Nail 'Em!: Confronting High-Profile Attacks on Celebrities & Businesses

by Eric Dezenhall

"We're gonna nail 'em!"

That's the threat made against Eric Dezenhall's clients - usually corporations and well-known people - by aggressors trying to launch media-hyped smear campaigns and attacks because they feel they've been wronged, or just because they want publicity. From Pepsi and ValuJet to Michael Ovitz and Kathy Lee Gifford, businesses and celebrities today are finding themselves the front-line targets of attacks by the headline-seekers, the news media, corporate stalkers, disgruntled former employees, individuals looking for a few minutes of fame, and many others. And it's crisis managers like Dezenhall who step in to reduce the damage, fight the bad publicity, and sometimes even turn the wave of negative opinion on the attackers themselves.


Nail 'Em! is an exploration of the personalities, conflicts, and motivations involved in such attacks and Dezenhall's unique communications approach to slowing, preventing, and reversing such situations. While illustrating that these attacks are not merely communications problems, but real conflicts that can only be stopped when the aggressor is placed in jeopardy, the author examines the psychology of the attacker, notorious recent cases, his personal experiences, facts versus falsehoods, the role of the news media, and the popularity of victims in contemporary America. Nail 'Em! lays out a blueprint for reclaiming the public's good favor while erasing the attacker's allegations.

Genres: Business

342 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1999

About the author

Eric Dezenhall is a journalist and author of twelve books, including three non-fiction texts on crisis communications. Other areas of expertise include organized crime and the intelligence community. He is the Chairman and co-founder of Dezenhall Resources, One of the country's first crisis communications firms. He lectures in academic and business circles and appears in international media including NPR, CNN, FOX, CNBC, MSNBC and the History Channel. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today.

Eric’s work is widely cited in business, media, and academic circles. His book, Best of Enemies with Gus Russo, is being made into a feature film. He is also the author of seven novels, including The Devil Himself, based on the true story of the U.S. Navy’s collaboration with organized crime in WWII. His latest non-fiction book, Wiseguys and the White House, documents when mobsters and presidents traded favors -- and double crossed each other. Eric graduated from Dartmouth College and lives near Washington, D.C., with his family.

Reviews

[loafingcactus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read at least one other book by this author, though apparently I didn't review it here. His "usual suspects" is right on, and he clearly knows them well. Just when one thinks he is cynical beyond humanity he comes back to the issue of dealing with a a real victim of a PR client, and that is completely different from the spin he explains in the book. Though according to him a real victim must act right, so maybe he is cynical.... I can never be sure if I want to be Eric Dezenhall or loath Eric Dezenhall.

[Jasper · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author gives his view and tips on crisis communications and PR, based on a high number of cases he has been involved in. As such, it is not a comprehensive guide to crisis communications, nor always a neutral and balanced view on the matter. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading it as Dezenhall is very straighforward and honest in his description, which cannot be said of most books on Public Relations.

[Unspun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Culture of Attack. Difference between disuasive and persuasive communications.

[Kathryn King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite readable.