Loose Lips Sink Ships: Lessons for PR Professionals from Coca-Cola Espionage
Recently, as written by Justin Estes on this blog, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola got into a little bit of a corporate espionage fun.
But, there is even more to the story. Because of the corporate theft, many companies are now re-evaluating how they are handling confidential corporate information - such as new products. The Associated Press went into it a bit more in this article - read it, as it is a good primer for this post.
Here’s the lesson to think about. As you begin your public relations career, you are going to be privy to a lot of confidential client information. While you will occasionally be reminded during brainstorm meetings that what you are about to talk about is under extreme confidentiality, and to not talk about such issues outside the office.
As entry-level PR persons, you get information that is not for public knowledge. It’s not just at brainstorms, but it is during morning meetings, during conversations in the hallway, etc. You do not necessarily get told “hey, this is confidential information,” but you have to be careful about what you are doing wth the information, where you talk about clients, and who you speak to (at times).
It goes back to the old WWII adage: loose lips sink ships. Be careful what you are talking about, as you might inadvertently be talking about confidential information. That includes talking to family, even.
So, it is not about paranoia … but about good work practices. Be careful out there, as it’s a war. 
When I first became involved with the blogging PR Tigers at Auburn, it was happenstance - but it did fit into my overall philosophy of working with future practitioners to help push forward the industry as a whole. And, I have met some wonderful students and PR practitioners because of my stance on mentoring, and my blogging. So much so, that I do put my contact information on my blog, including email and all various IM services.