The post-mortem of a strange series of strategic communication events

In the worlds of big business, controlled corporate machinery, and politics, very little goes public on accident. People generally do not inadvertently issue news releases or plant stories. Billboard contracts aren’t signed until dozens of people have reviewed the final artwork and colors.

This brings us to the unusual Saks and Neiman Marcus case in Dallas.

Quickly, for the uninitiated: On Friday, February 14, Costar reported that Saks, the owner of Neiman Marcus, planned to close NM’s headquarters office in Dallas. Early the following week, another Manolo Blahnik dropped: The iconic store in Downtown Dallas was set for closure.

The city manager became involved, and the real estate professionals mobilized. A news conference was held. “This cannot happen!” people exclaimed. “It’s been here since 1907!” Dallas and Neiman’s go together like a hand in fur-lined glove. Shopping and dining out are Very Important activities here and must be preserved.

Problem One: That Downtown Dallas store was a ghost town. No one went there. There’s also a thriving 200,000 square-foot Neiman’s about seven miles north. Everyone goes there.

Problem Two: Everyone forgot about the headquarters news a few days earlier and didn’t connect the dots. Saks didn’t issue a news release indicating they were taking either action. Stories were planted, likely by the real estate community, which leaks almost as much as the NYC financial community.

So everyone got really, really spun up. There were breathless reports that just maybe a deal was nigh. And then the tone shifted to positive, saying a deal had been reached to arrange some sort of confusing landlord lease scenario to keep it open.

Problem Three: Saks had planned to close it all along. A cursory reading between the lines revealed that. After two weeks of retail drama, they finally had to issue a statement on March 4, asserting that plans to close the store are final and driving a dagger into it by calling the city’s ongoing efforts “highly unproductive” and stating, “even after our corrections to their previous false statements, they continue to go to the press, making inaccurate claims. Our decision to close the Neiman Marcus Downtown Dallas store is final, and we are moving forward as such.” (Sweet, compliant Dallas reporters, meet New York strategic comms pros.)

Lesson One: You can’t fault city leaders for trying to do the right thing. They’re doing what they’re supposed to do.

Lesson Two: I have no insight into the behind-the-scenes machinations, but one could make the case that Saks might’ve saved themselves a lot of time and announced both closures and pieces of news in a single news release. Bite the bullet. Get the news out without the aid of real estate brokers or leaks. Manage the three-day fallout from the news release and move on.

Lesson Three: Always connect the dots and the timing. Always.

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