Transcript PR mistakes

Dr Maciej Ulita
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Poor timing. Timing is crucial and too often
the individuals who handle public relations do
not get a head start on their tasks. You need
to consider lead time for magazines,
newspapers, and other media.
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Poor choice of language.Jargon and
buzzwords do not impress editors who have
little time to read all of the press releases that
flow across their desks. Get to the point in
plain and simple language.
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Poorly written press releases.Errors,
omissions, poorly worded sentences, lengthy
copy, and poor structure are all pitfalls that
land press releases in the trash. You need to
grab the reader's attention, get quickly to the
point, and follow up with information about
the event or activity. Keep it concise and
include all pertinent details.
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Poor follow-up. If you want to be heard, be
prepared when someone calls with follow-up
questions. Many businesses lose stories
because they are not prepared to close the
deal.
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Too much hype.You want to be positive, but
superlatives get tedious and can arouse
suspicion in readers. Remember: You're
appealing to the news media, so supply them
with supported facts, and avoid
generalizations and exaggerations.
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Press releases without purpose. Like the boy
who cried wolf, if you send out press releases
every time there is a minor development in your
business, people will stop listening. And when
something really important occurs, editors will
already be in the habit of hitting delete when
they see a press release from your business. Do
not try to make stories where they do not exist.
Some publicists actually do this to look busy and
justify their billing.
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No newspaper knowledge. Too many people
attempt a public relations campaign in a
vacuum. Reading the papers keeps you
abreast of what is going on in the world. This
benefits you in two ways. First, you can use
local and even world events as tie-ins to your
news. Secondly, you can avoid poorly timed
media releases.

Lack of plan.You cannot do public relations
by winging it. It is hard to know what to do
next if you have no plan of action. You need to
determine where, when, and how you are
going to proceed. You also need to be flexible
and have backup plans should all else fail.
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No help. Many businesses spend too much
money on high priced PR agencies that they
do not need. Conversely, other companies try
to do everything themselves. It's important to
find a happy medium.
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Staying inside the box. A lot of businesses
stick with the same newspaper and radio
plugs. There are many other means to reach
out and generate attention. In fact, some
publicists now use pitch letters to suggest
stories, rather than sending the overused
press and media releases.
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A “furious” President Obama was forced to order an internal
review to determine why on April 27 a near-empty Air Force One
VC-25 was allowed to fly at low altitude through Manhattan,
seemingly pursued by an F-16 jet. The photo-op flyover to allow
for iconic photography of Air Force One over the Statue of Liberty
was arranged by the Defense Department and authorized by
White House Military Office Director Louis Caldera. For people on
the ground, though, it vividly recalled fears related to the 9/11
terror attacks and sent workers streaming out of office buildings
and running through the streets in panic.ABC News reported that
N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was also not informed, said
that “poor judgment” would have been a nice way to describe the
flyover. Caldera resigned and was replaced by deputy director
George Mulligan.
http://fletcher-prince.com/2009/12/15/learning-from-pr-mistakes-2009fineman-pr-list-of-blunders/
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An enthusiastic six-year-old Zachary Christie, excited about having
just joined the Cub Scouts, brought his Scout-style eating utensil,
a combination fork-knife-spoon-can opener, to school specifically
so he could eat lunch with it on September 29. Not only did
officials at Delaware’s Christina School District confiscate the
utensil, they suspended Zachary and sentenced the A-student
to 45 days in reform school in compliance with the District’s “zerotolerance” policy on “weapons” despite ample character evidence
that the child acted naively and was not a danger. Mother Deborah
Christie organized activist website helpzachary.com, sparking
national media attention and sympathy for the innocent casualties
of “zero-tolerance” policies, with The New York Times and other
prominent publications reporting on numerous such cases. The
District did allow the boy to return to school after an emergency
school board meeting…that was prompted by the situation being
featured on NBC’s Today.
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After taking a severe media drubbing, it makes sense for
the big banks to conduct public outreach demonstrating
some level of humility. But many have criticized Goldman
Sachs CEO and spokesperson Lloyd Blankfein for
statements published in the November 8 edition of the
UK’s Sunday Times in which Blankfein claimed the
company was “doing God’s work.” Diane Francis, editorat-large for Canada’s Financial Post, blogged that
“Goldman Sucks” and derided its new small business
support plan, noting that “if [the promised US $500
million] was a tip it would be an insult, particularly in New
York. Goldman has set aside US $16.7 billion for year-end
bonuses, equivalent to the total economic output of
Bolivia or Iceland.” Huffington Post blogger Charles
Gasparino blasted Blankfein, writing that “what makes
Goldman so contemptible is that its level of spin has
almost no basis in reality.”
