Force For Good Communications

GM learns from Toyota's mistakes with sure-footed crisis response to Volt fires

GM moved quickly to diffuse a potentially devastating crisis by continuing to learn from Toyota--in this case, avoiding Toyota's mistakes at the beginning of its own product crisis last year.

Media pounced (as they inevitably do) on GM soon after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into the Chevy Volt, an advanced plug-in hybrid electric car. A Volt had caught fire three weeks after it had been crash tested, touching off a crisis with far-ranging consequences: to GM (while not expected to make a positive contribution to GM earnings for many years, the Volt is the most visible symbol of the potential of the new GM, reborn after the bankruptcy of the old one), for the Obama Administration (which rightly has taken credit for saving thousands of American jobs with its rescue of GM), and for the nascent electric car industry (which are almost universally powered by lithium ion batteries similar to the ones used in the volt).

Remember that reports of flaming laptop computers originating from over-heating lithium ion batteries forced Dell in 2006 to initiate the largest recall in the history of personal computers.

The most important action for GM was to commit to do the right thing, not just set out to prove that the Volt was a safe vehicle, I told Keith Naughton of Bloomberg news as the crisis unfolded:

"They’ve got to demonstrate that they’re putting their customers’ safety first,” said Jon Harmon, a former spokesman for Ford Motor Co. and author of “Feeding Frenzy,” a book about the Ford-Firestone crisis of the early 2000s. “The focus needs to be on getting to the bottom of this, not trying to prove that they’re right.”

To GM's credit, the company reacted in mostly the right ways--cooperating immediately with NHTSA investigators to understand the cause of the fires while working to reassure the public. The fires had occurred after the crash-tested Volts had been parked without fully discharging the batteries, GM said--and the company would not only get the word out to its dealers and other auto service centers on the necessity of discharging the batteries after a collision, but they would develop an onboard system to slowly and safely discharge the batteries after a crash. And they offered loaners of good-old fashioned petrol-burning GM cars to Volt owners who didn't want to keep their cars while the company was sorting out the problem and the fix.

GM's only misstep was when GM CEO Dan Akerson said the company would buy back Volts from concerned customers, comments the company's PR people quickly clarified (the loaner program had been launched to quell customer concerns and the company has every intent to quickly understand and remedy the problem which would take away the need for any buy-back program).

Toyota in contrast had stone-walled investigators and the media when reports began to surface of complaints of unintended acceleration in a number of Toyota and Lexus models. After much criticism put a significant dent in its sterling reputation for quality and customer satisfaction, Toyota reversed course and began handling the crisis with laudable care and attention. Ultimately, the company was vindicated in its insistence that no computer or electronic malfunction was occurring. But that did not excuse its initial behavior in brushing off reports of its cars speeding up on their own, and undoubtedly that first impression left lasting scars on Toyota's reputation.

GM's adroit handling of the Volt crisis has rightly earned high marks and the contrast with Toyota's bumbling crisis response duly noted (for example, in the Los Angles Times).

- Jon Harmon

New candidates step forward ... for PR Disaster of the Year

The last few weeks have brought us a rush of new, worthy candidates—for Force for Good's annual PR Disaster of the Year award.

Herman Cain—no matter what you believe at this point, it is clear that the Cain campaign has been clueless in handling a crisis they should have seen coming. With 10 day's notice before the publication by Politico October 31 of the first allegations, how could Cain be caught flat-footed and ill-prepared? The steady drip, drip, drip of new accusations (we've seen this movie before, twice: It's Tiger Woods and Anthony Weiner, all over again) makes it clear this story isn't going away and Cain's various responses—angrily lashing out at reporters, trying desperately to change the subject, defiantly attacking one of his accusers as a "troubled woman," are all wrong, wrong, wrong.

