Accentuate the Positive

A Katrina PR Success Story.

2005-09-17T13:50:00.000-05:00

And it's not mine.

It's Wal-Mart.

I've told you the "Beast from Bentonville" wasn't going to sit back and take the licks any longer.

Of course, it's not hard to look good when compared to FEMA.

Still plugging away

2005-09-16T18:59:00.000-05:00

I could write a book.

I probably will.

I can't wait for the chance to start thinking about some of the PR lessons I've culled along the way with Katrina.

Bottom line -- we've stayed a step ahead, managed public/client expectations, and steered clear of negative publicity through good monitoring, good relationships, and good service.

Peace.

And support the American Red Cross.

Katrina update coming.

2005-09-02T22:41:00.000-05:00

I am tiring of 16-hour days with my former allies in the media, but they are eager to help me tell a great Red Cross story so I can't complain.

When I get a moment to reflect on what I've learned (including a lesson about ambush interviews) I'll post. (Someone ask me about our innovative use of e-mail?)

Howsabout a word of encouragement I can pass along to the Red Cross volunteers?

'Ghetto' chic

2005-08-28T00:34:00.000-05:00

There's something about that word that still rubs a lot of people the wrong way, yet there are those who put adverstising and marketing dollars behind it.

Ghetto Fries, it turns out, are French-fried potatoes topped with Merkt's cheddar cheese, giardiniera, gravy, barbecue sauce and raw onions.

Apparently, the PR firm touting the fries got a little overzealous relying on the shock value of 'ghetto':

"GOT GHETTO? Max's Famous Italian Beef Serves Gotta-Have Ghetto Fries," shouted the publicist's headline.

"Got Ghetto on the brain?" the release continued. "You're not alone," then went on to describe the aforementioned Ghetto Fries as a "dish that has captured the attention and appetites of Chicagoans from the North to South sides."

News from the home front

2005-08-17T16:50:00.000-05:00

Blogging is going to get slowed down for a little while, as I prepare for a tour of duty with the United Way as a "loaned executive." That's basically where your company decides you're valuable enough to help raise money, but expendable enough to do without.

There are some exciting things on the horizon, however. Seminars and personal coaching is beginning to pick back up, and there are a couple of organizations out there waiting on proposals to move forward. I'm also working on getting some of this seminar material on tape.

A lot of the information I provide to my consulting clients works within the small business environment as well. Yet these are the same businesses that don't have the resource or budget to bring me in for a large presentation.

I'm working with some pretty heady people on a format that will be easy to follow, engage the listener, and be more cost effective for those clients "in between." I'll be announcing more about those products as we get closer to rolling them out.

With that in mind, I'd like a bit of feedback from you. What sorts of solutions are you seeking when it comes to better media relations and interviewing? What are the biggest pitfalls in your interoffice communication? How much would you benefit from being able to better tell "your story?"

Your input and encouragement are most welcome...

Ike.

The do's and don'ts of "do's and don'ts."

2005-08-16T13:29:00.000-05:00

When you're looking for help with interview coaching, you get what you pay for.

Try Googling "media relations" sometime, and see what turns up. There are a number of firms out there that put information on the internet (this one included.) What they rely on is a mistaken public notion that "if it's in print, it must be true."

Here's some of the advice I recently found on the PR Zoom Newswire:

"When talking with a reporter:

• Make a note of the reporter’s name and the name of the media when the caller first offers identification. This serves two purposes: you have an accurate record so you can follow up to see how the story appears; and you can use the reporter’s name during the interview, to help you build rapport with the reporter.

Boy, does this get abused. I can't tell you how many people I interviewed who thought that starting every other sentence with "Well, Ike" or threw in a "The problem with our widgets, Ike, is..." It actually got in the way of getting the information in a usable form, and was highly annoying. You don't talk to your friends that way, do you?

• Provide sufficient evidence for your statements. Reporters love numbers: try to give them numbers whenever you can -- particularly when it helps you sell your own agenda.

Yeah, reporters love numbers. NOT! The vast majority of reporters are actually very bad at math (just like the rest of society.) Some wear it as a badge of honor. Unless they operate on a specialized beat that requires background knowledge, you can count on a reporter to need help deciphering statistics, financial statements, polling data, economics, and just about anything else involving numbers you can't reach with your fingers. Seriously. If you just throw a stats at them, you are just as likely to have them misreported or misrepresented out of ignorance. Give them the context, and make sure they understand them. Don't try to obscure the truth with a flash of digits.

Reporters are, as a rule, experts at nothing. Treat them with respect, but don't assume they know everything. There is a lot of ego invested in being a "public figure" through the media, and many reporters (the young ones especially) will be hesitant to ask a question that appears elementary, or even stupid.

Being good conversationalists, they skirt the issue of the "dumb question" in the hopes of gleaning the answer through later context. If you've got a delicate detail, point of law, or sticky statistic, by all means take the extra time to make sure the reporter "gets it." You're less likely to insult their intelligence, and more likely to cause them a sigh of relief for answering the question they wouldn't dare ask.

(Note: Yeah, I use the internet to market myself too. The difference is that I have 16 years experience in news from which to tell you how a reporter thinks. I also have dozens of "articles" on this very blog that back up what I proclaim. Caveat Emptor.)

T.O. needs another Time Out

2005-08-12T14:30:00.000-05:00

Today, we add one more reason why smart celebrities and athletes should get media training and interview coaching (past examples here, and here, and here.):

So you can avoid becoming the next Terrell Owens. The talented wide receiver may be one of the best in the game, but he doesn't think he's among the best compensated.

Head Coach Andy Reid sent him home for a week for mouthing off. (Yeah Terrell, we know he yelled at you first. That's what coaches do.) Reid told the media that he wouldn't have any further comment on the matter -- that the next conversation about it would be between himself and Owens. Fair enough.

Did Owens adopt a similar strategy? No way! With his agent by his side, Owens went on ESPN for more than eight minutes last night and blasted the team and the coach and the ownership and the media. It's all our fault that he isn't treated like an adult.

Had he sat there silently while agent Drew Rosenhaus did all the talking, it would have made for a better appearance. But this was more about "not getting disrespected." Never mind that the whole thing is a turn-off for the fans who can forgive his salary if he performs on the field.

T.O. needs to G-O and find some media coaching, and fast. Especially since he was recently with the San Francisco 49ers, and we know the quality of the media training players got there.

Google's bad week is finally over. Almost.

2005-08-12T13:56:00.000-05:00

Google almost got out of the rest of the week unscathed.

First there was the CNet blackout order...
and then the lawsuit over advertising overcharges...

and now it's putting the brakes on its digital library project.

(Thank God it's Friday.)

Hey blog guy... YOU'RE FIRED!

2005-08-11T16:23:00.000-05:00

The Donald is now The Blogger... or is he?

Fellow PR blogger Peter Himler recently noted that real-estate tycoon / pitchman / reality-show host / casino-developer / hyphen-and-slash-consuming giant Donald Trump (pictured at the right, with his personal stylist Lawrence King) was adding the title of "corporate blogger" to his resume.

He starts with the question:

"Does anyone actually believe that Donald Trump will pen his own blog?"

Ever the curious sort, I checked out Mr. Trump's entries myself. I was particularly struck by the following passage from a post entitled Corporate Corruption: If You Have to Lie, Cheat, and Steal, You're Just Not Doing it Right:

"If you have to lie, cheat, and steal, you're just not doing it right. My career is a model of tough, fair dealing and fantastic success--without shortcuts, without breaking the law." - Donald Trump

I sent in the following comment, which I cross-posted at The Flack:

Mr. Trump, welcome to the world of blogging. I'm sure you'll find this forum an excellent model for feedback.

Regarding your statement: "My career is a model of tough, fair dealing and fantastic success--without shortcuts, without breaking the law."

How do you reconcile a claim such as that with the Vera Coking case in Atlantic City? While it is true you have broken no laws, most people will associate your use of eminent domain as a violation of "fair dealing" and "without shortcuts." (Especially in the political climate we are in post-Kelo v. New London.)

All comments to "Trump: the Blog" are screened, and this was really an exercise in seeing how responsive a tool this would be, as well as who is doing the screening. My comment appeared as:

Mr. Trump, welcome to the world of blogging. I'm sure you'll find this forum an excellent model for feedback.

My guess is Donald Trump doesn't read the raw entries to his comment page. I know this, because I checked out my site-tracker, and someone from New York City surfed Accentuate the Positive within a minute of my comment's acceptance. I don't think The Donald has the sort of time to look at my humble little blog personally.

I also doubt I will get an answer to what I consider to be an excellent question to a man extolling his commitment to "fair play." From a PR perspective, such statements can quickly backfire on you. Instead, my response has been spun into an endorsement -- and a relatively weak one at that, compared to what "Donny T." wrote just an hour or so later:

"This blog is so awesome I can't contain my fluids."

(I wish I had thought of that.)

Not-so-special Delivery

2005-08-11T14:15:00.000-05:00

FedEx is not only missing a great positive opportunity, it is doing its best to turn it into a negative.

It started with a guy named Jose Avila. Moving to another city for work, he was temporarily stuck with two leases, and had no money for furniture. Being a loyal FedEx customer, he made furniture out of FedEx boxes.

"One thing I’ve always stood behind is I'm pro-FedEx. I ship stuff with FedEx all that time and I feel more comfortable shipping with FedEx because their boxes are stable and sturdy."

Great endorsement. But now that good feeling is being put to the test.

Avila put up a website (which is intermittently up and offline) which included pictures of his creations. Back in June, it caught the attention of a Public Relations Blog specialist, who thought it would be a great "viral marketing" gimmick for FedEx, and contacted the FedEx PR department.

He didn't hear anything back, until word got out that FedEx was suing Avila to take down his site. The legal basis was a violation of the DMCA (basically, publishing a digital picture of things with the FedEx logo.) In addition, FedEx is claiming that Avila's use of a ".com" domain for his site was "proof" that he intended to somehow improperly profit from using the FedEx name and logo. (It has nothing to do with the fact that ".com" is the default and standard for just about anyone looking for anything on the internet.)

Well, the blogger is now trying to get FedEx to see how bad this looks to the Wired generation.

FedEx could have had it's own version of Jared: a normal guy who believes in the product so much, he becomes his own free publicity. Instead, it's running the risk of being the uncaring company that is suing a guy who can't afford his own furniture.

(I seem to recall an older Saturday Night Live episode, where R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe wore a suit made of FedEx wrapping. Will they sue to block that show from reruns?)

A little bit about me.

2005-08-10T16:19:00.000-05:00

A few recent posts have alluded to my former career, and that usually sparks questions about why I got out of television news.

There were some health issues that I will not go into (I'm fine now, thanks.) But there was a significant shift in thinking that had to take place before I could even consider moving on to something else.

For the longest time, I was convinced that my reason for being in news was an uncontrollable hunger for telling stories. There's something addictive about the medium of television, with the constantly looming deadlines and the adrenaline rush. Some are attracted to the fame -- others to the promise that one day they might make something respectable in terms of a salary. (There are a very few who score big, and a lot who work for much less than you'd think.)

Along the way, though, I realized I was different. The point was driven home when my news director pulled me into the office one day to ask how I had "done it." Apparently, I did a piece about an intense controversial issue, and both sides called him... to congratulate us for sticking it to the other side.

This just isn't supposed to happen. In fact, there is an old saw in J-school that dictates that "you know you've done your job when you p--- off both sides." By that definition, I must have been one of the worst reporters ever.

Eventually, it sank in. The difference here was that I was doing something that other reporters were not doing: helping each side "tell its story" better than it could on its own. Through asking the right questions, and making the right edits, and drilling down to the core of their messages, I was able to help each side communicate with greater efficiency.

When I realized that, and felt better about my skills, the light bulb went off. It's not "telling stories" that I enjoy, so much as "helping others tell their story." That's a key shift, because it opened up new directions for a career. I started doing media training sessions for local law enforcement, and also for a great friend of mine who was a school superintendent.

By teaching others how to best communicate their stories, I now help on an even larger scale. I feel better about what I do, both for the American Red Cross and for my individual clients.

That's what gets me going every day. Now... how can I help you?

Negative synergy

2005-08-09T14:57:00.000-05:00

Bad news + bad news = worse news.

Simple equation. Yesterday we mentioned Google's boneheaded old-school move to "blacklist" CNet.com. Now, the search-engine giant is being sued for claiming excessive advertising fees.

"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc. is being sued over accusations that it overcharged advertisers that use the Web search giant's paid search advertising program, which accounts for the vast majority of Google's revenue."

Even though there is no direct link between these pieces, the public perception will likely be worse than if they were more spread out in time.

It's fair to ask -- would this headline have played as high had there been no recent negative Google-talk? Hard to say. But I can say as an ex-journalist that producers and editors can never resist the temptation to group such stories together. Which means that ones that might have glossed over the CNet ban are picking it up as a sidebar, ones that might have buried the lawsuit are giving it new prominence, or even worse -- some are working on a story about "Google Losing Golden Glow." (editors love alliteration, too.)

That's the kind of perception that kills, and that ought to be avoided at all costs. The Shakespearean element of this PR tragedy is that one of these two incidents could have been avoided entirely. It truly is trouble of their own making.

*(I am not ruling out the possibility that the law firm bringing forth the class-action suit waited for an opportune time to "stick it" to Google. That hasn't been alleged or proven... but a good PR move on their part, if intentional.)

Crisis communications mistakes, Vol. 2

2005-08-08T14:27:00.000-05:00

When you're getting slammed by a story, don't take your ball and go home.

That's the kind of thing you expect from a six year-old... not from a multi-billion dollar internet search giant like Google.

Reporters at CNet published a story about all of the data Google gathers on people, and how that information could at some point be really valuable. CNet went so far as to see what Google.com had to say about Google's CEO, Eric Schimdt.

