Force For Good

What Kind of PR Help Does China Want?

Haven't heard any update on China's reported search for a PR agency to assist in crisis communications as it makes final preparations for the Olympics this summer. Government officials initiated the search, first reported in the Financial Times April 4, after they lost patience at what they see as biased Western media coverage of anti-Chinese protests.

And that was before the Olympic torch relay debacle.

In Paris and London, protesters diverted attention from the upcoming Beijing games and onto the struggles in Tibet, demonstrating an adroit sense of media management/manipulation, as detailed in the New York Times. Their tactics were disruptive and boorish - one protester even tried to wrestle the torch from wheelchair-bound athlete Jin Jang, who instantly became a hero in China. Yet, to the chagrin of the Chinese government, the protests generated more attention than the torch relay itself.

Then in San Francisco, there was the bizarre spectacle of a last minute route change cleverly designed to thwart protesters but also leaving waiting crowds without a glimpse of the torch. Which begged the question, if an Olympic torch ceremony proceeds in secret, is it really a ceremony?

(For a look at how the Chinese government would have the world's media cover the run-up to the Games, check out the official website for the Olympic torch relay. No controversy here! The San Francisco coverage: "Under a sunny sky, thousands of people began gathering along the route of the Olympic torch relay to show their support for the torch run.")

PR Week has been following the story but has not yet been able to identify any PR firms actively going after the business associated with China's desire to ward off unwanted attention to protests and criticism. I doubt that China will be receptive to serious crisis communications counsel; what they are looking for appears to be the old-fashioned white-washing that is no longer effective in a hyper-connected world. So don't look for any major firms to vie for the business. Hill & Knowlton's role likely will continue to be limited to publicizing the games.

Stay tuned.

- Jon Harmon

Friends of Force for Good: Jill Anderson on "Leading from Behind"

Jill Anderson is director – Development and Communications at the Return to Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary. Her essay addresses leadership from a unique perspective. As a professional communicator and a tireless advocate for a cause she passionately believes in (saving wild mustangs from being exterminated), she is a true Friend of Force for Good. Previously, she worked for Congressman John Dingell (D-MI).

There is a moment in everyone’s life where he or she feels compelled to make a difference in the world, to offer some substantive contribution during our time on the planet. Perhaps this is especially true for those in the communications field. We believe, after all, that we have something worth saying.

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In today’s modern world, where we are besieged with stimulus on every front, it seems a daunting task to distinguish oneself from the masses, and emerge as a leader. For many, it is not the challenge of climbing to the top that gives us pause, but the chance that our integrity will not be found in tact when we get there. The upwardly mobile know very well that opportunities to propel ourselves, to gain ground against our peers, will be offered . . . as long as we leave our better angels by the wayside. Can we resist these opportunities? Can we ever really reach the top if we do? Is there not a path where honest ability, hard work and a sound moral compass are the best tools to help us reach the proverbial top?

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I work as a communications professional for a wild horse sanctuary. A fast track to the limelight it is not, but it affords me a unique and rare opportunity to learn from some very powerful constituents.

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At our sanctuary, wild horses roam the hills in their natural herd groups. It has been a profound and invaluable education for me to observe these natural communities; to watch them interact; to learn how they resolve conflict; and to realize by whom their path is chosen.

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In a wild horse herd the lead mare serves as the sort of figurehead, out in front of the rest. She has the attentive focus of her herd and they follow her with unwavering faith and loyalty. As integral and high profile as her role is within the herd, it is not the lead mare that chooses the path and sets the pace.

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Behind the herd, driving with purposeful intent and hard won assuredness is the stallion. In a seemingly effortless and almost instinctual manner, he assesses the environment, decides if it is time to move – and how quickly and in what direction, or whether it would be more prudent to preserve their energy and remain a little longer in their current space. He navigates through unexpected obstacles, and meets challenge with an honest and direct response, expending no more or no less energy than is necessary to resolve the conflict. The stallion does not achieve his position through privilege or favor, nor can he rise to lead stallion without truly possessing the qualities needed to effectively guide and protect the herd. He will be challenged continuously by other stallions seeking to claim his status, and could easily lose his herd if he is not the leader that nature requires him to be.

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I would suggest that through these incredible animals nature has provided us with a model of true and honest leadership. As communications professionals we would do well to follow the example set by the stallion. Like him, ours is the task of assessing our world and guiding the movement of our herd.

