Inside the world of Rob Mclean, Author

The number one rule in PR? Never attack the media. Rephrase a question. Rebut assumptions. But never attack the media. The advice I always give is that when dealing with an unprofessional journalist who is trying to provoke an emotional response from you, is to imagine that it's a child asking you the question. How would you respond to a child? Odds are you would smile and then calmly explain why their question is inappropriate. Attacking the media in an aggressive fashion almost always results in a negative outcome. I can't think of a single instance where doing so has resulted in a positive outcome. Yet despite this truism, Conrad Black just tore into a journalist and I have to say, whether you agree or disagree with Black and his positions, as far as breaking the number one rule in PR goes, he did so successfully. A lot of this comes down to Black's ability to be more articulate than the journalist. The other thing that works for Black here is that he comes acros...

So the candidates have had their third and final presidential debate the other day. I have to admit, I didn't watch the whole debate, so take my comments with that under consideration. The debate, as I thought it would be, was a bit of a snooze-fest. It's not surprising that it was for a variety of factors: Criticizing foreign policy in large part entails criticizing the military, CIA and military industrial complex (something neither candidate wants to do) Both candidates essentially have the same foreign policy, which is basically to keep mucking about in the middle east and nation building in the name of exporting Democracy To genuinely criticize Obama means to also criticize Bush's policies, since they are essentially identical (Romney would consider that to be far to messy and risky to do) Romney is not going to criticize Obama on things like the NDAA and wire tapping American citizens because he himself wants those powers should he win So essentiall...

I just have to say, the real loser in tonight's presidential debate was CNN. Here I am, watching the debate via CNN.com's Internet stream, when about 20 minutes in the CNN site crashes.  Refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh - nothing.  So I had no choice but to load up foxnews.com and watch the debate there. Media outlets have to concern themselves with PR just like any other organization and having your Internet stream crash when YOU are hosting the debate is just horrible PR. I mean, when I've got to go to FOX News in order to watch the CNN debate, that's not just shooting your brand in the foot, you're shooting it right between the eyes.

So Obama and Romney had their town hall debate tonight (full video below). As I blogged after the last debate , it was essential for Obama to come out strong in this debate. So what's my PR verdict?  I'd have to say tonight's debate goes to Romney, but only ever so slightly (I'm almost on the fence in terms of calling this a draw). The President did come out strong tonight and it was the first time we've seen him standing toe-to-toe with Romney and vigorously stand his ground. However, Romney has maintained his stride from the last performance and came out just as strong as he did in the first debate. In fact, Romney may have been a little better than in his first debate because he was a tad more prosecutorial of Obama, hammer him on broken promises and failed policies. Romney effectively voiced the concerns that every day folks have, which is something he has not successfully done to date with any real authenticity. So while Obama came out strong, so ...

Paul Ryan So Paul Ryan decided to do a photo-op at a soup kitchen and it has turned into a PR disaster (not of epic proportions, but a black eye none the less) The problem? After Ryan's visit the head of the charity contacted the media to complain about Ryan. He said that Ryan showed up unannounced and uninvited, did nothing, took over their kitchen for his photo op and then left. While a blown photo-op may not seem like the end of the world, in this election the key issue is trust. Which ticket can you trust to tell you the truth about their platform. Obama has been weak on this front because he's failed to deliver on most of his 2008 promises. In fact, he didn't even bother attempting to deliver on most of his promises. Combined with a horrible economy, those two things should be a fatal blow to Obama. But if the Romney/Ryan ticket gets branded as shucksters as well, then independents (who will determine who the next president is) will be hard pressed to...

No real comments on the VP debate tonight. Biden grinned way too much and Ryan came across as a tad goofy, but all-in-all each towed the party line effectively. Here's the debate if you want to watch it. No one votes for a President based on the Vice President, so this debate really didn't matter much. The pundits are all saying it was filled with specifics, but I didn't hear many. I heard a lot of talking points, but very little specifics. Essentially Biden's argument was we're for the middle class and America must bring together world-powers in alliances to solve problems. Ryan's argument was we're for everyone, especially the middle class and America must be strong to deter its enemies. That's about as specific a take away as I got from the debate. So no one shot their foot off and no one hit a home run. As I've been saying, this election will come down to the next two debates between Romney and Obama... simple as that.

So the NDP has come out with an attack ad against Harper.  I'd like to be able to tell you what the ad is about but I can't because it's the worst attack ad I've ever seen. Literally, this is the worst ad EVER. The reason it's the worst ad ever? Because the damn transitions go so fast that you can't finish reading what they say!  Forget about actually having a few seconds to absorb what you've read, you can't even finish reading it! It's BEYOND frustrating to be reading the message and then to have it flip just as you're 80 per cent of the way through. It makes you want to slap your computer monitor.  What's mind boggling about this is, did they not test the ad on folks before releasing it? It would have been obvious that the vast majority of people would not be able to finish reading the slides and as a result the whole ad was a giant waste of time.