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Musician Dave Carroll was frustrated by United Airlines’ ninemonth refusal to compensate him for $1,200 in repairs after he
witnessed United baggage handlers literally tossing guitars,
including his own $3,500 Taylor, during a transfer at O’Hare
International Airport. In what Nielsen Online‘s Joshua
Hammond termed “a true ‘David vs. Goliath’ moment,” Carroll
vowed that he would write and record songs about the experience
– complete with music videos – and publish them online. The
firstYouTube video amassedover three million views in a single
week. Within two days, United was in touch with Carroll, offering
the long-awaited compensation, which he asked to be contributed
to a charity of the airline’s choice. Ben Mutzabaugh of USA
Today described Carroll’s success as demonstrating “just how
quickly the Internet can help a disgruntled customer turn the
tables on a company and its effort to manage its public image.”
Unbelievably, United let Carroll down again in late October, losing
his bags while he was “en route to deliver a speech about
customer service,” according to CBC News.
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When footage of Domino’s Pizza employees fouling
food was posted to YouTube in April, the company did
not move quickly enough to counter the damage in
today’s online world. Videos showing two employees
performing unsanitary acts quickly amassed over one
million views within 48 hours. After two painful days,
Domino’s finally reacted, launching its first corporate
Twitter account and posting a public apology on
YouTube. According toBusinessWeek, Domino’s had
become “the latest company to learn how quickly a
brand can be tainted in a Web 2.0 world – and how
important it is to monitor social media.”
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Storming the stage in protest at a nationally televised
awards show is practically an annual event for Kanye West,
but his “performance” at this year’s MTV Video Music
Awards was particularly ill-advised. When an allegedly
inebriated West took the microphone from teenage
country artist and Best Female Video winner Taylor Swift,
claiming that Beyonce – not Swift – deserved the award,
he crossed a critical line. According to Linda Holmes of
NPR’s “Monkey See” blog, “when you’re a big-mouth and
you get in a tangle with another big-mouth, nobody
necessarily thinks the less of either one of you. You get in
trouble, however, when you’re picking on people who
aren’t even old enough to drink – unlike you.” Later in
an interview with Jay Leno, Kanye apologized and
ashamedly acknowledged that his mother would have
been disappointed.
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Fast food bastion KFC launched its new Kentucky
GRILLED Chicken offering on May 4 by working with the
“Oprah Winfrey Show” to announce a two-day internet
coupon for a free meal. It seems like a marketer’s dream,
but Advertising Age reported it as “an unmitigated
disaster” when millions downloaded the coupon, and the
company could not fulfill consumer demand and “actually
had to rescind the offer.” While KFC did indeed
accumulate a “sea of buzz” for its efforts, it failed to fulfill
its promise, leaving many consumers empty-handed…and
angry. Linda Holmes of NPR referred to the incident as “a
massive customer-service failure,” adding that “if you
throw in with Oprah, you have to be prepared to serve
America – all of it, at the same time.”
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Human rights and immigration activists took aim at
national chain Target for its pre-Halloween online
promotion of an “Illegal Alien” costume that came
complete with orange jumpsuit, extraterrestrial mask
and, most controversially, a “green card” accessory.
Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for
Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, called
the costume “distasteful, mean-spirited, and ignorant
of social stigmas and current debate on immigration
reform.” Target spokespeople said the costumes were
included in Halloween offerings “by mistake,” and
pulled them from its website.
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Retreats for bailed out execs may be last year’s AIG
Blunder, but the major banks still party on at home…or at
someone else’s foreclosed home. A Wells Fargo executive
liked a foreclosed $12-million Malibu property so much
that she allegedly took up semi-permanent residence,
using it to stage “eye-catching parties,” according to
the L.A. Times. What’s more, real estate agent Irene
Dazzan-Palmer told the Associated Press that Wells Fargo
repeatedly refused to show the beachfront Malibu Colony
home to potential buyers. “[Wells Fargo's allowing] this to
happen in today’s ethically charged climate is quite
suicidal,” W. Michael Hoffman, executive director of
Bentley University’s Center for Business Ethics, told
the Times.
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Watch what you tweet or you may be the next person
sued for online defamation via social media. Chicago
renter Amanda Bonnen was sued by her landlord, Horizon
Group Management, when she posted, “Who said
sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon
Realty thinks it’s okay,” on May 12 after disputes with the
company. The company insisted that Bonnen’s tweet
somehow damaged Horizon because it was published
“throughout the world.” Bonnen had a meager 22
followers on Twitter by the time she terminated her
account. But Horizon’s suit was covered by major
traditional and online media, including The New York
Times, Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, TechDirt andthe
Inquisitor. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that according
to a Horizon spokesperson, “the company has a good
reputation it wants to preserve.” Disconnect.
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San Francisco-based Fineman
PR (www.finemanpr.com) assembles the annual
PR Blunders List as a reminder that good public
relations is critical to businesses and
organizations. Selections are limited to
Americans, American companies or offenses
that occurred in America. Selections are limited
to avoidable acts or omissions that caused
adverse publicity; image damage was done to
self, company, society or others; and acts that
were widely reported in 2009.