I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in the glove compartment of my car because, I confess, I sometimes eat in my car when I’m in a hurry. Yesterday, when I was conducting a teleseminar for people in The Publicity Hound Mentor Program, I learned that that’s not so smart. Marilee Tolen, an expert in holistic health marketing,… Read More
crisis communications
Media interviews: Balance of power has shifted to sources
If you’re involved in a news story and you’re afraid the media will misrepresent you, slant the news, or write it according to their own agenda, don’t refuse comment, thinking they’ll just go away and leave you alone. As I’ve said so many times before, refusing an interview is akin to screaming “we’re guilty,” even if… Read More
Bad restaurant review? Fight back with a blog
Here’s another tool for restaurant owners who receive bad restaurant reviews and want to fight back. Start blogging, and review the reviewers. That’s exactly what Roberto Donna, owner of Bebo Trattoria in Arlington, Va., is doing. He’s upset about the factual errors in a review his restaurant received in this month’s issue of Washingtonian magazine. So… Read More
Writer of ghoulish Anna Nicole press release responds to criticism
Because this is a business blog, I have to be careful to mind my manners and not say anything that I wouldn’t say in the executive suite of the same CEO who might be reading what I write here. I just learned another lesson about manners and good business. Respond thoughtfully and professionally when other bloggers or… Read More
Monday Morning Media Minute resumes
PR guy Jerry Brown’s excellent Monday Morning Media Minute ezine resumes after a two-year hiatus. It’s a quick one-minute read, delivered to your email box each Monday morning, that gives you a quick tip about how to work with the media. Today’s topic, for example, is how to frame an issue to control the debate. The… Read More
Media bias: The ugly truth
It’s amazing how clearly you can see things in hindsight. Like media bias, for instance. During the 22 years I worked as a newspaper reporter and editor, if you had told me the media were biased, I’d have wanted to arm-wrestle you. But here we are, 12 years later. In the column I wrote for Bulldog Reporter… Read More
Crisis management: Learn from the best
Crisis manager Jonathan Bernstein, one of the very best in the business, has been teaching companies how to get out of trouble—or stay out of it—for more than 20 years. Today, he’s dealing with the most unusual crisis he’s ever seen. In an email message this afternoon to subscribers of his electronic newsletter, he writes: “I am probably,… Read More
Spinach crisis: Here are ways you can piggyback
News stories about the spinach-related E. coli outbreaks all over the United States offer lots of opportunity for savvy Publicity Hounds to piggyback onto this story. Here are some ideas off the top of my head: —What’s the effect on restaurants? Have they pulled spinach completely from their menus or are they using frozen spinach… Read More
Northwest Airlines PR nosedives due to tips booklets
Is anybody awake in bankrupt Northwest Airlines’ PR department? How could anyone—even somebody with a brain the size of a pea—let the company distribute tips booklets titled “101 Ways to Save Money” to employees whose pay has just been slashed? The booklets offer these tips: Shop in thrift stores Take a date for a walk in the woods… Read More
Mr. Shell Oil, wipe that smile off your face
Whoever trained Shell Oil President John Hofmeister on how to do media interviews, particularly on TV, forgot to tell the client that when discussing high gasoline prices, don’t smile and look like you’re having a good time. On “Meet the Press” this morning, Hofmeister had an ear-to-ear grin on his face while he was answering Tim Russert’s questions… Read More