Am pleased to share with you an op-ed I wrote which was published today on
Sphere News/AOL -
http://www.sphere.com/2009/12/07/opinion-how-tiger-should-have-dealt-with-his-crisis/

(Dec. 7) — It’s not uncommon for celebrities to face a potentially image-killing crisis. It is, however, uncommon to see one handled as poorly from start to finish as Tiger Woods’ recent wreck and subsequent sex scandal.

At each step, Tiger made missteps that could have been avoided, leading to stories along the lines of “Tiger’s real crime? Not playing the media’s game” and “Tiger Woods Dodges Cops for Third Time.”

There’s no excuse the behavior that led to Tiger’s predicament, but the still-expanding fallout from his mishandling of these events provides lessons to celebrities, companies and anyone else who suddenly finds themselves at the center of a crisis.

Here are my top three crisis management rules:

Rule No. 1: Come clean and come clean quick. Instead of accepting his role in the spotlight and addressing the facts head on, Tiger ran for cover hoping it would all go away. But the fastest road to redemption in the public’s eye is an early and honest mea culpa.

That’s what Alex Rodriguez did earlier this year, when he stood in front of his teammates and the media and addressed his alleged steroid use head on. While certainly not an easy statement to make, it undeniably saved A-Rod’s career from taking the Barry Bonds route, and served as a launching pad for the best season of his career and praise from many of his former critics.

Rule No. 2: Keep your message consistent. As Bill Clinton can attest, the truth eventually comes out. So be clear, be honest and keep the story consistent. When similar allegations arose regarding David Letterman and young staff members, Letterman immediately took to the airwaves, admitted his wrongdoings and the circumstances surrounding them, and saw no ill effect in his ratings.

In contrast, Tiger’s only message for nearly five days after the accident was silence. And while he did eventually admit to his “transgressions,” his promise to “strive to be a better person and the husband and father that [his] family deserves” seemed to ring hollow as information surfaced regarding a renegotiation of his prenup in an effort to keep the family together.

Rule No. 3: Leave no gray area. From the moment reports of the accident happened, the only color surrounding the facts was gray. How did Tiger sustain the injuries he did in such a slow-moving, low-impact crash? Was his wife chasing him with a golf club? Was he impaired? And so on until another round of questions surfaced regarding alleged romps with various women. Tiger then made his brief admission of guilt but still failed to explain how the accident happened, why he was reportedly snoring on the ground as the family waited for an ambulance, etc.

Fortunately for Tiger, most if not all of his sponsors remain by his side, and his mastery of golf will continue to wow fans for years to come.

But no one will ever look at him the same way again, and this distinctive trademark is tarnished. The days of invincibility are over, if not on the course then in relationships, honesty and integrity.

Let’s hope others who make mistakes in life and business take a look at Tiger’s self-inflicted wounds and choose a different path of redemption in the public’s eye.
__________
Ronn Torossian is president and CEO of 5W Public Relations, one of the 25 largest PR firms in the U.S.

Woods wants privacy, but he surrendered that a long time ago

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/telander/1918371,CST-SPT-rick03.article

 
Ronn Torossian
5W PR

This weekend, I had a scary discussion with a soon-to-be Wharton business school graduate.  He told me that, in his estimate, 50% of his graduating class doesn’t have jobs; while they have to start repaying loans in September, he expects many of them will simply default.  Surely, their parents are making less money and many will have families of their own to support.  There’s never before been a time when a Wharton MBA graduate didn’t have an immediate job opportunity.

Unique times indeed.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

In the past few hours, videos of several Domino’s employees engaging in disgusting behavior (see: 1 and 2) have circulated through blogs and social media platforms, causing quite an uproar and brand damage to one of the nation’s leading pizza chains.

This is the changing face of PR in the era of social media. While the business of public relations is fast moving and days are unpredictable, social media comes equipped with videos (with brand images connected) and spreads faster than ever before.  Faster than daily newspapers can come out or TV programs can run updates.  Dangerous and scary.

Domino’s, to their credit, responded quickly and with well-delivered wording:  “The ‘challenge’ that comes with the freedom of the internet is that any idiot with a camera and an internet link can do stuff like this - and ruin the reputation of a brand that’s nearly 50 years old, and the reputations of 125,000 hard-working men and women across the nation and in 60 countries around the world.”

While there have always been rumors, and the advent of the Internet created sites to exchange information, today with video and social media, information can spread more quickly than ever before.  Luckily for them , Domino’s caught this very quickly, but they still could not stop brand damage from being done.  

In the age of instant communication, media and social monitoring is more vital than ever.   This story is still being told.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

As published today on OdwyerPR.

As a 34-year-old, born-and-bred New Yorker, as I read the details of Barack Obama’s stimulus plan, many memories come to mind. A product of the NYC public school system, I have worked hard for my money, and according to government classifications am “rich”, as I have made many sacrifices to get to where I am.  I’ve weathered a divorce, failed friendships, dwindling family time, and many others sacrifices entrepreneurs make, and I am sure these self-sacrifices will continue. 

