Beijing Olympics: Clooney sets Omega Alarm Bells Ringing March 12, 2008
Posted by paulprdixon in : Crisis Communications, Media Focus, PR in the PRC , trackbackGeorge Clooney, the Hollywood superstar turned celebrity diplomat for the day, is making the headlines for pressuring Omega – a Beijing Olympics sponsor – to speak out about China’s willingness to exchange crates of weapons for barrels of Sudanese oil regardless of the Darfur genocide.
All cheers, but for how long?
Clooney, who is on Omega’s celebrity endorsement list, set the watchmaker’s alarm bells ringing by stating to the BBC: “I have talked with Omega (about China) for over a year and will continue to talk to Omega. I have and will go to the places I and China do business and ask for help.”
Omega, part of Switzerland’s Swatch Group, demonstrated its timekeeping and communications credentials with a fast and effective response; clearly Omega (whose logo appears on Beijing’s Olympic countdown clock in Tiananmen Square) is doing its homework on the PR time-bomb ticking away as the ‘Genocide Olympics’ draws closer.
Its response, from Swatch Group chief executive Nick Hayek, delivered all the elements necessary for a successful media hose-down. As this blog has said before, employing the CAP principle (Concern, Action, and Perspective) is what gets you out of trouble with the media – not a provocative hand in the camera accompanied by a ‘no comment’ that seems to work so well in Hollywood movies.
Hayek told the BBC: “We have full respect for his strong engagement in the fight for the good cause and share his opinion, especially concerning Darfur, and we are proud to work with a person who has such high ethical views.
“It is our policy not to get involved in politics because it would not serve the cause of the sport, which is one most noble human endeavors for creating understanding and peace all over the world.”
Credit where credit is due. One of my communications’ super heroes - the West Wing’s Sam Seaborne - couldn’t have done a better job. But Hayek’s comments did get even better with a quotable quote that was the last line in almost every Clooney/Beijing Olympics/Darfur/Omega (a recipe for above the fold coverage) story circling the globe today.
Hayek said: “It is a continuous process [Darfur] but we do it the Swiss way of ‘little strokes fell great oaks.’”
Olympic sponsors take heed: you are going to need some more of where that came from over the next six months.
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[…] quick response was smart and on-key; a fellow PR practitioner and colleague of mine praised Omega’s deft handling of the situation. But the need for such a response only goes to show the downside of being an […]