>Public Relations Lessons From The Russian Spies

With our most patriotic of holidays behind us for this year, let’s talk about those who would be spies among us – no matter how inept and ineffective.

Turns out that in the almost 20 years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the successor to the notorious KGB – the more brand-friendly SVR – has been conducting spy craft as if it were a Dairy Queen franchise: hire and train reliable people, set them up in a neighborhood, give them seed money, and make sure a percentage of their sweat equity is returned to headquarters.

For all of the hand wringing over the arrest of the eleven alleged Russian spies who were living among us in New York, New Jersey, Washington, and Boston, there was an equal portion of comic relief. The alleged spies seemed as concerned with getting their kids to soccer practice and their postings on Facebook as sending encrypted guesses about President Obama’s mood before his blind date with Dimitri Medvedev.

The logical next step from hand wringing to comic relief is, of course: what public relations lessons can we learn from the ineptitude of these alleged spies?

1. Clients appreciate – and deserve – discretion.
All of the alleged spies seemed to thoroughly live their cover stories. But several were not shy about openly denouncing American policies, while living their faux American lives. And while that’s a right enjoyed by actual Americans, in this case, the client was put at risk.
Similarly… okay, there’s really nothing remotely similar about it, but this whole spy-ring thing is just too foolish not to make fun of.
So… similarly, many of your clients are sharing proprietary information with you. Even if you haven’t signed a non-disclosure agreement, you should always behave as if you have.

2. Focus
Be keenly aware of your customers and your audience. Knowing who you’re marketing to – Millennials who buy a new cell phone every nine months or an SVR colonel in Moscow who’s decoding your embedded message on YouTube – will force you to better cater to your clients and suppliers (and bosses).

3. Use Social Media
Anna Chapman knows this. Sure, her Facebook page is now loaded with postings from her detractors – and her comrades – but she really worked that medium to give the illusion that she was just another young woman from the Russian steppes trying to make it in the Big Apple.
More and more of your clients – both current and potential – are familiar with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, and whatever new flavor of social networking is being scooped this week. So should you.

4. Use your power for good not evil
Ultimately, the Russian Spy product was not a hit with the American public. We tend to get ticked off by people we embrace as friends only to find they are liars and cheats who mean to do us harm – no matter how bumbling they may be.
Still, it’s a reminder that when serving your clients, there’s no substitute for being trustworthy, honest, diligent, and professional.
And a good sense of humor always helps.

Felicia Knight is President of Knight Vision International, LLC: www.KnightVisionInternational.com

Image: Graeme Weatherston

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 5th, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under Latest News, Politics, Public Relations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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