All posts by Public Relations Made Simple

About Public Relations Made Simple

David E. Johnson is the CEO and founder of Strategic Vision PR Group. With over 20 years of experience, he is a PR industry leader who specializes in media relations, crisis, communications, branding, and reputation management. He drives client strategy and has been integral in leading the firm forward since its founding in 2001 during the aftermath of 9/11. He has been described as a PR guru extraordinaire and the go to person for crisis communications by the news media. Johnson’s public relations and communications experience developed with experience working for various trade associations and governmental agencies in Florida. In the late 1990s he was employed with one of Atlanta’s top public relations agencies where he oversaw a diverse client portfolio that included accounts in the architectural, legal hospitality, education, non-profit, lifestyle, sports, technology, real estate, and health care professions. With the founding of Strategic Vision PR Group, Johnson developed a niche practice for the firm in book publicity. He works with new and established authors from both the self-publishing and traditional publishing realm. Johnson is regularly sought out by the media for his intricate expertise and knowledge of the public relations industry. He has appeared on CNN, FOX News Channel, FOX Business Network, ESPN, CNBC, CBS This Morning, and the Today Show, as well as in publications such as People, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, PR Week, PR Daily, E-Commerce Times, Associated Press, Christian Science Monitor, Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, Hollywood Life, and serves as a frequent contributor for Commpro.biz, Brilliant Results Magazine, Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog, and Alister & Paine. He was named as one of the top 500 Influencers by Campaigns & Elections Magazine for 2013.

Crisis Response: A Higher Loyalty

Crisis Communications, Uncategorized, , ,

Former FBI Director James Comey’s memoir, “A Higher Loyalty” comes out on April 17th.  Comey is planning a massive media blitz and multi-city book tour to promote the book.  ABC is airing a primetime interview with Comey and George Stephanopouloson Sunday, April 15th.  Tickets to Comey’s book events are reportedly sold out.  “A Higher Loyalty” is already sold out on Amazon with many expecting the book to offer bombshells about President Trump. Comey is known to raise the President’s ire and has hinted the book will prove the President a liar.  All of this comes at a time when the President’s poll numbers are actually on the rise.  So far, the White House has been quiet about the book and says it is planning no response to it and what is expected to be non-stop coverage of Comey. But in this twenty-four/seven social media driven world can the White House totally ignore Comey and his book? And if not what should their crisis communications response be?

Quite simply, the White House must respond to Comey and the accusations he makes in his book. Failure to do so would be totally out of character for this Administration and be seen by many as an admission of guilt by the President.  The media would play up the accusations in the book and the silence from the White House in the worst possible way for the President.  Beyond that, silence from the President and his surrogates would go against the Trump brand.  Love it or hate it, the Trump brand stands for feisty defensive attacks against any who attack it.

So how should the White House respond to “A Higher Loyalty”?

  1. Go through the book and point out any discrepancies and mistakes in the book from what is the official record.
  2. Point out places in the book where Comey’s version of events is contradicted by other participants especially Democrats, such as former Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
  3. Highlight previous Democratic attacks on Comey’s credibility, including Hillary Clinton who can’t stop blaming Comey along with Trump voters for why she lost the election.
  4. Have surrogates like South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham and others who are not considered diehard Trump backers out defending the President rather than his usual surrogates. This will give more media credibility to the White House response.
  5. Let Trump be Trump including on Twitter.People expect Trump to hit back and failing to do so gives Comey and the book additional credibility. Additionally, Trump’s tweets and statements have a way of becoming the story and pushing the accusations to the background.

“A Higher Loyalty” is expected to cause political fireworks, as is everything associated with President Trump. While some might advise ignoring Comey and his media blitz would be the smartest strategy, it is one that would go against the Trump brand and actually lead many to believe whatever Comey says in the book.  In this case, the best crisis response for the White House is a strong offense.

 

PR Lessons From 2017 To Use In 2018

Crisis Communications, Public Relations, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,

Two thousand and seventeen is drawing to a close.  What a year it has been.  It has been a year that has seen some major stories with serious public relations lessons that will be applied going into 2018 and far beyond.

What were the major stories and the public relations lessons that can be learned from them?

