Black Public Relations

Also called negative public relations, is “a process of destroying the target's reputation and/or corporate identity.” The objective is to discredit your client’s competitors, usually a business rival. The building of a Black PR campaign, also known as a Smear Campaign, is by definition “to undermine the individual’s or group’s reputation and their social credibility.” This is done by taking advantage of absolute deception and extensive stretching of the truth. Traditionally it starts with an extensive information gathering and follows the other needs of a competitive research. The gathered information is being used after that as a part of a greater strategical planning, aiming to destroy the relationship between the company and its stakeholders. Most of the cases are because of information security related problems, all of which aiming to steal or to permanently monitor the sensitive information of the target organization. If the media will not cover the negative information on their own, then the company has to promote the negative information about their rival, which most companies do not want to waste their time, effort, or money on, unless the destroyed image of their rival will benefit them financially.

However, in the celebrity world, pop stars have in fact gained their fame from what we would consider negative public relations exposure. Black PR differs significantly from the broader definition of manipulation, where the core of persuasion is based on false statements and paid publications. Actually, some of the best case studies in Black PR are focused on the inconvenient truth and secrets of the target and how they were turned against them. That is why sometimes the ability to investigate is of a greater value for Black PR practitioners than the possession of any special deception skills.

The worst situation is when a company does not have a clue about what happened, when a random journalist happens to write something or reveal something about the company out of the blue. No matter how much the public or the media pressure you for an immediate response, don't give it to them. Try to remain calm, get all the facts of the story that they have so far, and then give an answer on behalf of the company. It is not a very good idea for more than one person to answer on behalf of the company because usually stories get mixed up.

So when things don't go to plan don't bury your head in the sand and don't try and cover things up unnecessarily. Use your crisis communication plan and remain calm. Never say, "no comment,” and make statements clear and short.