Category: Public Relations
They say any publicity is good publicity.
Well… Sometimes that is, in fact, true. PR pros can turn even the worst situation, or a major national/international news headline, into a newsworthy opportunity to position a client front and center in the media and make the public more aware of a client’s name or business.
Case in point: the recent Pacific Ocean tsunami warnings after the devastating Chilean earthquake.
The world watched anxiously as tsunami waves headed toward the Hawaiian Islands and the West Coast of the United States.
As I viewed a webcam video from home of an eerily empty, evacuated Waikiki beach, San Diego Bay was being deluged with a powerful tidal surge, seriously damaging a dock belonging to our well-known restaurant client, the Bali Hai on Shelter Island.
Bali Hai’s owners alerted us of the incident, including a digital photo that demonstrated the destructive force of the sea as it surged back and forth, tearing the dock in two.
With photo in hand, JWalcher Communications notified local TV stations and the San Diego Union-Tribune about how this natural disaster did not leave San Diego unscathed.
CBS News 8 KFMB sent a crew out to shoot video of the splintered dock. And the Union-Tribune interviewed one of Bali Hai’s owners who had an opportunity to not only comment on the $50,000 worth of damage that was caused, but also talk about how the iconic restaurant has been closed since January and is currently undergoing major renovations.
Within 48 hours, the Union-Tribune ran a front page photo of the broken dock, with a caption mentioning the Bali Hai, along with quotes by the owner prominently positioned in the article’s introduction.
We successfully turned bad news into headline news for our client, while simultaneously promoting the renovations of this landmark restaurant and its scheduled spring re-opening.
It doesn’t always work that way, but sometimes you’re able to localize or take advantage of a big news story.
Bali Hai Restaurant's dock, damaged by the powerful tidal surge caused by last month's earthquake in Chile.
I can only think that Tiger Woods’ recent public apology must have been prescribed by his therapist, because I can’t believe that a professional public relations advisor would have recommended it.
When a body-language “expert” on NPR opined that Tiger Woods’ body language revealed his “insincerity” while apologizing for his infidelities at his recent “limited media attendance, no questions,” appearance, it confirmed my worst – and predicted fears.
If Tiger was so motivated to issue such an apology, I would have advised him to craft a brief statement for the media and his key constituents – using short, declarative sentences and not more than a VERY few of those.
And, bag any personal appearance. (When it was revealed that Jesse Jackson fathered a child outside of his marriage, he issued just this kind of apology, and never said another public word about it. And the fact that you don’t remember this, proves my point.)
In a crises – which this surely has been for him – his better, no, best bet would have been this written statement, distributed equally to all, and, therefore, less subject to interpretations, less open to subjective opinion or observation (“he had a kind of smirk” or worse…!), less possible to imagine any “nuance” in his demeanor -– face, body, timbre, etc. Less possible, indeed, to edit commas or any other punctuation into – or out of – a straightforward, declarative statement.
Still, there are no guarantees when opening oneself to media scrutiny; they’ll kill ya’ if they can. Tough statements in writing is the crisis strategy most likely to prevent that from happening.
I did it once, been propositioned to do it many times since then, and yes, I’d do it all again – in a heartbeat – cause it leaves you breathless, wanting more…
Yep, I’m talkin’ Skydiving! (get your heads outta the gutter folks)
It has been our privilege to publicize this heart-racing, nail-biting action sport since 2004, working with America’s skydiving authority – the United States Parachute Association (USPA).
Once a year USPA hosts its big annual National Skydiving Championships, the largest skydiving competition in the U.S.; attracting hundreds of the country’s finest, fastest, most fearless skydivers.
This year as the championships approached and everyone set their sights on host drop zone (DZ) Skydive Spaceland near Houston, we changed up our PR strategy a bit and decided to go grassroots in letting folks coast to coast know about their local Gold medalist skydiving stars in their midst. In the process, we’d give skydiving a boost in visibility and spur first-timers to give skydiving a try themselves. Because truth be told, anyone can do it; you don’t need to be a pro. As a former USPA Executive Director used to say, “We all fall the same.” (love that quote!).