  1. The #metoo movement with stories of sexual harassment and assault and how organizations respond to these allegations. From Harvey Weinstein to Charlie Rose to Matt Lauer and numerous other prominent men, 2017 saw their careers come to an end with sordid stories of sexual harassment and assault.  For the organizations that had employed these men, the public relations challenge was, how do you address the allegations when made against an employee, how do you reassure shareholders, and how do you let the public know that no such conduct will be tolerated and if such things happened the culture of the company has changed.  This calls for a public relations strategy of being proactive and getting in-front of such stories, highlighting the company culture, and navigating social media.
  2. United Airlines. The videos of a United Airline passenger being forcibly removed from a flight sent stock shares of the airline plummeting and made United the butt of every late night comedian and countless memes on social media.  The airline was further hurt by its initial response to the situation.  Social media brought this story to the forefront and fueled public outrage.  It again showed the power of social media and how it drives narratives.  This will only increase in 2018.  In fact, social media often reports on a crisis before traditional media.  Organizations need to be conscious of this fact.  They must ensure that they monitor social media as they do traditional media and address social media in a consistent way with all other modes of communication employed.
  3. Equifax data breach. The Equifax data breach is still being felt today by consumers.  Bad as the breach was, the credit reporting giant’s response to the crisis worsened the situation and caused even additional harm to the once mighty brand.  The company waited weeks before reporting the breach and even when it finally admitted to the breach did not get all of the information out at one time.  Rather Equifax released information in installments and allowed the media often to reveal information before the company would admit it.  The lesson for any organization or individual from Equifax is to be proactive, transparent, and get everything out at one time during a crisis.
  4. The NFL and the take a knee movement. Donald Trump calling out NFL players who kneeled during the playing of the national anthem led to even more players taking the knee.  Yet the public did not support the NFL or the players in this stand as seen by declining attendance at games and television ratings.  The reason was that many fans felt that the protests went against the NFL brand and did not understand what the players were protesting.  The lessons from this are – be consistent to your brand and fully explain actions that the public might not understand.
  5. Donald Trump. Donald Trump dominated the news in 2017 for good or bad.  His policies and statements created strong passions.  From this, consumers came to expect brands to take stands on political and social issues.  Brands have often been reluctant to do this fearing they will alienate a sector of consumers.  But today’s consumers in the age of Trump expect a brand to take a stand on the issues and brands are being forced to do so.  This trend will accelerate in 2018.

Two thousand and seventeen was an eventful year.  Its impact on businesses in terms of public relations will be felt far into 2018 and beyond.

The Top Three PR Trends For 2018

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Two thousand and eighteen is just a matter of weeks away.  Brands are already wondering what will be the top public relations trends for the upcoming year and how they can stay ahead of the curve.

Here are three of what will be the top PR trends for 2018 that brands must be aware of and prepared for:

  1. Brand reputation. More than ever before brand reputation will matter to consumers.  This means not only the cost and quality of a good or service but a brand’s story and its values.  Brands need to capitalize in channels that they directly control  – website, blog, social media – to convey this.  In traditional media stories, brands need to be consistent with the values and story that they tell.  This will earn greater brand loyalty and allow a brand to weather any crisis that might arise.
  2. Brands are going to have to address social and political issues. We live in one of the most polarized political periods in history.  Social media and the 24/7-news cycle magnify this.  While brands in the past have shied away from addressing political and social issues, today’s consumers demand that they do.  This means in 2018, brands will need to take a stand and communicate that stand, making it consistent with the values and reputation that consumers believe the brand stands for.  Avoiding controversial issues will not be tolerated by the consumer.  Brands need to have their messages prepared.
  3. Influencer marketing increases. The power of influencer marketing continues at an accelerated pace.  In 2018, the cost of it will increase, as will its power to sway consumers.  Brands will need a clearly defined strategy to maximize their campaigns and stand out from the competition with influencer marketing.

Two thousand and eighteen will be a fast-paced year.  Knowing the key PR trends and being prepared to use them will allow your brand to make it a profitable year.

Planning Is Critical To A Successful Public Relations Campaign

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Planning is essential for success.  That is especially true when it comes to public relations for it to be truly successful and show a return on investment.  Public relations isn’t about getting non-stop media coverage, rather it is about getting before your target audience (consumers and businesses) in a way that influences them to seek your services or products.  With that as the goal, what should you put into a public relations plan?

  1. A clear defined objective. You should clearly define what the objective of your public relations campaign is.  Are you trying to establish your brand?  Reach potential business contacts?  Reintroduce your brand?  Too often when conducting a public relations campaign, businesses and individuals are not sure what they are seeking to achieve and what will define success.  That is why clearly defining the ultimate result when developing a plan is crucial.
  2. Communication outlets. This means determining what media (traditional and social) are best for you getting the word out.  Sometimes print and LinkedIn are the best outlets.  Other times it could be broadcast with Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.  Knowing the best ways to reach your audience to achieve your objective is vital to the success of the public relations campaign.
  3. Develop a clear timeline and set of responsibilities. The next thing to do is put together a timeline for the campaign. This timeline should include events that the campaign may be connected with, editorial calendar dates of when various media outlets are doing a story on various subjects, dates that you need to begin outreach, as well as a budget, and determining who is responsible for what duties.

