Winning in Washington

7/31/2019 Winning in Washington

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The Three Basic Challenges when it comes to Winning in Washington

Top management often calls on PR pros to do the following:

1) Avert unwise government action that can affect your industry or organization.

2) Encourage government action in t he p ublic interest.

3) Reduce the peril of misinformation.

The Principle Behind the Strategies:

The following strategies are all grounded in a basic principle The Newtonian Laws of PR:

A government at rest tends to stay at rest,

unless forced to change by public opinion.

What creates the force is enhanced public recognition

of self interest, or whats in it for m e? considerations.

PR can spark and shape th is force by giving the public

need t o know facts so the public can have informed opinions.

The StrategiesAs PR pros know, the basic strategy for Winning in Washington is to help the public act

in its own self-interest by supplying facts that show what the hidden dangers are to a proposed course

of action, who stands to get hurt by that course of action and how. This is usually accomplished with a

release to the m edia that:

states the problem,

quantifies the problem,

states the reward or a p roposed action on th e part of the pub lic,

tells how the reader gets that reward, and

ends by repeating the reward, along with a Web site or phone num ber to call.

Of course, not every hit song is sung to the same music. Thats why the

PR specialists who know how to conquer Capitol Hill employ differenttechniques at different times.

Rather than arguing against an att ack, some of the best pros are able to state

the Peril of the Alternative when making the case for a corporate client.

In public policy PR, the side that p resents the b igger and m ore immediate peril tends

to win. Winning releases often t ell the pub lic about the Magnitude of the Peril.

PR powerhouses often u se releases that are able to redu ce the spread of

misinformation that pose a threat to their clients.

Gett ing your side of t he story ou t often calls for fight ing fallacies with facts.

PR experts use releases that show t he p ublic how th e government could make

the best use of their tax dollars or what the pub lic could do to

make th ings better.

By creating public awareness of the truth, its often

possible to trigger a deluge of letters and phone calls

to Congress from a public that urgently supports your

position. Here are these winning strategies in action.


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FI

NANCIAL

Editors and readers will be more interested

in an issue if the article shows the effect on

peoples taxes or jobs.

Merrill Lynch with the Savings Coalition did a series

of by-lined releases which supported legislation that would

change the limit on IRA contributions. This helped generate

public support for their advocacy position and generated tonsof lett ers to legislators. Shortly thereafter, Congress passed

the legislation that allowed increased contributions to IRAs.


4/16

FI

NANCIAL

Specialized Association Services with Alliance for AffordableServices did a series of releases including th is one, which sends astrong message to Congress and accurately reflects the views of its

small-business members with the surprising results of its recent poll

of top legislative priorities for entrepreneurs.

The t ax deduction for 100 percent of health

insurance premiums ranked num ber one

followed by repeal of the estate tax second and

simplification of the estimated tax rules third.

American Forest & Paper Association did a series

of articles to protect members businesses by advocatingcertain policies and points of view including this by-lined

article by the CEO in support of President Bushs economic

growth plan. It aims to clear up a m isconception by showing

how the plan is not only about increasing wealth and profits

for big corporations and rich shareholders, it is also about

making U.S. companies more compet itive and selling more

product so they will need to hire more workers and offer

them better wages.

Crafted With Pride, an association representingAmerican manufacturers, did a series of by-lined

articles, including this one addressing loss of

American jobs due to foreign competition resulting

from trade deals such as NAFTA.


5/16

TIAA-CREF mentions in this articlethat education expenses are completely

free of federal income tax until 2010,

when t he law is set to expire, unless

Congress decides to extend it beyondthat date. This message will serve to

generate public support of the

continuation of a good policy.

Anheuser-Busch Companiesdid this article about how much the

price of beer is affected by taxes.

By pointing out th at a recent

study indicated that the alcohol

consumption of heavy drinkers was

not at all influenced by price, the

article indicates that moderate

drinkers are being punished with

unduly restrictive legislation, which

doesnt affect the consumption

levels of alcohol abusers.


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TECH

NO

LOG

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Monsanto with TATT, a national grassrootsadvocacy group, targets politicians and

consumers with this article, creating an

awareness of the safety of biotechnology. It

helps clear up misconceptions and shows the

advantages of biotech foods, including the

positive effects on alleviating world hunger.

Coalition Management Group forHome Recording Rights Coalitiondid a series of articles advocating for

a certain bill to be passed in Congress

and presenting the case to the public.

Cellular TelecommunicatiIndustries Associationdid a series of advocacy releases

supporting the positions that th

Tax on Talking should be elimina

AT&T includes a powerful quote from th epresident of ComTel, the leading association

representing competitive t elecomm unications

companies, in which he

praises a recent decision by

the FCC to require phone

companies to share networks.

He indicates this will mean

the continuation of falling

costs for consumers.


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Internet Alliance, a tradeorganization representing

Interne t Service Providers (ISPs),

prefers that th e industry regulate

itself. They attem pt to avert

unduly restrictive legislation

with this article pointing out

the ISPs ability to deliver

perm ission-based e-mails

to prevent spam.

