Artisan Media: ‘Sack the PRs’
You what! Rob at Artisan Media has risked a Ratner moment concluding that British bankers would be best advised ‘not to have had any PRs involved’ in preparing for their recent select committee grillings.
To be fair, Rob is right to say that crisis PR can only work if the business is prepared to not just only hold its hands up for any mistakes and wrongdoing, but to make a real commitment to change. He reckons the bankers are still too arrogant for that.
Nevertheless, not involving PRs would be a mistake. There is a fluffy side to public relations, supporting marketing and bigging up a client no matter what.
But high level corporate public relations, when done properly and ethically, is about understanding how a business interacts with, and its responsibilities towards, its stakeholders. At this level, ethical public relations is about building understanding and creating an environment where the client can flourish responsibly.
Nobody needs that that kind of help more than British bankers. Rather than getting rid of PRs because of fears they are covering up, the corporate bankers need to raise their PR game if they are to function most effectively in the world their mistakes have created.
Comments (2 comments)
Stephen,
I just don’t think that at a strategic level that the bankers interacted or even gave their PRs any real respect to their opinions.
After all do they see their PR support as advisers on an equal level or simply as suppliers, which are supplying tactical advice simply for the interrogation?
Rob
Rob Artisan / February 18th, 2009, 4:38 pm / #
I’m sure you’re right. PR still has a long way to go before its taken that serioulsy in the board room… but our time will come.
(BTW sorry your comment was delayed by my spam filter.)
Stephen Newton / February 18th, 2009, 7:19 pm / #
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