You can’t have one without the other: PR pros and legal counsel

by SchwartzMedia

Wine and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, bagels and cream cheese = all great pairs.

Public relations professionals and legal counsel…not the first match that comes to mind. But when it comes to business, the pairing is especially important.

Case in point: a Florida apartment complex recently made national news for imposing a Social Media Addendum to its contracts, threatening to bill tenants $10,000 for posting negative reviews of the property online. The story blossomed into a case study of what not to do when trying to mitigate unsavory social media chatter.

If only a PR team was brought into the fold early on, the entire crisis might have been averted. Surprisingly, this isn’t the first episode of its kind, nor will it be the last. Thankfully, companies can avoid going down this road altogether with a bit of foresight.

Schwartz Media Strategies Executive Vice President Alisha Marks Tischler took to The Holmes Report to share four crucial learnings from our experience working with law firms and in-house counsel.

Why Legal Counsel And PR Professionals Should Work Together

While social media can be an incredibly valuable tool for generating awareness and exposure, at times it may feel more like a necessary evil we must endure for the sake of transparency and real-time engagement.

ALISHA MARKS TISCHLER 10 MAY 2015 // 5:52PM GMT

As PR professionals, we all know the power of social media and the impact that negative online reviews can have. While social media can be an incredibly valuable tool for generating awareness and exposure, at times it may feel more like a necessary evil we must endure for the sake of transparency and real-time engagement.

But for Windemere Cay apartment complex in Florida, this lack of control seemed too much to bear—and as a result, decided to incorporate a Social Media Addendum into their lease contracts, imposing a $10,000 fine for residents caught writing a bad review.

One would have to assume they ran this clause past their legal team, but from a PR standpoint, an act like this seems inconceivable. That’s because while the apartment complex may have had the legal authority to institute such a clause, by managing to subvert a couple of negative reviews they in turn captured the ire of national media attention, with coverage blasting their behavior in press ranging from the Huffington Post and CBS News to the Orlando Sentinel and beyond…continue reading

Subscribe

Share

Comments