Maya Gerasimova, Rosen Bachvarov, Niya Kotseva, Anka Kostova, Cornelia Yulieva, Kiril Kalev and my colleague Simona Medarova. That���s the high-end of public communications specialists in Bulgaria and we will continue to develop in this direction.
I do not mention the dozens of crises that we have worked on successfully and resolved for our clients. Many of them, of course, are protected by professional secrecy, but one day I hope to describe them in detail in one of my next books.

What are the strengths of the agency?

- Two are the pillars of M3 Communications Group, Inc. - the team and the experience of the company. Undoubtedly, the strongest side is the team - intelligent, creative and energetic people, who are true professionals and thanks to whom, we are among the leading PR companies in the country and in the region for 26 years. During all these years, we managed to maintain our leading position in the market and constantly increase our standards. The clearest evidence for that is our wide portfolio of clients - a wonderful mix of small and large, local or international companies.
Another strength of M3 is the fact that we offer full communication service - PR, social media management, graphic design, events management, media monitoring and media analysis, influencer marketing, web services, and distance learning. In simpler words, everything in the company is done internally. There is only one reason for that ��� to guarantee absolute precision in the services that we offer and absolute responsibility for the results. However, we should not neglect the experience. For the last 26 years, we have implemented over 6500 projects, we have solved hundreds of communication crises, we have organized a variety of events and we have successfully adapted to market changes. This is what makes us professionals as we should be.
Indicative of this is that in 2020 the most influential publication in the world in our business, PRWeek awarded me with the title ���Best PR Professional in Europe��� and our company M3 Communications Group, Inc. reached the second place in the ranking for ���Best PR Agency in Europe���. These are successes that actually obliged us to become even better professionals and which, due to the strict measures, we did not even have the opportunity to raise a glass of champagne as it should.

Do you operate in international markets and on what campaigns?

- M3 Communications Group, Inc. is the only company in Bulgaria that is a partner of one of the largest communication corporations in the world - Hill + Knowlton Strategies. We have been working for 20 years, and I am one of the well-known managers to the headquarters in New York. Often, I am asked to do consultant and presentation services on behalf of Hill + Knowlton Strategies and until recently, I managed the corporation���s office in the Czech Republic. As part of such a large family, we regularly work on international campaigns for foreign markets. The last projects we implemented were of the European Commission and they were extremely large - scale and inspiring, including online and offline activities in Bulgaria and involving a number of stakeholders - institutions, businesses, citizens. The campaigns we worked on together with Hill + Knowlton Strategies are one of the most enriching for us, due to the nature of international expertise, and as we absorb from their experience, I think they have something to learn from their Bulgarian partners too.

What are your expectations for the communications market in 2021 - will there be growth in communication budgets in the country, what are the trends and changes?

- We cannot expect that 2021 will be radically different from the previous one. I think that customers will continue to be cautious about budgets and therefore will rely mostly on the creativity of communication companies to implement effective ideas that do not require serious financial resources. Surely, customers will continue to be increasingly interested in the concrete results of their campaigns and the funds they invest in them. Having that said, there will be no compromise. I expect the merging of the three main business in public communications - PR, advertising and social media - to accelerate further and introduce new business. Probably it won���t be this year, but it will happen very soon.

What does your mid-term strategy for 2021 include?

- We���ll continue to be strongly focused on our current customers, and our ambition in 2021 is to enrich our portfolio with new clients. A key point our strategy is the gradual and pragmatic union of our main departments ��� PR, graphic designers, software and social media. In 2021, it is unthinkable to have PR without social media. The two activities are increasingly complementary and even overlap. Therefore, there���s no need to divide them. Using both as one will optimize significantly our work and will further enhance the quality of services we offer.

What advice would you give to your clients - future and current ones? How can a customer get the most out of your PR agency and why is it important to work with one?

- 2020 showed us how important the role of quality communication is, especially in crisis situations. I would advise our clients to listen to the opinion of professionals and trust our experience. This is the biggest advantage of partnering with a PR company - you work with experts who are faced with a variety of situations and can find the most effective solution for your business. Our role embraced an impressive evolution. In my books, as you know, I even call it ���revolution���. Customers delegate more and more responsibilities of PR companies and involve them in the decision-making process. From consultants, we already have the role of ���decision-makers���, we are the ones making the solutions and this change entirely our business. Maintaining a good reputation and quality communication with the public and stakeholders of a business is an increasingly challenging task, and can hardly be entrusted to the internal department in any company. That is why partnering with a PR agency would bring irreplaceable benefits. For me personally, the biggest challenge for 2021 in terms of customers is to continue to perform even better, what has always been among my main tasks - to manage their expectations wisely.

