The Week in PR

1. Lady and the Trump: Paraphrasing a sports adage: “If the election were held tomorrow”… Hillary Clinton would face Donald Trump. Speaking of Trump, the press was aflutter last week about how the businessman seems the inevitable GOP nominee. A Wall St Journal page 1 story detailing how Trump telegraphed the campaign in his book, The Art of the Deal, was loaded with lessons of interest to communicators.

   One of Trump’s 11 tenets of the deal is to find ways to “get the word out” and “the more sensational, the better.” The Journal quotes the Trump book: “If you are a little different, or a little outrageous, or if you do things that are bold and controversial, the press is going to write about you.” Perhaps not the best advice for established brands, but for newcomers, as Trump was to politics, maybe not so bad.

   Another tip that communicators could relate to: The Journal adds that Trump early on adopted social media to get out his message, specifically Twitter. Eschewing a computer, Trump “tweeted early, late and often” from his mobile phone, the Journal’s Monica Langley observed. Some 14 million people follow Trump’s campaign on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and the campaign has 50 million engagements on Facebook, Trump’s social media director Daniel Scavino said. That’s helped the Trump camp conquer another tenet: contain the costs. It’s used data from social media and rallies to avoid purchasing databases of voters. Another tactic is a five-digit number on the candidate’s podium that alerts followers of the latest news. The number has resulted in 1 million inbound texts, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said, “and it costs us zero.”

2. 

   Nevermore: Another sports adage holds that you never add to an opposing team’s motivation by saying something negative about your opponent to the press. It’s advice athletes and brand communicators usually heed. That’s why the official Twitter account of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens seemed so unusual last Wednesday morning.

   Just after the team re-signed veteran quarterback (QB) Joe Flacco, it tweeted the news and noted general manager Ozzie Newsome had said, during a news conference, that teams such as the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins have had issues at QB. Not so the Ravens, who’ve been steady with Flacco, Newsome said. The tweet read: “Newsome: ‘Joe is our QB and we’re proud to say that. Teams struggle with the QB position.’” Underneath the verbiage were photos of Eagles’ QB Sam Bradford and Redskins’ QB Kirk Cousins. Fair enough regarding the oft-injured Bradford, who suffered through a bad 2015. But the unheralded Cousins emerged last year, leading his overlooked squad to the playoffs. The Redskins’ Twitter account returned serve, saying the Ravens should have used the “@” sign, which would have included them on the tweet. Later the Ravens tweeted an apology: “Our bad. Ozzie didn’t criticize. We should have used pictures of Joe” [Flacco]. In fact, Ozzie criticized. A story on the Ravens’ website said as much.

3. Un-Transparent: Things are getting interesting in Germany, where a lawsuit from shareholders is trying to determine if and when former Volkswagen chief Martin Winterkorn knew of defeat devices that allowed VW diesels to cheat emissions tests. In a 16-paragraph “public statement” that few members of the public will have time to read, and fewer will understand, VW Group admits Winterkorn heard the issue discussed and received email about it well before the story went public. Still, it was one of numerous issues in front of Winterkorn, and VW says it’s unsure he understood the gravity of the situation. [A timeline in our October 5, 2015, edition indicates VW knew of improprieties as early as late 2014.] Should it be proven that Winterkorn and other senior execs knew of the situation prior to it becoming public knowledge, the company could face additional lawsuits from shareholders who feel they were duped. VW’s share price has fallen precipitously since the scandal broke last September.
4. News Bits: Smith & Harroff merged its staff and clients with C. May & Associates. – Spencer Baretz and Cari Brunelle launched Baretz+Brunelle. The former Hellerman Baretz Communications partners left HBC last month to form the NY-based firm. – Former HBO, Fox, Showtime and NBC PR chief Rich Licata formed Licata & Co.-The Awards Agency, to advise on TV awards. Former Showtime PR exec Stu Zakim will head its NY office.

5. 

   People: Jan Gusich was named N. American Chair of the International Public Relations Network. Gusich is CEO of AKHIA of Hudson, OH. IPRN members include agencies in 35 countries with more than $215 million in sales. – Rhea + Kaiser VP, director of PR Rob Merritt, APR, was named to the 2016 executive committee of the PRSA Counselors Academy. – Adam Welsh returned to APCO Worldwide as managing director of its Singapore office. -- Former PR News editor Matthew Schwartz joined Gould+Partners as editorial director. Licata & Co. Chief Rich LicataRavenous on TwitterA great communicator?

This article originally appeared in the March 7, 2016 issue of PR News. Read more subscriber-only content by becoming a PR News subscriber today.