 |
| Kittens that Conrad Black saved |
In a recent op-ed piece in the National Post he writes about how he and his wife saved two kittens who were trapped in some kind of storm drain on his property.
From a PR perspective, this shows that Conrad is a sharp guy when it comes to PR because rescuing kittens is pretty much a sure fire way to ingratiate yourself back in to the public's good books.
People (at least some) may still feel Black is a crook, but with moves like this they start think of him as a 'nice-guy crook', which is a major step towards shaking the 'crook' brand all together. One of the best ways to shake a negative brand is to implement cognitive dissonance, which is to say if the viewer holds two opposing views of your brand that contradict each other - such as in this case the views of 'nice guy' and 'crook' - then they move from being solidly biased against you to being open minded, as their mind seeks out more information to assess which of the contradictory views is more likely to be the true trait of the person or business.
Ironically, this is something that Mitt Romney fails to get. Romney donates a lot of money, millions, every year, yet he hardly ever talks about it. If he were to talk about that more it would create cognitive dissonance among those who dislike him - He's a cut-throat venture capitalist who will do anything to make buck, but hey, wait a second, he gives away millions at the same time, just who is this guy?
But what's more impressive about Black is just how good a writer he is. When reading his recounting of events you feel like you are reading a novel as opposed to an op-ed piece.
Thumbs up to Conrad on the PR front for having the insight to realize that human interest stories are an excellent way of rebuilding your brand, and furthermore, thumbs up on such a well written op-ed (very few PR folks, much less non-PR folks, whether they be CEO's or not, can write as eloquently as Black).
For the back story on Conrad Black and how he went from press barron to spending over three years in jail, you can view a lengthy Vanity Fair piece written in 2011.
Conrad Black was a victim of our narrowly held media where the rich and powerful decide how all or most of us will think. Remember the pictures they posted where Conrad had a bit of a sneer on his face. Notice that they didn't post any pictures of him smiling? Ever wonder about that as the man has a wonderful sense of humour.
ReplyDeleteConrad Black is one of Canada's most successful people and he should be treated as such.
I don't know enough about Conrad to make any kind of informed judgement on his character, but you do bring up a very interesting point.
ReplyDeleteConrad 'looks' like that mean old nasty baron tycoon. He does fit the stereotype image perfectly. Combine that with the fact that the guy obviously has a genius level intellect (you'd have to, to write the way he does), and you get that distant yet pious impression (ie. cold) formed quite easily.
The thing that you have to be careful of if you fit a stereotype (and it's no one's fault if you do.. just good or bad luck of the draw) is that the media will latch on to it. So you have to work to ensure that stereotype (if it's potentially negative) doesn't become your brand.
Hence why the kitten story struck me as very wise on Conrad's part. It's unfortunate that all this had to happen though for him to realize the benefit of incorporating a softer-side to his brand.
But then again, through the early-and-mid 2000's it was a badge of honour to be seen as that 'tough industrious entrepreneur'. Not many CEO's with that brand where doing anything to soften that image.
With regards to being treated as successful, I'm kind of indifferent to that. In the end, those who fall from grace still enjoy lives of far more luxury than 99 per cent of Canadians. So a life of luxury isn't too bad a consolation price (most people would gladly be seen negative in exchange for that).
That said, these outcomes are 100 per cent - not 99 per cent, 100 per cent - avoidable if you take care of your brand and position your brand not just for today, but for unforeseen events in the future as well.
Thanks for the comment =)