Posts Tagged ‘crisis public relations’

Crisis Corner: How Oprah Can Combat Kitty Kelley’s Tell-All Book

April 14th, 2010

This past week, famous (infamous?) unauthorized celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley released her latest tell-all book, this one about talk show host Oprah Winfrey.  Kelley’s pen has struck many famous targets in the past, such as Frank Sinatra, the Bush family and even royal dynasties.

Oprah is more than just a celebrity, she is a bona-fide billion dollar brand – therefore the stakes are much higher in protecting and managing that image.  Crisis management 101 dictates that attacks on one’s brand and reputation must never go unanswered, and the two Oprahs – the person and the brand – are no exception.

So what crisis public relations steps should Oprah take as Kelley continues her book publicity tour, dishing seedy details and other awkward revelations?

• Stay above the fray.  Oprah’s handlers already maintain a tight perimeter around their boss, and no doubt that circle will hold strong during the book’s initial release.  Still, Oprah’s fans will seek reassurance about their idol, and that guidance is best administered from Oprah herself.  At the same time, Oprah shouldn’t indulge the book’s themes or specifics, so getting on the record with a diplomatic and confident statement is a smart move.  Something to the effect of “I don’t traffic in rumors and speculation … Ms. Kelley peddles in gossip, so I think that speaks for itself.”

• Have third-parties criticize aggressively.  Oprah’s brand has empowered a legion of other stars in her orbit.  These loyal and trusted advocates can criticize the book openly without dragging Oprah into it.  Imagine having Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Rachael Ray all drop responses here and there: “well, regardless of what’s in the gossip pages, this isn’t the Oprah that I know.”

• Lean on past success.  This isn’t the first time Oprah has faced a sharp attack, such as several years ago when Texas beef producers sued her for defamation, claiming that Oprah’s criticism of beef consumption was a direct attack on their business.  Instead of relying simply on scorched-earth litigation tactics, Oprah took complete command of the controversy by actually moving her television production to Texas for several days.  In doing so, she won over the locals, made the plaintiffs seem foolish and greedy, and looped the media theme back in her favor as a talk show host who cares about her fans.  Oh, and by the way, she won the lawsuit.

Advantage: Oprah.

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Posted in Crisis Clients, Litigation Public Relations, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy, Reputation Management

Crisis Corner: FCPA Outruns Benz

March 23rd, 2010

As explained earlier on this blog, FCPA prosecutions have increased priority in the Department of Justice, and companies are on notice to behave nicely.

Part and parcel of diligent FCPA compliance requires communicating positive steps, which is where crisis public relations becomes an important strategy.  This time around, the perpetrator is Daimler AG, the venerable German automaker that manufactures Mercedes Benz.  Daimler today agreed to pay $185 million in fines to the U.S. government for its alleged corrupt business practices.

While crisis management would recommend a media holding statement at a minimum, Daimler should also take active steps to explain any new transparency measures it plans to implement to avoid this type of scandal in the future.  (In this case, Daimler gave a very lame “no comment” response to the allegations … sigh.)

If a tree falls in a forest… ah, you get the picture.  Remember, in crisis public relations, the redemption narrative works only if people know you’re making that same effort — so publicize it!

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Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy

Activision AWOL, Losing the Battle, about to Lose the War

March 5th, 2010

Activision is suffering one of the worst crisis public relations tailspins the tech industry has seen in a long time.  The legacy game and entertainment company recently fired two of its top developers responsible for the fastest selling video game ever, Modern Warfare 2.  This isn’t just kids cramming quarters at an arcade — the game’s sales topped more than $1 billion within a few weeks of release.

If your flagship product developers have been pink-slipped, it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think they may retaliate.  That’s exactly what Jason West and Vince Zampella did — suing Activision for $36 million, claiming wrongful termination after being subjected to interrogation, abusive employment practices and documenting how the company terrorized fellow employees.  Their law firm put out a press release that amps up the coverage and makes Activision look supremely arrogant and insensitive in treating their staff.

As of now, Activision is getting pummeled online and in the echo-chamber of industry fans and commentators.  So far the only push-back the company appears to have done is issue a statement calling the lawsuit “meritless.”

Hey Activision — what buttons do you push on the joystick to stop the head-in-the-sand public relations strategy?  You are rapidly losing engagement of millions of fans who spend a ton of their time communicating and networking on-line.  Why doesn’t your Twitter page have a single tweet reassuring fans, investors, partners, etc. that you are on the right side of this issue?  NOT ONE SINGLE MESSAGE, really?  Your Facebook page hasn’t been updated since June of last year!!!

Good luck Activision, you’re gonna need it…

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Posted in Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy

Crisis Corner: Companies Must Prepare Messaging for FCPA Investigation

February 8th, 2010

As the Department of Justice steps up enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, chances are that companies with household names will get snared in the coming dragnet.

