Why PR Advice Is The Last Thing Tiger Woods Needs
The Tiger Woods soap opera isn’t just a gift to the tabloid press. It’s been a championship season for PR and crisis management advice. Even before the latest statement hit the Web, communications experts were scrambling to rehash the criticisms of last November and offer another round of self-serving counsel about what Woods should do to get his reputation out […]
Read MoreSmith vs. Southwest: Who Wins The PR Skirmish?
It’s tough to build a good reputation as an airline these days. As musician Dave Carroll reminded us, you don’t even need to be 100% right to gain the upper hand to take on the guys who fly. Mostly, you need to be creative and funny, because airlines carry a lot of baggage when it comes […]
Read MoreWhat Goldman Can Learn From Toyota: Apology Communications
Lately, the public apology has been cheapened to the point of commodity. Hardly a month passes without a tearful, televised mea culpa from a politician or athlete. On the corporate front, the typical PR offering is more along the lines of “mistakes were made” – a masterful mouthful of nothingspeak. The banking industry’s contrition is […]
Read MoreRoyal Caribbean In Haiti: A Tough Call
When I first read about the Royal Caribbean Line ship that docked at Haiti’s Labadee beach shortly after the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, I was taken aback. To say it created a royal PR problem for the cruise line that owned many a private boat in Cabo San Lucas was an understatement. The storm of criticism was so fierce […]
Read MoreWhat PR Boom? Why The Recession Hasn’t Helped Public Relations
Like my peers, I was interested to read the latest article about our industry in The Economist. Titled “Good News,” the piece posits that PR has profited during the recession, since so many companies have suffered business and reputation declines. It cites the latest Veronis Suhler Stevenson data indicating a 3% growth for the PR business […]
Read MoreMcGwire PR Strategy Misses The Mark
Somehow, I expected more of Ari Fleischer. Fleischer, who served as George Bush’s Press Secretary for two years (which is like 10 years in real time), knows a thing or two about PR and messaging. But, his coaching seemed to fall short for his client Mark McGwire this week when McGwire tried to come clean and apologize […]
Read MoreTen Trends Affecting PR Professionals In 2010
Despite their overabundance this time of year, I’m a fan of lists. They impose structure and order on what is actually messy, imperfect, and disorderly. But, because I missed the 2009 list window I’ve taken a crack at identifying the major trends affecting our business and what they’ll mean in 2010 and beyond. 1. Social […]
Read MoreWill Tiger Woods Sink Celebrity Endorsement?
The seemingly endless Tiger Woods scandal, and the well-worn implications for PR and crisis management, have me thinking instead about another aspect of our business – the celebrity endorsement. In this case, the negative fallout is so dramatic – and so unanticipated – that I have to wonder. Could brands become wary of getting into […]
Read MoreWhy Climategate’s An Epic PR Fail
Call it a perfect storm… of scandal. As world leaders have gathered in Copenhagen to discuss global climate issues, the ill winds of “Climategate” are still blowing. Since hundreds of private emails between some of the world’s leading climate scientists were hacked and leaked online, skeptics have cried foul. Sarah Palin’s opinion piece in today’s Washington […]
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