As a society, as a nation, we are now decompressing from the horrific events and outcomes surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing and the chemical explosion in West, Texas. As public relations practitioners who have to prepare for all kinds and degrees of crisis events, we need to take accounting of how those events were handled or mishandled by first responders, police, medical teams, political spokespersons, the news media and us.

The good news is that by and large the PR people and spokespersons who I witnessed did a laudable job of being as even-handed as possible, attempting not to speculate and looked for calming information that attempted to keep the public from panic. The more experienced and responsible journalists did the same in the face of the constant live reporting which showcases the best in journalism and also put a spotlight on the very worst reportage.

The ironic bad news is that we are collectively getting better at handling these kinds of terrorism or mass disasters because unfortunately it appears we have had to weather more of these incidents or, at least, have had more of these incidents reported 24/7 by the ubiquitous media, both mainstream and social. We are now becoming practiced at dealing with disaster.

Observation. Almost immediately after both tragedies erupted we would hear facts and warnings from official spokespersons and then we would hear, e.g., – from a Boston Celtics spokesperson, “Our Celtics family and our fans join all Bostonians in demonstrating our city’s great strength by coming together to stand as one to get through this difficult time,” or, from a West, Texas first responder, “Everybody knows everybody. We know people who didn’t make it, so we are all here for each other.”

It is commonsense to look for that silver lining in the face of chaos and danger but PR professionals need to make sure the silver lining comments and strategies are planned for proactively and not ad hoc and reactively. If you do fashion a silver lining plan, it should not be created as an afterthought but as an integral part of the news and healing process. We all need to know that there is order and potential good outcomes to help us balance our emotions and reactions. The silver lining plan is good and essential PR.

Again, balancing the bad with the good is needed, not a PR luxury, especially doing a service for families and young people who need to know there is order out of chaos. It is our responsibility as communications professionals to build on the good societal and personal frameworks so we can weather the inevitable bad, or what some describe as evil events. There is additionally an expectation of balanced communications from our clients and stakeholders. For more of a structured psychological perspective, consider the following comments soon after the Boston Bombing from Touro University Worldwide’s Media Psychologist Darlene Mininni, PhD.:

The Boston Bombing: The Media & What Kids Need To Know

The round-the-clock media coverage of the events in Boston is understandable. Our anxious minds find something soothing about information—even if the news is scary—because we want desperately to understand what’s happening. We want to know that everything will be okay. We want to know the bad guys have been caught.

At the same time, the media’s relentless analysis can give the impression— particularly to children—that the world is a terrible and frightening place, and we are all just one-step away from harm when we walk out our front door.

For that reason, it’s important for us to highlight the positive aspects of this story as well. Not in a Pollyanna-way that suggests everything is fine, but in a real way. It’s necessary to talk about the people who have opened their homes to others, sent food to first responders and provided an outpouring of support and kindness to those in need.

A popular post on Facebook this week is a quote from the beloved children’s television host Mr. Rogers:

When I was a boy, and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’

My daughter was 3-1/2 when two planes deliberately crashed into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York City. It was a devastating experience that traumatized our country. As a former New Yorker, I was deeply affected by the horrible images I saw of my hometown.

I thought long and hard about how to explain this event my preschool-age daughter in a way that her young mind could grasp. I worried that the way I described the events would influence her view of the world. I finally told her, “A few people did a bad thing and hit the buildings with their planes. And now thousands of people are helping to make it better.”

I hoped that explanation would ease her into the realities of life. Yes, sometimes bad things happen. Really bad. But there’s also good in the world. A lot of good.

What to tell your children about these events will differ depending on their age:

• Young children should be shielded from violent or graphic imagery on television and the Internet. They need to know that they are safe, secure and protected by the adults around them.
• Older children might have questions about the event and why it happened. Answer their questions and explain the details without getting overly sensational or frightening.

