Which PR firms are helping the Taliban with their messaging?

[irisblue]

The messaging I'm hearing, from the Taliban spokesmen on the BBC & NPR sound very Westernized & slick. I am curious to know if a Western PR firm have been helping the Taliban.

1.NPR-https://www.npr.org/2021/08/22/1030100008/the-taliban-is-attempting-to-present-a-more-subdued-and-acceptable-image-to-the-

DAVIS: So can you start by talking about the communications strategy the Taliban is employing? What are they trying to do here?

AL-LAMI: So the Taliban has launched a very sophisticated, proactive, savvy PR campaign, media operation online and on multiple platforms in multiple languages. And this actually even happened ahead of their capture in Kabul. So this media operation went hand-in-hand with the military operation. And you can see, back in those days, that the purpose was to demoralize people in areas where the Taliban had not yet captured. So all the clips and the footage that you can see from their accounts were about, oh, people are welcoming us. The Afghan troops are surrendering, or they're switching sides. They're joining us. Now, since they've captured Kabul, they've gone on a really media frenzy. So all - you know, the messages are very reassuring. It's assurances to people in Afghanistan, to the international community saying, don't worry. You will come to no harm. We plan, as they say, on building a very stable country for everyone. And they say that they want to have an inclusive government. But, of course, the messaging actually sounds too good to be true.

More there at transcript


2. Reuters
snip-In the last few days, TV crews from Afghanistan's Al-Emarah Studio, which produces pro-Taliban multimedia content, have been out on the streets of Kabul speaking to residents with reassuring messages about life returning to normal.

"How confident are you?" asked an interviewer with a Al-Emarah microphone in the city centre. "100%," came the reply. "Security is good, there are no thieves, we are very happy."

snip-"Getting their message across has proved harder since the Taliban conquered Afghanistan than it was when they were fighting an insurgency against foreign and U.S.-backed local armed forces.

Over the years, it has often been a step ahead of the government, getting its message out with a mix of multi-lingual social media accounts, videos, photos and responsive, well-prepared spokesmen equipped with ready answers to reporters' questions."

[Johnny2X2X]

1. The Taliban never really went away

They controlled parts of Afghanistan this whole time.

I think they want to have a functioning government, and to have one they're going to need to implement these reforms they're mentioning.

[dalton99a]

2. Probably Karzai & Khalilzad themselves

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. Why would they need "western" PR help to get their message out?

[irisblue]

5. The ' we mean women no harm' nessages in mid August seemed very direct to US& European

issues. Women, obviously, are treated very differently in tbe First World

Emphasising that over & over seems calculated messaging.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. Do you think they can't figure that out on their own, or that non-western PR efforts wouldn't come

up with that?

[irisblue]

7. Do I think the Taliban is stupid , no.

Do I wonder if there are behind the screen guidance from PR firms who have very successfully guided social & political in the West, yes I do.

The Taliban creating a whole PR messaging system in 20+years seems fast.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

8. "The Taliban creating a whole PR messaging system in 20+years seems fast."

Twenty years seems...fast?

[Politicub]

14. A PR agency can create a message framework and execute a strategy for

spreading it in a matter of months. This cycle can be accelerated, depending on the budget.

[Irish_Dem]

9. They want legitimacy and respect on the world stage. They cannot do it by themselves.

The Taliban is going to need big BR and a lot of assistance to switch from world pariah to respected leaders.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. Mainly, I think it's weird to assume a "western PR firm" is what's coming up with this approach.

[irisblue]

11. Why?

[Irish_Dem]

12. The PR firm is just a tool. There is internal and external pressure on the Taliban.

They need money, and want world respect and acceptance.

The Chinese are pressuring them as well to become a stable country so the region can become stable.

If the Taliban wants world assistance, it is going to have to hire some Western PR firms to shape their message.
It is not surprising at all.

Basically the Taliban wants Western money and respect. So it is smart to hire a western PR firm to do the marketing.

The Chinese are agreeing to pump money into Afghanistan infrastructure in return for some things they need from Afghanistan. But the Chinese cannot give them Western approval.

[Politicub]

13. Because public relations is a massive industry and has its tentacles

spread to every type and form of media.

PR is grounded in communications theory, and PR executives have decades of experience framing issues in such a way to modify behavior. Thousands of people, spread across the world, work in the industry, and their activities fly under the radar of the vast majority of people.

Clients come to PR agencies with goals and objectives that can range from increasing sales of a new shampoo to convincing the public that war is peace. Messages and strategies are tested with target audiences, and performance is analyzed against a set of metrics that can include reach, message spread and audience expansion.

Advertising is obvious; PR is invisible.

There’s your answer.

[Beakybird]

17. This.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

18. My hangup is more on "western" than "PR."

[Politicub]

20. Communications holding companies and PR firms have their headquarters in

major cities.

The largest firms have offices across the world, and campaigns are launched locally, in local languages, to influence regional and global audiences. The objectives are global and execution is local.

The modern public relations industry is an American invention.

Why is that so hard to understand?

[Thomas Hurt]

4. They had 20 years to watch how the US did it about their country.

[BeyondGeography]

15. It's the Oldsmobile Cutlass crew

This is not your father’s Taliban. Good to see those guys making a few bucks.

[Thunderbeast]

16. After seeing what Putin and the FSB was able to do in the US...

...I can only assume that Russia had a hand in the post-war messaging strategy. They are sophisticated media-savvy friends to the Taliban. They have produced propaganda designed to further embarrass the US.

[ShazamIam]

21. NPR must be one of the Taliban PR agencies, they have spent the last two weeks attacking Biden.Every

day all day they are full of personalized stories of the poor pitiful Afghans and the Americans still there, etc. They use all their actor voiced talkers, some pitiful, some outraged, some just so concerned. bla bla bla. NPR is doing a great job celebrating the Taliban.