arthur solomonArthur Solomon

As election day approaches, and after listening to all the candidates of parties compete for the presidency, one thing has become clear to me: There’s no doubt that PR people are kindred to Donald J. Trump. Here’s why.

Similarities

Trump says the media doesn’t treat him fairly.

I’ve heard many PR people complain that the media is unfair to their clients.

Trump says the media doesn’t report the facts.

PR people feel that way when reporters disregard information that praises their client’s accomplishments provided prior to a client interview.

Trump complains about media bias.

So do PR people.

Trump says reporters covering his rallies don’t report the truth.

I’ve heard many PR people say the same thing about reporting after press events and client interviews.

Trump feels the media misrepresents what he says.

PR people often feel the same after seeing the results of a client media interview.

Trump denies saying what he said,

So do PR people.

Trump has pulled the press credentials of reporters.

PR people do it in another way. Refusing to let certain reporters speak to their client.

The Trump campaign uses spokespeople to explain why he is the preferred candidate.

PR firms use spokespeople to explain the desirability of client products.

Trump thinks he knows everything even though this is his first election attempt

Many PRpeople also think they know everything about marketing, even more than experienced clients. (Believe me, as Trump might say. As a senior counselor called on to provide input on any agency program when requested, I had to come down on the side of the client when unrealistic marketing programs that required leading marketers to change their way of marketing were crafted.)

Trump has exaggerated his close relationship with Putin, when asked by the media.

PR people have exaggerated their close relations with the media, when asked about it during new business presentations.

Trump uses spokespeople to clean up the mess when his statements backfire,

PR firms tell clents that so-called crisis communications experts can help clean up clients’ messes.

Trump exaggerates his accomplishments, despite evidence to the contrary.

PR people exaggerate their accomplishments when interviewed for a new job.

Despite his many unforced errors, Trump remains viable and has the support of high-ranking GOP insiders.

Despite PR supervisors pushing through programs that have no chance of succeeding, and calling those who point out the deficiencies (like me) “not a team player,” senior account supervisors have the support of high management until the client complains.

Trump supporters have made such vile comments about Clinton that reporters say they aren’t fit to be repeated on television or printed in newspapers.

I’ve heard PR people make vile comments about journalists when an interview or press conference didn’t go the way the PR people told clients it would.

Trump has suggested that the election is rigged.

When PR people don’t get promoted they complain that office politics plays a large part and promotions are given to exec’s favorites and drinking buddies. (And they are quite often correct. .Trust me on this, as Trump might say).

Trump thinks any publicity may be good.

So do the great majority of PR people I have worked with, even though the coverage contains no client message points.

Trump has never admitted that he was wrong.

As of this writing, I’ve never heard a top PR management exec admit to a subordinate that the exec was wrong.

Trump proudly boasts of his accomplishments.

Top PR execs, who had no input and didn’t know about winning Silver Anvil programs, proudly boast of Silver Anvils won.

Journalists have accused Trump of providing inaccurate or incomplete information.

Many PR people have heard journalists say the same thing about them.

Five “Similar Differences”

When things go bad, Trump seemingly doesn’t throw others in his campaign under the bus.

PR firms handle bad situations another way; supervisors look for scapegoats to blame and fire innocent people.

Trump has a proven history of excelling at getting major publicity.

PR people, who are supposed to excel at getting publicity, often don’t.

Trump proves that major publicity can be obtained without “breaking the bank” budgets.

PR firms always tell clients they need larger budgets to do the job. But when the client says “This is all you’re going to get. Take it or leave it,” the PR firm suddenly says, “Okay, we can live with that.”

Trump’s campaign has been described as different from others.

Unfortunately, most PR campaigns are similar to others.

Also, Donald Trump has been known to tell untruths to reporters.

PR people never do that, do they?

Mixed Messages

When polls showed that Trump erased Clinton’s lead after the Republican convention, his surrogates were all over the cable shows, saying that the polls show Trump’s messages are catching on. Now that Clinton has opened a big lead, Trump’s spokespeople are saying it’s too early to take polls seriously and they are meaningless at this stage.

PR people tell clients that they have all the answers to client’s wants when presenting a new program. When, during the implementation the clients are dissatisfied with the results, PR people are prone to say, “Wait until the entire program is completed because early poor media results are meaningless at this stage.

Personally, I’m looking for a new way to conduct media relations without media involvement because as Trump has said so many times, “The media is so totally dishonest.” Maybe that’s the reason they don’t bite on all my pitches.

Lessons To Be Learned

The Trump campaign has provided lessons for PR people that support my belief regarding publicity. I’ve always preached that it’s not the number of placements that matters. What matters to savvy clients is the quality of the placements.

Sometimes less is more.

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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].