Admin - Mahony Partners

Mar

2013

Thank You, Standard Chartered

Trying to downplay your culpability after a settlement with regulators is a very bad idea. Just ask Sir John Peace, chairman of Standard Chartered, the UK bank. His public shaming is a useful lesson for which financial firms everywhere should be grateful. (more…) Read More

Mar

2013

A Rogue Tweet Spoils George Oborne’s Party

Media

You have to feel some sympathy for UK finance minister George Osborne. Not only is he dealing with a stubbornly weak economy, but his top-secret annual budget presentation to Parliament was spoiled by an errant tweet. The incident was widely covered and featured plenty of hand-wringing and finger-pointing. But it’s amazing this sort of blunder doesn’t happen more often. (more…) Read More

Mar

2013

A Good Day for Bad News

Crisis, Media

It’s the oldest trick in the PR playbook: get your bad news out on a Friday and leave early for the weekend. Strangely, this practice still holds, even in today’s continuous news environment. Just look at the news today from SAC Capital and J.P. Morgan. (more…) Read More

Mar

2013

Lessons from Matt Lauer’s Awkward Rerun

Media, Taking & Managing Risk

When you’re in the news business, it is wise to stay out of the news yourself. Because when you become the object of attention, competitors will gleefully exploit your missteps on every newspaper, web page and television channel they own. That’s exactly what happened to Matt Lauer, host of NBC's Today show, when he and NBC executives agreed to an interview with The Daily Beast. Read More

Mar

2013

Banco Santander’s Branding Boast

Advertising, Financial Services

I like advertising. I think it’s an important part of an integrated communication strategy. But a little-noticed ad from Santander, the Spanish banking group, is a gem of absurdity. (more…) Read More

Mar

2013

Anheuser-Busch Keeps Watery Beer Issue Afloat

Advertising, Media

Did you miss the news about the lawsuit against Anheuser-Bush that claims the beer giant is watering its brews? I did. That is, until I saw the full-page ad in Sunday's New York Times. It shows how advertising can turn a small problem into a bigger one. (more…) Read More

Mar

2013

Groupon’s Andrew Mason was Right About One Thing

Crisis, Financial Services

Groupon CEO Andrew Mason stepped own after the daily-deals company reported dreadful earnings. Mason, who struggled to reverse heavy losses and a slide in the stock price, admitted he’d made mistakes. But he was right about one thing: how difficult it is for a fast-growing startup to be a public company. Read More

Feb

2013

Goldman’s Heinz Problem

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Although it is Wall Street’s biggest deal advisor, Goldman Sachs is not advising on the mammoth $28 billion takeover of Heinz. But the firm is involved in the widening investigation about suspicious options trades that came from a Goldman client account in Zurich just before the deal was announced. Goldman isn’t accused of wrongdoing, but its communication strategy – if it has one – is doing nothing to help the firm’s battered reputation. Read More

Feb

2013

Elon Musk Might be a PR Genius

Climate Change, Crisis, Marketing Strategy

In a week full of high-profile brawling, the fight between Elon Musk of Tesla Motors and the New York Times has captured a lot of attention. It’s got it all – visionary CEO, upstart company, allegations of media bias, a trove of highly detailed data and a passionate audience. As the saga continues to rage, Musk looks like he might have overstated his case against the Times, but it’s still early to draw conclusions. Even if Musk is not the wounded hero he presents himself to be, th... Read More

Feb

2013

Dell Investors, What Took You So Long?

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Some institutional shareholders are complaining about Dell’s proposed buy-out, which would see the computer giant disappear from the public equity market behind a $24.4 billion pile of cash. But T. Rowe Price, Southern Asset Management and others think the cash pile isn’t big enough, and they are pressing CEO Michael Dell ... Read More