There is a time for every season – and remaining silent
I promise that I will never mention this again! Tony Veitch’s flawed media plan.
Veitch stepped out of what should have been a humbling court appearance into a media maelstrom of his own making. It was a lesson in poor judgment.
The Veitch camp made the mistake of trying to mitigate the damage of his guilty plea. As a communications exercise the strategy was misguided and the execution appalling.
It seemed to me that with anyone with the slightest interest in the case had already made up their minds about the assault long before Veitch’s appearance before Justice, the guilty plea and the sentencing. Their opinions seem unlikely to have been swayed by the outcome of the case, leaving a group that didn’t care. So what was the point of banging on and on about it?
But there is also another casualty of the case. It is the PR industry. Referees were lied to to obtain their support. His advisor’s explanation: what else could we do?
What beats me is why Veitch’s media advisor Glenda Hughes did not employ the strategy adopted by another of her celebrity clients, Mark Todd, when a serious spot of bother was alleged by the British tabloid media – saying nothing.
Tags: Glenda Hughes, Mark Todd, PR, Tony Veitch
April 21st, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I could not agree more. The overall impression that was created was that Veitch was attempting to manipulate the legal system (by pleading guilty to a charge that he seemingly does not think he is guilty of), followed by a hefty dose of media manipulation.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:25 am
I hear you Paul and agree. The whole affair is shameful. I’m trying to raise a teenage son with values like respect for people, for the justice system as especially to abhor violence against women. Our country has a woeful record in this regard and Veitch’s actions and those of his advisers do nothing to demonstrate that this is not OK.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:45 am
Clearly it was a very unhealthy relationship that neither appears to want to accept any blame for. A sad and shoddy state of affairs and the entire matter should have stayed out of the public arena. A shame the court did not ask them both to cease and desist from making any further comment after the sentance. I also find it amusing the way so many media are criticising “the media” for beating it all up. It would be like us creating and issue so we could do some PR to manage the issue.
It has also put PR back many years with the reputation of good PR people being made to look like manipulators. As a PR person myself I can honestly say our approach would have been head down take your medicine and move on.