Joe Fasula got the bad news in a pre-dawn phone call, just a few weeks before Christmas 2004. His Aunt Rosie, the deli manager at his family’s Gerrity’s ShurSave Supermarkets in northeastern Pennsylvania, was on the line, describing a call she got from a staff member. The store in Moosic, Pa.—about five miles from Scranton and 102 miles from Philadelphia —was on fire.
Fasula, 31, vice president and co-owner of the nine-store chain, rushed to the store. A piece of wiring in a sign on in front of the store had caught fire, filling the place with smoke and destroying much of the merchandise inside. In addition to firefighters and rescue personnel, Fasula had to contend with the newspaper reporters and TV news crews. The media wanted to know what had caused the fire and, more important, when the store would reopen.
As firefighters worked to extinguish the flames, the answer to the latter question was far from clear. The store ended up being closed for a month and a half, and Fasula estimates he lost about $2 million in revenues. But the reporters’ questions didn’t faze Fasula, who remembered the old adage, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
Fasula dreaded the thought of the store’s regular customers forced to do their holiday food shopping elsewhere. But intuitively, he knew he had to be forthright when speaking to the media. “That morning, there were reporters there,” he says simply. “We were quick to assess what happened and then we went to talk to the reporters.”
Since the fire, he says, business at the Moosic store is up 10%.
Fasula recalls telling the press that the fire had started in the electrical system and he didn’t know how bad the damage was. The fire itself didn’t reach the store, but the place had filled with smoke.
Staff from Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture, which oversees food services, were also there that morning; they condemned the food, and everything had to be thrown away. Fasula remembers giving that news to reporters, too, to show the public that the company was being proactive in taking care of the problem and getting the store back open.
“My advice is to be as open and as frank as possible,” says Fasula, who says his friendly relationship with the media has been a key to his success. He’s often quoted in connection with food-related stories in the papers and on television. “Certainly you can’t give out information that’s proprietary, or information that’s libelous,” Fasula says, “but anything you can tell them, tell them.”
Making yourself available
As Fasula’s experience proves, the press can be your ally, even when you’re in crisis mode. Your response when reporters come calling is critical.
“I always ask a client, ‘What’s your reputation worth?’” says crisis-management specialist Howard J. Rubenstein, president of Rubenstein Associates Inc., and chairman of Rubenstein Communications Inc., one of the largest public relations firms in the U.S. It’s also a family business—Rubenstein’s two sons, Richard and Steven, work with him in the firm’s Manhattan office. Among the firm’s more than 450 clients are the New York Yankees and their owner, George Steinbrenner, and Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch. Recently, Rubenstein advised actor and comedian Michael Richards to apologize to African American activists Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton for his racial rant in response to hecklers at a comedy club.
Negative publicity is rare, Rubenstein says, but you must be ready to deal with it if it occurs. “The first thing to do,” he advises, “is to ask, ‘what was the right thing to have done? Do we have to acknowledge we did something wrong?’”
Honesty is the best policy, Rubenstein says. “If you lie, it’ll come back to haunt you.” A business family facing a PR crisis should take pride in its past triumphs and close ranks, he notes. If a family squabble arises, Rubenstein’s advice is simple: “Settle it privately, because you can take down the whole business with a small feud.”
The open-communication policy should cross all business platforms, according to Rubenstein. “Talk to the bank, the people that are financing you,” he recommends. “If you have debt, don’t ignore the people who are central to your business. Don’t let them discover it through the back door or a whisper campaign. If you fall victim to that, you’ll lose the connections that you must have in order to maintain a business.”
And don’t forget to communicate with your employees, Rubenstein adds. He suggests publishing a company newsletter to inform them of your long- and short-term goals. “The employees are often wondering, ‘What’s next?’” he says. “Sometimes they might have different ideas on how the company should run, but they should all have a common vision. That’s all part of public relations.”
You can generate your own good publicity by joining the board of a local hospital, sponsoring charity events or advertising in the local newspaper, Rubenstein notes. He encourages business owners to build relationships with reporters for the local media as well as trade publications. It’s also essential to have a website, Rubenstein says.
How to prepare
Business owners should prepare for media interviews by practicing a concise description of their company and what’s special about it. “They should be able to coherently explain who they are, what they do and what the guiding principles are,” says Andrew Gully, a former reporter and managing editor of the Boston Herald who’s now a consultant with KHJ/Gully Strategic Communications in Massachusetts.
It’s also a good idea, Gully says, to think about potential problems that could invite media scrutiny. “Give some thought as to what you would say if someone asked you about it,” says Gully.
With the arrival of the Internet age, the media have moved away from traditional deadlines and now face a 24-hour-a-day news cycle, Gully notes. He suggests using it to your advantage. “Offer yourself up,” Gully advises. “Radio talk shows have time to fill, as does cable access television.”
If your company is hosting a special event, prepare a news release that grabs an editor’s attention. Gully says to keep in mind that newsrooms get hundreds of news releases a week, so make sure yours is well-written and has correct contact information prominently displayed. Reporters and editors, he notes, “are always in a hurry, so make it easy to digest that information.”
Phil Yacuboski, a writer and media consultant based in northeastern Pennsylvania, spent nine years as a television news anchor and reporter. He’s currently an instructor in the mass communications department at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
What to wear on TV
When you’re being interviewed on television, what you’re wearing may be just as important as what you’re saying. “Viewers tend to make the assumption that if you don’t look important, then you’re not important,” says Carol Rommell, a Florida-based communications consultant who works with television news anchors such as Leeza Gibbons and Fox News Channel’s Molly Henneberg. Because 55% of your message is non-verbal, Rommel points out, looking good is important. Here’s her advice:
Men
• A suit and tie with a white shirt is always safe. Colored shirts (not too dark) are also acceptable.
• Your suit coat should fit properly through the shoulders so the fabric lays smoothly.
• Darker colors tend to be more conservative and are clearly safer, but black could look too somber.
• Colorful ties are acceptable. Geometric designs should be the size of your thumb so they will be picked up by the camera.
Women
• A tailored look—structured and tighter through the midriff and waistline—is best.
• Straight-cut jackets and bulky fabrics tend to make you look bigger.
• Avoid pastels; they tend to wash out under the lights.
• Don’t let jewelry be the message (unless you’re selling it). Don’t wear dangling jewelry that will create noise.
• Your earrings should be the size of a dime so the camera can see them.