Celebrity PR Management: The highly publicised trial of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has been hot topic across all social media platforms and news channels over the past few weeks, but did you know that just days before her testimony, Heard fired her PR team Precision Strategies in light of a flurry of negative headlines.
In a recent article from the New York Post, it was said that Amber Heard did not like to receive any bad press, and so made her decision before she took to the stand. The article goes on to include a quote from Precision Strategies PR team: Precision Strategies, which was co-founded by ex-Obama adviser and deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter, is “one of the best crisis firms” — “but they can’t rewrite the history of what’s happened.”
Amber Heard has since gone on to hire David Shane, owner of Shane Communications, who faces his own PR nightmare including a series of DUI arrests.
So what is a celebrity PR Manager?
Celebrity public relations managers, also known widely as publicists, are there to maintain the reputation of the client and create a ‘brand awareness’ through increased coverage. In cases like the Depp Heard trial, celebrity PR managers are also expected to handle damage control…
Here are just a few examples of what a celebrity publicist could do:
- Develop and push the brand: A celebrity will often have their own marketing team who have created a brand for the client. This could be anything from teen heart throb, to rebel bad boy, and it’s the job of the PR firm to push this message out to the press.
- Contacts: A life as a celebrity PR manager includes establishing and maintaining good working relationships with writers, editors, journalist, bloggers and influencers across social media. The more people you know, the better you can promote your client and achieve coverage.
- Crisis communication: We live in a world where ‘cancel culture’ is rife. It’s important that when working as a celebrity PR manager you are able to handle any form of negative attack they may face whether the client is guilty or not! It won’t just involve the press, but you might need to sweet talk sponsors, the marketing team or any agents of upcoming deals they have like a new record or movie. A PR manager will also be expected to write up the clients responses to any bad press they receive.
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