Rethinking Reputation rehashes the public relations versus marketing debate but this time takes into consideration the role of new media and who controls the message. Through a series of fairly current case studies, the authors begin by making the argument that public relations is actually king over marketing and that efforts and budgets should be shifted to support public relations in this “golden age of public relations.” The authors even state that “in more and more companies today, essentially for the first time, marketing reports to public relations” (p. 2). Each chapter ends with a list of lessons learned from the case study.
While most of the cases, or “stories” as the authors refer to them, cited in the book have occurred in the past few years, the authors reach as far back as Moses to emphasize the role of public relations in developing reputation and brand image. Other historical masters of public relations referenced include Aristotle, Jesus, and Shakespeare.
Divided into two sections, Rethinking Reputation focuses on “How to build reputation” and “How to protect reputation.” Building reputations is detailed in the first five chapters. In the first chapter, “The power of relationships” the authors are a bit long-winded in describing the role of social media and traditional tactics such as tradeshows in launching new products and developing relationships with customers. The story of CitySlips, a company started by two college roommates who came up with the idea for fashionable slippers that women could easily carry and change into when a night of dancing in heels became too painful, is the focus of the chapter.
Chapter 2 centers on the power of publicity using an Australian Great Barrier Reef tourism campaign as an example. The “Best Job in the World” campaign was built around a contest to be the caretaker of an island in the Great Barrier Reef for six months. The campaign was quite successful in garnering media coverage and represents the key to a successful public relations campaign. “The best publicity stories, like the Best Job one, actually become the news, rather than a news feature” (p. 38).
The book continues to discuss the importance of branding in chapter 3 (“The power of your personal or company brand”), centering on Merck CEO P. Roy Vagelos as an inspirational example. Chapter 4 examines “The power of planning” using T. Boone Pickens' energy strategy for a framework of the discussion. Chapter 5, “The power of reputation,” focuses on Johnson & Johnsons's history of handling issues successfully because of the emphasis placed on corporate communication.
In the second part, the book shifts gears and focuses on how to protect reputation primarily during a crisis. In chapter 6 (“Control the agenda”) crisis communication case studies of political and sports figures such as Charlie Rangel, Jonathan Edwards, Roger Clemens and Tiger Woods serve as lessons in handling the media agenda. “In the end, each learned the hard way that once-high-profile institutions or individuals are confronted with scandal, they have two choices: (1) attempt to control the agenda or (2) let the agenda control them” (p. 112). Chapter 7 (“Take either road – just stick to it”) looks at the choice to take the ethical high road versus the low road. As a surprising twist, the authors discuss the ethical standards of broadcasters Nancy Grace, Al Sharpton and Bill O'Reilly as well as Donald Trump in this chapter.
Crisis communication cannot be discussed without referencing BP. British Petroleum is highlighted in the next chapter “Stick to the script” for the poor handling of the Deepwater Horizon disaster by then CEO Tony Hayward. The authors also use this case to vilify President Obama for his handling of the situation. Chapter 9 rehashes the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal to highlight “The sin of spin” and how public relations practitioners can slip into unethical decision making and be guilty of “spinning” the situation. “A good public relations advocate must, of course, defend the person who signs the paycheck, but at the same time, he or she must represent the public interest fairly” (p. 192). In the final chapter “Rethinking reputation”, the authors describe Exxon as an example of how a company can recapture its credibility. The chapter describes how the merger of Exxon and Mobil Corporation offered an opportunity to address “the gap between the company's negative perception and positive reality – especially on health, safety and the environment […]” (p. 213).
Through the selection of cases, the authors demonstrate their conservative point-of-view (Seitel often appears on Fox News) and biases (Doorley worked for Merck and Johnson & Johnson), but the stories told do provide insight to the function of public relations. Unfortunately, the authors fail to support their argument that PR is trumping marketing today in the role of branding. Whether the function is identified as being public relations or marketing is not important. While the case “stories” are a bit wordy, they do represent great examples of the importance of reputation – whether it is labeled “public relations” or “marketing.”
Rethinking Reputations could serve as a supplement for upper-level or graduate public relations and marketing courses. Additionally, faculty teaching these courses could benefit by using the cases in their classes. Anyone working in the fields of advertising, marketing and public relations may enjoy the readings, but may not walk away with any Earth shattering insight from the book.
