Archive for August, 2008
August 28, 2008 at 9:18 am · Filed under Media Industry, Australia
Fairfax Limited announced headcount reductions this week - cutting some 550 roles across its stable of newspapers. Yet the way the news was announced showed contempt for the profession of journalism. ABC Radio National’s “The Media Report” provided great insights - click here to listen.
Central to the ABC report is the way staff cuts were announced - instead of dealing with reporters, CEO David Kirk of Fairfax Media issued an email to all staff. He then hosted a conference call - with financial analysts. Journalists were allowed to listen in but were not allowed to ask questions.
This approach to media relations is hypocritical - if any other company handled restructuring the same way Fairfax publications would lambast the approach. Stonewalling journalists never works, even if you’re preparing to fire them first.
Learn more about the opposition view - visit Fair Go, Fairfax.
August 23, 2008 at 1:39 pm · Filed under Public Relations
I spent the day in Canberra yesterday seeking to influence government policy regarding the Emissions Trading Scheme(ETS). A client leads in the voluntary carbon market. Rudd’s new ETS places a cap on Australia’s top 1,000 polluting companies. Over time that cap is reduced and they must clean up - or pay other companies for their “rights”.
At the same time thousands of Australians are voluntarily reducing their emissions, and offsetting what they cannot reduce. This national grassroots movement is ignored by Rudd’s ETS.
In discussions yesterday it became crystal clear that this issue is not crystal clear. We’re discussing two separate markets - one that doesn’t come into force for two years and another that’s active today and left out of the system.
Carbon offstting, emissions trading and related issues are all new. As a “first to market” with new technology companies are required to educate the market. Otherwise people misunderstand - or ignore your efforts.
The advantage of educating is you set the terms of reference for the rest of the market. Opinion-leaders and journalist will use your terminology to frame the debate.
If you’re the first with a new product, service, technology or other then use the opportunity to educate your audiences. It’s a wise investment that will pay immeasurable returns.
August 21, 2008 at 10:14 am · Filed under Issues Management, Australia
In Tasmania a proposed pulp mill to be built by Gunns squeaked through the approval process late last year. Environmentalists decry a plant that turns forests into woodchips. Locals are split with some wanting jobs and others wanting forests. Outside Tasmania public opinion is solidly against the mill.
Spot the Difference
While government approval was granted, the mill has yet to start construction. Why? Consumer activism has made funding the deal a hot potato for banks.
The Three Gorges Dam is the best example of how financial backing can turn into a corporate reputation minefield. This controversial project has been decried for the massive relocation required - some 1.2 million people and 1,500 industries were displaced. Worse environmental and cultural heritage sites are being flooded. Even China now acknowledges there are problems:
Wang Xiaofeng, the head of the Three Gorges Dam Project of the State Council declared: “We cannot win passing economic prosperity at the cost of the environment.”
For bank funding the dam there are similar corporate reputation issues, leading to numerous shareholder resolutions to block damaging transactions:
“…but an outstanding example is the resolutions with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch concerning their involvement in financing the construction of the Three Gorges Dam.”
Source: Social Funds: The largest personal finance site devoted to socially responsible investing
Now it’s the turn of the Australian banks to feel the heat - today Gunns announced a $300 million non-underwritten rights issue led by Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Macquarie Capital Advisers.
Gunns may yet build their mill yet the company and its financial advisers will feel the sting of public outcry for some years to come.
August 15, 2008 at 10:16 am · Filed under Issues Management, Public Relations
I went to the chiropractor this morning - since starting adjustments a month ago I’m sleeping like a log and chronic back pain is a thing of the past. So I was annoyed to have sharp lower back pain for the last two days. The chiropractor did an evaluation then starting working on my left knee. Apparently tightness there sent the back out of whack. Attack the cause and the symptoms dissipate.
Too often companies hire public relations firms to address the symptoms. They have a bad image and get negative press. Driving back I saw an advertisement for an oil company - they use rainforest friendly coffee beans in their cafes. What gets glossed over are the human rights abuses in Nigeria where they have operations, and their impact on the environment when they drill.
Public relations is limited in its efficacy when companies do not address the root causes. Press releases can’t make sub-standard working conditions in developing country factories go away. Poor customer service can’t be covered by one case study.
Smart corporations redress their business practices and ensure they are functioning smoothly before trying to gain a better image through public relations. Otherwise its the equivalent of a “10 minute back-rub” by an in-mall masseur versus finding the root cause of the pain.
August 13, 2008 at 8:42 am · Filed under America
Dear John,
I believed in you.
You said you were different and I believed you. In the primaries of 2004 I was so excited by your youth and energy I voted for you. I even became an advocate and told friends to support you. During the long, cold years in-between I kept the faith. And again in this year’s primaries I voted for you again. A friend bought me a T-Shirt from your campaign. I wore it with pride.
Now I learn you’re not so different. In fact, you’re as common as dirt. While your wife tries to survive cancer you’ve been unfaithful. You had a mistress and gave her a paying job to video your campaign. Did the camera come in handy after hours? Then she had a baby - and you had a married member of your campaign staff confess to being the father. Your lies snowballed.
