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  • The Power of Transparency in Crisis Communication and Management 

    Torossian, R. (2018)

    Why Transparency Matters in a PR Crisis

    Public relations is always changing and evolving, but one rule will always remain the same, be transparent. Transparency highlights the importance of honest, ethical communication when it comes to a PR crisis. 

    This is important because “providing transparent, timely information helps companies establish trust with interested parties so they can make decisions in their own best interests.” This can be the difference between a ruined career and redeeming a reputation. If a person or organization is not quick to act with a response, or does not respond at all, they can lose all credibility. An immediate, transparent response, can actually help a person or organization gain trust with the public and lessen any damage that has been done. 

    Transparency is about telling the truth and owning the narrative. Trust means that an organization “is authentic and reliable” (Managing image reputation and relationships).  A person or organization can show accountability by addressing an issue quickly and directly. This helps them show their responsibility and remorse, and can lead the public to have empathy. Today, cancel culture and public humiliation are increasing because of the modern digital world. Full transparency allows brands to avoid the digital scrutiny or at least lessen it, this gives them the control to own their story. 

    Starbucks Crisis Communication Response 

    A major example of transparent crisis management was Starbucks’ response to the 2018 Philadelphia racial bias incident. Two African American men were unjustly arrested at a Starbucks location for waiting for a friend. Starbucks received immediate and aggressive backlash for racial profiling. Starbucks’ management was quick to respond with transparent communication.

    Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson created an apology video the day after the arrest. He called the arrest “reprehensible” and accepted full responsibility. Shortly after, “the coffee chain announced it will close more than 8,000 stores across the U.S. for one day for anti bias training for its employees.” This sent the public a message that the company took the incident very seriously and were working to better themselves in the future.

    The transparent response from Starbucks most likely saved the company from a boycott. The company itself would not have gone under, but would have lost a massive amount of sales. This proves that companies need to manage crisis communication with quick, honest, and ethical responses. 

    Importance of Trust in Crisis PR and Management 

    Starbucks’ handling of its crisis shows how transparency can rebuild public trust and strengthen brand integrity. Public relations professionals need to understand the importance of honesty. A company needs to own up, speak up, and show up to manage a crisis. This will make the biggest difference in making or breaking their brand. Social media and other technology has made it even harder for companies to survive, and those who practice transparency are more capable of navigating public scrutiny and managing their reputation. 

    A Follow-Up Message from Starbucks CEO in Philadelphia

    Tags/Keywords

    #PublicRelations #Starbucks #StarbucksCrisis #CrisisCommunication #Transparency #PRStrategy #ReputationManagement #KevinJohnson

    References

  • When PR Goes Viral or Very Wrong: United Airline VS. CeraVe and Micheal Cera 

    OpenAi

    Best Practices in PR: Lessons from the Experts

    Some of the best PR practices are learned rather than taught. To become “good” at PR one must sort learn practices by being hands on. For example, In the Lead Balloon episode “Sherwin-Williams Paints Itself Into a Corner,” Tony Piloseno talks about his success that ended in him getting fired. As a college student, Piloseno made Tik Tok videos mixing different paint and brought millions of views and brand attention to Sherwin- Williams. Failing to recognize his social media potential, the company fired him. His experience shows an important learned PR lesson, to embrace engagement from digital audiences to keep interest in a brand. While this could be assumed, this lesson was learned by Sherwin- Williams after firing Piloseno. 

    Additionally, in When Things Go Wrong, Richard Levick speaks on how important it is to have clear, timely, and transparent communication. This type of communication is the foundation of effective crisis management. Levick’s work during the BP oil spill and 9/11 shows how proactive reputation management and empathetic messaging can diminish public outrage. This shows that in moments of crisis, a leader must learn that their leadership must lean into communication not retreat from it.

    Biggest PR Fail: United Airlines’ Passenger Dragging Incident (2017)

    This PR fail has become well known and turned a significant number of people off of United Airlines. A security officer dragged a screaming Dr. David Dao from a United Airlines flight after he refused to leave after “four passengers were selected to be involuntarily bumped” (Goldstein, 2021). This is one of the biggest PR disasters of the decade, because it went viral after being caught on camera. Following the incident, United’s response made the situation even worse to the public eye, due to CEO Oscar Munoz defending the airline’s actions. He only changed his response after public backlash.  

