PR should have been the first line of defence for April’s Fools

Perfect…

A good communications scandal is great material for a PR blog and we are only halfway through April.

What a blessing.

So, without further ado, I’m going to talk about Nivea and its ‘White is Purity’ campaign slogan being adopted by White Supremacists…

…Hold on there. Why is Kendall Jenner removing her blonde wig and giving a stern and handsome policeman a can of Pepsi? Oh, it’s for world peace. I’ll go with this one instead…

Wait… An elderly man is being manhandled and forced off a plane because United Airlines overbooked the flight. Ok, that’s a good one. Choice made.

What?! Come on.. Sean Spicer… I was just about to start! You know the rules – don’t ever mention Hitler in a statement to press under any circumstance. EVER.

Now, if you just stop there you can smooth this over Sean. Just. Don’t. Say. Anything. Else. Oh no – what was that?! Hitler never gassed his own people...

STOP! Just wait a minute. Let me catch my breath.

What on earth is happening in April?!

Rich pickings indeed.

Let’s start by having a look some themes of these PR crises…

PR crises are the result of underlying weaknesses in the business

We can picture the scene in the Pepsi HQ. An advertising agency has just presented their idea to Pepsi for the new “Join the Conversation” advert….

“A protest is a wonderful idea darling – it’s just like what’s happening in the real world. But, I have one more idea. Why doesn’t Kendall give this nice policeman chap a cold can of Pepsi? Then it will look like we have helped solved world peace…”

*Room erupts into a roaring round of applause*

“Genius! Now let’s go for lunch. I’ve heard about this fabulous new two Michelin-starred restaurant in town….”

Meanwhile at Nivea….

“So, what does white represent?” asks the Brainstorm Co-Ordinator

“Well - I’ve just Googled it and it can signify purity”

“Brilliant, let’s go with that. No further discussion needed”

Back in 1931, the sacred United Airlines’ Corporate Values document was being drafted….

“Darn it - I’ve just spilt whiskey over Number 7 on our Values list.

It has smudged and now looks a bit like ‘The customer isn’t always right” now doesn’t it?”

“Nah – it will be fine. It’s pretty clear to me that it says the customer is always right. Leave it and get it faxed around the company. It definitely won’t get misinterpreted.

Now pour me another Jack on the rocks”

Ok, maybe this isn’t exactly how it happened. But you get the picture.

Most of these PR emergencies happened because of poor decisions made elsewhere in the business - whether it was about an advertising campaign, or defining the company’s culture, or a customer service issue.

So it’s definitely not PR’s fault then…?

Nice try but not quite.

Ok, maybe it wasn’t all the fault of Marketing or Customer Service or Corporate...

PR screwed up big time.

Let’s look at Pepsi first. Following widespread condemnation of the advert, here is the response from the soft drinks company:

“Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologise. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are removing the content and halting any further roll out. We also apologise for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.”

In terms of apologies it’s not bad. Not bad that is until the last sentence.

When drafting a response, you must think about how it will be interpreted by the general public. I do feel a little sorry for Kendall Jenner in this situation. After all, she is a model getting paid for a job following directions. Her agent, on the other hand, should probably get the boot.

But… and it’s a big Kardashian but…. The public, righty or wrongly, couldn’t care less about the feelings of a girl who they would consider has had the most privileged of upbringings and wouldn’t have needed to fight for much in her life.

Instead, the apologies should be going to causes and people involved in the real-life protests that the advert mimics.

United Airlines on the other hand issued a fantastic PR statement. Unfortunately that statement came at their third attempt…

“I want you to know that we take full responsibility and we will work to make it right,” Mr. Munoz wrote in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s never too late to do the right thing,” the statement continued. “I have committed to our customers and our employees that we are going to fix what’s broken so this never happens again. This will include a thorough review of crew movement, our policies for incentivizing volunteers in these situations, how we handle oversold situations and an examination of how we partner with airport authorities and local law enforcement. We’ll communicate the results of our review by April 30th.

