Archive for the ‘Bad PR’ Category

Every bit of communication is open to scrutiny

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

In the internet age every piece of communication between you and your customer is open to scrutiny.

Electronic communication is scarily permanent.

Websites like HelpHound are a record of people’s thoughts on your business.

And anything you write on your website or any email sent to a customer could come back and be used against you.

I’m currently listening to a replay of a consumer show item on BBC Three Counties Radio. A customer spent several thousand on artificial grass for their garden, and their children get static shocks from it. Unfortunately the supplying company has not helped them sort it out, and the radio station has been involved for a few weeks now.

The company hasn’t yet been named (yet), but emails between the company and customer have been read out as part of the “evidence” that the product isn’t right. If I ran that company I would want to get this sorted out ASAP, before it escalates any further.

How would you feel if emails sent by your staff were read out on a radio station’s consumer show?

Try not to tell your customers to eff off

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

PR cock-up of the week: telling your customer to “go forth” on their restaurant receipt… whoops…

When it all goes wrong

Wednesday, December 5th, 2007

Whatever you or your business stands for, ensure you have a backup plan in case you are ever caught on the other foot.

It can happen in the flash of a camera.

The self-perpetuating PR crisis

Monday, September 17th, 2007

My wife and I went to York at the weekend for a little treat, and as we walked into town from the train station were greeted with the longest queue we have ever seen coming from Northern Rock.

No shockers there with its current problems.

Lending aside, the biggest problem Northern Rock currently has is a self-perpetuating PR crisis.

The first few people panicing and queuing to take their money out made others panic and join the queue. And that then makes more people panic.

We’re probably at the point now where people who were unmoved on Friday will be worried this morning by reports that £2 BILLION has been taken out already. I know if I had money in Northern Rock I’d probably be thinking very hard about it today.

While I was taking photos of the queue in York (hey, you don’t see this stuff every day) a retired man stopped to tell us he’s seen the same thing happen in Derby in the 70s or 80s, when a building society got into trouble. There were pictures of people taking wheelbarrows of cash out, which of course attracted more people to do the same.

Northern Rock seems to be doing the best it can – making it easier for customers to get their money out by opening longer. It’s hard to see what else it could do to stop the panic.

UPDATE: Monday 17th September at 6pm: And with one move, the government kills the PR crisis. Good move. Lets hope it works.

Having a plan for when it all goes wrong

Wednesday, September 5th, 2007

You can’t get much worse negative publicity than having your product pictured on the front page of The Sun, with a headline screaming it will kill people.

But that’s what the makers of Crocs woke up to this morning.

It’s an unusual story which shows two things: it’s a bit of a quiet news day, and Crocs are the must-have fashion items of the moment (why else would they get front page status?).

If a story like that hit your business, would you be ready to react? It’s virtually impossibly to anticipate every single angle that could be thrown at you, but you can plan for general themes.

Ensure you have brainstormed possibilities, have rough plans ready, have made it easy for journalists to speak to your key staff 24 hours a day, and your business is locked down to prevent leaks.

In this internet age where anyone can visit your business’s website, you also need to have a reaction for your customers as well as the media (as of 1pm today there’s nothing on the Crocs website).

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