Mac's Musings
Public Incompetence – Getting the PR Game Right
20/04/2008Public relations can be an imprecise science, but it never ceases to amaze me how governments and heads of state - with legions of PR men and advisors on hand - can get things so wrong.
Gaffe of the Week Award must go to Gordon Brown. If you want to make an impression on the world stage, don't pop across the pond for a chat with George Dubya on the same day he's meeting the Pope. Popes have always had friends in high places and, as a photo opportunity, His Holiness's white robes teamed with red patent leather slip-ons were always going to win. Gordon's grey was never going to cut the mustard.
Of course, some heads of state don't seem to know or care how ridiculous they look. Mugabe has a future as an election advisor to George Dubya. Don't agonise over trivia like 'hanging chads' and decisions of the courts, just fix the judges and the electoral commission and pretend the whole election mess never happened.
But, by comparison with the Chinese leadership, Mugabe is Fourth Division in the repression and PR catastrophe stakes. Following Hitler's example, the Chinese managed to hijack the Olympic flame but, without a competent Goebbels to micro-manage the PR, they successfully snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Yet some private individuals have a lot to teach the professionals when it comes to PR. Take a look at how the parents of Rhys Jones and Damilola Taylor have handled their personal tragedies. Even in death, Damilola's mother Gloria is remembered for her dignity.