And keep in mind that we adults can be easily overwhelmed by the constant barrage of news, too. For me, as I follow the media’s coverage, I am reminded that terrible things happen in life. I grieve for the families and the community affected.

And then I think about the courage, bravery and kindness of the people who helped. I think about the good in this story because it’s always there.

As Dr. Mininni underlines, we all have a need to know what is happening surrounding these tragedies, and I submit, we have the same need to know about all kinds of news that generally has a negative component with conflict between the bad and good aspects of the storyline.

The need to know is, of course, the primary driver in our communications business, period. We have to be prepared to accurately tell all parts of any story and not overlook the good news because some might think it is “soft.” The silver lining component of crisis PR is a legitimate part of the story when told as part of the overall narrative context and when properly prioritized. I am not advocating having an opening statement that emphasize good news when a bad news story is breaking but there is no reason at all not to end that kind of statement with a silver lining comment. Look and plan for the hope element…look for the helpers.

Scott Sobel is president of Media & Communications Strategies, Inc., a Washington, DC-based public relations firm that manages reputation and communications challenges of all kinds worldwide. www.macstrategies.com. He is also a former corporate public relations practitioner and major market and TV network investigative journalist with a Media Psychology MA from Touro University Worldwide www.TUW.edu.

The post Look For the Helpers: Anticipate Both the Good and the Bad News When Handling a Crisis appeared first on PR Crisis Blog.

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This is Part Two of Scott’s PR and branding analysis of Pope Francis’ ascension for Bulldog Reporter. See Part One here.

Everyone knows the Catholic Church is laboring through a sensitive time of crisis of faith and credibility right now following priest sex scandals and questions by its flock about the church’s political and social dogma. Let’s put aside who or what chose Pope Francis and take away additional branding and PR lessons from what he has done and is doing, at least from what we see publically:

Walk the walk and don’t just talk the talk. Pope Francis decided to choose his new name that set a tone for his brand and the church’s rebranding of serving the poor and at the same time he dropped the ornate garments of his predecessor and rode on a bus with fellow priests to his public appointments.

The Pontiff didn’t just choose a symbolic name but immediately created credibility in his brand by taking action that said, hey I mean what I say, believe me, believe I will take the church (my organization) in this direction. It’s like the new CEO of a food manufacturer with a product contamination problem saying, “My company problems are being fixed, our foods are now safe,” and then publically taking a bite out of his company’s hot dogs.

The buck stops here. Pope Francis has not only been seen and heard from a high balcony at the Vatican, removed from his public, he has been making statements to reporters, seen with his flock and photographed petting a blind guest’s guide dog. The previous Pope almost always spoke from script while Pope Francis has been speaking off-the-cuff, no script, speaking from the heart.

He is connecting and relating to the common man, that congregation, that target audience, he has spoken to from the minute he was named pope, taking advantage of his newness when there is so much scrutiny of every single moment of his public life.

Who do you trust? As human beings we process and decide in the very first few seconds of meeting each other whether we like and trust whom we have met. Those first impressions are incredibly powerful for us, especially if we are meeting a new leader who can make, in some cases, life-changing decisions. Pope Francis apparently understands this dynamic.

We all pay attention to change. Change and the recognition of something new that can help or hurt us is a primal human reaction. The new pope looks like he understands this focus we have and is playing to that focus. Some leaders actually manufacture change and designate a “new” direction in order to take advantage of our interest in something new. Remember President Roosevelt’s “New Deal” and JFK’s “New Frontier.”

And, by the way, Pope Francis is indeed the first pontiff from the New World.

Unified message and playing to your strength. A time of crisis is also an opportunity for leveraging new perception and growing business because of a sharp focus on what a new leader does … how he/she handles a crisis. Churches and all entities always do better when there is reasonable transparency and correction after a crisis is reveals as opposed to cover-ups.

