Light Rays on Saturdays: Mitt's Hair and a Modern Definition of PR

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was at the center of two big stories this week that demonstrate how political communications has devolved into something resembling professional wrestling.  

With President Obama visiting New Hampshire, Romney bought a tiny bit of local TV to air an ad attacking Obama’s handing of the economy. Romney aides also delivered the commercial to reporters. One little problem – the featured Obama quote was really a paraphrase of something an aide to Senator John McCain said during the 2008 campaign. Romney and his aides shrugged off the deluge of criticism.

Misleading and unethical, the ad had little to do with hurting Obama – it’s no secret the economy is his weak spot. It was primarily designed to earn Romney the “See, I can be a tough guy” merit badge among the GOP influencers who have yet to embrace his candidacy. Democrats may use the ad to bolster their attack on Romney as a cold, valueless, flip-flopping, say-anything-to-win candidate.

The other big Mitt story? One thousand words on his hair on the front page of Friday’s New York Times.  The Times even interviewed the “barrel-chested, bald Italian immigrant” barber, who “agreed to share some of the secrets” of Mitt’s hair. Are you ready to be blown away? No dye. No product. And, sometimes Romney trims it himself.

How many of you are saying: “Wow. I honestly don’t give a flying follicle about this?”

How PR Can Help Penn State Now

People would be surprised to know how often PR counselors act as management consultants.

Often, those within a complex organization are too close to a situation or too insulated to see what needs to be done, what could been done, and how internal and external stakeholders might react. The blinders can be even thicker when the organization is in crisis. So, smart executives seek the advice of outside communications professionals -- not just for research, ideas and words, but for common sense and perspective.

As the trustees at Penn State prepare to meet today, let's hope hiring great PR counselors is on the agenda.

Penn State’s ability to do the right thing at this moment is suspect and will be for the foreseeable future. It lost its credibility on that score when it failed to act against Jerry Sandusky for more than a decade. It even failed to act seven months ago when a Pennsylvania sports columnist predicted what has now engulfed the University.

Penn State’s need for PR is not just a matter of credibility; it’s a demand of logistics.

An Off-Broadway Threat for Personal Device Makers

If you’re Apple, or any personal device maker for that matter, the epicenter of your most serious issues management challenge has begun brewing inside a brick building on Lafayette Street in New York City.

That’s where the Public Theater is hosting Mike Daisey in a one-man show entitled, “The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” which runs through November 13.

Daisey, described by the New York Times as “one of the greatest solo storytellers of contemporary theater,” isn't on stage to pay homage to Apple or its late CEO Steve Jobs. He is zeroing in on the legendary company’s supply chain in China, where he went undercover to visit the factories that give birth to the personal technology we rely on each day.

“I’d expected conditions to be bad, to be worse than I’d ever experienced, and I’ve lived a relatively comfortable life. What was shocking to me was the level of dehumanization built into the systems that have been put into place by American corporations in collusion with suppliers,” Daisey told the Theater section of the Times in an interview last month.

The Times' recent review of the production underlined a threat device makers should take seriously.

Why Bending Light?

What light shows us (or what the absence of light hides from us) is not the present; it is the past.

When you see the sun, you are seeing it as it was eight minutes ago.  Moonlight isn’t really moonlight; it’s actually sunlight reflecting the moon as it was two seconds ago. When you marvel at the night sky, your mind is processing an image that no longer exists at the source. What you see is a scatter of light that began travelling toward your eyes anywhere from thousands to millions of years ago.

Distance is not the only distorting influence; the stuff through which light passes also alters what you see.  This is called refraction, and it magnifies objects under water; creates rainbows; makes it appear as if stars twinkle. The sky is blue because of the way gas molecules in our atmosphere interact with light from the sun.

Optics (the study of light) is an excellent analogy for communications. It follows many of the same principles. Successful strategic communications – communications that moves people toward a specific goal – relies on three core ingredients:

Proximity -- How relevant it is.

Medium -- The way it is delivered.

Context -- The way it will be received.

Think of a prism. On the left is the content. This is the light source -- the information, facts or point of view you wish to make relevant and compelling. Near the middle is the medium – the channel, the words, the pictures and/or the video through which the content must pass. On the right is the audience – the target who will absorb the spectrum of content based on their own subjective context.

The goal of strategic communications is to create a vision that compels an audience to act. The action may be laughter, protest, trust, purchase, etc.  

Studying, informing and moving opinion is what I have done my whole adult life as a journalist and as a public and private sector professional.

That’s why this blog is called “Bending Light.” Together, we’ll put on our eyeglasses and analyze modern efforts to shape reality through effective communication.