Seasons Greetings

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I will be on holiday through the new year with limited Internet access. I hope to post to this weblog during the week, but no promises. Here's wishing you a peaceful and prosperous 2006.

PH

"Everybody Hates Chris-tmas"

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File this alongside the Bill O'Reilly-Nick Kristoff feud over the meaning of Christmas. Today we learn that another Nick, St. Nick , was dissed (or rather dismissed) on Monday's episode of the one-time only Oscar host Chris Rock's UPN sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris."

Apparently parents across America weren't too pleased to have Mr. Rock's on-screen brother expose to his younger sister the true nature of Christmas present delivery. (The Dad also took down the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny, prompting the sister to demand that her fallen teeth be returned.)

As a result, there's a call by some for Mr. Rock to apologize. (Let's hope for Chris and Christ's sake that the AFA doesn't insert itself.) Should Mr. Rock issue a public apology? If so, what could he say: "I was wrong. Santa is real!" Even so, it's not in his nature, and the sitcom is, well, simply a sitcom. In considering the sad state of world affairs, this controversy doesn't register very high. I am therefore inclined to advise Mr. Rock to sit back and wait until the "damage" gains proper perspective before doing anything. While waiting, he might be bolstered by Anna Quindlen's related take on the subject.

PR television
Christmas media

Mayor-1, TWU-0

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Boy did Roger Toussaint get his butt kicked. Now only did the head of the NYC Transit Workers Union come this close to getting thrown in jail, but he wound up capitulating to the powers that be without having a new contract in hand for his 35,000 union members. Sure, I'm happy that the buses and subways are going back on line. But from a PR perspective, Mr. Toussaint fared (forgive me) abysmally. Even his own VP publicly castigated him.

"This was a disgrace," said TWU vice president John Mooney. "No details were provided to the executive board. [Toussaint] wants us to discuss the details after Christmas."

The coup de grace was this item in the Post's "Page Six," which had Mr. Toussaint and buddies holed up partying in an upscale Harlem eatery while the public trudged around in bone-chilling 20-degree weather. Even Ken Sunshine, the TWU's press rep, who has handled Barbra Streisand and others of that ilk, failed to credibly cover for his client.

"They'd just been on the picket line for two hours, and the reason the dinner took so long was that they were working. No one was making light of the strike," Sunshine claimed.

All the while, Mr. Bloomberg's stock continues to rise! For two consecutive mornings during the strike, he walked (with an entourage of media in tow) across the Brooklyn Bridge...in spite of living in Manhattan. I guess he took his limo to Brooklyn at the crack of dawn, and then walked back.

PR politics
media

Damon Runnon from Boston

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So you're Johnny Damon's PR guy. Your client just did the unthinkable. The unkempt (and thus wildly adored) Red Sox centerfielder took the Steinbrenner bait -- $52 million over four years. He's now a Yankee. In so doing, Mr. Damon left the rabid Red Sox fans with as much contempt for him (and the team's management) as they likely had for the Bambino when he bolted Beantown for the Big Apple 87 years ago, let alone the many others since.

Is there any hope of rebuilding his burnt bridges to Boston? Not a chance, especially since it appears he didn't even let the team counter offer. The Governor, whose first name mandated a weigh-in, had this to say:

"Do you owe anything to the team that you've been with for a number of years, and to the fans that have supported you like the fans have?" asked Romney. "And my opinion is, yes, you do owe something."

What could he do to avoid the beer bottles and boos on his trip back to Fenway next spring? This: "Mr. Steinbrenner I am flattered that you so fervently pursued me to join your team. But, I have made my career in Boston. I like the fans and the organization, and there's more to life than money." Well, that ain't about to happen. After all, this is pro sports where money is everything. Still, I think about the positive (and future bankable) impact of Reggie telling the NFL, "I have decided that a college degree is more important than the money right now."

With his reputation in Boston in tatters, Mr. Damon can never go home again. Now he has to make peace with the rabid Yankee fans who heretofore have preferred the Aqua-Velva look of Derek Jeter.

PR sports
baseball

The Kingdom & The Power

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As the battle lines are drawn over just how much power the executive branch should have to "fight the war on terror," few will argue with the awesome power on display these last couple of weeks as this administration set about the task of fishing Mr. Bush's approval ratings out of the toilet. He and his inner circle pulled out all the stops to reframe the debate and reshape public opinion at a time when many media types were penning their death notices for this presidency.