...spending 30 minutes on the Google search engine lets one discover that Schmidt, 50, was worth an estimated $1.5 billion last year. Earlier this year, he pulled in almost $90 million from sales of Google stock and made at least another $50 million selling shares in the past two months as the stock leaped to more than $300 a share.

Google was not pleased with the way they were singled out, while similar search engines and internet portals were left relatively unquestioned.

What was the response? Well, it seem as though Google told CNet not to expect any interviews for one year.

(Google representatives have instituted a policy of not talking with CNET News.com reporters until July 2006 in response to privacy issues raised by a previous story.)

Shutting out the press over something like this is not the way to exert influence. It was a rash decision, and not a good one. Google works hard to promote a number of beneficial products, but this statement will linger with them for some time.

The tantrum of a six-year-old. We'll see if things are any better in a month, when Google turns seven.

[Disclosure: Google owns Blogger, which allows this forum to be possible.]

Crisis communications mistakes, Vol. 1

2005-08-08T13:42:00.000-05:00

If you're going to deflect a reporter to a spokesperson, make sure it's not a dead end.

The board of directors of the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club in New York is on the hot seat. A former board member (who was one of the go-to-guys in launching liberal talk network Air America) is now being investigated for redirecting more than half-a-million dollars in grant money and "investing" it in the Air America startup.

Air America has been quick to point out that it is under new ownership, and has the appearance of deniability.

The current Gloria Wise board is running into trouble, though. Hugh Hewitt at the Weekly Standard tried getting some answers:

My producer and I have spent a lot of time trying to get a member of the board on the record about the investment. The only one who agreed to talk to us referred us to Rubenstein Public Relations. An assistant to Richard Rubenstein called me to relay that he didn't know anything about the "Gloria Wise story." Odd.

Either there is a huge disconnect in protocol at Rubenstein (which I highly doubt,) or someone is trying to buy some time.

To make matters worse, the article didn't mention which board member had been approached, so now this little cloud of avoidance is hanging over all of them, until it gets cleared up.

We've seen in the Richard Scrushy case how important your pre-trial PR posture can be. Looking like you're ducking tough questions is not the way to get there.

A bad name for a good program

2005-08-03T16:44:00.000-05:00

In my "previous life" on television, my last beat was education.

Birmingham's City School System had an annual problem with students who waited until after Labor Day to come to classes. It was a cultural thing here, and a lot of parents needed re-educated about why missing three weeks of school is a bad thing.

Once the system started having severe financial problems, it became dire. The state allocates funds based on average enrollment for the first 40 days of the school year. If a sizable chunk of the student body isn't around, the money goes away. Yikes!

To combat the problem, Birmingham instituted an initiative called (I'm not making this up) "Just Show Up".

Talk about your inspirational messages! It ranks right up there (down there) with "Delta: We Get You There!" (late, sans luggage, and hungry... but THERE.)

Needless to say, the program caught a lot of heat for sending the wrong message to kids. After all, we don't want them just showing up. We want them learning things, and becoming better future citizens. The project was already being slammed as a dismal failure before it was halfway through.

At the halfway point of the 40-day census period, I asked for the enrollment figures from that year-to-date compared to the previous year. Based on my calculations (ones which the schools lacked either the ability or the creativity to figure), Birmingham's Board of Education "saved" more than $6,000,000 that would have been lost had the students "shown up" along past patterns.

"Just Show Up" just plain worked, in terms of getting the word out and getting butts in seats. But it still wasn't working as a positive message once the morning bell rang.

This year, the same program has a new title and a new theme: "Going to the Head of the Class."

Sometimes, it's okay to shut up.

2005-08-02T12:02:00.000-05:00

"No comment" is supposed to be a cardinal sin in public relations. But that doesn't mean that you spill your guts, and talk yourself into a worse position.

Case in point -- The Salt Lake County District Attorney's office.

A mother is angry that her 8-year-old son was charged with an "act of lewdness with a minor." That other "minor" was his 14-year-old babysitter!

The sitter and the boy were playing "Truth or Dare," and she dared him to touch her breasts. So he did. And he told mom about it later. (I don't remember seeing that game in the Babysitter's Handbook.)

When mom went to the cops, they charged her son, saying the boy was an "equal and willing participant."

Needless to say, mom got mad and went to the media.

The DA's office fielded the call about as well as you can. It confirmed the charge, and the dropping of the charge, and declined further comment. Nothing on the record in quotes. It's not the same as "no comment," but it prevents further liability.

Why the silent treatment in this instance? For one, there is virtually no potential for a repeat down the line, and no future for this case. The story has a short, shocking shelf life, and it's gone. Second, there is a liability involved if the DA says too much, and winds up hanging an employee out to dry. The erroneous charge is clearly a case of "no harm, no foul," and you can bet it won't happen again. Why jeopardize a career by passing an invisible buck? Additional statements would not have added any clarity or understanding -- and would have risked stoking the fire further.

Jihad on terrorism

2005-08-01T13:38:00.000-05:00

"Damage control" is even harder when dealing with someone else's damage.

That is precisely the difficulty many Muslim groups now face. American Muslim organizations are recognizing the problem of denouncing terrorism, and those who practice it:

"Islam is not like the Catholic Church, there is no central authority who can give you one quote. Therefore it is impossible for all Muslims to speak in one voice, just as it is impossible for all Americans to speak in one voice," said Muqtedar Khan, a non-resident fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, who studies international politics.

Some Muslim groups are frustrated with the task that public relations experts refer to as "reputation management."

Mike Paul, a veteran public relations professional in New York City, says that religious communities should present a consistent message that offers concrete historical examples to back up their statements.

"People aren't going to believe you if you just say, 'These people don't represent our faith,'" Paul said, "They're going to say, 'Show me the truth.'"

To that extent, "show don't tell" means actually doing something to replace the ideology of extremism and violence. The Muslim American Society is launching a slate of seven action steps -- a "Declaration of Support and Action Against Terrorism."

It will take time for this movement to show results, if any at all. Previous silence on the issue has been interpreted as acceptance. A London Telegraph survey showed that nearly 1/4 of British Muslims "have some sympathy with the feelings and motives of those who carried out" the London bombings.

That vacuum of silence has some (like conservative talk-show host Michael Graham) calling Islam itself a "terror organization." That comment got him suspended, and CAIR is lobbying to get him fired, too, even as CAIR sponsors its own fatwa against terror.

How wrong can you be..?

2005-07-29T16:16:00.000-05:00

I've been expanding my horizons lately.

It used to be exclusively executive-level media training and interview coaching, but lately I've added a level of "PR sensitivity" for those in an organization who will never be a spokesperson.

In that training, we talk about how to evaluate a potential public relations nightmare, and how to report it up the chain before it becomes to big to deflect.

I can guarantee that after the first hour, everyone who comes out of my training will have enough foresight to avoid something as stupid as this: 'Ghetto Talent Show,' Watermelon Eating Contest Outrages Community (Yahoo! News)

Miami city leaders are apologizing for a news release that invited summer campers to a ''Ghetto Style Talent Show'' and ''Watermelon Eating Contest.''

The release said that children participating in the summer camp who "know the meaning of ghetto style" would have a chance to "prove just how ghetto they are.''

It's okay to try to get attention with your news release. This isn't what we had in mind, though...

Members of the black community expressed outrage at the wording of the invitation to the talent show.

...and for some reason, those in the city offices didn't seem to be aware. (Maybe they have been taking race-relations lessons from el Presidente Vicente Fox.)

After being criticized by residents of the nearby Model City neighborhood and community leaders, Miami Parks Director Ernest Burkeen, who is black, released a formal apology and announced the renaming of the talent show.

Well, that ought to heal some of the wounds...

The show will now be called the "Funky Talent Show," according to Burkeen's written statement. The watermelon contest will still be part of the event.

...just in time to pour in the salt.

I wasn't sure whether to classify this as a planning bungle, and execution bungle, or a damage-control disaster. Instead, we'll call it an object lesson in what not to do.

Hacks vs. Flacks

2005-07-27T16:31:00.000-05:00

The Office of Corporate Counsel holds a lot of sway in many businesses, but isn't immune to big PR blunders.

Many times, the office lawyer nixes promotional ideas for potential liability, and even parses your media communications for trivial little changes. That level of internal authority can give the J.D. a bulletproof mentality, especially when it comes to ignoring the expertise of the PR practitioner. Face it... when was the last time the boss told counsel to "hold off" while the public relations department pondered the action?

Well... it should have happened in Baltimore. A Greyhound bus crash injured 34 people there on Monday. While the victims were still hospitalized, Greyhound lawyers combed the hospital looking for people to sign a liability waiver -- offering at least one person "medical expenses plus $2,500."

I'm sure the corporate suits saw this as a no-brainer, and a way to avoid some costly suits. But the strategy did not sit well with passenger Chris Childs:

"I thought it was tacky. It basically matched how I feel about the company," said Childs, 36, who has retained a lawyer. "I never figured somebody would offer you money on the day of the accident."

Now, the company will spend an undetermined sum (in time and cash) to re-build a positive image. The bus crash is an accident, and can be forgiven. Sending the sharks into the E.R. is willful, and hard to forget.

In typical fashion, Greyhound's PR representative had to clean up a mess long after the roads had re-opened:

When asked about Childs' account, Greyhound spokeswoman Kim Plaskett said that any passengers who want to complain about customer service should call the customer-assistance line at 214-849-8966.

"I can't confirm what happened in the emergency room," said Plaskett.

"I can say Greyhound representatives did go to the hospital to make sure they were taken care of."

...and in typical fashion, the Office of Corporate Counsel gagged her. Hey lawyer-types, when it comes to protecting corporate image, "leave the driving to us."

Sour times for a sweet treat

2005-07-27T00:08:00.000-05:00

Krispy Kreme, formerly the King of cheap publicity, is not so "HOT NOW."

The doughnut franchise posted incredible growth as it went public in 2000. It was a darling of the Motley Fool guys, and investors just couldn't resist the slow march out of the South.

Neither could television stations. I was still in the news business then, and Krispy Kreme had a knack for making grand openings in new cities an "event." Every station that could go live in the early mornings did, just to be a part of those mad lines for the first Krispy Kremes to roll off the racks.

How the mighty have fallen... as Krispy Kreme is struggling to avoid bankruptcy. Stephen Cooper (the post-fraud Enron guy) is doing the restructuring, and now he's got another hurdle. Some franchises are going to court to keep the doughnut mix and supplies rolling in -- even though they can't pay for them. Franchisees with restructuring plans of their own allege they can't meet other obligations if they pay Krispy Kreme. (They also allege that Krispy Kreme has overcharged them over the years, keeping the filings from being tossed out of court.)

Some place the blame on accounting idiocy, others on growing too fast. Me? I think Krispy Kreme got KO'ed by Karb Konsciousness.

In any respect, the company's growth was built NOT around memorable advertising, but instead around good PR. Alas, rebuilding will not be. You're only new once, and it's becoming more difficult to sell questionable nutrition. I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that turning doughnuts to dollars won't be the sweet proposition it once was.

A Grand Old Controversy...

2005-07-26T05:01:00.000-05:00

...is just what the marketing department ordered.

Rockstar Games is reaping the benefits of being the Bad Boys on the block, after pretending to have its pants down on "Hot Coffee" grounds.

The makers of "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" are laughing all the way to the bank, and are not in any peril regarding the game. (The GTA series is the best-selling ever, with more than 21-million units.) The PR jockeying now is among the retailers.

Rockstar has "pulled" the game off the shelf, while preparing to churn out a version that lacks the hidden sex games that apparently are the only difference between an "M" rating and an "AO" rating. (Literally, the difference between "Recommended for ages 17+" and "Adults Only, 18+") [For more on the silliness and subjectivity of the rating, go check out Maddox.]

In the interim, EBGames (Electronic Boutique) is slapping AO stickers over the top and trotting the units right back onto the shelf. Circuit City and Target have announced they'll wait for the (ahem) acceptable version, and Wal-Mart and Best Buy will look at the new version before making a decision.

EBGames is being fairly straightforward in approach. The PR folks at Circuit City and Target need to prepare for the onslaught of questions about whether they agree with the ratings, and the apparent bias against sex in favor of violence. And the flacks at Best Buy (and their newly-minted counterparts in Bentonville) will have to defend their decisions... even though no one in either company is qualified to crunch source code to see if there are other hidden treasures. Every strategy carries a risk. Do you want to stake your corporate reputation on the "promise" of a video game company that burned you once?

London aftershocks

2005-07-21T08:38:00.000-05:00

The early afternoon explosions in London - three in the Underground and one on a bus --are eerily similar to the transit bombings from two weeks ago. Someone is obviously sending a message, even to mimic the North-South-East-West pattern. But this time, it was just detonators. A few broken windows, no serious injuries.

The message was clear, but to whom?

An attack at 1:30 in the afternoon isn't exactly hitting the rush hour. But it is catching the morning news shows in the United States.

Hmmmmmmmm......

You gotta know when to hold 'em...

2005-07-18T23:22:00.000-05:00

...and know when to fold 'em.

Especially when your name is Kenny Rogers. He's the pitcher for the Texas Rangers who is fighting a 20-game suspension for assaulting a cameraman *before* pregame warmups. This guy is a walking, talking advertisement for the benefits of media training.

Rogers was booked on the 18th on his midemeanor assault charges, and what did he do?

Surely, he didn't accost the photographer getting video of his booking. I mean, surely, right?

No.

Rogers stared at the guy for several seconds, then said "I bet you're real proud of yourself now, don't you?" The videographer said "I'm just doing my job, Kenny."

I know the Texas fans love it, but the booing on the road will be the worst punishment. Robbie Alomar had to deal with that for years after spitting on an ump.

Somebody had better get in soon to teach Kenny how to play well with others, before another poor soul finds himself defenseless in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

I'll be down for awhile...

2005-07-08T20:08:00.000-05:00

...entertaining my new best friend, Dennis.

