Comments on: Leveraging public relations op-eds into issues-driven campaigns

By: Opinion pieces and issues-driven PR campaigns | Bluegrass Consulting: Grassroots Public Affairs

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:47:53 +0000

[...] This is a summary of a post more fully explored at Public relations and managing reputation. [...]

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:07:13 +0000

Yes, it is an interesting conundrum for communicators: companies and their ‘leaders’ who want to be seen as such when actually they are, um, not really up to it! And have no evidence of it!

It is an ethical challenge for us to some degree. Do we ’spin’ the leadership material/web when leadership is not really being shown (i.e. come up with good quality content, possibly extrapolated from some gossamer thin notions of the leader in question) or do we advise along the lines of: sorry, boss/high paying client, but you don’t really have the goods so not much point putting you out there because when it comes to the crunch you are not delivering and/or when you are put on the spot your thought leadership’ will be seen for the emperor’s new clothes that it is?

Brave practitioner that does the latter, but it has to happen on occasioin. The trick is to not just deliver news of the problem, of course, but to offer a lateral solution. This is where the strategic capabilities of the practitioner really come into play:
- in how we deal with the boss/high paying client
- in coming up with communication soultions/options that are business (and stakeholder, of course) relevant
- in working to have our PR/communication views taken seriously enough to impact on the shape/positioning/approach of the business/organisation itself.

The last point? The Holy Grail of professional public relations.

By: Sean Williams

Sean Williams — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:13:33 +0000

Craig, OK! I’m with you now. Using the op-ed for base material is a good platform. The trick here is one a commenter on your last post mentioned — people who either don’t have anything to say but want the recognition, or who are so timid they’re afraid to make a stand. Here in the states, this is endemic among classically old-style companies who really want to be thought of as leaders. They’ve missed the fact that leaders, well, lead. They take risks and are willing to fail, and fail miserably. They then pick themselves up, dust themselves off and try something else.

The op-ed depends on a strong position that hasn’t been seen/heard in the given outlet — and is best if it’s more than opinion.