Everyday PR

While the tools of public relations have evolved over time, the basics of research, planning, implementation and evaluation remain the most effective approach to accomplishing specified goals.  And what if your goal is to be elected President of the United States?  Then you turn to the best, brightest and most successful strategists and public relations thinkers like Barack Obama did for his 2008 presidential campaign. 

Smart Choice was one of several Clinton campaign slogans.

Based on the best-seller book Game Change by political reporters John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, here’s what I believe to be the backbone of success for the Obama campaign:

1)  Research – Know your audience.  Some politicians did (like Clinton’s large female voter base), and some didn’t (John Edwards never did get how his supporters didn’t like any philandering behavior).  From focus groups to ad testing, Obama’s camp got it right.  They tested messages in various formats and presentations before any public unveiling.  Conversely, McCain’s campaign conducted little to no research (which happened to match the amount of budget they had for such a fundamental).  Ads often hit airwaves without the candidate having seen them.  

2)  Planning- It was literally hours before McCain settled on Sarah Palin as the VP selection.  The lack of proper vetting and preparation made what as supposed to be a ”game change” announcement a short-lived bright spot. In addition, the GOP strategy lacked an overall anticipation of issues, key talking points, message consistency and ability to stay on point.  Clinton’s staff, on the other hand, appeared to overly plan, as in changing the campaign’s slogan several times in as many months. 

3)  Implementation – After initial campaign overload by Obama strategists, they adjusted their approach and schedule, which showed the ability, and more importantly the adaptability, to be fluid during this phase.  Both the Clinton and McCain camps seemed to be shooting it from the hip especially as they got closer to the  election. 

4)  Evaluation - My respect for Clinton shot way up after reading the book.  She was the only one quoted as actually having a decent reason to want to be president, and she was fiercely protective of her daughter, which tells me about her character.  However, at the end of the day, Hillary’s biggest liability was Bill, hence the painful delay in conceding to Obama.  McCain, on the other hand, fought the good fight even though he likely knew the outcome of the battle.  I respect the fact that he’s not a quitter.

If you’ve read Game Change, what other fundamentals did you find?  If you haven’t read it, you should.  Ample political poop for all sides  of the aisle.

Yes, General McChrystal and his aides moved their mouths way too much in front of Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings.    That’s often the case when complacency and alcohol mix. However, based on the article, the General’s overall bull-in-a-china-shop personality, combined with his I’m-a-General-and-you’re-not mentality, this guy was going to verbally trip himself and his career up sooner rather than later.  Although General McChrystal gets no Virtual Cup of Joe from us, I suggest he consider decaf in the future.

Speaking of loose lips, U.S. Representative Joe Barton of Texas doesn’t deserve any coffee either, as recently pointed out by EveryDayPR reader Don Barkman.  As Don put it, ”Who said ‘hoof in mouth’ disease was a thing of the past?  In other circumstances the guy might have had half a point about the intrusion of govt into business, but not in this case.”  No coffee for BP’s Tony Hayward for “keeping a straight face (blessings to botox) during the questioning at the hearing.  Add up the air time and I suspect it amounts to congresspersons 85%, BP 15%.  What were they hearing?  Posturing for the populace, of course.”  As always, thanks to Don and other readers for your feedback  – keep it coming.

The virtual Cup of Joe Award from EveryDayPR spotlights our pick of the week for a public relations performance –  good, bad or ugly.  If you’d like to make a nomination, contact shart@hartpr.com or www.Twitter.com/susanhartpr.

As President Obama’s job approval ratings continue to hover below 50%, and BP’s image is on life support, I asked my fellow public relations colleagues their thoughts on what to recommend.  Specifically, the question posed was “If you could offer Obama one or two suggestions to improve his job ratings, particularly in regard to the oil spill, what would they be?”  Here are some of the responses, and since it’s my blog, I get to go first:

Susan Hart - Meet with James Carville.  The Democratic strategist is beyond upset.  I recommend the President talk with Carville; solicit his input on how to better handle the oil spill in the eyes of coastal residents; put him in charge of recovery/rebuilding funds; tour the Louisiana coast with Carville and his wife.  Do something to both neutralize this vocal opinion leader and take advantage of his political influence and common sense.

Mary Beth West - The first recommendation is something that should have been done immediately, but better late than never:  clearly communicate roles and responsibilities re: BP’s role and the government’s role in the crisis response implementation.  A great deal of media/public confusion persists on who’s doing what (or rather, who’s supposed to be doing what), which not only feeds media criticism but also clouds the operational response; so it would have been a wise use of the President’s authority to cut through the roles/responsibilities question at a very early stage and firmly entrench his leadership to define the government’s appropriate oversight and enforcement roles.  Also, there are many elements of the crisis that the government cannot control directly, so it’s a mistake for the President to speak to those elements as if there is direct control to be had.  For example, the matter of overpromising re: the-Gulf-will-be-better-than-ever-once-this-is-all-over message that the President has put forward.  Definitely a credibility-buster for the long haul, and it’s completely puzzling to me why he chose to say that or was advised to say that, given the dire and extremely long-term nature of the damage inflicted. 

