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Appendices of Generic Pages
149 C. ON-GOING COMMUNICATIONS
Develop the kind of PR approach that can help bring all of city/state/region/nation/
world together behind the team, as exhibited in carefully prepared stump
speeches. Continue the Internet approach of the previous section,
guided by Net Intrust. And develop a four year PR program, and always
update it to keep it with a four-year reach. Elements to consider:
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1. Reputation: Brand building for both team and head coach.
Every time there is a game on TV, the brands are advertised. Any
highlight shows builds the brand and image; ditto newspaper articles,
sports scores programs and columns, etc. The brand is constantly
out there, with no advertising dollars. Capitalize on the brand.
This is not just for consumers world wide, but also for football fans,
sports writers, and local sports and beat writers.
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2. Playing: Participating in activities
that increase the brand name (articles, books, web page, interview shows).
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3. Winning: Name recognition (Q Rating,
positive public image, generate additional revenues), such that the team
works toward the old image of the Cowboys to be Americas Team, and
then, as the NFL expands around the globe, the Earths Team.
The only team to achieve this will be the one with vision.
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4. Have a competitive standard for use in evaluating ones
own information and that of others (see 10 Competitive Analysis Components
components of Appendix H).
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5. Recall III.A. above: effective models for internal
as well as external communications to fit all occasions. See 40
models of Appendix K.
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6. Heed Robert L.Dilenschneiders concept of communication
as the ultimate exercise of power, a concept which views communications
as a problem solving discipline, as there is no Teflon, even
for the formidable.
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7. Always be on the lookout for information that can be used.
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8. Always be evaluating the positioning and re-positioning of the
team.
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9. Have a framework and strategy for giving backgrounders
and press conferences.
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10. Plan and schedule high coverage special events.
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11. Have publications and programs that never get off message.
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12. Have a quick response process with boilerplate
phrases and paragraphs at the ready for situations meeting quick
response criteria; the rest: ignore.
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13. Have a structured framework for handing damage control.
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14. Maintaining visibility while simultaneously parrying any
attacks in the press, especially those that follow what Dezenhall calls
shadenfrude, the joy of damaging others, the old its
not enough to succeed, others must fail line, or humiliating
others is its own reward (even Jonah couldnt stand it when
the people of Nineveh repented, as he wanted to see the fireworks spectacular
of their being taken out). Note: attackers always feel victimized
by the escape of the attackee, taking it personally, almost as if something
was stolen from them. And they seek revenge, consciously or otherwise.
Hence the need for the buffer of a full PR account when it
needs to be drawn upon when attacked, as well as damage control strategies
and ready words for same.
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15. Treat the press as in jujitsu: using its power and
strength for your own moves.
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16. Which means being prepared with a process and scripts for adapting
and adjusting to press and other accounts (industry, business, government,
non-profits, education, community groups, other associations and societies)
in order, again, to turn their power to your advantage, especially when
damage control is needed.
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17. Constantly evaluating the PR program and process for success
and changing as needed, and using it as a gauge to compare oneself with
the competition in terms of both other teams in particular and the NFL
itself in general.
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18. Keep coaches, staff, and especially players up to date
on the best ways to understand and deal with the media, including how
to handle awkward or stupid questions, and to understand that the media
has a role to play just as the players and coaches do.
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19. Keep players especially aware of their responsibilities
with the media (its in their contract), as granting interviews is all
part of the public relations and marketing not just of the team but of
the game itself, that they should want to do it even if it was not in
their contracts, as the media is their partner in selling the game to
the fans and keeping healthy the goose that lays their golden eggs.
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20. Etc. "Etc" is an important concept for it leaves
the door open to new ideas and new understanding of the situation as it
unfolds in real time, in real life.