Once you have determined these three items for your public relations, you are set to launch the campaign.  But the planning is essential for the success of the campaign.  Without the planning you are driving blind in the world of public relations.

 

What Brands Will Live, What Brands Will Die, Who Will Tell Your Brand Story

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In the hit Broadway musical, Hamilton, the final ensemble is called, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story.”  It recollects that all the founding fathers were allowed to grow old and tell their stories, save of course for Alexander Hamilton who died young in the famed duel and that it fell to his wife, Eliza to tell his story for another 50 years so he would be remembered and revered for all that he contributed to our nation’s founding (and that without that story he would have been forgotten).  The same lyrics can also apply for brands today.  Today’s consumers expect a brand to do more than just have the best products, services, and prices.  They expect a brand to tell a story.  If a brand doesn’t have a brand story, it will die and be forgotten.  So who tells your brand story and what is it?

Ask yourself what is my brand story.  You may think that you don’t have a brand story but you do.  Your brand story is told by your website, social media, products, and services.  It is the basic DNA of your company.  It tells your vision and values.  It defines what separates you from the competition.  Just as in Hamilton, Eliza told Hamilton’s story, his values, flaws, sacrifice, and what made him so different and special compared to his political rivals, Jefferson and Madison.  The play also clearly defines that George Washington had a unique and special story that established the brand that history remembers him for and separates him from all of his compatriots even still today.

So who should be the chief storyteller of your brand?  As Harry Truman, famously said, “the buck stops here.”, meaning that it should be the owner, CEO, or President of the company who conveys the brand story.  Successful leaders are game changers.  They transform the hearts and minds of their customers, employees, vendors, Wall Street, and the media to act on their strategy, buy the latest product, or provide the latest assessment of their company.  Storytelling is essential to achieve this.  If the CEO or Company President isn’t able or unwilling to tell the brand story, it should be another key officer who is totally familiar with the brand’s DNA and convey the story to all stakeholders – employees, consumers, shareholders, and vendors.  Just as in the play, Eliza Hamilton was uniquely qualified and perhaps the only person possible to convey Hamilton’s story.

In today’s business world, a brand story is essential in the global economy.  Without one, your brand will die.  With one, it will flourish and be remembered.

Crisis Management In The Age Of Harvey Weinstein

Crisis Communications, Entertainment Publicity, Uncategorized, , , , ,

It seems like every day a new sexual harassment or assault story is hitting the news out of the entertainment industry, the world of the media, or the political world.  The names of celebrities who have been named keep climbing.  For the organizations that employed these people or were associated with them the question arises, how should they handle the ensuring crisis.  What should their crisis management be?

How an organization responds to such a crisis will have a great impact on its future.  They need to think about all stakeholders in their response – employees, shareholders, vendors, and the public.  At the same time, they should be conducting an internal audit to determine if any other bombshells about to drop.

When responding to an employee’s sexual misconduct, these are tips that organizations need to implement:

  1. Get out in front. When scandals such as we have seen since the Weinstein story broke, an organization cannot wait as far as responding to such a story.  Delay in responding loses several news cycles and the social media onslaught that arises.  It creates the image of complicity with the behavior or worse guilt.
  2. Show how the company is handling the situation internally. Just condemning despicable and perhaps criminal behavior by an employee is not enough.  The organization must show and demonstrate how they are ensuring that such behavior will not occur again by any employee and how they are investigating internally to see if this was an isolated case or if other employees were involved.
  3. Don’t ignore social media. Social media drives narratives.  We have seen this especially in the sexual harassment cases that are dominating the news.  Often the stories break on social media first.  Make sure that your organization is monitoring social media and if an employee is caught in such a story, that you address the social media world in your responses.  Too often this overlooked.

The sexual harassment and assault stories show no signs of abating.  Hopefully this will lead to a change in personal conduct.  But for businesses, as these allegations continue, it is essential that they know how to address such actions by members of their organization.

Equifax: An Epic PR Failure

Crisis Communications, Uncategorized, , , , ,

Equifax’s crisis communications strategy dealing with its security hack has been an epic fail.  And the credit reporting giant continues to make the situation worse.

