Public Relations Plan: Another bit about Elliot Spitzer

Every year there are one or two stories that come out which make us at Off Madison Ave wonder, "what if he/she was my client? What should his/her public relations plan be for something like this?" So far in 2008, "she/her" is Dawn Wells from Gilligan's Island. But that is neither here nor there. "He/his" is New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, recently the victim of a prostitution sting operation. ("Victim" always sounds subtly more sympathetic than, "plaintiff." See? Already spinning. Read the story here.) The team Spitzer called did what they could to implement a public relations plan to recover for him, with public comments from his wife that continued to show her support for him. Still, it really was a stacked deck against him: He already had created an image for himself and his wife as a successful "power couple." Idle talk before of his possibly cheating with prostitutes would have been anathema. He already had a reputation from the early 90s for prosecuting members of the Gambino family, so his law-and-order credentials were the biggest part of his fame. So the fact that this is what is bringing him down makes most attempts at fixing his public relations woes difficult. He can't very easily use his legal crusader history to defend blatantly breaking the law. He has betrayed his "power couple" wife. Anything that gave him high standing is exactly what was damaged by this story. Controlling the spread of the story would have been impossible, seeing as how he's the governor and all. Perhaps he could have done it with mob help... but then again, irony isn't being too kind to this man lately. Best to steer clear of any more. This morning the Governor resigned his post, the only possible option open to him. Still, this shouldn't halt the public relations plan he needs to employ. He is down, but if he's smart, he is not out. Really. After all, look at the Wikipedia entry for Dick Morris. He's managed to continue to have a career after his scandal. You do remember Dick Morris, don't you? Ten years ago he was synonymous with sex scandal. He was Profumo. And now... he's a political author and analyst, learned something now that he himself has faced adversity, and has moved on. The key for Spitzer will be to lay low, and let everyone's perceptions of Elliot Spitzer cool. Then he can come back as the cruisaider against white collar crime and the mafia that he was before, who has learned something now that he himself has faced adversity, and has moved on... This kind of work is easily said, but takes a while to get done.

About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)