Priceless Lessons by Maxim Behar: A Story with Paul Holmes

Maxim Behar, CEO of M3 Communications Group, Inc. and a representative of Hill + Knowlton for Bulgaria, shares another exciting personal story in his author's series "Priceless Lessons" for BGLOBAL magazine.

The Tsunami Below The Peaks of Davos

Paul Holmes is the man that captivates the attention of different managers around the world who listen with bated breath to each of his words and write them down on their tablets without even looking at him.

...��Zurich Airport is not one of the largest and often while taking a few walks for about a hundred meters to stretch your legs after the flight, you can easily meet someone familiar, have a conversation and you can suddenly find yourself sitting with that person at the meeting point cafe without even realizing.
��
However, this time I'm by myself. I'm travelling to Davos for a few days for the World Communication Forum, and while I'm ordering another espresso, someone pats me on the shoulder very timidly and whispers: "Hey Max, take one for me, I'll return the favor when we arrive in Davos ���...

Ah, I recognized that voice at once! Anyone in the PR business, who had even the tiniest experience outside Bulgaria and had the chance to explore the international trends in the industry, would recognize this voice with a blindfold. It was Paul Holmes!

In fact, our real acquaintance began years ago while he was hosting his global Sabre Awards ceremony in the great Nobel Hall of Stockholm City Hall. For the very first time I felt as part of a large group representing the American international PR company Hill + Knowlton Strategies.

I had another chance to hear more from the extravagant Paul in the company of my American friends at the no less extravagant top-floor restaurant in the Reichstag building in Berlin a year before. I diligently wrote down his predictions and just watched them come true one by one over the years. But somehow among the drinks and full plates in the restaurant, even the notes were not as complete as the feeling of talking to Paul in private.

So��� at the end of the gala dinner in Stockholm while my Hill + Knowlton's colleagues were walking around the other tables, I was sitting by myself in front of a cup of hot coffee. Suddenly, someone pulled up a chair, sat down next to me and said:

-���� ��Hi Max, I'm Paul, I'm organizing all this here. I know who you are, and I just came to tell you that I want to visit Sofia in the upcoming weeks and meet you there...

Paul really came to Sofia and met the whole Bulgarian PR community. We became good friends, spent time together in piano bars and other places that made him fall in love with Bulgaria. We had a lot more forum meetings, we discussed and even argued respectfully sometimes, but we got to know each other well. And what was most satisfying to me at these meetings was the fact that Paul often listened to me very carefully.

So, we found ourselves together in the taxi from Zurich to Davos, which is quite a challenging experience late at night, because the road is an endless series of sharp turns and deep snowdrifts. As he was surfing on his iPhone, Paul suddenly looked up and asked, "Max, what do you think about social media, is it going to change your business?" The pronoun ���your" was very appropriate. Paul is a well-known analyst, a futurist, he makes accurate predictions, but he is also known for the fact that he has never done a single PR project in his life, nor has he worked in an agency. "Paul," I answered, "there's going to be a big change, a huge one." This was back in 2009 and I was quite cautious about my predictions.

The next day, already on the stage of the Davos Forum, with his favourite jeans and American plaid shirt, Paul was walking back and forth with a very wide stride along the stage. He suddenly stopped, spread his arms and said: "Last night Max said there will be a change because social media is rising. But here's what I'm going to tell you - get ready for a change, get ready for a tsunami - a real tsunami. Your whole business will be swept away and a new one will come."

He was more than right. As always!

Late one evening, about two or three years later, I received a strange text message from my colleague Sconaid McGeachin, who was managing the entire Asian region of Hill + Knowlton from Dubai back then.