Pope Francis is playing to the universal positive perception of what a church can and should do for its congregation, it primary audience, during good times or during a time of crisis. The new pontiff is playing to the church’s strength, which is to be charitable, supportive and forgiving. He is cutting through the clutter of all the negative perceptions and realities and zeroing in on who he is and has been and how he wants his church to be known.

Pope Francis is very effectively setting an example of leadership, credibility and action. He is choosing a branding position of strength, an unquestionable position that will mitigate problems and set a tone for future success. His challenge, and the challenge for managing all successful organizations, is the difficulty of consistency. Leaders must stick to their initial mission statements and keep doing what they promised to do or risk being seen as hypocritical which plunges their organizations into even worse positions. Let’s all hope the Pope keeps his promises and sets examples for all kinds of leaders who struggle with resurrecting their respective brands in their respective businesses, whether they are fishing for the souls of men or trying to improve sales and providing redemption for stockholders.

The post Best Public Relations and Branding for the New Pope — Part Two appeared first on PR Crisis Blog.

Critics are accusing the news media of covering the papal selection process and result like a political event or entertainment. Why should that kind of coverage surprise anyone? I think there is little doubt that Pope Francis is absolutely savvy and is taking advantage of this seminal PR moment. Of course he knows the media is reporting his every single public move as they would report on a new president or a mega-corporation celebrity CEO. Pope Francis’ job description is very different than either but we can learn about how a new leader has an incredibly powerful moment, a tipping-point, when they first step into a new job. The new leader can seize the day, carpe diem, to influence public perception and their own organization or, in the case of the Pope, inspire the 1.2 billion Catholics around the world and the church’s vast internal organization.

Let’s look at Pope Francis’ ascension in the context of what any new leader should do to help their brand using applicable psychological theory, especially when that brand is struggling or in crisis. Everyone knows the Catholic Church is laboring through a sensitive time of crisis of faith and credibility right now following priest sex scandals and questions by its flock about the church’s political and social dogma.

Know your audience. Any leader and PR practitioner must understand what their audience needs or thinks it needs and leverage the strengths they have that satisfy those needs. Can the new Pope drastically affect the Church’s brand in a positive way … absolutely, depending on what your definition is for the successful branding of today’s Catholic Church.

Of course, the Catholic Church, especially in the US, is also experiencing a crisis of definition. Should the church be focused on responding to the predilections of its members? Polls show the majority of Catholics want female priests and most parishioners support the use of contraceptives and even cry for priests to be able to have families while the Vatican and its priests officially preach opposite positions from the pulpit. Early Christians grew their church as a movement of vox populi, a people’s voice, and Christ’s Gospel challenged apostle Saint Peter as the first pope to lead “fishers of men.” Today, conservative Catholics don’t believe the Church should grow at the expense of sacrificing many of its organizational edicts, like celibacy for priests, established millennia ago. If you have faith in the popular polls, that conservative position is costing the church dearly.

Can Pope Francis control the Catholic Church’s brand the way a CEO can? Consider the following comparative definitions.

The papal definition according to the Catholic Ecclesiastical Canon 331: “The office uniquely committed by the Lord to Peter, the first of the Apostles, and to be transmitted to his successors, abides in the Bishop of the Church of Rome. He is head of the College of Bishops, the Vicar of Christ, and the Pastor of the universal Church here on earth. Consequently, by virtue of his office, he has supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church, and he can always freely exercise this power.”

The corporate CEO definition according to Investopedia: “The highest ranking executive in a company whose main responsibilities include developing and implementing high-level strategies, making major corporate decisions, managing the overall operations and resources of a company, and acting as the main point of communication between the board of directors and the corporate operations. The CEO will often have a position on the board, and in some cases is even the chair.”

So, let’s put aside who or what chose Pope Francis (divine inspiration, the Conclave of Cardinals, a political process, a quasi-corporate process based on organizational goals) and take away additional branding and PR lessons from what Pope Francis has done and is doing, at least from what we see publically.

