Real-life media success stories

Fortune 500 company faces a tough cross-examination

Situation: Dateline NBC requests an interview from a $3.4 billion retail company—one of the top two in its industry—about a controversial topic. The public relations director weighs the pros and cons of appearing on the program and agrees to the interview.

Challenge: The company chooses two subject-matter experts to appear on camera, but they’re unfamiliar with talking to the news media, especially in a high-pressure situation.

Solution: Kathy studies the issue with the PR director and determines which hard-hitting questions Dateline will most likely ask. She conducts three media training sessions with the two company representatives, including mock interviews and video playback. A Dateline reporter travels to the company’s headquarters with a camera crew to conduct the interview. Afterward, the spokespeople tell Kathy they were completely at ease while being grilled by Dateline thanks to the practice and critique. Ultimately, Dateline never uses the interview, perhaps because the two managers did such a good job.

Worldwide technology company seeks to regain its brand

Situation: A Fortune 300 distributor of electronic parts, solutions, and services has lost much of its visibility in the marketplace. After a fight with an industry trade publication over a story the former CEO didn’t like, the company stopped all advertising.

Challenge: The company’s major competitor is better known to suppliers and customers thanks to its continuous advertising and publicity program.

Solution: The new CEO launches a major branding initiative, with publicity as one of the main strategies to help build the company’s reputation. For the last six years, Kathy has conducted media-training sessions with managers in all divisions of the company, including locations in Germany and Japan. Goals include helping executives understand the value of publicity and how it can directly contribute to the bottom line and giving the managers interview skills to get their messages across. The corporate director of communications says he consistently gets his “unfair” share of media coverage, while accumulating millions of dollars worth of free publicity.

Global electronics manufacturer accused of contaminating groundwater

Situation: The company has been ordered by the EPA to clean up ground water at the designated Superfund Site. Meanwhile, lawyers have filed a class-action suit on behalf of homeowners in the area who say their property values have decreased due to the contamination.

Challenge: As the largest private employer in the state, the manufacturer gets negative publicity about the issue, risking its worldwide reputation.

Solution: In an effort to help it win in the “court of public opinion,” the company asks Kathy to conduct monthly training sessions with managers in all areas of the company. The goal is to improve employees’ communication about the issue, whether to the news media, during public meetings, or with friends and neighbors in the community. Ultimately, the company wins the lawsuit in a jury trial.

Chef competes on the Food Channel

Situation: For the first time, a chef at an Arizona restaurant has been chosen to compete on the popular Iron Chef program.

Challenge: The head chef and his two assistants prepare for the cooking portion of the show, but they need help learning to present their creations to judges in a televised situation.

Solution: Kathy videotapes the chef practicing his presentation and offers suggestions. The team flies to New York to record the show and wins the competition against well-known chef Bobby Flay.

Arizona Indian tribes could lose gaming activities on their lands

Situation: Proposition 202, negotiated with the state, allows Indian tribes to both continue and expand their gaming operations. However, two competing propositions in the same election would deny gaming on Arizona Indian reservations.

Challenge: One of the competing propositions, supported by racetracks, has strong support and financial backing.

Solution: The Indian Gaming Association, representing 17 tribes, launches the most expensive campaign in the state’s history. Kathy travels around the state, helping tribal leaders learn to speak effectively about the issues to voters. On videotape, Kathy asks the questions raised by the opposition, and they practice using the campaign’s key messages. Proposition 202 soundly defeats the other two propositions and limited, regulated gaming continues on the Indian reservations.