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Our world is rapidly changing. People are feeling increasingly disconnected from their families and community, from the earth and maybe even from themselves. Climate change and the steady depletion of natural resources gives many cause for great concern with the path that we have been on – a path which seems to be heading for a downward spiral. None of this can be resolved without a willingness to make changes, to leave behind old ways of thinking and set out on a new path. The world is desperately in need of true and honest leadership to help us find this path and successfully navigate it. We are the opinion leaders, the architects of perception and the builders of conscious awareness. In this incredible journey that we are all on together it is our calling to find those greener pastures, and to guide our herds safely to them by leading from behind. 

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-  Jill Anderson

Dead-locked Democrats Will Find Common Ground in Corporation Bashing

The U.S. Presidential marathon has entered a new phase. With McCain having wrapped up the Republican nomination, almost no one will pay a lick of attention to the G.O.P. until its convention in September. The focus is solely on the tawdry Democrat dust-up between Senators Obama and Clinton (wooing super delegates to flip-flop; the possibility of “do-over elections in Florida and Michigan” – where else can you change the rules midstream?, etc.).

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The pundits repeatedly tell us that this is a calamity in progress for the Democrat Party.  But is it really a bad thing to have a virtual monopoly of public and media attention for several months in an election year? (You have to believe that every George – from Stephanopoulos to Soros, and maybe even Bush – knows the real score here.)

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What this really means is that we have entered into a new high season of corporation-bashing. The corporation is the most reliable of scapegoats, especially in difficult economic times, and this is one place the Democrat contenders will find common ground.

Too often “corporation” is short hand for monolithic, greedy and socially-irresponsible Big Business. As Jack and Suzy Welch write in Business Week:

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“…no bogeyman is more convenient, election season after election season, year after year, than The Corporation. The mere word is so impersonal! It conjures up images of grim concrete fortresses and slick skyscrapers, giving pols free rein to make pronouncements like one we heard just the other night: ‘For the past seven years, we've had a President who has stood up for corporations. It's time we had a President who stands up for you!’”

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Of course, these same corporations are the engine of commerce and the employers of most of the electorate. And most of these corporations – like, for example your company? – aren’t evil-spirited, faceless places but rather enterprises working diligently to play by the rules in search of a fair profit.

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So is now the time for corporate communicators to stand up for capitalism in America? Only if you have the masochistic urge to run right into the buzz saw, say the Welches:

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“Not unless they possess the strange and burning desire to get blamed, scorned, disparaged, and excoriated for the next nine months or more—specifically, until Nov. 4. Because as high-pitched and, yes, hypocritical as the ‘hate corporate’ rhetoric is right now, we'd wager that it will pretty much end on Election Day. Then the winners, no matter what their political party, will reembrace a reality that most of them already know perfectly well. Business isn't the enemy of people—it is people. And business doesn't destroy hope. It creates it.”

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However easily the newly elected President might be able to flip that attitudinal switch away from corporate hate-think, the damage will have been done to the psyche of the American people. Big Business will remain a populist bogeyman, at least until the next upturn in the economy at large.

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Corporate communicators should be mindful of this business-bashing headwind.

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Take every advantage to differentiate YOUR company from the negative stereotype – emphasizing genuinely socially responsible actions, philanthropy, sincere interest in safe and reliable product performance, etc. Don’t forget to tell the stories of the people behind your business. The stereotype may be a cold, monolithic and “impersonal” (to use the Welches’ word), but your company isn’t! Emphasize the persons who make your company great.

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-- Jon Harmon 

Force for good Communications

Seller Beware: The Stories of Your Company Are About More Than Pushing Product

(Disclosure: The publisher of the book referenced in this post sent me the book so I might review it here. I have not received or expect any further consideration.)

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“One of my first assignments as a newly hired 22-year-old reporter for Ford Motor Company’s employee newspaper was to interview a senior vice president for a story about a new business venture. As I entered the svp’s office, he sized me up and soon made it clear through his demeanor and body language that he was insulted that someone so young and inexperienced had been assigned to interview him.

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“So what did I do? I skipped over the customary introductory pleasantries and politely yet firmly asked him a very tough but pertinent question. In this way, I immediately established my credentials as an intelligent communications professional who had done his homework and was up to the challenge.

