You’ve heard the phrase, “read the room.” Huawei can’t read the room. In spite of an in-house communications team that includes talented pros from the West, they continue to make amateur mistakes. The latest comes in the form of an open letter to the U.S. media published last week in The Wall Street Journal. If …more
It’s easy to pile on United. More than the mistakes, it’s the type of mistakes, lacking that quality known as common sense. I’ve certainly taken my shots at United over the years with posts ranging from “The Worst Customer Service Narrative in the History of Branding” to the recent “United Enters Third Stage of a …more
It’s been a rough week for United Airlines. When my mom — who is still getting the hang of this thing called the internet — asks if I’ll continue flying on United, you know the PR debacle has reached the masses. I have this theory that a PR crisis typically breaks down into five stages: …more
Checking email during the morning of February 21, I received a smattering of notes that asked me if I was OK. OK? I didn’t understand. Did they know something nefarious had yet to reach me? Then I came across a note that added the context of a flood in San Jose. Seeing the video footage …more
When months of investigative reporting by The New York Times produced the story, “How Think Tanks Amplify Corporate America’s Influence“ and the companion piece, “Think Tank Scholar or Corporate Consultant? It Depends on the Day,” I wondered how Brookings would respond. The wondering didn’t last long. The same day the stories came out, Brookings published “Brookings …more
Bad news more than any other PR activity shapes the negative perception of the profession. That’s when spin happens. Worse, everyone knows it. As exhibit A, look at the news release from the Dow Jones when it decided to sever the relationship with the AllThingsD founders: “For years, Dow Jones/The Wall Street Journal has enjoyed …more
Dear Artie, It is OK to call you Artie? Anyway, I’ll get to the point. Your rush to join the talk-show circuit after the debut of “Money Ball” generated some good news and bad news. Let’s start with the good news. You didn’t send your wife to do your bidding and talk to the media. Thank goodness you’re a student of …more
This blog is geared to explore how storytelling techniques can be applied to brand building. But what about the story that a company doesn’t necessarily want to tell? Like when things go wrong. We’re about to enjoy a front-row seat to such a case study with the Justice Department calling out Oracle with the news …more
The BP oil rig explosion just hit the two-month milestone. At last count, I was one of 10,332 writers (my horseshoe-far number) who weighed in with a perspective or two on BP’s crisis communications. Make that 10,333, with the BBC highlighting BP boss Tony Hayward’s gaffes. A byproduct of BP’s PR nightmare involves the resurrection of the Exxon Valdez …more
