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Uriah Av-Ron works for Oasis PR and is based in Tel Aviv, Israel. You can contact him at uriah@oasis-pr.com.

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Dodging the Gotcha Moment

Written on
Nov 5, 2010 
Author
Uriah Av-Ron  |
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Dodging the Gotcha Moment

dodge_smallADOTAS – Publicists dream of getting an email from a reporter at The Wall Street Journal asking to interview one of our clients. But lately, there are a few companies in the online advertising industry who prefer not to be contacted by the Journal.

Though it’s easy to give advice after the fact, there are a number of things all companies in the industry can do to avoid getting caught in a “gotcha” moment.

1. Be Honest. I know we all start out with a goal of being honest, but then a little thing comes up and we decide, well, let’s fudge that a little bit because no one will notice. And if no one notices your little fudge, then the next time, you fudge it a little more, and you keep pushing the envelope until you get caught.

Lying is black and white. There are no shades of grey. If you say you don’t do something OR don’t collect certain information, well make sure that you don’t do that. And if it’s something that you think might get you in trouble, think long and hard about doing it in the first place. And if you do decide to do something which you probably shouldn’t, which I don’t recommend (see point #3), make sure you don’t talk about it. As presidential candidate Gary Hart learned in 1987, people will put up with a lot of things, but not a liar.

2. Be Consistent. Though most companies will not lie intentionally, there are times when the facts are altered after the fact in order to make something look better than it is.

As a publicist working with start-ups, one stat the companies get creative with is the year the company was founded. In the beginning, in order to look older (and more mature), they tend to move back the founding year. For example, let’s say the company was incorporated in 2003, but the founder came up with the idea in 2001, the company will use 2001 as the founding year.

Then in 2006, when the company C-level execs feel that they haven’t accomplished enough for a five-year-old company, they shift the founding date to 2006. (For the record, this example is from a former client not in the online advertising industry.)

The truth is that neither is really a lie, but it does cause people to question the company and its integrity, and once someone starts questioning your integrity, there is no telling where that will end.

3. Be Smart. I know, I know — your company wouldn’t have raised $X million from VCs if it were established by stupid people. But sometimes incredibly smart people do stupid things. Just because something is legal today, doesn’t mean you should do it.

Companies need to look at trends in the industry, trends in Washington and trends in other countries to get a feel for where the market is going. And companies should also pay attention to industry critics to understand specifically what they are critical off. Some of these criticisms might be crazy, but others will gain traction.

Here’s a test I like to do. If you’re in doubt about something, ask yourself if you’d want someone to do the same to your kids OR your parents. Would you personally want your kids to be exposed to that kind of advertising OR to be targeted the way you’re targeting? Take your industry hat off and put on your concerned parent hat (with this exercise, it helps if you have kids).

The reality is that all people have agendas, including you, me and that journalist who just sent you an email. You should definitely analyze a reporter’s coverage of your industry before agreeing to speak with the reporter to make sure that their agenda will not get in the way of telling your story (and if you feel that the reporter will not be fair to your company, decline the interview, or ask to do the interview via email, where you will have greater control).

But by taking the steps detailed above from day one, and reviewing your company through these filters, you should be able to make the best of your press opportunities.





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