"We didn�t create the flotilla fiasco - we reported it"

"PR is the modern battlefield; that is where the war is decided, and that's where we're losing. Once we were a fantastic brand," said Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) CEO Amos Shapira at the "Globes" Marketing and Communications Conference today.

Shapira added, "There's a tendency to think that a good company manager is also good at running a country. There's a connection between consumer brand management and nation brand management, but it's also necessary to know the differences, and there are fundamental differences between the two systems.

"In consumer marketing, when you disparage your rival, it rarely works, whereas in political marketing, denigrating the opposition apparently works pretty well."

Shapira at a special panel with foreign correspondents: Tobias Buck, Jerusalem Bureau Chief of the "Financial Times"; Charles Levinson, Jerusalem Bureau Chief of "The Wall Street Journal"; and Reena Ninan of "FOX News".

One panelist said, "Belying the perspective from here, which see a PR disaster, the situation is not as bad as a lot of people think. Israel's position is expressed and is prominent overseas. A lot of people take a critical stance, but Israel is definitely heard, and it's something that is sent to readers and viewers worldwide."

Commenting on the coverage of the Gaza flotilla, Levinson said, "People claim that the media created a fiasco over the takeover of the Marmara, and that's not fair. There was a fiasco, and we reported it, but we didn�t create it. A very serious effort was made by everyone to tell the story in full, and there's no doubt that this is a complex story."

The foreign correspondents slammed the attitude of the Israeli authorities to look only at the local media. One correspondent said, "Video clips of the takeover of the Marmara by the IDF Spokesman were released precisely for the Israel evening news, but what about the international media? Everyone coordinates the media for the local media, which they emphasize, and then they don�t understand why recordings don�t enter the channels when the local authorities want."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 19, 2010

"We didn�t create the flotilla fiasco - we reported it"

A foreign correspondent: Video clips of the takeover of the Marmara were released for the Israel evening news, but what about the international media?