Penn State—the sad, sordid tale of sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated by longtime assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky should have ended in 1996 when Sandusky was first caught showering with a boy; police were notified but no charges filed. Or in 2002 when a graduate assistant coach walked in on Sandusky in the shower with a boy, he told head coach Joe Paterno who reported the charges up to the Administration but didn’t notify police, confront Sandusky or otherwise follow through on his obligations to the community to stop a predator. Yesterday, university officials abruptly cancelled Paterno’s weekly press conference, only adding to the uproar. Today, the 84-year-old Paterno announced he will retire at the end of the year, surprising no one. The real tragedy is that so many at the university remained silent while Sandusky continued to molest at least eight boys.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who in a quieter year might be running away with the award. With rioters in the streets of Athens a daily event protesting austerity measures that will end the gravy train for a coddled public in an IOU economy, Papandreou surprised his fellow leaders in the Eurozone by saying he would put Greek's last-chance bailout up for referendum. Hmmmm, seems like all those riots would give one pause before putting further-but-necessary austerity moves up for public referendum. Then, when Germany, France and the rest of the Eurozone made it obvious that their generous deal would be rescinded, Papandreou did an about-face and cancelled the referendum--nothing like promising a vote to a riotous public and the reneging, throwing gasoline on the fire. Papandreou was forced to resign to be replaced by ... no one yet. This being Greece, a new coalition government has yet to be formed amid more squabbling.

These newbies to PR disaster join entrenched candidates Wiener (who exposed himself as a liar), Lindsey Lohan (can’t seem to stay out of trouble), Dominiquec Strauss-Kahn and his accuser (he is at best a lech accused of much worse, but her story fell apart and he returned to France where he will apparently not be President), and the Boston Red Sox / Atlanta Braves (historic chokes by both teams--okay not so much a communications issue, but disasters nontheless).

Jon Harmon

Social media backlash spurs BoA to reverse course on debit card fee

A furious social media backlash helped convince Bank of America to reverse its unpopular decision to charge customers a monthly fee for using their debit cards.

The anti-Big Bank sentiment that is driving the Occupy Wall Street protests accentuated the consumer hue and cry, and BoA CEO's tone-deaf comments provided plenty of opportunity for derision.

"We have a right to make a profit," CEO Brian Moynihan, said infamously. While a perfectly reasonable statement in normal times, these are hardly normal times and the comment struck a discordant note with those hurt by the Great Recession. BoA received a taxpayer bailout to the tune of $45 billion, plus a "loan-loss back-stop" of $97 billion, according to CNN. Home-owners with upside-down mortgages and unemployed/underemployed workers haven't been as fortunate and quite predictably were put off by Moynihan's line.

As reported by the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rosenthal:

"The 'right to make a profit' comment triggered a great deal of negative sentiment," wrote James Purchase of Attensity (a company selling social media analytic software). On-line comments mimicked Moynihan, "'I have the right to bank elsewhere,' and 'Yes, but no more than I have the right to a job.' The most negative sentiment was around 'excessive profits,' 'high fees' and 'bailout.'"

BoA's experience is a cautionary tale for business failing to keep abreast of consumer sentiment being expressed in social media. You can learn a lot by listening. And if what you're hearing sounds severely at odds with a climate conducive to a business decision you're about to make, it's time to revisit the decision.

BTW - BoA's stock dropped when it announced the new debit card fees (investors apparently being more in tune with public sentiment than Moynihan and company), it fell again when Moynihan dug in his heals, and it further sank yesterday when the company rescinded the decision (losing more than the overall market on a very down day). The BoA incident is in line to receive serious consideration for Force for Good's 2011 PR Disaster of the Year.

- Jon Harmon

Secret for brand success in social media: Take a walk in shoes of customers, critics

Complete this thought:

Corporate communicators seeking to use social media to connect with customers and other constituents should concentrate on ...

If you ask Peter Hirshberg, CEO of The Re:imagine Group, he'd say "empathy."

Brands are shaped by conversations "out there" and the brand messages a company puts out must be in sync with those conversations or they will have no traction in the market. You probably know that already.

But there's something even more basic to success in social media engagement, Hirshberg says. Our ability to shape conversations depends on our ability to truly empathize with the people inside those conversations.