The PR consiglieres on Pennsylvania Avenue were not about to capitulate. They deployed their most potent troops: the President, Vice President, Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense, among them, to their channel of choice Fox News , and elsewhere, to blunt their critics. The usually inhospitable Bill O'Reilly positively gushed as he sat opposite Mr. Rumsfeld to whom he quipped, "Are you having fun, yet?" Mr. Bush did his part by holding two rare news conferences and giving a number of canned speeches. Every surrogate and pundit available to the White House PR machine suddenly surfaced in message unison and media ubiquity.

Guess what? The strategy is working. In spite of possibly breaching the U.S. Constitution and other sordid misdeeds, Mr. Bush's numbers again are on the rise. The latest polls have the communications team on Pennsylvania Avenue high-fiving at its success with its end-of-the-year public relations offensive.

The fact remains: newsmakers, no matter what flavor, have incredible power to influence public opinion with relative ease. From George Bush to Steve Jobs to Tom Cruise, powerful A-listers have the capacity (should they choose to use it) to command and control the primary channel of influence -- the news media. This is in spite of the promise of the citizen journalist movement ("the fifth estate") to serve as a new media check and balance. At this writing, however, the blogosphere remains too fragmented and immature to temper the powerful -- especially those who have succeeded in undermining the ability of the media to do its job in the first place.

PR politics
media

Kong Chained

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Since its opening late last week, "King Kong" has endured more than an oversized gorilla's share of disappointing news from the box office. The presumed blockbuster movie took in $50 mill over the weekend -- a respectable number nowadays, but much less than predicted. Could it be that the pre-release hype regarding box office potential actually hurt the film's prospects by raising the bar so high that anything short of Titanic-sized receipts would be deemed a failure?

Of course in the days leading up to the release, potential moviegoers were subject to the usual TV appearances by the stars and the film's celebrated director. Then there was the flash bulb-popping premiere/photo-op in midtown Manhattan, followed by a spate of national stories predicting a record take at the box office. It was this last messaging strategy that struck me as odd. Sure, network interviews and a star-studded opening event, followed by strong critical reviews, typically suffice for putting fannies in seats. (In fact, some believe that the last item is all that's needed.)

But I can't recall such a pervasive media campaign touting a film's financial success prior to its actual release. Was this a mistake? Hindsight is 20/20, but my hunch is that this self-fulfilling prophetic approach to marketing ultimately had a deleterious impact in the all-important, 2nd week "legs" department. Kong's rave reviews alone might have propelled it to the top of the Empire State Building and back.

PR movies
entertainment King Kong

Reverse to Forward

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As predicted here, the court of public opinion prevailed once again. Yesterday Ford announced it would resume advertising in gay friendly publications. The decision may not gibe with the company's initial explanation for pulling the ads -- marketing budget cutbacks -- and its denial that pressure from conservative Christian (and anti-Gay) groups swayed the company.

Nonetheless, Ford had the Forditude to reverse itself to make the correct decision. Our hat goes off to them...at least in this chaptr\er. (Now if only other authoritative figures could learn the benefits of a full and genuine mea culpa.)

PR automobile
Gay media

The Search

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I'm not as obsessed with Google as many of my colleagues in the media, marketing and communications industries are. Still, in reading John Battelle's The Search, I'm finding it impossible to ignore the extraordinary impact Google's intent-based approach advertising model is having on traditional, i.e., context-based advertising. Users of Google AdWords and AdSense now number in the hundreds of thousands. What ad-supported mainstream media outlet can even count that high?

I was thus more than curious to see the story on Wired News yesterday in which Amazon-owned Alexa search engine opened up its resources to the public, in effect providing an alternative "ecosystem" to Google. Search pundit, author and publisher John Battelle was paraphrased in the Wired piece saying that the move, if it pans out as promised, could have a big impact on the search industry, and could possibly lessen Google's growing dominance in web search. On his own blog, Mr. Battelle said the move by Alexa could "change the game."

Now why should PR people concern themselves with the machinations of search? Aren't our brethren on the legacy advertising side of the marketing mix the ones to worry about disintermediation? Other than creating ancillary offerings like search engine optimization (SEO), shouldn't agencies be focused more on creating a content-based corollary to this new advertising paradigm? Can our industry deliver to our clients an intent-driven audience versus context-driven, i.e., placing a story on estrogen replacement therapy in Woman's Day magazine or on "Oprah," hoping that a portion of the readers or viewers will respond? Shouldn't we be compensated based on the actions created by the placement, e.g., make a purchase, provide an e-mail, request more info, rather than just press clips and airchecks or worse, their "ad equivalencies?"