My day job with the American Red Cross will overshadow my PR musings for a little while. Please keep all of us in the path of the storm in your thoughts and prayers.

And it might not be a bad time to support the Disaster Relief Fund, which pays for all the the pre-and-post landfall activities, from sheltering to recovery.

Maximum Impact!

2005-07-07T09:04:00.000-05:00

Timing is everything, and you have to applaud the guys at NASA... when it comes to public relations, these guys are real rocket scientists!

With the Deep Impact mission, not only did they perform the equivalent of hitting a moving bullet with a BB at a range of 1000 miles, they also timed it beautifully. Making the actual collision between the probe and the comet occur on a holiday weekend ensured that

Having worked in news for 16 years, I came to know the calendar very well. There are just certain weeks and extended weekends where there is little news to cover. When you've got the time to think and plan, you can take advantage of slow news days to extend the value of the coverage you get. The week between Christmas and New Year's Day is among the worst. So is the weekend after Thanksgiving, which is why merchants and retailers want to focus the world on shopping. (By the way -- the day after Thanksgiving is not the biggest shopping day of the year... but a lot of people still buy into that hype.)

Happy Birthday, America!

2005-07-01T17:34:00.000-05:00

Have a safe Fourth... back next week.

ABC: Avoiding Big Controversy?

2005-06-30T15:33:00.000-05:00

Is this the beginning of the end of reality show mania..? Or does this mark a new turning point in the marketing thereof?

ABC's new reality series "Welcome to the Neighborhood" is apparently no longer welcome to a time slot. The network has pulled the show just days before the debut, despite several weeks of heavy promotion.

The concept -- three white Christian families in Texas pick their new neighbors -- was apparently too offensive to too many. The seven families vying for the new home included an Asian family, a African-American family, a Hispanic family, a gay couple with a black child, a Wiccan family, a family of tattooed and pierced Republicans, and a poor white family. In addition to all of the stereotypical comments that ensue, conservative Christian groups are assailing the show for making all of them look like bigots.

All I can say is... what a way to generate buzz for placing it on the fall schedule. Nothing makes people more curious than what they can't see.

Swimming with the Sharks

2005-06-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

How do you fend off a shark attack?

Forget hitting it on the nose... apparently, you spin it to death.

An article in the Tallahassee Democrat features a swarm of tourism officials trying to undo the damage of shark attack headlines.

Here's a summary of what they have to say:

"We'll be beefing up (beach) patrols because we've got this big festival coming up," -- Paula Pickett, Gulf County Director of Tourism.

That's reassuring.

"We've got a strong volunteer fire department and beach and rescue (members) with jet skis and boats." -- Pickett

At least I won't bleed for very long.

"Instead of looking for kids misbehaving, we'll have an extra eye of caution in case of additional shark attacks." -- Pickett

You're more likely to drown, or get caught in an undertow.

"You're going to see sharks, but we were looking for swarms of shark," -- Gulf County Sheriff Dalton Upchurch, commenting on an aerial view.

How many does it take to bite me, exactly...?

"It's so rare for something like this to happen. I don't think it's going to hurt (business) at all." -- Lizzette Dearinger, property manager.

No siree... (whistling past the graveyard)

"I think what it will do is help raise awareness that, when swimming in the ocean, you need to be cautious," -- Vanessa Welter, PR director for Visit Florida.

You don't have anything to worry about, except far all the things responsible people ought to worry about.

"It's not a public swimming pool. It's an environment with large animals." -- Welter

Stay home, or go to the "Y", you pansies.

"They are very rare in the state of Florida," -- Pat Smith, corporate communications director for Visit Florida

In Florida, your chances of becoming shark-bait are very low...

"We basically want to remind people to take safety precautions, but Florida remains a safe and secure destination." -- Smith

...but out in the ocean, you need to be careful.

See how ridiculous things can get after awhile? Pat answers and reassurances don't soothe any nerves when they are in conflict with each other. All of these spokespeople have similar goals, but their messaging doesn't reflect that. I'll say this... your reputation is at a much greater risk of being damaged by mixed signals than by a Great White.

An open letter to Richard Scrushy

2005-06-28T12:32:00.000-05:00

Dear Mr. Scrushy:

Congratulations on beating the rap in your $2.7-billion accounting fraud trial. That is no mean feat.

However, there are a lot of people who are coming to terms with your acquittal, not ready to attach "innocence" to your name. Just ask Michael Jackson, who beat his charges, but was labelled as a "probable pedophile" by one of the twelve who set him free.

So, here are some things I recommend you do to repair your public image:

1) Be Gracious. Avoid speaking ill of anyone who wished you the worst. Keep the focus on you and your family. And take a vacation.

2) Don't storm the citadel at HealthSouth. Yes, it's your baby. Yes, as far as the law is concerned, you've been vindicated and have every right to reclaim your office. Don't. They will make your return ugly. Express your relief that HealthSouth is on better financial footing. You can go home again, but don't sour your public persona by running back inside today. That would look too greedy.

3) Do not cancel your "Morning Viewpoint" show. Too many people saw this show as a transparent ploy to recast your image. Prove them wrong.

4) Re-invest in the community. Yeah, a lot of organizations were quick to pull your name off those schools and buildings and streets and libraries that carried your name. That's not what you need to re-approach. Let your next wave of philanthropy be quiet -- let word of mouth carry the day. As long as you don't appear to be "buying" good will, you'll succeed. You lost a lot of people at once, you need to get them back one at a time.

As I write this, you are already putting some of this advice to use. I heard you say something to the effect of "We give all the glory to God, who gave me and my wife the strength to endure this torture..." It's not enough to say the right things... you've got to live them over time. Just use the same discipline you did in the pre-trial phase.

Just be content to re-cast a new legacy. Leave the old one behind. There was too much baggage there anyway.

Trying to be fair, your pal...

Ike.

(p.s. -- some of my friends reading this may have other advice for you too. They'll add it to the comments section.)

Scrushy walks

2005-06-28T12:04:00.000-05:00

Let the PR punditry begin.

So far...

2005-06-28T11:59:00.000-05:00

...not guilty, through the first dozen counts...

...and not guilty through the rest as well.

Scrushy verdict coming

2005-06-28T11:25:00.000-05:00

The corporate fraud trial of HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy is over. Verdict at 11:30 Central.

I've said before that he has to win in court, and in the court of public opinion.

We'll see if he beats the first to have a chance at the second.

No post today...

2005-06-27T15:46:00.000-05:00

...had to take my little girl (Laura) to the emergency room. They did a spinal tap, and the results were good. No red or white counts at all, so meningitis and its nasty cousins are seemingly out of the picture.

We're keeping our fingers crossed for the blood culture. There's a follow up appointment tomorrow, and we ought to be in the clear.

Thanks, and keep checking this space. I'll get back to blogging later in the week.

The PeTA principle...

2005-06-24T06:43:00.000-05:00

“A crisis is a violation of your organizational vision.”
-- Overdrive, Michael Silva and Terry McGann

That's one of the best definitions of a crisis I've ever seen. If you want to see crisis management in action, pay attention how PeTA spins its way out of its current mess.

The organization has staked its mission on animal rights and humane treatment. Now, two employees at the PeTA national headquarters have been charged with 31 felony counts of animal cruelty, and eight counts of illegal disposal of dead animals -- in a shopping center garbage bin.

As bad as that sounds, this admission from organization president Ingrid Newkirk might raise a few eyebrows:

"PETA has never made a secret of the fact that most of the animals picked up in North Carolina are euthanized."

Statistics show that from 1998 through 2003, PeTA actually euthanized a higher percentage of its animals than nearby branches of the SPCA.

Newkirk is already aware of the potential for negative press, considering how this seems to go against everything the group is for:

"It's hideous... I think this is so shocking it's bound to hurt our work."

You would think there would be a response or a rebuttal on the PeTA website. I found nothing -- and that's a big mistake.

What's worse than a TV sweeps piece?

2005-06-23T15:03:00.000-05:00

How about a TV sweeps piece that links you to profiting from the sexual exploitation of children?

That happened to Yahoo!, which until recently allowed just about anyone to create a chat group. Until recently, when the company took the heat for allowing groups like:

9-17-Year-Olds Wantin' Sex

Younger Girls 4 Older Guys

Girls 13 And Under For Older Guys

Girls 13 And Up For Much Older Man

Girls 8 to 13 Watch Boys (In A Particular Sex Act)

Ouch.

Not only are the offending chatrooms down -- so are all user-created chat areas, along with the ability to create new ones. Yahoo!'s spokesperson said they were closed for improvements and to ensure compliance with Yahoo!'s terms of service. That spokesperson did not mention anything about the $10,000,000 suit filed against the portal, which profited on the sites by selling ads. Users had to click through spots for Pepsi, T-Mobile, State Farm, Georgia-Pacific and others just to get to the chatrooms in question.

The real sting here, aside from the additional bad press the lawsuit will slowly bring, is that Yahoo! had been handed a rather large petition last year asking for the rooms to be shut down. The $10-million suit only represents a fraction of the $205-million Yahoo! made on advertising, but does not count the loss of many key advertisers who bailed to dissociate themselves.

This is why PR people need to be invited to the big table. Not to make the big decisions, but to advise the powers-that-be of the consequences of their actions (and inactions.)

Too funny not to share...

2005-06-22T00:55:00.000-05:00

My wife hates surveys. I don't mind them so much.

Back when I worked in television, I was disqualified from most of them anyway. So while Brenda watched the AFI Top 100 Movie Quotes, I picked up the ringing phone with "Gallup" on the caller-ID. (Kudos to them for being up-front about it.)

After the obligatory demographic information, I was asked some questions about my employment.

"Do you work for an ad agency or marketing firm?"
No.

"Are you directly related to anyone who works for an ad agency or marketing firm?"

Again, a no... but I figured the next one would hone in on me and knock me out of the survey.

There was no additional disqualifier.

So I ended up answering a bunch of questions about retailers -- specifically Target and Wal-Mart.

I guess it never occurred to anyone to ask if I had written anything about retailers in the recent past. Bloggers get free reign!

"Do you recall any news stories about Home Depot within the last four weeks?"
No.

"Do you recall any news stories about Target within the last four weeks?"
No.

"Do you recall any news stories about Wal-Mart within the last four weeks?"
Well, as a matter of fact, I do recall a story I saw on the internet about a bill in the Ohio legislature that would give women the right to breast-feed in public, and the bill is a direct result of a woman who sued Wal-Mart after being tossed out of the Lebanon, Ohio store eight years ago.

"Excuse me, sir... I'm trying to write all this down."
I also remember seeing a story about a Wal-Mart ad executive who was pushing a vote to expand a Flagstaff store into a SuperCenter, and he published an ad comparing a "no" vote with book burning, but he used a stock photo of a Nazi book-burning, and he resigned.

Yeah, I actually recited all of that from memory. I'll bet someone flags my survey response. But that wasn't my favorite answer of the night.

I was asked to rate the stores in various categories from a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being "strongly disagree" and 5 being "strongly agree."

"Use any number between 1 and 5 -- how would you rate the statement 'Wal-Mart makes contributions to the local community'?"
Any number?

"Any number."

(I am such a nerd...)

Based on the question selection, my gut tells me it's Wal-Mart doing the market research. Which they had better be doing, now that they are talking to the press and everything.

Update: Kraft cleans up its recipe

2005-06-21T15:29:00.000-05:00

The link to the Kraft foods site for the raped chicken recipe has finally been pulled.

Took 'em long enough.

Milking bad press

2005-06-21T13:01:00.000-05:00

Bad press happens. You deal with it and move on with the job of protecting your institutional reputation.

What you don't want to do is let things devolve to the point where you become a media whipping boy, constantly re-living your mistake.

A Wal-Mart in Lebanon, Ohio is still being trotted out as the "art" for pieces about public breast feeding, eight years after the fact. Ohio's legislature is batting around a bill outlining the rights of lacto-Americans, and the mom who claims she was kicked out of the store eight years ago is the inspiration for this bill. (By the way -- she lost her suit against Wal-Mart.)

Still, Wal-Mart -- the last time I checked -- does business beyond the Lebanon city limits. Savvy PR types would remind the reporters involved of any and every policy improvement since 2000. Anything to get Wal-Mart's name out of this controversy. Anything less makes them look like a bunch of ~~boobs~~ rubes.

Deserted Isle?

2005-06-20T16:27:00.000-05:00

Where I live, Natalee Holloway is a local story. We've been saturated with the coverage of her disappearance, as well as all of the rescue and search efforts. When the media scale went multi-national, Aruba had a small window of opportunity to gird against the backlash.

Now Aruban businesses and residents who rely on tourist dollars are getting concerned about the publicity and its effect on the economy.

Aruba's Chamber of Commerce (or equivalent) needed to be out in front of this situation, making sure there were plenty of experts who could explain the differences between the U.S. and Aruban justice systems. They still need to be out in front, using the internet to be a resource to all of those outsiders who have a stake in this case, or might one day consider vacationing there.

If it's happening, I don't see it. And as much as I am online, if I don't see it, it's not enough.

Attack off the track

2005-06-20T00:40:00.000-05:00

NASCAR might be 500 miles of left turns, but at least it's NASCAR.

The IRL and F-1 circuits aren't even on the lead lap.

Open-wheel racing has slipped greatly to NASCAR, because it has not generated the personalities.

Enter Danica Patrick.

The 23-year-old phenom put the Indianapolis 500 back on the map this year just by qualifying. She finished fourth, and became the first woman ever to lead the race. No fluke. (Her FHM photo-shoots didn't hurt, either.)

This is just the kind of good publicity that could spark new interest in Indy Racing. When asked if she'd ever jump to Formula-1, she said it would just take a sponsor.

Enter F-1 president Bernie Ecclestone.

"She did a good job, didn't she? Super. Didn't think she'd be able to make it like that," Ecclestone answered to a gathering of reporters.
Before leaving, Ecclestone then offered his thoughts of women joining men on the racetrack.

