Danny Boyle winning Best Director and Best Picture at this years Oscar's, provided a perfect example of how intelligent media access to those close to you can pay dividends.
The Englishman who has dealt admirably with a western media who lauded his film and an Indian media and political establishment divided by his honest portrayal of their country, pulled a stroke of PR genius by allowing his Father to be interviewed about his thoughts on his son’s Oscar winning film:
The reaction of 88 year old Frank Boyle from Manchester was:
"I think it's reasonable, he's not making films for me. He's making them for younger filmgoers, so I won't say anything more about it. I really liked the music. I thought it was wonderful."
Bingo! By association with his father’s honest and unintentionally comedic comments, the new Oscar winning director looks humble, grounded, self-deprecating and everything Hollywood isn’t.
Everything Danny Boyle has aspired to be in his directorial career.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
"It's not you, it's me..."
A decade of economic growth has seen a raft of good news stories about growth, profits, opportunities and expansion into new markets. The economic downturn has created a new challenge for the public relations profession – The communication of bad news.
Here are some points to remember:
• Be open and honest, people are realistic and appreciate the truth.
• Deliver news face to face wherever possible, move away from pushing information purely through channels such as an intranet, email, and newsletters.
• Be prepared, for media interest in major company announcements or redundancies, especially if the story breaks before it is communicated internally.
• Timing, ensure that your employees and other key stakeholders have the chance to hear major announcements from you first (rather than via the media)
• Engage executives: communicating major change should be led from the top (CEO), however executive teams and line managers will have a role in communicating practicalities of the change and answering questions and concerns.
Here are some points to remember:
• Be open and honest, people are realistic and appreciate the truth.
• Deliver news face to face wherever possible, move away from pushing information purely through channels such as an intranet, email, and newsletters.
• Be prepared, for media interest in major company announcements or redundancies, especially if the story breaks before it is communicated internally.
• Timing, ensure that your employees and other key stakeholders have the chance to hear major announcements from you first (rather than via the media)
• Engage executives: communicating major change should be led from the top (CEO), however executive teams and line managers will have a role in communicating practicalities of the change and answering questions and concerns.
Friday, February 20, 2009
"Hi Michael, can you come to the office for a chat, it's important..."
Multi-Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps gets caught on film smoking dope. A PR nightmare? How will it affect his many million dollar sponsorships?
People still love Amy Winehouse despite what she’s been caught with on tape. Same for Phelps – he probably blew his clean living image – but he did say he was sorry. Sometimes, interference with a story can make the situation look worse, writes the New York Post.
Michael Phelps’ agents did a big belly-flop when they tried to stop a British newspaper from running a photo of the super-swimmer smoking pot by offering to have Phelps write a column, public-relations pros said yesterday.
"When they went and tried to do this scammy, sleazy deal-making or cover-up, that was the disgraceful part, not that a kid was sucking on a bong," said Linda Mann of Mann Media.
The News of the World published a photo of Phelps toking from a water bong at a South Carolina college party last November. The tabloid reported that Phelps' handlers from marketing giant Octagon tried to kill the piece by saying he would pen a column for the paper for three years.
"The newspapers love the cover-up more than the actual story, so when they offered the quid pro quo, [the News of the World] just got two stories for the price of one," said Michael Maslansky, whose firm, Luntz Maslansky, focuses on crisis communication.
BrandFreak was more concerned with this youthful exuberant episode’s effect on his sponsorship.
In a public statement, Phelps admitted that his November inhalation of weed represented "bad judgment." But then he used his age as an excuse: "I'm 23 years old" and acted "in a youthful and inappropriate way”, he carped. (No doubt, dude—but you've got $100 million in endorsements at stake.)
Fortunately for Phelps, there's still a little time. "I would like to see him tell his fans, many of whom are children, that he made a big mistake—and he should mean it," veteran PR man Sam Chapman tells Brand Freak. "The key to successful crisis communications is being authentic."
All that ‘being authentic’ didn’t convince Kellogg’s. On 9 February 2009, Kellogg’s announced it would drop Phelps because his photo smoking marijuana, which was published all over the world, was ‘not consistent with the image of Kellogg’s’. Had Michael not allowed himself to be caught on camera (best option after not smoking a bong at all) – or perhaps even being more humble and admitted it was a really stupid thing to do – he might have escaped criticism.
