BP and beyond: Localizing the damage-control story

By Flickr user Infrogmation of New Orleans

Not a good week for PR in the upper echelons.

First BP’s Tony Hayward jets away from the sullied Gulf Coast to attend a posh yacht race in the relatively pristine waters off the English coast.  In a move so far up on the irony meter that it sounds like a headline from The Onion, Hayward cheered on his personal entry, “Bob,” a $700,000 sailboat, far away from the U.S. coast line where fisher folk, tourism industry workers and others fear for their livelihoods.

Starting with “I want my life back,” and punctuated by last week’s stony appearance on Capitol Hill, Hayward – now supposedly sidelined – hasn’t endeared himself to many. London’s Daily Telegraph called the entire BP spill a “catastrophically mishandled public relations response to a crisis,” in this recent AP story.

One way the oil company is handling it, according to the Wall Street Journal, is to point out in its Planet BP in-house magazine the upside of the spill:  Hotels in blighted areas are being filled by emergency responders.

Yes, well.  Then you have crises that are not only mishandled but allegedly facilitated by inept insiders. Think General Stanley McChrystal, whose PR man was promptly axed Monday after news broke of the general’s candor about President Obama and other subjects in a forthcoming Rolling Stone article.

Maybe these items will make the top PR disaster lists of 2010 when they’re compiled – or perhaps we’ll be treated to even more eyebrow-raising shenanigans.  Here’s a look from a PR Professional blog at the worst of 2009.   Personally, I’d say 2010 already has it beat.

Why not take a look around your own market and create a “worst of” list, with some sidebars about crisis management techniques and local agencies?

Keep in mind that public relations gaffes fall into several categories; using this sort of taxonomy could help in organizing your story or online feature.

Foot in mouth issues, like Hayward’s “I want my life back,” would make a pithy round-up all on their own.

Corporate cluelessness. NBC didn’t reckon that the jocular Jay Leno would be vilified like Darth Vadar when they yanked The Tonight Show back from Conan O’Brien and gave it back to Jay. Detroit automaker CEOS jetting down to beg D.C. bailouts in corporate jets is a stellar example from 2008.

C-suite criminals.  Prison stints don’t seem to pack the same punch they once did, at least judging by the ongoing prosperity of Martha Stewart and other famous financial felons.  Are any corporate titans in your market sporting a rap sheet, or about to?

Product duds. “New Coke” springs to mind.  Facebook is having some issues these days, and there’s been no shortage of food recalls. These overlap with public safety and hazards. From Tylenol to Firestone tires to Toyotas, many companies have faced charges that their product will harm the unsuspecting public.  It’s the nuclear version of corporate crisis and well worth a look at how your local firms have managed problems or put action plans in place.

Forbes used to compile this corporate scandal sheet; they haven’t updated it in years, but it’s something you might consider as a weekly feature or standing multimedia element in your region.

Just casting my mind back, around my neck of the woods we’ve seen a successful elderly billionaire and philanthropist sent to the federal pen for price fixing, a bogus flower-bulb company, a world-class art institute bilked of millions of donor dollars through a Ponzi scheme, automaker safety issues, an investor relations mess at the now-defunct Kmart Corp. headquarters and plenty of other fodder for a retrospective look at regional PR crises.

Consider profiles of ancillary businesses like spin specialists, media-training and focus-group firms.  Talk with pr professionals, professors of management, marketing and public relations – use panel discussions tips for companies in need of damage control, top “no-nos” and other fun alternative storytelling ideas.

When you talk to the pros and to corporate executives, be sure to ask how the Internet and social media are changing conventional PR wisdom. What has changed response-wise (and preventatively) in the days since the advent of Annie’s List, RipoffReport.com, message boards and a plethora of other outlets for disgruntled employees and unhappy consumers?

Here, for example, are tips from Mashable.com about modern-day damage control.   One of them is to monitor social media sites 24/7.  I had a tech issue with a major computer hardware maker and ended up (although I hadn’t posted anywhere) being referred to a young employee whose main job is to do just that, and limit or resolve problems before they go viral.  You might check with any household-name manufacturers, consumer goods companies or service providers in your area to see if they’ve created and filled that particular job description yet.