"You know, I've got one of these wonderful ideas that women should be all dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances," Ecclestone added.

What was he thinking? The split between IRL and F-1 nearly destroyed open-wheel racing, and neither is strong enough to risk stupidity. Is this Ecclestone's way of drafting behind the new leader? Was this just a ploy to remind the sports world that there is in fact another racing organization?

It's not like he had a lot to lose. F-1 carries a more global audience, and that attitude isn't as likely to hurt him.

But still...

Accentuate the Positive, European Edition

2005-06-17T02:32:00.000-05:00

Keep it simple, stupid.

If you're key messages won't fit on the back of a business card, then you aren't focused enough on the point you'd like to make.

Maybe that is why the proposed European Union constitution went down in flames in France. It turns out the thing runs 448 pages.

French politicos who were trying to win passage sent a copy to every French voter. (We mail stuff that big all the time in the U.S. -- but they are filled with pictures and smell like perfume.)

Some of the EU Proponents thought it was a bad idea to send out that many copies. They were right. But they were also wrong to insult the electorate.

One crucial mistake was to send out the entire three-part, 448-article document to every French voter, said Mr Giscard.

Over the phone he had warned Mr Chirac already in March: "I said, 'Don't do it, don't do it'".

"It is not possible for anyone to understand the full text".

Even if you were going to read the thing, do you think you'd be sympathetic to the cause of someone who smacks of that much elitism?

The first mistake was tactical. The second mistake was insensitive, and will ultimately be harder to overcome.

Not everything is bigger in Texas.

2005-06-16T11:10:00.000-05:00

Short, sweet, and to the point.

Sometimes the bluntest messages are the most effective.

Take as case in point this message from the president of Texas A&M.

Seems a former faculty member spouted off with a theory that the World Trade Center towers did not collapse on their own, but were brought down by a planned demolition by the Bush Administration. Dr. Morgan Reynolds had also served in the Bush Administration -- as an economist in the Department of Labor.

Once Dr. Reynolds ties to Texas A&M surfaced, the school acted promptly to define his status as Professor Emeritus, and point out that he didn't even have an office there:

"The American people know what they saw with their own eyes on September 11, 2001. To suggest any kind of government conspiracy in the events of that day goes beyond the pale.” -- Dr. Robert M. Gates, President, Texas A&M

Complete disassociation. It looks like the Aggies PR department has been taking notes from the lingering controversy at the University of Colorado and statements made by Professor Ward Churchill. Churchill is accused of academic fraud, plagiarism, misrepresenting his Native American heritage, and misconduct. (He said the victims of 9/11 deserved what they got, because they were "Little Eichmanns".) The CU PR department is now looking at a massive overhaul.

Image is everything, but it isn't the only thing.

2005-06-15T08:01:00.000-05:00

"It's not enough to be liked by good men -- you must strive to be despised by bad men."

Confucius was a Sheriff and a Guru, but he didn't pander to people who didn't matter to him. These days, we are so obsessed with perception that we can forget the goal.

I some cases, like the Natalee Holloway disappearance that has Aruba's image at stake, perception can become reality.

In other cases, like the 1964 slayings of three civil-rights workers in Mississippi, there is justice to be served.

When outcomes are more nebulous, like the US Senate apologizing for decades of ducking anti-lynching laws, your pragmatic side can start to ask if you're just inviting additional complaint and scrutiny.

In some scenarios, you just ignore public opinion entirely. Some GOP senators are now questioning the value of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, strictly because it is becoming more a PR liability than a proven one.

In all four of the above, those crafting the key messages must take into account that their strategy -- be it capitulation, defiance, or perserverance -- hits only the approprate target.

Michael's First Post-Verdict Bungle?

2005-06-13T17:09:00.000-05:00

Did Michael stop and wave at his adoring minions, who were releasing doves to the sky?

No.

Did Michael take to the microphone and plead with the world to let him resume his life?

No.

Instead, he piled into a caravan and booked it to Neverland.

If pictures are worth a thousand words, then nothing screams "guilt" like a slow-speed Bronco chase. (Was Al Cowlings driving?)

Well, we know who speaks for MJ.

2005-06-13T16:21:00.000-05:00

The jury.

Michael's mouth

2005-06-13T08:46:00.000-05:00

Everyone who is speaking for Jacko, please holds your arms out wide.

(Raymone, you can put your arms down.)

What a Shakespearean mess. Michael Jackson fired his spokeswoman, Raymone Bain. Sure, she doesn't carry the same firepower as the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. But publicly firing her might not have been a great move. It fuels public notion that MJ and his camp are in disarray.

I don't know that I buy the theory that the lawyers had her canned to maintain distance and respect for the gag order. It smacks of the kind of chaos one would create as a diversion, so reporters will have something else to talk about besides Jackson's guilt or innocence.

Reminds me of an old legal saying: "When the law is on your side, pound the law. When the facts are on your side, pound the facts. If neither is on your side... pound your fist."

Watch your on-line presence

2005-06-12T11:48:00.000-05:00

Stuff like this needs to be moderated.

Seriously -- where are the keyword filters to ensure this kind of thing doesn't cause a PR headache?

Or, for the highly cynical... how many people think someone at Kraft dreamed this up as a way to generate web traffic through viral marketing?

Arlene.

2005-06-10T16:22:00.000-05:00

Have a safe weekend everyone... especially those in the South, about to get another good drenching.

A Bentonville blunder

2005-06-10T14:02:00.001-05:00

"The number of days it took Wal-Mart to botch its new proactive public relations strategy."

"What is Thirty-three."

"Correct."

"I'll take "Self-inflicted Public Relations Nightmares" for $800, Alex."

You don't have to be a Ken Jennings know-it-all to recognize a bad idea.

After waking from decades of PR hibernation, it took Wal-Mart less than five weeks to stumble across a PR disaster. (At least one of its own making.)

A Wal-Mart PR manager has now resigned, after taking out a controversial ad in an Arizona newspaper. It was part of an informational campaign to answer opponents a Flagstaff Wal-Mart expansion.

The ad attempted to draw a parallel between book burnings and the prevention of free commerce. The accompanying text read:

"Should we let government tell us what we can read? Of course not . . . So why should we allow local government to limit where we shop?"

That's a fairly complicated message to attempt given the short-attention span of our culture. The problem is that no one realized the picture was from a Nazi book-burning. No one, except the Arizona Anti-Defamation League.

Not only has the executive responsible resigned, but the firm that produced the ad severed its retainer with Wal-Mart.

Here is a link to a .pdf of the actual ad.

This is especially foul because Wal-Mart turned a corner in both proactive and reactive PR messaging, holding a press junket on April 5th of this year. It didn't take long for the rookie mistake to emerge.

(By the way... Wal-Mart spent nearly $300,000 on that Flagstaff campaign, just to add a grocery section to one of its stores. Apparently, they spent just enough. The ordinance limiting Wal-Mart's expansion was overturned by two percentage points.)

You've got to spend a few billion...

2005-06-09T08:43:00.000-05:00

...to make a few trillion.

Just a quick link to projections about how businesses are trending on spending.

"Web development, combined with public relations, will capture $100 billion of the one trillion dollars earmarked for marketing expenditures in 2005, according to research firm Blackfriars Communications. The company's new report evaluates marketing budgets by industry."

Interesting that PR and "web development" are intertwined in that report. Could it be because there will be a lot of overlap in those categories? There sure are more and more job opportunities for corporate bloggers.

Mixed signals

2005-06-08T14:02:00.000-05:00

Television stations love to hype their weather coverage. Nothing says "promo" like viewers who say "Channel ## saved my life!"

In my years of tornado chasing, I had more than a few people who noticed the irony, that while my station's weather department was telling people to take cover, my news department was plotting my intercept course with the funnel.

Well, a similar type of incongruence has led to a public squabble in Tampa. WFLA News Director Forrest Carr is now the ex-News Director, and he says it's because there was no station hurricane plan.

Carr claims he got frustrated with General Manager Eric Land, because WFLA had no back-up plan and no evacuation plan for the next hurricane that threatened. Carr says he was canned after asking if this was a violation of evacuation laws, which Land perceived as a threat.

Of course, Land claims this is a personnel issue, and he can't comment on it. Sure makes him look bad, along with owner Media General. (So much for "on my side.")

Still, there is a narrow window of opportunity here for the station to do a little good PR. A lot of public information, followed by a recounting of WFLA's own plan will do wonders.

After all... you'd hate to see in interview after the next hurricane with someone in a body cast, who says "If Channel 8 wasn't taking it seriously, why should I?"

Update...

2005-06-07T15:38:00.000-05:00

In San Fran, even fumbles have aftershocks.
What did they know, and when did they know it?

As chronicled on last night's "Outside the Lines" on ESPN, a lot of the heat directed at the San Francisco 49er's over their media training video has to do with timing. Apparently, the top brass had known about the video for months with no repercussions.

Uh oh.

Mr. and Mrs. Stiff.

2005-06-07T11:05:00.000-05:00

What a pair of whiny-pants.

Brad and Angelina don't want to talk about their relationship while out promoting their new movie. Instead of politely declining to answer questions, they use legal muscle. You can't even get into the room to ask a question unless you sign a document promising to only ask about their movie. (Unless you want to talk about their globe-hopping charity and politics.)

The "contract" goes so far as to promise legal action if any of the interviews are used in an unflattering manner.

I guess it's hard to promote "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" with words like "homewrecker" being bandied about.

Loose ships, credit slips.

2005-06-06T13:42:00.000-05:00

Tightest ship in the shipping business? Four million people might beg to differ.

CitiGroup now admits that personal information on 3,900,000 consumer lending customers is now floating around somewhere.

Unlike other security lapses, this doesn't involve an internet transfer. Instead, Citi was sending a physical tape with the data to a credit bureau.

And UPS, which ships 14-million packages a day, just happened to lose this one.

Citi is doing its best to point the finger at UPS, even going as far as releasing a statement that is tantamount to a pink slip:

"We deeply regret this incident, which occurred in spite of the enhanced security procedures we require of our couriers," Kevin Kessinger, executive vice president of Citigroup (Research), said in a statement. "Beginning in July, this data will be sent electronically in encrypted form."

While this looks really bad for UPS for the time being, let's put this in perspective.

First of all, this is not another one of those stories about an internet breach or a computer virus or a phishing scam that has put your personal financial information at risk. No one (as far as we know) set out to procure this stuff. It's just lost.

Second, the odds of someone stumbling across the tape who can recognize what it is and have the appropriate equipment to read it is fairly small.

Third, has it occurred to anyone that maybe CitiGroup might be just a little behind the times here? Running large chunks of data through a sneakernet? I'm sure a secure intranet connection would be faster, with more frequent transfers. (I'll bet a dedicated fiber line directly to Experian would be cheaper than this PR headache will be.)

I'd like to know how many other outdated and inefficient measures Citi takes with regards to my profile. Is the electronic transfer going to be any safer? Isn't the use of couriers supposed to keep the hackers at bay? If electronic transfer is safer, then why has Citi been hoofing it? If the relative shift in safety is unknown, then why issue an immediate policy change? If one method is clearly safer than the other, why haven't they been using it? If not, then why suddenly switch?

I know what Citi is trying to accomplish in retaining consumer confidence. But its actions come across as rather rash, especially when placed under responsible journalistic scrutiny.

Maybe it's time to break down and buy identity theft insurance.

Scouting the Truth

2005-06-03T11:22:00.000-05:00

It's interesting to see how the slowly brewing Boy Scout recruitment story gets played out in local territories across the nation.

As we have talked about before, scout regions in Birmingham and Atlanta have been under federal investigation for inflating the numbers of minority members. (There was a special grant for recruitment in the inner cities.)

While the news out of Atlanta doesn't look good, different areas are taking divergent tacks in their spin. For instance, scout leaders in Washington, DC are denying there's a widespread problem. A spokesman in New Hampshire is telling local media they are conducting an independent audit to determine if there is a discrepancy.

You could make arguments either way. The DC posture is one of assurance that there is no local wrongdoing. The NH position seems wishy-washy on the surface ("We don't know if we're in compliance,") but actually follows through with a demonstrable action. In the end, the NH strategy comes off a bit stronger, in my humble opinion. There's also a chance that the DC statement will boomerang and haunt the leadership, should any type of financial question arise.

One is the bolder statement today. The other is the safer tomorrow. In your own dealings, choose the time frame that best fits your strategic goals and needs.

Good idea + Bad execution = Ugly headline

2005-06-02T11:36:00.000-05:00

(In the spirit of the Deep Throat revelations, we'll call this "Golden Gate-gate".)

In past articles, I've commented on the growing media savvy in the sports world. NASCAR drivers, hockey players, and many others have sought specific training in learning how to deal with the media.

No one wants to be the next Latrell -- or T.O. -- or Jimmy the Greek.

Smart organizations are being proactive about coaching off-the-field behavior and on-the-record interviews.

Now, they ought to take a cue from the San Francisco 49er's and be smart in executing that plan, too. (Smarter than the team's ex-public relations director.)

In the video, public-relations director Kirk Reynolds cavorts with naked strippers, spoofs gay marriage and interviews then-team trainer George Chung, who does a parody of a Chinese accent.

Unfortunately, Reynolds works in one of the most diversity-sensitive zip codes on the planet.

The footage was enough for Doris Y.S. Owyang, a Chinese-American lesbian, to declare the end of her status as a lifelong 49ers fan.

"I'm mad. Did the civil rights movement never happen in this country? Have we struggled for equal rights for nothing when a professional football team that has fans in all these communities makes fun of the homeless, the mayor, gay marriage and Chinese."

Owyang was incensed by scene in which Reynolds interviews a character called Suck Hung (played by Chung), who speaks in an exaggerated accent while translating a Chinese newspaper story.