    The Biggest PR Success of the Decade: CeraVe’s Michael Cera Campaign (2024)

    One of the best PR stunts of the decade was skincare brand CeraVe’s campaign with Michael Cera. CeraVe launched a viral campaign teasing that the actor had “created” the product line. The campaign began with Michael Cera “front and center in the news and across social media promoting his ‘namesake’ brand, CeraVe” (CeraVe, 2024), and gained major traction on TikTok. Then, in a Super Bowl ad Cera jokingly revealed he had “made CeraVe.”This campaign was funny, clever, and a pop culture moment. The brand was able to make the entire thing seem fake up until the Super Bowl ad. This gave CeraVe a lot of brand exposure to younger audiences, so much so that memes were created because of this campaign. 

    The success that came out of Cerave wasn’t because they spent millions of dollars to promote the brand. Leadership understood there was a lack of media communication in younger generations and they embraced their digital audience creating an iconic PR stunt. CeraVe raised brand awareness through a lighthearted joke and allowing the media to help push the brand name out. 

    Conclusion: PR in the Age of Memes and Mistakes

    United Airlines’ failure showed how damaging unthought out responses can be, and Sherwin-Williams showed us of the risks of resisting innovation and digital media. CeraVe showed that PR success is no longer just about what a brand says, it’s about what the brand does and what people say about them. PR professionals need to learn strong communication and up to date digital media. Because whether you’re handling a PR failure or launching a skincare campaign, brand perception is everything. 

    Multimedia:

    CeraVe (2024)

    Keywords/Tags: #PublicRelations #PRFails #CrisisCommunication #BrandReputation #TonyPiloseno #PRWins #PRStrategy

    References

  • Usage of Propaganda in Public Relations 

    OpenAi

    The Use of Propaganda: Introduction 

    What is propaganda? According to our lecture notes, propaganda is “the deliberate dissemination of selective information that is misleading and deceptive to shape audience opinions, beliefs, or behaviors”. According to Rachel Kay Albers Podcast on marketing and propaganda, many techniques have been used over the years to push propaganda. Of these, the most divisive found is the manipulation of public opinion by exploiting emotions and creating polarized narratives. Public relations professionals can avoid these tactics by upholding their values of transparency and authenticity. The Civics 101 podcast highlights the divisive technique “compliance gaining” which uses emotional triggers to influence public behavior. Public relations professionals should avoid this by prioritizing truth and transparency in their strategies.

    The Evolution of Propaganda: From World War I to the Digital Age

    The posters and films used during World War I, as well as today’s social media platforms are all a part of the propaganda that has been used in the shaping of public opinion. While the usage of media has changed overtime, the basic elements of propaganda have remained the same. These being the appeal to emotion, the spreading of misinformation, and controlling public narratives. These techniques are crucial for public relations professionals to understand when navigating the current media dynamic.  

    Historical Context: World War I Propaganda

    During the first World War, many governments used multiple propaganda efforts to gain support and slander their enemies. For example, the British government implemented a Propaganda agency that hired famous writers like Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells to create stories that helped get the public to support the war. A major example of this was a report written in 1915 that reported on the violent acts of the German soldiers in Belgium. Some of the story was true, but some was made up for dramatic effect. The British government also dropped papers on their enemies urging them to surrender in hopes to lower confidence in their war efforts. These propaganda tactics used the media to shape public opinion to be supportive of the war. 

    Modern Propaganda: The Role of Social Media

    Today, in modern politics, social media has been implemented into propaganda strategies. Social media allows messages to spread faster than ever and it is now possible to target specific demographics. For example, during the 2016 United States election, there were many false stories spread on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. These false stories often circulated to more people than the real news, as the New Yorker states,  “misinformation is often more engaging than factual news.”  This is why the fake news stories were able to gain so much traction. These narratives took advantage of confirmation bias which made political division worse than ever. Social media algorithms implemented on these platforms use content that gives the users deep emotional reactions, which causes them to react rather than learning accuracy and respect. For example, “makeup tutorials and political messaging on platforms like TikTok have blurred the lines between entertainment, personal branding, and campaigning.” This trend shows how social media’s influence on political propaganda has become more widespread and continues to spread isolating messages. 

