Vince Lombardi, the famous football coach for the Green Bay Packers, had a saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” So it’s been for international companies this year as the pandemic and a volatile political climate force executives to navigate a communications environment unlike any in history. One topic that’s worth putting …more
Whoever said there’s no such thing as “bad PR” never held a press conference at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia. No matter how much Republicans try to change the narrative —Hey, we thought it was time for something less formal — Trump’s chronology of tweets tells the story (source: @sissenberg). Noah …more
Remember when October was winding down and everyone was thinking, “Only a few more days and this madness will be over”? I never expected the man to go quietly in the night or day. I did expect his surrounding advisors — you know, the “sane” human beings like Jared Kushner and Lindsay Graham — to …more
We’re now days away from the U.S. Presidential election. I’m optimistic that that the polls have it right, that the vast majority of voters understand four more years of Trump would be akin to putting the country in a wood chipper. When the 2016 election put Trump in the White House, our folks in Asia …more
While Trump has mastered the use of Twitter, he continues to struggle with fundamental communications. He managed to coax Hope Hicks back to the White House. Of course. Ms. Hicks along with much of the West Wing caught Covid-19, sidelining them for the foreseeable future. This backdrop prompted me to dust off this from a …more
Everyone is counting on the vaccine to return the planet to its axis and the economy to growth mode. Yet polling shows many Americans — depending on the poll, anywhere from 33% to 50% — would take a pass on vaccination. That’s a problem. As a public service, I’ve developed the bones of a communications …more
President Trump referred to COVID-19 as a “foreign virus” during his Oval Office speech last month. Soon after, that phrase gave way to the “China virus” triggering a spike of racism directed at Chinese Americans. Of course, Trump enjoys race baiting. It’s good TV. Most Americans don’t realize – or perhaps don’t care – that …more
Owned media at its best can provide a counter-balance to perceived injustices from the media and social channels. Organizations ranging from Google to Walmart to the Brookings Institution have depended on their blogs to deliver their point-of-view to blunt an attack. Now comes 3M, under fire last week (April 2) from President Trump who …more
These three newspapers, arguably the most powerful dailies in the U.S., came together to publish an open letter to the Chinese government asking it to reconsider kicking out select journalists from the country. But the real audience for this letter isn’t the Chinese government; it’s the American public. Avoiding hyper and hyperbole, the letter takes …more
