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This unbelievable piece suggests that Scotland is a tough place to practice PR. The UK PM’s wife Sarah Brown (a former PR at Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications), was allegedly involved in a PR photo-op where govt PR minders seemed somewhat over-zealous in protecting their client interests. The messengers threatening scribes with a bullet; there’s a new twist on a theme.

Following a long line of public figures who have deployed kids to try and win the sympathy vote in public opinion - think UK’s John ‘Mad Cow’ Gummer and Aussies Matt Brown, Andrew Bartlett and John Hewson - thugby player Greg Bird recently arrived at court dragging his little brother (maybe about 5yrs old?) through a media scrum. His sister also ported their other baby brother to try keeping media snappers at bay. Accused of ‘glassing’ his American girlfriend’s face with a wine glass, Bird’s media advisers (lawyers or PR people we wonder?) clearly felt he needed to soften his image as this sports PR disaster unfolds. Bird’s girlfriend suffered cuts and a fractured eye socket after allegedly being hit in the face with a glass wielded by Bird himself. He denies the assault and blamed a pro-golfer mate.

Ever fond of hoary old sayings this weather, I’ll bastardise another; “character isn’t revealed when things are going well, but how you behave when things are going badly”. Greg from an older PR pro; ditch the entourage and the media manipulation. Face these allegations directly, with integrity and, if appropriate, with contrition. That’s the only way to bring this unseemly PR disaster to a close, and rebuild your much tarnished reputation. 

 

There’s an old saying that runs along the lines of “…behaviour is not the main thing that influences reputation…it’s the only thing.” In trying to create “a siege mentality” within a beleagured English soccer club, Newcastle United, new manager Joe Kinnear swore 52 times at a media conference often directly attacking journalists. What does this do for the club’s reputation, Kinnear’s or those who appointed him? More, how will the prospective new owners feel about Kinnear’s custody of their brand reputation? PR disaster or what?

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=BKdETq7ZGgQ

For those of you who’ve been eagerly awaiting the news, Shelley my Euro-based book agent tells me copies of my best-selling PR text ‘PR Disasters’ (printed in Vietnam language version) are running hot off printing presses. Question is; how does a linguistically-challenged (only smatterings of French and Spanish) PR  veteran proofread this one? Suggestions/offers of help appreciated

We’re seeing the (editorial) launch of what’s inaccurately billed as Australia’s ‘first pure Social Media Marketing agency’ ( Julian Cole has scored a gig at the ‘The Population’). Tad embarrassing for noo agency and journos, no-one researched the ‘first’ Social Media agency claim (yet Smart Company used the erroneous PR soundbite). Photon shareholders will be encouraged by the headline clips, though.

Other Soc Med Marketing agencies in Oz might include Zest, Shifted Pixels and Sticky. And several PR firms like Edelman, Text 100 and Howarth are certainly active in the Soc Media area from a PR/marcomms stance.

Population MD says their “…first goal is to simply educate the market about developing new ways of using social networking as a marketing tool, and merging the use of technology and branding.” So, pretty much treading turf similar to that taken by Ozzies like Lee Hopkins, Gavin Heaton, Trevor Cook, Laurel Papworth, and myself (and others like Paull Youngie in the US) over the last 2-3 years or so?

I welcome The Population, hoping their intellectual input will enrich the sector’s knowledge base and their Photon parentage will add weight to the validity of Web2.0 as a two-way Comms conduit, not just a marketing channel.

Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan join the esteemed cohort of media ‘professionals’ caught in off-mike moments, saying things they wished they hadn’t and should’ve known better about doing so (esp in a TV studio environment). This time, gun-totin’, moose-dressin’, soon-to-be-glamorous grannie, wannabe-VP of the USA Sarah Palin gets it in the neck.

Great example of how and when not to conduct a media conference… Embattled NSW MP Belinda Neal feels ‘vindicated’ over allegations she intimidated and lorded it over nighclub staff (see link for story chronology) and held a press conference to, well…gloat over the findings. Thing is for this press thingo, Belinda was poorly advised and ill-prepared as her media appearance only acted as a forum for rehashing questions over her formative behaviour. Again, the cloud of doubt lingers. Never front the press when you know you can’t satisfactorily answer their hardest question…the evasive footage becomes gold.

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2008/s2348362.htm

Click above to hear UK journalist and author Nick Davies lambast today’s commercial media as passive processors of PR puff, led by the nose by powerful corporate PR influences. As well as aiming a kick at flacks, hack Nick echoed points I’ve previously made in my ‘Public Relations Disasters’ book. Particularly he explained how the death of the deadline has further depleted the resources of ‘time-pressed, deadline-stressed’ journalists. ‘Churnalism’ was the keyword of Nick’s interview with ABC’s Kerry O’Brien.

And against a backdrop of all powerful PRs and depleted newsrooms what does news org Fairfax do? Scythes its staff by 550 jobs, including 100-plus losses from its editorial complement. PR’s rejoice!! More potential success for thinly-disguised advertorials surely? 

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