Posts Tagged ‘issues management’

Ultimate Sequester PR Strategy: the White House as content creator, channel master

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

Posted by Tom Gable

Case histories will be written and studied for years on how the Obama White House has found new tools and tactics for connecting at the local level, while marginalizing major national media.

As covered in Politico in a piece called “Obama the puppet master,” the Obama White House has developed its own content creation machine to feed all channels of communication with tightly crafted messages that build the Obama brand. It chooses the channels with surgical precision. Why interview with The New York Times beat reporter who knows the issues and risk facing tough questions, Politico notes, when one can dominate local media through strategically scheduled interviews with friendly anchormen and women who may not be up on the issues?  The cumulative effect can be bigger than scoring a national media hit, as covered in depth by Politico.

The orchestration of coverage of potential economic Armageddon from the automatic budget cuts scheduled for March 1 (called Sequester) is the latest and most complex example of a local-national strategy. From the Secretary of Transportation setting the stage with future delays at major airports because of fewer air traffic controllers, to interviews in local markets with data on the anticipated loss of jobs (e.g. underway Feb. 26 in military towns in Virginia), the PR efforts are carrying consistent messages carefully chosen to appeal to each audience. How does it work?

Politico and a follow up piece by the Poynter Organization (“The dangerous delusions of the White House press corps and the president”) provided details. To summarize the key elements of the Obama White House approach and one that can work for brands, organizations, political candidates, new product introductions, crisis PR and other PR campaigns:

  • Develop a comprehensive, cohesive message strategy with consistent themes and supporting evidence;
  • Be precise in targeting and masterful in scheduling and orchestrating the individual parts of the program;
  • Go for local issues, with local examples;
  • The White House (or any brand) becomes the ultimate publisher (print, broadcast, photography, video, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube and more);
  • Every appearance or event needs to support the brand, to include great photo opportunities with locals for driving local coverage;
  • Control the content and flow through all channels by picking the media carefully;
  • Stage events to focus on the big messages and memorable lines and don’t allow time at the end for random media questions that might delve into negative territory and take the candidate, CEO or other luminary off-message;
  • Go for easy wins at the local level, then build regionally;
  • Ignore the major media unless they are friendly;
  • Produce your own photography and video rather than allow media coverage (local outlets are always looking for free content);
  • Shun those who have produced or written anything that would be considered negative;
  • Pound away at key messages through major pieces with the friendly media and TV personalities and support with social barrages to hit every target relentlessly;
  • Use the classic “weekend document dump” to avoid negative coverage and “minimize attention to embarrassing or messy facts”;
  • And orchestrate all the elements to ramp up for strategically and with surgical precision for maximum impact at a pre-designated date, such as an election or the day before the so-called fiscal cliff.

The latter – strategic planning of all elements for total control – represents the biggest challenge. Many organizations, brands and individuals can master parts of integrated campaigns.  Few would have the budget, the talent, the discipline and the power even close to that of the Obama White House to succeed on all fronts.

The bottom line, according to Politico:

“With more technology, and fewer resources at many media companies, the balance of power between the White House and press has tipped unmistakably toward the government. This is an arguably dangerous development, and one that the Obama White House — fluent in digital media and no fan of the mainstream press — has exploited cleverly and ruthlessly.”

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Posted in Brilliant Counsel, Horizon Management, Hypemeister Honor Roll, Leverage, News and Media, Social Media | Comments Off

Communications at the Speed of Light in Crisis PR

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

When Crisis Hits

Posted by Tom Gable

Situation: The Twittersphere and blogosphere are exploding with attacks on your company, client, CEO, technology, food quality, lousy customer service, bad earnings report, botched new product introduction, labor dispute, legal action, whatever. You jump into the feeding frenzy of the 20-second (or less) news cycle where the momentum of an attack goes ballistic. How to respond?

One option is to do nothing if the attacks are from the lunatic fringe or deal with a single aberration that runs counter to the reputation you’ve earned over time based on the quality of all that you do.  You may still want to deal with that incident according to established procedures, protocols and process to counter even the most ridiculous post.  The challenge is to avoid an instant, emotional response that escalates the exchange, especially if it’s a difficult or contentious subject.

Instead, get analytical.  If it’s in the Twittersphere, consider the half life of a Tweet, as covered here earlier and where the first option may be the best.  If it appears the flaming will continue, set goals for moving the conversation.  Be consistent in the tones, themes and values being portrayed.  Display cultural authenticity – what you stand for and the essential core values.  Proceed with a human voice (no legalese or corporate speak).

