BY Fredrick Nwabufo
LEVICK is the international public relations agency hired by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to manage the international information on President Goodluck Jonathan on the Boko Haram insurgency, especially after the battering he got in the foreign media over his handling of the abduction of Chibok schoolgirls.
The firm has quickly swung into action, placing an opinion (“editorial”) written by the president in Washington Post and co-ordinating information on his anti-terror activities, most recently the visit to Nigeria by Pakistani teenage education activist, Miss Malala Yousafzai.
Here are a few facts about the firm.
1. LEVICK is a public relations firm. It specialises in advocacy and public affairs, business intelligence, corporate and reputation, crisis, digital communication, financial communication and litigation communication. Its slogan, Communicating Trust, is a registered trade mark. It says, on its website, that nobody “knows what it takes to grow and protect trust better than LEVICK. Give us your trust and we’ll strengthen it”.
2. It was established in 1998 by Richard Levick. It is based in the US with offices in Washington DC and New York. LEVICK, who named the firm after himself, is a lawyer. He is the chairman and CEO of the company. He is a popular keynote speaker and a columnist for the top business blogs, including Forbes. He has co-authored four books, including The Communicators: Leadership in the Age of Crisis; Stop the Presses: The Crisis and Litigation PR Desk Reference; and 365 Marketing Meditations.
3. LEVICK can swim well in murky waters. It has managed the image of countries with reputation issues, such as the Principality of Liechtenstein, which is known as a global destination for money laundering. In a particular US congressional investigation of the principality, LEVICK boasts of having confronted biased media and focused additional government inquiries and media attention on other bigger-name players accused of tax-evasion. The result? “The Principality of Liechtenstein and its European bank did not pay a single fines or penalty.”
4. LEVICK does business everywhere on virtually anything. It even delved into issues of human rights and abuse of the rule of law by the government of the United Arab Emirates. It said on its website: “LEVICK’S multi-year campaign powerfully underscored the tangible progress that had already been made… One State Department official called the emirate’s progress ‘a model for the region,’ positioning its leaders to present Dubai as an ideal alternative to terrorism for populations throughout the region.”
5. The company has won many awards in the public relations industry. Some of its awards and recognitions are: 2012 Digital PR and Social Media Awards (Best New Website), 2012 TIVA Peer Awards (Peer Bronze Internet Only: Public Relations/Marketing Video), 2012 Digital PR and Social Media Awards (Best Crisis Firm, Honorable Mention), 2012 Digital PR and Social Media Awards (Best Content Marketing/Brand Journalism, Honorable Mention), and 2011 National Law Journal & Legal Times Award (Best Crisis Management Consultant).
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