Hirshberg provided the keynote address last night at the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations' second annual Celebration of Leaders in Chicago. Hirshberg's credentials are most impressive: a nine-year run at Apple, followed by Chairman/CEO roles at Elemental Software, Interpacket Networks, Gloss.com and Technorati (the world's leading aggregator of user-generated content).

Social media provides the on-going narrative to learning empathy, he says. That means more than just listening and responding to what we might see as factual errors. It means putting ourselves in our customers' -- or our critics -- shoes and seeing the world from their point of view before responding.

A not surprising viewpoint if you consider another aspect of Hirshberg's impressive resume. He is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute -- the Henry Crown Fellowship seeks "to develop the next generation of community-spririted leaders by honing their skills in value-centered leadership."

- Jon Harmon

Crisis media relations made easy: Keeping COOL on the HOT Seat

"Keep your head when others around you are losing theirs." It's sound advice for the crisis communicator, but easier said than done.

The secret is preparation. Start with a thorough crisis vulnerability audit covering your company's operations, products and people. Then develop a detailed crisis communications plan with variations included for each significantly different type of crisis envisioned by the audit.

Then remember that the actual crisis that strikes won't be at all like any of the scenarios you envisioned. A crisis creates a whole string of moments requiring on-the-spot good judgment from the person leading crisis communications. But you'll be much more ready to exercise good judgment and a steady hand if you have previously taken the time to develop your crisis plan.

If you have little media-relations experience handling combustible issues and preparing for an all-out corporate crisis seems over-whelming, you'll do well to read Judith Hoffman's concise and well-reasoned Keeping COOL on the HOT Seat: Dealing Effectively with the Media in Times of Crisis. Just released as a revised fifth edition, this handy paperback provides wise counsel to the communicator that is both up-to-date and timeless.

The beauty of this book is its simplicity. Hoffman breaks down the daunting specter of a crisis--and the role of a crisis communicator in confronting it--into a series of short, easy-to-understand mini-chapters that collectively can help a novice make sense of it all. Yet a more seasoned public relations pro will also find it to be valuable because it's all so spot-on.

Keeping Cool walks the reader through the basic elements of crisis planning, along with the basics of crisis media relations. It is full of practical advice, including these 10 C's of Good Crisis Communications:

• Be cooperative.
• Provide control.
• Demonstrate caring and concern.
• Demonstrate competence.
• Be credible.
• Be consistent.
• Be clear.
• Be concise.
• Remain current.
• Act calm (keep your cool).

She advises against trying to be "cute or clever" and to avoid the always deadly "No comment."

This is all great advice and it's a solid reminder of the basics of crisis communications. Those who read and abide by the principles in this book will better serve their organization in the sudden event of a crisis.

What's missing is exactly where I began this post--the crisis audit. Hoffman skips over the need to dissect the organization for vulnerability on various fronts. Often, the crisis audit will detect deficiencies that, once addressed, may help an organization avoid a crisis in the first place. And different types of vulnerabilities may require somewhat different crisis plans (for example, an explosion in a plant will require a different response plan than would a string of complaints of sexual harassment).

Hoffman's book alone won't prepare a novice communicator for any emergency, but Keeping Cool readers will be far better off in an emergency for having read her book.

- Jon Harmon

Disclosure: Judy Hoffman includes a nice reference to my book, Feeding Frenzy, in her book which I'm happy to quote here:

"To get a true sense of what it is like to be on the "hot seat" in the midst of a raging crisis with national and international attention, read this book. Mr. Harmon was the head of Pubic Relations for Ford Truck in 1999 when this high-profile case broke. If there is even a possibility that your organization could be in such a high visibility position with your products deemed a safety threat to a large population, you owe it your self to know how these things work."

Real lessons in crisis management: Olive Garden recovers nicely from anti-flag flap

After an initial misstep, Olive Garden corporate has recovered well and looks to be putting an unwelcome controversy behind it.

