When President Obama visits most foreign countries, airports shut down, traffic is jammed for hours and millions of citizens gather around televisions and public squares to witness the popular dignitary. In Russia however, he couldn’t even make headlines.
The lackluster reaction to his recent visit to Moscow was a little surprising for Obama aides who are used to such rave support and attention throughout the international community. Germans, for example, find Obama more popular than their own prime minister, Angela Merkel.
But the problem isn’t that Russians don’t like Obama (well, hopefully). It is more a problem of a giant cultural and communications barrier the size of…oh, I don’t know… a wall, or a giant iron curtain. Perhaps though, Americans can help bridge this gap by trying a bit harder to speak the Russian language, so to speak—by practicing a more Russian brand of PR.
The first step is identifying the target audience. Vladimir Putin, for example, is a night owl. He stays out late, sleeps in late, and is quite the angry beaver before 11 am. That is why Obama shouldn’t blow off dinner with the Prime Minister to instead request an early breakfast meeting.
The second step is deciding how to communicate to the target audience. Russians have faced an indescribable history of war, conflict and famine. Obama’s smooth metaphors and tactful oration won’t get him very far in a country that takes everything with a grain of salt.
The final step in achieving good public relations is building stable, continued relations with the target audience. Hopefully, President Obama’s attempt to reach out a hand to our strained allies will achieve this very goal. As with all things in international relations, only time will tell.
The lackluster reaction to his recent visit to Moscow was a little surprising for Obama aides who are used to such rave support and attention throughout the international community. Germans, for example, find Obama more popular than their own prime minister, Angela Merkel.
But the problem isn’t that Russians don’t like Obama (well, hopefully). It is more a problem of a giant cultural and communications barrier the size of…oh, I don’t know… a wall, or a giant iron curtain. Perhaps though, Americans can help bridge this gap by trying a bit harder to speak the Russian language, so to speak—by practicing a more Russian brand of PR.
The first step is identifying the target audience. Vladimir Putin, for example, is a night owl. He stays out late, sleeps in late, and is quite the angry beaver before 11 am. That is why Obama shouldn’t blow off dinner with the Prime Minister to instead request an early breakfast meeting.
The second step is deciding how to communicate to the target audience. Russians have faced an indescribable history of war, conflict and famine. Obama’s smooth metaphors and tactful oration won’t get him very far in a country that takes everything with a grain of salt.
The final step in achieving good public relations is building stable, continued relations with the target audience. Hopefully, President Obama’s attempt to reach out a hand to our strained allies will achieve this very goal. As with all things in international relations, only time will tell.
-Mike Scigliano
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