In the last few weeks, there have been quite a few PR “challenges.” I will refer to them as challenges at the start of this article, but you will very quickly figure out my take on the age old question “Is all PR good PR?”
The PR stories that have largely dominated the media as of late have focused on the airline industry. They have ranged from a passenger getting dragged off a flight to a mother supposedly being hit with a stroller, even a pilot smacking a woman to break up a fight. It almost seems like it has been one thing after the next after the next.
With the way social media and the notion that anyone with a cell phone is essentially now a journalist, these stories spread like wildfire. Anything that is interesting, unique, or controversial blows up, and very quickly.
The interesting thing is that airlines have been having these issues for years, but it seems like all of a sudden, we just started becoming more aware? Why is that?
PR.
When a big story hits and starts to trend, the media takes hold of it and milks the story for whatever they can get. Trending topics and trending stories sell, and anything trending goes across the webosphere fast.
There have been two sides of the coin when it comes to PR:
- The brand is getting out there and is getting lots of free PR.
- This PR is not really helping, in fact, it’s hurting.
Let’s look at another PR example: LuaLaRoe.
Over the last few weeks, there are news stories that their “famous” leggings “rip like toilet paper.” What has amplified the story is that many customers search for what they call unicorns. A special pair of leggings that fits their personality and style, when found brings great joy.
Many of their consultants argued that the PR has been great because it’s getting the brand out there, but many others (the realists) say the PR for it was bad.
On what planet would a story like this be good PR? What types of people would start to flock to a product that is being touted as defective? Not many that I know of.
On what planet would you be more likely to fly a particular airline seeing a story of how they just treated a passenger? Not on this planet.
Bad PR is simply that bad.
So, what do you do if your company or business is faced with some less than favorable PR?
Step 1: Respond fast. While you may not have all the facts at the very moment, you need to, at the very least, acknowledge that you are aware, looking into what happened and are committed to a solution.
Step 2: Be an actual human and think about the platinum rule: treat others how they want to be treated. This is where many businesses step on their own toes. They place policy above everything else; they assume their employees are not capable of making really poor judgments, but things happen.
Do you think that a customer wants to get dragged off a flight? Respond and treat people how they want to be treated.
Step 3: Present a solution. Depending on the nature of the situation, you better be prepared to start to spin the PR towards your solution. The longer people wait to hear your solution, the more the negative PR grows and takes on a life of its own.
Step 4: Go on the offensive with your solution. The media will be clambering for anything more about the negative PR, so garnering interviews should not be a challenge. Use that airtime to admit whatever happened, and focus on the solution you presented.
Step 5: Put systems in place, so whatever happens doesn’t happen again.
Stuff happens; there is not a business I know of that has a 100% perfect track record. The key is how you respond and act. Act like a real human, and you will weather the storm.