Choose a brand name that expresses your mission and product. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires chose to be christened again as Pope Francis, saying, he was inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi — the embodiment of an advocate for the poor.

The pontiff has already been famously quoted, “”I’d like a poor church, for the poor.” He was photographed, and that photo has miraculously appeared on the Internet, as cardinal kissing the feet of poor parishioners. He is a Jesuit, a Catholic sect that takes vows of poverty.

Pope Francis will inevitably be deeply involved in church politics and business along with his spiritual leadership. He will have to have opinions and even act on various controversial doctrine and secular positions and certainly will have to deal with the pedophile priest scandal but choosing his papal name and his initial comments certainly send a very clear message that positioning for the poor can overshadow all other issues and set that symbolic brand in the public mind.

A big question is whether the Catholic leadership, from the Vatican to Cardinals to Bishops to parish priests, will publicize the reinforced mission of the church to help the poor? The church has ignored the opportunity to create a public drumbeat of its incredible good works and tried to put out its crisis fires reactively instead of proactively. First indications are that Pope Francis is leading proactively right out of the gate.

The post Best Public Relations and Branding Practices for the New Pope: How a New Leader Can Show the Way Out of a Crisis of Perception appeared first on PR Crisis Blog.

Members of the news media are accusing billionaire Micky Arison of having a split personality when it comes to which public face he shows as the respective leader of his two very different businesses.

Arison owns the Miami Heat basketball team and is known as a gregarious, visible, accessible and friendly sports CEO. You can see him at games and read his thoughts often on social media.

As CEO of the publicly traded Carnival Corporation, Arison’s public persona is a much smaller PR footprint, especially when the brand is suffering a reputation challenge as it is right now.

The lawsuits are starting to roll in like waves lapping against the side of the monster vacation ship Carnival Triumph, the apparent victim of an engine fire that resulted in more than 4,000 guests trapped on the disabled liner … food supplies were a problem and human waste disposal an even larger issue.

Forbes reported recently, “Carnival has not been on a lucky streak lately, to say the least. Last year one of the company’s luxury liners ran aground off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people. These two disasters taken together — last year’s being many times more awful — are the PR-equivalent of getting pantsed at the televised funeral of a patient that died on your operating table. Quite embarrassing indeed.”

Arison was also relatively quiet during the Concordia tragedy, and then again when another Carnival liner was left adrift by yet another fire two years ago.

Arison has taken a lot of heat (no basketball pun intended) from the news media accusing him of a disappearing act concerning the sometimes-volatile cruise line business. His Carnival Cruise Line CEO Gerry Cahill, however, has been put front and center in the media spotlight for the Carnival Triumph catastrophe, offering sympathy for guests and thanks for no one being injured, regardless of the lawsuits alleging the opposite … to be fair Arison did express the same sentiments on his own Tweets.

The news media did indeed take Arison to task for attending Heat games while his cruise ship Triumph floundered and the story led newscasts. Arguably, he could have waited and learned from other CEO’s and leaders who firmly planted their respective feet in their mouths by being flip during crisis. Remember the reaction to BP CEO Tony Hayward’s infamous quote about wanting “my life back” and going for a sail in 2010 while his rig Deepwater Horizon vomited oil into the Gulf of Mexico? Or, when former President George W. Bush ranted on a golf course about stopping “the terrorist killers” in 2002 and then blithely continued to play and asked reporters to watch his next drive?

Let’s look at the tale of the tape for bottom line results when the lights went out on the Carnival Triumph.

Carnival stock share value dropped a bit after the first reports of the Carnival Triumph’s power loss hit the media but things got much worse when the situation continued. The corporation’s $39 per share value dropped precipitously about two days later, falling off a cliff after Feb 12, coincidently the same timeframe when Arison attended a Heat game, probably not the best time for the CEO to be in the public eye.

