At de La Garza, we advise clients that ambush interviews are only ambush interviews if you are caught off guard and unprepared.  Our counsel is that one very effective way to counter the threat is to always have a message.  Always!

Always having a message and committing to the message is your parachute, life preserver, armor – your umbrellas insurance coverage – in the event of an ambush interview.  Your message may not be what the media wants to hear which is usually the case.  But you’re not there to make reporters happy.  As a spokesperson and news source, you’re there to deliver your message.  Think of your message as the football, your role as the ball carrier, and your target is the goal line.  You score when you cross the goal line with your message.   The media will blitz and double team you but you can waltz around them by keeping on message.

Remember this:  Ambush interviews are only ambush interviews when you are caught unprepared with no message.

The media professionals at de La Garza have been helping clients craft their messages and teaching them how to keep on message in all kinds of media situations.  We eliminate risk of ambush interviews and give you peace of mind.  We’ve been delivering peace of mind for nearly four decades and we can do the same for you.

The one common thread connecting them is that, as they rose to great success, no one within their organizations asked – “How do we respond when, not if, but when something goes wrong and there’s a serious problem?” ACORN, Tiger and Toyota are proof that suffering a crisis is not a matter of “if” but “when” for any organization or celebrity.

Let’s briefly examine each of these failures in crisis communications.

ACORN – the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now – grew from a fledgling platoon of local community activists into a national organization that wielded powerful political clout. Woe be the pitty politician who lightly dismissed complaints from ACORN. Eventually, however, doubts and suspicions about ACORN, its personnel, and policies sprouted over its aggressive voter registration program after widespread irregularities were uncovered. One voter registered by ACORN signed up as Mickey Mouse. And then there was the “Pimp” story in the New York Times that spread like a Tsunami. Soon supporters and branch chapters slowly began putting distance between themselves and their mother ship. Now, with its funds dried up, ACORN is folding its tent while some local chapters change their names and carry on.

ACORN’s operations rapidly grew but its checks and balances did not keep up. It got sloppy. ACORN was slow to recognize its problems, even slower to address them, and was quick to blame others for its problems. ACORN finally lost the faith and confidence of its core supporters and their wallets.

Toyota sprung from a small family-run business to be the world’s leader in automobiles which consumers trusted as superior for their safety and workmanship. Then its products began failing here and there with a few resulting deaths. Toyota dismissed the initial failures, responded with glacial speed to the deaths, and only took matters more seriously when sales cratered and its CEO was hauled up before Congress. Then Toyota sent its CEO on an apology tour to China and other major markets. This was followed with a broad stroke advertising campaign touting testimonials from new customers and featuring apologies from management and employees.

Tiger reportedly has hired a former White House press secretary but no one with Team Tiger – even the fellow in question – will confirm the story. Is the fellow acting as an advisor or spokesman or both? His actual role is not known, but Tiger appears to have summoned a savvy media fireman long after he burned and destroyed all his bridges with the media. Ideally, a seasoned expert is called in when the media glare is anticipated or right after a crisis breaks – certainly not after all the damage is done.

Here are some crisis lessons from the travails of this troubled troika:

Plan ahead by having a crisis communications plan now;

Watch for the small signs that signal a larger problem;

Call in expert counsel sooner not later;

Take strong actions early – don’t delay;

Have a spokesperson in place and media trained;

Get your message together and communicate it;

Tell your story before others tell it for you;

Fix the problems and communicate your actions; and

Take responsibility, exhibit leadership, and show control.

ACORN, Tiger and Toyota could have greatly mitigated their problems and costs by applying these basic lessons at the first sign of trouble.

After all, a stitch in time,…

Goldman’s new annual report devotes no less than a dozen pages to “risk factors” like see-sawing financial markets, natural disasters and, yes, bad press.

According to Goldman, “adverse publicity” poses a “negative impact” on its reputation and its employee morale and performance. The firm warns investors that a steady stream of unflattering news coverage “could adversely affect our business and results.”

Read the whole Wall Street Journal story for details.

A difficult economy has helped spur small businesses to adopt social media marketing in greater numbers, according to “The State of Small Business Report” from Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. Social media usage increased to 24%, from 12% the year before.

The most common usage of social media among small business was a company page on a social networking site, followed by posting status updates.

Small businesses’ expectations of social media seem roughly to be in line with their experiences, although they are not quite as successful as they had hoped. Respondents’ top accomplishments were customer acquisition and placing their own businesses within the market, but did not meet expectations fully. Social media’s capabilities for staying engaged with consumers and collaborating with other businesses, however, were more in line with businesses’ expectations.

Most small businesses say they are just breaking even with their current usage of social media, but a solid one-fifth find it profitable already. Businesses are positive about the potential as well: Nearly one-half believe it will make them money in the next 12 months, and another 39% think they will break even on it. Just 9% think social marketing will continue to be a losing proposition.

Overall, 58% of respondents felt social media lived up to their expectations. One-half felt it took up more time than they realized, but only 6% claimed negative comments on social media had hurt their business.