Yesterday, news broke that an Olive Garden restaurant in Oxford, Alabama, had refused to allow a Kiwanis Club to include their American flag at a banquet there. Eighty-year-old Kiwanis Club member Marti Warren was outraged, “This is not my country. This is not my country I grew up with,” she said. “I was so angry. I felt like I had been slapped in the face.”

Unfortunately, Olive Garden's first response to the flag flap was weak and only made matters worse. The restaurant chain released a statement aiming to explain away the controversy. After noting that "like all Americans we have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for the American flag and everything it symbolizes," the company then offered this ham-handed explanation that, predictably enough, only fanned the flames: "To be fair to everyone and avoid disrupting the dining experience for all other guests, [the Oxford restaurant is] unable to accommodate flags or banners of any type in the dining room."

Remember that crisis management is not about winning an argument debate-style. It's about winning over hearts and minds. Cold, hard facts often don't effectively counter emotional complaints. And how is this for emotional imagery on the side of the aggrieved Kiwanis: Without a flag at the Kiwanis banquet, Warren said she asked club members to close their eyes and picture the flag waving in the wind as they said the pledge of allegiance.

Soon the internet was abuzz with boycott threats. Conservative-leaning bloggers were quick to impugn the restaurant's motives in excluding the Star and Stripes. "Far-left Olive Garden," began one report.

But today is a new day and more seasoned PR pros evidently won out at Olive Garden corporate.

Olive Garden SVP Bill Holmes called Warren yesterday to personally apologize and promised to fly down to Alabama first thing Monday to personally apologize to the Kiwanis Club. Olive garden also revised its statement, with an apology (and not just the "we're sorry if anyone was offended by our innocent action..." apology all too common these days; see my earlier posts here and here. And he agreed to return to Oxford Nov. 4 to speak at the next Kiwanis Club meeting.

Much better, Olive Garden. Marti Warren, for one, is satisfied. "I feel grateful of all the people who stood with me and that changes were made," she said.

- Jon Harmon

I wonder if Scott Pelley realizes how many times he says "I wonder"?

Irritating or endearing habit? Watch the CBS Evening News and count the number of times anchor Scott Pelley says "I wonder..."

It's quite a verbal tic for Pelley. And unlike the way he holds his chin, or clasps his pen or reading glasses, when the camera returns to him after a correspondent's story, for an on-cue poignant moment, it seems to be utterly unconscious.

In Pelley's otherwise excellent interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month, Pelley really outdid himself in wonderment, using the catch phrase four times, including in each of his first three questions:

Scott Pelley (CBS Evening News): Thank you, Madam Secretary. You are in close coordination with all of the European Union countries, and I wonder how much confidence you have that the European nations are going to be able to create a soft landing for their debt crisis that doesn’t wreck the economy here in the United States?

...

Scott Pelley (CBS Evening News): The stock market is terribly worried about Europe right now. I wonder what your confidence level is?

...

Scott Pelley (CBS Evening News): The Obama Administration has described Bashar al-Asad as illegitimate, and I wonder if it’s time for him to go?

While the CBS Evening News anchor role doesn't carry the same cultural clout as it did when Walter Cronkite or Dan Rather sat behind the desk, it's still important. Katie Couric certainly amped upped her gravitas when she stepped into the role after a 15-year run on the Today Show, but pulled it off admirably. Undeniably aware of the big shoes he has to fill, Pelley seems to be trying too hard to put a unique signature on the role. Whether the "I wonder" tic is intentional or not, it's getting old, Scott.

-- Jon Harmon

How to put strategic communications into practice to set your business on a winning trajectory

Seventh in my series on strategic communications.

My central point has been that truly strategic communications can be more than just proactive ... and more than just closely wired to the corporate strategy. Truly strategic communications can be an ongoing input into the corporate strategy and indispensable to its execution. Corporate strategy aiming to be transformational needs the communication strategy to be a dynamic driver, helping to propel the business to a higher plane.

That's good in theory. But just how does that work in practice?