The same Forbes article referenced earlier also makes another PR-related observation, “Most recently, Arison — along with Carnival Corp. Director Pier Luigi Foschini — donated a portion of his 2012 compensation to charities such as Robin Hood Relief Fund, Habitat for Humanity International, Save the Children and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Fund to Advance New York City, in support of Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. Arison, who also owns the Miami Heat basketball team, earned $6,497,785 last year, $906,400 of which came from his Carnival salary.”

Forbes continued to report: “That’s one of the ways people do try to improve their image after any kind of embarrassing situation,” said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Washington D.C.-based Chronicle of Philanthropy. Those already interested in philanthropy can use it as an image-scrubber, she added. Goldman Sachs was among banks that increased their giving following hard times.”

What are the takeaways?

A great business leader with diverse responsibilities needs to understand the differences in their businesses and game plan accordingly but recognize their personal brand reflects all of their endeavors. In Arison’s case, a pro sports team has different audiences and much less oversight than a publicly owned cruise line. The personalities and needs of their employees are also different.

Commonsensically, I don’t believe Arison’s reputation as CEO of the Heat will suffer and his association with the cruise line business won’t affect the team’s business. Sports fans are not going to boycott a LeBron James basketball game because an owner’s cruise ship may or may not be in crises, unless the CEO were to say or do something really, really callus. The Heat losing a playoff won’t keep a family from taking a Carnival cruise either.

Reporters will always want to get quotes from the leader at the very top of an organization. That leader may distance themselves from egregious circumstances to either lay blame at someone else’s feet -which generally is not well accepted by the news media, the general public and even shareholders — or to rightfully-so allow the manager closest to the situation be answerable. As witnessed by the media criticism leveled at Micky Arison, you have to be thick-skinned regardless of which visibility path you take because being out front when all is sunshine and light also raises the expectation of being equally accessible during darker times.

Scott Sobel is president of Media & Communications Strategies, Inc., a Washington, DC-based public relations firm that manages reputation and communications challenges of all kinds worldwide. He is also a former corporate public relations practitioner and major market and TV network investigative journalist. Scott has an MA In Media Psychology from Touro University Worldwide.

The post To Comment or Hide? Business Leadership Lessons Learned from Carnival Corp.’s CEO Micky Arison appeared first on PR Crisis Blog.

What is the value of PR? This question comes up often in today’s resource-conscious environment, especially for industries ranging from insurance PR and technology PR to healthcare PR. Below are some key ways PR will bring value to your healthcare, insurance or technology company:

• PR communications have more weight than marketing and sales communications. These communications are told within the context of our industry and with the benefit of third-party editorial credibility. *Typically, a PR communication is valued at least 3X the impact and value of a sales and marketing communication.

• PR generates leads. By pushing quality content out to the public, a company’s search engine optimization will increase, making it easier for prospective clients or partners to find you when searching the internet. This in turn drives people to your website and/or educational materials or to read an article about your company.

• PR supports sales. It creates awareness and credibility of that company which paves the way for a positive reception to sales messages. And, it gives the sales force numerous articles and “did you know” items that they can use as touch-points with customers. Without a PR program in place, the sales force would have the extra burden of education, reputation building, and communication that is very hard for sales to accomplish alone.

• PR is one of the few ways you can communicate directly with senior executives in customer companies. This becomes increasingly more important as your company continues to grow in size and scope.

• PR communicates the distinct competencies of your service lines, which in turn supports your value proposition.

• PR tells the corporate growth story, which is important to customers, investors, and acquisition partners.

• PR builds positive “share of discussion,” which research has proven to correlate to share of market.

• PR helps to define your message, and makes it real with examples, case studies and stories that customers can relate to and believe in, providing that important step between hearing a marketing or sales message and understanding that your company’s services and products really do solve problems for “people like me.”

• PR creates unique, brand-building programs that set your company apart.

• PR gives consistency to the messaging in a variety of venues and channels.

The post Public Relations: A Value Proposition appeared first on PR Crisis Blog.

