Author: Brian Lee

Cecil the Lion

Posted on by Brian Lee

In media relations, especially during a crisis, I always tell clients to get their story out first–don’t let others shape your story. (Note: this blog post takes a look at the PR aspect of the Cecil the Lion story, not the morality of it.)

Walter Palmer, who killed Cecil, issued a statement through a PR firm, but it was way too late. By that point, the media and people on social media already painted him in a extremely negative light (see the Yelp page for his dental practice, though you should note Yelp has already deleted about 5,000 posts).

In several subsequent articles, people familiar with big game hunting said that it’s actually common for a local guide to do all the work (scouting, luring the animal, etc.) before the client does the killing. Thus, it’s plausible that Palmer didn’t know he had killed Cecil the Lion, nor did he realize that it was lured illegally out of its protected zone.

Had he said that immediately, as well as explaining the method of killing (arrow followed by bullet) and garnering more experts to corroborate his story, he could have softened the blow. But, that’s all a moot point now.

Salt on the wound

Posted on by Brian Lee
Image courtesy of Mister GC at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Like many public relations practitioners, I’m frustrated by people in an organization who leak information (confidential or otherwise). However, journalists’ lack of computer security makes leaks even worse.

According to a ScienceDaily article, journalists aren’t doing enough to safeguard the info they obtain: “Despite heightened awareness of surveillance tactics and privacy breaches, existing computer security tools aren’t meeting the needs of journalists working with sensitive material.”

Media outlets are constant targets of hackers, according to Computer Business Review. This could mean leaked info that a journalist intended to only partially report on could still be published in its entirety due to hackers.

That’s another reason to stop leaks in an organization.

Wallpapers Deleted by Twitter

Posted on by Brian Lee

This week Twitter removed users’ customized backgrounds and replaced them with a simple off-white background.

Social media is a tool for branding yourself, many users felt that personalized backgrounds on Twitter were a form of self-branding. Now, background images are only available on Tweet pages, list pages and collections pages, according to Twitter.

Many Twitter users are upset that the option of creating a customized background is now gone. But there are more ways to build your brand, whether it is a personal brand or a company’s brand, on social media other than customizing the background of your twitter page.

To build your brand on social media be sure to post frequently, interact with other users, catch the attention of influencers, use the social media sites that your audience uses and post valuable and shareable content. Doing these things on social media will display your brand in an interactive way that is much more effective than displaying your brand in a stagnant background image.