The Public Relations Blog

Let PR show you how you can benefit from disaster

President John F. Kennedy remarked, “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” A crisis typically indicates that something was wrong and has now reached the stage where you can no longer ignore it. Still, it is also a chance to make changes and make things right.

After a crisis, you must quickly assess the situation and determine what you can learn from it. PR can help with this process.

How your company should respond to a social media attack

A great illustration of mob mentality is the scene in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast when the townspeople amass and call for the Beast’s head. Can you imagine what that would be like today if the mob flocked to social media and the Beast was a company that people felt had “wronged” them in some way? The Beast would have a sea of virtual torches and pitchforks at his company’s door. Without a PR firm, that business could be doomed.

Navigating social media and the public can be tricky. A single negative post concerning even a well-established company can go viral in an instant.

Martin Shkreli, CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, has the unique, highly intelligent and egotistical personality type some dub as a “cavalier CEO.”

A public relations professional’s job, like many others, comes with various stressors and road bumps that we must sensitively navigate to benefit the greater good. On the red carpet, few see the sweaty PR pro lugging mountains of company collateral, promotional swag and schedule binders to a trade event. Our jobs aren’t always glamorous and are frequently littered with deadlines, quick-turn requests and, of course, constant rejection from media.

Hint: You may need PR more than you realize

Today, your time will likely be filled with meetings with your direct reports to discuss matters of company performance, sales and finance. You may meet with prospective clients, sit in on a team-building session and try to squeeze in some personal and family time. This doesn’t leave much time to focus on PR.

If you think your business-to-business tech company doesn’t need PR, you are missing out on key opportunities to boost your visibility and grow your business.

In addition to September’s status as Ethics Awareness Month, the arrival of fall signals the beginning of professional and collegiate football, tailgating and, of course, the return of the NFL to news headlines. However, those headlines aren’t exclusively focused on superstars, injuries and scores; rather, the spotlight illuminates a 2015 scandal (“Deflate-gate”) that rocked the NFL mere months after several players’ public domestic violence incidences.

Media fame, whether or not it’s the result of a scandal, acts like a proverbial carrot dangled before business owners and investors who flock to it like moths to a flame. Intense paparazzi-style blitzes follow, especially when an ordinary organization takes on a high-profile staff member. Many companies fall prey to “hiring stunts” with very little actual return on investment beyond initial get-it-quick publicity.

PR can show you how to take control of your online image

Have you ever watched a small snowball roll downhill? If you don’t stop it, it keeps gathering more snow until it’s too big to handle. One negative comment or bit of incorrect information about your company on social media can create the same phenomenon as that small snowball.

Therefore, it is vital to your business that you manage social media content before it develops into a crisis. With help from PR, you can take control of your image and reputation.

What to do about the swelling shooting epidemic

It’s not surprising that gun shops are doing brisk business, or that parents are turning more and more to home schooling. It’s because crisis situations like terrorist threats, criminal attacks and active shootings are becoming a pervasive headline throughout the United States.

Most people don’t expect to be at the mercy of an active shooter. Although mass shootings are rare, the number of incidents in which a gunman has opened fire on a crowd has doubled in the last seven years, primarily in businesses and schools, based on a study by the FBI.

Do they stay or do they go?

OK, here we go again. Reputations are floundering; our heroes are no longer heroic. From Jared Fogle to Bill Cosby to Brian Williams, questionable decisions will either show resilience or that the ultimate mistake can destroy careers.

The solution: A damage control team has to always be on deck. Honesty and transparency will help mitigate the problems, but with the advent of social media and round-the-clock news both off- and online, you’d better be quick to take action.

Your organization’s good reputation is one of your most valuable assets; getting negative press can easily ruin your image and your business. Handling negative coverage properly is important in order to keep your good image, so take careful note of these five most common mistakes you must avoid: