It is essential for modern comms teams to be prepared for any eventuality. While many try to be ready to jump into crisis management mode when needed, they often miss ad hoc golden opportunities to slip their own strong messages into the mix.

Listen.

As a news junkie, I’m amazed by how often public figures - and probably their communications teams and advisors - can get it wrong. Examples of gaffes and mistakes abound on a regular basis, and this one in the US state of Pennsylvania is worth highlighting.

When celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz, decided to run for the Senate, his comms included a video of him shopping for vegetables in a supermarket. It was supposed to make him look like “one of us,” a citizen shocked by the price of the handful of items he bought. Instead, it made him look like an out-of-place poseur when he couldn’t even correctly say the name of the store he was in, and referred to his purchases as ingredients for crudités.

In response, his opponent, John Fetterman, posted a photo of himself holding a pre-packaged “veggie tray,” as most people would call it, followed by an invitation to donate to his campaign and receive a sticker saying “Let them eat crudités.” These reactive comms appealed to voters’ intelligence and humor, appropriating a well-known phrase attributed to Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France, and daughter of Austrian Empress Maria-Theresa, who allegedly responded to the people’s revolt over bread with “let them eat cake.”

It’s a brilliant comeback, an excellent example of a short, pertinent, ad rem message, from a team that knows its target audience - its voters. It projects the essence of the Fetterman team’s proximity to real issues. Our candidate, it says, is one of us; millionaire Dr. Oz, in contrast, staged a fake rant about something he knows nothing about, namely life for normal people in Pennsylvania.

While sarcasm can be tricky and difficult to convey on social media, the Fetterman team was quick and crisp in its response. It immediately recognized the opportunity to push its own message, at no cost, while smartly discrediting its opponent and connecting with voters on relevant daily life issues.

I often advise clients to plan ahead, to be proactive, and to create their own agendas whenever possible. But it is just as important to be reactive quickly, taking the chances that present themselves due to unforeseen circumstances, be they mishaps or happy accidents. So, be on the lookout, and zoom out for a bigger picture whenever you are in communications mode.

Choose your words wisely, be prepared to grab opportunities when they come, and always get to the point.

October 2022

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