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02/15/11 02:06 PM

Public Relations is better at prevention than rescue


More than once in our 16 years in the public relations business, I’ve told a client he’d spend money more wisely on a lawyer. You can reach a point where your reputation is beyond saving.
 
That’s why I dismiss PR analysts who say that if Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak had not tried to stop the flow of information, had responded more quickly to the protests and had promised early free elections, he could have held on to power.

Those daisies in the wind would never have appeased the hundreds of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square. The quick victory in Tunisia sealed Mubarak’s fate.
 
Henry Wilkinson of the Janusian Security Consultancy spoke wisely when he told Reuters on January 15,  "Events in Tunisia have shown the risk of a pressure cooker effect: If you have a system of intense suppression without addressing the causes of discontent, a crack in that system can lead to an explosion."
 
That’s the point for Mubarak and for everyone else. Good communications can help when you’re misunderstood, unknown or significantly improved. If you’re as beyond hope as everyone thinks, spin is laughable.
 
For that reason, you should know what your public thinks. You should know if they’re right and, if so, how you can fix the problem. You’ll never have to face a million angry voices in a public square, but you could use honest appraisal from an independent source.