SOS
04-30-2002, 03:13 PM
Saudi's PR Ad campaign (http://www.msnbc.com/news/744693.asp?0cb=-11b77393/)
Selling the Saudis in a ‘Favorable’ Light
Saudi Government launches ad campaign to improve rating with American public
By Michael Isikoff
NEWSWEEK
May 6 issue — Concerned about “tracking polls” showing that its “favorable” rating with the American public has yet to climb back to pre-9-11 levels, the Saudi Arabian government has launched a multimillion-dollar ad blitz designed to portray the kingdom as a close partner with the United States in the war on terror. “The People of Saudi Arabia... Allies Against Terrorism,” reads one ad that features President Bush touting Saudi “cooperation” against Osama bin Laden. “Allies for Peace,” proclaims another commercial featuring Saudi kings meeting with U.S. presidents dating back to FDR. The TV and radio ads paper over differences between the Saudis and the Bush administration and avoid sensitive subjects that might not play well with an American audience, such as the Saudis’ staunch support for the Palestinians in the Mideast crisis or the 15 Saudis who served as hijackers on 9-11.
THE ADS ARE THE latest phase in a sophisticated image makeover ordered up last year by Adel Al-Jubair, 39, the U.S.-educated Saudi diplomat in Washington who was all over the TV talk shows last week during Crown Prince Abdullah’s visit to President Bush’s ranch. Al-Jubair says he originally conceived the PR offensive “like a political campaign,” complete with paid media, internal polling and “coordinated” message development that would supplement the country’s usual lobbying efforts in Washington. After the 9-11 attacks, when the Saudis were taking a pummeling in the American press, Al-Jubair steered a $3 million contract to Qorvis Communications, a powerhouse Washington PR firm with close ties to the Bush White House. Among the firm’s partners is Judy Smith, a former deputy press secretary to the first President Bush. Another principal is Chris Wilson, a former executive director of the Texas Republican Party and veteran GOP pollster who has worked closely in the past with White House political director Karl Rove. Wilson’s job has been to run “tracking” polls on the Saudis’ standing with the public. The first numbers late last year showed that only about 35 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Saudi Arabia. (That compared with the days of the gulf war, when Saudi Arabia’s “favorables” were in the 60s.) Then the Saudis began running magazine and newspaper ads expressing the kingdom’s “pain” over the terrorist attack and its sympathy with the victims. By late March, after the crown prince unveiled his “peace plan,” which for the first time called for full-fledged Arab recognition of Israel, Wilson’s tracking polls showed that Saudi favorables were up slightly to 43 percent. “That was improved, but not dramatic,” says Michael Petruzzello, the Qorvis partner in charge of the Saudi account. Why the need for a foreign government to run tracking polls? “Just like in any campaign, you have to understand your audience to communicate effectively,” he explains.
Petruzzello says the ads may run “indefinitely” and that his hope is to get the Saudi poll ratings back into the 60s. But some critics are wondering if the whole thing isn’t a waste of time—and money. “This is all smoke and mirrors in order to hide the truth,” says Ali Al-Ahmed, a Washington-based Saudi dissident. “Instead of spending millions of dollars for these ads, they should be spending it building schools and modernizing the country.”
Selling the Saudis in a ‘Favorable’ Light
Saudi Government launches ad campaign to improve rating with American public
By Michael Isikoff
NEWSWEEK
May 6 issue — Concerned about “tracking polls” showing that its “favorable” rating with the American public has yet to climb back to pre-9-11 levels, the Saudi Arabian government has launched a multimillion-dollar ad blitz designed to portray the kingdom as a close partner with the United States in the war on terror. “The People of Saudi Arabia... Allies Against Terrorism,” reads one ad that features President Bush touting Saudi “cooperation” against Osama bin Laden. “Allies for Peace,” proclaims another commercial featuring Saudi kings meeting with U.S. presidents dating back to FDR. The TV and radio ads paper over differences between the Saudis and the Bush administration and avoid sensitive subjects that might not play well with an American audience, such as the Saudis’ staunch support for the Palestinians in the Mideast crisis or the 15 Saudis who served as hijackers on 9-11.
THE ADS ARE THE latest phase in a sophisticated image makeover ordered up last year by Adel Al-Jubair, 39, the U.S.-educated Saudi diplomat in Washington who was all over the TV talk shows last week during Crown Prince Abdullah’s visit to President Bush’s ranch. Al-Jubair says he originally conceived the PR offensive “like a political campaign,” complete with paid media, internal polling and “coordinated” message development that would supplement the country’s usual lobbying efforts in Washington. After the 9-11 attacks, when the Saudis were taking a pummeling in the American press, Al-Jubair steered a $3 million contract to Qorvis Communications, a powerhouse Washington PR firm with close ties to the Bush White House. Among the firm’s partners is Judy Smith, a former deputy press secretary to the first President Bush. Another principal is Chris Wilson, a former executive director of the Texas Republican Party and veteran GOP pollster who has worked closely in the past with White House political director Karl Rove. Wilson’s job has been to run “tracking” polls on the Saudis’ standing with the public. The first numbers late last year showed that only about 35 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Saudi Arabia. (That compared with the days of the gulf war, when Saudi Arabia’s “favorables” were in the 60s.) Then the Saudis began running magazine and newspaper ads expressing the kingdom’s “pain” over the terrorist attack and its sympathy with the victims. By late March, after the crown prince unveiled his “peace plan,” which for the first time called for full-fledged Arab recognition of Israel, Wilson’s tracking polls showed that Saudi favorables were up slightly to 43 percent. “That was improved, but not dramatic,” says Michael Petruzzello, the Qorvis partner in charge of the Saudi account. Why the need for a foreign government to run tracking polls? “Just like in any campaign, you have to understand your audience to communicate effectively,” he explains.
Petruzzello says the ads may run “indefinitely” and that his hope is to get the Saudi poll ratings back into the 60s. But some critics are wondering if the whole thing isn’t a waste of time—and money. “This is all smoke and mirrors in order to hide the truth,” says Ali Al-Ahmed, a Washington-based Saudi dissident. “Instead of spending millions of dollars for these ads, they should be spending it building schools and modernizing the country.”