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Then I gave him my rapt attention and followed up with another probing question. The svp’s manner quickly changed. We had a productive interview and, when it was over, he said he would be pleased to make his people available to further flesh out the story.”

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I used this anecdote recently to make a point with one of my younger managers – that we p.r. people need to prove our value to the operations to win a seat at their table. We do that through serious preparation, business acumen and perceptive thinking.   

 

Telling this story helped me make the point. And story-telling can help communications of all sorts resonate with intended audiences. 

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As the narrative of successful mass communications changes to include more story-telling and less a reliance on the shouting out of key messages, the sales and marketing arms of the corporation see a natural alliance with public relations. That point of convergence is in many ways a high-water mark for "integrated communications" but also a potential hazard in the continued evolution of aspirational public relations.

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Screen-writer Richard Maxwell and media-trainer Robert Dickman tread rather clumsily on this delicate balance in THE ELEMENTS OF PERSUASION: Use STORYTELLING to PITCH BETTER, SELL FASTER & WIN MORE BUSINESS. That sub-title (as well as the hyper-capitalization) gives away the authors' inclination to view PR as merely an important sales tool.

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Successful, aspirational public relations is indeed truly integrated into the objectives of a corporation's marketing and sales teams, cuing up large numbers of favorably dispositioned potential customers to the top of the  purchase funnel. But public relations is also integrated fully into the company's business strategy development and, of course, into the process of driving internal culture forward through employee engagement. Story-telling can and should be part of the full gamut of successful public relations.

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“Stories are facts wrapped in emotion,” the authors say, explaining the power in stories as well as their universal appeal. “All humans are story-tellers.”

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Fundamental to the success of the communications practice is to mine for stories that provide color and texture around the facts and numbers found in 10-Ks and sales reports, and then to tell them vividly in as few words as possible. The story of a company’s contributions to society, the stories that define its brands and products and the stories lived out of by the people who make up the company – all help define the essence of the company’s reputation.

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Just remember it shouldn’t all be hard sell.

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-  Jon Harmon

Belicose CEO a PR Disaster; Monks Provide Lasting Inspiration

From a particularly distinguished field of PR losers, the finalists for the Force for Good PR 2007 Disaster of the Year, true infamy emerges. I hereby give you Bob Murray, a CEO spokesman for the ages, a nightmare client, wrecker of reputation and destroyer of stakeholder relations for his company.

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Murray sinks below all the others for his amazing performance in rambling press conferences on the scene of the Utah mine disaster in August in which he railed against his perceived enemies and those with different views of politics and life, including a tirade against environmentalists concerned about global warming, while hope slowly ran out on the miners trapped in Crandall Canyon. Families and friends of the miners, co-workers, members of the community and those who heard of the disaster through the news media wanted only to hear about the rescue operation and what could be done to try to save the miners’ lives.

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Murray often veered off course to lecture anyone who’d listen on his views on politics and the economy, and to stubbornly insist that an earthquake had caused the mine collapse even as scientists concluded that seismic disruptions had been caused by the massive cave-in, not vice versa.

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Murray’s act moved from tiresome to wholly inappropriate to something even worse as hope for the lives of the miners faded, and eventually he disappeared from the scene, replaced by a much more professional spokesperson. But the damage had been done. Perhaps he will exercise more restraint the next time he is called on to represent his company publicly, in the inevitable litigation to come.

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On a brighter note, we draw inspiration from the Force for Good “People of the Year” that we can only hope will far out-last Murray’s 15 minutes of infamy.

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Thousands of monks in Myanmar, formerly Burma,  took to the streets in September to protest repressive measures by the country’s government junta.

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On October 1, the world learned of the government’s genocidal reprisal to the monks’ courageous stand – as the bodies of thousands of the monks were dumped in the Burmese jungle. Yet, later in October, monks took to the streets again to continue their courageous protest. Standing up to pro-junta enforcers and thugs, the monks demonstrated peacefully and courageously, delivering a message of hope to the impoverished masses of Myanmar and a lesson in the power of righteous, non-violent dissent to the rest of the world in an age of suicide bombers.

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Can images and stories of the monks' courage inspire the Mynamar people to stand up to brutal tyranny? Will the bright light the monks have shone on abuse and genocide lead to universal condemnation of the junta from the family of nations and true reform in Burma?  this is the hope of the transforming power of righteous communication. Let's not forget the just cause of the monks, truly a force for good.

