Getting out of a mess!

Bad publicity is often something that sticks with a company longer than any good publicity ever does. It is a shame, but it's the truth.


Companies sometimes manage to dig very deep holes for themselves and then dig even deeper, once the media gets hold of it.

Media is one powerful God of Information that targets consumers all over the world in every virtual and real space possible.

Therefore it comes as no surprise that companies that make a mistake, often ignore the media's power over them, and continue to deny any involvement in a scandal or big mistake. One could say that it is the public relation's job to 'cover things up'. Yet covering it up may work in politics, but rarely works in business.

With today's access to information, negative PR is like watching the E! channel for business people. But not only that, negative PR holds the power to make the consumer reluctant to purchase further. So how is it possible that so many companies still manage to lie, ignore or try and cover up company disasters?

Well, since most companies are led by a board of directors from the stone age, many of them do not realise the enormous power that the media holds over the public, and the fact that consumers do switch.

That is why when a scandal happens to a company, such as the likes of Shell, McDonalds, BP, Nike, Nestle and so on, it pays to use the media to their advantage.

So, a lesson in PR today goes to the love of my life, Apple. 

I am so sad to write that Apple's recent Iphone 4 release and its 'marvelous' new operating system for the Iphone generations has been a disappointment when it comes to information handling. 

Only recently did I read, after numerous complaints about Iphone 4's antenna problem, a very off putting press release published on the Apple web page -> Letter from Apple regarding Iphone 4 . If you wish to read the worst press release ever, please click on the above link.

Not only that, Apple was so keen to launch the new Iphone and give none-Iphone-4-users the chance to use the iOS4 software, that it did not do enough thinking when problems arose. The negative media coverage of the antenna problems, the new software doing more damage than good on older Iphones, has made me wonder what went wrong? 

How could such an innovative and impressive company not react properly to a problem it faced post-launch time? Surely, it would make sense to publicly apologise to your customers and come out with the truth of "We made a mistake". In all fairness, the press release does say that they had a "calculation mishap" in terms of the signal strength formula, however, I believe Mr. Jobs also mentioned in his post-launch-released keynote that 'Other smart phones on the market have long had the same problem'. 

Well... since other smart phones have had the same problem it must mean that the Iphone is excused??!

I know I am letting myself get carried away here. The reason why I am writing all this is that handling PR well is key to a company's success. And a company such as Apple, that is admired by billions, should realise that perfection and confidence only go one way. 

And that is the way how you manage to communicate your successes and failures.

That is all for today. 

Love the Truth. Do good PR. Thanks :)

FOCUS: The Customer

If you have been lucky enough to have studied marketing at any level, you will know that the Customer is King. This applies everywhere, whether it be a client company or a customer individual.

My favourite car brand Audi understands that being on top does not come through pushing communications onto their consumers, yet connecting with them and hearing what the other side also has to say. Customer focus seems to be key for the German car manufacturer and understanding customers more so. 

What are the customer needs, wants and desires? How do we, as a company, capture their attention, yet create excitement and involvement with the brand?

Segmentation, target audiences, differentiation and so on are approaches, yes. But who really is this customer we are talking about?

Someone I know who works at airport security told me how much they enjoy making passengers 'suffer' in terms of making security difficult for them. They also said that certain nationalities get more of a 'hard time' then others to ensure security's entertainment! And there I thought 'Oh dear God.' I told my friend 'Do you not realise these people you are referring to are your customers? Do you not realise you are representing your country as well as professionalism to these people? Do you not know that the customer always comes first, no matter what?' And as I expected, I got a blank stare back.

It is interesting to know that at different levels of any organisation employees do not realise the importance of a customer. Especially within service based areas such as airports, restaurants, telephone services, banking and so on the customer receives a service and if that service is bad, he or she will open their mouth to express their dissatisfaction. But it will rarely be to the company, rather it will be to friends, family or discussion forums online, which lead to one thing and one thing only: negative word of mouth.

Customers are walking, talking advertising machines! 

It is word of mouth that is most trusted and it is word of mouth that plays a vital role in customer decision making.

Sayings such as 'We have CRM implemented in our company' do not mean a thing. It is the connecting touch points with the customer that count. In the end it is the consumer that wants to feel like he/she are number one. They want to know that the organisation listens and cares!

So a customer focus should be top priority for anywhere in the organisation that in any way has something to do with its consumers. One day I hope companies learn this, and that all employees follow through.

Use of Space

I'm loving the clever use of advertising space on the YouTube homepage again!

Advertising your movie by using the top and side banners to show a trailer is genius. It may seem as very simple to the normal person who does not get as excited about this kind of stuff... but it is very clever. This sort of advertising is captivating, attention grabbing and stimulating all in one go. Plus since it's a trailer for a movie, it is something everyone will watch, because it is not offering you, the customer, anything in an obvious way. It is a pleasure viewing.

It may not be playing on the YouTube homepage anymore today, but yesterday it was in full gear. Attention grabbing enough for me write it down, that's impressive I think.