“I promise you we will do better,”

Oscar Munuz’s (United Airlines’s CEO) final statement ticked many of the boxes that were lacking in his first one – he apologises unreservedly, takes responsibility, expresses sympathy to the man and the passengers, and promises to review the culture to stop it happening again.

All of these should have been addressed in their first public statement and the internal email to employees (more on that later). Instead, the PR crisis dragged on for days knocking hundreds of millions off the share price and doing untold damage to the brand.

You need to move fast, but it’s always better to get the statement right first time.

Finally, we come to poor Sean Spicer. Donald Trump’s mumbling, stumbling mouthpiece isn’t having the best of times is he? Usually, a PR person is an extension of the company/ boss/ POTUS. However, for Trump, he’s more of a distraction than an extension. He is one of the President’s greatest weapons (excuse the pun) at the moment. Spicer is a gaffe-machine, but he’s useful for Trump.

From a PR perspective, it’s excruciating but entertaining to watch – like watching an episode of The Office through your fingers. Moreover, he demonstrates that he has no skills or techniques of a good PR man. What about everything he should have learnt at PR school about deflecting questions..... stall, answer another question instead, or just plain and simply stop talking.

For good measure, here is Spicer’s statement following the Hitler incident. It’s decent but should never have been required in the first place…

“There’s no comparing atrocities" after Tuesday's remark seeking to draw a distinction between Syria's leader and the German dictator.

"I got into a topic that I shouldn't have and I screwed up," he said at a media forum in Washington.

"I would ask obviously for folks' forgiveness," he added

A PR professional often has to give statements apologising on behalf of what the company and/ or the CEO has done or said. But they should never ever have to be found in a position where they have to apologise for what they have said. It’s their job to speak coherently and confidently on behalf of the company.

Like a quality sports’ referee, a good PR professional should never be the focus.

Bad PR unites social media users

Hell hath no fury like Internet folk scorned.

A bad PR move is one of the only things that unites social media users. If you upset the Twitterati, you should be set for a barrage of snowballing online abuse.

Social media has played a key role in PR for a number of years now but it’s still surprising that many companies do not fully embrace that it’s a two-way conversion – it’s not just a tool for posting a comment and then ignoring replies.

In the past, a PR statement could be tucked away in an article in the middle of the newspaper, never to be discussed again. Now, thanks to social media channels, you will get immediate feedback on a statement.

It’s particularly true if the incriminating video, image or statement is exceptionally shareable. In the case of United Airlines, citizen journalism ensured that there was plenty of footage ready to go viral.

Over to our old friend Sean Spicer to comment on the Untied Airlines clip….

“I don’t think anyone looks at that video and isn’t a little disturbed that another human being is treated that way,”

 “Clearly watching another human being dragged down an aisle, watching blood come from their face after hitting an armrest or whatever, I don’t think there’s a circumstance that you can’t sit back and say this probably could have been handled a little bit better, when you’re talking about another human being.”

It’s much easier when it doesn’t involve you isn’t it Sean…?

You have to be confident that your statement captures the tone that you want to communicate, or you have to accept that it’s going to be torn apart by willing audience ready to ridicule, parody and memefy your moment of truth.

So, what can we learn from this and put into practice as PR professionals...?

1) PR should be the first line of defence, not just the last

Too often PR is seen as the final tool for a business to use in the face of a crisis. If you asked most people what they think PR professionals do, the most common response would be something along the lines of they “help to put a positive spin on a PR crisis.”

Although damage limitation is part of any PR professional’s job, serious communication crises are rare. Most PR pros instead spend their days creating and delivering proactive campaigns in addition to building media relations. When a crisis breaks (even when a robust plan is in place) an air of stress and urgency naturally sets in.

PR could and should be the first line of defence, not final the final throw of the dice.

Our friends at Nivea and Pepsi provide perfect examples of why PR should be involved from conception of an idea. Every department has a job to do and we know how demanding it can be for the Marketing department to deliver an advertising campaign on time...

But important questions need to be asked at the ideas phase, specifically – “could this advert create a PR problem down the line? Any issues with racism, sexism or any other -ism?”

My guess is that this question wasn’t discussed in any detail in the Nivea and Pepsi adverts.