Imagine the firestorm that would have erupted had there been significant Asian and gay populations in San Francisco. Oh wait. You don't have to! Quick action on the part of the 49er's may deflect a lot of the heat onto the "rogue agent" who did this on his own... but you know those wounds will be ripped open after the is tape goes public. You know it's eventually going to leak to the internet. I'm betting by Monday.

School daze

2005-06-02T09:11:00.000-05:00

Most public relations problems are the result of a mistake or a miscommunication.

Every so often, you run across an example of a blunder that makes you wonder: "What were you thinking???"

A middle school principal in Georgia is playing damage control, after denying a visit from a U.S. Marine who wanted to thank a class who wrote him while he was overseas.

So far, her backtracking and explanations have not been consistent, and she's digging herself into a bigger hole.

All's fair in love and war...

2005-06-02T00:11:00.000-05:00

...unless you're the 900-pound gorilla.

The Wal-Mart bashers are out in force, and this time they are crying foul that the retailer would dare stoop to spending big bucks on "reputation management." (After all, they ought to be using that cash to give employees better benefits, and raises so they can afford to shop at Target.)

I'm not the only one who's been watching the awakening of the giant. Peter Himler has his take on a burgeoning double-standard in his "The Flack" blog.

BACKFIRE!!!

2005-05-31T19:27:00.000-05:00

Good PR isn't an accident: it's a matter of finding the right people to carry your best message to an audience that needs to hear it.

As much as we tout PR as an essential element of any campaign, there are times when the "silent support" can bite you in the hiney.

Take the situation brewing in Jefferson County, Alabama.

The county is already under fire for runaway sewer rates and unnecessary upgrades, and several members of the sewer department are under federal indictment for kickbacks. That's the climate you need to understand the following:

A year ago, after a number of public miscues (and before the fraud charges) the county decided to contract with PR firms to help with messaging and strategy. Among other things, the firms are creating a media database, logging media hits, and publishing newsletters for neighborhoods.

Except now we find out those same firms may have been used to promote a referendum on a 1-cent sales tax increase -- and paid with public funds to do so.

Oops.

The county is in a real pickle, because there is a paper trail showing that the PR firms had started work on the project before any votes to proceed, and before the notion had gone public.

Oops oops.

Part two runs in Wednesday' Birmingham Post-Herald -- and I'll keep plumbing this story for object lessons. (Such as, there are times as a PR practitioner that you need to recognize the potential for conflict of interest, and know that your mere presence could be a liability.)

Update: Part two of the series.

Meta-publicity and blogs.

2005-05-27T07:55:00.000-05:00

If rules govern the game, then meta-rules govern the rules.

If definitions describe words, then meta-definitions define definitions.

So what is "meta-publicity?" It's any publicity one accrues not from the act of directly seeking publicity, but instead from merely starting to organize a campaign. This isn't that alien a concept. Think of the headlines a politician gets from establishing an "exploratory committee." Or even headlines about how much money has been raised/allocated to sway votes or public opinion or consumers.

There's a bit of gamesmanship in trying to ride meta-publicity for maximum effect. There's even a big risk in the political arena, where allowing your opponents to disparage your efforts can be as bad as tipping your hand too early.

I got to thinking about this as I stumbled upon the most brazen and well-executed case of meta-publicity I've ever seen: A Main Street music festival in Rogers, Arkansas, got a big write-up in the local paper... for getting its first-ever Public Relations Intern.

"This is not running errands and getting coffee," Wolf said of the new intern's position.

Most interns feel great about writing a press release or two -- this guy got placement before he even officially joined the team! Talk about results!

Working on the public relations needs for this year's festival is exciting, Conley said, but added that he's also receiving a couple of credit hours for the internship. He's a public relations major who will be a senior this fall.

"This is the kind of environment I want to work in," Conley said. Working in public relations for a worthwhile nonprofit organization, such as Main Street Rogers, can be particularly fulfilling, he said.

Conley just went to work this week, but Wolf said she's already had him design an advertisement thanking supporters of Main Street's golf tournament earlier this month. He's also starting to work on advertisements for the festival, she said.

Yeah -- this all sounds really silly. "Small-town rubes with nothing better to put in the newspaper."

Truth be told, it's really no sillier than all of the mainstream media fawning over anything with the word "blog" in it. (There is nothing magical about the word -- which really isn't a word at all, but instead is a headless portmanteau.) Blogs aren't a panacea, and they aren't the best thing since pre-fab de-crusted peanut-butter sandwiches for the lazy picky eater.

Blogs are a tool. And nothing more.

Although a lot of people are going to get burned by trying to "allocate resource matrices" and "leverage communications synergies" by adding a damned blog to the company site. Blogs are a great way of being heard and getting feedback, but you have to have something to say.

Don't get sucked into the meta-publicity of blogging. The fact that your company is starting one up won't be newsworthy for long. Unless you post some crazy things that get you the wrong flavor of publicity.

Speaking of flavor -- I'm hungry for a pre-fab de-crusted peanut-butter sandwich. I simply don't have the time or patience to trim away all that crust. And don't get me started on the crust -- that's the first part of the bread to mold. Nothing but the tasty middle of the bread for me, Jack. And my sandwiches are so fresh when I want them, thanks to this cool new Uncrustable's Sandwich Keeper. (Which is an awful lot like most blogs. Pretty on the outside -- seemingly perfect for the job -- yet either empty, or filled with something that at best you don't need, or at worst might harm you.)

Edit: Well, what do you know? This item from USA Today slipped right under my radar. Seems I am not alone.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend, everyone.

Scrushy jurors deadlocked on key charge

2005-05-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

To save his reputation, ousted HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy has to win in court twice -- once in a court of law, and the other in a court of public opinion. It's not enough to earn a mistrial or a hung jury. Getting off on a technicality won't restore his luster.

Earlier this week, I documented the extent of his public relations campaign. In some respects, it's all the old messages but done through alternate media.

The first part of that battle is leaning his way. Jurors have indicated they are deadlocked on the key charge of conspiracy. That bodes well, as it tends to hang doubt on all of the rest of the charges that follow. If you can't prove he was part of the creation of the scheme, it's hard to prove "what he knew and when he knew it."

Newsweek's got a bigger problem.

2005-05-25T09:08:00.000-05:00

Just when it appeared Newsweek might be getting past the fallout from the backtrack on the Koran abuse story -- The Washington Post Company has a more difficult situation to handle.

A blogger with an interest in learning Japanese stumbled across that nation's version of Newsweek.

Pictures being worth thousands of words and all, this cover does demand your attention, with the American flag in the trash can.

But before you rush to judgement about what Newsweek was thinking, you really ought to look at the translation of the cover text.

In case you can't make out the text, click on the cover to the left to open it in a new window.
Rick Adams translated the page, and it certainly is an eye-opener:

"The Day America Died"

"With Bush Remaining in Office, the Ideal of "Freedom" is Dashed to the Ground"

The supporting text inside isn't much friendlier:

From the editorial staff

"Since Newsweek is an American magazine, why would it tell us of problems with Bush?" we are occasionally asked in an ironic tone. However, we do not take sides, but only analyze the meaning of events from various viewpoints. Perhaps this has led to misunderstandings.

What have Americans lost due to the Bush administration in the last four years, and what will the world lose in the next four years? Verified facts, not opinions from any viewpoint, are laid forth in the special report in this issue.

You think Newsweek will get complaints about this? How many Americans will interpret this as pandering to anti-American audiences, or even worse, a possible cause of anti-American global sentiment. And why would Newsweek carry these "verified facts, free from opinion" in international editions instead of say, I don't know, publishing them in the United States?

Step carefully, Newsweek.

The elephant in the room

2005-05-24T17:04:00.000-05:00

This blog is about media relations, and how shaping public opinion (through positive positioning) can help you. It's also about how neglecting to defend your image can backfire.

So, why have I intentionally avoided the elephant in the room? My own backyard, even?

HealthSouth founder and CEO Richard Scrushy was on trial for his knowledge of a $2,700,000,000.00 (billion) accounting fraud. Over a number of years, HealthSouth fudged the numbers to meet Wall Street expectations. Fifteen former officers (including five CFOs) have reached plea agreements with the feds, in exchange for their cooperation against Scrushy.

(I will say that unlike the Enron's and the Tyco's of the corporate fraud world, HealthSouth was actually a profitable company delivering tangible service. Just not nearly as profitable as most were led to believe.)

The jury is now in its fourth day of deliberations, having to sort through 55 days of testimony and 6,000,000 documents. So again... why have I held off?

The Scrushy indictments and SEC hearings were among the last big stories I covered in my previous life as a journalist. That $2.7-billion figure came out of my addition and reporting. Needless to say, I know a heck of a lot about what prosecutors were up to, as they fought to freeze Scrushy's assets. With my new job, I didn't get the chance to directly see or hear a lot about what the defense was up to in the legal realm. But it's been interesting to see what's been happening on the public relations front.

I've maintained all along that Scrushy faces a monumental task: winning his freedom while keeping his reputation intact. He always had a corporate swagger of control, and was known for the degree to which he micro-managed certain aspects of HealthSouth. Richard Scrushy is a proud man, and intensely proud of the company he dreamed and established from nothing.

It takes a lot of moxie and ego to bring all of that together -- and those are exactly the sorts of things he had to let go of during the trial. How can one maintain that reputation, when the defense amounts to a lot of "I didn't know" and "I guess I'm not a great judge of character to have had such crooks in my trust."

The Scrushy saga has been the elephant in the room -- and now that it's in the hands of the jury, I can feel more comfortable as an ex-journalist to comment. And this particular missive has to do with Scrushy's playing of the race card. (I know what you're thinking... what's a white billionaire know about being black?) Throughout this ordeal, Scrushy has positioned himself as a simple man who grew up poor on the wrong side of the tracks in Selma, Alabama. A high-school dropout with no formal education, he made his way into the medical world as a respiratory therapist, married young with kids he could barely feed.

His attorneys have equated this to a civil rights case. Even now, you can't find Scrushy walking to or from the courthouse without an entourage of black attorneys, pastors, and supporters. Some think the display a little transparent, and will not affect the jury (split 6-6 black and white.) Some point to the timing of Scrushy's relationship with those inner city pastors, and a $1,000,000 gift he gave one influential congregation. Some even point to the executives Scrushy surrounded himself with, none of whom were black.

Richard Scrushy has spent a lot of time in and out of the courthouse on reputation managment. He and his wife Leslie did a religious talk show for more than a year, he had a website to refute the bias and false claims he saw in the media. From a trial standpoint, he bluffed jurors and reporters alike into believing he was prepped and ready to testify on his own behalf -- which he ultimately did not do. (I for one was not fooled, and I have witnesses to back that up.)

The prosecution's strategy was to play against Scrushy's need to rehabilitate his public image. Play his own ego against himself. It's not easy to win simultaneously in Federal court and the court of public opinion. We'll see how it works out.

Be Prepared.

2005-05-24T16:30:00.000-05:00

Update to a previous post:

Looks like the Boy Scouts are having problems in places other than Birmingham. Now, the Feds are investigating allegations that the Atlanta area Scouting operation may have artificially inflated its minority membership. For the time being, the United Way in Atlanta has withheld its allocation to the Boy Scouts while the charges are pending. (United Way contributions that were designated directly for the Boy Scouts are being passed along.)

Hint: Scouting supervisors across the United States better start brushing up on that crisis communications plan...

The spinning is slow in Bentonville

2005-05-23T15:45:00.000-05:00

It appears as though Wal-Mart's 180-degree shift on speaking to the media will pay off -- but that hasn't yet popped up on the bottom line.

Despite strong retail numbers, Wal-Mart missed Wall Street projections recently.

"Management distractions can have a tremendous effect on a company," said Craig Johnson, retail analyst with Customer Growth Partners. "The good news is that Wal-Mart took some action and they're putting more effort into their public relations."

For starters, Wal-Mart invited the members of the media for a first-ever two-day meet-and-greet with senior executives in early April.

But that's not likely to be enough to help pull the world's largest retailer out of its funk.

"Wal-Mart has to redefine itself to consumers," said Johnson. "If the lowest price pitch is its only value proposition, that's yesterday's news." In other words, it needs to come up with something new and fresh instead of just rocking along like it's the 1980s.

By contrast, Target exceeded expectations.

Even though the CNN reporter touched on a good bit of Wal-Mart's problem, there's another theory floating that gets greater play. The notion is that Wal-Mart does better in a bad economy, because shoppers are more interested in value. (Rather ironic for those politicos and experts who tout this as "the worst economy ever.")

We'll see if the economists change their tune in a year or so, when we can quantify coverage as good hits and bad hits, and compare it to the stock performace. (Which has been for the most part flat since long before Wal-Mart's first news conference in Bentonville.)

The name is the thing...

2005-05-20T00:05:00.000-05:00

(I've been hanging onto this article, because it just feels like a weekend piece... Have a safe one, by the way.)

We've seen a radical shift in what we sell and market. You sell an object or service -- you market an image. In that same vein, automakers sell you a car, but market a lifestyle.

Major automakers played it safe for a long time, with a lot of models identified by letters and digits. Now at least the pendulum is swinging back toward actual names for vehicles. And as such, there is a lot of research into finding a name that will market well in multiple places. For instance, you'd hate to spend a lot of ad and development dollars only to find out your product means "masterbation" in another language.

Don't laugh. It has happened. Forbes recently compiled "The Best, Worst & Weirdest Car Names. Take a few minutes, it's pretty interesting.

Oh, and one more thing.

It's not enough to research those words, but by all means, think like a Junior High Prankster.

(I'm long past that age, but if I were working for Publix, I'd better have a contingency plan for what to do if the "L" burns out.)

Gary Bettman running the NBA?

2005-05-19T11:31:00.000-05:00

Steve Nash has had one heck of a year. The Little-Canuck-that-Could is still hustling, and adding to his improbable MVP season. Last night, the 6'-3" guard went off for 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists in 42 minutes. Jason Terry couldn't stop him. Marquis Daniels couldn't stop him. Michael Finley couldn't stop him. Even former teammate Dirk Nowitzki couldn't stop him.

