Posted March 21st, 2012
by Brian Panton
Goldman Sachs was recently roiled by a dramatic public resignation in a withering op-ed piece in The New York Times, which painted the storied investment bank’s culture as “toxic and destructive.” Prominent media outlets were quick to highlight that Greg Smith, the former executive director at Goldman that wrote the article, described managing directors as routinely dismissing clients as “muppets.”
Newspapers piled on by editorializing against embattled Goldman, which, consequently, flooded the media landscape with negative messages conveying that the firm’s corporate greed trumped client interests, a damaging accusation for a business that is built on trust. Further, “Greg Smith” emerged as a worldwide trending topic on Twitter, capturing the interest of bloggers and influential media outlets alike.
While Goldman has girded itself before against blistering attacks and accusations of being a symbol of Wall Street excess, handling this adroitly from a public relations standpoint will be critical. Indeed, a tactical PR strategy right now could prove to be invaluable, as federal regulators are gearing up to craft the final terms of the Volcker Rule, a policy that could potentially cost investment banks billions of dollars.
Check back in a couple weeks for a look at how Goldman Sachs’s new PR chief manages the crisis and the reaction in traditional and social media.
Tags: brand reputation, crisis communications, Crisis Management, Goldman Sachs, Mainstream, Public Relations, Social Media
Posted in Brian Panton, Newspapers, Public Relations, Social Media
Posted March 13th, 2012
by David Breg
Advocates of social media have claimed that an effective social media campaign has become essential for candidates in recent election cycles. While the impact of social media may be increasing, particularly when used for organizing volunteers and raising campaign funds, findings from this analysis indicate traditional media still plays an essential role and is more likely to drive social media coverage of the candidates than the other way around.
Each election cycle is argued to be “the year” when a social media campaign will trump traditional methods of campaign success, like personal wealth, strong financial backing and support from party officials. In 2004, Howard Dean was considered the candidate most likely to break through due to his support among young voters and their reliance on social media, and Ron Paul has been viewed as the candidate who picked up that mantle in both 2008 and 2012.
While Paul received a higher percentage of social media results than the other candidates, Mitt Romney, the candidate with the fundraising advantage and stronger backing within the Republican establishment, has a 25-point advantage over Paul (according to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal polls). It appears that a reliance on social media has not yet proven to be the decisive factor in presidential elections.
Tags: elections, Mainstream, measurement, media analysis, Social Media
Posted in David Breg, Elections, Measurement, Newspapers, Public Relations, Social Media
Posted May 9th, 2011
by Georg Ackermann
It is no surprise that the future of nuclear power is on top of the news agenda in many countries as part of the aftermath of the Fukushima incident. You also might have expected that companies related to nuclear power like Areva, GE-Hitachi or Toshiba are flooded with negative press.
But what might be a surprise is that renewable energy didn’t benefit much from this crisis in terms of an increase of discussions in the media. What was also rather unexpected is the fact that some media – especially in the Middle East – still spoke rather positively about nuclear energy after the recent crisis.
The Power Of Newswires: Understanding The Media Landscape
Another interesting aspect of our study: Newswires have been the most reliable original traditional media source during Japan’s nuclear crisis.
The Tepco Case – Jeopardizing Japan’s Food Industry
As far as the operator of the Fukushima power plants, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), are concerned, traditional media are paying the most attention, although there are also many discussions taking place in blogs and forums. For a crisis of this extent, it should be expected that the disaster-ridden news coverage about Tepco has been almost entirely negative.
However, the unfavourable press is not limited to (nuclear) power generation and distribution. In fact, Tepco seems have become connected to major industrial issues in Japan and worldwide; from food and goods contamination to the dive of Japan’s whole export-drive economy. This is certainly a warning signal to any company to consider crisis scenarios beyond their direct line of business.
Holistic Crisis Management – To Be Prepared Is Everything
As said by Shakespeare: To be prepared is everything. For communicators, this means that crisis scenario planing should be done with the utmost holistic approach.
Georg Ackermann is the team leader of the Dow Jones Media Lab in Singapore. Lars Voedisch is a media consultant covering the Asia-Pacific region.
Tags: Crisis Management, Fukushima, Insight, Mainstream, media analysis, Newswires, Nuclear Energy
Posted in Measurement, Newspapers, Public Relations