"Max, congratulations! Your company has been named The Best Company in Central and Eastern Europe. We should celebrate! ���

I couldn���t believe it. I thought it���s impossible... there are tens of thousands of PR companies in this region. I immediately went online, checked the news on The Holmes Report and... oh my God, it was true. I had a glass of wine and went to bed. Of course, I couldn���t sleep much longer... woke up at five in the morning and came back straight to my computer. I went to the site again and our company was still there. On first place��� Barely waited for the morning hours in New York and I called Paul and almost scolded him: "Why didn't you tell me, why didn't you ask, how come we are there when we never applied?" "Max," he replied, "this category does not require companies to apply. It is simply won by the one who shows best results during the year. I came and checked right on the spot. That was enough for me!"

Really, that was enough!

Maxim Behar for the Bulgarian National Radio: "Honorary Consuls do not have Privileges, but Responsibilities"

15.01.2021

Maxim Behar, CEO of M3 Communications Group, Inc. and Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Seychelles in Bulgaria, expressed his opinion on Honorary Consuls��� obligations in the country they represent and lack of privileges they have. In particular, can anyone become an Honorary Consul and what is their ambition to become one for nothing in return. Maxim answers these questions in an interview for BNR in "Horizon for you" show with Snezhana Ivanova.
��

Host: This week the Honorary Consuls attracted public attention again after Violeta Sechkova entered this society. She is a former TV presenter, a model and a close friend to Alexander Staliyski, better known as a person from the ���The Tomcats��� circle (a group of corrupt politicians and businesspersons in Bulgaria). This week the Government agreed that Sechkova should become South Korea's Honorary Consul for the Bulgarian city Plovdiv, stating explicitly that she had been nominated by the Korean Government. Despite these explanations about her business relations, many negative comments were heard, written on social networks and therefore in the next few minutes we are trying to explain who and how can become an Honorary Consul in our country and what privileges he has. We invited Maxim Behar for a conversation. He is Vice President and spokesman for the Association of Honorary Consuls. Hello, Mr. Behar.

Maxim Behar: Good afternoon!

Host: Were you surprised by the discussion that appeared around the honorary consuls and especially for Mrs. Violeta Sechkova?

Maxim Behar: There are all kinds of discussions and I was not surprised. For any person, especially a more prominent public figure in a public position, of course, there can be any discussion. I cannot comment on the specific case. I hope that once I officially receive all the documents by Ms. Sechkova to apply for our association, she will be welcome. The Republic of Korea is a country with very serious and diplomatic traditions, stories and I am sure that they have thought well and made their good choice in Bulgaria. By no means I can underestimate the decision of any country, especially a large and authoritative republic like Korea.

Host: Could you tell us what functions are entrusted to the people who are elected and become Honorary Consuls?

Maxim Behar: You mentioned the word "privileges" at the beginning, and I want to emphasize at once that Honorary Consuls do not have any privileges, but rather have responsibilities to represent their countries. These features are absolutely free and they do not receive a single Bulgarian lev for their work. This is stated in the Vienna Convention, which governs the relations of Honorary Consuls with the countries in which they are appointed, as well as with the countries that appoint them. The functions are first to represent the countries that appoint them and then to take care of the citizens of those countries who reside in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria or where the consular district is or the territory for which they are responsible for. They maintain cultural, diplomatic and business relations. They are representatives of their countries.

Personally, I believe that this is the future form of representation, as diplomatic missions are an extremely expensive occupation and quite luxurious for these difficult times for business and society. While the Honorary Consuls do an exceptional job, according to my observations based on my 16 years��� experience as an Honorary Consul. They are flexible, they make quick decisions. Especially for countries where a visa is not required, such as the Republic of Seychelles, which I represent, the functions are extremely favorable because decisions are made very quickly and there are no financial relations with the citizens who want to visit that country.

Host: But when there is a diplomatic mission in a given country, isn't there a duplication of functions? You say it helps the citizens, but the consuls, the diplomats also help.

Maxim Behar: This is a common practice. As far as I understand, the Republic of Korea has three Honorary Consuls, and this will be the third. What I read from the media is that the territory or the district, called the "consular district", of Mrs. Sechkova will be Plovdiv.
It is quite normal. By the way, the Czech Republic has Honorary Consuls in Burgas and Varna, because there are a lot of tourists there. Neither the Ambassador nor the Consul from Sofia, who have been paid, can travel to the seaside every day or every other day. France and Germany have Honorary Consuls in Varna. Turkey has Honorary Consuls as well. This is a completely normal practice, when in Sofia the Ambassador thinks that he could have his representatives in different parts or territories of the Republic to make a proposal, to appoint an Honorary Consul.