Now we’re both caught up in the aftermath. I’ve been bruised. You’re suffering deep wounds from which you may not survive. Your wife will spend her life holding the pieces of your family together. Your mistress will suffer deep guilt from ruining your career. Her child (your child) will wonder why father was never involved. And your children will have trouble trusting you again.
You said you were acting out of hubris - you believed you were larger than life. Now you’ll have to chew through that hard nugget called shame. I know that will take years. And years.
You must be in the depths of despair. And take no solace as that will continue for years to come. Perhaps in the end you’ll emerge a different man. It would be nice to think so.
Until then, dear John, farewell.
Yours (un)faithfully,
An American Voter
August 12, 2008 at 9:53 am · Filed under Globalisation, Public Relations
Day Four of the Olympics and newspapers around the world feature athletes and medal tallies on their covers. Dig a little deeper into the journal and you’ll see soldiers and mortalities. Russia is using the cloak of the Olympic Games to conduct war in neighbouring Georgia.
I’ve advised clients facing a serious crisis - and I understand the relief of a “busy news day”. That means the day your crisis breaks another, larger event occurs that dominates the airwaves and headlines. Your client’s crisis does get reported - but it is buried towards the back of the paper, or later in the radio broadcast.
It is shocking to see Russia using this same strategy to wage war. Yesterday a colleague skimmed the paper and said, “Is there anything else happening in the world (other than the Olympics)?”
There is a war. And it’s raging under the immense cloak of the Olympics.
August 8, 2008 at 5:32 pm · Filed under Public Relations, Australia
On Wednesday night Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban arrived in Sydney with their four week old girl, Sunday Rose. This was the first time in Australia since the baby was born. Amazingly no photos have been sold and no exclusive deal penned. The proud, new parents came to Sydney hoping for a little R&R.
The next morning the couple called the radio show, “Kyle & Jackie-O” on 2Day FM. This is one of the most popular radio shows in Australia. The co-hosts have celebrity status in their own (smaller) way.
Nicole and Ketih expressed their happiness at being back in Australia, and shared some of the joys - and pains - of having a newborn child. Then they asked a favour. They want Australians to leave them alone for awhile. They’d like to show their baby girl some of the sights. And they don’t want to fear for her safety.
This was a brilliant act of public relations. Kyle & Jackie-O would have been over the moon to get a call from Nicole and Keith - as long as they wanted to stay on the air they’d keep the line open. And the listening public got the insight of these mega-stars as ordinary Mums & Dads. I doubt a listener wouldn’t empathise.
So Sydney - let’s cut the new parents a break. Give Nicole and Keith some breathing room so they can show their newborn child the wonderful city of of Sydney.
Welcome to Australia Sunday Rose!
August 6, 2008 at 3:06 pm · Filed under Media Industry, Australia
I am not one to decry our rabid interest in celebrities, the decline in newspaper readership and the responsiveness of governments to overnight polls. We live in a media saturated world and this is the price we pay.
But please allow me two whinges.
Last week while waiting in my hotel lobby in Melbourne I turned to Yahoo! News. I kid you not - the top story of the moment was:
Justin Timberlake: I Wore Trucker Caps Before Ashton
“It’s funny, I keep hearing Ashton Kutchersay how he was responsible for trucker caps,” says Timberlake, 27, in the cover story for Fashion Rocks, a magazine supplement sent to Vanity Fairsubscribers with the new issue. Timberlake maintains that he and best friend Trace Ayala – with whom he launched the William Rast denim line in 2005 – “were wearing them when we were seventeen.”
And the second whinge comes today. People Magazine completely sold out of magazines in the USA and had to re-print for the first time in history. The exclusive photographs of Brad & Angelina’s baby twins is the reason.
And here I am worried I may not get through The Economist this week and failed to understand the physics article on the new proton accelerator in Switzerland…
“I can see Ashton’s trucker cap…”
August 5, 2008 at 1:15 pm · Filed under China
China blinked.
After a tense week China dismantled firewalls preventing journalists from accessing sites like Amnesty Interational, Human Rights Watch and those associated with Falung Gong.
It shows how important these Games are to China.
In the showdown one side was bound to lose face. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) was looking like a goose for “we knew-we didn’t know” stories. The Chinese looked….like they usually do (authoritative, strict, unrepentant, stone-faced).
China’s decision to allow unfettered Internet access hows the depths of their desire for a perfect Olympic Games.
In times of crisis, there’s an advantage to moving quickly. Compare the Internet conundrum to the Iguana-gate story of the other month. By failing to rapidly and honestly deal with the situation, Della Bosca and Neal have effectively ruined their political careers (see my earlier post - “The -Gate Suffix Means Bad News”).
For public relations practitioners the lesson is clear. Be fast. Demonstrate action. And if you’re wrong, undo the earlier decision. The media moves on and all recall you did the right thing.