Aerospace Industries did th is article, urging Congress to increase R&Defforts to fund development of a new national air transportation system. This

creates an awareness of the number of jobs in the industry, the percent of gross

domestic product t hat is comprised by th e industry and how many millions of

hours of delays would be avoided if the government pursued early completion of

runway and airway infrastructure improvements over the next 10 years.

Connect PR for Symantec points out thedanger of consumers losing money to software

pirates who sell counterfeit software at temptingly

low prices and the risks of not having access to

updates or possibly receiving software that has

been booby-trapped with malicious code such as

virus or spyware. This article creates an awareness

of the Symantec spamwatch Web site for

reporting suspicious activity.

Software & InformationIndustry Association

creates an awareness of the magnitude of

the peril with this article pointing out that

the software industry loses billions of dollars

every year due to software piracy. It directs

readers to a Web site for reporting cases of

corporate, retail and Internet piracy.


8/16

MetLife used a Q &A format withadvice from experts in this article

about how a recent law change closed

Social Security Adm inistration gaps

in determ ining SSI (Supp lemental

Security Income). This gives readers

a basic understanding of the newregulations, SSI and M edicaid law,

which is critical to proper planning.

HEAL

TH

Ogilvy Worldwide for EpiPen

encourages readers to contact theirstate legislators to support legislation,

which must be passed state by state, to

provide crucial emergency protection

to all individuals with severe allergies.


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Institute For Health Freedomdid a series educating the public

about threats to medical privacy

so government will pass tax laws

prot ecting our privacy.

Edelman for the biotech industry did th isarticle to influence Medicare Drug Coverage

legislation. Readers are directed to

the within-reach.org Web site for

more information about the CMS

rule or to learn how to ask their

lawmakers if they support

legislation that will correct the

problems created by the rule.


10/16

Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation createsan awareness of a White House proposal that would

use $75 million to support a school voucher program

in Washington, D.C., the lowest ranking district in the

country for both math and reading in both fourth and

eighth grades. This proposal is indicated to provide

welcome relief to parents who are tired of their children

receiving a substandard education at Tiffany prices.

ED

UC

ATION

Black Alliance for Educational Optionsworked to expand the options available to African-

American and low-income families such as charter

schools, publicly financed scholarships (vouchers)

and p rivate scholarship programs.


11/16

Educational Testing Service did a series,including this article on the federal No Child

Left Behind Act, which focuses on making

sure that all children meet rigorous academic

standards. ETS publicized th e results of public

opinion research, which indicated that nine

out of ten teachers feel they need professional

development to help them motivate their

students. With th is message they help t o

relieve the pressure to cut education budgets.

Lippin Group for Support Musicdid an article on the results of a study

showing that m usic classes have a positive

effect on students math scores. The focus

is on reaching parents and teachers, who

are facing massive school music program

cuts, and providing them with the tools

needed t o take action on behalf of their

childrens educations and futures.


12/16

Shell Oil Company did a by-lined article by its chairman onresponding to t he climate th reat. Sir Philip Watts offers tips on

how energy companies can help to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions, while lowering their costs, and support s President

Bush, who recently announced strong support for research

into the use of hydrogen fuel cells.

EN

VIRON

ME

NT

Westinghouse Electric did a series ofarticles to supp ort its lobbying efforts. This

one supports a recent decision by Congress to

approve Yucca Mount ain as a safe repository for

nuclear waste and helps alleviate concerns about

the transportation of radioactive materials to

that site by giving the public expert information

from the N uclear Regulatory Comm ission about

regulations and safety tests. In another article,

nuclear power is shown to save taxpayers money

in a num ber of ways. Readers are given the

address of the House of Representatives for

sending opinion letters and for asking legislators

where they stand on a particular issue.

Shell OilCompany


13/16

Association of InternationalAutomobile Manufacturersdid a series of articles on various

issues, including this one on cleaner

burning gasoline leading to morefuel-efficient automot ive technology.

The Environmental Protection

Agencys proposed rule to reduce

sulfur was supported in this article.

Defenders of Wildlife did a series of grassrootsadvocacy articles to educate and motivate the public

to th e loss of wild animals and their habitats, especially

those on th e threatened and endangered lists. These

articles help the organization serve a special role in

focusing on childrens education and involvement.

National Wildlife Federation (NWF)urges government to do m ore to prot ect

panther habitats by better controlling

developmen t. The article directs readers

to t he N WF Web site for a full report of

conservation winners and losers.


14/16

Blinded Veterans Association, an advocatefor blinded veterans in th e VA claims process,

did a series of articles, including this one on

recognizing the sacrifices made by veterans

and their families and offering assistance.

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General Dynamics createsan awareness of the new Stryker

vehicle used by the Brigade

Combat Team. General Motors

is indicated as a partner in

this project of fabricating and

assembling these vehicles,which help soldiers to fight,

win and come home.


15/16

Veterans of Foreign Wars did a series of releasesadvocating for veterans of WW II. This one includes

information on where to write for membership.

Air Force Association did a series ofby-lined articles including this one supporting

increased defense spending. The article points

to the vulnerability of the Am erican homeland

as evidenced by the terrorist attacks on the

World Trade Center and the Pentagon.


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Winning in Washington

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