As Search Engine Marketing (SEM) evolves, our profession needs to stay focused on the prize, and nimble about getting there. We should be thinking beyond higher search engine rankings for our clients (and lower for their adversaries), and more about using search to deliver viewers, readers and listeners who already have expressed an intent to buy. Then maybe PR can become more valuable and less mysterious in terms of its ROI. More importantly, we should be better compensated for delivering transactions.

PR Google search advertising

Image Fixation

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Why is it such a big story when revelations emerge that those immersed in a headline-making crisis also had paid attention to how they came across in the news coverage of that crisis? Case in point: the splash those e-mails created when FEMA chief Michael Brown fixated on how he dressed on TV.

Yesterday, we learned that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco's aides fretted (also via e-mail) that their boss did not appear in charge. (At least, the media is magnanimous when it comes to outing image-minded politicians.)

I have no doubt that Gov. Blanco worked her butt off to deal with an impossible situation. My issue is with her advisors -- from the supposedly cutting-edge realm of political PR. They apparently believe they are providing a service by telling their boss how to look and what to say...as opposed to what to do. This has resulted in a dangerous theme surfacing in the media nowadays -- one that connotes a general misconception of what our profession is or aspires to be. It is not words and images that are the tools of our trade, but rather tangible actions that we as professionals innately recognize will address the issue at hand.

Let the work lead and the image will follow...naturally.

PR politics
Katrina image television

Mmm Good!

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New York Post business scribe Holly Sanders today reports on the advertising vacuum left by Howard Stern's move last week from terrestrial to satellite radio. Both Sirius and Infinity are pulling out all the stops to lure Stern's old terrestrial advertisers to their respective new programs in spite of the seemingly less attractive Stern replacement David Lee Roth, and the relatively smaller audience of Stern on Sirius.

Ms. Sanders astutely raises one potential PR issue for advertisers throwing their dollars at the expectedly more profane Stern on Sirius: consumer group backlash. She reports that one of the world's most esteemed consumer brands (and prolific advertisers) Campbells Soup is on board with Stern. I can just hear Mr. Stern mouthing "Mmm good!" but can only imagine in what context.

PR Sirius
Howard Stern media advertising

Good Shepherd Weds Pregnant Bartender

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This is probably not how Matt Damon's press rep, manager and agent envisioned the actor's wedding announcement, but sure enough, word late today has the star of "Syriana" marrying a bartender he met in Florida. Damon is in New York filming De Niro's "The Good Shepherd" opposite Angelina Jolie.

In an age when celebrity weddings are the vehicle of choice for B-listers to nudge their way closer to the A-list, Mr. Damon's nuptials may have the opposite effect. We'll know in the next few days whether one of the glossy weeklies or TV tabs picked up the tab for its exclusive. Early bets are on US magazine, which broke the story of the engagement in September.

PR movies
entertainment wedding media

Greed is Not So Good

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My old colleague John Castellani, president of the Business Roundtable, has his work cut out for him if you believe the front page business story by Claudia Deutsch in today's New York Times.

In it, Ms. Deutsch, who's used to covering heavy industry, reports on the P.R. woes of big business. She cites a plethora of studies that show a markedly negative trend in the public's opinion of CEOs and the motivations of their companies. (Big government doesn't escape the public's growing mistrust either.)

Mr. Castellani had this to say:

"We don't think it's productive to just say society is wrong," said John Castellani, the roundtable's president. "A lot of pain and suffering has come from business' wrongdoing, and we must again foster trust."

Much of the public's distaste for big business can be attributed to the corporate scandals over the last few years, and the newsmaking golden parachutes of ousted CEOs.

I believe, however, it also has to do with two trends: the rise and propagation of unbridled opinions from the fifth estate (the blogosphere), and the growth in PR sophistication of NGOs and other corporate watchdog groups. Wal-Mart and the big oil's excessive profits didn't help the reputational plight of big business either.

Nonetheless, if there ever was a reason for American business to embrace the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR), these studies provide one. Furthermore, in watching the CEO of COSTCO on ABC's "20/20" last week, one couldn't have been more impressed with his (sadly) unorthodox approach to his thousands of employees. Treat them well, and thee shall profit.

PR business
CSR media

Mike Hall

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Mike Hall was a gentleman from a bygone era. His office was on the corner of 57th & 6th Avenue. On one wall were mailboxes, each with the name of one of the most important gossip columnists of the day: Suzy, Eugenia, Liz, Army, Page Six, Phil & Tom, Robin Adams Sloan, and "That's Earl, brother." Mike never missed a chance to offer me "a couple of ducats" to the theatre. His demeanor and dress were pure Sonnenberg, but definitely not Klores.

