SPM intern and OSU grad Brooke Feachen wowed our socks off so we’re keeping her! She has officially joined our team as an assistant account executive. She’s off her parents’ payroll and on to ours! Welcome Brooke!

Read the full story here:

http://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/new-cicis-unit-may-offer-glimpse-things-come?utm_campaign=20111115&utm_source=jolt&utm_medium=email

Reading the news out of Penn State this week is harrowing, as the university struggles to deal with a sex abuse scandal that spans years.  Students and alumni are reacting to allegations that a former member of the coaching staff abused at least 8 boys he mentored.  The University is under scrutiny because administrators may have lied to a grand jury investigating the crimes, and the athletic department is widely perceived as having brushed off initial reports of impropriety on the Penn State campus, where at least one assault is alleged to have happened. And now legendary coach Joe Paterno has been fired, along with the school’s president in a late attempt by the school’s board of trustees to salvage a shred of dignity.

It’s an awful situation, with innocent young victims, ruined careers and a badly tarnished image for a well-respected athletic program.  And it’s a classic crisis PR situation, the first rule of which we borrow from our friends in medicine: First Do No Harm. The collective blind eye that so many university officials turned is at the same time mind-boggling and sickening.

We in PR understand, of course, that even a flawlessly executed crisis plan can’t “fix” a situation like this —the damage goes far beyond reputation.  What PR can do, though, is offer a way to express regret and apologize, to convey a true understanding of the gravity of a situation, and to communicate a sincere commitment to prevent something similar from happening again.  Let’s hope Penn State understands that the firings are just the beginning. Reputation restoration is a long, hard fought battle.

Today, CiCi’s Pizza opened its first restaurant in Murphy, not far from the chain’s first location, which opened 26 years ago in Plano. The new restaurant showcases new design elements that the company is exploring for future use at other locations as part of CiCi’s “Build the Brand” growth strategy.

Each month we bestow the office 12-string on the SPMer whose rock star shone the brightest. This month Account Executive Loren Rutledge wins the honor for coming on board and stepping in several major projects without missing a beat.

SPM ROCKSTAR PROFILE

Name a few songs from your favorite playlist. M83, Midnight City; Avett Brothers, Head Full of Doubt and Priscilla Ahn, Dream

Stilettos or wedges? Wedges for work and stilettos after!

Stranded on an island, what’s your one must-have? My iPhone

Top adventure on your bucket list? To complete a triathlon

Fiction or non-fiction? Fiction

Maybe it was a slip of the tongue. Or perhaps a misquote. But every now and then we wonder why in the world a corporate executive or spokesperson says something so wrong. Welcome to “Shoulda said this…”

Neiman Marcus CEO Karen Katz was probably thrilled that her PR team got her an interview with the Wall Street Journal to talk about the luxury goods retailer’s acceptance of Visa and Mastercard after years of resistance.  As the story notes, “The move is the latest by Chief Executive Karen Katz to make the chain’s stores more accessible to younger, if slightly less affluent, shoppers.”

Now the story goes off the rails.

While Ms. Katz said the bumpy economic climate didn’t precipitate the decision, she expects the move to attract new customers. “We’d love to invite new, affluent customers into Neiman Marcus, and this gives them the possibility of shopping with us,” she said.

The sound you hear next is her PR team banging their heads on their keyboards.  This could NOT have been in the talking points! Or at least I hope not.

The CEO known for making Neiman’s more accessible with lower priced products and more outlet stores just stated she’s only interested in new affluent customers.  Not only was it a missed opportunity to state her company’s goal in making the change, but it actually negates that intent.  Plus it was kind of … rude.

Shoulda said … “We’d love to invite new customers into Neiman Marcus…”

Memorandum: From the Desk of D. Nial

To: Arizona McDonald’s franchisees

RE: This mom’s exposé on your dirty play areas

Saw the story on MSNBC. OK, so you got caught on video with a filthy, disgusting play area. Big whoop. Can you believe that woman went to the media? Like she thinks that will make any difference. Thank goodness you didn’t return those calls from the TV people  – they are so biased.  They didn’t even give your side of the story!

Oh, I suppose you could have cleaned up the play area then done media interviews thanking the woman for pointing out the problem, expressed regret that it got that bad, promised to be more vigilant in the future and unveiled your new cleaning protocol. Then maybe later you could have invited them back in to see how clean you’re keeping the area. That might have smoothed things over. But why give them the satisfaction? You showed her, banning her from your restaurants — that should shut her up!

I can’t wait for this whole thing to go away. Those posts on Facebook are really starting to make me mad, and I refuse to dignify them with a response!

Check out what our client Meals to Live is doing to help families living with a diabetic loved one. http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/Diabetes-dog—slater-132592053.html