If a company cares about their corporate identity, they must take active crisis public relations steps before a crisis occurs.  Think of it this way – a small investment in crisis management can prevent more fuel being thrown on the publicity fire.  If you don’t believe preparation matters, tell that to BAE as they start clawing out of the $400 million penalty they’ve incurred from violating the FCPA.  Having your company executives arrested and paraded out during a trade show is about as bad a publicity hit as you’ll ever get.

So, what can companies do?  The basic crisis public relations tactics often focus on simple messaging.  For example, if the executives know the crisis is around the corner, a holding statement can be drafted well in advance that alerts the media to the problem, and explains that more details will be forthcoming.  Forget about hiding the problem – the reporters will find out anyway.  And, this step satiates the media machine and buys time for the publicist to recommend next steps.  By doing so, the company gets out ahead of the story and controls the narrative.

Your company’s bottom-line matters to an ever growing audience, so make sure your messages get to them – especially when people are raising eyebrows and scratching their heads.

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Posted in Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, Public Relations Strategy, Public Relations Tips

Crisis Corner: Kleen Energy Needs Visibility for Connecticut Explosion

February 7th, 2010

The tragedy at the Kleen Energy plant in Connecticut has been a rapid-fire assault of news today.  But, go to the plant’s website and there is no official statement (at least as of this blog posting).

In crisis public relations, the affected entity must be the first — and most visible — point of communication and messaging when it comes to information and assistance.

No information + no media relations + no website information = bad crisis PR.

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Posted in Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, News & Events

Crisis Corner: How Toyota May Turn LaHood Into an Ally

February 3rd, 2010

As is his want, today U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, testifying before Congress on the Toyota recall, said that if anyone owned a Toyota, they should “stop driving it.”  Immediately afterward, Toyota’s stock price fell nearly 8%, adding to the almost $30 billion hit the carmaker has taken since the recall on faulty gas pedals began.

Toyota has been under an amazing swarm of bad press and it’ll be a long, hard road back to redemption and better image reputation.  What’s different about today’s mini-crisis public relations drama, though, is that Toyota quickly shored up its position, and in a way that may have pivoted LaHood to be more sensitive when he speaks about the carmaker.

To Toyota’s benefit, LaHood clarified his remarks and said he meant to refer only to recalled models, not the entire Toyota fleet.  Toyota smartly followed up with its own statement that struck the right tone, which thanked LaHood for the clarification.  Instead of being combative and harsh, Toyota took the high road, and by doing so let LaHood save face.  This simple, delicate move by Toyota will keep LaHood from going off-script in his public statements, making it unlikely that the nation’s top transportation official is going to attack the company any time soon.

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Posted in Corporate Communications, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, Issues & Advocacy, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy, Public Relations Tips

Crisis Corner: Wells Fargo $350,000 Gamble on Haiti, Image Goes Bust

January 31st, 2010

What’s the point of doing any CSR if you’re willing to toss all goodwill out the window anyway?  That’s the question Wells Fargo executives should be asking themselves, that is if they have competent crisis public relations counsel.  The bank has received considerable criticism for not waiving transaction fees associated with charitable contributions to Haiti earthquake relief.

From an online reputation management standpoint, so many things are wrong with this picture, but here’s a list to help keep them handy:

• Wells Fargo has pledged $350,000 to relief efforts – though you wouldn’t know this from their website, which only has some of this information visible, and even then it’s buried deep.

• In response to criticism, Wells Fargo insists it would take $35 million in transactions to generate the amount equal to their charitable contributions.  Um… ok, so what?  This metric has absolutely nothing to do with the underlying issue, which is waiving the transaction fee when donors want their money to go to earthquake victims.

• Wells Fargo had record-level revenue in Q4 2009 at $22.7 billion.  At that amount, their charitable contribution is so miniscule that it’s almost not worth bragging about – particularly when weaker competitors are pledging much more and also waiving transaction fees.  (Seriously, do the math on a calculator and you’ll laugh at the result.)

• Where is Wells Fargo’s rebuttal to the criticism?  Why isn’t there anything on their blog page?  Real shoddy corporate communications work here.

Wells Fargo needs to breathe some life into their PR apparatus and focus more on online image management.  With big bank reputation at low levels, it’s the least the institution can do.

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Posted in Corporate Communications, Crisis Management, News & Events

Crisis Corner: O’Keefe’s Third (and Worst) Way in Crisis Public Relations Strategy

January 28th, 2010

News of the arrest of James O’Keefe, celebrated conservative activist and scourge of ACORN, spread very quickly, even by today’s mega-hyper media standard.  The fallout has been accompanied by extreme helpings of gloating by many opponents, including ACORN itself.  Quite a bit has been said about the stupid incident, but not so much about how the accused (or his lawyer) should respond to the allegations.

