An interesting thing happened this week. Really interesting.
It is an uphill struggle at the best of times to explain what PR is, what it does and the benefits it brings.
Funnily enough, even most of my friends and family don't know what I do for a living. The worst thing is that in my former workplace, even the other departments didn't what the PR team did despite the fact that we were one of the most successful facets of the entire business and group.
I feel like Chandler from Friends sometimes - those who follow Friends will understand that comment.
Explaining PR is a difficult one. Many reckon that it is advertising. It isn't. Whereas others associate it immediately with Max Clifford. Trust me, its not that glamorous.
There definitely needs to be more education around what PR does - but that is a question for another day.
Anyway, a few days ago I find myself explaining PR to a bunch of my family and friends during a dinner. Among those in the audience, listening avidly was a 10-year-old. A very bright 10-year-old.
While others were digesting my explanation of what I do, this little cookie stared at me intently, before posing a question which many adults in that room could never have mustered. And what a cracking question it was.
"So," he began, "if you look after the image of businesses, what would you do if you were the PR man behind Tiger Woods?".
This kid will go far, I thought immediately. Not only had he grasped what PR was from my feeble explanation, but he also showed that he kept abreast of current affairs. There is still hope for the youth of this generation.
Now I'm no celebrity PR expert but the lessons to be learned from the debacle surrounding Tiger Woods can be applied to PR for businesses as well. (Those of you who have somehow miraculously missed this story should click on this link here) Although I don't represent celebs I did have a chance to do some work with an up and coming sports star a little while ago. Since then, this guy has become a household name with dreams of cracking America next (any ideas anyone who I'm talking about??)
Clearly for a darling of the sport such as Tiger Woods these revelations have come as a great surprise. But what has been a bigger surprise is the way his publicity and management team have handled the whole affair. While Tiger has applied the mute button, others have not. One thing that a celebrity, and a business as well, must learn is that if you stay quiet, the newspapers wont. They love a scandal involving a celebrity and once they see that no information is forthcoming from the celebrity camp, they start digging. And when they dig, they usually find something.
The lack of words from Tiger has cost him. Sponsors are dropping him, others will follow I'm sure. Perhaps a silver lining is that Gillette will drop him and we won't get to see those awful ads with him and Mssrs Henry and Federer. (Although I would like to ask the person who put these three together in the first place a very serious question - WHY????)
So, in response to the 10-year-old - the answer lies in the truth. Let's think like Max Clifford for a moment. The best thing that any celebrity can do in a situation like this is to come clean. Quickly. Get yourself in front of TV cameras. Be honest. Be upfront. Say sorry, lots of times and be genuine. By doing this you endear yourself to the public even more. And, you also cut the supply of possible dirt being dredged on you by the red tops. If you've already come clean - damage limitation is in full effect.
Never stay silent like Tiger has. People assume guilt and it will take a little while to recover. There are possibly a few mistaken reasons as to why Tiger has taken a vow of silence. He either thinks he a) it will blow over b) he is too embarrassed to say sorry c) or he is too arrogant to apologise. Who knows?
On the flip side I know whose camp I'd like to respresent right now - his wife. The media love a woman who is a victim - especially a celeb one - and with correct management by her PR team she could be birdying her way all the way to the bank.
The 79PR team
http://seventyninepr.blogspot.com/
It is an uphill struggle at the best of times to explain what PR is, what it does and the benefits it brings.
Funnily enough, even most of my friends and family don't know what I do for a living. The worst thing is that in my former workplace, even the other departments didn't what the PR team did despite the fact that we were one of the most successful facets of the entire business and group.
I feel like Chandler from Friends sometimes - those who follow Friends will understand that comment.
Explaining PR is a difficult one. Many reckon that it is advertising. It isn't. Whereas others associate it immediately with Max Clifford. Trust me, its not that glamorous.
There definitely needs to be more education around what PR does - but that is a question for another day.
Anyway, a few days ago I find myself explaining PR to a bunch of my family and friends during a dinner. Among those in the audience, listening avidly was a 10-year-old. A very bright 10-year-old.
While others were digesting my explanation of what I do, this little cookie stared at me intently, before posing a question which many adults in that room could never have mustered. And what a cracking question it was.
"So," he began, "if you look after the image of businesses, what would you do if you were the PR man behind Tiger Woods?".
This kid will go far, I thought immediately. Not only had he grasped what PR was from my feeble explanation, but he also showed that he kept abreast of current affairs. There is still hope for the youth of this generation.
Now I'm no celebrity PR expert but the lessons to be learned from the debacle surrounding Tiger Woods can be applied to PR for businesses as well. (Those of you who have somehow miraculously missed this story should click on this link here) Although I don't represent celebs I did have a chance to do some work with an up and coming sports star a little while ago. Since then, this guy has become a household name with dreams of cracking America next (any ideas anyone who I'm talking about??)
Clearly for a darling of the sport such as Tiger Woods these revelations have come as a great surprise. But what has been a bigger surprise is the way his publicity and management team have handled the whole affair. While Tiger has applied the mute button, others have not. One thing that a celebrity, and a business as well, must learn is that if you stay quiet, the newspapers wont. They love a scandal involving a celebrity and once they see that no information is forthcoming from the celebrity camp, they start digging. And when they dig, they usually find something.
The lack of words from Tiger has cost him. Sponsors are dropping him, others will follow I'm sure. Perhaps a silver lining is that Gillette will drop him and we won't get to see those awful ads with him and Mssrs Henry and Federer. (Although I would like to ask the person who put these three together in the first place a very serious question - WHY????)
So, in response to the 10-year-old - the answer lies in the truth. Let's think like Max Clifford for a moment. The best thing that any celebrity can do in a situation like this is to come clean. Quickly. Get yourself in front of TV cameras. Be honest. Be upfront. Say sorry, lots of times and be genuine. By doing this you endear yourself to the public even more. And, you also cut the supply of possible dirt being dredged on you by the red tops. If you've already come clean - damage limitation is in full effect.
Never stay silent like Tiger has. People assume guilt and it will take a little while to recover. There are possibly a few mistaken reasons as to why Tiger has taken a vow of silence. He either thinks he a) it will blow over b) he is too embarrassed to say sorry c) or he is too arrogant to apologise. Who knows?
On the flip side I know whose camp I'd like to respresent right now - his wife. The media love a woman who is a victim - especially a celeb one - and with correct management by her PR team she could be birdying her way all the way to the bank.
The 79PR team
http://seventyninepr.blogspot.com/
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ReplyDeleteInteresting post. The problem with Tiger as I think you have alluded to is his arrogance.
ReplyDeleteBy staying quiet he has created a storm around him. Our people tried to get in touch with him to try and get his side of it and they were simply not interested.
I think the noises from his camp are that he just wants to lay low. But as someone who is looking to get a scoop on him i would tell him to reveal all. Sharpish. The lower he lies, the deeper the grave he is digging.