The Sarah Palin/Gabrielle Gifford’s Publicity Connection

A lot of people were horrified to hear of Gifford being shot. Social media was buzzing with questions and updates and quickly came to the conclusion that Sarah Palin has somehow induced it. Many journalist wrote about her style of interview and how she had Democrats in ‘Crosshairs’ on her website. They felt it might be dangerous and many said so. Regardless of which side you fall on, Sarah Palin now has some bad publicity to deal with. Here are some of the things she could think about doing.

If you are in business long enough you will have to deal with some bad publicity. Everyone has unhappy customers. Some unhappy customers go to the press or put it on a website to complain. I personally have complained via the web about a company I was unhappy with.  You have to realize it is part of business. You can choose to let the bad publicity sit there. What will happen? Well, you cannot control the consequences. You might have a lot of potential customers turn away from you. You could open yourself up for other type of lawsuits because people see vulnerability. If you never clear it up, you will never know when it will come back. I never recommend ignoring bad publicity, especially in an emergency.

I do recommend being ready for these emergencies. You can do a lot of things to help mitigate the backlash. You can make sure only one spokes person from the company talks to media. Right now, as I write this article, Sarah Palin is advocating that people pray. Will it answer all her detractors? No, but it will make some people feel that she is concerned about the trend that is happening and her contribution to it. For a lot of people that is enough. After all, she did not force the man to pull the trigger.  Palin did have the courage to speak for herself and not allow a spokes person to speak for her during this tragic time. Having a spokes person speak for you when bad things are happening makes you look guilty. No matter how great the spokesperson is, the public will feel you are avoiding their gaze because of guilt.

In the face of bad publicity you can do a good deed. When the founder of Facebook realized that he seemed like a jerk, he made a huge philanthropic donation on Oprah so that people could see he was a good guy. After that he was named Time’s Man of the Year. Of course, it was not just because he gave the donation, but that helped!

Dr. Wright is the founder of PR Fairy HQ, a publicity site for business owners to learn how to get the publicity they deserve. You can get a free Los Angeles Media List when you visit www.prfairyhq.com

The Starbucks Make-Over is Great for Publicity

Companies doing well tend not to change what is working. When logo changes are made, there is a lot of thought to it. The larger the company, the more money they are able to use in research and development of the new or changed logo. Smaller companies usually do not have enough capital to invest in much. The new trend with logo makeovers is to drop the letters or works. McDonald’s has many commercials and billboards where all they show is the arch. No hamburgers, no clowns, no mayors or thieves. Just the giant M. Starbucks has remade the logo without the words.

Starbucks coffee are the words that used to be inside the logo. Now, just the weird mermaid sits on your cup waiting for you to sip. The argument for them is that they are much more than coffee. You can eat breakfast there, listen to music, the Starbucks near me has a bookrack where you can take a book and leave a book on the honor system. The company wants to portrait that they are much more than coffee.  I have no idea what their real reason is for the change; perhaps it saves on printing costs. If you can find the fish, you can find their product. There is a large debate in the PR community about that. That debate has not hit mainstream yet.

When coke made a new formula (that sucked), it was news. When Sci-Fi channel changed to a strange name and new logo, the fans were enraged. They did not change it back like Coke did. It was great PR for a while. If you change your logo, get your back-story straight and tell it to the media. Why your logo has changed. What your new logo means, what your company is about. It’s better than a just-launched-my-business story because it gives the viewer a chance to see into the mind of the business owner. You will resonate with some and clash with others. It’s always ok to polarize people with your logo and message.  Your true customers will embrace it and others will walk away. This makes time for you to focus on real customers. As for Starbucks, I think they are betting on people being too sleepy before having coffee to notice the changes.

Why you should pass on that radio interview!

Great, you’ve finally got a call to do a radio show interview! This is what you’ve been waiting for to secure widespread exposure of your heartfelt topic of choice. It’s the type of discussion that you expect to lay a path toward resolution, giving you a much needed experience of the peace of mind you’ve campaigned for since the incident that has changed the quality of your life.

However, what you want, expect or intend from the interview may be completely crushed if you haven’t cleared vital pre-interview areas of attention. It may become the foundation of “why you should pass on that radio interview.”

Begin your interview preparation with listening to at least 3 episodes of the program. Make sure the culture of the show matches your specific topic. Programs celebrating technology advances in air-driven “hammer guns,” may not match your issue with the labeling of genetically modified foods.

Do you have any idea about who the audience is? We often focus on the audience’s size instead of its listeners mindset. This valuable “who” can determine your acceptance or rejection of an offer for a radio interview.

Very important, have you created a way for people to connect with you beyond, “go to my website?” In this age of mobile marketing, you need multiple ways to connect via text messaging and social media.

Another point, you don’t have anything to share except stories of your clients. The interview is not an advertisement for you as an individual. Also, to assure the best audio quality, do not plan on doing the interview in your car while you drive. Plus, do not plan on doing the interview with your family and friends all around you. Respect the listeners by devoting your full attention to the interview.

Finally, your show-prep should include some discussion with the host or producer. You don’t know what they want to talk about, you assume its your topic – always ask. Check in, you never know what they have in mind, it could be even better than what you planned.

All of these points should illustrate the importance of profession “coaching” whenever you have an opportunity to interact with the media. The very same professional support often emphasized on WPTV every month. Watch people in the latest news cycle present their perspective to get the powerful or weak impact of preparation for interviews with the media.

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