Host: And what is the motive for a person to become an Honorary Consul? As far as I understand it comes with a lot of responsibilities for nothing in return (no payment).

Maxim Behar: The first and main motive is the love for the country he represents. Everyone has the right to love a country that is outside his native Bulgaria. To me, this country is the Seychelles. I love them, the people there know me. This is a small Republic - we have 80,000 inhabitants. When I go to the capital Victoria, everyone knows me, I know them, I visit them in their houses. This is the first required condition for me. You cannot work for any country without loving it. And then there are the responsibilities you take on - this is a public position that makes you more responsible, more disciplined. It may give you some status in society if you don't have it in your other businesses.

Host: Are there any criteria? That is, can anyone become an Honorary Consul of a country?

Maxim Behar: Each country sets its own criteria. In general, from what I see in our association, these are mainly businessmen who have high position and authority in the business circle they are part of. But again, this is not mandatory. Each country has its own criteria for appointing Honorary Consuls and its representatives.

Host: Can the Bulgarian state refuse to appoint a person as an Honorary Consul and in what cases could this happen?

Maxim Behar: Theoretically it can. Maybe you should ask this question the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or representatives of the Consular directorate or question the protocol. For these 16 years since I have been in this field, I have not heard of a case the Bulgarian state to deny someone. But of course, the state can refuse an agreement to an Ambassador, and not to mention an Honorary Consul. Especially if there are relevant arguments. The procedure is as follows - the state that wants to have an Honorary Consul in another state makes a proposal, then agrees with the host country, in this case Bulgaria, and the Bulgarian state gives its consent as a decision of the Council of Ministers that the Government agrees to open consulate in this territory, which have never existed. And if there has been one, we proceed directly to the second stage - to have a discussion about the person who will represent the country. But this is only the beginning. Then the head of state, the President, the King or Queen, the one who represents the state, must issue a decree appointing this Honorary Consul. This decree is then sent in original copy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bulgaria, which in turn issues an official document with which the Honorary Consul takes office. This is the procedure. It can last between 6 months and 6 years. I know cases of 10-15 years in which the Bulgarian state had given its consent, there was a decision of the Council of Ministers, but for political reasons - the President and the Government changed, and therefore the state delayed its decision. A state decides whose work could be useful for the respective territory and gives consent, respectively decides who to represent it.

Host: You said that there are no privileges, but what are the privileges of Honorary Consuls in our country?

Maxim Behar: I do not see any privileges, except responsibilities.

Host: There have been several scandals over the years, precisely because various people involved in scandals in the country have become Honorary Consuls, and there have been discussions about the red car numbers (vehicle registration plates used by Honorary Consuls) and the refund of VAT and excise duty on goods bought by Honorary Consuls.

Maxim Behar: What a privilege a red car number can be, which is not even diplomatic, but consular. This is not a privilege at all, but even more a responsibility, because if an Honorary Consul, diplomat, Ambassador, sales adviser, who has such a distinctive feature of his car, parks in the wrong place or God forbid he has an accident, it increases his responsibility many times more. . I do not see what a privilege it can be, because consular numbers are subject to the same verification as any other citizen of the Republic of Bulgaria, but the responsibility is many times greater.

Host: What about VAT and excise duties on goods purchased by Honorary Consuls - does that remain?

Maxim Behar: No, this has been cancelled. It is in force in some countries, but not in Bulgaria at the moment. I personally have never used it and I do not know an Honorary Consul who has used such a privilege, because we are businessmen. It is unlikely that for 10 or 100 levs we will do any sort of things such as buy goods and return VAT. But anyway, in the law in Bulgaria this does not exist at the moment.

Host: How do you explain the fact that periodically some negative comments and scandals erupt around the name of one or another Honorary Consul?