Nothing short of an NBA lockout can stop Steve Nash.

Oops. I spoke too soon.

You'd think that with all of the steroid talk, and that whole NHL season in the toilet, that the leadership of professional leagues and the players' associations would have figured out by now that not having games tends to hurt the fan base and the merchandising. We still don't know if hockey can recover. It took the once-in-a-century effort of Cal Ripken and a subsequent home run exhibition from Sosa and McGwire to being baseball back from the dead after a similar gaffe.

The NBA collective bargaining agreement runs through the end of June, and negotiations are off for now. I'd like to tell you that you could learn a lot about the art of spin from watching each side pin the blame on the other.

But you won't. Because the fans don't have any sympathy for the ultra-rich. They don't particularly care which group of rich men (owners vs. players and agents) has to bite the bullet. They aren't interested in hearing about how hard it is to raise a family on less than $9,000,000.

Lesson learned? Before you read your prepared statement, do a sound check from the front row to the cheap seats. You might be surprised to hear how hollow your words can echo when you've lost touch with your customers.

Missing the Target...

2005-05-18T23:15:00.000-05:00

As a rule, I don't generally try to rip off other people's blogs, but B.L. Ochman's "What's Next Blog" has a great cautionary tale about getting too cute with your decorations.

Let's just say that if you're a major retailer trying to score major publicity at a media opportunity that you are in full control of... and that event involves dressing up the venue with a bunch of toilets... you really ought to let people know they aren't hooked up to anything.

"We have had people use this nonfunctional bathroom all night, which does not even have any plumbing," lamented Samuel Coplan, who helped install the display in the pre-fab rooms set up to showcase Target's home furnishings. "Some poor [people] will just clean it up in the morning."

Bad news can slowly slither around the globe...

2005-05-17T17:14:00.000-05:00

By now, you've probably heard about the British boy who found a snake in his cereal box. (No doubt, this story got more attention after the month-long "Fingergate" that Wendy's so valiantly fought.)

While many agencies and PR professionals will advocate a quick response, some miss the boat by not complementing it with a slow one.

Check out this Google News search done on the words "snake cereal box", on May 17th. (I preserved it, just in case a few links change order.) You'll see a lot of the coverage hit within a day of the incident, May 4th. Look at the outlets: ABC Online (Australia), CNN Internaional, Reuters, MSNBC...

Now sort by date, and see what you get. The online edition of India's "The Hindu" didn't pick up the original story until the 13th, nine days later. Now, if you don't have a customer base in India, you might not care. But your quick response won't show up on this page at all, and those who are curious about your actions in this matter will have to dig to find it (and most aren't inclined to do so.)

There's a fine line to cross here, where you might be "giving the snake story more legs" by pushing your denials and mea culpae. You don't want to over-apologize. Just do your due diligence, and continue to monitor what's being said after the initial venom wears off.

A Fox is guarding the "then"-house.

2005-05-16T16:01:00.000-05:00

It hasn't exactly been a great year for Mexican President Vicente Fox.

He's already been blasted for his tantamount encouragement of Mexican citizens to illegally cross the U.S. border in search of work. He's drawn ire for suggesting that millions of Mexican immigrants will be necessary to shore up America's Social Security plan. He's railed against the building of any wall on our southern border, and threatened to seek global sanctions if U.S. citizens tried to monitor illegal border crossings.

Then again, he isn't running for office here.

Still, you'd have to know that this kind of statement would become a problem:

"There's no doubt that Mexican men and women -- full of dignity, willpower and a capacity for work -- are doing the work that not even blacks want to do in the United States."

In a situation like this, the smart thing to do would be to play up cultural differences in mis-interpretations, and let the statement fade into the footnotes. Mexico City's Catholic leadership didn't make things any easier:

Even Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, the archbishop of Mexico City, criticized the U.S. policy as ridiculous and defended Fox's comments, saying: "The declaration had nothing to do with racism. It is a reality in the United States that anyone can prove."

So what did we see in the way of a backpedal? Through a spokesman, Fox said:

"The purpose (of the comment) was none other than to show the importance Mexican workers have today in the development and progress of U.S. society."

Not exactly a strong retraction. The CNN article attempts to highlight the cultural differences:

While Mexico has a few, isolated black communities, the population is dominated by descendants of the country's Spanish colonizers and its native Indians.

Comments that would generally be considered openly racist in the United States generate little attention here.

One afternoon television program regularly features a comedian in blackface chasing actresses in skimpy outfits, while an advertisement for a small, chocolate pastry called the "negrito" -- the little black man -- shows a white boy sprouting an afro as he eats the sweet. Many people hand out nicknames based on skin color.

Victor Hugo Flores, a 30-year-old bond salesman, cringed when asked what he thought of Fox's comment, but said it isn't too different from popular sayings celebrating what Mexicans see as a strong work ethic among blacks.

"It was bad, but it really isn't racist," he said. "Maybe the president shouldn't have said it. But here we say things like, 'He works like a black person,' and it's normal."

What's our lesson here? There's a court of law, where you are home free if you can prove a fact. The truth, indeed, will set you free. In the court of public opinion, there are some truths that can lock you out of consideration and opportunities. People, by nature, are not always forgiving.

Are Fox and the Cardinal correct in what they say? The question is irrelevant. What matters is they didn't have the foresight to see they had no business raising the question. Fox could have made his point without using a racial example. Particularly in a race-conscious society.

A chilling blow to good PR

2005-05-14T07:33:00.000-05:00

You know... some professions require everyone have good public relations skills.

Enjoy your weekend.

Ice cream vendor ordered to cool off

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

A Good Humor man was served 18 months' probation Tuesday for losing his cool with a foul-mouthed teenager.
Nazzareno Didiano, 44, stopped dishing out peanut butter bars and Blue Bunnies last May 12 and began pummeling a pudgy-faced Bloomfield teen during a meltdown.

The teen, now 14, told Allegheny County Judge John A. Zottola during a brief trial that Didiano grabbed him by the arm, yanked him from his bike, punched him in the face and slammed him into a wall.

The attack came after the boy berated and cursed Didiano over the cost of his cones.

"I wanted to tell him I didn't appreciate being talked to like that," said Didiano, who denied punching the boy.

Zottola ruled he did not believe Didiano and convicted him of simple assault. In addition to the probation, Didiano must take anger management classes and reimburse the teenager $20 for damage to his bike.

The teen giggled as Didiano recounted the obscenities directed at him.

Didiano, who worked for Paul's Ice Cream Co., served up his own frosty insults.

"I told him he didn't need any ice cream anyway because he's fat," said Didiano.

The teen, about 5-foot-5 and 140 pounds, responded by calling Didiano a "bald (expletive) ripoff." Didiano later attacked when he found the boy sitting on a bike two blocks away.

Assistant District Attorney Dan Regan presented photographs of a red-faced victim with a cut inside of his mouth.

"He instigated the whole thing," said Didiano, who is looking for a new job.

The teen's mother said she's satisfied with the verdict, but complained that her son is now self-conscious about his weight.

"This has been a nightmare," she said.

"I told him he didn't need anymore ice cream because he's fat." Classic customer service. Great kick-start for a new campaign: "Paul's -- the ice cream you want, but only if you really need it. Our team of mobile health professionals will help you stay on your weight-loss target."

Loose lips, pink slips?

2005-05-10T09:19:00.000-05:00

Let's get some feedback here.

A former student at an all-girls Catholic school in Chicago is suing her teachers for discussing her case of mono with several classes -- describing it as "a disease that whores get."

Pretend you are hired to do damage control for this lawsuit and the resulting publicity. What can you do at this point to regain institutional integrity?

Keep in mind, a lot of time has passed since the incident. Contrast that with the case of the Columbus, GA high school student who was suspended for 10 days for talking on his cell phone during school hours. (It was his mother calling... from Iraq.) That boy's suspension was lifted after two days, and he won't be penalized for missing any tests or assignments. (That might have something to do with a tide of public sentiment.)

So, back to the schoolgirl with whose mononucleosis led to a bad rep. What would you do?

ABC News: An Illicit Affair on 'American Idol'?

2005-05-05T08:46:00.000-05:00

ABC News: An Illicit Affair on 'American Idol'?: "May 3, 2005 -- A former 'American Idol' contestant told ABC News' 'Primetime Live' that Paula Abdul, one of the judges for the hit reality television show, provided him with off-camera tips and assistance while he was a contestant, even helping him select some of the songs he would sing."

Let's look at what Fox had at its disposal to counter the allegations.

First, Paula Abdul's blanket denial was expected. Now that there is public evidence that Corey and Paula didn't have proper professional distance, there will be more questions. (The cough syrup may be the key, moreso than the phone stuff.)

Second. a lot of people though the "Fallen Idol" show would have some of the current information about Bo Bice's drug arrest record. That information hit the Smoking Gun website about a week and a half ago. Makes you wonder whether Fox leaked Bice's record as a pre-emptive strike.

It certainly wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. He properly warned them about his arrest record... they had easy access to the documents... a well-timed release might blunt the interest in the "Fallen Idol" expose... it might even generate sympathy against ABC for even doing a piece (which it did in Birmingham.)

Like a lot of good PR strategies -- we may never know.

Paula Abdul, on the other hand, might still have some 'splainin' to do.

Straight up. Your thoughts?

Turn that crown upside down.

2005-05-04T00:15:00.000-05:00

Do you know this man?

Odds are, you don't, but you probably agree with him about one thing:

"Imitation is the sincerest form of television."

The man is Fred Allen, and he was a huge force in entertainment back in the 1940s. you probably know some of his work. Or at least a reasonable facsimile.

How about this guy, over here? That's Foghorn Leghorn. "Now wha, I say what's the big idea!"

Foghorn Leghorn was a direct ripoff of a Fred Allen's recurring character, Senator Claghorn. "Now, who's responsible for this attack on my person?"

The point here is that even Fred Allen, at the top of his game, knew that television was two things: cyclical and cynical. "Any of this getting through to ya son?"

Most of the time, television has stayed true to its disposable nature, to the extent that when a show lasts longer than 100 episodes it's considered a raging success. We know that all good things, in order to be good, are temporary... and will end.

This is the dilemma facing the Miss America pageant. It's been a staple for so long, it's a part of the culture. Few television relics survived multiple generations: Bob Hope, the Tonight Show, and Miss America.

Ratings have been steadily declining, and since ABC has dropped the television rights, the producers are scrambling to find a better way to pitch (and promise) profitability. And it sounds like they are about to prove Fred Allen right:

"The Miss America Organization has hired the William Morris Agency to shop a pageant telecast reworked as a reality show, with competition stretched over several episodes, backstage access, and possibly even an open vote for the winner."

In a business where your image is everything, what do you do when your image no longer sells? Products are reworked all the time, but Miss America isn't a widget in need of better wrapping. It "is" the wrapping.

Let's see what the brain trust comes up with here. Maybe it'll go all "Survivor" on us. Maybe more "Fear Factor." Or maybe they just need to listen to Foghorn Leghorn, and spice up the evening gown competition with a strip show: "Show 'em what ya got but dooon't let 'em have it. Ya gotta teeeze 'em a little. Make 'em chase ya."

(Big credit to Neal Abrams for hosting a bunch of great sound clips.)

Promises, promises...

2005-04-25T15:39:00.000-05:00

Forget about Overstock.com being the "Big O"... Opera is making waves in the Atlantic. Literally.

If you aren't familiar with Opera, it's an alternative web browser that's been around longer than Firefox. It's quite fast, although the only free version does feature advertising. (Still not obtrusive, though.)

Opera recently released Version 8.0 for download, and with the sudden burst of recent activity for Mozilla's Firefox browser, Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner made a bold (cold) promise: If Opera-8 gets 1-million downloads in the first four days of release, he'd swim from Norway to the United States.

Oops. Now, he's all wet. As in already in the water on the way to America.

"Although I blatantly admit that my promise was based more on joy and enthusiasm than my swimming abilities and physical health, I will do my very best to keep it," he said in a statement.

He's not totally insane, though. First of all, he's taking his PR guy with him. Spokesman Eskil Sivertsen is rowing a boat alongside (presumably as punishment for releasing the braggadocious statement to begin with.) Sivertsen is bringing along a satellite phone, maps, food, water and a book with inspirational quotes from the Viking sagas.

"It's the least he can do, having put me in this situation in the first place," says Jon S. von Tetzchner with a wicked grin on his face. "Besides, I can't swim to the USA without maps, and this wet suit doesn't seem to have any pockets, so it's good to have him there – also as someone to talk to along the way."

The photo ops alone make this a winner. Opera gets tons of free publicity, the image of a corporate leader who stands by his word, and the "ocean voyage to America" theme harkens back to conquest -- which is a good place to position your third-place browser with less than 1-percent market share.

(PS: If you want to try Opera, don't worry about the "AdWare" designation. It loads the ads as you surf, and the ads stay in the same banner near the browser buttons. It doesn't load additional sneaky software onto your machine.)

Update: "Brave CEO saves PR Manager in Dramatic Rescue at Sea." Just brilliant.

How better PR can hang the "bullseye" on the competition.

2005-04-20T16:25:00.000-05:00

We've documented the ins and outs of Wal-Mart's shift in public relations strategy.
(That is, a shift from nothing to something.)

Since PR and marketing tend to be bigger losers when the economy and budgets tighten, we now have a classic laboratory case for just how much 'media savvy' is truly worth.

MSN Money asks the question, Can Wal-Mart's PR campaign save its stock?

Also -- with Wal-Mart now answering the challenge of its critics, will some of the heat transfer to other retailers?

CNN/Money looks at what could be the end of the free ride for Target.

M(o)ore backlash at the Capstone...

