Tag Archives: marketing

A Picture is Worth a Senate Seat

The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” has never been more true than with the situation with Sen. Al Franken.  Caught in the middle of the avalanche of allegations of sexual improprieties, Franken tried having it both ways.  His initial statements were that he respected the rights of women to express their feelings, while at the same time saying he didn’t remember events as they were portrayed.  He said he wouldn’t resign and keep working for the people of Minnesota.

Then the picture appeared.

While he tried to hang on to his job and senate seat, the infamous photo that he took before he became a politician haunted him.  It was everywhere and he couldn’t escape it.  One has to wonder if he hadn’t taken that disgusting and not very funny photo, whether he could have weathered the storm and hung on.  But photographic evidence, especially a picture as blatant and posed as this one, was more than he could withstand.

Photography and video are powerful instruments, perhaps the most powerful we have next to in-person statements.  The world has changed — for the better and sometimes for the worse — because everything we do seems to be caught on camera.  If there aren’t security cameras mounted on building rooftops capturing our every move, there are a dozen people with cell phones who will.

This new reality has made the world a bit safer. It has helped law enforcement catch and identify criminals.  And today, it brought down a sitting United States Senator.

In the public relations business, we promote and encourage clients to use photos and video.  Let’s face it, people have short attention spans and always prefer looking at a photograph than reading a story.  It is faster, easier and shows what really happened.

When marketing a product or business, the use of pictures and video is a must.  It cuts right to the core of messaging.  Photos that are not too arranged or Photoshopped, display the truth more than words ever can.  Sen. Franken discovered that today when he lost one of the most powerful jobs an American can hold.

Maybe if he goes back to comedy, he will think twice about doing something so foolish and denigrating, and think a second time about having it caught on camera.

Litigation PR — Good Marketing or Good Legal Strategy?

Is the courtroom the place where legal issues are decided?  Or, is it decided in the court of public opinion managed by public relations and marketing pros?  The lines have become muddied.  It seems that before a case gets into the courtroom, it has been decided on TV by pundits who give legal analysis without the minor advantage of having any legal background.

It is often difficult to divide politics from legal issues.  They spill over to one another.  Cases involving illegal immigrants don’t become cases of law, they become cases of opinions on legal or illegal immigration.

That’s why attorneys have learned to get their positions heard and seen on the media before the court. And that’s where public relation practitioners come in.   If they can persuade public opinion to their side, then more often than not, they won’t even have to go to court.  They will win by the compromise brought about by public pressure.

 

The PR of Sexual Misconduct

There seems to be no end to stories of newsmakers being accused of sexual misconduct.  It makes headlines when it is a celebrity or politician, but one can be certain it reaches into every corner of the workplace.

The latest and most high profile is Minnesota Senator Al Franken who has been accused of groping and inappropriate actions and remarks against a host of women.  Yesterday the former comic and Senator faced the media — briefly — to say what he’s been saying since the allegations, and photograph, came to light.

But while the media hurried in a frenzy to cover, Franken said nothing new.  He said the same thing he said since the allegation was made public.  He also said the same thing every accused says.

There seems to be a playbook of what to say and what not to say in these situations.  Most will admit wrongdoing and promise to never do it again.  They know denial will just give more life to the story.  So it’s best to admit they did wrong and hope the story dies.

It is typical PR strategy.  The first step is to get ahead of the story, if you can, but you don’t want to create a story that might not happen.  When and if it does, then protect yourself legally, admit to wrongdoing, go to therapy, apologize and hope your fans and constituents move on.

It seems likely this is a story that will live on forever.  Men in positions of power levy their power for their own gain and satisfaction.  The stories we have heard are probably a small fraction of the stories that exist.  But unless legal action is take, as it is with Harvey Weinstein in one case, there is not much to do other than hope people will eventually forget about it.

 

PR vs. Marketing vs. Publicity vs. Advertising. War of the Words

Words matter. But does it matter in the public relations (PR) and marketing business?

If it matters anywhere, it matters in marketing. We have had many meetings when clients say something like, “we need some publicity for this new initiative.” To us, “publicity” means media relations — working with reporters to get articles and TV segments for the client. To the client, it could mean taking out an ad. In one case, the client was referring to billboards.

So it is important to define terms and everybody be on the same page. That’s why organizations hire PR / marketing firms to create strategies. But when talking with one another, defining what terms mean, and what makes the most effective marketing sense, can make all the difference in the world.

Marketing a Fundraiser

If you are a nonprofit, you probably hold an annual fundraising event.  It could be a gala, sporting event or one of a myriad of other events.  These serve two purposes.  First, to raise funds, of course, but also to being awareness and PR to your agency.

Putting together a successful fundraising event is not easy.  It takes lots of hard work, time, planning and initially an outlaying of funds.  And who knows how successful it will be? You won’t until the event is over and you subtract expenses from income.

