Author: Jim Horton

Two Secret Service guards were in a car that crashed outside the White House.  One was driving.  It is one more embarrassment for the agency, which has had a string of high-profile faux pas.  How does one put a stop to the stupidity and regain a reputation for competence and professionalism?  PR won’t do it.  It takes revision of policies and practices within the agency itself to make a difference.  Then, and only then, can the agency begin to turn itself around in the public’s estimation.  The list of mistakes and bad behavior at the agency is long enough that one can conclude there is something wrong in how it is guarding the President and his family.  This is a come-down from the quiet but important role that the agency has had for decades in which there was no question that a Secret Service agent would lay down his life for the one he was to protect.  Every organization needs renewal some time.  It would seem the Secret Service is at that point.

There is a private effort to build a lunar lander and use it as a test to mine the moon.  Investors should keep a distance from the project and PR should as well.  The value of the minerals extracted on the moon — whatever they may be — would have to be astronomical (pun intended) to make the project economical.  The problem with space in general is that costs of operating there escalate as soon as one leaves earth’s atmosphere.   While it is fun to think about what one might do elsewhere than the earth, no one yet has developed a method to escape earth’s orbit efficiently other than by use of a rocket, which is expensive and prone to glitches.  In addition, one would have to process minerals on the moon to justify the cost of sending it back to earth.  This would require some type of plant to segregate and melt minerals into bars or something else easily transported.  There would have to be a desperate need for the substance on earth to make that practical.  Thus far, there has been no evidence that such a demand is there.  People are always allowed to have their dreams, but this one is pie-in-the-sky and hardly worth publicizing.

As this shows, even the best analysts have trouble predicting the future.  There is no guideline for wearable technology.  Apple is not the first to market with a software watch, but it is the first to put the heft of a major brand behind the product.  Even so, analysts can’t figure out how many people will want to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to put one of these multi-function timepieces on their wrists.  It is a reminder again of how little we know about the future and the need to stay humble when confronting what might come.  Apple hopes the watch will be a stunning success and remake the marketplace as prior products have done.  All it can do now is wait and stay alert as users discuss their experience with the product and their likes and dislikes.  Several naysayers have speculated that the the watch will be a flop because no one will want to fiddle with a tiny screen and short-term battery life, but they don’t know either what will happen until months from now.  Apple’s PR department can work hard to get the features, functions and design of the watch before the public but it can’t guarantee either what will happen.  It is a white-knuckle ride into the unknown — potentially exhilarating, hopeful, and with a chance of failure.

There is excitement in the tech community over the rapidly developing Internet of Things, but it could turn into a PR nightmare.  The Internet of Things refers to online sensors and devices that one can put nearly anywhere from homes to cars to refrigerators to one’s own wrist.  There is only one major problem with doing so — lack of security.  Tens of thousands of these connected devices were installed without basic protection, and using a readily available search engine, they were discovered.  Fortunately, the searchers weren’t interested in hacking the sensors, but someone will be — and soon.  That so many devices could remain open to hackers reveals the naivete of the original users.  It is part of a romantic notion still prevalent in parts of the internet that the network is built for good and not evil.  The thought process goes like this.  Who would want to hack this device and besides, how would they find it?  The answer was no one would want to do it and they couldn’t find it anyway.  Neither of those answers are true any longer.  We know now that hackers will go anywhere and penetrate anything for fun, for profit, for reasons that are inimical to the owner of the device.  Before the Internet of Things becomes ubiquitous, there needs to be a better sense and practice of security.

A Dalai Lama is believed to be reincarnated in a young child upon his death.  The current Dalai Lama is saying that may no longer be true.  Why?  Because the Chinese who have subjugated Tibet claim the right to appoint the next religious leader.  Many Tibetans consider that fraud as does the current Dalai Lama.  And, it is.  The Chinese have taken over the religion for political purposes and now claim that the Dalai Lama “profanes” Buddhism by suggesting that reincarnation comes to an end with him.  The turnabout is irony, but the current Dalai Lama has been living in exile for decades because the Chinese pushed him out of Tibet.  The Chinese hope to use the appointment of the next Dalai Lama as a PR victory for the government in winning the hearts and minds of Tibetans.  The current Dalai Lama is trying to forestall that.  It is a curious situation but not unique.  The Chinese government also has tried to appoint the bishops of Roman Catholics in China in order to maintain state control.  Roman Catholics have protested that too but the government continues its effort.  It is a PR black eye for China and for religious freedom, but the Chinese do not care.

