Citizen Brand

Say it ain't so Joe

We are watching the disintegration of a reputation right before our very eyes. Joe Paterno, the molder of young men and the shaper of great football teams, is the latest example of someone who turned away from responsibility instead of turning in someone to the authorities. 

There is no excuse for any of us who witness a wrongdoing making it worse by doing nothing about it. Simply moving the problem up the food chain as Paterno did is not enough. In this case, wrongdoing is not near a strong enough description of what is unraveling at Penn State. The extent of the cover-up that occurred in the PSU situation rivals Watergate. Simply put, no one with any authority took any responsibility for what was happening to those innocent children. It's difficult to believe this could happen. But it did.

When we talk with clients about crisis management, one of the cardinal rules we discuss is the necessity to take responsibility when things go wrong. Good things happen when we take responsibility for our actions or for the actions of others in our companies or organizations. The problem will be resolved faster and the hit to the organization's reputation is minimized.

Neither of these will happen in that place now inappropriately named Happy Valley. And Joe Paterno becomes the latest person to vividly demonstrate why taking responsibility is all that matters when it comes to having a great reputation. 

A little PR for public relations

I just read two stories that should make public relations professionals everywhere take notice. The first one talked about how we as a profession have generally ignored the pleas of the media to halt the outdated and useless practice of sending press releases. The second one was from a university professor who had his students tell him that they thought it was okay to lie because that is what public relations pros are supposed to do.

The continued proliferation of press releases is inexcusable. We have worked hard at Barkley over the years to move away from releases when possible and focus instead on building relationships with the right media, and now bloggers and social communities. We then work to identify the stories our clients have to tell and the right person to tell them and then bring everyone together. Very little paper need be used for this approach.

The fact remains that there are clients who still want a release sent out to preview their story with media etc. And the fact remains that too often, we as PR pros go along with the client when we should be telling them the press release is a dead tactic and should be properly buried. Public companies will continue to need to issue formal financial statements but beyond that, external communications today must be conversational in nature. You don't script conversations.

The issue of releases is easily fixed. The second problem is not. The fact that some college students have it in their head that successful public relations is based on dishonest discourse is disheartening at best. No one is naive about where this notion gets its fuel. We all see and hear politicians today basically saying whatever they want regardless of whether its true. Of course, behind every politician there is a "communications consultant" helping them figure out their next soundbite. Politics permeates our lives in so many ways. Therefore it's unfortunately a short hop for a student to assume this must be the way it is done across the board, not just in politics.

I have been in this profession for nearly 30 years after six years in the news media. I can honestly say without hesitation that the public relations professionals I have worked with or know do not suggest lying as a successful strategy. It is just the opposite. A client must walk the walk in order to talk the talk. Truth, transparency and authenticity are today's measuring sticks in the marketplace. Anyone can fake it for a while, but in today's wide open social media environment, the fakers will be found out quickly.

While it would be nice to think this one classroom of students was the exception and not the rule, we all know what happens when one assumes something. My challenge to public relations pros everywhere is to call your alma mater or other colleges and make an appointment to speak to as many classes as possible as soon as possible. Let's turn the bright light of the real world on in college classrooms everywhere and demonstrate what real, authentic public relations is all about. And what the power of it done right can do for every organization's most important asset - its reputation.

 

Fair and Balanced

Just when you think you have seen or heard it all, along comes a government agency to give us some great, new material.  In their effort to make sure we all knew they were doing everything they could to help put out the California fires, FEMA - the Federal Emergency Management Agency - decided to call a news conference last week, only no reporters showed up.  It didn't stop them though.  CNN  tells the rest of the story.

Of course, there is always a fall guy in a situation like this.  A hard lesson for sure.

2007 PRWeek/Barkley Cause Survey

This week's edition of PRWeek has the 2007 edition of the Barkley Cause Survey.  This is the third year of our partnership with PRWeek to add to the conversation about cause branding and its growing influence in the world today.  This year, we conducted a roundtable discussion featuring cause leaders from agencies, corporations, non-profits and the media.

