Former president Donald Trump’s sentencing day has been delayed from September 18 until after the election. But PR practitioners don’t have to wait for him to be sentenced to learn PR lessons from the situation. What’s relevant on September 18 is also relevant on the day in November that he will be sentenced, and on any other day as well.
In my opinion, the most important PR lesson is not learned in PR classes. It is to think outside of the box.
Throughout my career as a journalist and PR practitioner, I was labeled a maverick
That’s because I always strayed from the pack mentality practiced by many reporters and PR practitioners and instead always would think outside the box.
As a freelancer, thinking outside the box resulted in my being offered a full-time position at a New York City daily, whose editors were impressed that I developed story angles that differed from reporters from other papers who covered the same event as I.
As a PR practitioner, it was my thinking outside the box approach to public relations situations that caught the attention of top management, resulting in promotions and my being assigned to flagship accounts.
News reports revealed that it was thinking outside the box by prosecutors that gave them the ammunition to convict Mr. Trump
Readers of my columns know that I’ve always said that following the news can provide PR lessons not learned in communications schools. And the Trump trial provides many examples that relate to our business.
- Prosecutors used many of Mr. Trump’s own words to convince the jury of his guilt. When preparing a new program, I always used the client’s own words in the lead-in to a presentation of a new program.
- Prosecutors read his books to gain knowledge of his thinking. When crafting a new program, I always reviewed the client’s advertising programs and tied the program to the ad messages.
- Prosecutors researched and used “an obscure election law…applying a state election law to a federal campaign.” During my outreach to journalists, unless I was pitching a hard news story, (and the overwhelming majority of PR pitches do not fall into that category), I would always include information I gleaned from my own research that was not provided by the client.
- The trial judge imposed a gag order on Mr. Trump, restricting him from making some comments. Many supervisors I’ve known warned their subordinates not to go over their heads, (similar to a gag order) often meaning an individual’s good work was not known by top management. I’ve always believed that was unfair to the individual and always advised staffers I supervised to memorialize their good work by writing memos and sending them to everyone associated with the account and to cc top management. “Doing that would prevent others from taking credit for your good work,” (a common complaint) I counseled.
- Perhaps the most damaging testimony against Mr. Trump was that of David Pecker, a long-time close friend, who as publisher of The National Enquirer purchased and then killed damaging stories about the former president. I would tell account handlers to be honest about the status of the accounts they supervised so we can make corrective adjustments, because trying to hide a problem always makes a situation worse.
- A New York Times headline on May 31 read, “How the Risky Strategy of Prosecutors Paid Off with a Landmark Victory.” It was my willingness to go against the established tenets of public relations that clients liked and let management know that they liked it that accelerated my advance at B-M.
Important To Remember:
When the New York District Attorney’s office first brought charges against Mr. Trump, many legal experts, and practically every pundit, said that the case had the least chance of gaining a conviction. They were wrong.
Thus My Advice To PR People:
- Do not be influenced by naysayers if you believe your approach to a PR situation is correct. Prepare a convincing rebuttal.
- Think outside the box, as the prosecutors of Donald Trump did, or you might spend your career trying to convince journalists that a #10 pencil is better than a #9.
- And if you supervise people, be nice to them. Remember the damage Michael Cohen’s testimony did to Donald Trump.
