Honesty not puritanism is the best policy

The events surrounding Bell Pottinger and its relationship with Oakbay Investments raise profound questions for all firms involved in the world of strategic communications.

It may be that Oakbay is a real nightmare client and there are few others like it. It is easy to say no to a prospective client whose goal is the impoverishment of SA’s fiscus through fraudulent schemes and undermining of the country’s democracy.

However, almost invariably firms like ours are hired because the client has a problem of some sort. There are people out there unhappy with the client for some reason or who are unaware why they should like the company in question or its products.

That is where our sector’s own reputational problem begins. The oft-used term to describe us — spin doctors — carries in it the root of the problem. There is an assumption that we will use, and are required to use, manipulative techniques and inaccurate information to achieve our client’s objectives; that the client is doing something wrong and needs someone to help it “spin” a story in the hope that will disarm or confuse detractors.

This does not mean the belief is that everyone goes as far as Bell Pottinger did. But it is a fundamental challenge to us if we are perceived so widely to be, at best, expedient in representing clients’ perspectives. It should be of concern to our clients too.

In the real world, there are limits to unconditional transparency. There are issues of commercial confidentiality, stock-exchange regulations and justified confidentiality agreements with business partners during a negotiation.

Where problems arise is where evasions and untruths are employed in attempts to conceal wrongdoing and/or achieve some objective. That is the fate of Bell Pottinger, whose employees indulged in gross breaches of acceptable behaviour. One must assume, given all the information, it was done knowingly.

If we who run and work for other communications agencies are to be honest with ourselves, we need to acknowledge that we face constant challenges of our own. There is a huge grey area between the irregular Bell Pottinger-Oakbay approach and the totally open, honest and transparent ideal. The latter is an ideal that well-intentioned individuals and organisations can only aspire to.

So where, in that grey expanse, does one draw the line? If the Bell Pottinger saga teaches us anything, it is that £100,000-a-month contracts cannot be justified and will ultimately cause the firm far more damage than the contract is worth. This is so even if no unlawful activities are carried out.

On the other hand, we are in business. We provide a range of services to a diverse range of organisations. A puritanical approach would mean no business at all. There are no simple answers for a communications practitioner. However, a good starting point is a philosophical approach that holds that a successful business needs to be cognisant of responsible corporate behaviour and good corporate citizenship.

How is that defined? There are, increasingly, useful guidelines and frameworks in this regard, many of them the product of multistakeholder engagement. These include the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the principles of the UN Global Compact and reporting in terms of the Global Reporting Initiative. In the sector in which we primarily operate, there are the 10 sustainability principles of the International Council on Mining and Metals to which members are required to adhere and, in SA, the Chamber of Mines’ membership compact.

A second point for a communications adviser to understand is that no amount of slick communication can ultimately conceal negative realities.

ALMOST INVARIABLY, COMPANIES SUCH AS OURS ARE HIRED BECAUSE THE CLIENT HAS A PROBLEM OF SOME SORT