2005-04-06T22:14:00.000-05:00

It wasn't hard to see this train coming. The flap between the University of Alabama and sports artist Daniel Moore isn't exactly going UA's way. Even if they win the case, they lose from a public relations standpoint.

The feedback is overwhelmingly in Moore's favor, with a few people chiming in on UA's behalf. Sportswriters are treating the "Crimson A" like a new Scarlet Letter.

All of this apparently hit the newsstands about the time the new Alabama Alumni magazine hit mailboxes. And who did the Jesters of Irony place on the cover?

Now comes the latest salvo: Moore's refusal to pay royalties is costing students their scholarships. (Will that message really play with a hardcore fanatic audience that allegedly doesn't care about graduation rates and academics?)

Pre-emptive counterstrikes.

2005-04-05T17:32:00.000-05:00

When you're as big as Wal-Mart, and you've been this silent for so long, the fact that you are talking is enough to make news.

The mega-mega-retailer is hosting a two-day media blitz in Bentonville, no doubt to start bending editorial ears to their spin on various issues.

For the longest time, Wal-Mart was able to enjoy the 8,000-pound gorilla position, and didn't have to address critics. The corporate growth curve was still sharp and steep, and if it ain't broke...

...we'll know in the next few days about how well Wal-Mart's spin legions are able to handle the pre-emptive counterstrikes. Labor organizations are feeding the media frenzy in the final hours, hoping to shape the debate.

This can be an effective tactic, when you know a competitor or adversary is on the brink of unveiling a new effort or campaign. At the very least, it projects your position as that of equal footing, and gives you at least a chance to frame the issues from your perspective.

Given the number of contentious issues that has hounded Wal-Mart in recent years (lawsuits over gender equity and the use of illegal aliens, predatory pricing practices, contracting out of the US...) this is probably a wise move. Any extra time Wal-Mart spends dealing with "labor-prepped" media will likely translate into extra ink. Even if the issue winds up being a wash, you're still getting free publicity for your cause, and even re-energizing your own base.

What you do give up, though, is the chance to get the last word. Wal-Mart will likely counter with a series of talking points, and given the fact they've had years to work on them, they'll probably be pretty good ones. That's a trade-off you have to consider when you time your releases and points to meet the other guy's calendar.

Cleanup on aisle 3, and 4, and 5, and...

2005-03-31T16:57:00.000-06:00

Even the mighty need a little love...

Wal-Mart is holding a media conference -- not about a particular subject or incident. Just 'cause.

The retailer has taken a number of hits in the media over the years, but has always taken the philosophy that as long as we're growing, why risk it? Well -- here's why:

"Despite Wal-Mart's negative image, throngs of customers keep shopping at its stores, but that could change, image experts said.

'Any retailer has to be cautious about consumers' opinions of their business ethics and practices,' said Howard Rubenstein, president of Rubenstein Associates, a New York-based public relations firm."

The 50 or so journalists who are expected to make the trip to Arkansas to attend will have plenty of past fodder on which to chew... and Wal-Mart can ill afford to play around with the responses.

"They need to persuade people they are bigger than people's attitudes toward them," said Clarke Caywood, professor of public relations at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

My guess is the Bentonville marketing machine knows how to use Google News, and they are well aware of what will be asked. There could even be an advantage in being able to prepare for everything, because the press will have to as well. But a hungry press could stir a frenzy now that there's blood in the water.

"This is clearly by Wal-Mart's own admission a damage control tour," said Christy Setzer, a spokeswoman at the AFL-CIO, whose United Food and Commercial Workers Union is trying to organize workers at some Wal-Mart stores. "They are aware of a growing chorus of community leaders, environmentalists and religious leaders, who are saying that Wal-Mart's values are not our values. And they need to respond to this. It is telling that they would rather spend millions of dollars on PR efforts than to change their business practices."

The irony here is that the company does have some decent things going on within its various communities, in terms of charitable involvement and corporate citizenry. But there hasn't been a comprehensive strategy to capitalize on that as an antidote to the anti-Wal-mart sentiment.

If I can find a transcript of the newser, it might be fun to pick apart the answers.

Anyone interested?

When art imitates life -- a little TOO well.

2005-03-24T12:17:00.000-06:00

If you don't recognize the guy at the left, don't worry. You probably recognize his work.

Daniel Moore is the 2005 Sports Artist of the Year, although in the state of Alabama, he's really been the only sports artist of record for an entire generation.

Remember that postage stamp honoring Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant? Moore did that one. He also did the stamps for Pop Warner, George Halas and Vince Lombardi. He's more well-known for photo-realistic depictions of turning points from crucial games. You can see them in athletic departments, and in the dens and offices of rich (and not-so-rich) fans and boosters across the Southeast.

Anyway... now he's being sued by the University of Alabama in a licensing dispute.

The university's lawsuit, which Moore said he received via fax on Friday, claims Moore has violated trademark law and marketed some products with Crimson Tide images without paying licensing fees.

It seems the University isn't going after Moore to be vindictive -- it's a matter of not establishing a precedent by letting people walk all over their trademarks. But Moore's attorneys say a 2000 case involving Tiger Woods set the legal standard that art is free speech, and is not subject to license fees based on content.

I don't know the ins and outs of the legal briefs, but I do know this: the university isn't winning the PR war.

In his own news release, Moore states:

"Dr. (Finus) Gaston conveyed the University’s position as being that a mere depiction of an Alabama sports uniform in a Fine Art Print is cause enough for the work to be subject to licensing—even if it did not include a depiction of a registered trademark of the school itself. "

Wow. That seems rather greedy, and according to an online poll by AL.com, 85% of the respondents voted no on the question "Should Daniel Moore have to pay licensing fees to the University of Alabama?"

I know the University took a long time to eventually file an action. But it does make you wonder whether the guardians of the school's images won out over the guardians of the school's reputation. Even if UA wins... it loses.

How to make your customers zoom-zoom-zoom away...

2005-03-23T16:36:00.000-06:00

(zoom zoom.)
Zoom - zoom - zoom...

A Wisconsin woman tries to invoke the lemon law, and Mazda kicks and screams through the appellate courts.

I don't know who to blame more -- the lawyers who are dragging this thing on, or the PR people who aren't pointing out the inherent danger of seeking bad publicity.

My theories

2005-03-16T16:34:00.000-06:00

Folks... it's been feast or famine in the Good-and-the-Bad. Other than the ongoing Michael Jackson media circus, the wilderness is silent. (And speaking of the circus -- I've desperately avoided mentioning that Jackson's handlers are cutting off his nose to spite his... nah. Too easy.)

So -- I bring you a couple of original thoughts, and how you need to avoid them in your implementation.

First, what I call The Beekeeping Theory of Public Relations: Blow a lot of smoke, and hope it keeps you from getting stung.

This is more common than you would think, and it's more a result of a lack of planning. Sometimes, it's employed by organizations that are trying to slip their bad medicine out in giant sugar-coated containers -- hoping the sheer volume of released information will make it less likely to be discovered. Risky, at best.

The second notion is what I call the Nostril Theory: PR strategies are like nostrils... everybody has two, and picking one in public will tarnish your reputation.

Flip-flopping was the buzzword of the last political season, and it has enough legs that it can apply to you. All you have to do is be caught in an apparent contradiction during a crisis. It's that simple.

There really is more than one possible course of action for every conceivable corporate disaster. Just don't get caught trying to switch mid-stream. Commit to your plan, and stay the course. Those who stray are either not paying attention, or do so because they see what they perceive as an opportunity to take advantage of a short-term situation. Whether it's a competitor's failure, or a sympathetic ear in the media -- you have to make sure you stick to the plan. Others are counting on you to maintain the same consitent message and tone.

Just a couple of thoughts to brighten your day.

Just "Beat It."

2005-03-02T15:25:00.000-06:00

Here's a story about a PR expert who got bounced out of Neverland.

Apparently, she had some ideas about how the King of Pop ought defend his image, but never got to the throne room. Instead, someone on the inside hatched a plan to play hardball with the eventual complaintant.

Ann Kite, who also goes by the professional name Ann Gabriel, told jurors in Jackson's trial that she was hired by his Las Vegas-based lawyer, David LeGrand, less than a week after the documentary, "Living With Michael Jackson," aired on Britain's ITV on February 3, 2003.

A different version, based on the same material, later aired in the United States on ABC.

Kite described the program as "an absolute disaster" for the pop star and that, on a damage scale from one to 10, she would put it at "a 25."

Well -- that sounds about right to me.

In his cross-examination, defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. challenged Kite's description of herself as a crisis management expert, getting her to admit that the only other celebrity client she had was an obscure Las Vegas entertainer whose act included self-hypnosis.

"You really weren't very experienced in the area of celebrity crisis management," Mesereau said, asking Kite why she described herself that way.

"I've seen a lot," she replied.

Mesereau is trying to discredit Kite, because prosecutors are using her to prove that the original Martin Bashir documentary backfired on the singer. She claims that her dismissal came directly on the heels of information that Jackson's handlers thought would paint the accuser's mother as a "crack whore."

Some people just don't get it.

A good crisis manager is someone who can deliver a good read on outside opinion. Don't shoot the messenger.

Practice makes perfect

2005-02-17T16:00:00.000-06:00

Okay, I am not advocating that you get right out there and go to Political Pundit School, but there's is a key point or two in this article that make sense.

Media training isn't new, and even though the arenas may change, the fundamental prinicples still apply: When it is your name and reputation on the line, you need to be clear and concise in your messaging.

This author is recounting his trip to a hardcore boot-camp for television talking heads. Much of the advice runs counter to what we generally recommend... but then again, most of our training clients aren't working in a place where you have to shout to be heard, and confrontation rules the day.

The one skill that does pertain is how to incorporate your key messages into a conversation:

"I ran out of things to say. This is a problem that plagues inexperienced pundits, but Masters has an easy solution: come up with a list of talking points and commit them to memory. 'To train yourself,' he went on, 'be prepared to weave your points into any conversation. It's a fun thing to practice at cocktail parties.'"

This can be a difficult skill to acquire, because there are so many precursor skills to learn and few people teaching those basics.

I like to think of this challenge according to the "hooks" of the subject.

Listen for a commonality with the subject of your key message.
Listen for a commonality with the action you are proscribing.
Listen for a commonality with the object of the action.

Subject. Verb. Object.

Someway, somehow, you can usually tie one of your points to someone else's comments. It may require some adjustments, either in impact or in scale:

"Masters counsels clients to either broaden the question or narrow it, depending on what suits their partisan purposes. Was Bush helped by strong job numbers this month? Then the broader issue is the continual outsourcing of American jobs. Are Hillary's favorability ratings on the rise? No problem: in red states she still ranks below avian flu."

Finally, there is the issue of getting the most out of the message you have constructed. Master storyteller Wayne Freedman often coaches the power in the "Rule of 3s," and educators have long taught in three-steps: instruction, application, and correction. "Three"s are so natural to us, we tend to hear them or look for them even when they aren't there. (I know there's someone in your office that always asks 'Who's next?' after two prominent celebrities die.) Use that to your advantage:

"People think and process information in groups of three," he explained. "Larry, Curly, Moe. Beginning, middle, end. Anytime you answer a question, first hit your message, then enhance it with a story or an anecdote, then hit it again. Narrow, wide, narrow."

Boy Scouts: Ill-prepared?

2005-02-11T15:45:00.000-06:00

For those of you outside of the area, the Greater Alabama Council of the Boy Scouts of America is being investigated by the FBI. It is charged with inflating its membership rolls.

Of particular interest is the fact that these charges have been public for a number of weeks now, and the scouts finally got around to hiring an outside public relations firm to assist with messaging. Here's what got my attention:

The council, which confirmed the FBI review last month and said it was cooperating with investigators, said it had developed "an aggressive plan" for implementing an internal audit.

That's it? After all of that time, all we get is an "aggressive plan" for implementing an "internal audit?"

Folks... this is a clear case of an organization needing a crisis communications plan. Once there is a situation that threatens your institutional credibility, you need to get out front with a statement like this one. I like the word selection: aggressive, internal, and audit are all strong words that invoke connotations of swift and sure action. They promote confidence.

They also fly in the face of reality if they are used nearly four weeks after their peak effectiveness.

You mean to tell me that only now, weeks after the feds have raided your place and rolled out files in front of television cameras... only now are you developing a plan for an internal audit?

Many days late -- and considering what they are paying their outside spokespeople -- many dollars short.

A business or team with a halfway decent proactive crisis communications plan could have put that out within 30 minutes.

Post Super Bowl second thoughts...

2005-02-07T23:14:00.000-06:00

...And this example is all about mixing your messages (or being caught while trying to obscure something.)

Aesthetically, I really liked the DirecTv ad with the kid who ages as he walks from room to room. The seams were well-masked, using a combination of new technology and old techniques (see Hitchcock's "The Rope.")

The payoff at the end, which admittedly was not as memorable as the meat of the ad, was a pitch for DirecTv's new Hi-Def initiatives. The tagline was "Rethink TV."

That's all well and good -- until my DirecTv bill showed up in the mail. Along with the notice that our service package price was going up in March.

Maybe -- just maybe -- the middle of an across-the-board rate increase is *NOT* the time to encourage customers to "rethink TV."

Rule of thumb: make sure your key messages aren't internally inconsistent with your actions. Or as Confucious put it, "words and deeds must be in harmony."

Super Bowl ad research: FedEx delivers.

2005-02-07T00:59:00.000-06:00

What can I say. I am a sucker for truth.

And the FedEx/Kinkos ad hit it squarely on the head, with a rundown of cliches necessary for SuperBowl Ad success:
1) Celebrity
2) Animal
3) Dancing animal
4) Cute kid
5) Groin kick
6) Talking animal
7) Attractive females
8) Product pitch (optional)
9) Catchy pop song
10) Bonus ending

I typed this from memory, AND I remembered which company placed the ad. That means it was effective, at least in the sense that a great number of past ads were so funny you forgot the product they were sponsoring.