The second suggestion is that I find odd but also quite telling is this insistence by the Administration that they’re working with BP’s board chairman (as opposed to the CEO).  Yes, a CEO is answerable to his/her board of directors, but in terms of chain-of-command for actual crisis management and response, the whole repeated “we’re going over Hayward’s head” stance by the Administration seems to be a diversionary tactic to the fact that it never dawned on them to contact and coordinate with the company’s executive management in a direct capacity during the early crisis stages – and since the Matt Lauer interview, they’re having to come up with some excuse and/or contingency plan as to why.  I recognize Hayward is extremely unpopular in the media and that there is purposeful distancing going on, but to anyone who’s ever run a business or worked in a business environment, this scenario seems disconnected from practicality and a mere political maneuver to save face rather than lead toward real crisis resolution. (NOTE: Hayward’s role as daily spokesperson has since been minimized.)

The President is in a very difficult position.  It’s my hope that he will be successful in executing the government’s ability to manage its appropriate response roles rather than having that  response driven by efforts to exert authority, control or tough talk where it’s in fact unhelpful to the real tasks at hand.

Jeff Bradford - I hope Obama continues to plummet in popularity. His desire to turn America into a socialist state is killing our country. I hope he continues to demonstrate arrogance, to act like an academic with no understanding of “real people”, to be photographed with an angry or scared look on his face (have you seen  photo of this man smiling since he became president?), to openly pander to the labor movement, to openly abrogate property rights and the rule of law in general, to act like one of the looters from Atlas Shrugged (the resemblance is uncanny), to talk about prayer and blessings after having ridiculed people for clinging to guns and God (this president cannot convincingly talk about God, it is obvious he is trying to manipulate the populations addiction to “religious opium”), to use natural disasters to advance an unpopular political agenda (i.e., the oil spill and cap and tax legislation), to talk tough (a weak man looks particularly ridiculous when he tried to impersonate a strong one, i.e., Obama’s “kick ass” comments), to drop the “g” in gerunds (which he does in a very studied fashion and looks ridiculous), and to continue making it obvious how difficult it is for him to not betray his hatred for this country.

Clay Morgan - Staying away from policy and politics, the communications/PR aspect alone is incredibly complicated.  However, in a crisis, people need to know that someone is in charge, and what is being done.  The President, in any crisis, should very clearly, authoritatively and decisively state “Here’s the problem.  Here’s what we are going to do about it.  And this is what I need from you to help.”  And then engage the plan.  Afterward, just as clearly and decisively, the President needs to say “Here’s what we did wrong.  Here’s why.  And this is how we’re going to fix the problem in the future.”  I believe people, regardless of their status in an organization (constituents, employees, volunteers, customers or observers) need to know that something is being done, that someone is in charge, and what their role in helping is. And I think they respect and value people who take responsibility and try to learn from mistakes.

Pat Nolan -  Unfortunately, there appears to be very little President Obama can do directly to stop the leak. His tougher actions against BP could continue to help him as a rear guard effort and buy some time until the oil leak is finally plugged. The $20 billion in BP money put into a new escrow account is the best thing the President has helped make happen so far. Now the funds needs to be signed into checks and circulated ASAP to those in need on the Gulf Coast. Convincing BP not to issue any dividends is also a good move for the President and BP.

Is this an opportunity, as the President suggested in his Oval Office speech, to have the nation approve a new long-overdue national energy strategy to end our reliance on oil, especially oil from foreign, and many times, hostile countries? It could be, but the oil leak has probably got to be plugged first. And if the plan is merely perceived as some kind of new tax (on carbon), it will likely be dead on arrival in Congress.

Interestingly, the President mentioned other environmental legislative proposals, and not a carbon tax in his speech. He says he still supports some kind of “cap and trade” type program, but maybe he knows that is a political bridge too far in a year when his Democratic Party already looks to be in big trouble in holding on to control of the Congress next year.

Despite his many challenges and difficulties over the past year or so, President Obama has proven to be politically resourceful in getting some major things done in Washington such as the new health care law and what appears to be a victory soon in passing financial reform. That is likely to continue to help him going forward.  (NOTE:  Excerpts reprinted with Pat’s permission from his weekly Capital View column.)