Prepare to track the conversations by the minute as the crisis or issue unfolds. Measure how the conversation moves.  We’ve adopted a simple method that is incredibly easy to record and track the flow: is the message (Tweet, comment, news story, whatever) positive, neutral or negative. The ultimate goal is to be trusted and believed. If starting in a deep hole (three to one against), set your goal to at least break even within a certain period of time and rise into positive territory immediately thereafter (Gable PR used this approach and means of measurement in a issues management campaign that won a PRSA Silver Anvil).

To help focus the effort, Gable PR developed a quick check list to start the conversation with our clients when disaster strikes (the key word is when, not if; be prepared).

  • Source of the communications, legitimacy
  • Issues being raised
  • Internal analysis of accuracy, validity, magnitude of the issues and conversation; duration, desired end-point
  • Analysis of potential impact on reputation of the brand, company, people, technology, etc.
  • Beyond communications, are internal changes needed to the organization, product, service, culture and core values?
  • If analysis indicates the fundamentals of the organization seemingly aren’t lined up with the outside audiences, how to move toward better alignment? (Don’t get hung up in ego. What needs to be done?  By whom?  Course corrections?  How to announce and take leadership?)
  • Launch issues management and Crisis PR plan if required, to include response strategy, core values, messaging, tools, tactics and timing (in some cases, you don’t have to respond immediately, especially when the attacks are emotional and personal)
  • Set goals for moving the conversation
  • Add resources to the Crisis PR team if needed, including outside experts
  • Respond in a sincere, human voice and work to build trust
  • Conduct minute-by-minute tracking, analysis of trending in tone, content
  • Adjust the response strategy and tactics as facts and circumstances indicate
  • Continue to evolve the internal culture and organization as needed
  • Celebrate success!

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Posted in Authentic PR, Brilliant Counsel, Client Service Results, Crisis PR, Hype Free PR, News and Media, Social Media | Comments Off

The Power of PR (or lack of PR) to Move Opinion, Drive Change

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Posted by Tom Gable

The head of a large information technology company forwarded a link to a CNN Money story on “Millions of SOPA lobbying bucks gone to waste” and provided a pithy editorial comment:

“The power of PR!”

Definitely. Smart PR strategists can mobilize public opinion through social and traditional media to make statements, move public opinion and change behaviors. In the case of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), CNN reported that “The controversial anti-piracy bills that attracted tens of millions of dollars of lobbying for and against the proposed laws ironically were killed by free publicity.”

The story noted:

“Old media companies spent huge sums of money in support of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). Those opposed — Internet and “new media” companies — lobbied hard and spent gobs too, though far less than their more organized rivals. But Silicon Valley had a trick up its sleeve that trumped the millions of dollars more in lobbying muscle and the more established Washington presence of the old media guard: They reached out directly to their users for free.”

The story goes on to cover how Wikipedia shut down for 24 hours and Google blacked out its logo in protest of the bill. The public upheaval forced Congress to drop the bills, at least for now.

On the flip, side, corporations can be overwhelmed by a lack of PR strategic thinking when they launch a new business initiative with properly considering the consequences of their actions. Two recent examples: Bank of America and its $5 ATM charge and Netflix changing its business model.

NPR nailed the issue the day BofA made its announcement:

“JEFFREY BROWN: Big banks and the question of their profits have been the source of plenty of public anger since the beginning of the financial crisis. Now new fees for consumers are putting them in the spotlight again.”

The Los Angeles Times covered local protests, including the occupation of a branch by protesters. Its story offered a keen observation:

“This frankly is just an incredible marketing and PR debacle,” said Bert Ely, an independent banking analyst. “They roll this thing out with no testing, make it nationwide, it’s higher than anybody else. What kind of reaction do they expect?”

Huffington Post and others covered BofA rolling back the fees, with recalcitrant quotes.

For Netflix, as covered by Gable PR earlier, it started by raising prices by 60 percent and came back two months later to apologize while announcing the split of the company into two. They failed from a strategic planning and PR perspective to think about image as a part of corporate strategy, especially when one has built such a strong brand. They need to do things right and also do the right things.

Bottom line: The power of PR and its flip side – lack of strategic PR thinking – are essential for consideration in any action that can impact brand image and reputation.

 

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Worst of Breed — PR Plans, Crisis PR, Releases and More

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

 

Image Meltdown

Posted by Tom Gable

In reviewing many recent roundups of PR successes and failures from 2011, including egregious abuses of the language, it appeared a new category of analysis might be tried: Worst of Breed.