Because he was not contrite enough, he also got cut from the swimming squad for three months and who knows whether he’ll swim professionally again.
Consider Shane Warne’s goings’ on. When Shane first strayed from Simone, sponsors stuck by him, as did his wife, as did his fans. It was only after repeated inappropriate behaviour that Warne was considered a ‘risk’ for sponsors, a PR crisis in the making and an ex -husband.
And remember Mel Gibson’s incident? Here’s his story, as told to the New York Times.
When the actor Mel Gibson was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on July 28, damage control should have begun immediately, public relations professionals say.
“Go fast, go humble,” said the longtime Hollywood publicist Michael Levine.
Mr. Gibson’s anti-Semitic remarks when he was arrested on a drunken driving charge received wide distribution on the Internet, in newspapers and on television. The swift and dramatic public denunciations of Mr. Gibson’s words has prompted discussion in the public relations industry about the best way to handle such occurrences.
“Usually when a celebrity gets in trouble, the first thing they do is try to deny it, even though there may be photos,” said the veteran New York publicist Howard Rubenstein. “They come up with a litany of reasons why the media is at fault. The second thing they do is nothing, hoping it will disappear. The third reaction is: ‘Look, you know the owner of the paper. Kill it.’ And, finally, they get to the fourth stage: ‘Help!’ ”
That’s where the disaster corps comes in.
Mr. Rubenstein said the case of the actor Hugh Grant was the standard for successful damage control. In 1995 Mr. Grant was charged with performing lewd acts with a prostitute in Los Angeles. He quickly agreed to appear on the “Tonight” show on NBC and answered Jay Leno’s question: “What were you thinking?” His nationally televised demonstration of bashful British contrition transformed the sheepish Mr. Grant from naughty to nice.
Although Mr. Gibson’s rant might not lend itself to a “Tonight” show appearance, the principle remains the same: address the situation as quickly as possible.
Once a client levels with him, Mr. Rubenstein said, he adopts almost the role of priest to penitent. “They have to say they’ll never do it again, but they also have to say it to themselves and mean it,” he said. Strictly from a pragmatic standpoint, Mr. Levine said, Mr. Gibson should have sought public pardon the moment he sobered up.
“I try to get them to do some public kind of statement and then go radio silent and not keep flogging that wild beast,” he said. “If you can turn the corner, you can actually help your career,” Mr. Rubenstein said. “A truly recovered alcoholic gets increased respect.”
Mr. Levine said he had compiled what he calls the four pillars of celebrity crisis management: Speed, humility, contrition and personal responsibility.
People still love Amy Winehouse despite what she’s been caught with on tape. Same for Phelps – he probably blew his clean living image – but he did say he was sorry. Sometimes, interference with a story can make the situation look worse, writes the New York Post.
Michael Phelps’ agents did a big belly-flop when they tried to stop a British newspaper from running a photo of the super-swimmer smoking pot by offering to have Phelps write a column, public-relations pros said yesterday.
"When they went and tried to do this scammy, sleazy deal-making or cover-up, that was the disgraceful part, not that a kid was sucking on a bong," said Linda Mann of Mann Media.
The News of the World published a photo of Phelps toking from a water bong at a South Carolina college party last November. The tabloid reported that Phelps' handlers from marketing giant Octagon tried to kill the piece by saying he would pen a column for the paper for three years.
"The newspapers love the cover-up more than the actual story, so when they offered the quid pro quo, [the News of the World] just got two stories for the price of one," said Michael Maslansky, whose firm, Luntz Maslansky, focuses on crisis communication.
BrandFreak was more concerned with this youthful exuberant episode’s effect on his sponsorship.
In a public statement, Phelps admitted that his November inhalation of weed represented "bad judgment." But then he used his age as an excuse: "I'm 23 years old" and acted "in a youthful and inappropriate way”, he carped. (No doubt, dude—but you've got $100 million in endorsements at stake.)
Fortunately for Phelps, there's still a little time. "I would like to see him tell his fans, many of whom are children, that he made a big mistake—and he should mean it," veteran PR man Sam Chapman tells Brand Freak. "The key to successful crisis communications is being authentic."