Growing up in a Bronx household where my mother worked very hard, we were “latchkey” kids.  I worked 40 hours a week from the age of 11 in a local pizzeria run by a 30-something, hardworking Italian immigrant.  This man saved his money to open the business and worked 90 hours a week there to send his two young children to Catholic school.  My mom was the daughter of Holocaust survivors, who had instilled in her a unique endurance, but she was stubborn and refused to ever accept help from anyone.  It had to always be her way, and she refused to lose. We never asked nor received any help from the government.  My mother raised my sister and me to believe in ourselves, and she sacrificed herself tremendously so we could advance.

Prior to entering the field of Public Relations, I had one job.  I worked in that same local pizzeria every day until I was 23 years old.  Summers? Eighty hours a week doing dishes, mopping floors, and delivering pizza.  Though it was grueling, I loved it and wouldn’t change it for the world. But from a young age, I promised myself my children would never want for anything.

I was blessed to be accepted to an elite NYC public school, Stuyvesant HS.  I managed to avoid attending my local Bronx high school, described at the time as “one of the most dangerous high schools in the country,” by taking the subway system an hour and a half each day in the pre-Rudy Giuliani NYC.  Those were the lovely days of boom-boxes, graffiti and muggings every minute.  From the age of 14, I learned to navigate those causeways safely in order to reach school.  In high school, I met driven, focused young people for the first time, and was inspired to work harder.  Despite being accepted to numerous elite private colleges, I attended a NY State School, which I graduated from in 3 years after working hours and hours.  Memories of my mother clipping coupons, always picking up pennies from the floor, having me return bottles for the 5 cent return (in the pre-green days), and never using credit cards because you never knew if you’d be able to pay the bills remain in my mind then and now.

I started my agency, 5W Public Relations, in 2003.  Since then, it has grown to become one of the 20 largest independent PR agencies in the U.S., ending 2008 with nearly $12 million in revenue.  We have no debt, pay all vendors on time, and have always had a profitable business, as we work very hard and deliver results.  We don’t accept complacency; we demand and deliver.  We have never had a line of credit, don’t carry credit card balances and pay our bills.

Government to date has affected my firm in many ways: we have footed the bill for jury duty for countless employees; we have matched Medicare tax rates (with little faith the system will exist when most of my employees will eventually need it); and as my firm grew, we paid extra commercial real estate taxes.  Yet, we have always followed the letter of the law and kept forging forth.

Over the last few months, my firm, like many other companies across the world, has seen our business depreciate.  We have lost clients due to finances, collections have become much harder, and we have had layoffs.  Yesterday, the stimulus package arrived at my business.  We learned that my firm will have to pay 65% of COBRA’s costs for each laid-off employee, eventually to be reimbursed in some form of tax credits (as a business owner I pay and pay and pay – and never seem to get credits).  This stimulus package adds bills to my business, which is already down and suffering from lower cash flow. 

I hear about New York’s governor proposing to raise taxes another 4 percent and Obama consumed with the popular tale of “taxing the rich.”  Growing up in NYC, I always viewed the rich as elite folks who were billionaires – Rockefellers who ran humongous publicly-traded corporations – not my boss from 20 years ago, who owns seven local pizzerias and surely makes more than the $250,000 a year our President and Governor deem as the salary of the rich.  These so-called rich are the people who create jobs and who sacrifice.  People who work hard.

Today’s government is putting more strain on the hardworking entrepreneur.  It is taxing energetic people who sacrifice every day to create opportunities for others as well as themselves.   This is simply not the answer to the nation’s devastating problems.  Countless small businesses are comatose and need stimulation; it’s not their responsibility to bail out individuals.   The drivers of the American economy aren’t the poor and the jobless, but the entrepreneurs who create the opportunities for these jobless Americans.

The new government taxes will result in more job losses.  They will penalize the productive and give needlessly to the unproductive.  They will relinquish an entrepreneur’s motivation to work even harder to provide jobs.  This political hurricane sweeping through our businesses will change the country’s landscape for the worse.  It’s nothing more than un-American.  (And by the way, don’t forget, when I die, my kids will be taxed another 50 percent on my money.)

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Media baron Rupert Murdoch issued an urgent internal document late Monday, warning his staff: “We are in the midst of a phase of history in which nations will be redefined and their futures fundamentally altered….  Many people will be under extreme pressure and many companies mortally wounded….  Let me be very clear about our company: where others might step back from their commitment…we will renew ours.”

I agree.  Anyone who doesn’t understand this, at any level of work and at any size of company, will be on the sidelines for a real long time.  Urgency now.  Immediacy and passion.

Truly amazing times.  Realize it every day.
Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I had lunch today with a group of junior employees, preceded by a meeting with a star former intern looking for advice on his career quest (he lamented, “Could there ever be a harder time?”).  Contrary to public opinion, I think now could be the ideal time for young people to succeed.  Certainly, they are in a better spot than older people who are struggling.  Young people have energy and can go and do endlessly.  Now is the time to use that edge.  There’s less pressure at home, no pre-conceived notion of how to do things, and hopefully not as much debt (or bad mortgage).  If it truly is a new economic world, young people have the best opportunities to succeed in it.  Albeit untraditional opportunities, but opportunities nonetheless.

