Bad Economy Becoming All-Purpose Excuse
Here’s your PR tip of the week: write yourself a page of new messages that include the phrase “because of the bad economy…” As in, “Our revenues are flat because of the bad economy.” Or, “We have to lay off people because of the bad economy…” Now, I’m not making fun of companies that are [...]
Planning a Layoff? Better Plan a Blog Post, Too
There’s no hiding in the Internet era, especially if you are a company with a tech-savvy employee base. According to a very interesting article in today’s New York Times, companies are now being forced to write blog posts about things like layoffs as soon as they happen: Blogging about staff cuts is particularly prevalent in [...]
What Consumers Really Think of Green PR
Here’s a quiz: which of the following environmental terms resonates most strongly with consumers: a ) Conservation b) Green c) Energy Efficiency d) Sustainable If you answered “b) Green” — you’re wrong! The answer is c) Energy Efficiency. That’s according to Suzanne Shelton of Shelton Group, who conducts annual surveys of consumer attitudes toward environmental [...]
It’s True: “Repeating the Negative” Is Bad PR
It’s PR gospel that you shouldn’t “repeat a negative,” that you should instead focus on the positive and turn negative questions into positive answers. I’ve been hammering on this a bit on this blog of late because both presidential candidates have been repeating negatives quite a bit, though it would appear that Obama, at least, [...]
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, [...]
Ding-Dong! NYSE Needs Bell Ringers
The New York Stock Exchange has long stood as the ultimate symbol of American capitalism. So the act of ringing the bell on the platform above the floor has long been a cherished PR photo op for CEOs, visiting dignitaries, celebrities, and other attention-seekers. The unmistakable message these bell ringers were sending: I’m a big [...]
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 [...]
PR Blunders Have Made the Financial Crisis Worse
As we lurch toward either a massive federal bailout of Wall Street or a deep economic crisis caused by the credit crunch (or both), you can’t help noticing the terrible PR job most players in this fiasco have done. Let’s start with the Administration, namely Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Granted, he has been under enormous [...]
A Spinmeister’s Guide to Watching the Debates
Assuming it goes off as planned, Friday night’s Presidential debate will be worth watching as much for the political theatre as for the actual policies and strategies outlined by the two Commander-in-Chief wannabes. The Presidential debates have become the Academy Awards of spinning. The campaigns try to spin expectations before the debate, and as soon [...]