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Polarization and Public Relations Substack
GUEST POST FROM DEZENHALL RESOURCES, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, JOSH CULLING In 2016, I wrote a piece for World Trademark Review in which I examined the components of corporate reputation and offered some advice to brand managers on how best to prioritize these when restoring a company’s reputation after a crisis. One key takeaway: C-suites are […]
The Business – Republican Cold War Substack
The rap has always been pretty simple: Republicans were the party of big business and Democrats were all about the little guy. While this was never completely true, it was once a lot truer than it is now. The old assumptions don’t work anymore. As the Republicans have gone populist, bashing big companies is now […]
The White House Does Not Have a Messaging Problem Substack
As the narrator said at the beginning of Peter Pan, “All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again.” I refer to the instinct of those under public siege to declare their dire straits to be “a message problem.” The Biden White House is said to be facing such a challenge right now. […]
Disgraceful Paralysis in the Face of Tragedy Substack
Like so many of us, I have been obsessing about the mass murder at the Robb Elementary School in Texas. I have frustratingly very little insight, with one possible exception that I humbly offer up for consideration: The question of why the police, based upon current reports, didn’t enter the school sooner to confront the […]
What Polls on Corporations and Social Issues Don’t Tell Us Substack
Another poll was recently released on how the reputations of certain companies had slipped in the proverbial rankings. One of the companies named was Disney. I was less concerned about the rankings themselves than I was about the commentary of a pollster who concluded that Disney’s reputation had fallen because the company appeared “calculating” in […]
Johnny Depp, Reputation and the Future of Counter-Attack? Substack
The Johnny Depp – Amber Heard defamation trial may be salacious, but it may also be something else: a bellwether. Individuals and businesses facing existential threats to their reputations and livelihoods may be more likely to do what Depp has done and take the same kind of legal action that in more innocent times would […]
Is “Disinformation” the New “Fake News?” Substack
We humans get excited when we find a new word that makes our world make sense. The newest watchword that makes us all feel smart is “disinformation.” Great term. Great concept. But fraught with peril. We are genuinely awash in disinformation, but just like everything else these days, the disinformation label is in danger of […]
Go Woke Go Broke or Right Flank Make Bank? Substack
A journalist friend following the controversy at Disney and the Florida education law asked me if I thought conservative parents would stop watching Disney movies or drop their products. My answer: Not in any meaningful way. Not yet. My experience has been that human beings take the path of least resistance and gravitate to venues […]
The 10 Elements of Disinformation Substack
Given all of the recent talk about disinformation, there seems to be a perception that it can be easily ordered up like a pizza. The truth is that much disinformation fails — but when it works, it works big. Throughout the thirty-five-plus years, I’ve been in the crisis management business, I’ve compiled a list I […]
Eric, do you absorb the news differently than I do because of your job? Substack
Many of my friends and students ask me if I process the news differently from how they do because I make my living in crisis management and constantly battle disinformation. The answer is “yes” — and way more skeptically. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m always right. After the Will Smith slap flap a […]
