Your PR Architect

I don't want to talk about Matt, Harvey, Kevin, Charlie, or Bill. Recent headlines have created a Sargasso Sea of sexual misdeeds and dismissed journalists. It's not a great climate in which to send news releases about vague "solutions" and nude cooking. But if you need a break from the misadventures of fallen media giants, the PR world can offer a brief respite. If you're willing to wade through some challenging prose. After reading this one from Gold Stream Solutions -- an agency that includes PR among its areas of expertise -- I'm starting to understand what's killing news releases. Lousy writing. News-free copy. Vague information. Quoting a CEO with no last name. I didn't realize CEOs qualified for the federal witness protection program. If that's not sufficiently amusing, consider this release, received by my friend Tracy Schuhmacher, who writes about food and drink for the Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle. It's from th...

Last week, colleagues and former students encouraged me to write about the colossal PR blunders of April: Pepsi's misguided TV commercial in which a rich white woman ends a street protest by handing a cop a soft drink Press Secretary Sean Spicer's gross stupidity in using Hitler and the Holocaust in describing Syria's use of chemical warfare United Airlines' ghastly mishandling of "re-accommodating" a passenger on a commercial jet -- and bloodying both passenger and senior management in the process. These tragic blunders didn't need my commentary. News media pundits and late-night comedians carried the ball far across the goal line. They pointed out the universal tone-deafness of Pepsi, United, and Spicer. They didn't need me to spike the ball. Businesses and government officials have been saying dumb things for decades. There's nothing new about these errors. Each reflects an acute case of self-absorption, and a total disregard for ...

This week, United Airlines proved that it has learned nothing about social media in nine years. By now, you may have seen the tale of United's removing two teenage girls from a flight for wearing leggings. United explained that its policy for users of employee-provided travel passes came with a dress code. Leggings and spandex are forbidden. This episode, as silly as it sounds, triggered a Twitter onslaught of criticism for the airline. It amused me, at first, because what passes for travel attire on most U.S. air carriers ranges from business suits to rumpled pajamas to cosplay outfits. But then, as the United story tumbled across Twitter, involving celebrities including Chrissy Teigen, Patricia Arquette, and even octogenarian William Shatner (at left, in tights from his '60s Star Trek era), I remembered: United's been down this road of embarrassment before. In 2008, Canadian musician Dave Carroll created a mini-sensation when the airline's baggage crew smas...

If you're a PR professional, you may disagree with me. And I'd love to hear your viewpoint. Six months ago, a local acquaintance asked me to help promote his book on business leadership. Most news media I contacted were enthusiastic, interviewing him on air, including his book in a newspaper column, or running op-ed essays he'd written about business conduct. By Holger.Ellgaard (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0  (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],  via Wikimedia Commons Except one. An experienced news/public affairs broadcaster who initially expressed interest, asked to read a copy of the client's book, and then went silent. Didn't respond to emails or phone calls. Even when I asked co-workers at the broadcaster's station, who first said they'd been busy, and told me he'd get back to me. Except he didn't. Nor did his producer.  I hate giving up. But, after six months of unresponsiveness from the broadcaster, I decided to ce...

By Dan Altuz (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons An old magician's trick -- "look closely, nothing up my sleeve" -- threatens to alter our perception of what constitutes real news. Unless we wise up, and fast. In stage parlance, the word was legerdemain . Derived from a French expression for "sleight of hand," it describes a magic trick, or some other deceit. Screenwriters and journalists don't use the word much anymore.  But, in an era of false news, dusting it off would be a fine idea. Because we're looking at a year or more of childish sniping and Tweets whose true purpose is to distract editors and too-lean reporting staffs from digging at harder stories. Legerdemain isn't limited to the next occupants of the White House. In some cases, PR people have performed their own version of "here's an oversized check to charity" to obscure the less-than-charitable d...

(c) DKassnoff, 2014. Cranking out PR for a legendary rock musician should be pretty straightforward. I'm all but certain Billy Joel has no daily involvement in his website or the Facebook page that updates his new tour dates. Nor should he. Someone's minding those tasks, though. And doing a mediocre job. On Oct. 14, a headline on Billy's web site announced:  Billy Joel Sells Out The New Coliseum’s Opening Show In Less Than Four Minutes. Read the details here . A sellout sure sounds impressive, doesn't it? Maybe, if your time-travelling Delorean is tooling through 1985. Internet ticket sales today have made swift concert sellouts an everyday occurance. And, few would-be ticket buyers are happy about it. They know that concert tickets are scarfed up by ticket bots and scalpers before fans ever get through the lethargic Ticketmaster website. The problem's so severe that several states are enacting legislation to outlaw the bots . But the person ...

After having written about Chipotle restaurants' PR crises several times in the past year, I pledged I wouldn'tgo back to that trough again.  Yet, there's more negative news today about the beleaguered eatery. So, I'll just let the New York Daily News do the talking. This calls for more than a simple re-branding. How do you say "Leadership Change" in Spanish?

