Can PR Tactics Save the Weinstein Brand? Forget about betting on college or pro football. The current hot book is whether or not The Weinstein Company survives. The prevailing wind has it that the patient is terminal. Branding expert Ali Craig hasn’t quite closed the coffin, however. The brand can be saved with standard PR and reputation-damage control tactics, she argues.
First, the board needs to admit its guilt. That shouldn’t be too difficult. The board either was asleep at the wheel (bad) or chose to look the other way when it knew of Weinstein’s improper behavior (worse). Media reports that Weinstein’s 2015 contract included language allowing him to keep his job despite sexual harrassment convictions seems to indicate the board had knowledge of the boss’s proclivities.
Second, the board must craft a thorough plan to change the company’s culture and communicate it to the public. She believes the Weinstein brand, with a name change and the above PR tactics, has the potential to survive for several reasons. First, “We feel like we’ve heard [this story] before.” Some version of the casting couch scenario is far from shocking. Second, the public “doesn’t interact with the Weinstein brand” on a daily basis, she says. Certainly moviegoers have the chance to see it, but a film’s producers are not top of mind when people go to the cinema, she argues. Craig’s survival scenario is contingent on “no other really damning allegations” coming out against Weinstein. What she feels the media is missing is the cancer-like potential of the scandal to infect other brands, such as Amazon and NBC News. Actor Rose McGowan tweeted Oct. 12 she had told Amazon studio head Roy Price that Weinstein raped her. Price is said to have ignored the allegations. He was suspended Oct. 12 for a separate sexual harassment claim. Also on Oct. 12 NBC News’ brand was sullied when it was forced to deny president Noah Oppenheimspiked an exposé about Weinstein’s sexual escapades with young women. Oppenheim moonlights as a screenwriter and allegedly was concerned about angering the powerful producer. “Noah has never had any relationship with [Weinstein], business or personal,” NBC News said.
Ironically the spiked scoop, which was ready prior to reports in the NY Times and the New Yorker, came from reporter Ronan Farrow, a son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen. Allen, along with sportcaster Al Michaels and actors Mayim Bialik and James Corden, found themselves enmeshed in the Weinstein story after making comments about it.Several obvious lessons for publicists: 1. Make sure your celeb clients understand the importance of making jokes about serious stories (Michaels and Corden); and 2. Brief your celeb clients about entering the fray on hot-button topics (Bialik and Allen).
We liked the myriad lessons contained in a checklist Deb Gabor, CEO, Sol Marketing, gave us when we asked what communicators can do in a Weinstein-like situation. “1. Above all, acknowledge the humans who were affected by the organization’s wrong-doing. 2. Don’t make excuses or try to cover up something that someone at the company did wrong. 3. Apologize. 4. Help victims. All of them. 5. Go out with a statement quickly before the story takes on a life of its own. 6. Take responsibility. 7. Accept accountability. 8. Give the world a plan for how you will prevent a similar disaster from occurring in the future. 9. Communicate with authenticity, clarity and openness with everyone in your ecosystem. 10. Convey a vision for what the world looks like when you’ve solved this problem. 11. Be truthful.”
Growth: Consumer products/services specialist Captivate Public Relations & Marketing opened its doors Oct. 11. Ashley Rodgers is cofounder and managing director. FoleyFreisleben LLC incubated the L.A.-based firm.
Study Haul: Talk about information overload. A survey of 176 U.S. marketers from 10Fold Communications says 75% of them plan to generate three times more content in the next 12 months than they did in the previous year. 90% have larger budgets for content creation this year than they did last year. 32% release content daily or hourly. Social media, video and webinars were seen as the best content types among the respondents, yet senior execs prefer video.
Shadow Board: The PR Council is seeking next-gen leaders (7-15 years work experience) to form PRC Next, a shadow board. Nominations are open until Nov. 15 at PRC’s site.
Pierpont Communications
People: Pierpont Communications of Houston promoted Elysa Nelson to VP. Prior to Pierpoint, Nelson was manager of corporate services communications at Fidelity Investments. – Former General Mills exec Lisa Tomassen (page 1, picture 2) joins Exponent of Minneapolis as its retail and consumer packaged goods practice leader.