Ray Lewis — a public relations phenomenon and enigma. A motivator and defensive genius both on and off the field. Now he is being accused of using deer antler spray as a performance-enhancing drug to repair a torn triceps. What? He deflects that charge as adeptly as he avoids the resurrected accusations about an old double murder charge. Ray accuses the accusers and pretty much says that any reporter asking questions about the homicide is a tool of the Devil.

The National Football League is on Ray Lewis’ team — big time! Sponsors can’t get enough of his face painted with anti-glare black and his war dance before he runs out on the field. He is an ad commercial machine, an iconic sports figure either snarling at opposing quarterbacks or being cast as a caring celebrity taking questions from a kid surrounded by inept sports reporters at a faux news conference (sound familiar? Maybe those damned inept reporters really ARE pawns of Satan).

“Ray Ray” is a shining star for his Baltimore Ravens, the NFL, youth football, religious commitment and sportswear. When he retires after the 2013 Super Bowl he is staring at the lucrative world of a role model and moneymaker, just waiting for his shoe-in selection as a Pro Football Hall of Fame middle linebacker.

In 2000 Ray Lewis was staring at a very, very different narrative — double murder and aggravated assault charges, serious prison time and the bleakest of futures after a lethal Atlanta nightclub brawl. Realistically, the only autographs Ray was signing then were his signatures on court documents and on checks for legal fees.

But, Ray beat his initial charges, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and made a deal to testify against two co-defendants. No one was ever convicted of the murders and the cases are still officially unsolved. Ray paid the NFL $250,000 for breaking the league’s ethics rules. Millions of dollars were reportedly paid to settle the civil suits of the victims’ families.

In a Baltimore Sun interview published most recently by USA Today, Lewis is quoted as saying about the incident: “I’m telling you, no day leaves this Earth without me asking God to ease the pain of anybody who was affected by that whole ordeal.” he said. “He’s a God who tests people — not that he put me in that situation, because he didn’t make me go nowhere. I put myself in that situation.” In debate that is a straw man tactic — deflecting an accusation by pointing to another, but not comparative, target. Rays Lewis handles this technique as easily as he shunts blockers.

Lewis’ legal and moral dilemmas have and are working themselves out but how in the world did he and his advisors fashion a personal and professional reputation redemption campaign of Biblical proportions? What has he done to pull off one of PR’s biggest turnarounds?

In this case, Lewis’ apologies in 2000 were not as free-wheeling nor as immediate as the latest I’m sorry scripts followed by celebrities caught more recently in various indiscretions. Remember, Lewis was caught up in court proceedings for months until he cut a deal with prosecutors and then still had probation and testifying to consider, along with his football issues.

1) What he did was put his head down for a period of time publicly and kept putting his head consistently into opponent’s bodies where the concussive impact yielded more tackles, fumbles and interceptions than almost anyone else playing the game. Lewis was selected to 13 Pro Bowls — he has been a spectacular football player.

His athletic success was then coupled with a path of redemption in his personal life.

2) Lewis never crossed the law again, deer antler spray TBD.

3) He won the admiration and support of coaches, players and others in his field of professional and personal endeavor — for his supporters he is THE example of religious zeal, a motivator of peers and young athletes.

4) Other athletes and objective individuals comment consistently about how Ray is not only very giving with his time to others but also is surrounded by his own family, his own children, to the extent that he seems to have a bullet-proof reputation. Remember, just a few days ago another NFL player’s wife attacked Lewis’ position as a role model citing Lewis’ previous involvement in the murders and his fathering of multiple children outside of wedlock. That attack ended with an almost immediate apology by the attacker (how did that cheetah quick about-face happen? Who pressured whom there? Another lessons-learned story, if behind-the-scenes details are ever uncovered).

5) Ray has been increasingly applauded by other professional associations and especially the NFL.

6) Lewis has taken responsibility for his previous mistakes of associating with the wrong people and not reacting correctly after being caught (he was convicted of the obstruction of justice misdemeanor, after all).

