In 2008, the CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler made their way to Washington to plead for a $25 billion bailout. Their mode of transport? Private jet.
Consumers aren’t stupid. They know that you’re there to make a profit. But if you appear aloof and greedy, you will shred any goodwill towards your brand. If you must be extravagant, be timely and discreet.
Kristy Fraser-Kirk ended up around $850,000 richer last year after settling out of court with David Jones over alleged sexual harassment by its then-CEO Mark McInnes.
Some may feel that DJs got off lightly given that Fraser-Kirk originally claimed a whopping $37 million in damages, but the PR damage to the company was severe.
Your company can never be too young for a staff code of conduct. Make sure that you get the culture right from the start and hopefully your business won’t end up in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
When something goes wrong in your company, it is tempting to fix your stare on the bottom line and do whatever is necessary to clear up the problem and move on.
Unfortunately, once you’re in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, your every move is scrutinised. BP, for example, made a number of PR errors during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, simply because it couldn’t see that the issue was bigger than simply plugging a hole in a leaky well.
CEO Tony Hayward unwisely called the spill a “black swan event”, BP was caught buying up Google adwords to divert people from negative coverage and a fake Twitter account mercilessly lampooned its bumbling approach to the disaster.
Consumers usually feel that small businesses are more empathetic and in-touch than large corporates. Don’t prove them wrong.
The “green dollar” is an increasingly important consideration for businesses. Consumers want to know where products come from and tend to favour items that have a minimal impact upon the environment.
Alas, many brands have been caught espousing rather dubious green credentials, or “greenwashing”. This can involve claiming carbon offsets by planting trees, not being truthful about the use of recycled water or, in McDonald’s case, simply introducing the colour green to your logo.
If you have any environmental claim to make, ensure that you can back it up with hard evidence or you will be singled out for ridicule.
Consumers know that you want to put one over your competition. In fact, they encourage it – usually it means lower prices or better products.
But make sure you play fair or your efforts to undermine the competition could blow up in your face. Talking of faces, Facebook attempted to pull a fast one by encouraging journalists, via a PR agency, to write negative stories about Google’s supposed lack of privacy.
The trick was swiftly unmasked, making Facebook appear to be duplicitous and petty. And, given its own privacy controversies, rather hypocritical. Transparency should be the watchword for your business.
