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2) Crisis communications expertise can’t stop bad press (which I have said a couple of hundred times).
3) It’s not necessary to come up with news angles when pitching. Just have your client make controversial statements.
4) Most TV interviewers don’t know as much as your client and only a few will challenge statements.
5) Tellyour client to ignore a TV reporter’s tough questions. It’ll usually get the reporter to change the subject.
6) Making your client available at a moment’s notice will assure coverage.
7) A client should stick to talking points even if they are not true. (Not that I’m suggesting providing false information, which I, a former journalist, never intentionally have done.)
8) If your client’s company has a sales down turn, tell him/her to blame it on terrible trade laws, unfair competition from China or untrue negative media reporting about the company.
9) Never have your client say nice things about a competitor; instead have the client complain that the competitor doesn’t say nice things.
10) Make certain your client has a designated fall person when things go bad.
11) If your client is unhappy about the reporting of some media outlets, don’t invite them to future media events; instead invite them to lunch.
12) Tell your client that if a reporter brings up past controversial or nasty comments to deny making the comment. Blame it on distorted reporting by dishonest media friends of your competitor.
13) If your client wants to dodge the media, arrange a hunting trip to the Yukon.
14) Have a controversial client bring a baby to a TV interview. It’ll soften the client’s image
15) A sure way to have your client dominate the news cycles is to have the client make outlandish statements 24/7.
16) And very important: Never ask you client’s wife to be part of a media campaign.
If all of the above fails, do what high-ranking execs of PR firms do: Blame every one but yourself. (Any similarity to the above with actual or alleged happenings is absolutely intentional.)
But the most dismaying lesson PR people should take from the Trump political campaign is that a savvy client doesn’t need PR people to gain coverage.
And that’s bad news for us.
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Arthur Solomon, a former journalist, was a senior VP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller, and was responsible for restructuring, managing and playing key roles in some of the most significant national and international sports and non-sports programs. He now is a frequent contributor to public relations publications, consults on public relations projects and is on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He can be reached at [email protected]
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