All that ‘being authentic’ didn’t convince Kellogg’s. On 9 February 2009, Kellogg’s announced it would drop Phelps because his photo smoking marijuana, which was published all over the world, was ‘not consistent with the image of Kellogg’s’. Had Michael not allowed himself to be caught on camera (best option after not smoking a bong at all) – or perhaps even being more humble and admitted it was a really stupid thing to do – he might have escaped criticism.
Because he was not contrite enough, he also got cut from the swimming squad for three months and who knows whether he’ll swim professionally again.
Consider Shane Warne’s goings’ on. When Shane first strayed from Simone, sponsors stuck by him, as did his wife, as did his fans. It was only after repeated inappropriate behaviour that Warne was considered a ‘risk’ for sponsors, a PR crisis in the making and an ex -husband.
And remember Mel Gibson’s incident? Here’s his story, as told to the New York Times.
When the actor Mel Gibson was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on July 28, damage control should have begun immediately, public relations professionals say.
“Go fast, go humble,” said the longtime Hollywood publicist Michael Levine.
Mr. Gibson’s anti-Semitic remarks when he was arrested on a drunken driving charge received wide distribution on the Internet, in newspapers and on television. The swift and dramatic public denunciations of Mr. Gibson’s words has prompted discussion in the public relations industry about the best way to handle such occurrences.
“Usually when a celebrity gets in trouble, the first thing they do is try to deny it, even though there may be photos,” said the veteran New York publicist Howard Rubenstein. “They come up with a litany of reasons why the media is at fault. The second thing they do is nothing, hoping it will disappear. The third reaction is: ‘Look, you know the owner of the paper. Kill it.’ And, finally, they get to the fourth stage: ‘Help!’ ”
That’s where the disaster corps comes in.
Mr. Rubenstein said the case of the actor Hugh Grant was the standard for successful damage control. In 1995 Mr. Grant was charged with performing lewd acts with a prostitute in Los Angeles. He quickly agreed to appear on the “Tonight” show on NBC and answered Jay Leno’s question: “What were you thinking?” His nationally televised demonstration of bashful British contrition transformed the sheepish Mr. Grant from naughty to nice.
Although Mr. Gibson’s rant might not lend itself to a “Tonight” show appearance, the principle remains the same: address the situation as quickly as possible.
Once a client levels with him, Mr. Rubenstein said, he adopts almost the role of priest to penitent. “They have to say they’ll never do it again, but they also have to say it to themselves and mean it,” he said. Strictly from a pragmatic standpoint, Mr. Levine said, Mr. Gibson should have sought public pardon the moment he sobered up.
“I try to get them to do some public kind of statement and then go radio silent and not keep flogging that wild beast,” he said. “If you can turn the corner, you can actually help your career,” Mr. Rubenstein said. “A truly recovered alcoholic gets increased respect.”
Mr. Levine said he had compiled what he calls the four pillars of celebrity crisis management: Speed, humility, contrition and personal responsibility.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
I got the chance to go a social media conference/showcase today...
It was sponsored by Adknowledge, it was quite a stellar turn out and I wasn't sure what to expect but I was excited by the prospect of hearing discussion around the topic nonetheless.
It was refreshing to see a wholesome level of people from publishers to agencies turning up to spend the afternoon together listening to speakers discuss the power and future of social media. I really enjoy witnessing the change in the media landscape and that is pretty much what Brett Brewer from Adknowledge emphasised.
He talked about the importance of utilising this social media space because that is where people are going when they are online and interacting with each other. I don't disagree with this unavoidable trend however, after hearing a few presentations including the case study of V-raw, I can't help but wonder where will the future of social media go?
Sure things are social and the web technologies are by nature social.... the metaphor of a network is made up of people, just like cavemen but now gone virtual. The question remains, how do you really monetarise on the social relationships without annoying or bombarding users with branded messages?
Can advertisers really do content for free in the hopes that it will go viral or even be consumed by social groups.... More interestingly a colleague of mine had also raised this article to me about the recent changes in Facebook's terms of use.... basically you are never really gone once you leave the social sphere on the web.... There are lots of new signs on the social movement on the web and how will this affect advertisers who have so openly embraced this new trend?
The PR implications are enormous. PR and Digital are going to have to come together to work this one out. Any thoughts.....
Jeff Yiu - 303 digital
It was refreshing to see a wholesome level of people from publishers to agencies turning up to spend the afternoon together listening to speakers discuss the power and future of social media. I really enjoy witnessing the change in the media landscape and that is pretty much what Brett Brewer from Adknowledge emphasised.