The concept is to delve into corporate, institutional or other failures to communicate well and identify if their fatal or near-fatal faults are one-time occurrences or could reside in their DNA, to be passed on to future generations. It could be one bad gene, such as at Penn State, or something that may have metastasized, as with the upper echelons at Tokyo Electric Power. Beyond simply covering the big events, can we also ask for help in shining the light of journalistic verisimilitude on other WOB examples in writing, social media, news releases and other communications driving by PR?

This leads to a two minute survey created to seek broad input on WOB examples for future articles in PRSA Tactics and elsewhere and blog posts. Please click through to take the survey, which offers opportunities to provide your own candidates and links to their transgressions.  This includes nominations for the coveted WOB Lifetime Achievement Award.

Thanks, in advance, for the help, and here’s to a super 2012 for the PR profession!

 

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Posted in Authentic PR, Brilliant Counsel, Client Service Results, Crisis PR, Hype Free PR, jargon, News and Media, Social Media | Comments Off

Real values, mission, organizational culture drive crisis PR – a collection of case histories

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

New Road Ahead

Posted by Tom Gable

The Wall Street Journal covered the Penn State crisis and Jason Gay, who usually lights up the fun side of sports, writes that they are dealing with much deeper institutional issues than simply getting on the gridiron and starting the healing process. Questions remain. He asks for answers. But beyond that discovery process, any institution, individual or organization under fire needs to speak to evoking change, what it will look like in the future and how it will make a difference in all that it does.

This brief preamble leads to providing links to six posts in the past 18 months on different elements of crisis PR, case histories and a few recommendations on steps to take at every level – from the corporate suite to the Twittersphere and blogosphere. As noted in the headline: real values, mission, organizational culture drive crisis PR. Get it right internally, then tell the world.

 

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Eight Easy Ways to Damage Your Brand Image, Lose 1 Million Customers and $8 Billion in Market Cap the Netflix Way

Monday, September 26th, 2011

Blowing up the Brand

Posted by Tom Gable

Recent analysts reports, coverage in the major media and the Twittersphere are being less than kind to Netflix and its two recent corporate announcements: raising prices by 60 percent; and coming back two months later to apologize while announcing the split of the company into two (Netflix and Qwikster). In looking at it from a strategic planning and PR perspective, the best companies incorporate image as a part of corporate strategy, especially when one has built such a strong brand. They do things right and also do the right things. Netflix appears to have advanced toward bursting its own brand bubble through eight easy steps:

  • Raised prices seemingly without much consideration for the existing customer base, its needs, wants, expectations
  • Went for a big number rather than incremental increases
  • Provided a rationale that didn’t ring true and made many long-term customers feel betrayed by the brand
  • Did it all top down and one-way in a CEO voice rather than human voice
  • Didn’t join the conversation; didn’t use social media to actively engage its many audiences
  • Waited a couple of months to apologize and then do it with an amazing lack of sincerity
  • Seemingly as an afterthought, changed a successful business model to confuse customers, analysts, and the stock market
  • Gave competitors openings to attack, reposition the company, declare pricing advantages

And if you are really successful, here’s what you can expect: 50 percent drop in stock price and market capitalization, enmity versus admiration, lack of support in the financial community (buy and sell side analysts), a zillion Twitter and Facebook comments, a Hitler meme or two, and confusion among consumers on how to order and from whom when you split the company, create a new brand name and dilute the brand image.

David Pogue, columnist for The New York Times, parsed the apology:

“Ah. O.K., good. We’ve seen this movie before. Corporation bumbles, apologizes, makes things right. Business schools take note. Life goes on. But this time, Mr. Hastings did not follow the formula. He only pretended to. He goes on to say that the new higher prices will stick — and, worse, Netflix is about to break off its DVD-by-mail feature into a completely separate entity, called Qwikster.”

The PR and marketing blogs offered good insights.  Mr. Media Training cited six reasons why the apology failed.  Liz Goodgold, of Redfirebranding, provided four ideas Netflix should have used before going down the primrose path to greater profits.

In summary, another NYT story delved into the reasons for raising prices (to generate more income for acquiring content from the major studies for streaming). The “self-inflicted” wounds could have been avoided with better planning for an integrated and strategic evolution of what were in actuality major change initiatives at Netflix.

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Posted in Authentic PR, Brilliant Counsel, Client Service Results, Crisis PR, Horizon Management, In the Beginning, Social Media | Comments Off

Crisis PR by Candlelight

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Romance not included

Posted by Tom Gable

When power went out in our office at about 3:45 p.m. on Sept. 8, we assumed it was the building, or a local substation, which had trouble before. We quickly learned it was a massive outage stretching from Arizona to San Diego and Orange County into Baja California. At 4 p.m., the Gable PR team was alerted by text messages and emails from one of our clients, a major wireless carrier, that emergency response teams were being mobilized on the ground and virtually to deal with whatever issues arose.

