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How Would You Hold Up Under the Microscope?
Unethical public relations tactics and how to avoid them
By Tori Brown
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It often seems that the field of public relations gets a bum rap. How many times have you heard the term “spin doctors” used to describe those that work in the profession? We’ve even heard people mumble “public relations” as if they’re ashamed, when asked what job field they are in.
So why does the field of public relations have such a stigma attached to it? We believe much of it has to do with several dishonest, unethical practitioners giving the rest a bad name. Here are two recent examples:
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Edeman/Wal-Mart
blog: In late 2006, Edelman, a large
public relations firm, ran at least three blogs praising
its client Wal-Mart, all of which were fraudulently presented as being written by Wal-Mart employees or supporters. This misrepresentation led to a lot of negative press for Edelman and Wal-Mart, once the connections were exposed. We’re pretty sure that’s not the type of press Wal-Mart thought Edelman would get them when they hired the firm.
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Misuse of
Wikipedia: We recently looked up something on the site, and found that the page was overrun with quotes and links attributed to people we had never heard of. Once we checked the links, we realized that many of these so-called experts were using Wikipedia as their own personal advertising tool, clearly violating the online encyclopedia’s terms. We tried to clean up the page a bit, but the very next day all the links were back. Not only was this irritating to us as readers, but it was flagrant misrepresentation to pass yourself off as an expert when you’re not.
Of course, we can’t spend all our time cleaning up other folks’ lies, but we can make sure that we can operate in an honest, open way in our own public relations efforts. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
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Do not offer bribes to the press. Saying to an editor, “If you write a story on me, I’ll buy advertising space,” will probably lead to a quick end to the conversation. The advertising and editorial sections are most often run by completely different departments and have little to do with each other.
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If you make a mistake (An employee is hurt, a product is recalled, etc.)
come clean. Staying silent only kicks people’s imaginations into overdrive and may fuel the fire. Having a crisis communication plan can help.
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Always remember to disclose your identify and relationships upfront. You don’t want reporters or consumers to dig them up later and discover conflicting interests.
Tori Brown is an Account Executive with Marx Communications, a public relations and marketing communications firm that helps B2B companies and individuals build their brands. For more information, please contact Tori
tori@marxcommunications.com
or 203-445-2851. To boost your business and learn more about our coaching service, email
wendy@marxcommunications.com.
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Marketing
Ethics
By
Melissa Wall
Some people might say that marketing and ethics are a contradiction in terms. After all, aren’t we marketers responsible for all the advertising that “makes” people and their kids
acquire stuff they don’t need….another fast food hamburger, another credit card and the latest must–have toy?
We could argue about the social aspects of marketing, but no one is forced into buying anything. If there is too much trans fat in a product – don’t buy it; if you don’t like a company’s business practices, then buy elsewhere. Eventually a company gets the message.
Without moralizing, ethics in marketing to me is more about conduct. It starts with a company that creates a product or service that does what it’s supposed to, is built and packaged responsibly so no one gets hurt using it. It’s about not cutting corners to inflate the bottom line. Today, companies that engage in questionable practices are at the mercy of bloggers, whose ramblings can spread quicker than you can say “viral marketing.”
Our Top Five Ethical Considerations
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Bait and Switch.
Deliver what was promised.
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Exaggeration.
Don’t inflate capabilities or results. Eventually, it backfires.
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Plagiarism. If you cite someone else’s idea, writing or prior work, give them credit.
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Pretexting.
Don’t ask an advertising agency, PR firm or other marcom vendor to provide specific ideas about a campaign and then implement those ideas without hiring or paying the vendor, or use their ideas to find a lower cost provider. The original vendor legally owns those ideas and could sue.
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Badmouthing the Competition. You can point out product differences but just not slam them publicly. It’s bad form and nobody wins.
Our personal favorite is number four, what’s yours?.
For more information about how you can improve your marketing efforts, contact Melissa Wall, Marketing With Distinction, LLC,
melissa@distinctmarketing.com
or 203–888–9995.
Ethical
Practices: Where clichés and guidelines often fail
By Martin Arnold
“Do the right thing” is a phrase popularized by noted radio psychologist Dr. Laura Schlessinger. On the radio it sounds easy, but in real life problems are far more complex. For example, if you are in PR or marketing and you are asked to promote a product that you personally oppose, such as cigarettes or alcohol, what is the right thing to do?
It is not illegal to support such products, millions of people purchase both every day. Moreover, there are other values to consider like the value of continuing to provide for home and hearth and your other on-going responsibilities. Sometimes one can negotiate a change of assignment, but not always. In such cases it comes down to the individual to make a hard choice that is the “right thing” either way.
“Just tell the truth” is another phrase one sometimes is advised to do in the face of an ethical dilemma. Like “do the right thing,” this also is not as easy as it sounds. In some circumstances there are serious legal risks, disclosure or privacy issues can come into play. At times though, public interest can override any of these issues and, if so, it comes down to the individual to make that hard choice.
We know of one situation where a crime was committed the effects of which threatened a large number of employees. Law enforcement officials did not want details of the crime reported. In that case the CEO risked jail time to advise employees what the situation was. Fortunately it turned out to be exactly the right thing to do, but it was not easy to see at the time.
In another instance a gas leak from an industrial plant compromised homeowner property. Despite instructions from the legal department to keep mum, the spokesperson chose to admit publicly what had happened and that the company would take responsibility for damages. In that case the spokesperson was rewarded for his effort, but in a different company facing the same circumstances, he would have been fired on the spot.
Codes of conduct can sometimes be a help in these situations. Typically they cover an organization’s value structure, information flow, competitive practices, disclosure, privacy, conflict of interest and other principles.
But whenever people set out to defraud, no code of conduct, statement of ethical principles or legal statutes are going to stop them. In our experience, companies like this are few and far between.
While correct ethical practices are not always easy to discern, there is one we think stands the test of time. If your contemplated action were to be reported on the front page of your local newspaper and you would be embarrassed about it, don’t do it!
To boost your business and learn more about our coaching service
and ebook for entrepreneurs, email
Martin Arnold mharnold@sbcglobal.net.
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