The story of the security hack at Equifax is well known.  The breach lasted from mid-May through July of this year with hackers obtaining the personal information of 143 million people. This information included people’s names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, driver’s license numbers. Compounding the problems for Equifax three officers of the company sold stock shares worth a combined $1.8 million just before the breach was detected.

Successful crisis communications requires:

  1. Being proactive. In this Equifax failed as they waited 6 weeks before revealing the hack.  This delay has raised questions of why did they wait and raised suspicions of a cover up.  This was worsened by the revelation that company officers had sold stock just prior to the detection.  Had the company got out in front of the story, particularly during the slow news period of August, it would have earned kudos for being honest and would have drawn less coverage than it is now when reporters and the public are back from vacation.
  2. When a crisis hits, it is essential to be transparent which means getting the good and the bad out.  Again, Equifax failed.  The full story has been coming out slowly with each day a new revelation.  The latest is that Equifax did not implement a security patch in March that could have prevented the hack.
  3. During a crisis, it is critical to show empathy towards those who have been affected. Equifax has done the opposite.  Rather than getting its CEO out as the face of the company who could express empathy and apologize for what has happened, the company has hidden behind press releases.  Its offerings to help victims have fallen far short and appear in the fine print designed to avoid litigation.  The company and its employees have been tone deaf.  This goes all the way to employees in the company’s call centers who have been reported to be rude and flippant to consumers.
  4. Social media. Social media drives narratives. Equifax seems to have overlooked this fact.  It was acting on social media as no crisis was at hand, immortalized by its infamous tweet the day the scandal hit of “Happy Friday”.
  5. No Solution. The final aspect of successful crisis communications is a solution on how an issue will never happen again.  In this too, Equifax has failed.

So, what should the company do now?

  1. Get all the information out immediately. No more slow drip.
  2. Have the CEO become the face of the company, offer a sincere apology and address all stakeholders – consumers, vendors, policymakers, stockholders, and employees.
  3. Offer a solution on moving forward.

Equifax has failed crisis management 101.  Until it takes corrective measures the company will continue to suffer and offer an example of what not to do during a crisis.

 

Crisis Communications Done Right: Rick Scott and Hurricane Irma

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So often in crisis management we observe what individuals and brands do wrong and that receives most of the coverage.  Very seldom do we talk about things being done right.  So, this article is about doing crisis management the right way.  Florida Governor Rick Scott’s crisis management deserves praise and is something brands should study.

So what did he do right?

  1.   Governor Scott’s message was simple and direct during the crisis and he stayed on message throughout – people needed to evacuate from the oncoming storm and the storm was devastating.  Every interview or press conference he gave, he worked in his message and never deviated.  Often during a crisis and the media frenzy, spokespersons will forget their message or convolute it.  Governor Scott never did.
  2. Included all stakeholders. A common mistake in crisis communications is forgetting one of the stakeholders.  Governor Scott never did.  His stakeholders were the citizens of Florida, county and city leaders, the federal government, and state employees.  Governor Scott included all of these in his various communications and schedule.  He conveyed what was expected and needed.  A schedule released from the Governor’s office showed just how much time he spent in making sure that all stakeholders were addressed from interviews and press conferences to the public; to phone calls with policymakers; to concise and clear instructions for state workers.  This type of inclusion led many (particularly individuals who are normally critical of Governor Scott) to praise him.
  3. Social media. Often during a crisis, even a natural disaster, social media is overlooked as a means to communicate or does not have the message that is being conveyed on traditional media outlets.  To his credit, Governor Scott and his communications team made sure that the same message that they were communicating through traditional media was being communicated via social media.  They realized that even though they were saturating the airwaves, that many people get their information via Twitter or Facebook.
  4. Plan Forward. Throughout Hurricane Irma and now in its aftermath, Governor Scott communicated that there was a plan moving forward to rebuild and restore the areas that were affected.  A key to successful crisis management isn’t just communicating about the crisis but offering a vision forward after the crisis has passed.

Hurricane Irma was a devastating catastrophe.  Avoiding an even greater tragedy is due in no small part to Rick Scott’s deft crisis management.  Business leaders would do well to study his crisis communications handling.

The Benefits Of Public Relations

Media Relations, Public Relations, , , , ,

Whether you are a corporate leader, author, entertainer, athlete, or seeking to influence public policy, you know that you need public relations.  Yet despite this, many people are uncertain of what the benefits of public relations are.

