
A PR View Of Ellen’s Apology
It’s not the biggest story in the country today, but it’s instructive for PR and crisis management experts. This week Ellen DeGeneres issued her first on-air apology after reports of her show’s “toxic workplace.” For those who are tapped to help craft redemptive messages for personalities and corporations, a public apology is always useful, and […]
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The PR Winners Of 2019
For most experts in public relations, it’s easy to identify episodes where companies or individuals made mistakes, often making a bad situation worse. But what about the successes? Those are harder to assess. They may be about the brand that punches above its weight, one that makes a comeback against the odds, or even the […]
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The PR Losers Of 2019
Who had the worst PR of 2019? Yes, it’s that time of year when we evaluate the mistakes, stumbles and train wrecks of public reputation over the past 12 months. There’s lots to choose from, including fresh blunders by the usual suspects like Uber and Facebook. But for this post we’re focusing on truly terrible […]
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A PR Guide To Surviving Thanksgiving
The Thanksgiving holiday always requires advance preparation, but this year, we’re adding expert PR and media training advice to the list. With wall-to-wall press coverage of impeachment hearings and the runup to the 2020 election, it’s a tricky time for families who disagree about political issues and candidates. Here are some follow-ups to last […]
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Edelman Falls Short As PR Industry Leader
It’s always instructive when PR teams entrusted with managing the reputations of major corporations run into reputation problems of their own. But it’s downright disturbing when it happens to one that presumes to lead our industry. Mega-agency Edelman recently made waves by resigning a lucrative engagement working with for-profit corrections company The GEO Group, a […]
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Why Boeing’s Reputation Radar Failed
Boeing’s PR crisis deepened this week as a fuller picture emerged of its handling of serious problems surrounding the 737 Max. With the release of audio from a tense November 2018 meeting between the American Airlines pilots’ union and Boeing executives – after the Lion Air crash but before the Ethiopian Airlines accident – the […]
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How To Restore A Public Reputation
When the college admissions cheating and bribery scandal broke nearly a month ago, two names led the headlines. More than 50 people were implicated, but actors Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were featured in every article. Both actors’ spouses were mentioned, and as a social influencer, Loughlin’s daughter Olivia Jade was also drawn into the […]
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When The Crisis PR Guy Is The Crisis
There’s not a major corporation today that doesn’t have a small army of PR and reputation experts helping it navigate a tricky media and government relations landscape. But occasionally, the damage comes from a company’s own ranks. That happened this week when the Campbell Soup Company found itself in hot water after a bizarre tweet […]
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A PR View Of CEO Apologies
Most public relations experts agree that the rules of the public apology are relatively simple. Be sorry. Do it quickly. Take full responsibility. Where possible, communicate how you will fix the problem. But if apologizing is so simple, why do so many CEOs botch the apologies? Sometimes it’s because legal advice conflicts with PR counsel. […]
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