One suggestion is to have a strong committee.  This committee’s role will be to create a dynamic program, bring talent to the table and most important to sell tickets.  And ticket sales, to a large degree, depends on having strong honorees.

Many people don’t like being an honoree because then the floodgates open for other organizations to ask them.  But getting honorees who have influence and funds, can be crucial to a strong fundraising event.

Last, it may take a few years to start making money.  Look at a fundraising event as a long-term investment that takes time.  It will eventually pay off.

 

The Weinstein PR Debacle

Harvey Weinstein debacle

Harvey Weinsetin

Few examples of a sudden fall from grace come close to the case of Harvey Weinstein.  One day he is king of Hollywood, the next he can’t get a seat at a McDonald’s in Hollywood.  Some call it a PR disaster.  It is much more.

The term “casting couch” wasn’t invented yesterday or by Weinstein.  It has been part of Hollywood for decades.  But with social media, and the 24 hour news cycle, what was once a news story can be turned into a major global debacle.

Weinstein will try all he can to re-build his image by going to “sex therapy.”  He will fight for his company and try to get his life back.

I don’t have a crystal ball, but it seems futile.

As they say, its a short step from the limousine to the curb.

The day the laughter died

nonprofit-pr-los-angeles-Jerry-Lewis--image.jpgThe day after Jerry Lewis died, the world went dark.

Yes, it was a coincidence, that the solar eclipse happened the day after, but a telling one.

Jerry Lewis had to have been one of the most famous people in the last 100 years.  Who doesn’t know Jerry Lewis?  Whether you remember his movies, his act, his interviews or his telethon, we all knew Jerry Lewis.

Jerry Lewis devoted his entire life, until the day he died, to making people laugh.  He also devoted it to raising money for MDA to help children afflicted with Muscular Dystrophy.

Yes, he had a snarky side. He had a larger than life, somewhat annoying ego, but he earned it.  Nobody comes from a poor Jewish neighborhood in New York and catapults himself into the most famous funnyman in history without being somewhat eccentric.

When we lose someone we all love and admire, like Dick Gregory a few days prior and now Jerry Lewis, we tend to say the same things — there never will be another one like him.  H/she was one of a kind, and all those platitudes.

In the case of Jerry Lewis, it is true.

 

 

Something we (finally) all can agree on

In today’s divided country and world, it is a breath of fresh air when there is something we all can agree on.

And it happened today.  The solar eclipse was cool.

For a few hours, people stopped fighting with one another, writing hateful messages and levying threats.  Even the media made room for the one event that everybody in the world could witness on the same day, with or without those special glasses.  And it had nothing to do with politics.

Maybe that’s what we need more of.  Natural occurrences that are undeniable and that we all can witness at the same time and agree upon.

Hopefully something like this will come along again before another 100 years or so.

 

New marketing terms — “Optics” “Reaching Out” “Space” and more

Just when you think you know all the marketing and PR terms, new words enter our lexicon.

People no longer “contact” one another.  They “reach out.”  Situations don’t “look bad.”  They have bad “optics.”  Having “expertise” in a certain endeavor is gone.  Now it is working in a certain “space.”

Interesting how new terms come about, catch on and then become normalized.  These words have always existed, but never used in the context of marketing and PR as they are now.

It is almost as if you date yourself if you don’t play the game.  You can’t tell a client “doing that would be a mistake. It wouldn’t look good.”  You have to say, “the optics of that would be questionable.”  Makes you appear more contemporary.  And heaven forbid you invite someone to contact you with questions, rather than offering them to “reach out.”

Much of this is fueled by mainstream media where on-camera reporters and anchors want to appear young and with it.  It fuels the language, pushes it forward, and makes everybody feel young.

There is nothing wrong with tweaking English.  New sayings and terms come about all the time.  But with the pervasiveness of social media, with billions of new posts a day, new language can take on a life of its own virtually overnight.

So I guess Farr Marketing is no longer a PR consultancy firm.  We operate in the PR “space.”  We don’t contact press to pitch stories, we “reach out.”

We admittedly are guilty of using these terms and more.

We need to be aware of the “optics.”

The art of PR in Los Angeles

Anybody in the PR business knows just how much the business has changed over the past decade.  There was a time when we could book clients on radio shows that had civil discourse and discussed both sides of an issue.  Seems that time has come and gone.

Today, radio has become all hosts and few guests.  A few remain, but the major radio outlets are dominated by personalities who talk solo for hours on end.  Occasionally they will have a guest on to prove a point — their point — but that’s about it.  Media is dominated by controversy, name calling, taking sides and putting down everyone who disagrees with you.

It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it is.  We still are able to book our clients but it is admittedly harder.

The press has evolved from the impartiality of conveying “news” to promoting one side or another.  This is totally opposite what we who went to journalism school were taught.  Being objective was the hallmark of the press.  Somehow, when we weren’t paying attention, objectivity became a thing of the past.

Too bad, because an objective press is what separates us from dictatorships.

Maybe one day objectivity in the media will make a comeback.  Can’t wait.