If you blow a key message, do you have to run laps?

2005-02-01T16:36:00.000-06:00

A Denver-based outfit is now offering preventative advice to athletes that are on the way up. As you can guess, the media training is going to rely heavily on sports analogies:

"Media Training Camp helps athletes assess the media “playing field”, develop and deliver messages that resonate with fans and analyze the effectiveness of their efforts. Participants will learn how to “score points”, “avoid penalties” and know when to play offense or defense with the media."

I guess the real question here is who is going to get to these kids in college while they are still making their reputations and before they have the money to afford media training? A lot of big-time university programs would be well-served to find a way to bring media advice to these kids early.

More on Armstrong...

2005-01-24T16:20:00.000-06:00

Armstrong Williams has caught a lot of flak -- but what about the "flacks" that hired him. (Not the Department of Education, but the middleman in this affair.)

Well, Ketchum PR is now "ketching" it for not stepping forward with a mea culpa. Elizabeth Albrycht says their initial silence became deafening in her CorporatePR blog.

Six days after the scandal broke, Ketchum CEO Ray Kotcher (pictured left) published this letter in PR Week.

"For our part, Ketchum has begun a thorough review of all existing federal contracts and is retaining an outside firm to conduct a complete process that will surely yield recommendations to improve transparency as it relates to government contracts."

Talking points in Tikrit

2005-01-22T00:06:00.000-06:00

"Now drop, and give me a 20 second sound bite, you maggot!"

Okay, so the training probably isn't that intense, but Editor and Publisher is reporting that U.S. soldiers bound for Iraq are now getting mandatory media training as part of their deployment preparations, since October. (The Marines apparently have required it for years.)

The training consists of one or two hours of briefings by public-affairs specialists (which is a little shorter than the typical Positive Position seminar, by the way.) Once in the field, soldiers are given "talking points" cards, which might be updated as often as once a week. Some highlights:

• The Marine Corps is trained, resourced, and ready to accomplish its missions. We are committed to the cause and will remain in Iraq as long as we are needed.

• The fight in Iraq is tough, but we will remain steadfast and not lose heart.

• We are moving forward together with the Iraqi government as partners in building a future for the sons and daughters of Iraq.

• Coalition forces will help our Iraqi partners as they build their new and independent country and take their rightful place in the world community.

• Our troopers and their families are our greatest and most treasured resource.

• The Corps is a national institution -- it has never failed to do the will of the American people.

I'm not sure about whether the cards have been in use in Iraq since the beginning. My gut tells me that if they were that prevalent, at least one of the embedded reporters would have broken the story earlier.

Stay on target... Stay on target...

2005-01-17T17:00:00.000-06:00

Edit: Welcome to all of the TOTALFark visitors... glad to have you here.
(So tell me, exactly what sort of link to this blog is bringing you all here, anyway?)

You've seen this guy. You've heard this guy. Later, you'll probably agree that he had one of the most memorable lines in the entire Star Wars saga: "Stay on target... stay on target!"

Well, he has a name. Graham Ashley. And that role as X-wing pilot "Gold Five" will live forever.

Maybe it's because that line has become a mantra for crisis communications. "Stay on target... stay on target!"

Conservative pundit Armstrong Williams is exercising that muscle right now, in an attempt to control the damage as previously outlined. Williams was on the talk-show circuit, where columnist David Corn observed the following:

"He was quick with his main talking point: "It was bad judgment, Dave. Bad judgment." His phone rang. He answered it, said hello, and then told the person on the other end, "It was bad judgment. You know, just bad judgment." I was reminded that in addition to being a pundit, Williams, a leading African-American conservative and Clarence Thomas protégé, is a PR specialist with his own firm. Not too long ago, Michael Jackson called him for advice. Now he had himself for a client, and, heeding conventional crisis-management strategy, he was practicing strict message discipline: bad judgment, bad judgment, bad judgment."

Unfortunately for Williams, he let's his guard down. Corn continues:

"And then Williams violated a PR rule: he got off-point. "This happens all the time," he told me. "There are others." Really? I said. Other conservative commentators accept money from the Bush administration? I asked Williams for names. "I'm not going to defend myself that way," he said. The issue right now, he explained, was his own mistake. Well, I said, what if I call you up in a few weeks, after this blows over, and then ask you? No, he said."

There comes a point where you need to shut up.

Just as Jek Porkins. Porkins, one of the most famous unknowns in the Star Wars universe, got to say a lot more than Gold Five did. He had such lines as "Red Six standing by" and "I'm right with you Red Three."

Speaking more can hurt you, as Porkins soon found out.
"I've got a problem here."
"I can hold it."
"No I'm alright, I'm alright aaaarrrrrggghhhhh.... "

Calling the Kettle in the Black

2005-01-14T19:27:00.000-06:00

Update time...

It appears that most of the local Salvation Army "Kettle Drives" were more than successful.

Just Googling around, there are many areas that showed a great increase over last year, even without the projected losses from being kicked out of Target Store parking lots.

Meanwhile, Target is reporting that same-store sales were up 11.3% over last year.

Like I predicted. No losers.

The (Bentonville) Empire Strikes Back

2005-01-13T18:16:00.000-06:00

After years of sitting back, taking it on the chin from competitors and protestors, and growing like kudzu, Wal-Mart is firing back to clear its image.

I guess all of the complaints about overseas trade imbalances, lower pay for women, union-busting, benefit-shaving, inferior products, shutting down Mom-and-Pops, invading trendy neighborhoods, driving truckers to exhaustion, and pagan animal rituals finally got to the brass. (Okay, I made the last one up.) But the point here is that the others, whether substantiated or not, had been repeated so vociferously and so often that the substance entered the general consciousness as truth.

CEO H. Lee Scott took out full page ads in more than 100 papers. He says he's not worried about how the tactic appears, as long as Wal-Mart tells the truth. “There are a lot of urban legends going round these days about Wal-Mart,” said Lee Scott, chief executive. “For too long, others have had free rein to say things about our company that just aren't true. Our associates [employees] are tired of it and we've decided it's time to draw our own line in the sand.” (Now that he's thrown down that gauntlet, he'd better well stick to it.)

An education "Strong Arm" tactic.

2005-01-07T15:22:00.000-06:00

Conservative commentator and talk show host Armstrong Williams got his hand caught in the cookie jar.

USA Today broke the story Friday morning, detailing how Williams' company got a $240,000 contract from the US Department of Education to highlight the advantages of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America's Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy said he couldn't comment because the White House is not involved in departments' contracts. Education Department spokesman John Gibbons said the contract followed standard government procedures. Gibbons said there are no plans to continue with "similar outreach."

Williams' contract was part of a $1 million deal with Ketchum that produced "video news releases" designed to look like news reports. The Bush administration used similar releases last year to promote its Medicare prescription drug plan, prompting a scolding from the Government Accountability Office, which called them an illegal use of taxpayers' dollars.

Forget the ethical problems involved here. This is precisely the kind of trouble you can expect to get into when you aren't careful about the multiple hats you wear. Williams deserves to be scolded, if for no other reason than for being stupid about how things will look under public scrutiny.

Happy Holidays

2004-12-24T17:50:00.000-06:00

And Merry Christmas.

I'm on the road for a while, and can't say for sure when I'll get a chance to scout for further examples of good/bad/ugly.

Keep checking -- and we'll see you when we see you! God bless!

How to target your competitors ugly press.

2004-12-17T10:15:00.000-06:00

The Minneapolis-based retailer Target took a hard look at its solicitation policy, and made a harder decision to enforce it against Salvation Army bell-ringers.

As you might expect, there has been a media and consumer backlash. The Salvation Army announced that the ban outside of Target stores would cost the non-profit in excess of $9,000,000 for this season's kettle campaign. And to make matters worse, some of the boycotters are adding their own agenda to the fire, claiming the bell-ringer ban is really an attack on Christians fueled by gay rights organizations.

Not content to sit on the sidelines, Wal-Mart is one of a number of competitors that has embraced the bell-ringing volunteers -- and has even announced it will match those gifts dollar for dollar (up to $1,000,000) through Christmas.

The press attention has been extremely one-sided. Outside of the initial reports, there has been no mention of the fact that many shoppers might prefer not having to make a token donation each time they walk by. Recent stories have failed to take this into account. Also -- not only will the Salvation Army more than make up that deficit because of the backlash, it doesn't rely on the kettle drive for everything. By far, the biggest source of revenue for the Salvation Army is planned giving and bequests. The organization is in better financial shape than just about any non-profit in history. It will be interesting to see how the Salvation Army really fares at the end of the Kettle Drive, and even more interesting to see how Target's holiday sales end up. It's not out of the question that both will end up better for the deal -- and Wal-Mart could sneak in and get a piece of that too.

A Busch-league makeover

2004-12-14T16:25:00.000-06:00

Kurt Busch is a NASCAR champion, who was just a punch or two away from being the next Ron Artest.

Fortunately, some of his big-money sponsors saw the light, and staged a media training intervention.

Youth + speed + high exposure can be a formula for a real car wreck... it can also be a recipe for a media relations nightmare. If proper media training is lacking in your marketing plan, you run the risk of countering your own message.

When "no" doesn't always mean "no."

2004-12-13T11:15:00.000-06:00

The state of Alabama has taken a lot of grief from the rest of the country (here and here and here, and many others in Google News search results) over a failed statewide referendum to remove racist language from the Alabama Constitution.

Michael Ciammara with the Alabama Policy Institute is trying to correct the record.

He's been making the rounds, trying to get people to understand that voters weren't voting "for racism" when they narrowly defeated Amendment 2. He ought to know. He opposed the referendum, and he was the man who authored the thing in the first place.

Ciamarra says he's resubmitting his original Amendment 2, without the additions that were secretly tacked on by a lawmaker. Meanwhile, the pounding continues.

Spinning wheels...

2004-12-10T14:40:00.000-06:00

Too much spinning can make you dizzy, and you wind up throwing up on your customer base.

DaimlerChrysler is reporting that the feds are calling for the recall of more than 600,000 Dodge Dakotas and Durangos.

NHTSA is making the recommendation after investigating reports of upper ball joint separation on dozens of vehicles. When that joint separates, the suspension can collapse and the wheel can fall off.

Those reports are tied into causing a number of accidents, but no injuries.

Now, as a spokesperson, it's important to put the best face on a situation. DaimlerChrysler spokesman Max Gates was quoted this way in the New York Times:

"We don't think a recall is appropriate," Mr. Gates said. "We haven't had any serious injuries or fatalities. We've been saying this is not a safety defect."

CBS News first reported the request for a recall.

The traffic agency could force the company to recall the trucks, but that process could take years and could potentially be delayed by litigation.

Mr. Gates said the problems with the trucks generally occurred at low speeds during turns. He also said most drivers would have advance warnings of a potential problem because of excessive tire wear or unusual noises coming from the front of the trucks.

As a driver, that would make me feel more secure. As a DaimlerChrysler stockholder, I'd feel more secure if Mr. Gates didn't leave himself open to creative editing. Some journalists will latch onto parts of your statement if you are not careful. Like in this Associated Press brief that hit dozens of television news sites, like this one:

The company spokesman says it does not think "it rises to the level of a safety defect."

Wow. Big difference. And there's no context to let you know that Gates has a point, instead of just blowing smoke.

How do you avoid this? It's real tricky. Proactive techniques work with regular beat writers and producers, where you get a chance to explain the connection in a way they will understand. Lacking that opportunity, you need to phrase things differently, so the "juicy" part of the quote is harder to remove from its context:

"For this to be a real safety issue, wheels would be falling off without warning or at high speeds -- and there's no recorded instance of that. Most drivers were alerted by unusual front-end noise, or tire wear."

That was just from the top of my head. It's not perfect, but it demonstrates some principles in the war of words:

- The potentially damaging phrase is placed within a dependent clause. "We've been saying this is not a safety defect" can stand alone as an independent sentence. It is harder to take your phrase out of context when it is clearly dependent upon surrounding words for meaning.

- The potentially damaging phrase is shrouded in the cloak of possibility. "Wheels would be falling off at high speeds." Now, the recall is cast as a precautionary probability, instead of avoiding a certain doom. Subliminal in effect, yet very effective. The glass is mostly full.

- The potentially damaging phrase is couched along with advice to drivers about what to look for. If I was a Dodge driver, and I heard that wheels were falling off, I'd be livid. If I knew there were a couple of easy things to check, I'd feel better about staying on the road until time for the recall repair. Because of the construction of that short paragraph, the information I would want is right there.

You can't always gurarantee that reporters will write things the way you meant them. So write them in a way that gives less leeway for misinterpretations. Put on your "pretend journalist cub reporter" hat, and look at a few phrases or sentences in your statement. See which ones you'd twist or stretch if you were a competitor. Fix what you can, and then don't sweat it. Your long-term credibility is more important than short-term spin.

"I'd like to teach the world to spin..."

2004-12-07T17:00:00.000-06:00

NYU is staging a boycott of Coca-Cola products, because of allegations of child labor and human rights violations in El Salvador.

Coca-Cola responded to this nearly a half-year ago, detailing how it met with the Human Rights Watch on several occasions.

Apparently, the folks at NYU are still putting stock in the Human Rights report from June 4th, with little attention paid to Coke's response of June 10th.

What's really funny here is that since 1985, American Coke has been made with high-fructose corn syrup.

Bottom line, though -- Serious accusations filed, Coke filed a quick response, but there's something else you have to take into account: "A person can believe anything he wants, as long as he can disparage the motive of the debunker." Therefore, it pays to be vigilant, and ensure that the general public isn't bypassing your efforts to reach them with the truth.

Actually, Thomas Sowell said it this way:

"It is amazing how many people think that they can answer an argument by attributing bad motives to those who disagree with them. Using this kind of reasoning, you can believe or not believe anything about anything, without having to bother to deal with facts or logic."