We participated in the first client call at 4:30 and would monitor almost every hour into the night. The virtual response team used processes honed in preparing for hurricanes, such as Irene, to keep San Diegans connected. The backup generators and battery systems deployed as designed when the blackout hit. The network experienced a surge in congestion as San Diegans turned to their cell phones to find out what was happening, locate relatives and friends and deal with the complex issues of having no electricity. The tremendous surge in demand resulted in heavy congestion on the network.

The client response team had anticipated this potential pressure on the backup systems and within thirty minutes of the outage had mobilized its service fleets, technicians and other resources and dispatched them to priority sites throughout the county. Since they weren’t sure how long the outage would last, the team secured extra generators from throughout Southern California as additional backup, plus a fleet of fuel trucks to keep them running.

As client emergency response teams and technicians worked around the clock to restore service, the regional PR team asked Gable PR help in creating statements for the media. They wanted to go on record before the nightly news on local television stations, even though the stations might not be broadcasting and the region could still be without power to watch TV.

So, for the first time since writing on classic Olivetti manual typewriter in the Saigon Bureau of Stars and Stripes during a wartime blackout, I composed by candlelight. This time, I had the benefit of laptop computing. I monitored the regular update calls by the emergency response team on a landline and gathered color for future reports. The local utility warned that the blackout could last a day or two. To ensure our client was on record as early as possible, a draft statement entered the approval chain (PR, technical, legal, etc.) by 9 p.m. By 10:15 p.m. it had been approved and distributed via email to regional media, with follow up calls to the daily newspapers to see if anything else was needed.

Fortunately, power started being restored by 11:15 p.m. in some areas. My power kicked in at 1:15 a.m. The county was almost 100 percent restored by 6:00 a.m. We drafted copy points on the details of the emergency recovery effort and began responding to media queries by 9 a.m.

We had switched to the cloud from our own server, so could access client and agency files via the Internet, including media lists (we had been without email before for three days when a flood knocked out power to the substation serving our office).  Now, for a couple of lessons learned:

  • Whether you are on the cloud or not, have backup copies of media lists on your laptop, or home system, or both; plus printed copies
  • Use landline phones (I used the fax line phone)
  • Text don’t call on your cell phone
  • Have at least one extra laptop battery (or a second laptop)
  • Have a battery-operated radio to monitor news, disaster reports
  • Keep a detailed chronology and save your copy after every sentence
  • Have printed copies of media lists at home and office
  • Know the email addresses the media use for breaking news (e.g. cops@nctimes.com; breaking@uniontrib.com; desk@kfmb.com)
  • Use a hashtag for Tweeting about the incident (#sdblackout)
  • From a standard disaster preparedness standpoint, have flashlights, extra batteries and even camping lanterns for light
  • Drink lots of water
  • And have a good bottle of wine handy to sip late into the evening

 

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Biggest Issues for PR 2.0, 3.0 and Beyond?

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Future PR News?

Posted by Tom Gable

In advance of a workshop on “Managing For Results” at the annual PRSA Counselors Academy spring conference, I conducted a survey of attendees on the most important issues facing agencies in the U.S.

The survey listed 25 current issues and trends in the public relations profession. The top rankings from the Counselors Academy workshop were:

  1. Connecting PR to the C Suite
  2. Demonstrating ROI
  3. Measuring Results
  4. Providing Authentic, Strategic Counsel
  5. Mastering Social Media
  6. Recruiting and Retaining Talent

The survey has just been updated to include PR practitioners on the client, agency and academic sides of the desk. Please provide your input so we have a large sample size to work from. A link to the survey is being posted here and also linked to from different professional groups and sites.

Many thanks, in advance, to all who participate. Results will be shared in articles, future workshops for the PRSA Counselors Academy, and in the Fifth Edition of The PR Client Service Manual, Managing for Results, to be published later this year.

 

 

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PRSA Counselors Academy Confab Drives Authenticity, Values; Sharp Contrast to Facebook-Google PR Fiasco

Saturday, May 14th, 2011

PR Pros

LAKE LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Senior counselors from throughout North America gathered here May 12 through 15 for the annual spring conference of the PRSA Counselors Academy, which produces a content-rich program each year aimed at sharing knowledge and setting new standards for the public relations profession.

The program was packed with sessions on the importance of PR evolving as a vital, authentic, strategic force in helping clients of all sizes build long-term images and reputation. Experts covered how to translate solid corporate values to many audiences and walk the talk with no empty claims or unethical tactics.

