SEC Looking into Apple's Comms
Update on my earlier post about the lame job being done by Apple and its board regarding Steve Jobs’ illness: according to Bloomberg, the SEC is looking into Apple’s recent disclosures “to insure investors weren’t misled.”
Good Auto Industry PR Means More Than Flying Coach
So GM and Chrysler say they “get it” and that their CEOs won’t be flying in corporate jets when they return to DC this week for Round Two of begging/arm-twisting/cajoling/blackmailing Congress into forking over billions of dollars to their companies. (Ford hasn’t said yet what its CEO will do to get to Washington) “We’ve gotten [...]
How to Earn the Boss’s Trust in a Crisis
The phone rings. It’s the boss and there’s a crisis. Now’s your chance to shine — or be permanently relegated to the scrap heap. What should you do? Here’s what: Be prepared to give solid advice on the spot. “I’ll get back to you” is the kiss of death. Give the boss options, not just [...]
Some Communications Guidance for Weathering the Financial Crisis
As much as anything, what people are craving right now is some guidance on what to say to employees, customers, partners, the media and others about how the financial crisis is impacting their business. Unless you work on Wall Street, what’s been going on is largely a mystery, and unless it has walloped you directly, [...]
Key Tactic in a Crisis: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Luckily for most of us, the global financial crisis is affecting us indirectly. Sure, home values may be down and our 401(k)s may now only be “201(k)s,” but those are paper losses. Thus far, the rest of the economy hasn’t really caught Wall Street’s flu. Nevertheless, it’s an edgy time, a near-crisis that any date [...]
Avast Matey! Even 21st Century Pirates Have PR Flacks
Pity the poor, misunderstood modern-day pirate. People think of them as swashbuckling outlaws of the sea, inflicting terror, swilling moonshine and saying things like “Arrr!” “We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits,” said Sugule Ali, spokesman for the Somali pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship full of weaponry last week. “We consider sea bandits those who illegally [...]
Paulson Makes Himself Available and Controls the Debate
Say what you will about the current financial mess on Wall Street, you have to credit Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for making himself fully available to the media despite the crushing responsibilities and obligations he must have. He was on four Sunday talk shows yesterday and did countless other media appearances and press conferences over [...]
SoCal Train Wreck: PR Takes Fall for Telling the Truth
On Friday, an LA commuter train slammed into a freight train, killing 25 people. On Saturday, the PR person for the Metrolink train system said publicly it appeared that the passenger train’s engineer was at fault for the crash. On Sunday, her bosses issued a statement saying her pronouncement was “premature.” On Monday, she resigned. [...]
When News is Bad, Change the Subject
Here’s the scenario: you’ve had to make a controversial decision or taken a difficult step, and you’re getting hammered by your key constituencies. What do you do? The most tried-and-true strategy under most cases is to change the subject. If you’re been criticized because of Decision A, the longer you let people talk about and [...]
Bankruptcy PR is the Newest Agency Market Niche
You know the boom times are over when it “bankruptcy PR” becomes the newest market niche for PR agencies. PRWeek reports that “retailer Mervyns is working with Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher for communications support during its Chapter 11 filing,” which the company made on Tuesday. What does a PR agency do for a Chapter [...]