Month: January 2016

There is a drumbeat of publicity and PR for settling worlds outside of our own — e.g., Mars, the moon and eventually, a planet in another solar system.  This article discusses just how difficult it would be.  It would take many years to assemble the materials, technology and individuals and many more to complete a  mission, barring new physics or scientific breakthroughs. Essentially, we are stuck with earth, and we had better take care of it.  There is no place else to go.  Even a much-touted Mars mission has difficulties beyond imagining.  How do you sustain individuals for the six-month travel time to get there and how do you get them back?  There are issues of air, food, sanitation, psychology, physical health, shielding from cosmic rays, fuel to get there and fuel to get back.  There is nothing on Mars that we know of today that can help with any of these needs.  It takes 10 minutes for a radio transmission to transit from Mars to Earth.  Imagine the time it would take for communication to another solar system. Space enthusiasts dream of possibilities but reality bites.

Why is this scientist tweeting rumors of the discovery of gravitational waves?  He certainly knows the protocol that one’s work needs to be vetted before it is considered sound.  However, even respected physicists can breach the process in an attempt to be first to report a discovery.  In this case, the scientist is not the discoverer but the rumor-monger who must be creating tension and anger among the physicists conducting the experiment.  If waves have been detected, it will be the physics triumph of the year, if not the decade.  Scientists have been trying to detect them since Einstein postulated their existence, but the waves are so weak they have evaded discovery.  There is no guarantee that this time physicists were successful in spotting them and the experimenters are not talking.  It is poor form and mendacious for an outsider to speculate on another’s work, but one must deal with it even in science.

Once upon a time not long ago, a mall was the gathering place for teenagers and adults.  It was the happening scene in many a town.  That has changed and malls today are facing extinction.  There is no mystery why.  Americans have changed their shopping habits.  They buy online.  They look for bargains that can’t be found in a typical anchor store such as Sears or Macys.  No amount of PR or publicity is going to change the new habits of Americans.  They have been taught a better way to shop and they like it.  So, retrenchment is what the retail chains must do and in the process, they are killing malls that depended on their presence.  This is another reminder to business persons that nothing is guaranteed and change occurs constantly.  Mall developers now need to look into alternative uses for their empty buildings.

Even before beginning his presidency, Obama said he would close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. Entering his final year in office, he is still making that pledge.  His chief of staff says Obama will present a plan to Congress, and if Congress objects, he will use executive action to do something — whatever that might be. No one should be faulted for failing to believe the President at this point.  The problem has been intractable.  No one wants the prisoners.  So, they remain in limbo — men without a country.  There is no doubt their rights have been violated.  They merited at least a speedy trial and sentencing, but they got neither. Look for Guantanamo Bay to be open this time next year and don’t be surprised if Obama hands the problem to his successor.

The world knows you have a contamination problem with your food, but you can’t learn where it is coming from.  Every scientific test comes up empty.  There is no one ingredient that caused the problem.  There is no one supplier of foodstuffs.  The outbreak occurs across the country in a seemingly random fashion.  What do you do?  If you’re Chipotle you investigate and install new procedures, then you pray the outbreaks of e coli and Noroviruses stop.  The damage to the brand has been deep and might be long-lasting.  Without the “Aha” moment that reveals the cause(s) of the contamination, the company must tread carefully.  It doesn’t know when the next attack might happen or where.  It is a PR nightmare.  Newspaper ads expressing apologies, which Chipotle ran, are a small sop and will have little effect if the outbreaks continue. The only effective PR is to find the problem and fix it, which is why the CEO must be having sleepless nights.

It is a CEO’s nightmare to have his company singled out for a product defect that isn’t true.  That is what happened to pharmaceutical manufacturer Regeneron.  Because of faulty reporting in a Federal database of side effects from its new drug, Praluent, investors rushed to dump the stock.  It turns out that a suicide related to its medication was reported over and over again providing the impression that the drug’s side effects could be lethal.  The Food and Drug Administration tried to clear the situation up but the damage was done.  There is no way to sue the FDA for the misreporting nor, for that matter, those who noted the incident in good faith.  Now the CEO has to rebuild credibility for his drug and boost sales.  It is a tough PR challenge made worse by the way that it happened.

People have predicted for years that cities will be wired with sensors to make management and living easier.  The challenge is that it is expensive and the technology was never quite there.  Now, AT&T says it is, and it has designated cities to wire as test projects.  This is one more step in the evolution of the Internet of Things and in cities’ services to citizens. It is smart PR.  Note that AT&T did not put a deadline on the project, and that is both good and bad.  It provides the company leeway to speed or slow installation depending on local conditions.  It is bad in that AT&T might stop the project at any time because it is too expensive and without expected returns.  Several services mentioned in the article do not provide immediate benefits.  Still, the evolution continues and sooner or later, cities will be wired and they will learn how to use the new technology.  That will open ways to build relationships with the public that few can guess today.

Some organizations work best when they inculcate fear in individuals.  This is one.  Public relations works for the IRS when citizens are afraid they will be caught and forced to pay penalties.  Appeals to one’s moral duty rarely work because no one likes to pay taxes.  It is a distasteful civic duty.  So, the taxman does what he has practiced for millenia. He instills a sense of dread to get people to pay up.  In countries like Italy and Greece where tax collection is handled badly, there is general evasion and loss to the governments’ exchequers.  The threat of an audit in the US is enough to gain compliance from all but the wealthy who have options with the help of accountants and lawyers.  It is difficult for the IRS to be liked nor should it work too hard at changing public perception from negative to positive.  It has a tough job that must be done if government is to provide services to citizenry.

Since public relations is what one does, this qualifies as smart PR.  Google is putting its data and analytical engines at the service of people thinking of installing solar panels.  One need only plug in the required constraints and the calculator does the rest.  One can figure out how many years it will take to pay back the installation, whether purchased or leased.  And, if installation makes sense for a home, Google will refer the user to a solar company that can do the job.  It is hard to criticize a company that makes the lives of consumers easier.  Google does so much that is positive, it is a wonder that it has continuous trouble with the European Union.

At this artificial demarcation of time, it is customary to remember and speculate.  What was good about last year? What was boneheaded and banal?  Was there brilliance? Idiocy?  Of course, the answer is all of the above.  And that will be the same for 2016.  Some will shine, some burnout.  We don’t know at this juncture who will be feted and who mocked.  Will we have another Volkswagen moment when a corporation is revealed as a liar?  That’s hard to say and not something that occurs at such a scale with much frequency, but it is possible.  Will we have an instance in which a corporation shines magnificently as a good citizen and practitioner of public relations?  Again, hard to say.  Companies are people working together for a common mission.  All the flaws of humanity are represented in them.  It takes good leadership to guide business on the right path and a degree of humility to listen to consumers and buyers.  It is easy to forget what a company is for and to work for one’s self-interest.  In 2016, we should see examples of good PR and marketing and awful attempts that have one shaking his head.  It should be an interesting year.