Like Fish and Guests: PR pros contend that addressing a crisis head-on is a useful strategy. Failing to do so can prolong the stench of crisis. Evidence seems plentiful. Wells Fargo’s attempts at addressing its 2016 crisis began poorly, with then-CEO John Stumpf denying much was amiss during a Capitol Hill grilling during the bogus credit card scandal. That misstep led to his ouster. Stumpf’s strategy seemed to linger, though, and his successor was hauled up to the Hill recently for questioning about crisis follow-up issues (PRN, Oct. 3, 2017). Exhibit two is Fox News, which ousted its founder, the late Roger Ailes, and top earner Bill O’Reilly after sexual harassment allegations. Yet the brand seems to have done little to address its cultural issues publicly, so the odor of scandal remains, making it fertile ground for reporters. Sure enough, on Oct. 21 the NY Times reported one month after O’Reilly struck a $32 million agreement with veteran Fox employee Lis Wiehl to quiet sexual harassment allegations, Fox News gave him a four-year contract extension totaling $100 million. This time, though, Fox News and parent 21st Century Fox spoke out, blasting the paper’s story. It came from “leaked information provided by anonymous sources that is out of context, false, defamatory and obviously designed to embarrass Bill O’Reilly and to keep him from competing in the marketplace,” said Fox News’ Mark Fabiani. Times editor Dean Baquet returned serve, saying the paper stands by its story. This was just the initial foray, though. The next day, Oct. 22, the fray was joined when former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson blasted the brand on CNNfor re-upping O’Reilly, calling it “horrifying and outrageous.” Carlson received $20 million from Ailes in a 2016 settlement. The day after that, Oct. 23, former Fox News talent Megyn Kelly blasted O’Reilly, who alleges nobody ever complained to Fox HR about him. Maybe not, Kelly said, as “Fox News was not exactly a friendly environment for harassment victims who wanted to report.” Yet Kelly contends she complained about O’Reilly to network heads, to little satisfaction. The same day O’Reilly spoke publicly, saying “The end game is, ‘Let’s link Bill O’Reilly with Harvey Weinstein’” and “take him out of the marketplace forever.” O’Reilly was interviewed during the Glenn Beck internet radio show. Still think it’s wise to avoid addressing a crisis?
Growth: Execs from Atomic PR and Grayling teamed to debut The Key Oct. 23, a San Francisco boutique agency. We asked founder Martha Shaughnessy how she plans to take on the big agencies. “We’re not competing with large agencies,” she says. “We are a lean team” and will provide “simplicity of management” for clients, she says.
Platform Prater:Putting aside the headaches social media platforms are having with political ads and hateful messages, business announcements continue. Facebook is testing in six countries with Explore Feed, where it removes publishers’ and businesses’ content from its main feed and places it in the new Explore Feed, a (somewhat difficult to find) location meant for people seeking material that they don’t already follow. In some countries Facebook is moving publishers’ material to Explore Feed, even if you follow them, Recode reports. Word of the testing caused enough concern that Facebook exec Adam Mosseri tweeted several times Oct. 23, seemingly to calm publishers, noting Facebook realizes the move is significant and likely will be tested “for months.” – On Oct. 17 Twitter unveiled its Video Website Card, designed to address brands’ desire to “create more seamless user experiences for consumers along various stages of the path to conversion,” it said in a blog post. The card begins as an auto-playing video. It then opens to a larger video while the advertiser’s website loads beneath. – Speaking of video, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said Oct. 20 his platform is interested in original programming. The chief of the Microsoft-owned channel said TV series like Shark Tank would appeal to LinkedIn’s entrepreneurial users .
People: PR News fave and one of the brightest minds in the business Melissa Wisehart has joined 22Squared in Atlanta, as director of biddable media, covering paid social, SEO and SEM and programmatic/audience-based media buying. The PR News honoree also will help lead advertising operations and data management platform (DMP) implementation and strategy. Previously she was with Moore Communications in Denver. – Yokohama Tire Corporation promoted Andrew Briggs to the newly created position of VP, marketing & product management. He’ll report to COO Jeff Barna. Briggs replaces Fred Koplin, senior director of marketing and motorsports, who retired. – Congrats to PRGN, the global group of 50 indie PR firms, celebrating its 25th anniversary later this week in Kyoto, Japan.