Wendy Schweiger, speaking as a veteran citizen who can’t bring herself to act as a PR counselor in response to the question – I wish people would leave him the hell alone. No one can know what the burden of his office must be like, especially inheriting so many horrific messes and new challenges on top of those. I don’t feel qualified to suggest what he do about anything, and I certainly don’t want to tell him how to emote or not emote in front of an audience. I cannot imagine how he keeps going day to day. I’ve now seen him up close twice – had two clients with whom he visited – and I simply believe he’s going to do the best he can given the let’s-tear-everyone-down world we now apparently live in. Whether that’s good enough only time will tell. 

Laura Ladd, speaking as an experienced PR practitioner, wife and soccer mom – Obama needs to start providing some simple, concrete details about what he is going to do, instead of wowing the public with puffy speeches that have no substance. The finger-pointing and sniping about the problems he inherited – and the continual showboating about the perceived ‘progress’ he’s made..’despite the lack of participation across the aisle,’ is getting old and makes him look small. I see frequent reports in the news questioning the choice of/validity of figures used to support proposed legislation or to demonstrate economic progress, and I think this is a problem for him — it gives the impression, rightly or wrongly, that he is blowing smoke. A recent editorial by Peggy Noonan on Obama’s predicament offers an insight into the situation - maybe he’s a snakebit president. 

Happy Father’s Day weekend to all the Papas, Dads, Pops and Old Men out there!  Before you buy your guy a new tie or get in the car to take him to a bar, read the following tidbits about Father’s Day to share with him this special weekend.

*     Father’s Day was founded in 1910 by a woman, Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane.  One of six children, she was reared by her father, a single parent.

*     In addition to this country, dozens of others celebrate Father’s Day, including Costa Rica, Germany, China, New Zealand and Singapore.

*     In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson wanted to declare Father’s Day a federal holiday.  Congress didn’t agree, fearing the day would become commercialized.

*     In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed the Father’s Day act, making it a permanent national holiday. 

*     More phone calls are made on Mother’s Day, but more collect phone calls are made on Father’s Day.

Happy Father’s Day to all. Enjoy your virtual three Cups of Joe.

The virtual Cup of Joe Award from EveryDayPR spotlights our pick of the week for a public relations performance –  good, bad or ugly.  If you’d like to make a nomination, contact shart@hartpr.com or www.Twitter.com/susanhartpr.

Welcome to guest blogger Clay Morgan, editor and publisher of two community newspapers, one in Middle Tennessee and one in southern Kentucky. While one newspaper is a twice weekly in print and the other a weekly, both operate as daily newspapers online. His insights on the increasing use of social media – particularly in a crisis – are invaluable.

While Nashville media did an excellent job providing news and information about the recent flooding, the media itself garnered some deserved attention within the trade.   Yet another aspect of the media deserves some praise. Across Middle Tennessee, small town newspapers and radio stations worked tirelessly to provide hyper-local information about the flooding to their local readers – information not being found elsewhere.

As an example, the staff of the Macon County Times, based in Lafayette, TN, produced more than 20 local stories in a two-day period, and eventually posted more than 40 stories – all pertaining exclusively to flooding in Macon County. Staff also uploaded dozens of photos, many obtained from readers through Facebook, which is quite a change for small-town, rural newspapers.

At the Times newspaper, several members of the newsroom were cut off – physically unable to gain access to Macon County. However, they leveraged social media, particularly the Times’ Facebook page, to obtain photos, anecdotal information and on-scene accounts of the flooding and damage throughout the county.

The factors I believe critical to the success of this reporting effort – all by a newsroom with an average age of 24 and a managing editor who’s 27 – were two things.

1)     Commitment – A commitment was made by management and staff from top to bottom to a web-first reporting policy.

2)    Information Gathering – A clear understanding that social media, with all its marketing power, is also an outstanding tool for gathering information.

The results? Several dozen stories and photos and more page views in two days than the web site normally gets in three weeks.  The stats speak for themselves.  As one reader commented on Facebook after the flooding, “Great job !! I have found that when I need to know something quickly…I jump right to FB and Macon County Times is right there with the needed info.”

Helen, Helen, Helen.  What were you thinking?  While I’ve previously given you kudos for more than capably doing your job, I have to say that your forced retirement is for the best.  By the way, what were you doing commenting on the Israel situation anyway?  Aren’t you supposed to report the news, not be the news? Sad, sad, sad.  No coffee for you.  On the upside, you can focus on what inevitable will be books and movies in your future.

The virtual Cup of Joe Award from EveryDayPR spotlights our pick of the week for a public relations performance –  good, bad or ugly.  If you’d like to make a nomination, contact shart@hartpr.com or www.Twitter.com/susanhartpr.