I was reminded of Mike yesterday when I saw that AOL was teaming with Telepictures to break into the gossip game. Yes, just what we need: another outlet to feed America's insatiable thirst for the salacious. In Mike Hall's day, there were but a handful of columnists who mattered. His firm had monthly retainers from just about every film studio. His task: to place gossip column items pre and post-release. That's all he was asked to do. No feature story pitches. No news release distributions. He lived and breathed gossip.

During filming, Mike would scour the production notes and cull column fodder for systematic placement. Remember the mailboxes? When one columnist turned him down, he returned to his IBM Correcting Selectric to re-cycle the item to meet the style of the next columnist, and so on and so forth until the tidbit surfaced in print.

Mike passed away a few years ago, but I'll never forget his bespoke suits and the successful business he built working with his small stable of powerful columnists. Mike, if you only knew how that business has evolved - for better or worse.

TerriPac

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Michael Schiavo (remember that name?) issued a news release today announcing the formation of a political action committee (PAC) to raise money to defeat those members of Congress who exploited the most intense personal decision of his life so they could advance their political agendas.

As Cindy Sheehan struggles to stay relevant, while fighting the expected backlash to her successful PR campaign, it remains to be seen just how much tsuris Mr. Schiavo will have to endure as he commences his campaign to take tangible political action against the interlopers who so brazenly disrupted his life.

PR media politics

A Picture is Worth...

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Several years ago, I had the privilege of representing The Associated Press as it celebrated its 150th anniversary. We were at a press event at the Newseum in northern Virginia to unveil a retrospective exhibit of artifacts and news bulletins that earned the wire service its reputation as one of the most esteemed news organizations in the world. Lou Boccardi, the AP's powerful, but unassuming president (who CBS cajoled out of retirement to investigate the Dan Rather debacle), had just finished his remarks.

A late-arriving Washington Post photographer approached Mr. Boccardi to ask if he would mind going back up to the podium for a set-up shot. I'll never forget the contempt in Mr. Boccardi's eyes when he promptly refused and told the photographer to shoot whatever he liked. It was as if the shooter had committed sacrilege.

Today's New York Times has a fascinating story on the famous photograph of Rosa Parks seated at the front of a Montgomery, Alabama bus with a dour white man seated in the background. We learn from Peter Applebome's column that the mystery man behind Ms. Parks is not some southern segregationist, but rather a reporter for the UPI, the AP's once biggest rival. He was asked to sit there by his photographer to more accurately frame the historical moment when the new law prohibiting racial discrimination went in to effect.

The times have changed. Journalists bristle when they believe they are being played through artifice. Sure, the giant check presentations and ribbon-cutting ceremonies (over-sized scissors and all) are standard and accepted fare nowadays. They cause little harm. It's when PR pros create a photo-op that is either blatantly commercial or aimed to deceive that the news media gets its dander up. And rightfully so.

PR journalism
politics photography

Choose Your Partner

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The decision by the Ford Motor Company to pull its advertising from several gay-oriented publications will have big PR consequences for the already beleaguered automaker. It's reminiscent of Microsoft's short-lived support of an anti-gay rights bill that led to MS reversing itself under pressure from employees, the blogosphere, NGOs...

The advertising news comes on the heels of a surprisingly non-resonant announcement that the company will close "more than" eight plants. The corporate spokesperson lamely explained the ad pull: "As they begin planning their marketing for next year," the spokesman, Mike Moran, said Monday, "they've streamlined their budgets."

Mr. Moran made no mention of the corporate blackmail by the virulently anti-gay, Mississippi-based American Family Association, which reportedly forced this move. Nonetheless, the headlines and victory dance in Tupelo for its win in its ongoing battle against the "homosexual agenda" said it all.

Let's now see what kind of noise the civil rights and gay movements, employees, and the blogosphere will muster to make Ford second-guess its decision.

PR business homosexual cars

Glitches Exposed

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I've written about the dangers of excessive hyperbole over a condensed time period, and how a media wallpaper strategy can have negative reputational consequences. Consider the hit Tom Cruise took following his PR machine's "work" for "War of the Worlds," etc. Stay tuned for Jennifer Aniston being knocked off the media pedestal from over exposure.

The Newtonian pendulum of good news-bad news does not only affect bold-faced names. Business too is at risk of a fickle media (and public). I remember the media splash-in-the-can that accompanied the launch of the Segway HT, which truly is/was a remarkable piece of technology.
CNET today reports on a lawsuit filed by a Chicago man alleging software glitches in Microsoft's much-ballyhooed XBOX 360. We had actually gotten wind of this during the game console's mass launch hysteria last week, but it was quickly overshadowed by news of the console's sold out status and some favorable critical reviews of its graphics.