2) Always be aware that bad PR will spread like wildfire…and it can start from within the business

Businesses should not be completely guided by what social users will say but their presence should always be on a company’s radar. 

There should at least be a system in place to review any decisions that will be visible to the public. You don’t have to spend hours discussing the pros and cons of each public-facing decision, but some process or checklists should be in place to help identify any potential hiccups.

A simple exercise could be gathering a group of trusted employees (including the communications professional) from different departments for a 30 minute meeting to review of anything that could potentially cause negative PR.

I am not saying that any threat should result in a campaign being pulled – some well managed controversy can be a useful PR tool – but at least it would give a platform to ensure decisions are well thought through and take into account several different perspectives.

It should also be noted that any statements made internally within the company can (and most likely will) be made public by one of the employees.

In the case of United Airlines, their CEO sent this statement to staff shortly after the incident appeared on social media…

Dear Team,

Like you, I was upset to see and hear about what happened last night aboard United Express Flight 3411 headed from Chicago to Louisville. While the facts and circumstances are still evolving especially with respect to why this customer defied Chicago Aviation Security Officers the way he did, to give you a clearer picture of what transpired, I’ve included below a recap from preliminary reports.

As you will read, this situation was unfortunately compounded when one of the passengers we politely asked to deplane refused and it became necessary to contact Chicago Aviation Security Officers to help. Our employees followed established procedures for dealing with situations like this. While I deeply regret this situation arose, I also emphatically stand behind all of you and I want to commend you for continuing to go above and beyond to ensure we fly right.

This came before the polished, apologetic statement.

As you can see, it has the opposite sentiment – blaming the customer and taking no responsibility for the shortcomings of their culture.

When communicating directly to employees – especially about a sensitive issue - it is likely that at least one of your employees will not agree.

Assume that anything that you send internally can and will be shared outside of the business.

3) Leave your ego at the door

This lesson is the most simple in theory but also the most difficult to execute - particularly for a certain type of CEO who is unwavering in their belief that the company’s modus operandi is the only way.

When the public attacks your business (and by extension attacks you if you are in a senior position) it’s hard not to feel hurt and go on the defensive. That’s why you must take a few moments to consciously step away from your ego when you start to draft a PR statement or go into a press conference.

You need to move fast, but it’s better to get the statement right.

So involve several people in the process of reviewing a statement once it’s drafted. You need to make sure it’s robust and addressing the key issues. Ask if it will reassure and comfort the key stakeholders – namely the customers.

The original statement by United Airlines and the subsequent email screams “we were in the right, it was the customer’s fault.”

I appreciate that a holding statement has to be issued quickly without having all of the facts to give a sense that you are in control of the situation. But it must show that you care or you will come across as insensitive, rude and selfish.

If United Airlines had expressed this in their first statement, it might not have snowballed into the PR mess they are in now....

At the core, these PR crises either came from an issue with a specific project (Pepsi, Nivea) or an issue with the underlying culture of the business (United Airlines) or the White House in the case of Sean Spicer.

So, what can a PR professional do to protect the reputation of the brand before it results in a crisis…?

Well, PR folk are typically and friendly and conciliatory – carefully guiding the business towards a pre-defined communications objective. These are good qualities in our industry, as we rely on these softer skills to develop solid relationships with media and other employees.

But, maybe it’s time for the PR professional to step-up, be bolder and play a more prominent role in key business decisions at the inception stage, not at the end to deliver external communications.

We know it’s a tough sell to get buy-in from CEOs and other senior managers to get us involved at the early stage of drafting corporate culture documents, or advising on an advertising campaign…

So how do you do it?

Well - simply nudge your bosses in the direction of these high-profile crises happening just days apart…. In just over the space of one week, there have been four high-profile PR disasters, resulting in a loss of over $250m for United Airlines, serious brand damage to Pepsi and Nivea…. and another tick in the ‘incompetent communicators’ box for Team Trump.

You can be sure that they will want to avoid these happening in their business.

If that means giving PR professionals a more significant role in decision-making then so be it...

After all, making PR the first line of defence could prevent your reputation being dragged through the proverbial plane.