Filed under: Public Relations
Here is the list of the year’s biggest PR disasters that I shared during an interview with 850 KOA’s April Zesbaugh this morning:
CORPORATE
Penn State University
Two years ago, Tiger Woods was the gold standard for PR debacles. Last year, it was the BP Gulf Coast oil spill. This year, that “honor” belongs to Penn State. In a matter of weeks, the university went from one of the nation’s most revered to one of the most reviled following its response – or more accurately its lack of a response – to a horrible child sex abuse scandal that saw two administrators indicted, a former assistant coach arrested and football coaching legend Joe Paterno fired. Making the situation even worse from a public relations perspective, the university had access to grand jury information for months and was still unprepared to deal with the fallout.
Netflix
Netflix was riding high as one of the few positive business stories in 2011. Subscriber numbers were up and the stock continued to defy the bleak economy. And then Netflix got cocky. The company inexplicably surprised customers and Wall Street by announcing a huge price increase as part of a plan to separate its streaming and DVD-by-mail services. Consumers reacted by canceling their service in droves, forcing Netflix to quickly backtrack and abandon its plans. But the damage was already done. The company lost more than a million subscribers and its stock price has dropped 75 percent from its highs this past summer.
Bank of America
Banks have joined oil companies as the businesses that people love to hate, and Bank of America felt that wrath in 2011. Bank of America badly underestimated the populist outrage that existed due to the bank bailouts when it announced a plan to introduce a $5 monthly fee for its debit card users. Bank of America expected other banks to quickly join it in charging the fee, but consumer outrage spread almost virally, leaving the bank on its own as (more…)
Filed under: Crisis Communications
9News’ Anastasiya Bolton is looking into the details of a second non-profit organization affiliated with Traction Communications’ Kirsten Hamling.
Filed under: Johnston Wells
JohnstonWells announced that it has delivered 40 pairs of socks to the Delores Project, a homeless shelter for women, as part of its 40th anniversary celebration. As part of the ongoing celebration, “JohnstonWells has pledged to do something every 40 days from its 40th anniversary on Oct. 1.”
Filed under: Jobs
Amélie Company added Lexie Alcon as PR account executive, Andrew Hoffman as designer, and Brittany Tangsrud and Jean-Baptiste Deloffre as account executives.
Filed under: Wins
Emphasis Marketing & Communications has added Denver start up F³ Designs as a client. Emphasis will assist F³ with the launch of its debut product, an iPad case.
Filed under: journalism
Today’s passive-aggressive weather report is sponsored by KTLA:
Hat tip: Julie Scott (@jascott)
Filed under: SE2
Everybody talks a good game when it comes to authenticity and transparency, but SE2 has stepped its game up and offered readers of its annual holiday letter a behind-the-scenes look at the editing process:
Filed under: Weise
Weise Communications, an integrated marketing, advertising and public relations agency in Denver, has redesigned and relaunched its website.
Following recent questions about whether Traction Communications’ Kirsten Hamling misled firefighters and stole money intended for The Children’s Hospital Burn Center, the Colorado Attorney General’s office has filed suit against “Fired Up For Kids.” And the allegations are not pretty for Hamling. Among them:
15. In its solicitation materials, including materials sent to event sponsors as well as on its website, Fired Up For Kids has represented that it is a “Denver-based nonprofit organization” that donates all proceeds from special events and sales of The Colorado Firefighter Calendar to The Children’s Hospital Burn Center.16. Fired Up For Kids also has represented itself in public solicitation materials as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization.17. In fact, Fired Up For Kids never received 501(c)(3) status from the United States Internal Revenue Service. Nevertheless, upon information and belief, Fired Up For Kids never paid taxes.18. Kirsten Hamling was the sole director of Fired Up For Kids and its founder. Ms. Hamling is also the sole signatory on Fired Up for Kids operating account, maintained at Wells Fargo Bank.19. Almost immediately after the incorporation of Fired Up For Kids as a nonprofit corporation, Ms. Hamling began making charges of a personal nature to the Fired Up For Kids operating account. These charges continued through at least July 2010. Charges included money spent at nail and hair salons, money spent on gym memberships, money spent at department stores, and money spent on airline tickets to California. These charges had nothing to do with Fired Up For Kids.
So, based on the allegations, it appears that Hamling may either have admit that Fired Up For Kids is a non-profit and she misused and/or stole money it, or that Fired Up For Kids is a for-profit enterprise and she never paid taxes.
Filed under: Public Relations
Congratulations to Kate Stabrawa, who has been elected a board officer as vice chair of The Ohio State University Alumni Association’s board of directors. Her non-Ohio State time is spent as an account director for Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide in Denver.
Filed under: Public Relations
GroundFloor Media has been named agency of record for ClickBank,a global e-commerce network that enables online entrepreneurs to sell and distribute digital goods. GroundFloor Media will help ClickBank raise its industry profile through a full range of strategic communications initiatives, including message development, social media andmedia relations programs.
Filed under: Johnston Wells
Michele Wells, the eponymous Wells in JohnstonWells, has filed suit against her old firm for an undisclosed sum, according to the Denver Business Journal. The DBJ doesn’t provide any details, but I’m guessing it is for the $36,000 she claims JohnstonWells owes her for work performed during her short-lived return to the firm last year (see the comments section of this post).
I’m running out of jokes to make about Linhart winning awards, so I’ll just share this one with you straight up: Linhart has been named a national finalist for PRWeek’s Boutique Agency of the Year. Winners will be announced on March 1, 2012, at the PRWeek Awards dinner in New York City.
Filed under: GroundFloor Media
GroundFloor Media has introduced what it calls an “Online War Room,” a secure, collaborative site that allows the firm and clients to strategize responses to various crises.
Filed under: Wins
Sprocket Communications has landed three new clients: Icelantic’s Winter on the Rocks, the Colorado Mammoth and PanTerra Energy.
Filed under: KUSA
9News meteorologist Ashton Altieri accidentally hits on the crew at the desk.
Filed under: Denver Post
The fallout continues over at the Denver Post following last week’s news about 19 staffers accepting buyout offers. Today, Michael Roberts at Westword reports that the Post has announced internally a number of new assignments, and one surprising one is that Steve McMillan is out as business editor, replaced by deputy business editor Kristi Arellano. You can read the rest of the changes at Westword’s “Latest Word” blog.
Filed under: Obit
Denver restaurateur and philanthropist Noel Cunningham passed away unexpectedly yesterday. Noel was the driving force behind restaurants Strings, 240 Union and Ciao Baby, but he was also known for his prolific humanitarian efforts. I got to know Noel through my involvement in AfricAid, and today is an incredibly sad day for Denver. Lori Midson at Westword has a fitting tribute to Noel.
The Denver Post is reporting that the Colorado Springs Gazette has let about a dozen employees go, including editor Jeff Thomas.
Filed under: blogs
One of the most interesting parts of publishing this blog is seeing the search-engine queries that bring people here. Here is a list of some of my (verbatim) favorites from this week:
- who does libby weaver hair
- steve silvers gambling ring
- adele arakawa net worth
- deborah sherman swinger
- katy sabin and drew soicher screwed
- what is the difference between a pr person and a lobbyist
- libby weaver bra
Filed under: journalism
The Greenville News:
(Hat tip: @PeterMacKellar)
