RandBall Q&A: Chris Rosica, Crisis Communicator

We get quite a few PR pitches weekly (even daily) from firms trying to set us up with people trying to promote various things. Usually, we ignore them. Today, though, we were intrigued enough to bite on a pitch offering an opportunity to speak with someone who is a professional in the field of helping major celebrities and other clients win the battle of public perception in the face of scandal. The pitch mentioned Tiger Woods, Ben Roethlisberger and Lawrence Taylor. Indeed, this is a good time for such a person to exist. We wanted to know more about how these situations are handled from numerous standpoints. So we had an afternoon chat with Chris Rosica. A quick bio on Chris, who lives in New Jersey: Chris Rosica, CEO of Rosica Public Relations and co-founder of Interact Marketing LLC, is a speaker and a nationally recognized expert in public relations, marketing and entrepreneurship. Author of The Authentic Brand (Noble Press, 2009) and soon-to-be released Cause Marketing Handbook, he has appeared on national television, including Bloomberg Business News, ABC Television in New York and XM Satellite Radio regarding such topics as branding, public relations and Internet marketing. ... He regularly gives workshops on social media and is an experienced facilitator with extensive experience in message development and communications. He has particular expertise in new media, online reputation management and Search Engine Optimization.

More directly from Chris: "I do a great deal of crisis communication work … I've done it for some notable celebrities, famous people. I also do it for corporations."

Here is some of our chat. Hopefully it provides a window into how these things should be handled (at least from his perspective) and how some athletes and celebrities either get out in front of come back from negative situations:

RandBall: So basically when something is going wrong, people are calling you. Is that fair to say?

Chris Rosica: Yes it is.

RB: What's it like being in that seat, always dealing with bad stuff?

CR: It's a challenge that I feel very comfortable with … it's based on an approach of be authentic, be genuine, be honest, be contrite and move on with your life as opposed to trying to manipulate and figure out how to evade a situation or misrepresent yourself or company. … My recommendation inevitably is based in just that.

CR: First off, you have to do all your research and know all your facts. Second, you need to respond to the media immediately. Third is, you really must convey a sense of seriousness. You can't have a contrived response as Tiger Woods seemed to have been giving off. That is very important. … One of the things that really hurt Tiger Woods is that he went into hiding. You can't do that. He broke one of the primary rules. The longer you wait to make a sincere, humble apology the more likely you will be to attract negativity.

RB: Have you specifically worked with athletes in these types of crisis situations. Anyone you can say?

CR: Yes, we've worked with a couple … it is confidential. I have worked with very high-profile CEOs, some celebrities and professional athletes.

RB: Talking about Tiger, Ben Roethlisberger and Lawrence Taylor, guys that are right in the storm right now, case-by-case, are there any specifics you would advise in those situations.

CR: It's interesting, with Tiger Woods it has been publicized he hired Ari Fleischer. The perception is not a good one because he's not a well-loved crisis communicator. It seems like, 'Oh, there's something that's being hidden.' People read into that and they don't like the connotation there. That's one thing notable about Woods. The Lawrence Taylor issue is obviously headline news right now. He should learn from Tiger Woods, and that entails not letting time pass before addressing the situation, certainly. He should also be very mindful of how he's coming across and whether he's being defensive or saying anything that could give people the feeling that he's not humbled and completely sorry.

CR: Yes, and a part of it is that attorneys don't want clients to disclose too much because the legal process is such … if it's going to court, they can't let their clients disclose too much. But what we find inevitably is that those who are contrite, during their day in court – if it comes to that – they are treated a lot differently.

RB: In a case like Roethlisberger, it doesn't seem like he might have learned right away from it.

CR: That's correct, and that's something I always urge people to consider: changing their behaviors to be consistent with their apologies and really foster a positive image. Your actions must be consistent with your words.

RB: Has this process changed at all with the speed of news, available technology and information?

CR: Oh, it sure has. That's why I actually have a company dedicated to online reputation management.

CR: That's Interact Marketing. We do a lot of online reputation management. Part of that involves engaging in the conversation and being accessible and having someone on your team responding. You can't do it in a covert way, you have to be up-front in that you're not the person but you represent them. You could be a blogger representing a professional athlete. You can do a Q&A or interview with that athlete as a blogger. Technology has really made it impossible for sports figures to delay things in any way, shape or form. … Twitter is a perfect example. Something goes out on Twitter and it's not addressed, it can be a snowball effect, and people will be talking about things very quickly and the situation can obviously harm someone's reputation. … You want to have a body of communication online that exists so the negative comments are not going to dominate the search engine.

RB: Last thing, and I brought it up at the beginning. You said you're comfortable doing this kind of work. But does it ever feel like it's more of a cover-up than it is an actual fleshing out of a situation?