Press Release vs. The Personal Touch: Brands turn to communicators when new products encounter issues. It’s rare when a product that’s not yet debuted requires defending. That was the case for HBO recently. It took heat in the media and on social for a show that’s so new not a single frame has been shot or a page of script written. The premium cable network issued a press release last month announcing Confederate, from the executive producers of mega-hit Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Confederate, the release says, will be set in an alternate future, one in which the U.S. Civil War ended differently, “the southern states have successfully seceded from the Union…and slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution.” Appearing July 26 at TCA, the yearly summer meeting of the country’s TV critics and writers, Casey Bloys, HBO’s programming president, confessed his brand had misfired when it issued a press release instead of briefing reporters. “Our mistake…was the idea that we would be able to announce an idea that is so sensitive and requires such care and thought…in a press release.” The feisty TCA critics wouldn’t let him off that easily, though. Hadn’t HBO anticipated the backlash? Yes, it had. “We knew the idea would be controversial. I guess we thought it would be a little bit more standard, ‘Here’s the press release. What are the questions?’ But what we realized in retrospect was people didn’t have the benefit of the context or the conversations with the producers that we had…If I had it to do over again, what I would do to introduce the idea is what we ended up doing after the fact,” which is have the producers sit with journalists to explain the concept of Confederate. Bloys assured critics that HBO knows Confederate is “weapons-grade material…[and] that everybody understands there’s a high degree of difficulty with getting this right.” What the network and the producers are excited about, Bloys says, is the possibility of the series advancing discussions about race. “If you can draw a line between what we’re seeing in the country today with voter suppression, mass incarceration, lack of access to quality public education or health care and draw a direct line between that and our…shared history, that’s…a conversation worth having.” It’ll be interesting to see if the series can weather the storm and get made.
Growth: David Herrick and Robert Dowling formed EthicOne, a NY-based agency designed to help companies turn ethics into a strategic business advantage. – Ditto PR of NY opened an office in San Francisco and hired Blain Rethmeier as managing director of the office. Rethmeier was at Edelman as managing director of its corporate & crisis practice.
People: At our press time White House communications chief Anthony Scaramucciresigned after little more than one week on the job. Early word was new chief of staff John Kelly wanted to hire his own communications leader. Later reports indicated Scaramucci’s blue language in an interview with The New Yorker outraged First Lady Melania Trump, resulting in his hasty departure. Predecessor Mike Dubke lasted 90 days. Other communications-related news from D.C. was the Washington Post report saying President Trump dictated a press statement about the 2016 Donald Trump Jr.-Russia meeting. Presidential lawyer Jay Sekulow told ABC, NBC and CNN June 12 the president had not written the statement. – APCO Worldwide named its managing director for Germany Robert Ardelt co-leader of the firm’s global crisis management and litigation communications service, joining Washington-based executive director Kent Jarrell. APCO also named Marc Johnson, global practice lead, digital; Kelly Williamson, managing director, Raleigh, NC; and Agnieszka Yank, chief talent officer. – Moët Hennessy USA named Paige Pedersen (photo, p. 1) head of entertainment marketing for all MoëtHennessy’s brands. She’d been executive director of communications, Moët & Chandon. Previously she’d been a VP, communications, at Fendi and Louis Vuitton. – Tonic Life Communications of Philadelphia named Robyn Ungar SVP. – National Geographic Partnersnamed Chris Spencer head of creative. Spencer spent decades at HBO, where he was head of marketing creative. – Marino of NY City promoted eight-year veteran Elizabeth Latino to VP. – Rasky Partners named former U.S. ambassador Robert Sherman and former Massachusetts secretary of labor & workforce development Ron Walker senior advisors and board members. – Marcia Page, executive chair of Värde Partners, and Peter Milton Sommerhauser, founding partner at Wing Capital Group, joined APCO Worldwide’s board. – Construction firm Skanska USA promoted Beth Miller and Jay Weisberger to VP, communications. Miller leads communications for national commercial development operations, while Weisberger oversees communications for its western region. – The Federal Communications Commission named Tina Pelkey press secretary. She replaces the departed Kim Hart. – Congrats to our friend Annmarie Gioia, named AVP, director, corporate communications, OTC Markets Group. – Kudos to woman-owned small business First and Last PR of NJ, celebrating its 5th anniversary. Since only half of small businesses survive to year five, this is a worthy accomplishment. Congrats. – Among ColorComm’s Circle Awards recipients were PR News friend Kathy Baird, managing director, content and social, Ogilvy; Lori George Billingsley, VP, community relations, Coca-Cola North America; and Niharika Shah, VP, head of brand marketing & advertising, Prudential Financial.