Call us flacks, spinners, or spammers. Whatever name and negative association you may have for PR, I love it that just about everyone at some point wants to git them some.
It was kind of funny that the NY Times had not one, but three articles on Friday about companies and institutions seeking image makeovers: lobbyists, Goldman Sachs and Al Qaeda. While each of the above would likely cringe at the association with the others, there you have it.
PR is the great equalizer. Please see below for links and descriptions.
Recovered Bin Laden Letters Show a Divided Al Qaeda
The article reported on the contents of letters that were recovered when we raided Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan and took him out. They revealed that Bin Laden obsessed about the organization's image and legacy, here is an excerpt:
He considered a marketing campaign to change the infamous network’s name...And he fretted about how he would be remembered by history. “He who does not make known his own history,” he wrote to one of his lieutenants, runs the risk that “some in the media and among historians will construct a history for him, using whatever information they have, regardless of whether their information is accurate or not.”
I wrote on Fusion Forum awhile ago about Al Qaeda's rebranding efforts.
This article (Tired of 'Tainted' Image, Lobbyists try a Makeover) hits close to home as some consider lobbyists to be not that far removed from the PR field. It said:
…some of Washington’s leading lobbyists are mounting a concerted push to earn, if not respectability, then at least something less than public disdain.
Finally, this article (Once Remote, Goldman Sachs Puts on a Friendly Face) describes the normally secretive banking firm's new PR offensive