“Social media levels the playing field for small businesses by helping them deliver customer service,” said Janet Wagner, director of the Center for Excellence in Service, in a statement. “Time spent on Twitter, Facebook and blogs is an investment in making it easier for small businesses to compete.”

Previous research on small businesses and social media use revealed a somewhat rocky relationship. A Citibank study indicated social media was not working well for small businesses’ lead gen efforts, but other data showed small companies would be upping spending in the channel.

What has been your experience? How much in resources are you dedicating towards these platforms?

What platforms do you dedicate most of your time and resources?

We should point out that Jerry created the de La Garza Public Relations website and made it fully integrated with current social media tools. de La Garza’s experience with our new website and social media is in line with what Jerry reports in his commentary. We have been posting new blogs two or three times a week and updating our Facebook and LinkedIn pages on a weekly basis. We have been very pleased with the results from our social media efforts.

Debra Medina, the Hispanic candidate in the Texas Republican primary for Governor, and her campaign now appear to be in crisis mode. The crisis stems from a poll showing that her response to a question about the 9/11 attacks in a nationally broadcast interview has seriously eroded her support with Texans.

According to Public Policy Poling, voter support for Ms. Medina is declining with less than a week to campaign and clarify her comments before the March 2nd Republican primary.

The poll shows that voter support for Ms. Medina has fallen to 20 percent.

The survey also reports that half of Texas voters believe Ms. Medina may support the theory that the federal government was involved in the 9/11 attacks.

A Hispanic candidate, whose campaign was appearing to get traction in the primary, is now more focused on crisis communications than on communicating her messages.

Some will blame the media for Ms. Medina’s slipping support when the fault actually rests with her campaign. She was asked a question about a topic for which she had not been provided a well thought out prepared statement. So she strayed off message, improvised, and lost control of the interview. The unfortunate reality is that the media misstep could have been avoided or easily finessed.

In our media training sessions, we counsel clients to always stay on message and, when asked an unexpected question, to steer the conversation back to their message. We call that “bridging.” It’s one of many valuable lessons, which we teach clients in how to exercise greater control in media interviews.

The media can work for or against you. You determine the outcome of any interview with the media. While you can not control the media, you can control your message.

Loss of control comes from straying off message. The resulting damage can be catastrophic. In this case, we won’t have to wait long to find out how damaging.

And for good reason – any product recall on a massive scale focuses worldwide media and public attention squarely on the CEO and the corporate management team. In a statement reported worldwide today, Mr. Toyoda was forced to admit that Toyota’s rapid expansion may have led to safety issues causing the recall of nearly 9 million vehicles. Toyota is facing potential criminal charges for its alleged actions and, in some cases, suspected inactions. And Toyota sales are in a free fall.

This is the kind of crisis that shadows every CEO 24/7.

Toyota’s crisis ranks up there with the worst of the worst. The history of high profile product recalls is a disturbing list.

It’s an infamous list that Mr. Toyoda never imagined would be associated with his company. And the worst of the crisis for Mr. Toyoda and Toyota is that the worst may be yet to come.

You can read it in its entirety at: Is the Tiger Woods Brand Beyond Repair.

Please share your thoughts with us. We’d like to hear what you think.

On the positive side, TW said all of the right things to all the right people – his wife, children, mother, sponsors, fellow PGA players, kids and parents reached by his foundation, and the public. He apologized several times, accepted full blame, showed remorse, asked for forgiveness, demonstrated emotion, acknowledged that he cheated, confirmed that he’s undergoing therapy and has more to come, and promised to return to his ideals and to the PGA Tour. These were all the right things to say and do, and he addressed them to all the right people.

TW’s appearance was too structured, too choreographed, too scripted and, unfortunately, too contrived. Surely his professional handlers advised him otherwise only to be over ruled by Tiger. The audience was limited to his mother and a dozen close friends and associates. And they were there just to listen and to provide a “live” audience for his mea culpa.

TW should not have limited access to the press and allowed no media questions. This strategy only communicates a message of entitlement as in “I am Tiger Woods, the greatest golfer ever and I am entitled to certain benefits and special treatment.” Some invited media apparently passed because of the strict limitations, refusing to be used as mere window dressing. And understandably so.

TW aggravated matters by exhibiting and expressing anger at the press for false reports and violating the privacy of his family, especially his children. He did not stray off message, his anger was scripted. Showing anger was a crude and needless departure from his message of apology and responsibility. The display of anger clearly did not fit and it was misdirected. TW has only himself to blame when it comes to the press.

The press offered Tiger every opportunity all along the way to tell his side of the story. TW received some great offers from friendly media sources. He instead avoided the media much as he stiffed the law. In the process, he raised reasonable suspicions – “What’s he hiding?” So, Tiger lashed out at the press for pursuing the story. He actually should be blaming himself for not coming forward sooner and for allowing rumors, misinformation and innuendo to flourish and feed a media ravenous for any information. He left an informational void that others were only too happy to fill.

But there is something more serious that is needling the media right about now. The Tiger Woods that he showed in public and cultivated with the press was a lie. The press fell for it and now it feels as wronged as Tiger’s wife. Just as Tiger’s wife demanded answers, so too does the press.

There is much more to come. We’ve not heard the end of it.