Scientists measured record levels of CO2 in the atmosphere during the month of February, and they expect to break that record in March.  The public either didn’t know or yawned.  Who cares about atmospheric warming when there are record levels of snow and cold in the Midwest and Northeast.  It has been obvious for some time that there is a disconnect between the scientific community and average citizens.  The missing link is the impact of global warming on the individual.  There is no good way to show the personal effect of melting glaciers and the receding arctic ice packs.  Scientists talk of impacts in 50 to 100 years, but most of today’s citizens except the youngest will never see these changes.  So, researchers continue to sound the klaxon in frustration.  It will take a catastrophic event or series of them to bring the public around.  That is a poor communication but there is little else that might work.

There is something about the human psyche that disdains moderation.  When a good deal arises, people go all-in and forget that it will end someday.  Consider the New York hotel market.  It is in the middle of a bust with thousands of rooms under construction.  Apparently developers decided that one can’t go wrong by building new hotels in Manhattan.  That might be true in the long run, but today, occupancy is down and the market is weak.  The hotel boom and bust is a reminder to communications practitioners to moderate their language.  One never knows when opportunity has passed and one will look like a fool to continue touting yesterday’s fad.   The energy market is in a similar situation.  The oil boom brought thousands of wells on line and stimulated the growth of reserves.  Now, tanks are full and the price has plummeted.  Tens of thousands face layoffs in the oil fields and upstream.  Apparently, no one considered the effects of abundant supply.  Good times come to an end.  Only a few niche players can take advantage of opportunity for decades.  Chances are your company is not one of them.

Hillary Clinton did not use State Department e-mail during her time leading it.  This was a clear breach of regulations done with intent.  The questions now are what the government will do about it, if anything, and how it might affect her candidacy for the White House.  Chances are that nothing will happen in either arena, since she doesn’t have a visible opponent in the Democratic Party for the nomination.  One wonders why she would risk her reputation by doing what she did.  She must have had strong personal reasons for staying invisible in government e-mail servers.  If so, she might need to air them now to put the controversy at rest.  What it does show is that Clinton has no reluctance in bending or breaking rules if it serves her purposes.  Whether that is good or bad depends on the circumstances.  It will cost her some votes, probably not many, and it is an opening for an opponent’s attack in the race to the Presidency.

Once upon a time, nearly every media training session included a reference to CBS’ “60 Minutes” news magazine.  It was a boogeyman that spurred corporate executives to work hard and understand how to handle hostile TV interviews.  Today, it isn’t what it once was, but it can still pack a punch.  Consider this case.   An airtight “60 Minutes” expose of Lumber Liquidators has crushed the flooring company’s stock.  It makes no difference that the company claims the program used the wrong testing method.  The damage is done and the company faces hundreds of millions in fines and settlements.  The harm to its reputation could destroy its business.  Why?  Because the company failed to keep a close check on its Chinese suppliers.  It is a fundamental principle of PR and marketing that one deliver a product that is what it claims to be.  Caveat Emptor is a poor way to do business and an invitation to “60 Minutes” to visit.

Who would have thought a fitness tracker on one’s wrist could kill a diet business?  But apparently it is doing just that.  Sales and earnings of Weight Watchers International are down as people move to direct measurement of physical activity.  It is hard to know whether Weight Watchers saw this coming.  Marketplace disruption can happen from anywhere at any time and is a reason why CEOs should have a bit of paranoia.  There are competitors, known and unknown, who can make a company irrelevant quickly through a better business model, technology and access to capital markets.  This should engender a sense of humility in how companies communicate to shareholders and customers.  A large part of that communication should be listening to detect early the trends that will affect a business in two to three years.  Companies that get into trouble have an attitude that they know best what customers need.  The corporate graveyard is populated with them.  I have witnessed the decline and fall of a number of businesses that couldn’t adapt in time to new rules of the marketplace.  One in particular was so blind that the CEO refused to believe his own market research department that was tracking declining market share.  He kept pumping out machines that no one wanted.  The implosion of the company was rapid and complete.  The CEO had forgotten or failed to believe that disruption is real and constant.  Communications practitioners should know better.