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- Jon Harmon

PR Disaster of the Year Finalists: Utterly Clueless

It's time to round up the unwitting finalists for Force for Good's annual PR Disaster of the Year. While it will be hard to top 2006's top PR losers, led by the Hewlett-Packard with its spying-on-itself scandal, we have some pretty impressive candidates to choose from in 2007 as well.

This eclectic bunch of individuals and organizations share characteristics anathema to "aspirational public relations" -- they are clueless in their understanding of reputation-shaping forces, they are harmful to others and often to their own self-interests and they are shameful in their lack of integrity, honesty and transparency.

The year started off with a marketing stunt for the Cartoon Network that went horribly wrong, shutting down Boston as perhaps overly paranoid city officials worried that the ugly giant circuit boards that suddenly popped up on bridges and over passes were the work of terrorists. Nothing like a good terror scare to promote a cartoon, eh?

The confusion over how to deal with Iran, its irritating President and its fascination with uranium led to a series of gaffes. In January,after French President Chirac's bizarre statements and immediate reversals, he blamed the media for not understanding that he was "off the record" at his own news conference. The year ended with the release of a befuddling National Intelligence Estimate report that blatantly undermined U.S. President Bush's scrapping-for-a-bombing policy toward Iran. The NIE report was either the latest misstep from the U.S. "intelligence" community or everything you needed to know about Bush's deep-seated tendency to act before asking all the right questions. Or both. While stating that nothing less than nuclear apocalypse was at stake, Bush  apparently made no effort to meet with the intelligence agencies for months as it prepared its Iran report. That prompted Senator Joe Biden to declare: "If that's true, he has the most incompetent  staff in modern American history, and he's one of the most incompetent presidents in modern American history." Hard to argue with that, especially when White House Press Secretary Dana Perino (right) compounded her stunning ignorance of the Cuban Missile Crisis into a case study on how not to put a mistake behind you.

Perino's explanation: ("I was panicked a bit because I really don't know about . . . the Cuban Missile Crisis.... It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I'm pretty sure.") was amazingly similar to that of Miss Teen South Carolina Lauren Caitlin Upton. As a guest on the Today Show. Upton was given powder puff treatment and a second chance to answer a pageant question that had prompted . Her ramblingly incoherent answer about "U.S. Americans ... and, ... uhmmm, some people out there in our nation " has become a YouTube classic. But wait; there's still more to this mess. The Today Show and the Miss Teen USA pageant are owned by the same parent company. Do you think Matt Lauer will give other flummoxed speakers a second chance to knock a soft ball out of the park?

Speaking of Joe Biden ... remember Biden? It was only two paragraphs ago. He's pretty forgettable, isn't he? ... His clumsy "praise" of Barrack Obama as a uniquely "clean" African-American presidential candidate pretty much ended Biden's brief run for the White House, as predicted early in the year in this Force for Good post. I apologize that this post's link to Biden's gaffe is no longer active - pretty much everything about Biden is short-lived.

It was a year when baseball's most hallowed record was broken by a steroid abuser  who would soon be facing perjury charges in Federal court. Michael Vick, not long ago the NFL's highest-paid star, disintegrated before our eyes as dog-fighting allegations led to lies, the failure of a drug test and a prison sentence. And O.J Simpson followed up his grotesque "If I Did It" book with an armed confrontation with memorabilia dealers that might end up putting him behind bars where most of the country believes he already belonged.

But who can forget Paris Hilton's get-out-jail escapade? Or Britney Spear's head-shaving? Don Imus' "nappy-headed ho's" comments and his handling of the ensuing firestorm of criticism? Do they top Whole Foods' CEO John Mackey's anonymous blogging attacks? Or Utah mine CEO Bob Murray's bizarre tirades to the media while rescue attempts were failing to save the lives of miners trapped below?

Stay tuned.

- Jon Harmon

Beyond a Seat at the Table: Fully Engaged PR Team Makes Rest of Company Better

Regular readers of “Force for Good” may wonder why I have been updating this blog so infrequently over the last few months. I should begin by explaining that my career has taken a new and exciting turn as I have joined Navistar, a global transportation company with its core business in commercial trucking and diesel engines, as vice president – Communications. While I have been quite busy in this new role, I do intend to continue to stake a position of thought leadership in progressive public relations by authoring this blog. As in the early days of “Force for Good” when I still worked at Ford, the views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of my employer.

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I’ve been remiss in following up an earlier post in which I discussed the role of public relations as counselor to the business. Here is the long ago-promised sequel.

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Public relations professionals bring value not only through effective and purposeful internal and external communications, but by earning and keeping a “seat at the table” in bringing the voice of reputation to the business operations’ decision-making process. In this way, PR helps anticipate and avoid business decisions that don’t pass the “how would this look in tomorrow’s newspaper” test. To function well in this role, PR professionals need solid business acumen and understanding of the inner workings of the company and its industry.

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But a fully engaged and professional public relations team can bring even greater value to its company beyond those three vital roles of PR (internal and external communication and “seat at the table”). Simply put, when PR is functioning at its highest level, it makes each of the other staff functions more effective.

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Strategic alignment of message certainly helps corporate staffs such as Investor Relations and Governmental Affairs meet their objectives. Clearly there is value in working to ensure messages delivered through consumer media complement or amplify those delivered to Wall Street and Capital Hill. Media such as the New York Times and Washington Post clearly reach multiple sets of stakeholders; messages effectively delivered through those publications can advance the company’s objectives in multiple ways.

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Internally focused staffs, such as Finance, Human Resources and IT can better achieve their objectives when PR’s internal communications efforts are thoughtful, strategic and targeted. Employment alignment and engagement, a more complete understanding of financial responsibilities from Sarbanes Oxley to staying within budgets, success stories captured and shared from one business unit to another, and the creation of a company culture of innovation and creativity are all hugely positive outcomes when PR partners smartly with other internal staffs.

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Marketing, of course, also has much to gain through a strategic partnership with PR. Certainly, public relations can create cost-effective consumer awareness of a new product in the weeks or months leading up to the first waves of advertising that won’t hit until the product is about to reach the market place. Cuing up masses of potential customer at the top of the "Purchase Funnel" enables the company to reach its sales goals despite perennially tight marketing budgets. PR creates awareness and some initial favorable consideration; the Marketing and Sales staffs take it from there, down the funnel from active consideration to product evaluation, purchase and loyalty. (The same dynamic works for B-to-B companies as well.)

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A less apparent but even more important benefit of the strategic partnership between PR and Marketing comes from enhancing the power of corporate reputation and the company’s brands. Marketing is rightly focused on each product’s customers in its own partnership with Sales, as well as on sharpening the power of the brands. PR should be working to find “proof points” in the products, the people and the processes to tell the stories that bring the brand alive and a winning association to the company’s name. Companies with vivid brands and favorable corporate reputation are nearly always successful by any measure of their business.

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.A fully engaged and strategic public relations team, partnering with the rest of the company, can drive the actions inside the company and the favorable perceptions with all its stakeholders to define it as a winner. People want to work for, buy from and invest in winning companies. It’s not hard to see the value in that.

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- Jon Harmon

McCotter wows Dennis Miller

My last post included a letter to Force for Good from U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) ... speaking of whom ... if you happened to catch McCotter on Dennis Miller's national radio program yesterday you had to be impressed with the young congressman's tour de force (check out the audio archive for October 15 if you're a subscribing member of the DMZ).

Dennis Miller is not often upstaged by his guests, but McCotter's quick wit and humor stole the segment. Miller called McCotter "the most refreshingly candid Congressman" he had ever interviewed and offered McCotter a standing invitation to return to the program any time.

McCotter demonstrated how to win over the hearts and minds of listeners with thorough preparation along with a tone of voice appropriate to the medium -- in this case a cerebral yet irreverently comedic talk show. It takes a special gift to mix it up with a host as spontaneous as Dennis Miller without coming across as contrived or scripted. Thaddeus, I didn't know you had it in you.

McCotter has in the past demonstrated an ability to let down his hair; that is, if he had any hair to let down. In the photo at right from Dec. 2005, McCotter plays lead guitar for troops stationed in Kuwait, as part of the bi-partisan band "The Second Ammendment" comprised of five U.S Congressmen.   

Still, I would quibble with McCotter's glib reply to Miller's question about whether he would enter the Presidential race: "I don't think so," McCotter said. "The last time we had an Irish Catholic president, it all ended rather badly."

Ouch!

- Jon Harmon