Accentuate the Positive, 3.0

For both of you who read this… no updates this weekend.

Seriously. Go outside and enjoy yourselves.

According to the London Daily Telegraph:

A Commons official resigned as the Speaker’s spin doctor after he was caught trying to generate anti-Labour publicity, it emerged yesterday.

Wow — must have been something pretty inflammatory…

John Stonborough had to hand in his notice after an e-mail he wrote to a Tory friend was sent by accident to a researcher working for a Labour MP.

In the e-mail, Mr Stonborough urged the Tories to attack the Labour ‘snouts in the trough’ disclosed in the list showing the expenses claimed by MPs.

“Snouts in the trough,” eh? Kind of pales next to Cheney’s F-bomb, where the Washington Post had to defend running the word in question.

Latrell Sprewell, who once lost most of a season for choking coach P.J. Carlesimo, recently learned a valuable lesson in math:

One pithy comment, plus two reporters, equals infinite fan heckling and taunts.

It seems the former All-NBA guard was a little peeved that Minnesota Timberwolves management wanted to restructure his $14,000,000/year deal down to $9,000,000 — and that “a guy’s got to feed his family.”

And exactly why would anyone take offense to that?

Update (5/19/05): Wolves owner Glen Taylor recently called the pairing of Sprewell and Sam Cassell a “failed experiement,” and said neither was coming back to the team. Well, now he’s backtracking, and Cassell is back — and so is Spree (if he can live on less than $14M)

Michael Goldman has some very pertinent things to say about the importance of crafting a message.

He is known primarily for work with political candidates, even though most of his clientele is in the business world. I agree with this philosophy whole-heartedly: “People don’t know what to say. We help them clarify their message.”

Being a spokesman can be daunting enough, but just imagine being a spokesman forced to fire your “unofficial spokesman.”

Face it — the “Mr. Wendy” ad campaign was awful. But cheesy rebound lines like this one only tend to make reporters laugh (and damage your credibility.): “While decisions are still being made about new creative, food has always been the hero at Wendy’s, and we’re going to make sure that comes through loud and clear,” Wendy’s marketing executive Don Calhoon said.

Give me a break. I can swallow a triple with cheese easier than I can that statement. It needs to be more conversational. Yeah, you can make the case that the “bite” made it into print… but I can also make the case that today’s politically-savvy reader/investor will recognize it as spin, and reject the cheese.

“Food has always been the hero at Wendy’s”. I thought you had to go to Subway or Quiznos to get a hero.

Folks — it is possible to craft a statement that is too cute to be effective. Don’t outcute yourself.

Late in the piece, the CEO gets it right.

Asked during a recent conference call by one analyst whether the company was rethinking its advertising in light of sales slippage, chief executive Jack Schuessler replied, “Any campaign you tend to tweak it from time to time … and I suspect we’ll tweak Mr. Wendy.”

He ought to tweak Calhoon while he’s at it.

Here’s an example of an excellent response to a near-tragedy.

In many cases, the tendency is for public relations people to back off when the news appears to be bad. However, if you take the right perspective, you can get the general public to see it in that light as well.

Here’s an expanded look at the statement the spokeswoman for Andalusia Enterprises gave to a Birmingham television station:

“We’re really devastated. This is our first major accident in 25 to 30 years. We are thanking God no one got hurt in this one. Bridges can be replaced but lives can’t.”

Let’s look at the three elements expressed.

“We’re really devastated.”
Right off the top, the first reaction is similar to the reaction many viewers and listeners would have. This creates a sense of empathy.

“This is our first major accident in 25 to 30 years.”
A great follow-up sentence, that quickly introduces an enviable safety record. Had this part come first, it wouldn’t have had the same impact. Just three more words in, though, and it’s magic.

“We are thanking God no one got hurt in this one. Bridges can be replaced but lives can’t.”
A statement that insinuates that the company shares the same values everyone else does.

32 words, that the average person could memorize and recite (with sincerity) in 12 seconds. This is a winner.

This blog will have nothing to do with weight, nor with struggles about our collective self-image.

If you’ve come here looking for a feel-good dose of Dr. Phil or Oprah, then kindly point your browser elsewhere.

This is the companion blog to Positive Position Media Consulting — where we can share somewhat regular thoughts about how people and corporations shepherd their hard-won images.

From time to time, we’ll highlight the good and the bad in the world of public relations — including an analysis of missed opportunities to do better. We’ll discuss some of the strategies that were used (or ab-used), as well as your best bets to learn a lesson or two at someone else’s expense.

That’s wisdom.

Feel free to drop by our website, and drop us a line.

Ike Pigott
Positive Position Media Consulting