7) The straw-man tactic has been working — question Ray and you are questioning The Lord at the behest of Beelzebub.

8) Lewis is no longer consistently questioned by follow-the-pack news media because he has such an accumulated track record of success and his total persona can’t be easily defined – reporters like clear-cut heroes and villains.

Why are the NFL and many journalists and sponsors not only giving Ray a pass but are actually going in the opposite direction by putting him on a pedestal? Could these entities really want to show that sincere contrition and associated actions should be rewarded? Maybe, but I’ll be more cynical.

Here are a few more ideas and educated guesses about why Ray has done so well through his relations with his publics. Authorities did not continue to prosecute Ray and once their deal was cut, prosecutors stopped public chatter — he got out of that spotlight, and fast. The NFL and sponsors have somehow taken the temperature of the paying public over the years (focus groups, private polls, media audience reaction?) and as Ray performed well on and off the playing field, his public acceptance began to reach positive levels and now has skyrocketed to the heights. This was a gradual process. We see other repentant celebrities try to short circuit their path to redemption by lightening fast apologies which are not backed up by sincere changes in their lives.

Other celebrities of all demographic persuasions have not done nearly as well simply because what they said and what they did were not as believable as Ray Lewis’ formula. Tiger and Lance take note. Ray connected with our sense of our own fallibility and we, the public, judged him to be sincere and forgave him.

Of course, most reporters don’t want to gadfly too much because they live and die through their access to Ray and to his supporters, not the least of which is the NFL.

Quick PR fixes may yield limited results, depending on the severity of the transgression, but there is nothing that pays off like demonstrative actions and sincerity over a reasonable period of time when you can show you are walking the walk and not just talking the talk.

As Crisis PR practitioners and Reputation Management counselors, I recommend we look closely at Ray Lewis’ story and decide thoughtfully what to advise our clients and, maybe more importantly, what is the short -term, mid-term and long-term time frames for pulling the trigger on processes that will yield redemptive success. Of course, Ray’s story and situation may be the perfect storm mixture of actions and reactions that have taken him to where he is now. Still, his scenario is worth a harder look as we counsel our clients about how to be prudent and patient when considering PR or, in this case, Public Raylations.

Scott Sobel is president of Media & Communications Strategies, Inc., a Washington, DC-based public relations firm that manages reputation and communications challenges of all kinds worldwide. www.macstrategies.com. He is also a former corporate public relations practitioner and major market and TV network investigative journalist with a Media Psychology MA from Touro University Worldwide.

The post Ray of Hope for Redemption: How Did Pro Football Legend Ray Lewis Bounce Back from a Murder Rap? appeared first on PR Crisis Blog.

- Having connections on LinkedIn is everything – It increases your search ranking, it connects you to business opportunities, and it allows you to see what others in your industry are up to.

- One of LinkedIn’s great features is that it recommends people for you add. Spending an hour looking up connections will increase your visibility and your company’s visibility. People who have been in the workforce for a number of years can definitely achieve at least 200-300.

- We recommended checking your  “recommended connections” at least three times a week to see if there is anyone you should add. LinkedIn updates this function a lot and it’s a great tool.

- Being part of groups is an important way to grow your visibility in your sector. For example, if you work in law, you should all be in networking/legal groups and be following legal threads.

- Once you join these groups, click on the “Groups” tab at the top of your LinkedIn screen and then click “Groups You May Like” to see other suggestions.

- You should join all the suggested groups listed here  but remember that many of these groups review your profile before admitting you so you should have all your LinkedIn experience up to date before you join them.

- University boards are a great networking tool, so make sure to join your alumni groups as well.

- One of the greatest ways to become more visible in LinkedIn searches is to have recommendations from former or current colleagues. With LinkedIn’s new endorsement feature, you can now also list skills on your profile and receive endorsements for these skills.

