Take a look around the public relations industry and you'll find a firmly established lower echelon that is almost exclusively female. I call it the new girl network and it's rapidly replacing the final vestiges of its old boy predecessor.  

I've noticed it in college lectures, in meetings with interns and in job interviews. It's unsettling and unhealthy because too much of anything is bad. And, too many young women will distort the cultures of our organizations and impact the end result of our industry's services.  

I find it interesting that the PR powers that be are ignoring this alarming trend choosing, instead, to salute both the up-and-coming and firmly entrenched women of power.  

Women should be proud of their accomplishments in shattering PR's glass ceiling. But, somehow, some way, they are now fostering a different type of ceiling that, while not inhibiting the advancement of young men, is sure as heck scaring them away from our profession.  

I think our trade groups, leaders of the largest agencies and top academics need to acknowledge PR's dirty little secret and devise strategies to make us more diverse and balanced from a gender perspective.  

If we continue to ignore the obvious, the industry will pay the price down the road (as other, more gender-balanced industries who better reflect our increasingly diverse population, spring up to fill the obvious gap).

According to the report, the goal is to re-position the Soviet despot who, some historians say, may be responsible for more than 30 million deaths and, instead, highlight his role in defeating Nazi Germany and rebuilding the Soviet Union into a super power.

This is so wrong but, in a perverse way, kind of hilarious as well.

Can you imagine media training the lead 'Stalin' spokesperson?

Agency trainer: “Sergei, baby, you need to stay focused. Put the vodka down. Now, you need to be mindful of negative or irrelevant questions in an actual interview and 'bridge' to the talking points we just developed. Let's practice. Let's say I'm a Reuters reporter and ask you this question: ‘Sergei, how can you possibly call one of history's greatest mass murderers one of Russia's greatest leaders instead?’ ”

Sergei (downs a shot of Stoli): “On the contrary, we're saying Comrade Stalin saved hundreds of millions of lives by defeating the Nazis. Imagine how many Russians might have died if Hitler had won?”

Agency trainer: “Nice Sergei. OK, question number two: ‘How do you explain the way in which Stalin's rivals such as Leon Trotsky not only disappeared, but were air brushed out of official state photographs? Is that the way a great leader behaves?' ”

Sergei (pops another shot): “On the contrary, comrade reporter. We've done some homework and discovered that Trotsky, Molotov and others who you Western media types said were murdered simply took extended sabbaticals. They asked that their likenesses be removed. They'd had enough of the limelight.”

Agency trainer: “Smooth Sergei. Very smooth. One more toughie: 'How do justify the gulags?' ”
Sergei: “How do you justify Gitmo?”

Agency trainer: “You are so ready Sergei! After we're done, the Western press will be listing Stalin right alongside Alexander the Great and Caesar.”

If the chosen agency succeeds with the Stalin image program, I could see them building an entire practice around the emerging discipline. Were we were to do it, we'd call it PepperDespot and probably market it on our Website with such wording as:

“Are you the brand manager of a former Soviet Republic? Or maybe the CMO of an erstwhile member of the Axis Powers? Do you need to burnish the reputation of your local Mussolini, Hitler or Tojo?”

PepperDespot can help. Our efforts saved Joseph Stalin's name from the scrapheap of history (link to AP story: 'Stalin described as warm and fuzzy in new poll.'). And, we can do it for you as well. Just think of the tourism dollars that will accrue to your beleaguered brand once consumers understand the softer, human side of your dead despot.  ‘PepperDespot: Making yesterday's scum tomorrow's rock stars.’ "

From government bailouts to bankruptcy, it has been a decidedly tough year for General Motors. Adding insult to injury, the company’s archrival just announced a surprising $1 billion in profits while GM continues to hemorrhage. Even the much anticipated “May the Best Car Win” marketing blitz launched with decidedly mixed reviews.

Amidst all of the muck, a positive story surfaced last week that I hope is a sign of greener pastures to come. It all started during a media conference call with GM’s marketing guru and vice chairman Bob Lutz to discuss the previously mentioned marketing campaign. While lauding the performance of Cadillac’s 556-horsepower CTS-V, Lutz boldly stated that he would challenge anyone in any production sedan to a race around Monticello Raceway.

What followed next probably surprised Lutz. Jalopnik, a popular auto blog, took him up on the challenge, and Lutz accepted. 120 others soon followed, and GM selected three journalists and five laymen to participate in the race. In the end, the 77-year-old Lutz posted the seventh fastest time overall, and the CTS-V took home four of the five fastest lap times with more experienced drivers at the wheel. In addition to standing firmly behind their word, Lutz and GM earned a ton of respect from enthusiasts for participating in the challenge. Automotive companies are notoriously risk averse, and in this instance, GM put their guard down and let the CTS-V do their talking for them. In the days that followed, I counted 50-plus articles that resulted directly from the challenge.

Not so, says Sam Ford, Henry Jenkins and Joshua Green, who will join me for a webinar on the subject this Friday at 1p.m. EST (Register here for this free webinar, "Moving from "Sticky" to "Spreadable": The antidote to "Viral Marketing" and the Broadcast Mentality")

Comcast is a great example of a brand that doesn't deliver on its promise. The huge cable systems operator has been running its 'Comcastic' campaign for years. But, as any Comcast subscriber will tell you, the service (and, in particular, the customer service) is anything but fantastic. It's positively dreadful. A better, more realistic brand promise from Comcast might be: 'ComPoor' or 'ComAwful." A brand shouldn't raise consumers expectations by promising one experience and then delivering another.

Speaking of the CofC, Tom Martin, executive-in-residence at the College of Charleston (and one of the all-time great Peppercom clients, btw) recently created a classic brand promise slide you should check out.

Download Brand and Reputation

It lists what brands say about themselves and what we, as consumers, really think about them. It's worth a gander.