PR Resource

It is deeply satisfying to be proven right when everyone says one is wrong. Target, the brick-and-mortar retailer, finds itself in that enviable position. Contrary to conventional wisdom that retail is on the way out in an era of e-commerce, Target’s CEO spent “$7 billion to remodel 600 stores, open new small-format stores and grow its private label brands.”  Wall Street hated the idea. Target’s same-store sales grew by a hefty 3 percent compared to a 1.3 percent decline in the previous year. The retailer is back and healthy compared to struggling companies such as Sears and JC Penney. Doubling down is a risky strategy but it is working for Target. From an investor relations perspective, there wasn’t much to say until the company proved its approach. Stock analysts are tough to persuade without numerical evidence. It must be interesting to listen in to the quarterly analyst calls.

One sure way to destroy good employee relations is to chisel on wages. But companies are doing that with their time clocks constantly. It is a nickel-and-dime ploy, but it adds to real money over a year that workers don’t get. There is no excuse for it either. The days when pay was calculated by hand are gone and the onerous addition of minutes is taken care of by software. So why do employers keep doing it? Every penny saved in wages drops to the bottom line. Inevitably, a worker will sue for missing income, and the company will have to defend itself in court.  That is expensive for employee and employer. It would be far easier if a company compensated people for work done, but the real fear is that it would lead to abuse by employees chiseling the company. Good employee relations should lead to a solution that doesn’t compromise the time clock.

Sony is the ultimate hardware company — TVs, cameras, phones, PlayStations. But, it is becoming a software company by design. It is a risky move for its image and long-time strategy. The company embarked on the new course in 2012 with its incoming CEO who was tired of earning pennies on the dollar for its gadgets. He is now heading a company that makes a record operating profit, primarily from software and intellectual property. Sony has been guiding investors toward its new strategy but they are still uncertain it will work in the long run. Left unsaid is the PR for consumers the company needs to do. Will they be confused about the Sony’s new path?  Will they forget Sony’s hardware and move easily to its software? This is a situation in which only time will tell. Sony ruled home electronics for decades with high-quality and innovative equipment. It is sad to see them give that up, but the market has shifted and they must change or die.

Nicholas Maduro has won-re-election in Venezuela, but how he did it verges on fraud, if not outright illegality. He jailed likely opponents. He bribed the poor with boxes of food at a time when there is none available for anyone in the stores. He set up tents near polling places to distribute prizes for those who did vote for him. He ran the election in the face of a boycott at the polls. The negatives about him are abundant. He is presiding over a country whose economy has collapsed despite having the largest oil reserves of any nation on earth. He doesn’t know how to handle hyperinflation, which has rendered Venezuela’s currency worthless. He has done nothing to slow the outflow of citizens who can no longer deal with the country’s chaos. Maduro positions himself as a strong man, but he is weak in administration and governance. His relations with his countrymen are at a low, and if he had run without giving himself overwhelming advantages, he would have lost. Even so, there are accusations that he had to jigger the voting. The only thing that keeps him in power is the military with whom he had better maintain good PR.

Google at its recent developers’ conference demonstrated an artificial intelligence voice that was so real people were saying it could pass the Turing test. But now, doubt has been raised about the demo because no one outside the company can say whether it was staged or real.  Google won’t reveal which salon it contacted, if it did, and a news organization has taken to calling salons in the Silicon Valley area to determine if they answer the phone the same way as heard in the demo. So far, they haven’t. The medium claims Google’s demo was fake. This has sparked a discussion. How much artifice is too much?  If Google did construct a false demo, it would be a gaffe in this instance. Google was trying to show it has mastered the human voice and response to some human queries. If it hasn’t, it deserves to be held to scorn. If it has, its technological feat is amazing. Only the company knows, and it is not talking. This is a time for transparency.

This fellow is taking the fall for an error in contracting with Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer. He could have pointed to the former CEO who was a co-signatory on the agreement, but he didn’t. He took full responsibility. That is old-fashioned, stand-up obligation to the role he served in the company. He should be commended. PR would be easier if more executives admitted errors instead of ducking and/or covering. it is not often one sees a senior manager who publicly admits to being at fault and takes action to correct it. Novartis should do what it can to keep its general counsel involved with the company as a consultant or something else. He deserves it.

Kaspersky Lab has been dogged with the suspicion that it is in cahoots with the Russian government and helping implant malware throughout the internet. Denials have done no good. Now the company is taking steps to move some of its core processes to Switzerland, far away from Moscow. That, plus a new transparency institute funded by the Lab, are intended to lower fears that Kaspersky is compromised. While the move addresses the issue of proximity to Russia, it still doesn’t answer the question whether the company has secret alliances with Putin’s agents.  Only time can resolve that, and it may take years. There is little a company can do when it is cast in the position that Kaspersky finds itself.

Harley-Davidson is involved in a dumb tactic. It is about to rehash bad results at its annual meeting so it has barred the media from attending.  This is a change from its practice in previous years when it threw its function open to all. Predictably, governance commentators were not impressed. As one said, “They can run but they can’t hide.” Now the local media, especially, will make an effort to report what was said and questions shareholders asked. The company would have been far better off if it had just opened its doors. Chances are that its meeting would have been reported in a few paragraphs at most. One wonders if some companies ever learn transparency or whether it is a lesson that has to be repeated year after year.

Xerox, the once powerful and now forlorn, office equipment powerhouse is dangling with an uncertain future. It just called off its merger with Fujifilm under pressure from activist investors. It is replacing its CEO and making changes to the board of directors. Xerox’s customers and employees are facing fear of the future. There is little PR can do in a time like this. The CEO can hardly calm the waters because he isn’t going to be there for much longer. The investors are outsiders and might not know the morale of the company. Statements from HR might mean little if there are cuts in the future. Xerox will do well if it holds on to its key talent, but no one should be surprised if they are looking elsewhere for employment. It is a public and employee relations crisis.

Google is contending with a PR problem surrounding its artificial intelligence voice. It is so good critics are condemning it as a violation of ethics and trust. The company unveiled the “voice” at its annual I/O conference and the audience cheered. Those who fear AI immediately criticized the natural delivery as too good. There is no way people can tell they are talking to a machine and not a human. This for AI critics is the worst nightmare and a sign machines are taking the place of humans. Google needs to address the fear before it becomes a reason for regulation and prevention of further AI development. This is not the first nor last time new technologies have ignited opposition, but as in the past, there needs to be a clear presentation to the public that technologies are a benefit to mankind and not a harm. This might in the form of a “killer app” everyone wants to use or a winning demonstration of progress. For every step forward, there needs to be one backward to appease critics and educate the public.