Car crash Tesla
In September 2016 a fatal car crash took place in
Holland with the Tesla Model S. This crash again led to much commotion
surrounding the ‘autopilot-function’ of the car as Tesla was also involved in a
similar car accident that took place in June 2016 in America. The accident in
America was caused by a faulty autopilot and this led to an immediate
assumption of the public that the car crash in Holland was related to the same
problem. This potentially could cause a lot of reputation damage for the Tesla
brand.
Take charge
To reduce the effects of negative news coverage, Tesla
Motors decided to respond as soon as possible via Twitter to inform the public
that the autopilot system is not to blame for the Dutch crash. It would appear
as if Tesla deliberately took the initiative to respond rather than to react.
This is a lessons learned from the earlier event that took place in America.
I think Tesla handled
the situation well by taking charge and communicate immediately via traditional media and interactive media. In my opinion, when Tesla
found out and informed the public that the fatal crash in Holland was not
operating in the company's semi-autonomous autopilot mode, there was no ‘big’
crisis. Therefore, I want to zoom in on the fatal accident that took place in
America, which was their responsibility, and evaluate their approach and
strategy.
Use of social media
in crisis
Nowadays it is no
longer possible to ignore the interactive media. Social media has become a
mainstream for crisis communication between organizations and the public.
Through social media it is possible to communicate interactively with the
public, which is considerably more effective than communicating via traditional
media. According to Van Zoonen and Van der Meer (2015) especially Twitter has become an increasingly
important source of information in times of crisis. A proper use of Twitter can
be seen as an important tool in keeping a level of control on public
communication. Parties involved cannot effort not to ignore the public.
Take responsibility
According to Rowen & Zheng (2015) it is important to develop an ethical and
effective crisis response strategy in order to mitigate the effects of a
crisis. A good first step is to repair the reputation is by determine the type
of crisis and take responsibility. In general, the higher the level of crisis
responsibility an organization holds, the more accommodative response strategy
it should select. The situational crisis communication theory suggests that organizations have several
crisis-response strategies (denial, diminish and rebuild) that can be used to
protect or repair the reputation in time of crisis. With regard to the accident
in Holland, Tesla wanted some justification and clear their name to minimize
reputation damage. In case of the car crash in America, Tesla took
responsibility and did not deny that the faulty autopilot was involved in the
car crash. Tesla tried to rebuild their reputation by apologizing via Twitter
and their Blog for the tragic loss that was caused by them. Tesla
extended their deepest sympathies to the friends and family of the victim. Even
CEO Elon Musk responded and informed the public that his company would
publish a blog for drivers to give them instructions about how they should use
the technology. Musk also tweeted that Tesla should "taking the heat for
customer safety".
Responding strategy
By acting immediately
to uphold moral duty, to maintain the dignity and have respect for the public,
Tesla handled this crisis in an ethical manner. They took responsibility and
chose the right strategy to communicate with the public via several
communication channels. They did not only do the right thing for themselves by
rebuilding the public’s trust in the organization, but they also learned from
their missteps by improving their technology. In my opinion Tesla gave the
right example of how to handle a crisis situation. What do you
think?
Author
Daisy de Jong, currently studying the Master track
Corporate Communication at the University of Amsterdam.
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