LT Public Relations

We want to wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday.  Eat, drink and be merry. 

We’ll roll-up our sleeves again on December 1st and help whoever we can communicate better.

Best wishes,

LT Public Relations

pr@ltpublicrelations.com

Everyone is closely watching the news about the federal bailout situation–and the companies/executives who are being bailed-out.  Beyond monitoring where the money is going, the public is closely watching the current actions of executives of these troubled companies.

We’re talking about Detroit’s “Big Three” (Ford, Chrysler, General Motors), AIG, and a host of others who are seeking government money (or tax payers money) to stabilize their companies. We’ll spare everyone our views on the matter, but LT Public Relations is appalled by the current business decisions being made in regards to spending. That is, the decisions made by the executives of these companies to partake in expensive corporate outings, fly luxury jets to meetings and other frivolous spending.

These companies and executives are providing pretty lame excuses why they continue to conduct business extravagantly.  Regardless of the rationale, we are shocked that there is not a public relations representative or corporate communications person screaming to the executives to “STOP!”

This is not a time to conduct business as usual (even though the expenses for these luxuries have already been paid).  The public perception is that these “fat cats” are clueless and they’re going to continue to waste money on unnecessary things (e.g. ritzy retreats).

This is a time for executives to show that they “get it” and for public relations professionals to demand that they deliberately show cost-cutting measures by, for example, taking a bus to their next meeting or having their next dinner at Applebee’s. 

We’re shaking our heads about the poor decisions being made from a public perception stand point. It’s honestly embarrassing.

Need help on how to better manage public perception?  Contact us at pr@ltpublicrelations.com or 503-477-9215

While watching college football this weekend, ESPN profiled the new phenomenon amongst players . . . wearing black eye patches with a player’s own unique “shout out” inscribed on the patch. 

What started out as an effective way to prevent sun and stadium light glare, has turned into the ultimate individual branding opportunity.  Typically you’ll see a player’s hometown area code (e.g. Reggie Bush and “619″ are legendary in representing his San Diego roots) or their name on the black patch.

Beyond a few “Hi Moms” and other shout-outs, you’re starting to see players use this patch to raise awareness (“Obama ‘08″) and other advocacy efforts. Once a player scores a touchdown or has a remarkable play, all cameras are on them–providing an excellent opportunity to witness the patch.

This might be just a fad, but what a great non-traditional public relations/branding medium to tout your identity, cause or endorsement.

You see, LT Public Relations is constantly searching for these types of creative mediums to tell the story of our clients.  Granted, the black patch will likely never come into place for our professional and financial services clients (although it would be cool).  However, the creativity is appreciated and we’re always looking for ways to grab more “eye balls” for our clients.

Buried in a recent column from Geek Squad’s Founder Robert Stephens in the October ‘08 issue of Inc. magazine was an excellent realization about word-of-mouth marketing and paid advertising.  Within the column, there is a quote that really stuck . . . “advertising is the tax you pay for being unremarkable.”

Brilliant!

Thanks to Bill Rooney at SCORE for pointing-out the quote as it exemplifies what advertising really is . . . it’s a paid endorsement by a representing company. Who really believes an advertisement anymore? Sure, advertising does grab attention and makes things interesting between sitcoms, but it’s paid and doesn’t prove anything (really). 

However, advertising is a necessary beast and should be used sometimes, but the majority of a company’s marketing budget SHOULD NOT go to advertising.  Forgive us for saying this, but developing and buying advertising is a waste of money–especially the precious dollars the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) must justify spending.

Naturally, at LT Public Relations, we’ve determined that one of the most cost-effective ways a CMO or any marketing officer should spend their money is through strategic public relations efforts–and the host of new mediums that PR now has to generate awareness.  Word-of-mouth marketing (has anyone exactly figured this one out yet?) and experiential marketing are also worthy tools a CMO should explore. 

But using the majority of the marketing budget on advertising is just plain lazy, expensive . . . and ”the tax you pay for being unremarkable.” 

LT Public Relations recently had a client that wanted to make a pretty important announcement that would affect its customers, shareholders and staff–and wanted to share the information with the media.

The obstacle was that this client wanted to be “transparent,” but not “too transparent” in sharing all the details of this negative news.  The client and the news is really irrelevant for this blog, but let’s just say the news was ugly.

We commended our client for wanting to be open and honest, but it was the request not to be “too transparent” that gave us concern. There are times when it’s not necessary to give full-disclosure (this is true in the case when you’re answering a specific question and there’s no need to over-answer).  But when you have important news to share–and it happens to be bad–it’s important to 100%  come clean.

This is especially critical when dealing with the media.  Staff and shareholders are a bit more forgiving if they aren’t given the full story (although they may not trust you next time)–but the media is ruthless if they uncover something you didn’t initially share in the announcement.  The media lives to unearth the full story.  And when they find something, they exploit it.

The recent BusinessWeek article by the former General Electric great Jack Welsh and his wife Suzy, “How to Survive a Media Mauling,” broach this topic with a remarkable quote . . . “People trapped in a media maelstrom tend to tell only parts of their story that suit them.  The media will gladly fill in the holes.”

The article further underscores this point, “Your job if you’re in the public eye, is to protect yourself by helping them (e.g. the media) get it, warts and all, with your perspective attached every step of the way.”

If you’re gonna tell it . . . TELL IT!! Just rip off the band-aid. It hurts for a second, but the pain won’t linger.