I'm completely aware that this article is paid for. It touts a Rochester, NY automobile dealership, and one employee's love of an heirloom Pontiac. Which we never actually see, because the dealer sponsoring the copy sells Chevrolets. 1966 Catalina, by Tino Rossini (Flickr: Catalina) [CC BY 2.0 ] via Wikimedia Commons Nonetheless, I have a quibble or two with it. Veteran PR practitioners will recognize this ode to Chevrolets as "advertorial." The new term is "sponsored content." If you want to know the price range of a new Corvette, that's about the only newsworthy aspect of the story. Whatever we call it, I made a good living writing it for a spectrum of clients. Sponsored content, well presented, demonstrates subject matter expertise that creates a halo effect for a client and/or his/her brand. To be fair, the Gannett Rochester operation labeled this honestly: "This story is produced and presented by our sponsor." Sponsored edito...

By U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Aaron Peterson. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons As communicators, words are our currency. And lately, it feels as if we've been using counterfeit currency to grab readers and viewers. It's time for news writers and video pundits to change the way they use metaphors borrowed from authentic disasters and conflict. PR copywriters, too, although if we're at all sensitive, we won't describe a new product "exploding" across the marketplace. I hope. Last week, one of the presidential candidates flailed in the week's news coverage. Countless newsreaders said he had ignited a "firestorm" by lashing out at a Gold Star family that criticized him. A few days later, another story talked about a controversy "exploding" across the nation's newspapers. Firestorm? Get serious. A real fire storm is a wild fire of great intensity. It's something to be fought, and firefighters'...

Public relations is often about building relationships. Some smart PR people get this. Others don't. For example: "I know you're the special kind of person who wants to help other people." I'm not sure if Steve Harrison really knows that. Or knows much about public relations, beyond providing all sorts of advice on how to get the attention of TV segment booking producers. That's what he sells on his website. What I do know about Steve Harrison: he hasn't Clue One about respecting his potential customers. The five come-on emails he sent me over a two-hour period told me all I need to know about Steve's mastery of public relations. (I signed up for a webinar, recommended by a colleague. Not spam that rivals the barrage I got from FTD around Mother's Day.) In a five-day span: 10 emails from Steve. Each as relentless and self-promoting as the last. A TV studio control room. By Wing1990hk (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Com...

Last week, I attended the Public Relations Society of America's North East chapter regional conference ( PRXNE 2016, if you like acronyms) in Boston. This created an opportunity to revert to Road Warrior driving mode, visit a Samuel Adams brewery on Germania Street, and explore the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum on the University of Massachusetts campus. (Free beer. Great Kennedy stuff, with a little Hemingway, too. No collisions. End of travelogue.) Field research at the Samuel Adams Brewery, Boston. Photo (c) DKassnoff, 2016. At the conference, I learned about data-driven PR, information foraging, mobile PR, and -- my favorite -- harnessing the untapped power of belonging. (Kudos to Mike McDougall of McDougall Communications for a terrific presentation.) You can watch a  presentation here, if you sign in. Professionals should attend at least one PR conference a year. The industry evolves so quickly, but it's all about telling good stories for mission-driven c...

To:  Michael Ferro, Chairman       Tribune Publishing, a.k.a., tronc cc: Blog Readers Subject: Invitation: How to Communicate Dear Mike: I invite you and your communications team to drop by my office at the university.  My schedule's Chicago Tribune Building, By Stuart Seeger [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons flexible 'til late August. But act fast. Because as your company transforms to some digital communications-moneymaking internet punchline, your recent news release tells me Tribune Publishing has lost its grasp of how to communicate in English. Your June 2 news release,  Tribune Publishing Announces Corporate Rebranding, Changes Name to Tronc,  sets a new low in incomprehensible jargon. Experienced PR people write releases that readers will understand. The writer who pumped out this horrid excuse for a press release has no grasp of this.  It's perfectly fine to r...

My first full-time reporting job came from a small weekly paper on Long Island. Called Suffolk Life, the paper served as the launch pad for the careers of a number of superb journalists and scholars . And me. No one becomes wealthy working at a weekly paper. Because he couldn't pay me very much, the publisher, the late great Dave Wilmott , Jr., allowed me to gas up from the same ancient Esso-esque pump that filled his delivery trucks. A few years later, as a public relations practitioner, I continued my appreciation of weeklies, especially when promoting lifestyle products and how to use them. My rationale: place a story in a daily paper, and that edition will likely be discarded when the next day's paper arrives. Place the same story in a weekly, and that paper lives in readers' homes for a full week before its replacement shows up. I get seven chances to grab your attention, not just one. Local weeklies. (c) DKassnoff, 2016. Today, Suffolk Life is out of busin...

