A Study in Crisis Communications

Alexandria, Virginia's Police Chief David P. Baker was arrested by Arlington, Virginia police officers for Driving Under the Influence on Saturday.  Today Baker announced that he would resign.  At a press conference, Alexandria city officials, expressed their sorrow over this extremely uncharacteristic behavior.  Baker's blood alcohol was more than twice the legal limit.

Baker has apparently served for almost twenty years with distinction and respect.  Unfortunately, it takes just one mistake to derail a career.  In Baker's case this is an admittedly HUGE mistake that could've cost lives.  

When asked if this was the end to Baker's career, Alexandria City Manager Jim Hartmann responded, "I'm not prepared to say that right now. We're looking at all the facts of the case. This is a very serious situation.”

While this may be the end of Baker's time as Alexandria's Top Cop, I believe that because of the way he handled this crisis, it's certainly not the end END for him.  

He admitted that he was wrong and violated the public trust.  He did the only honorable thing. by stepping down.  In my view, the worst way to communicate in the midst of a crisis is to lie and pretend that 1) the bad deed did not happen or 2) you had nothing to do with the bad deed.

Despite Hartman's uncertainty, Baker will survive this tragedy and will very likely rebuild his career.  

Paying Tribute to Two of America's Most Profound Brands

We offer this tribute to Farrah Fawcett...

What an absolute beauty she was.  

How many of you have taken a photo in the Charlie's Angel pose?

And of course...the King of Pop will not be forgotten.  

We remember the good years.  

When the Thriller video came on television, we watched it with our Mom and Dad like we were watching Neil Armstrong land on the moon....It was really just Michael moon walking on earth...which was of course out of this world!

The thriller album quite literally became the sound track of our childhood.

Happy Father's Day Old Man

Please pardon the personal nature of this blog.  It has absolutely nothing to do with PR or Branding.  Just a note to say Happy Father's Day to our Daddy, Jerry Bass.  He passed on February 14, 2009.  So this is our first Father's Day without him.

Our Daddy was without a doubt the coolest, hippest cat in town.  At 60 when he passed, he thought he was 19.  

Our Daddy was a God-fearing Hell Raiser!  He loved GOOD MOVIES like Papillon, The Outlaw Josie Wales, Alfie (the original) and Cool Hand Luke.  He loved a cold bear on a hot Georgia Day.  He loved schooling his young nieces and nephews in backyard games of golf.  He loved cooking Heaven knows what greasy fried dish for his identical twin brother "Uncle James." He loved his grandchildren Dorian and Daylynn.  He loved our Mama his ex-wife and faithful friend.  And we have it on good authority that he adored his two girls.  

This is a picture of Daddy and Mama on Easter Sunday circa 1978 in Talbotton, Georgia.  This is Deana's favorite picture in the whole wide world.

We love you Old Man.

TV DAD’s – Branding Gone Negative

Over the last 50 years, the Dad Brand has taken a licking.  We’ve quite literally gone from Father Knows Best to Raising Dad. If you think I’m being a bit over the top, just analyze the family structure of your top five favorite situation comedies or dramas.  I’m sure that four out of five have a less than positive image of Dad.  Dad is a clueless, inept, and bumbling idiot at best and cheating, beating, boozer at worst. 

Gone are the days when TV Dad’s provided for the needs of their family, coached the little league team and dispensed sound advice.  I know that Dads in real life were never the perfect models of our TV Dad’s, but it at least it gave them something for which to strive.  

As we celebrate Father's Day Weekend, I'd like to salute the brands of some perfect and perfectly imperfect dads.

Branded by the Community

PR Tips to Keep Your Small Business Recession Free

How does a place like Ben's Chili Bowl become a hunger haven for tourists and townies.  Winning the admiration of Bill Cosby certainly helps.  And occasional drop ins by entertainers, sports figures and "The One" President Barack Obama can only add to your business' celebrity.  But even before this local hot spot became a star Mecca, it won the hearts of regular plain folks in its neighborhood.

CS Corporate believes that in the current economic climate, local Mom and Pop establishments must re-turn to doing the thing that they do best.

• Brand yourself in the community. Sponsor or coach a youth sports team. Find a local church or YMCA to volunteer at in exchange for ad or billboard space.
• Have promotional days. Make one small item free, especially with food. People gravitate toward free things and then end up spending money on a meal anyway.
• Set up a presence on the Web! We can’t stress this enough. Have printable coupons on your Web site. Give the consumer a reason to visit the site. Make ordering over the Web easier (and cheaper!).

These few tips will drive traffic to your in-store and online avenues.  Each of these bullets are critical and will be covered in detail in upcoming blogs.

In the meantime, tell us how you are keeping the doors open with positive inexpensive PR.

Brett Hertel

CS Corporate

Communications Manag

The way to a customer's heart is through her stomach

This week, I joined the tens of thousands of Americans downloading a KFC coupon offering a free meal courtesy of Media Maven Oprah Winfrey. The line in my Northern Virginia KFC was long, but nothing like the long riot producing lines reported in major cities like NYC.

Oprah is the queen of the media give-away. From her Big Car Give-away to her lasted KFC lunch, Oprah knows that we love free stuff. And boy do we love free lunch - free dinner and breakfast for that matter.

The PR Sidebar is to take a tip from the Queen of the Media. If you are peddling a product or service, we recommend you wrap it in a free meal. Here are some suggestions of events around free food that we have used in the last year, to win loyal customers for our clients.

1. Host a tea and product display. Put a unique twist on the traditional tea by serving something other than the standard tea fare. Serve cupcakes!
2. Bake a tray of toll house cookies and deliver them with business cards and a handwritten note to potential clients.
3. For those of you whose business is still a side hustle and not yet your main source of income, host a snack break. Invite co-workers to the conference room to share your product or service over chips and coke.

Of course presentation is everything...So be mindful of invitations, display and follow-up.

Remember, one of the best ways to a customer's heart is through her stomach

Monk....16 Episodes Remaining

OK...We know it's been awhile since, we blogged and this blog doesn't have to do with PR per se.  It actually has everything to do with how we completely escape when we have overloaded in a week and want to do nothing more than veg out with an interesting character...WE WATCH MONK.

Both Dee Dee and I have tried to analyze why we attempt to carve out a space for Monk in our Friday (Or the reprise on Saturday if Friday was impossible).  We have come to the conclusion that Monk takes us back to shows from our childhood - like Murder She Wrote, Simon and Simon,  Scarecrow and Mrs. Kane.  Granted the show usually starts with a weird and gruesome murder, but after the introductory murder, it's all a clever and rather wholesome who done it.  It's such a refreshing break from the onslaught of decapitated babies found floating in the river that seem to be such common fare for the Law and Order and CSI franchises which we admittedly watch. 

In June, Monk prepares to launch its last season.  If you've missed the last 7 or 8 seasons, we recommend you spend the next month renting the DVDs to catch up.  Our bet (HOPE) is that during this season, Monk the OCD Super Detective will finally get his man.  You see, he has been able to solve every crime except the most important one - the murder of his wife Trudy.

We are wringing our wrists that this is the last season!!!

Next Blog will be back to PR Sidebars...thanks for putting up with the mini tribute to what amounts to our weekly break from the world of PR.

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