First you have to understand what public relations is.  A basic definition of what public relations does for companies, authors, entertainers, athletes, organizations, and brands is it shapes and molds their public image. It utilizes the right strategies to allow for you to be heard and seen, through media outlets.

So, what are the benefits of public relations?

  1. Target market.  A well-crafted and orchestrated public relations campaign targets the media and events that your target market utilizes.  If you are a toy company making board games, a public relations campaign will target the media that people who like board games read, watch, or listen too.  The campaign will also target trade shows and events that will give your product the maximum exposure, as well as, obtain celebrity endorsements that will carry weight with consumers.  If you are a romance author, public relations will allow you to reach readers who purchase romance books through media interviews, book reviews, book signings, and speaking engagements.
  2.  Businesses, authors, celebrities, brands and any organization conduct public relations not just to promote something but to build a better image. Effective public relations allows your brand to attain a positive image both online and offline, which benefits you for the long haul and brands your image in the public’s consciousness.
  3.   Public relations such as a media interview, review, or media profile, carries weight with the public.  It is seen as a third party (the media outlet) endorsement.  The public knows that such media mentions are not paid for by the company, unlike an advertisement.  Studies show that consumers give a media mention over 7 times the credibility they do an advertisement.
  4. Public relations is more cost efficient than advertising.  The rates for public relations along with the results it produces, are between 30% to 50% better than doing advertising.
  5. Lead Generation. The media placement from public relations is long lasting.  This is especially true with Google, company and media outlets websites.  While you will see the greatest number of leads after the media mention appears, the leads continue long after as people find the media story online during searches.

The benefits of public relations are immense.  It is long lasting with the impact felt long after the initial campaign.

Do You Need A Public Relations Agency?

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A very common question asked when considering public relations is, do I need a public relations agency?  The answer is yes, you do need a public relations agency for a variety of reasons (and not just because we are a public relations agency).

Why you ask do you need a public relations agency?  Let us count the reasons why:

  1. The media receives thousands of pitches a day.  Having a public relations agency make the media contact adds credibility to you and what you are promoting.  It shows the media that you, your company, service or product are credible and you are placing money behind it to promote it.  Trying to do it yourself lessens your credibility in the eyes of the media.
  2. It saves you money and time.  In business, everything revolves around the bottom line.  In this alone it is smarter to retain a public relations agency.  Public relations is not just press releases, press conferences, and media appearances.  It also includes the social media aspect of maintaining a company’s blog, and social media pages.   This would require several salaried people.  In terms of salary alone, you are losing out as with a retainer with a public relations agency you have a team of professionals on your account that handle each aspect of that public relations campaign.  For small and medium sized organizations, the savings is even greater.  Not only are you saving money, you are saving time and remember time is money.  There are not enough hours in the day for a small or medium sized business to do everything that needs to be done.  And time away from your core business means lost opportunities.
  3. The personnel at a public relations agency are the experts in their field.  They bring their expertise in writing, social media, media relations, branding, and special events to the plate.  They know public relations.  They know how to position a client for the maximum exposure.  They have the contacts with the media.  They know which reporters will cover which topics and also how to package a story that the media wants.  Many people think of an interview in terms of sales, it isn’t.  If a reporter suspects someone is just trying to sell them something through their story it will never see the light of day.  An experienced public relations expert knows how to package a story so that it is newsworthy to the reporter while still being of marketing benefit to a client.
  4. Crisis Communications. Most people think of public relations as positive news.  It is, until disaster strikes. Businesses always have a plan for when a crisis strikes in how to handle things except in terms of publicity.  Working with an agency means a preliminary crisis communications plan has been developed beforehand that can be altered to fit the crisis.  Agency personnel have the skills and experience to objectively evaluate your business, clearly assess its strengths and weaknesses, and figure out how to use them in crisis communications.
  5. By bringing in someone from the outside you are bringing in someone who can be more objective and doesn’t have the emotional commitment and blinders that an owner or company employee has and can assess what ideas will work and what won’t work.
  6. A public relations agency tends to be more creative in developing story ideas and teasers to induce the media and can think outside the corporate box. An agency constantly monitors the news and often sees opportunities that others don’t.  For example, our agency represented a marriage counseling service and when the Anthony Weiner story broke during the 2016 campaign, went into pitching mode to have our client discuss why powerful men cheat which resulted in coverage on FOX News Channel, CNN, HLN, Good Morning America, People Magazine, and the New York Post.

So, based on these reasons, the answer to whether you need a public relations agency is quite simple and emphatic.  Yes, you do.