In addition to the less-than-flattering BP logo designs spreading across Facebook, now the petroleum giant has a Twitter problem.  Businesses can learn from this.  Read more.

It’s official.  Once the photos of helpless, oil-laden birds were published last week, BP officially became the new definition for a catastrophic disaster with no relief in sight –  in other words, a full-fledged cluster that Americans will no longer tolerate, forgive or forget.  And it’s all about image.

This image of the BP oil spill will outlive all of us.

When images of the disaster were contained to aerial shots that resembled finger painting, the country didn’t implode. Only a mild level of national angst was felt after learning that 11 fellow Americans were killed in the incident.  But when photos were shown of a small, helpless creature struggling to breath while ocean waves repeatedly worked to drown the poor thing, all bets were off.  Americans weren’t comfortable with that image.  The only thing worse would have been a photo of a dying puppy or newborn wallowing in the oil.

Think about other images that are permanently etched on our minds when we recall a monumental event:
*    An American being engulfed in flames jumping from a building on 9-11-01.

*    Hundreds of starving, filthy and sick horses being rescued from an inhumane owner.

*    Somalian rioters dragging surviving American soldiers through the streets of Mogadishu after their helicopter was shot down.

*    Families crying for help from their rooftops following Katrina.

*    And just to show you how old I am, Americans stopped supporting military intervention in Vietnam when they saw video of countless body bags of OUR soldiers being returned.

Images can be powerful. Dramatic visuals often prompt strong reactions, if not retaliation, from Americans because we’re not comfortable seeing our fellow man, mammals or birds suffer.  It’s part of what makes us unique as a country.

As public relations professionals, we can’t manipulate images.  But we can work with our organizations and clients to help them be prepared for a crisis, including those lasting images that so often make it into court rooms and settlement proceedings.

What images are instilled in your memory regarding newsworthy events?

Normally I wouldn’t give a second thought to James Carville or any other political mouthpiece for that matter.  But James did something in recent days that catapulted my respect and fondness for him – he showed his human emotions about a topic unrelated to partisan politics. He screamed, he ranted, he raved, he pontificated, and he nearly popped a vein – all to try to get the White House’s attention regarding the severity of the oil spill in Carville’s home state of Louisiana.  While I wouldn’t credit Carville’s very real theatrics as THE reason President Obama finally seems to show some concern, I’m confident his pleadings were a factor in the president’s decision to go back to the Gulf today.  Three virtual Cups of Joe to James Carville for demonstrating that the squeaky wheel does get the grease (absolutely no pun intended).

The virtual Cup of Joe Award from EveryDayPR spotlights our pick of the week for a public relations performance –  good, bad or ugly.  If you’d like to make a nomination, contact shart@hartpr.com or www.Twitter.com/susanhartpr.

In the film “Up in the Air“, George Clooney’s character rightly explains to his boss that bad news is something to be communicated face to face.  He explains the importance of one-on-one human interaction and how the impersonality of technology negatively impacts an already negative situation.

In "Up in the Air" Clooney's character understood how to communicate bad news - in person.

Exactly.  You can’t effectively manage a crisis off site.  Case in point, the BP fiasco.  In one corner, BP’s CEO Tony Hayward immediately was on site at the areas affected, making himself available to the media and availing himself to the communities. In the other corner, the federal government dilly-dallied until the mess became a political sore spot, and President Obama finally went on site to see and touch the weeks-old problem.  Although Obama initially visited the area within days of the oil spill and sent other cabinet members to the southern coastline in the following weeks, the problem only worsened, gathering the attention of more target audiences (environmentalists, scientists, and of course, pundits) and creating the perception was that Obama was only giving lip service to residents and leadership in the southern coastline.  He didn’t want to get his hands dirty – literally. Meanwhile, Louisiana workers and officials are becoming hoarse shouting for help from the nation’s capital.

Whether it’s a man-made disaster or a case of food poisoning, the fact remains: you can’t effectively manage a crisis off site.  While Hayward’s will resonate for years to come in business and communications circles, nobody can ever say that BP publicly avoided the issue as the CEO remains on the ground for the foreseeable future.  My point is not about what’s being said (that’s for another post), who’s at fault, who’s in charge or who’s going to pay (we’re ALL eventually going to pay).  My point is that a catastrophic disaster calls for top leadership to make enough of a showing to indicate that management is listening and taking action.  If one showing doesn’t do it, go again.  If that doesn’t work, you still need to do something. I understand the legal ramifications of being on site; but I also understand that, at the end of the day, perception becomes reality.  And that reality can be felt far into the future, whether it be in a voting booth or in a jury box.

What do you think?