Los Angeles Public Relations

Much has been written about the record compensation, including bonuses, paid out by Goldman Sachs this year.  Say what you will about the meltdown in the financial services sector, and Goldman is by no means blameless, however, Goldman has paid back ALL of the money it borrowed from TARP with annualized interest of 23%.

Rather than run, hide, and look guilty by advising employees not to “live high on the hog,” we think Goldman’s PR strategy should be far more aggressive – they are the ideal example of how the bailout was supposed to work – the taxpayers got their money back at an interest rate that the big credit card companies would be fond of. 

So why not come out and say “we had some problems, we took the TARP money, we got back on our feet, we repaid the taxpayers, and our team deserves compensation for the turnaround.”

Those of us who came from the world of politics know that if you act like you have something to hide, the media is going to smell blood and write that you have something to hide.  If you tell your story first, tell it yourself, and tell the TRUTH, any resulting media crisis will be short lived because the story becomes old news quickly.

At Lucid Public Relations, we believe that the best defense in situations like this is a smart offense.  There is no need to rub bonuses in the public’s face, but there is also no need to try and slip it past anyone.