I had the chance today to attend a class with my Rabbi, who spoke of people taking vacations to deal with the pressure during times like these.  As he said, now more than ever isn’t the time to take vacations.  Will the pressure and problems be solved after vacation?  No.  In reality, the problems and pressure will be twice as bad upon your return.  Now is the time to work twice as hard. Vacations will only compound the problems.  

Similarly, as an entrepreneur, I understand that there is no such thing as a business idea that is 100% right.  People doubting you at times is a healthy thing.  There will always be some opposition, because one who has no enemies has never done anything.  It’s not easy to succeed, or everyone would be successful.  Right now, it’s more important than ever before to keep your head down, focus, work hard and refuse to give in.  Do better and don’t accept failure.

Here at 5WPR, we have actually hired a new full-time recruiter simply to pursue employees who are willing and able at times such as these to do the extraordinary.  Have a client you need serviced properly, but your agency’s falling apart? Call me… Have a small agency but can no longer pay the bills? Are you someone who can get a media hit an hour? We firmly believe these people exist, and we are actively seeking them out. 

This isn’t the time to make short-term mistakes, which harm one’s long term success.  Short-term solutions with a long term vision are the way to victory.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

Yesterday, I spoke with a group of 40 MBA students visiting from France who came to my office.  As we spoke about job opportunities in the new market, the similarities between the new financial realities of the U.S. and the socialist system of France became readily apparent, as Newsweek in fact recently noted.  While I don’t usually blog on politics, I can’t resist the opportunity to refer to this brilliant letter on how the current political system is adversely affecting entrepreneurs, which has been making the rounds on the Internet and which a number of entrepreneur clients have forwarded to me.  I absolutely agree with the sentiments of it, and I think we are living in tremendously unique financial times. 

As I remarked a few months ago in The Atlanta Journal Constitution, the era of trust in the U.S. simply doesn’t exist these days.  As the era of lies and liars emerges – Bernie Madoff, Bear Sterns, A-Rod – brands that can manage to communicate authentically can win in a major way.  I believe marketing in the short term is best done on a personal basis with niche marketing or hand-to-hand combat. Targeted strategic communications and PR plans will win a lot better in the short term.  It’s a sniper rather than a machine gun (and yes, this economy remains a war). 
 

It’s remarkable that things are so bad these days in the newspaper business that shares in the New York Times Co. on Friday slumped to a low of $3.99, less than the price of the Sunday paper. 
 

While many people often speak about the value of social media, there are also dangers that we must be aware of.  A competitor recently “friended” me on facebook, and then contacted nearly all of my friends in an attempt to send them information on his agency.  Similarly, LinkedIn and other networks are dreams come true for recruiters, competitors and the like.  So be careful with your public contacts.  Risks and reward should both be considered when participating in new social media platforms.
 

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

1:  I am working harder than I have in quite a while.  I vowed a month or so ago not to leave my desk until 10PM at least twice every week.  Sacrifices have to be made; there’s simply too much to be done and extra work is necessary. It’s tiring, and there is no foreseeable end to this need for instant results.  Right now, it seems there’s an inability for brands to look long term.  I think it’s a year to grin and bear it.

Today, a longtime client wrote to me describing a major, very unexpected business shift: “These are not normal times…when I pick up the paper to find out that Macy’s is now cutting 7000 jobs and consolidating 4 divisions into one…In normal times I would be amazed…in these times I am not surprised.”

2:  I very much agree with a comment I read today on www.adage.com: “One, social media is still a hot topic with agencies. Two, among clients, social media is lukewarm.”  I agree that while there’s a lot of dialogue in the agency community, few companies really spend on social media, and that’s surprising.  I think there’s tremendous opportunity for companies willing and able to take chances with their brands, but social media is still lip service more than action for clients.

3: I have made a point of interviewing a lot of people during these tight times; there’s a lot of talent that wasn’t previously obtainable. I have met some great people, but those who want PR jobs need to realize that there’s less time and less money than before.  Lateral moves may no longer be possible, and sometimes people may have to do more for less money. 

While the cream will rise to the top, certain people must be prepared to make less money during times such as these.  I know I will this year, and anyone with a sizeable agency who says otherwise is someone I’d call Pinocchio.

Ronn Torossian
A late night at work in February
5WPR

One of my closest friends, a well-known person in his field, emailed me with a witty one-liner from an industry conference this week: “The game has changed, but I still love playing it.”  This afternoon, a credit card that we have done business with for years called out of the blue and said that we now have a credit limit.  We have perfect credit, and this company hounded us for months to take a credit line with them, and we have never had a credit limit.  But they said the limit was standard for every company they work with.  The times they are changing.

The world has changed; the question is for how long.

I believe those of us in the service industry - PR, advertising, marketing and the like - need to work harder than ever before.  We need to be more focused and keep our eyes on the ball.  We can control our own destiny, but especially now, only excellence can survive.

Ronn Torossian
5WPR