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June 15, 2005
What Should Michael Jackson Do Now? Lessons In Crisis Management
Michael Jackson's acquittal has created a flood of media calls to PR experts asking "what should Michael do now to resurrect his career?"
While most of us will hopefully never to deal with Jackson's specific situation, and no matter how you feel about this particular verdict, this case does present some principles from which we can learn.
There are basically 4 steps to dealing with most crisis situations:
1. Immediately (as in drop everything and do it now, nothing's more important) assess the situation, find out what really happened, and what your involvement is/was
2. State and support your position to the press (if appropriate and necessary)
3. Once the press furor has died down, go silent on that particular issue so as to allow it to disappear from public consciousness
4. Work to rebuild your image
At this point, Michael Jackson is in the tail end of step 2. So what should Michael do at this point?
1. Reinforce the innocent verdict from the trial
Do the morning talk shows (which he is doing), say yes to Diane Sawyer, and grant the printed media their interviews.
One other suggestion in this area - Michael, we know that you're happy, feel vindicated, and that this is probably the most important moment of your life. But comparing yourself to Nelson Mandella, and putting this date on par with the fall of the Berlin Wall (which he has done on his website http://mjjsource.com/ ) is taking the celebration too far. Humility is a good thing, even in celebration. Plus, this gives your detractors further evidence to use in their battle against you.
2. Do the book
Michael's got a bubble of opportunity here - get that ghostwriter going, and turn out the story in 30 days or less to hit the shelves for fall and Christmas release. That book's focus should be on the good that Michael's done, not the sob story of how he never had a childhood. This is an important step in rebuilding the image of Michael.
Posted at 12:07 PM