Maxim Behar: On the one hand, due to ignorance of matter and perhaps out of human envy, which is caused by this ignorance. Our Association of Honorary Consuls has a Code of Ethics, which every Honorary Consul, when he joins our association is obliged to sign this even before applying. And it is on our website, it is a public document - so strict that I do not believe any Honorary Consul can sign it and then think of not complying with it. In addition, we are members of FICAC (World Federation of Consuls). By the way, each Honorary Consul in Bulgaria receives a special card from FICAC and on the back of it are not written any privileges, but only responsibilities - to comply with the laws of the country, to help in state���s relations, etc. This is a very big responsibility and I think we are one of the many active members of FICAC - it is an association with more than 10 thousand people around the world. I am the Chairman of the Committee on Media and Public Relations, Communications, any weekly liaison with the President and authorities who govern. This is another responsibility and at the same time another good promotion for Bulgaria among the world organizations.

Host: Thank you.

Maxim Behar is elected a member of the newly established Ethics Commission of BAPRA

The Bulgarian Association of PR Agencies (BAPRA) has just established an Ethics Commission (EC) to unite the communication community and monitor ethical and professional communications.

Maxim Behar, PR expert and CEO of M3 Communications Group, Inc., is elected a member of the Commission.

The Ethics Commission will monitor compliance with the rules of professional conduct in the field of communications, fair competition and protection of the interests of clients and society. It will apply the Code of Ethics of the communication business signed by BAPRA - the Sofia Charter for Ethical Communications, as well as other officially approved documents.

"I am confident in the success of the new Ethics Commission and its contribution to the development of the communication business in Bulgaria. In a few years, the PR industry has changed beyond recognition. Today, the world is totally transparent and that is why the communication community needs to be more dynamic and more ethical," said Maxim Behar.

Maxim Behar is a longtime member and former Chairman of BAPRA���s Executive Board and actively supports various initiatives aimed at promoting ethical standards in communications, fight against fake news and much more. He is a co-author of the Business Ethics Standard of the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum (BBLF), the so-called Helsinki Declaration on Ethical Public Relations of the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) and many others. At BAPRA's annual awards, his company M3 Communications Group, Inc. won numerous awards and was three times named the best PR agency in Bulgaria.

Maxim Behar for BG On Air: President Trump Banned from Major Social Networks

14.01.2021

The PR expert and diplomat Maxim Behar commented on the approach of the major social media ban and impose censorship on Donald Trump after US Capitol riots - online interview on the Bulgaria ON AIR show Bulgaria in the Morning with Zlatimir Yochev.


Host: We will take a look at an expert view of a person who deals with and handles information. It's no secret that information is an exceptional commodity and has a huge impact on the modern world we live in. Some experts say that democracy itself requires information and when information flow is interrupted in the way they did to the American President by banning him from major social media networks, it is a negative and alarming signal. This topic on Donald Trump's social networks ban was largely commented and have reactions from global leaders like Angela Merkel, who defined the case as problematic. Other people claim that all this is a Trump card in the hands of authoritarian ones and that they will benefit greatly from the situation after saying, "You see what is happening in the United States��� Why don't we do the same in our territory?"

Now the PR expert Maxim Behar will comment on the suspension of the social networks of the US President. Good morning, Mr. Behar!

Maxim Behar: Good morning!

Host: Is what we observe problematic? Not only because of the rare scenes of aggression in the US capital Washington, and elsewhere, but also because access to a man who seemed to run the country via Twitter throughout his 4-year term was severely restricted.

Maxim Behar: I think it is very problematic. Maybe this whole story about Facebook, Twitter and other social media is equal in importance to what happened the US Capitol riot. The riot will be soon forgotten, and measures will be taken. What will be remembered is the fact that a still-active President was banned on social media, when he had been tolerated for four years of posting all sorts of messages, stories and nonsense, even hate speeches and threats. At one point he turned out to be super dangerous. And something else. Given that for the past 20 days Twitter has been full of warnings by rioters to overrun the Capitol buildings and the capital in general, nothing has been done to stop them. Everyone knew which hotels they gathered at, what weapons they carried, what alcohol they bought. Instead, it turned out that you have to cut a person off forever, remove his whole history - all these 4 years and before that ��n Trump���s Twitter and Facebook account. This is quite embarrassing, mainly because there are no clear explanation based on specific precise criteria why exactly he is banned now. I'm not defending Trump, neither his actions over the years and all the conflicting messages he has sent in the last month. It is simply a reaction of a person who does not know how to lose or does not want to lose. However, on the other hand, this is already a big case, which is literally on the border between tolerating such accounts or profiles on social media or having clear and precise rules on what is allowed and what is not.

