• by Karl Greenberg , Staff Writer, September 22, 2009

Ken Sunshine, longtime publicist who has worked for former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, Barbra Streisand and the Jackson family then took the stage to interview none other than the Reverend Al Sharpton on marketing and trust.

Sunshine introduced Sharpton with a lengthy speech that included an anecdote illustrating the fact that both Sunshine and Sharpton are insomniacs. "I called him at seven in the morning - 4am in Las Vegas (where he was) to ask him what it was about Serena and Kanye. 'Are black people going crazy?' The Rev response was 'I could say the same thing about the Jews.'"

When Sharpton finally spoke he showed his comic side. "Ater that introduction I'm sure I'll be rememberd for getting up at four in the morning and attacking the Jews." That wasn't an idle comment, as much of the discussion on trust that followed had to do with building trust and reputation in the face of media that focuses on sensational, often irrelevant video and sound bites. "If I were advising advertisers," he said, "You have to be credible and you cant sell what you don't believe in. Being authentic and dependable are important. One of the reasons that I have survived through controversy is that people know that I'll be there; the more attacks you sustain, the more people who are feeling they are under siege begin to trust you. They want that. Some years ago when a young man was killed in Bensonhurst. his father called me. I told him, 'You know they are going to attack you for calling me.' He said, 'I know that, but I also know you won't sell us out.'"

And he talked about his speech at the memorial service for Michael Jackson. "I knew Michael well and believed in what I was talking about. As I sat there, I realized that no one addressed the obvious: that may in the media had sold this 'wacko Jacko' stuff -- that he was weird and strange. I felt it would have been a betrayal of honesty that two days before the service they were calling him names. And nobody addressed his kids. One, he loved his kids and second this was someone's father." Sharpton said his decision to speak on those topics has relevance in advertising.

"You have to talk to what people really feel. That competitors won't speak to. We tend to talk about what we hope people will say rather than what's really on their minds. I wasn't going to get up make the regular ministerial address. That's often the reason that some advertising campaigns fail; they don't strike a chord wtih the public; and if you go against general opinion it can work magnificently."