Readers of this website know that I have long stressed that PR lessons not taught in communications schools can be learned from following the daily news and that these lessons can be applied to agency brand and corporate accounts.
Below are some lessons from the current war between the United States/Israel and Iran:
- As I wrote this, President Trump was heralding that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, was killed in the February 28 attack, even though Iran denied it. As people in our business know, a well-run PR agency doesn’t crumble just because a top executive leaves. There’s always someone else to replace the departed. Lesson to remember: Agency promotions are often decided on loyalty to higher ups. It’s best not to take sides during disputes between executives. Doing so can derail your career if the executive you sided with is the loser.
- Because of his history of lying, many people are skeptical of anything President Trump says. Lesson to remember: In our business, once an account person is caught lying to a reporter, it’s almost impossible to gain the reporter’s trust in the future.
- After the attack, as he did during his State of the Union speech, President Trump, without providing any evidence, claimed in a video posted to social media that Iran has been building missiles that “could soon reach the American homeland.” However, intelligence sources said that it was not true. Lesson to remember: PR practitioners who provide misleading or incomplete information to reporters never get the benefit of the doubt.
- It’s also important to remember that any claims you make on behalf of a client can be investigated by the media and that the more prominent the client the more intensive media research will be. Lesson to remember: Don’t be pressured into issuing misleading information to the media. Doing so can tarnish your reputation with reporters forever.
- Once the fighting began unexpected happenings occurred, like Iran attacking Arab countries. Lesson to remember: Once a PR campaign begins the agency can not control how the media responds to it. It’s the way the media responses to it that determines success or failure.
- On March 4, President Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt explicitly told reporters that the administration expects them to report accurately, Her doing so insinuates that reporters are deliberately filing false reports. Lesson to remember: Accusing reporters of deliberately altering facts is a definite no-no. Each reporter is entitled to interpret information provided as they see fit. Factual errors should be immediately pointed out to the reporter and, if major, a correction should be requested. But interpretation of information is not a factual error.
- President Trump has been criticized for his changing reasons why he went to war. Lesson to remember: During a PR crisis, or during any situation that involves media contact, all personnel on an account team must have the same message. Different messages give the impression that the truth is not being told.
- After the initial announcement of the attack against Iran, administration spokespersons gave the impression in public comments that the war would be a cakewalk. But after Iran expanded the war, the situation changed. Lesson to remember: When launching a program, a few early hits does not guarantee the success of a program. PR practitioners should not tell the client that a program is a success until considerably more details emerge. In the final analysis, it is the client, not the agency that determines if a program is a success.
- Normally staunch Trump supporters, including Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson, have criticized the president’s decision to attack Iran. Lesson to remember: Loyalty from agency friends is subject to change according to situations. If you want unending loyalty at work, bring your dog to the office.
- But, in my opinion, the most important PR lesson to be remembered is that the size of a client or agency you represent is not important to the media. Lesson to remember: Reporters are not impressed with the importance of a client or the size of an agency Three prominent corporate examples are how the coverage of Boeing’s 737 crashes, Wells Fargo’s banking frauds and BP’s oil spill was covered, even though the ceo’s of those companies became prime spokespersons during the crises. And not to be forgotten is how reporters question what the president of the United States says, regardless of who is in office.