Host: That's right. Many people say that at the moment some authoritarian leaders are also inciting violence unimpeded, such as Bashar Assad, Ayatollah Khomeini, Maduro, and others all over the world. They also use social networks, and sometimes call for wrong causes. However, there are no reactions. On the other hand, you mentioned something very important - monitoring systems. Couldn't these social networks have prevented the the Capitol riot, given that information was circulating there and had existed for weeks, even months before it happened?

Maxim Behar: Of course they could. We will be watching many films on the US Capitol riots in the coming years. And probably some of these films will actually propose that everything was script, and it was all well organized so that Trump would be trapped with no escape. But of course, social media could prevent at least the exchange of information and all this publicity, communication and connections. This turned into a big drama. Today I read a long tweet by the owner of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, which was almost equal to a whole poem, given that we are all forbidden to post more than approximately 160 characters. The post states that Trump's ban on this social media platform was the right choice, but that case could set certain conditions and regulations which needs to be followed by any account on social media, or otherwise they should be banned as well.

Host: Mr. Behar, does this leads to the topic of the new oligarchs, the new ones in power globally, such as Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey - those people who can make global decisions by themselves. We discussed that with Ivo Ivanova a while ago and he said: ���These are private networks. At their discretion they can literally push the button and stop you. By stopping Donald Trump's channel, which was followed by 89 million people, they cut off his access to all of them. He can find side doors, but he is used to communicate with them there.

Maxim Behar: I am not very sure that we can call them oligarchs, because we know very well the formula for oligarchs - people who are engaged in business and are connected with the Government. But in the end, these are people who really have a lot of influence, strength, and power. We have Facebook since 2004 ��� almost 20 years. During the first ten years we were all using social media (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram) as a means of pleasure - to share, to like people, to chat. However, naturally, social media has turned the world upside down. This is a very powerful and dangerous weapon of influence, which I am not sure should be regulated in the way it was done with Trump. Clear and precise rules for use are needed. All this hurricane of hatred, especially on Facebook, because there you can afford longer posts, photos, videos and you can attack your opponents more arrogantly - all this can be easily regulated with artificial reality or some software to restrict certain words or sentences. The point, however, is to have clear rules, and they cannot be created by one person, whether it is Zuckerberg or Dorsey, or someone else. Although I am in private business, I am very liberal about business freedom. I believe that when there is a monopoly, especially on the media - in this case a global monopoly, there should be some state regulations that indicated clearly when this monopoly can make a decision alone and when it should be consulted with the relevant authorities.

Host: In absolute sync with what you are saying, is it good to remind people that two years ago in 2018 in the same Congress and US Senate we watched Mark Zuckerberg giving an explanation for a huge Cambridge Analytics scandal? Have they forgotten it? Tere was a huge leak of information to millions of users, and then Zuckerberg said, "We made a mistake." The same social networks that sometimes misuse our data, our information that we voluntarily give. I mention this because it turned out that $ 200 million in funding for Joe Biden's campaign came from Silicon Valley companies. Therefore, the connection between politics, Government, social media networks, and IT companies is quite clear and obvious.

Maxim Behar: Yes. Now it is happening with Biden, and in 4 years it will happen with the next one. There must be clear and precise rules. First, the funding of the politician campaigns in the United States is quite transparent and subject to regulation, and we can still know the connection. I return to the subject of oligarchy. For oligarchs, this connection is usually quite vague and quite secret. However, the connection between Biden���s campaign and these big technology companies is visible. A few years ago, these big technologyonly companies waved the flag of media freedom, assured they actually give new power to the people and their word can be heard. But again, I think what happened to Donald Trump now and during his 4-year term is a pretty serious case we need to think about- not only the people in power, but all social media users. Especially those who in some way influence other people.�� You can have one follower and have an influence on him. This should not be underestimated.

Host: Thank you, Mr. Behar! It was a pleasure to discuss with you and I think we gave people a reason to think.

��

Watch the interview here.