Here are two critical connection points between communication strategy and corporate strategy -- where communications can drive results so fundamentally that the Corporate Strategy function would be remiss in not actively courting Communications "to the table" as it establishes objectives and strategic plans:

Internal transformation--Becoming an innovation leader. Unless your company is already fully functioning as a living, breathing mecca of innovation, fully engaged in a learning cycle delivering continual transformation for sustainable competitive advantage, it probably needs a steady dose of active culture change. Senior management, informed by forward-thinking Human Resources (no, that doesn't have to be an oxymoron) and Communications leaders, pushes the organization out of its comfort zone for truly creative innovation. HR must revamp evaluation and compensation processes to reward smart risk-taking, breakthrough thinking and creativity while fostering cooperation and teamwork (we aren't looking for me-first all-stars, but individuals whose passion, energy and creativity helps makes everyone better). And Communications actively promotes candid, sharp, timely and specific communication throughout the organization. Everyone knows senior management's vision and strategic priorities, and knows that their ideas are actively sought and valued. Together, HR and Communications aim not just for effective internal communication, but active and productive internal engagement.

Reputation management--Beyond protecting the brand. Top-performing companies know the value of a strong brand (and not just consumer companies; a vibrant brand drives sales success in a B-to-B environment as well). But reputation management is on an even higher plane of importance than brand management. Companies not considered trustworthy drop off customers' consideration lists, preempting an opportunity for the brand to gain traction as a sales motivator. Active reputation management makes brand enhancement possible. Marketing and Communications should work actively to help drive reputation and brand valuation upward. But that's more than just a matter of communicating well to the marketplace (media relations, social media participation, marketing and advertising). The company's actions must match its words just as its products must measure up to its marketing claims. Communications leaders provide an active voice in strategic and operational meetings as the company's reputational conscience. (The Chief Communications Officer may be more appropriately renamed the Chief Reputation Officer, as I have suggested here since 2006.) Yes, the company's reputation is every leader's responsibility, but the senior Communications leader is its unceasing advocate. (Just as financial accountability and stewardship is every leader's responsibility but the CFO keeps it his/her singular focus).

These two strategic priorities--developing and maintaining a high-performance culture, and protecting and enhancing corporate reputation among all key stakeholders--are critical to your company's long-term success, are they not? Can you really achieve excellence without them? So ... is strategic communications an active and valued input in your corporate strategy?

- Jon Harmon

Sick of you: I hope I never hear another word about...Casey, Drew, Rod, who else?

I will be quite content to live out the rest of my life without hearing another word about:

Casey Anthony

Drew Peterson (unless Casey Anthony becomes his fifth wife; wouldn't that be a match made for life insurance!)

The Debt Ceiling

Tax increases

Rod Blagojevich

A-Rod

NFL and NBA lock-outs

Highway 405

Kate Gosselin

Lady Gaga

Oprah

Donald Trump

Julian Assange

Dominique Strauss-Kahn

...who else?

Author, expert Walter Kiechel weighs in: communications key to success of corporate strategy

A notable voice weighs in on my continuing series on strategic communications. 

I've been in correspondence with Walter Kiechel, author of the very insightful The Lords of Strategy, which details the birth and development to the present day of the concept of corporate strategy. (See my blog posts: here, here, here and here).

Here's his take on the major points I've raised on this blog (that communications can and should be "strategic," and that a direct link between the communications plan and the business plan is essential but only the beginning--communications strategy should be an input into the corporate strategy, not merely a conduit for executing the srategy):

Jon, I enjoyed reading the blog posts, and think you make a number of good points: communications should be used as a strategic weapon, companies ought to have the communications function at the table where these decisions are made, and yes, particularly if I had had another 50 pages or so available to me, I probably should have written more about the place of communications in the history of strategy (besides the fairly limited coverage of BCG's marketing with Perspectives, and the business book business as it had evolved by the late '80s).

If there had been more consciousness of communications, up and down within the organization, and maybe with outside constituencies as well, fewer strategies would have proven impossible to execute, I suspect.

Anyway, keep up the good work.

All the best,
Walter