You can download a pdf of the PRWeek/Barkley Cause Survey here or if that doesn't work, go to the Barkley website.

I'm on the road this week, but will comment more in the coming days on what we learned and what we think it means.  One thing we know for sure is that cause is not going away.  It continues to gain stature as an authentic way for companies to give back; for non-profits to grow their missions; and, for we as consumers to get engaged in the things that make a difference to us.

One news cycle

Back to the keyboard after a summer hiatus and it took just 45 minutes with Tuesday's New York Times  to make it happen.  Whatever page I turned to there was example after example of questionable, even unethical decisions by people and organizations.  One news cycle produced some of the worst examples of bad citizen brands I've ever seen.  Consider just a few of them:

In 2005, corporate America received huge tax breaks to bring home their offshore profits and create jobs in America.  Drug makers were the biggest winners bringing home $100 billion while paying only six percent taxes instead of the 35 percent they would have paid prior to the '05 legislation.  Any new jobs created?  Hardly.  Instead tens of thousands of people have been laid off by drug companies in the past two years.

Without even leaving the front page, we see that New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has himself in a bit of a sticky wicket.  The man who used to make Wall Street titans tremble finds himself on the defense after a couple of long time aides decided to use the New York State Police for a little political tomfoolery.  Seems the Governor's nemesis - State Senator Joe Bruno used some police helicopters for trips from Albany to New York City.  Turned out not to be a problem, but the Governor's helpers saw an opportunity and solicited the acting Superintendent of the State Police to help them make a case against Bruno.  By the way, the acting Superintendent is vying for a permanent appointment so he did what any good public servant should do - he helped try to make the case.  Anyway, given Spitzer came into office seven months ago pledging to clean up New York state government, it seems apparent he will need to start with his own staff.

Of course the sports pages these days read more like bad reality television shows.  From Michael Vick and fighting dogs to the critical question of whether or not baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will be in the stands for Barry Bonds' record home run it's amazing that sports writers still find time to report scores of games.

The perfect sports commissioner, David Stern of the National Basketball Association , has a small gambling problem.  He doesn't wager himself, but seems he has a referee who got in over his head with some betting debts and began to make some interesting calls that turned a game or two or ten.  A good betting scandal is needed every ten years or so just to purge the rookie gamblers out of the system.

And then there is poor Sergio Garcia .  I love golf and I truly love the Open Championship.  It looked like Sergio was finally going to win his first major.  He was 0 for 35 coming into the British Open.  He is now 0 for 36.  Unfortunately his major drought is apparently starting to eat away at him.  He was not the shining example of a gracious loser in the press room at Carnoustie on Sunday.  He blamed bad breaks and other golfers in front of him for losing a four stroke lead in the last 14 holes in the final round.  Golf is one sport where no one else has anything to do with the way you play the game.

A handful of news stories in one newspaper in one news cycle.  All examples of either a lack of common sense, common decency or ethical behavior.  And proof that it's time to crank up Citizen Brand again and look for some good examples.  I know they are out there.

Good to be back.

Walter Reed

If there has been a more compelling case of the need for real crisis management than what has been happening with the deplorable conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, I do not know what it could be.  And as is usually the case, government at any level provides us with the epitome of too little and too late.

Instead of trying to add to the chorus of what is wrong and what needs to be done now to take care of the young Americans who deserve to be cared for in the best of conditions, it made me curious to learn more about the man for whom this famous hospital is named.

Major Walter Reed, as you can read in this link, did nothing less than help to make the connection between mosquitos and diseases such as yellow fever.  That one sentence barely scratches the surface of what Walter Reed and others had to go through to convince a host of skeptics that they had indeed found the cause of a disease that had cost the lives of many soldiers during the Spanish-American War.

As I read about what he had accomplished, it made me even more disgusted with what those in charge of the hospital named after him have done.  This is a case of a man whose name is being damaged and he has absolutely no control over it.