In crisis public relations, the publicist usually counsels the client to get ahead of the story and communicate early and quickly, so as to take control of the narrative before others do.  This primary strategy, when executed well, pays great dividends in reputation management.

The second strategy sometimes employed is to say nothing as the crisis unfolds.  This tactic consistently flops, as outrage often becomes the theme and cements itself over the relevant time period.  (O’Keefe, however, may have a pass here as there may be a gag order in place, prohibiting public comment on the incident.)

Yet, there is a third way, or tactic, that sometimes appears, by far the worst of the lot – let’s call it the verbal tap dance.  Instead of addressing the allegations truthfully or staying silent, the client or spokesperson’s response bends the spine of logic by parsing words to the point of sheer absurdity.

The problem is that it doesn’t take much to see through such statements and everyone passes even harsher judgment on the scrutinized individual.  In this case, the relevant FBI affidavit states that O’Keefe admitted coordinating with two others in an operation to tamper with federal government phone lines.  So why does his lawyer say that there was no “interfering with the phone system”?  And what good does it do O’Keefe to brag on Twitter that “Govt official concedes no attempt to wiretap”?  (And that’s assuming that this observation is true!  Right now O’Keefe isn’t exactly the best messenger for such forceful rebuttals.)

If you are dealing with crisis management, and the public collectively rolls their eyes when you speak, your playbook and strategy need to be revised.

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Posted in Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, News & Events, Public Relations Strategy, Public Relations Tips

Crisis PR: Building a Slower Celebrity Train Wreck

January 8th, 2010

High-profile celebrities are, by nature, aggressively ambitious.  Sometimes that ambition leans toward greater artistic achievement, philanthropy or over-the-top antics.  And, sadly, sometimes that ambition aims simply for the bottom-line – more money.

So the question, from the public relations perspective, is: how much money is enough?  Case in point: reports of the New Year’s Eve concert Beyoncé Knowles performed for the Gathafi family, with the morally questionable Hannibal Gathafi as the evening’s host.

Hannibal’s exploits are infamous, for all the wrong reasons.  Actions may speak louder than words, but in the world of crisis PR, perception screams at full volume.  So, when Beyoncé chose to perform for the Gathafi family, she (or her handlers, if they are good at what they do) had to know the concert would attract significant international criticism.  That’s not good when your celebrity persona is followed closely by millions globally.  More importantly, was the performance worth the reported $2 million fee when you’ve already earned $87 million in the past few months alone?

Now, to her credit, Beyoncé has taken an affirmative step to clear the air, with a prominent statement on her Web site that claims she did not perform for Hannibal but rather for his brother.  Good crisis management in action.  But is this enough?  To distance herself more forcefully, she could hold a press conference, post a YouTube video, or even connect with the families of victims of Lockerbie Pan Am Flight 103 to issue a joint statement that she is aware of the sensitive nature of associating with the Gathafi family, particularly when it comes to personal gain.

Always remember: in crisis management, it’s all about perception, perception, perception.  Do the right thing to atone for your error and you’re already halfway there.

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Posted in Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, Public Relations Tips

Hewlett Packard, Racist Programming and PR Crisis Management

December 23rd, 2009

Sometimes very bizarre and random viral videos can put a big dent in a company’s reputation, triggering the need for a crisis PR response by the accused.  Case in point: Hewlett-Packard.

The viral video in question shows two electronics store personnel talking directly to a camera connected to a HP computer with facial-recognition software.  The fist employee is black, but the software appears incapable of making the camera recognize and follow his face and movements. The second employee is white, and when she steps in view the software and camera track her properly.  Based on the software’s faulty recognition, the employees conclude that HP is racist.

Many competing theories can abound from this occurrence, but let’s say for the sake of argument that this is an innocent programming error in the HP software.  The fact that the employees are laughing also softens the video’s tone slightly.  In other words, there is very likely a simple and non-racist explanation for the camera tracking patterns.

If that’s the case, then why doesn’t HP practice competent crisis management and put a brief explanation in plain view on their Web site?  And why, when asked, did the company just say it “is looking into” the issue?  As of late afternoon, you won’t find anything on their home page, nor in their press releases.  Very bad move, considering that Google News shows almost 200 articles with the words “HP” and “racist” in the headlines!

It’s highly unlikely that an incident like this will collapse a mega-billion dollar corporate titan like HP.  On the other hand, basic crisis public relations tactics could have put this fire out before HP products became labeled as “racist” – not a great place for your company to be 2 days before Christmas.

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Posted in Brand Management, Crisis Clients, Crisis Management, Public Relations Strategy

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