Princess Miriam de Ungria: The luxury industry is changing like never before

The world-famous jeweler, gemologist, and wife of the late Prince Kardam - Princess Miriam de Ungria, shares her expert opinion on changes in the luxury industry and the consumer behaviour in an interview for Manager magazine, with the assistance of Maxim Behar, PR expert and longtime friend of the Bulgarian royal family.

The luxury industry is changing like never before.

-You have 25 years of experience in the luxury business. What are your impressions, how has this business changed, especially in recent months?

Businesses and markets in general have suffered quite badly since the coronavirus crisis, the world has changed beyond recognition. However, the luxury industry began to change three years ago. This process went in two directions.

First, the digitalization of the market began - from production to sales. And not only did it start, but it happened very quickly. What was expected to happen for three years happened just for three months. And this process has accelerated after coronavirus drove shop closures and online sales became completely dominant.

The second change is conceptual. Shops, as we knew them until a few years ago, especially those for very expensive jewelry, are now being transformed into completely different lifestyle places that offer much more - from bars to places for musical performances, gourmet restaurants and more. This is really a big change - jewelry is already becoming part of a pleasant evening or weekend. The purchase itself can happen in any way, including online. But the idea is to happen with pleasure and a memorable experience.

There is another clear trend of change - luxury brands from Asia are entering the market quite significantly and will do so at an even faster pace after the international partnership agreement signed a year ago and involving 15 Asian countries. This is great news for us Europeans, because we know that 70 percent of the world's luxury brands are European, but 70 percent of their customers are not Europeans, but mainly from Asia.

- Are there any generational differences in the attitude towards luxury brands and jewelry in particular?

The new generations are very sensitive to any change in the luxury business in the last decade. Millennials and Generation Z are big consumers and they have changed the luxury markets a lot. These generations were practically born and brought up in the years when the struggle for pure nature and ecology took a dominant role in social movements. Moreover, they already carry in their genes the symbols of this culture and struggle, and hold in their hands two very important tools - social media and the Internet, which they use literally every minute in order to impose their messages.

-How does the luxury business respond to these new needs and demands of the younger generation? Can we talk about forming a new ethic of luxury?

Absolutely! The new generations are very dedicated to the cause of making the planet a better place to live, and they are constantly looking for alternatives to preserve our lifestyle and improve it. Luxury markets understand this very well and are working hard to adapt to these requirements. As I have already said, these markets are already coming out of their elitism and shops will become more and more multifunctional cultural centers - places with new values, where people who profess these values and their positive view of a better world will meet. Jewelry will unite these people, but they will also be carriers of something new and pure. This process is not over at all, it is evolving, and one of the hallmarks of the great changes that accompany it is that luxury goods are now dominated by elements of corporate and social responsibility and care for the environment. We select such components that are certainly known to not harm nature or health. On the contrary, they meet the requirements of consumers to be connected with a clean and ecological way of life.

My estimate is that about 30 percent of luxury stores will close in the next year, but the new ones will be even bigger, more spacious and in themselves will carry strong cultural and emotional messages of a better, more open and less elitist world.

- How does the change in values in today���s society affect the value of jewelry? Does what we used to value in carats now pass into other values?

I immediately want to separate the two main concepts - cut and quality. They are equally important, but the most important thing is to be able to "live" together, and this actually creates the value of the final product. If it is an investment, then it is easier - the bigger the gemstone, the better. But if we are talking about jewelry of sentimental value or those that will be worn casually or only on special occasions, then the quality and design are decisive, not necessarily the size. Nevertheless, jewelry, gemstones and metals fall into many personal categories. One can count in carats, another in sentiments or colors. For some the brand is more essential. It is important to feel the jewelry as a part of you, as a mandatory addition to your character, mood and self-confidence.

- In times of crisis, gold is becoming the safest haven for investment. As a highly valued jewelry appraiser, what advice would you give to anyone looking for additional investment security?

Gold has always been the best opportunity for secure investment during crises, as well as, of course, the highest quality gemstones. Certainly the investment in precious stones always pays off no matter when we bought them, if they are real and really valuable. That is why my advice to all who want to invest their money in a safe place is to find the best consultant who will guide them professionally to the specific choice for this type of investment.

-What jewelry would you buy today? Will quality or brand determine your choice?

Not only these days, but always I will prefer the quality in which a long-term idea is embedded. Remember - high quality jewelry never gets old and never depreciates.