Besmirched!

Interesting conversation with a few friends out on the Cape who do public relations.

I related to them a series of events I'm privy to and the actions of an NGO, a private concern and a gov't concern. These people on the Cape I know have done “emergency damage control” when an event becomes public and is detrimental to their clients.

The gist of their reaction to my story was: “Are they (the private concern) that stupid?”

 

Party A, who is being ripped apart in the press should have gotten out in front of the ball immediately according to these PR people. Even if your client is guilty as sin, you get YOUR story out as fast as possible and keep hammering away at it before public reaction starts to solidify. He says the “solidification” process can happen as fast as a week but is pretty much done in one month. It's hard as hell to manage perceptions once the infection has had a chance to settle in.

“Rehabilitation of a damaged image is an awful thing to deal with.” he related further. “It's far cheaper and more effective to get it right at the beginning.” “Re-Branding has NEVER worked either.”

He mentioned an old saying, “I'd rather be caught in bed with a dead whore, than a live boy.” I chuckled when I heard that one. The meaning that it's better to deal with the somewhat appalling vs. the very appalling.

“...and it sounds like Party A has been captured in a very ugly way...” he went on to say.

In today's internet age, you gotta move fast!