Revelations in the U.K. last week of spurious and unethical actions from the renowned global PR firm Bell Pottinger have cast a pall over the U.K. PR industry. For any public relations professional who values transparency and ethics ahead of lofty client billings, the multi-day exposé in The Independent newspaper of London makes for grim reading.

The editorial series is worth a read, and I encourage you to dig into it to form your own opinions.

Before diving into some of the specific issues addressed in the reports, let’s be clear on two important points:

First, offering to manipulate a client’s online reputation through the use of fake online accounts, newly created blog pages or fake online reviews is not only foolhardy (the likelihood of getting caught is very high), it is unethical. Lacking in transparency, such activities would be in violation of PRSA’s Code of Ethics and are banned in both the U.K. and the U.S. (the latter through the FTC’s “Blogger Rules.”).

It has been said before, but is worth repeating: the Internet does not forget. It is one of the greatest truth-seekers the world has ever known. If, like the Bell Pottinger executives, you are asked by a potential or current client to manipulate a Wikipedia entry or online review, your obligation as an ethical practitioner is to explain the lack of ethics behind such manipulation. And, if the client does not understand or refuses to acknowledge those concerns, the next step is refusal to comply.

Second, the act of representing a dictatorship, such as Bell Pottinger would have done had it taken on the proposed work with the Uzbekistan government, is a slippery slope for the public relations profession. As PRNewser reports, “Uzbekistan has a reputation for child labor and other human rights violations.”

Continue reading " Bell Pottinger Lobbying Scandal: The ‘Dark Arts’ of Unethical PR "

Yesterday, I had the honor of representing PRSA in a special panel, hosted by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), examining the impact of the Federal Trade Commission’s planned revisions to its “Dot Com Disclosure” guidelines. I say “honor” because the panel was co-hosted by Rich Cleland, assistant director of the FTC’s Division of Advertising and the Commission’s resident expert on online marketing practices.

PRSA was invited to provide further explanation of our recent commentary to the FTC because we have taken a lead in the public relations industry to advocate for transparent and responsible online communications between brands and consumers. In August, PRSA submitted comments to the FTC in which we advocated for greater clarity concerning online marketing and communications disclosure guidelines. We also requested an opportunity for PRSA and other industry associations and consumer-interest groups to have a voice in the ongoing process to modernize the Government’s digital disclosure guidelines.

Joining me on the panel was Joe Chernov, vice president of content marketing at Eloqoa, who provided insightful commentary on how businesses are potentially using disingenuous SEO techniques to usurp FTC disclosure guidelines.

As I noted at the outset of the WOMMA panel, PRSA believes that our 32,000 members, along with the 200,000-plus U.S. public relations professionals, are responsible in their online communications and marketing practices. PRSA’s Code of Ethics has served as the public relations industry’s de facto self-regulation platform for more than 60 years. More broadly, our peers help weed out those who do not see eye-to-eye with the majority of public relations professionals who believe in honest, fair and transparent communications.

Continue reading " PRSA Takes Stance on Responsible Online Marcomms "

This week, PRSA submitted formal comments to the Federal Trade Commission concerning potential revisions to the Commission’s “Dot Com Disclosures: Information About Online Advertising.” This document laid the groundwork for how businesses communicate with and advertise to consumers online.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that this seminal guide dramatically enhanced the level of transparency in online marketing and communications between businesses and consumers.

Continue reading " PRSA Supports FTC Effort to Enhance Online Marketing Disclosure "

Editor’s note: The following is a guest post from Rod Brooks, president of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Board of Directors and vice president and Chief Marketing Officer at PEMCO Mutual Insurance Company in Seattle.

The rules of the game have changed. No longer is consumer behavior driven exclusively by traditional marketing and advertising, or by the influences of mass-media opinion-leaders.

Today those consumers are making decisions after hearing the opinions of peers, friends and even strangers. Most often, those new, powerful lay-influencers make their opinions known online, completely outside the influence of traditional public relations.

This developing behavior among consumers presents both a dynamic challenge and emerging opportunity for marketers and public relations professionals.  As the influencer-centric movement gains momentum, professionals in our industry have been identifying ways to capitalize on this new behavior, and rally around a need to revisit our professions’ ethical guidelines to ensure we share a strong foundation of high ethical standards in this new space.

Continue reading " Using Word-of-Mouth Marketing to Win, Ethically "

Not to state the obvious, but environmental marketing is a booming business.

It’s an industry that now has 68 percent of U.S. consumers as potential customers; American who can be labeled as “light green” consumers (i.e., they purchase environmentally-friendly products on occasion), according to a study by Mintel Reports.

But rapid growth has also caused concerns among marketing-services professionals, advocacy groups and regulatory bodies about revamping best practices and guidelines for environmental marketing claims and messaging. These concerns have been raised as public relations and marketing professionals, including PRSA members who abide by the Society’s Code of Ethics, work to ensure that consumers are fully informed and understand the environmental impact of the products they purchase and the services they use.

It’s with this in mind that PRSA has filed a formal brief with the Federal Trade Commission in response to the Commission’s proposed revisions to its “Green Guides” for environmental marketing (which were last revised in 1998).

Continue reading " Examining the FTC’s Revised ‘Green Guides’ "