PR people are typically paid to garner mass media exposure. Hyperbolic media events, like the one happening today in the city to bolster awareness for the re-make of "King Kong," have been around since the earliest days of the profession. The challenge in this 24/7 fragmented media environment is to give the promotional object sufficient "legs" to sustain success.

PR business
entertainment video media

Kimora's Kimona

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"I believe every woman should aspire to glamour and fabulousity" was the quote, I think. Watching the nauseatingly materialistic airhead Kimora Lee Simmons wax poetic on ABC's "20/20" about the unattainable "aspirations" of her Baby Phat clothing customers turned my stomach. It reminded me of the career-ruining "60 Minutes" profile of Leona Helmsely some years back. That interview, in which the soon-to-be crowned "Queen of Mean" talked about the "little people" who labored for her, ultimately led to Ms. Helmsley's incarceration for tax evasion.

Ms. Simmons deserves no less. At a time when the divide between rich and poor, haves and have-nots is sadly widening, Ms. Simmons grotesque display of glitzy, tasteless, and grossly expensive possessions coupled with her enticement to the hip-hop generation to come and get them made Imelda Marcos look like Mother Teresa. (It was clear that this diva brushed aside her PR counsel's recommendation for media training to prepare for this network news interview.)

The pugnacious "20/20" profile contrasted starkly with others on the program including the founder of COSTCO and co-founder of eBay, both of whom grew more animated when discussing the ways in which they "give back" to their employees and the less fortunate, respectively. Ms. Simmons seemed only animated by her bling bling lifestyle -- built on her husband's celebrity. He, by the way, appears to be a kinder, gentler and more philanthropic soul. How he ended up with his wife, I don't know.

PR fashion
entertainment business

Cooler Deadheads Prevail

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I've been meaning to write about this for a couple of days now, but the crisis among deadheads seems to have worked itself out. The post-Garcia Grateful Dead ordered a non-profit Internet archive service to remove the group's perennially traded (bootleg) live concert footage from its site. Well, Jerry must have turned over in his grave, and the rabid fan outcry (via an online petition) precipitated a complete about-face.

Live recordings, made from the concert soundboards, were excluded in the pact. Dead bassist Phil Lesh posted an earnest apology on his website. Nonetheless, we haven't heard the last in the digital rights management debate.

PR digital rights
entertainment

Tech Flacks

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In a column strangely reminiscent of the late 90's when PR pros were the bane of technology beat reporters' existence, The Times's top consumer electronics reporter David Pogue today took issue with a news release that couldn't seem to get past the vernacular. Pogue: "Most of the time, high-tech companies can describe their products with equal efficiency, but not always." He went on to re-write the lame release before reviewing the product-in-question. I'll let you visit the link to read the gopply-goop.

The media ill-will PR pros spawned in the hyperbolic dot-com era lingers today with poorly-written news releases and confusing, misguided story queries. The best in our biz are able to describe arcane products and deliver complex messages with cogent, concise and convincing language that creates a connection with the intended audience. It's less about the deployment of multi-syllabic words, and more about keeping it simple. My advice: If you have or know of any middle school-aged children, test the pitch on them first.

PR technology journalism

Armstrong or Strongarm?

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This blog periodically reports on the nefarious practices that taint the PR profession. Most recently, it turned its sights on The Beltway and the revelations on the illegal influence peddling by some once-esteemed "public affairs" practitioners. Think Jack Abramoff. The point of the DC-bashing post was to give the industry's trade groups a wake-up call, for fear of a further denigration of the profession.

Sure enough, the pattern of PR ethical abuse from Washington continues unabated in the present news cycle. Taking a page from the Armstrong Williams fiasco, and apparently not learning its lesson, the government reportedly has now deployed its "pay for play" strategy in Iraq. A Washington PR firm is being paid "millions" to create and pay to have published pro-American news copy under the guise of news reported by Iraqi journalists. This was predictable given the fact that the Feds initially retained an advertising exec, albeit a most accomplished one, to mount a PR/communications campaign to change Arab perceptions of this nation.

It should be known that the rules of media engagement varies greatly from country to country. In reality, the seemingly abhorrent practice of paying journalists for coverage is more commonplace than one would think. Even so, it is this blogger's opinion that the U.S. government, for any number of reasons, should refrain from this breach of public relations ethics. It is also the hope of this blogger that our industry thought-leaders and associations step up to strongly condemn journalistic payola.

PR politics
media journalism