Thursday 28 May 2015

If I was Anita Fabiola’s PR consultant on her leaked nude pictures




Social media, newspapers and websites have been taken by storm with discussions related to alleged leaked nude pictures of Popular TV personality Anita Kyalimpa Fabiola. In Africa, nudity is unacceptable outside the bedroom. Anita hosts the  NTV show ‘Be my date’ .A look at the pictures gives an impression that there must have be a photographer besides the selfies. Fabiola’s crisis is likely to take a short period of time. Her pictures are only in one angle as she is standing. They are not as many and controversial as those of Desire Luzinda. In one of the nude pictures, Musician Desire Luzinda posed with an inverted victory sign which just prolonged the crisis. People especially celebrities posed the same way and re-posted hilariously. The most important assignment as a PR consultant would be to get her side of the story. This will help separate facts from allegations. I will use the information that is available to develop an effective PR plan. A legal expert should be on board to manage legal aspects of the crisis.

Everyone would not want to be in her shoes. The world is literally throwing stones at her yet she is God’s child. The objective of the PR plan would be to market her as a brand, manage her media relations and build a reputation. Anita Fabiola rushed to issue a statement online. The tone is apologetic which was a wrong approach. It portrays her with low self esteem. PR Crises always test your self esteem. Part of her a statement online raises esteem issues. ‘Much as I am a victim, I feel like I have let you down’. As if she does not belief in herself and needs public approval.
Lots of questions still surround her resignation and alleged sacking theories. Can resignation be  instant? Her statement says she resigned because she wanted a media break. Resignation was uncalled for.NTV and Fabiola could use the moment to grow the numbers of ‘NTV Be my date’ show viewers. Truth is that it is  not Uganda’s most watched show.
The problem with online communication is that you can never take away content from search engines with this tech savvy generation today. People scan hardcopies and share with millions on social media. Screenshots are shared with thousands even before you edit a grammatical error on Facebook or Twitter.Fabiola Anita is also being crucified against her previous statements before the crisis. She allegedly said she has never taken nude pictures of herself. Her statement does not respond to this controversy.
This crisis offers an ocean of opportunities that Fabiola should quickly use to go places. Someone once said that there are a thousand positive things for each negative one. Everything can be taken away from you but no one can take away who you are. Fabiola needs to embark on more activities to show continuity.This is not the time to hide from the Public. It has already made news that Fabiola went partying after the pictures were leaked. Some rebels have been given amnesty and they turn out to serve their nations better. There is little you can do about stopping the dissemination of leaked sextapes and nude pictures. There are serious benefits if you turn crises into publicity stunts for new projects. Launching a music career is a good idea to divert media attention. Ugandan media easily jumps from one discussion to another. This may help Fabiola remain fresh in the minds of the media. Remember Fabiola is  marketing herself for the next Media career.The main discussion about the crisis has been whether Fabiola Anita wears artificial bumsor not. Music platforms will give Fabiola an opportunity to prove that she does not wear fake bums. It will be a great idea to change her stage name to ‘Nurse Bitone’. The breakthrough in music industry would work well with duets. Music should not include kadongo kamu genre if she needs to keep in touch with her former English speaking viewers at NTV. Another activity would be running a lingerie fashion modelling business.Fabiola is a celebrity and people love her. NTV Be my date Facebook account has over 50,000 fans. It is the reason to profit from it
Develop numerous hash tags and petitions. Task your friends to start petitions to get your job back.The harsh tag of #bringbackFabiola is already trending.Photo opportunity tactic would be another fix. Fabiola needs to Stage manage many photo shoots that show a little more flesh. Play the victim about the pictures to win public support and update the world on anything around herself even if it is jogging. Social media posts with pictures get more attention therefore do more selfies. Do not forget to take pictures in a swimming suit to prove to Mary luswata of scoop of scoop show on Urban TV that you have real bums and hips.
The PR plan aims at marketing Fabiola for the next Job. There is need to rely on her connections to get public gigs as an MC. This is meant to build an image of a winner. Dealing with the issue of Job loss can be hard but it’s a time to leak her programme milestones that the public did not know. If media asks her about your job,Fabiola should be  be positive and share the number of shows she has hosted, success stories of couples she hosted, and how long she has been at the former workplace. Depending on the trend of events, PR teams can revise the activities to address emergencies. Sincerity is one thing even a PR person can not fake.

Ivan .N.Baliboola
PR and organizational diagnosis specialist
Twitter:@mediasurgeon



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