    Conclusion

    The evolution of propaganda from World War I to today shows that while the types of media have progressed, the media has continued to shape public perception. The basics of propaganda have only flourished while the media has changed. These basics consist of appealing to emotions, disseminating misinformation, and controlling narratives. Public relations professionals must be committed to upholding the values given by the PRSA in order to avoid these tactics. This includes ethical practices like transparency, and the promotion of media literacy. 

    OpenAi 

    Keywords/Tags: Propaganda, World War I, Social Media, Misinformation, Public Relations, Media Literacy, Ethical Storytelling. 

    References:

  • The Values of Public Relations

    The Dangers of Astroturfing

    Ethical conduct is incredibly important to upholding trust and credibility between organizations and their audiences in public relations. A major ethical issue that has caught recent attention is astroturfing. Astroturfing is a deceptive tactic where organizations fabricate something to influence the public’s perception whether that be support or lack of support for a person or company. 

    Astroturfing goes directly against the principles of transparency and honesty that are encouraged in public relations. By creating fake endorsements and misleading campaigns, organizations harm the public which causes them to lose trust in these organizations. The Public Relations Society of America or PRSA emphasizes how important it is to have honesty staging, “We adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interests of those we represent and in communicating with the public”. An organization’s reputation is at risk when using astroturfing and misleading the public. 

    https://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2010/3886/brands-caught-astroturfing-risk-losing-customers

    Astroturfing in the Media 

    A recent situation that shows the ethical risks of astroturfing is the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni controversy.  Earlier this year, Blake Lively accused her co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, of sexual harassment and alleged that his PR team orchestrated a calculated, retaliatory smear campaign to damage her reputation and disrupt her businesses. Baldoni’s public relations firm, The Agency Group (TAG PR),  had allegedly coordinated efforts to show Lively in a negative light to combat her allegations.  This use of astroturfing is highlighting the rise in ethical practices especially when used to discredit individuals making serious allegations. The Lively vs. Baldoni case highlights the potential harm astroturfing can inflict on personal reputations and other serious situations. 

    The use of astroturfing in this situation shows the severity of breaching the ethical principles that should be used in public relations.  Astroturfing and other unethical practices can cause short term benefits by forming the public’s opinion, but eventually truth comes out and the public becomes angry. This can cause a lack of trust from the public and can cause a public figure to lose all credibility. For example, the use of astroturfing in the Lively vs. Baldoni‘s allegations have completely taken over the success of their movie, “It Ends With Us.” This has caused the movie to fall short in bringing to light the conversation of domestic violence that it was originally filmed to combat. 

    This shows how important it is to have ethical values and practices within public relations. Public relations professionals need to show principles of honesty, transparency. Transparency is especially important in upholding the trust of the public. Transparency is the “openness and clarity in communication,providing stakeholders with clear and accurate information” (Ethics and Public relations). As the digital landscape continues to evolve, public relations practitioners must continue to uphold their values to ensure that all strategies and tactics create genuine engagement and uphold the profession’s integrity.

    Keywords/Tags: Public Relations, Ethics, Astroturfing, honesty, Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, PRSA Code of Ethics, Trust, Integrity

    OpenAi

    References

    Person. (2010). Brands caught astroturfing risk losing customers. Retrieved from https://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2010/3886/brands-caught-astroturfing-risk-losing-customers

  • The Art of Connection

    The Art of Connection

    Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.

  • Beyond the Obstacle

    Beyond the Obstacle

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  • Growth Unlocked

    Growth Unlocked

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  • Collaboration Magic

    Collaboration Magic

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  • Teamwork Triumphs

    Teamwork Triumphs

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  • Adaptive Advantage

    Adaptive Advantage

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