There is no time like the present to kick-start your viral life, and LinkedIn is the perfect starting platform to evolve your clients’ business and your own.

The post The Value of LinkedIn: Don’t Underestimate the Underused appeared first on PR Crisis Blog.

By Scott Sobel, MA, Media Psychology; President, Media & Communications Strategies

It seems like every day another entertainment celebrity, sports hero, significant CEO or politician or maybe a religious figure, is in front of cameras or an audience to ring their hands, mouth a mea culpa and ask for forgiveness. They are self–admitted embezzlers, thieves of all kinds, adulterers, con artists, and worse … high-profile people who have made mistakes and generally have gotten caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar or a horrifying list of other metaphoric treasure chests.

Eyes red, generally avoiding the direct gaze of their audience or interrogator, oftentimes a spouse or supporters surrounding them, but maybe not too closely.

You get the picture, we’ve all seen it an astonishing number of times, and the list continues to balloon. Now Lance Armstrong follows in the footsteps of Arnold, Tiger, Elliot, Bernie, Lindsay (comparatively fewer women!), Bill, John, Ted and on and on — world without end, amen. The famous confessors are so recognizable that their last names aren’t necessary.

I believe the ubiquity of these kinds of confessions is directly linked to the pervasive media (all kinds), evolving forensic techniques (DNA testing) and recording technology like iPhones or so many other devices with tiny video or still cameras.

Simply put, these days it is easier to be in the public eye and easier to be caught.

Expect to see more celebrity revelations and the time-tested reputation management litany: Common sense tells you, and we certainly counsel clients, that:

A public personality, especially one who has a great expectation of being convicted because of prima facie evidence like a smoking email, needs to ask forgiveness as part of the rehabilitation of reputation.

The longer you wait, the harder it is to get forgiveness.

Delay the inevitable confession and the more damage will be done to your reputation because the public, including voters and ad sponsors, become more convinced that you are a bad person and that you are less likely to be truthful in the future.

Gather your friends around you (Oprah if she isn’t booked, great get Oprah!).

Know your enemies and be ready to blunt attacks.

Start to slowly do good works that can at least help you climb back into the good graces of the public, your business associates, constituencies and maybe, just maybe, advertising executives.

There are innumerable other nuanced actions to take, few of them are surprising, the success comes in the execution of the plan for redemption and the sincerity of the apology which is generally in direct proportion to the likeability of the celebrity apologist.

I won’t bore you with all of the famous confession quotes on the Web spilling out of the mouths of all the pundits now, enough said that every one has a more interesting way of announcing that a confession is the first step on the way to a new life. If you are in the business of public relations or media psychology, you and your clients will be well served to recognize all of us humans are flawed. Most of us recognize our own imperfections and are willing to forgive others, depending on the extent of the transgression, if only the transgressor admits his or her human frailty. The perfect and the unrepentant generally don’t get a pass from us sinners.

So all the signs are there, the trends are climbing upward, the new technology and evaporating ability to be private will further afflict those who live in the public eye. Lance will not be the last of the celebrity confessors. He will also not be the last famous or powerful person to be surrounded by yes-men and women who tell the boss he is bulletproof and will live in the glow of success forever, no matter how they got into that spotlight.

Scott Sobel is president of Media & Communications Strategies, Inc., a Washington, DC-based public relations firm that manages reputation and communications challenges of all kinds worldwide. He is also a former corporate public relations practitioner and major market and TV network investigative journalist. Scott has an MA In Media Psychology from Touro University Worldwide.

Original article can be found here

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It’s a New Year and a new Congress with great opportunities available for this intern – from media outreach, social media engagement, lobbying, and press kit development to research and new business collaboration. Candidate needs to prioritize and meet deadlines in a 10 to 15 hour weekly schedule. A stipend of $10/hour is provided. A college degree in communications, political science, business, or equivalent experience is preferred.

For consideration, please send a resume, cover letter, and a writing sample to klanham@macstrategies.com

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