This was in sharp contrast to the negative coverage being given one of the larger PR firms in the country, Burson-Marsteller, for launching a whisper campaign on behalf of an unnamed client (later revealed to be Facebook) to get media to report that a Google Gmail feature ostensibly trampled the privacy of millions of Americans and violated fair trade rules. The PR fiasco soon blew up and was covered in USA Today, Media Bistro, New York Times and many other outlets.

There was concern that the Burson fiasco would be damaging to the overall image of the profession. But this dissipated as the counselors delved into the programs that demonstrated the growth of the profession in driving strategic and authentic PR programs for clients of all sizes, shapes and needs.

Yours truly was part of a workshop that included a focus on image as a part of corporate strategy. Establish strong core values – what do you stand for – and then demonstrate proof of principle over time (e.g. if you are a high-quality, community-oriented company, how do you demonstrate those values?).

Think about core values as the essential element of building any image and reputation for the long term, like carbon in the universe.

The mission of strategic PR is to delve into the heart and soul of an organization to tell its authentic, credible stories through multiple means and build reputation for the long-term. Agencies use a robust arsenal to achieve the strategic mission, which can include; changing perceptions and behaviors, positioning new companies, repositioning companies that have become stuck, launching new products and services, building brands, managing a crisis, driving value and much more. Processes, built on a foundation of solid values and corporate culture, build image over time.

Other sessions delved into: how to grow counselors, not tacticians; approaches to delivering stellar client service;, integrating new approaches into multicultural strategies; taking control of your reputation in the new stakeholder economy; and new strategies in media relations measurement.

Janet Tyler, president of Airfoil Public Relations, Detroit, conducted a session on value-driven leadership and translating personal values into brand strategies. The concept: establish core values, which are used to build vision and mission. She provide a list of 374 traits, attributes and values and asked the audience of senior PR counselors to identify 20, then prioritize to their top five. From there, she suggested that they adapt those values to the everyday operation of their firms. Her firm, a hot tech shop with some 60 on staff, listed: collaboration, accountability, learning, leadership, service and fun.

Janet said the values are then applied to three key elements for driving the firm: people, processes and performance. The values are used to differentiate and connect with clients. Airfoil also consults with clients getting their values aligned with stakeholder needs – the heart and soul of authentic PR, which was evident everywhere at Lake Las Vegas during the conference and spoke volumes about the profession.

(Search Twitter using #caprsa for running commentaries on the sessions, links to valuable information)

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Reuters DC News Editor Provides IPREX Meeting with Newsroom Insights, Tips

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Quest to be First

Posted by Tom Gable

The information-packed IPREX annual meeting in Washington, DC, drew partners from some 35 cities on three contents to learn from experts and share best practices in public relations and public affairs in closed sessions among this global brain trust. One of the early sessions featured Kristin Roberts, Washington news editor and deputy bureau chief for Reuters. The high-energy journalist started by reading a collection of bad news releases received by her bureau just this morning – several embarrassments, including for major PR firms who did go unnamed.

From there, Kristin offered some quick tips for the assembled PR pros, many of whom were ex-journalists:

  • To connect with the news media, don’t go to the bureau chief of editor. Find the person covering the beat. Do some research.
  • Be straightforward. You have news, you have background, or you have a potential resource for future background on a specific topic.
  • Be persistent if it’s a good story and you don’t get immediate responses to your voice mails or emails.
  • The daily email flow is daunting. Editors will always open email from a trusted source. For others, the subject line needs to be compelling.
  • The news cycle churns by the second. Reuters aims to be first and measures itself against Bloomberg and Dow Jones in seconds.
  • A media outlet might have only a 30-second lead in breaking a story. The great ones can sometimes hold up for a day until the other media catch up, as happened with Kristin in breaking news of the Iraq Surge under President Bush.
  • When managing coverage of the killing of Osama bin Laden, she woke correspondents up all over the world before the President’s talk. The lead writer worked from home, away from distractions. She ran to the office in her running shoes, but got called to the White House because their correspondent was solo and needed help. When asked if she went in sneakers, she said no and gave a fashion tip: she had high heels in her gym bag and kept them everywhere (office, car trunk, home).
  • When asked about Twitter: “I hate it. I am too old for Twitter (she is 36).” She said she doesn’t trust it and isn’t comfortable with it. They double check anything and everything from Twitter that might be a relevant news lead. This includes whether the Tweet is real or bogus.
  • PR is important to the news business. She was amazed that the Libyan rebels had a spokesman in one week and were issuing news releases.
  • Reuters aims to be objective in the news. Blogs are different, where it’s not the content that’s important, but the tone. She admitted to being “snarky” in her blogs, but snarky to all. She bragged that no one knows how she votes, not even her husband.

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