Michael Kempner, president/CEO of East Rutherford, N.J.-based
MWW Group, has several clients who have contributed their
time, money and resources to the ongoing relief efforts in South
Asia following the horrific earthquake and subsequent tsunami Dec.
26, 2004, that so far have killed more than 157,000 people across
11 countries.
Two of the clients are household names; however, when asked to
name them, Kempner says nothing doing.
"In events like the tsunami or 9/11 or even the mudslides in
California, the first and foremost thought has to be [about] doing
the right thing," Kempner says, adding that "the public will be
turned off" by anything that smacks of self-promotion in the
context of the relief efforts.
At the same time, however, companies should not be reluctant to,
in the proper context --like an annual report--notify customers,
investors, et al., about the extent of their contributions,
financial and otherwise. "Being proud of something is not the same
thing as exploiting it," Kempner says.
Professor Maria Russell, who teaches public relations at the
Newhouse School of Communications, adds that customers would
see such an announcement as appropriate. "They might say, 'Didn't
you do anything about the tsunami?" she says.
Nearly one month after the cataclysmic events in South Asia, PR
pros in the United States are walking a fine line between helping
to execute relief efforts for victims who are halfway around the
world and making sure not to advertise those efforts.
The line gets even thinner for larger, multi-national firms that
field the inevitable telephone calls from reporters eager to hear
about the extent of their relief efforts. Although the focus should
be on moving materials to the affected areas and keeping employees
abreast of how they can help, that doesn't mean you can let your
guard down for the media.
"You need a fact sheet at the ready, stating in very simple
terms what you are doing," says Audrey Adams, senior vp/director of
media services for Porter Novelli, which in 2002 launched a
corporate social-responsibility, cause-marketing and nonprofit
specialty called CauseWorks. He adds: "You have to identify and
prepare a spokesperson who can talk to the charitable efforts, even
though the company may never get the call."
Depending on the size of the company and/or the region,
companies providing disaster relief efforts can and should reach
out to local media, if for no other reason than to get the word out
on how people can chip in.
For example, The Penn Traffic Company, which operates 109
supermarkets in New Hampshire, upstate New York, Pennsylvania and
Vermont under the BiLo Foods, P & C, and Quality Markets names,
distributed a release to local media asking reporters to provide
information about the supermarkets' tsunami donation drive Jan.
8-29.
"Part of the strategy in contacting the media was to let people
know when they could contribute and how," says Mary Anne Hankins,
director of consumer and public affairs for Penn Traffic.
After the initial impact of the tsunami, people were ready to
donate money, "but we needed time to load the information onto our
computer systems, get signage made, get store managers the talking
points in case they were interviewed by the media and to train
cashiers on how to accept the donations (which were added onto
grocery bills)," she adds.
Marc Jampole, president of Pittsburgh-based Jampole
Communications, which has been Penn Traffic's PR agency for 16
years, says the press release was handled delicately.
"We led with how to help and didn't mention the parent company
until the last few graphs," he says, adding Penn Traffic didn't
catch any flak from the media about putting out a release about the
donation drive. "The truth is, in smaller markets, the media are
hungry for stories that show Americans are reaching out."
Companies closer to the point of impact had to ask themselves
even tougher questions than whether it's appropriate to put out a
news release about relief efforts.
Damien Pfirsch, founder and managing director of asian
nouveau, a Bangkok, Thailand-based Web site that sells art work
and home décor items created by Thai artisans, was preparing
for the U.S. launch of his business when havoc struck. He agonized
about postponing the launch.
After determining that the disaster would not have a direct
impact on the U.S. launch, however, Pfirsch huddled with his PR
agency, The Appleman Group (Los Angeles), on how to make the
launch more relevant as the disaster unfolds.
The solution? Launch the Web site in late January as planned,
with a release announcing that 5% of sales from the launch through
the end of March will be donated to the Red Cross and other
relief organizations.
"This was the right thing to do," Pfirsch says. "The region has
to somehow move forward and, after being hit with a natural
disaster, people here don't want an economic disaster."
CONTACTS: Audrey Adlam, 212.601.8039, [email protected];
Damien Pfirsch, 661.810.3209, [email protected]; Mary
Anne Hankins, 315.453.8619, [email protected];
Michael Kempner, 201.507.9500, [email protected]; Maria Russell,
315.443.4066, [email protected].