PR Resource

Not Invented Here is a frequent slam used by entities facing unpleasant competition. They cannot take seriously a product or service, which they did not discover and develop. NASA is facing the NIH syndrome with SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. Rather than welcoming the new propulsion system, NASA is doubling down on its Space Launch System, which will cost more to build and fire off than SpaceX’s machine. It seems the agency is living in the past and unable to accept that a commercial entity has beaten it to the finish line with a better and cheaper product. The Falcon Heavy will now go about its business of launching satellites and retrieving boosters for reconditioning and reuse. Meanwhile, Boeing, which is building the SLS, has much to prove that its giant candle will actually be better than the Falcon Heavy, which is here and working today.  SpaceX has won the PR war and NASA is scrambling to catch up.

The NRA is once again defending ownership of guns while relatives prepare to bury 17 murdered students and teachers. An unanswered question is: “Can we learn from other countries what to do?”  Notably, Australia. The Land Down Under banned rapid fire firearms in 1996 after a fatal mass shooting in Tasmania. It hasn’t had a fatal mass shooting in which five or more people have died since then. There is no good reason for semi-automatic weapons in the hands of civilians. They fire with each pull of the trigger without needing to reload because they have a magazine of bullets. Even though they are the most popular long gun sold in America, they deserve to be banned as Australia has done. One can remain secure, have fun on a rifle range and still hunt with breech-loading weapons. The NRA’s publicity has gone too far for too long.

If you are Huawei, how do you persuade the US government to use your telecommunications equipment?  The FBI, NSA and CIA have all cautioned Americans not to use its phones because of a chance of espionage. Huawei is successful throughout the world but not in America because of security fears. It has tried time and again to rebut charges that the Chinese government can use its equipment for intelligence gathering. So far, nothing has worked. The company is in a PR black hole from which it seemingly cannot get out. Persuasion for Huawei starts with the government. If it can’t convince the intelligence agencies that it does not work for the Chinese government, then there is no place else to go. America’s cellular companies aren’t about to work with it and risk the wrath of the Feds. It’s a tough position to be in and one for which there are few answers.

If there is one tech leader who knows about corporate hubris, it is Bill Gates. Microsoft battled with the Federal Government for years over its monopolistic approach to marketing. That is why his warning to the tech community should be taken seriously. He sees companies on direct paths to regulation if they don’t control themselves. He tells companies they have to cooperate with the government more than they are doing.   He cautions that tech leaders should not hold to their views over that of the Feds. Gates skated around the Free Speech argument some companies are making. Regulators will transgress the First Amendment when they feel justified to do so, and tech giants should resist when that happens, but otherwise, Gates words should be taken to heart in Silicon Valley.

The CEO of The New York Times is predicting that the print version of the paper has only 10 years before it is gone. That may be optimistic.  Older technologies have a way of hanging on long after their expiration date. Still, it is a surprising statement that paper might not be around that much longer. The Times has a thriving digital presence, and it is pouring resources into it to improve it constantly. In 10 years time, it is likely the web site will be driving all of the news, culture and arts reporting. What the Times’ needs is advertising on the web site that supplants the full-page spreads in the paper. I, for one, am not ready for the day the paper edition goes away, but I’ll adjust when it comes, if it does.

Aetna Insurance has given a blow to its reputation. This comes from the admission of a former medical director that he never reviewed patients’ records before turning them down for procedures. Rather, he let nurses on staff make the decisions and he validated them. California’s insurance commissioner expressed outrage over the disclosure and has launched an investigation into the company. Aetna’s black eye was self-inflicted. It should have known that allowing someone other than a doctor to deny medical procedures was not going to work for the long term. Now the company has to defend itself in court and before the commissioner and try to regain its footing. It might not be easy.

Amtrak has put its reputation at risk based on the number of accidents it has had recently. Some were not its fault — hitting a garbage truck on the tracks that didn’t belong there. Others are due to maintenance and human failure. At least one was egregious. Train travel is supposed to be safe. The rail company is falling down on keeping passengers secure. There are reasons for its failures but most stem from a lack of money to keep the system from deteriorating. Amtrak has been on the edge of bankruptcy for years and it shows in the state of its equipment, which is old and poorly kept. The railroad needs to cut back to profitable routes, but Congress won’t consider it. As long as the impasse continues, Amtrak will be a sick system limping instead of running.

The idea seemed good. An online tailor would use artificial intelligence to measure the size of a customer’s shirt. All the customer had to do was send in a photo of one his shirts and the computer would do the rest. There was only one glitch. The AI program didn’t work. Shirts came back too long or too short and ill-fitting. The company, Original Stitch, a start-up, was forced to stop using the software. One wonders how rigorously the system was tested before it was introduced to the marketplace. This kind of unforced error is enough to sink a company and there is no good reason for it to happen. It’s a PR blackeye and marketing faux pas. Particularly for a new business trying to gain its footing a failure like this can be devastating. It’s one more reminder that a rush to market before one is ready is a rookie mistake.

SpaceX is set to launch its new heavy rocket today. It is a $90 million event and if the rocket blows up, it will cost the company five years of work. It is a high risk, high reward exercise and in one 5-minute period it can burnish the company’s reputation or ruin it. The company has tested and retested components and conducted a static firing of the engines, but it won’t know if everything is working until the launch. It is then in mission control that nerves will be taut and breathing difficult. Should it succeed, there will be high-fives, cheering and smiles. Should something go wrong, there will be silence. There are other happenings in the world that are high-risk like this one, but none so public and witnessed by millions as a rocket lighting off and arcing into the sky. Here’s a wish for a good flight and problem-free journey.

Philly fans have no sense of decorum in their celebration. Yes, the Eagles won the Super Bowl for the first time, but that provided no excuse to shatter windows, take down light poles and leap from awnings. Last night’s revelry wasn’t quite a riot, but it could have turned into one quickly.  The out-of-control crowd was poor PR for the city and its citizens. Fans should be happy, delirious that their team finally broke through, but there is a step between unbounded joy and destruction of property. Some Philadelphia citizens crossed the line and gave the city a bad name.