There's a short list of technology companies whose products I will never buy. This isn't a "Buy American" rant, but it has plenty to do with how tech companies manage -- or mismanage -- their reputations. I don't buy Hewlett Packard products. Partly for the shoddy treatment bestowed on former EDS workers (with whom I'm personally acquainted) acquired when H/P bought the company. Partly because H/P's board of trustees engaged in spying on employees and each other. Partly because an H/P CEO was dismissed in 2011 for "fudging expense reports" -- corporate-codetalk for using company funds on an inappropriate relationship . By Etcha (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0  (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL via Wikimedia Commons None of these events means H/P makes poor technology products. To me, however, it's indicative of a company that applies its profits irresponsibly. And I don't want dime one spent in support of a com...

News item provided by the Associated Press, repeated by a local public broadcasting affiliate : "The Russell Station power generation plant, an iconic landmark near the Lake Ontario shoreline outside Rochester, is being torn down." Russell Station photo by RChappo2002, via Flickr (Creative Commons License 2.0).  https://www.flickr.com/photos/rchappo2002/ Really? The "is being torn down" is Exhibit One in the case of the AP tearing down journalistic writing. Passive voice -- leaning on a wobbly "to be" verb instead of an active verb -- weakens any writing. Marketing communications and public relations agencies will cough up the occasional passive-verb hairball in news releases. For example: a release from the Del Prado law firm  relies on "has been serving" instead of "has served." This suggests that neither the agency or MyPRGenie has newswriting skill. AP and other news organizations shouldn't fall into the same trap. I...

Editors of a student publication asked me: "If you were hired to take attention and support away from (Donald) Trump in the presidential campaign, what would you do? And how would you go about doing this?" Across my career, my engagements in political PR were minimal. Most of my corporate and not-for-profit clients had little political interest. But the editors' questions made me wonder: is taking away Trump's bluster and strong-arm tactics the best path forward? Tom Selleck photo by Alan Light [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Here's what I shared with the editors: The challenge with “taking interest away from Trump” is that it’s impossible. He spent years cultivating his personal brand through his Celebrity Apprentice TV series and phoning news-talk shows on radio and TV. So the entire country believes it “knows” Donald Trump. In other words: Trump's campaign is not based on ideology, GOP d...

A while ago, I chided a PR and social media communications agency for the so-so quality of their promotional videos on YouTube. But, it wasn't all bad. In the video below, Steve, one of their social media gurus, talks about how to create a social media policy. He mentions getting counsel from attorneys, minding government regulations, and taking into account the organization's HR needs. All fine, up to a point. However, he leaves out a few essentials that most organizations need to consider when crafting a social media policy -- and the strategy that goes with it: What's the goal of the organization's social media effort? Do all employees understand that the company's Twitter feed isn't a place to complain about internal policies, or a poor outing by the New York Rangers? What about looking at social media policies other organizations have adopted? What's worked, and what hasn't? ( Applebee's fumble with the storefront pastor  in 2013 leaps t...

I wish I knew why local politicians can't figure out that they're soiling their reputations -- and that of their communities -- over truly insignificant banter. Continuum Generation in Photonic Crystal Fibre. Photo by Jean-Christophe, Michel, Delagnes (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0  via Wikimedia Commons Ongoing disagreements between a low-level state Assemblyman and the leader of the SUNY Polytechnic Institute threaten to erode support for the much-lauded American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics in Rochester, if you listen to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The AIM Photonics Institute , funded with state and federal dollars, may bring thousands of jobs to New York's Finger Lakes Region. But, if you listen to the Governor, the squabble places the project at risk . I want to believe that greater Rochester has the ability to rise above petty disputes over projects that might strengthen the area's choppy economy. But it took more than 10 years to secure federal ...

Public relations people are accustomed to news outlets using only a portion of their news releases. Often, editors and producers publish only the essential facts, just enough to fill a news hole. Paul Hermans from nl [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)  or CC-BY-SA-3.0, from Wikimedia Commons When broadcast news producers do this, they often direct viewers and listeners to their websites for the fuller story. This saves air time or news print. But, when there's only a truncated version of the information, it tells me I'm a victim of lazy journalism . One example: a recent news item from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, announcing $35 million in construction grants to a number of private colleges.  One Rochester TV station's online story listed an incomplete handful of colleges receiving these funds, including Rochester Institute of Technology. Emphasize the local angle? Sure. Except several other local colleges -- among them St. John Fisher College ...

When Xerox' CEO announced last week that her company would split into two businesses in an attempt to save itself, local leaders leapt into PR action to reassure the community. And achieved little. Bob Duffy, a former Rochester mayor and former lieutenant governor, scrambled a news conference. Now head of the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, he told reporters that his Chamber "stands ready" to aid Xerox and/or laid-off employees. Newly elected County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo made a similar "stand ready" promise. Xerox sponsor decals on Ducati 999 racing motorcycle. By StealthFX [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons This metaphorical "standing ready" means: zero. Ursula Burns, the Xerox CEO, has so far downplayed the layoffs issue. But Duffy and Dinolfo tried to reassure the community without  advance knowledge of Xerox's decision. For that matter, Xerox failed to first inform its own employees before the news leaked...