When marketing messages aren’t exactly helping…

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Gerry

Rolf Harris theatre poster

While Mr H is innocent until proven otherwise, surely his current show poster strapline is unfortunate at best and, should allegations prove substantial, in horrid bad taste at worst?

Posted in Celebrity | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Hubris and “social media fail” on menu at Amy’s Baking Company

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Gerry

Scratching my head on this one at HuffPost: It’s either THE best “controversy marketing” stunt designed to get the eyes of the world media on a TV show featuring an Arizonan restaurant, or it’s the biggest PR clusterfunk I’ve seen on social for some time. (Anything related to cocky chef Gordon Ramsay is usually tinged with an element of high-profile raising, innit?)
The precis? The restaurant owner calling social commentators ‘pussies’, challenging them to fistfights, threatening hollow legal action – all backed by ‘God’s’ might – and now claiming their Facebook was hacked (possible I guess) and you have a recipe for a tasty PR disaster.

Posted in Business, Celebrity, Internet Public Relations, Online, PR Disasters, social media | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

IRS official’s ‘no good at math’ interview blunder.

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Gerry

You couldn’t make it up. Honestly.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/05/10/im-not-good-at-math-the-irss-public-relations-disaster/

Posted in Public Relations | Leave a comment

Tom Waterhouse and mum Gai to face their Waterloo?

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Gerry

That it could shock anyone that there could be skullduggery at the stables where the “sport” of horse-racing is built on the proceeds of gambling, still quite baffles me. As the public spat between horse owner Singo, horse trainer Gai and horsetrader Tom turns into a public relations disaster for the family and racing industry, today’s stewards enquiry is unlikely to address the core issue driving the furore. Good article from Tim Elliot explains the background. Hat tip to Foxsports for the montage image.

Posted in Celebrity, PR Disasters, Sport, Top Spins | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#BoycottMyer PR disaster has Bernie on the backfoot

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Gerry

Shooting-from-the-lip Myer CEO Bernie Brookes has caused a sorta social media stink by saying that Julia Gillard’s NDIS levy will impact retail spending (sic, at his stores). While mainstream media reports mostly on the social media ‘outrage’ (see Addictomatic coverage), Social Mention calculates that the coverage is three times more likely to be negative towards Myer and Brookes; others report a dip (surely temporary) in the Myer share price.

Posted in Business, Internet Public Relations, Online, social media, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

If your CEO is the actual PR disaster

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Gerry

What does a business do when a PR blunderbuss like Charles Green is its media spokesperson?
As a keen football follower and PR analyst, I’m compelled to rubberneck the PR debacle that is The (newco/sevco) Rangers back in Scotland. The apparent leadership blunderings have caused me to research the role of the CEO in preventing/managing PR disasters. I found this paper from the Institute For PR:
Ken Makovsky, writing in Forbes Magazine notes…”if the CEO is getting mostly negative publicity, it is very hard to get positive coverage on the organization as a whole. “The opposite is also true,” notes Nicole Lee, a master’s student at San Diego State University, “If an organization is regularly bashed in the media, its CEO would likely struggle to maintain a positive reputation.”
In addition to the academic view, reputation practitioners would counsel that the CEO must always be the custodian of reputation, not the imperiller of it.

Posted in Corporates, PR Disasters, Public Relations, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Social media seminar – where digital PR meets customer service

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Gerry

Sydneyside social media fans might want to consider an imminent (21/22 March), crisis-orientated social media training conference. It’s a “…must-attend for heads of service, consumer affairs leaders, emergency managers with an interest in stakeholder management, managers of contact centres and heads of complaints handling teams OR anyone who is responsible for customer interactions in times of crisis.”

Posted in Education, Online, social media, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

PR disaster for some AFL clubs as doping scandal breaks

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Gerry

Where sharp marketing takes on an unfortunate double meaning in light of the Aussie Rules doping scandal.

Posted in Public Relations | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment