The Bailey Blog

As a public relations professional, I understand the value of explaining both sides of an issue.  This concept has never been truer than during an election season, specifically the 2008 election season which will (thankfully) wrap up this week.  The American public has been subjected to myriad messages, including mudslinging about a candidate’s character and convoluted facts about issues.  Consequently, many of my friends and family members are confused on who to vote for and which political party really is looking out for their best interests.

As I sat watching a news program with my two year old daughter the other night, a commercial came on television, it showed a picture of a cat and the voice over read “this is not a cat, it is a feline” and my daughter looked at the television and said “yes, it is a cat.”  At that point I thought, ‘a two year old can look at these political ads and realize that they are misleading.’  It was then that I realized that in PR when you are trying to get your message out to you audience, simplify, simplify, simplify!  Sure, my two year old wasn’t the target audience of the party that issued the ad but I was and it wasn’t until a two year old pointed out the humor of the ad that I really took notice. 

It was after that night, I went online to the Citizens Research Council of Michigan Web site and spent three minutes reading about the proposals on the Michigan ballot.  They were clearly explained and I easily formed my opinion and knew which way I would be voting on Nov. 4.  I couldn’t help but think, ‘why didn’t someone just say this in the beginning?’

As I said before, I understand trying to explain both sides of an issue but sometimes PR folks become so entrenched in an issue that their explanations become too complex to understand and in turn, people tune out the messages. 

This elections season has not been short of learning experiences for the PR industry, but I believe that one of the most important examples of effective public relations has been that people will respond better to a simple truth rather than a complex answer that leaves them more confused and feeling vulnerable.

Photo by Hoosierguy at flickr.com.

Okay, fuel economy, sales, customers, leases and new models are seemingly foreign concepts to the current owners of Chrysler.

But, apparently, communications may be making a comeback.

Well, for a limited engagement.

The company in the last couple weeks has had to employ an old technique that used to serve it pretty well - that little thing called PR and communications.

Chrysler was a benchmark in the car industry and beyond for executive access and openness in the 90’s. Well, right up until the company was purchased by a private equity firm a year ago.

Going private, executives then said, meant financial info could be secret since they no longer would be issuing statements for shareholders.

Now, with rumors of bankruptcy and billions in financial muck stuck to the Pentastarred tower off I-75, the top brass have realized the power of communicating to try and end "a lot of speculation, false speculation" that is "rumbling around about" the company. So Jim Press - company president and vice chairman, went out on the stump to talk financials and set the record straight. I don’t know if anyone is buying the words so much - with U.S. sales still in the car crapper, down 23 percent this year; however, that isn’t the point.

The Chrysler crux is two-fold:

1. See? Communications is vitally important to an organization. Those "rumors" and "speculation" come from one side of the story being told - if you don’t take control of the message, someone will. And, they may not have your best interest in mind. It is critical to be proactive, willing and available to discuss key messages and issues with the target audience - find that channel, use it often, openly and honestly.
2. Now, here’s the problem that Chrysler has discovered…or will very shortly … and, unfortunately, they aren’t alone: Communications isn’t a light switch.You can’t use it just when you want to "fix" a waxy negative build up. There is a bank of goodwill that can be formed through regular, ongoing communications with the targeted audience. It’s like calling someone you haven’t seen in 10 years and your first call to them is to borrow money. Build the relationship, work it, listen to the audience as part of communications and respond quickly, often and honestly to it.

Don’t believe the PR putz? Listen to the smart dude quoted in today’s Detroit Free Press (so it must be true):

"They (Chrysler) made it very clear a year ago that they weren’t going to do the things that normal businesses do and that this was a privately held company and the press was going to have to go away because they aren’t going to disclose what’s going on in the company," said Gerald Meyers, a University of Michigan business professor. "This is a break in that. What’s surprising is that this sets a tone and precedent. Once they do that, they’re going to have to do it again."

Based on their recent history, bet you a Dodge Ram-sized tank of gas they won’t.

It’s the latest version of David vs. Goliath and David’s going to win this one, too. Why? Because David is offering a service as good as or better than Goliath and he’s doing it for free.

It seems Peter Shankman, the irreverent but often self-deprecating founder of Help A Reporter Out , is giving ProfNet a run for its money, or more accurately stated, a run for ours.

You see, as public relations professionals and journalists grapple with how to most effectively connect for our mutual well-being, we have had to pay a significant price for the professional services of ProfNet – until now.

As Shankman writes on his site, “I built this list because a lot of my friends are reporters, and they call me all the time for sources. Rather than go through my contact lists each time, I figured I could push the requests out to people who actually have something to say.”

The pushing is done via his Web site, Twitter, Facebook, a (free) subscription e-mail list and, I’m pretty sure, by Peter talking about it to every person he meets regardless of the circumstances.

“I’ll have the #2 combo with a large Coke and, say, have you heard of Help A Reporter Out?”

What Peter and his list of followers (well over 16,000 now and growing every day) represent isn’t just a cool, free service. They represent anarchy at its finest. They represent the good that can be accomplished with a tool as powerful and ubiquitous as the Internet.

But they also represent the American dream that has been replaced of late with the American entitlement. Thomas Jefferson reportedly once said, “I’m a firm believer in luck and I find the harder I work the luckier I am.”

Hear, hear.

Success is within everyone’s grasp. All they need is the foresight to wonder why someone hasn’t done something already, the means to reach their customers, and the chutzpah to jump in the deep end and paddle like crazy.

This Potential Client Could Have Been “Sheet” Outta Luck

We can Tweet.

We can Twitter.

We can Text.

But to Joan Rivers’ point, “Can we TALK?” Seems that last one is a lost art…at least it almost was to a cold-call prospect I got this week.

The guy owns a fine European linen shop in Birmingham, Mich. If you ain’t from here, couple bucks in that town…very high end on the demographic meter.

In other words, I know “fine Euro linen” about as well as Keith Richards does about doing decathlons.

But, this shop owner wanted to learn more about PR. Now that I know…most days.

He went to the phone book, and called four local firms to ask them what they do. We were one of them.

I went out to meet with the owner recently. We hung out for an hour or so to discuss what he did, what he wanted to do, what we did and how we do it.

Bottom line is the guy probably can’t afford some of our services on a regular basis.

But, I gave him some ideas that he really liked, promised I send over a menu of some ideas/tactics with fee ranges if he wanted to go to the next step or get some counsel in the future.

He was very appreciative.

We were the only firm to come out to meet him.

Others assessed his lack of full PR knowledge …and budget to some extent…and treated him like one of those guys that call you during dinner to find out if you need your gutters cleaned.

Here’s what those other PR firms forgot:

1) We are in “communications” - not a lot of people really know what that is outside the field. By making the assumption that “everyone gets it” we miss the opportunity of allowing potential clients to know how we can help or that certain services/products are even available.

2) I learned what “fine Euro linen” means. It means this gent works with people who are cool with spending $100,000 plus on interior decorating projects alone. Heck, maybe even just one room. They are movers and shakers in this town that during business hours, do other stuff. That stuff could be a business in need of PR services and products.

When our shop owner works with these well-heeled individuals and hears about some potential PR need a customer is dealing with at work (see? now the shop owner has a way to determine what a PR issue is because someone told him), who will he suggest to his customer? The firm that blew them off for lack of budget…or the guys who took an hour out of their day to “talk” and do a bit of brainstorming?

3) Marketing one’s firm isn’t only checking the boxes when about buying an ad in the PRSA directory or golf outing program. It’s not even just about a cool blog or website. It’s about getting out in the community where you not only work, but live. It’s about seeing PR as a true service…one where “counseling” and “consultation” is involved. It’s about “relations” with the “public.”

Are we doctors curing cancer or even lawyers upholding constitutional principles?

Well, no….are britches aren’t quite that big.

However, when a firm forgets that the word “service” doesn’t start with a “$,” they are already communicating.

But the message isn’t as pretty as fine Euro linens.

And, that smell isn’t potpourri.

Apparently, it has become “news” - based on that most-quoted source in history, “Mr. Rumor Von Unnamedsource” - that Cerberus Capital Management is ready to sell and/or dismember Chrysler LLC.

The latter recently held it’s annual “What’s New Event” where journalists have the opportunity to drive and reacquaint themselves with that current year’s product as well as interview executives as to the status of various company biz.

This year it apparently gave journalists the opportunity to ask the age ol’ question “Where’s the beef?” after seeing holes in the product line including the lack of alternative fuel vehicles (or even a strategy). Coupled with Mr. Von Unnamedsource, we’ve got page-one news here, people!

As a former Chrysler employee, I’m saddened and sick that the cloud is forming again over the Pentastar shrine off I-75. Some of the best PR people in town are there or have come through there. (OK, well, not me but others…)

The “Never Say Die” Hall of Fame in Auburn Hills has become a Hall of “Never Said Die.” The place was always known as the home of the Comeback Kids dating back to Lido and his ship-righting of the 80s. How ironic that Mr. Iacocca was in da house in Auburn Hills for a “celebration” of Chrysler’s heritage on the very day the media was an hour away driving product that signaled more of an Irish wake without the benefit of booze.

I’m clearly not a fan of the three-headed dog of Cerberus, but c’mon - how many billions (that’s the one with the “b”) in losses are the Slum Lords of Cerberus going to take? They had Chrysler on the “partnership/merger” block while Mitch Ryder was belting out the tunes at the Employee Day One event last year! If you were thinking about it then with gas ’round 3 bucks a gallon and optimism of yet another “fresh start,” how can you say you don’t want to cut some losses - biggies - when all hell is breaking loose? And when your big weapon of competitiveness is a truck, two Jeep models and a muscle car, well there ain’t enough lipstick at Revlon to make that pig look pretty.

That’s especially true when you neuter the public relations by handing them over to Human Resources. The next time Mr. Nardelli takes over a company, he should remember that PR and HR both have R’s in them, that doesn’t mean they go together.

How much time does the Pentastar have left? Perhaps half a year if it nails down a sugar daddy that understands automotive. If not, something will give, the star gets reconfigured and it’s not going to be good for folks locally.

Remember when the biggest negative news story about Chrysler was that its dealers were charging too much over invoice for PT Cruisers because of supply and demand? Those were the days! Today’s company image has more baggage than a Northwest lost luggage pile at Detroit Metro Airport.

Buy a PT Cruiser today and you’ll know what Charlie Brown felt like when he got that Christmas tree.

Horror of horrors, can it be true? Companies that receive bad press on the Internet are finding ways to suppress that news through sneaky tactics . I’m shocked. I’m amazed, I’m…oh enough already.

Seriously, why is this such a surprise? People have been trying to promote good news, bury bad news and subvert the attention of journalists away from digging too deep on any one subject for years.

The best comment in the story linked above is from the person who said that anyone trying to manipulate search engine optimization to bury bad news will eventually be found out and then they will be vilified even more.

Bingo!

There’s an old rule in public relations: Always tell the truth. That’s because the story about how you tried to lie about something or cover something up will often become a bigger, more damaging story in the long run than the original sin.

Remember, folks, the adage goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Manipulating SEO bastardizes that phrase into, “If at first you don’t succeed, lie, lie again.”

And as they used to say on the X-Files : “The truth is out there.” SEO or no SEO.