The best defense…is a good offense. What’s a multi-national company to do when the quarterback has turned against your fans? Some companies tackled the country’s quarterback with Super Bowl ’17 commercials in an end-run. In the era of hashtags and social media, Coca-Cola and Airbnb reached out to defend their international audiences in the wake of ethnic exclusion. #WeAccept was the …
Do Your Homework!
Oscar Wilde, Will Rogers and Mark Twain all quipped, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” President-elect Trump’s candidate for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, failed to make the grade and tested the patience of yesterday’s Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) a longtime proponent of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities …
If the Shoe fits …
A number of media faux pas (literally false steps) were made recently at the Footwear News Achievement Awards in New York City. Winning the Retailer of the Year award, Ronnie Fieg, a New York footwear and clothing designer had “no comment” when asked about his collaboration with New Balance, the brand that “put its foot in it” in November. Their …
In My Own Words
It’s said that justice is blind. But justices can be blindsided, too. Recently, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg promoted her new book, My Own Words in an interview with Katie Couric. Seeming not to have availed herself of media training before her book tour, Justice Ginsburg found herself giving an opinion on a topic with which she was unfamiliar. …
Pro-testing!
“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate,” became Paul Newman’s mantra in his 1967 movie, Cool Hand Luke. Recently, popular San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick failed to communicate his reason for taking a knee vs. standing to observe the national anthem. Protesting police brutality of blacks is a justifiable cause by the football star who finally was quoted …
Sloppy spokespeople
There’s a trend among the most recent spokespeople to simply copy, paste and post their sponsors’ social media directions. In the past two months, Scott Disick of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, model Naomi Campbell, and Real Housewife Ramona Singer were all caught carelessly posting messages from their sponsors instead of their own endorsements. And all three have been victims …
Kanye can’t keep it concise
Rapper and entrepreneur Kanye West’s appearance on Ellen had an uncharacteristic start with short answers about his personal life, but he lived up to expectations once asked about his business ideas. Mr. West, who recently tweeted Mark Zuckerberg (the founder of Facebook) to invest $ 1 billion dollars in his ideas, began a 6-minute rant after Ms. DeGeneres innocently asked, “Give me …
Diversity is not a dirty word
Repetition creates reputation. For Hilary Clinton, her repetition of awkward conversations about racial diversity has given her a less than positive reputation in the Black community. For a female presidential candidate, it is ironic how diversity is a troublesome topic for Mrs. Clinton. In our Los Angeles media training, we teach clients to address a question as a topic (diversity) …
Don’t Shoot the Messenger
Taking artistic license with Marshall McLuhan’s edict: the medium is the message, consider that the media is the messenger. Media coverage is designed to convey a subject’s agenda, thoughts and opinions. Donald Trump was unaware of how to use the media to his advantage when he took broadcast journalist Anderson Cooper to task after his questioning of Hilary Clinton during a recent …
Tell it like it is
Google defines can·dorˈ kandər/ a noun as: the quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness. ”a man of refreshing candor” synonymous with frankness, openness, honesty, truthfulness, sincerity, forthrightness, directness, plain-spokenness, bluntness, straightforwardness, outspokenness; informal … telling it like it is Candor is one of READY FOR MEDIA’s C’s of Communication, along with Clarity, Conciseness and Credibility. Taking the initiative to come clean about an …