He talked about the importance of utilising this social media space because that is where people are going when they are online and interacting with each other. I don't disagree with this unavoidable trend however, after hearing a few presentations including the case study of V-raw, I can't help but wonder where will the future of social media go?
Sure things are social and the web technologies are by nature social.... the metaphor of a network is made up of people, just like cavemen but now gone virtual. The question remains, how do you really monetarise on the social relationships without annoying or bombarding users with branded messages?
Can advertisers really do content for free in the hopes that it will go viral or even be consumed by social groups.... More interestingly a colleague of mine had also raised this article to me about the recent changes in Facebook's terms of use.... basically you are never really gone once you leave the social sphere on the web.... There are lots of new signs on the social movement on the web and how will this affect advertisers who have so openly embraced this new trend?
The PR implications are enormous. PR and Digital are going to have to come together to work this one out. Any thoughts.....
Jeff Yiu - 303 digital
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Avoidable PR pitfalls...
These are avoidable pitfalls...303PR ensures they don't happen to you:
1 - The client doesn’t understand the publicity process
2 - The scope of work is not detailed and agreed upon by both parties.
3 - The client has not been properly trained on how to communicate with the media
4 - The scope of work is not detailed and agreed upon by both parties.
5 - The client and the PR person or firm are not a good match.
6 - The client has not got results quickly enough and ends the relationship too soon.
7- PR people don’t explain the kind of publicity placements a client will most likely receive.
8 - Clients don’t realise what happens after you get the publicity coverage is sometimes more important than the actual placement.
9 - Clients refuse to be flexible on their story angles. Clients get upset when the media coverage is not 100% accurate or not the kind of coverage that they wanted.
10 - Clients won’t change their schedules for the media.
1 - The client doesn’t understand the publicity process
2 - The scope of work is not detailed and agreed upon by both parties.
3 - The client has not been properly trained on how to communicate with the media
4 - The scope of work is not detailed and agreed upon by both parties.
5 - The client and the PR person or firm are not a good match.
6 - The client has not got results quickly enough and ends the relationship too soon.
7- PR people don’t explain the kind of publicity placements a client will most likely receive.
8 - Clients don’t realise what happens after you get the publicity coverage is sometimes more important than the actual placement.
9 - Clients refuse to be flexible on their story angles. Clients get upset when the media coverage is not 100% accurate or not the kind of coverage that they wanted.
10 - Clients won’t change their schedules for the media.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Did you know? '08 -'09
This is the latest 'state of the world' video created by Karl Fisch - a US teacher and technology commentator - http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/. It's an entertaining and informative account of the speed of global economic and social change but with a glaring lack of sources and references...
"Those who don't hear must feel"
The title of this blog is a West African proverb which sums up the state of PR in the current economic climate.
PR people are now required to do more listening than ever before or suffer the market consequences.
The old PR "If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it mentality," is the surest path to professional obsolescence.
The PR universe is changing rapidly, and the traditionally adversarial strings of the marketing bow - advertising and PR have slowly begun to converge. PR professionals need to listen and learn from other marketing disciplines as we can't do our best and most innovative work in isolation.
The catalyst for this change has been the rise of Digital as a marketing and communications channel and it's ability to deliver quick, clear and quantifiable results at corporate friendly prices. Traditional advertising never really quite worked out how to do the client-friendly cost part and PR results could be quick, clear or quantifiable but very rarely all three.
In the new communications environment PR's need to be reciting the following mantra - Listen. Engage. Support. Learn. Adapt.
PR people are now required to do more listening than ever before or suffer the market consequences.
The old PR "If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it mentality," is the surest path to professional obsolescence.
The PR universe is changing rapidly, and the traditionally adversarial strings of the marketing bow - advertising and PR have slowly begun to converge. PR professionals need to listen and learn from other marketing disciplines as we can't do our best and most innovative work in isolation.
The catalyst for this change has been the rise of Digital as a marketing and communications channel and it's ability to deliver quick, clear and quantifiable results at corporate friendly prices. Traditional advertising never really quite worked out how to do the client-friendly cost part and PR results could be quick, clear or quantifiable but very rarely all three.
In the new communications environment PR's need to be reciting the following mantra - Listen. Engage. Support. Learn. Adapt.
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