Please pass on the real story of Walter Reed.  He deserves to be remembered for what he accomplished, not for what others have failed to do with an institution named after him.

It's not about spin

It seems to have died down a bit of late, but from time to time those of us in the realm of public relations are referred to as spin doctors.  It implies of course that what we do for a living is to take a fact and twist it into something to serve a particular agenda.  It happens, to be sure, but just like other lines of work, the wrongdoers are in the minority.

Kami over at Communication Overtones has a nice post that serves as a good reminder to us in the biz of what we should focus on each and every day.  And it will give those not in our world a clear picture of what good public relations is all about.

Kami is right about one thing.  Good public relations is about courage.  We have all had those moments when we are faced with a tough decision.  Do we simply go along with what our client or our boss wants to do - OR - if we believe their actions or words are wrong and will do harm to their reputation or that of the organization - do we stand up and say so? 

It's a good challenge for all of us in public relations.  For that matter, it's a good challenge regardless of what you do for a living.  After all, we all need to take responsibility for our own reputations and that of our organizations. 

What will you do?

The age of consumer philanthropy

As we prepare to give thanks in America this weekend, retailers are preparing for the beginning of their make it or break it time of the year. Tis the season to shop 'til you drop and if enough of us don't, then there will be a lot of slashing of prices and wrists in store aisles everywhere.

But let us remember it is the season of thanks and hope and charity as well. And as those of us involved in the cause arena know, the worlds of commerce and charity are colliding. Here is a great point of view from Tom Watson via the the Huffington Post.  (Not that Tom Watson golfers.)

If you don't feel like linking, read this excerpt which isn't news to us in the choir, but there are still people who need to hear this:

".....philanthropies and charities are quite naturally spending more of budgets on marketing. Brand-building is growing in importance, as is long-term cultivation and donor loyalty. And increasingly, partnerships with consumer product companies can open new paths to funds. For non profits, cause marketing brings more than money, after all - it brings exposure.

On the other side, there are companies that genuinely have a a mission to change the world, that clearly buy into the notion of doing well while doing good. But others are driven by a purer market motivation. As their own marketers understand that the strength of the brand in some way hinges on public perception of "doing good," they're looking for ways to harness the philanthropic impulse in American society. Buy my product, and help others. It's got a ring.

The problem sometimes lies in convincing shareholders; why are we giving away some of our profits, they rightly ask. Go to them with a pure message of changing the world, and they'll slam the board room door in your face. But pitch the notion of extending the brand, aligning the product with the growing world of consumer philanthropy - well, there you've got something, son. Let's tell sales about this right away. According to the IEG Sponsorship Report, American companies spent nearly $1 billion on cause related marketing campaigns in 2004."

The train is leaving the station.  Is your company going to be on it?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Fast Company's Fast 50

Fast Company magazine has opened its nominations for its 2007 Fast 50.  These are people or companies who are profit driven problem solvers out to solve the problems of the world and make money at the same time.  If you know someone or a group of someones in business who resemble this definition, apply here.

Here is what Fast Company is looking for:

The Fast 50 is Fast Company magazine's annual readers' challenge, a worldwide search for ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Our goal is to remind the world of all the good that's created when passionate people with big ideas and strong convictions are determined to make a difference.

Each year, the challenge generates thousands of entries and tens of thousands of comments from around the world, and results in high-profile recognition of 50 leaders, innovators, and technology pioneers. This year's challenge promises to be bigger and better.

We're looking for unsung heroes and rising stars among our readers: senior executives, in-the-trenches team leaders, engineers, marketers, and other high-impact players from all kinds of backgrounds. Click here to read the winning entries from past Fast 50 readers' challenges.

We all know someone who fits the bill.  The fact is, we need more who do.  So let's all get to work and send our nominations in for the 2007 Fast 50.

Goodwill postscript

You can read Goodwill's response over at Andrea's.  She was able to talk with someone at the organization to explain their side of the story.