Corporate responsibility - learn from missteps

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.

Zo Transparant als de verdediging Marc!

De communicatie van Ajax over het beleid richting haar supporters. De zin hardop lezen klinkt al vreemd. Welke communicatie? Wanneer?

Het is elk moment weer een veel besproken fenomeen op onder andere twitter, zie het twitter account van het bekende twitter fenomeen @Dublanquebogarde, het gestuntel om communicatie gebied van met name Marc Overmars (Technisch directeur).

Regels

Maar doet Marc dan echt alles verkeerd? Een volmondig, JA! Zal er waarschijnlijk klinken uit de monden en harten van menig fervent Ajax supporter. Echter Marc interpreteert enkele basic PR regels verkeerd. Transparantie is een veel besproken en belangrijk fenomeen binnen de communicatie en dan met name PR. Transparantie in de communicatie dient te zorgen voor authenticiteit en vertrouwen. Echter, wat zorgt er binnen Ajax nu nog voor de zogenaamde authenticiteit en vertrouwen? De huidige verdediging van Ajax zou binnen deze manier van denken zorgen voor authenticiteit en vertrouwen, immers de verdediging is vaak zo transparant als het lekke spreekwoordelijke mandje.

Gelukkig gloort er hoop voor Marc, zodat hij niet meer stotterend de Nederlandse pers en dus indirect de supporters te woord hoeft te staan (NOS). Vujicnovic en Kuckenberg (2016) hebben nog eens kritisch gekeken naar het begrip van transparantie.

Doen wat je beloofd

Transparantie zou dus moeten zorgen voor authenticiteit en vertrouwen.  Echter het hele gebeuren van PR wordt door critici al gezien als een verzameling spin doctors die de hele boel bij elkaar manipuleren. Laten Ajax en Overmars in het specifiek, nu geen enkele moeite doen om dat beeld weg te nemen. Het niet voorliegen van je publiek is een vorm van authenticiteit. Dit komt voort uit een constante, overeenstemmende en publiek georiënteerde communicatie. Lees de voorgaande zin nog eens en denk dan aan het gestuntel van Marc Overmars de afgelopen zomer. Constantheid? De enige constante factor de afgelopen zomer was het vaak mosterd naar de maaltijd doen van de Ajax directeur. Overeenstemmend verhaal? De enige lijn in het verhaal was, het feit dat er geen lijn in te ontdekken viel. Dit vertoont dan wel lijn met het spel van de ploeg, maar goed dat is voer voor een andere discussie. Het laatste puntje dan: Publiek georiënteerde communicatie, zelfs de grootste optimist kon zien dat vooral het eigen hachje gered moest worden via de huiskrant de Telegraaf.

Spinnen als een kat

Van de zomer worden er twee kanonnen gehaald, een spits en een buitenspeler. Deze buitenspeler is nooit gekomen maar goed. Dit kunnen we wel recht lullen tegen die domme supporters moet Overmars gedacht hebben, want de van FC Twente aangetrokken Hakim Ziyech kan toch gewoon rechtsbuiten spelen. Daar trappen die supporters vast in joh. Of zou Marc vergeten zijn dat nog geen week voor het aantrekken van diezelfde Ziyech, hij bij nota bene het clubkanaal aangaf deze speler voor geen goud aan te trekken.  Een week later had Marc zich echter als een tevreden kat volkomen de andere kant op gespind. Ziyech moest wel komen, want zo had Marc de supporters verzekerd, er stonden nog wat middenvelders te vertrekken. De uitkomst is bekend Ziyech kwam en wordt inmiddels via diverse kanalen gepresenteerd als de creatieve middenvelder en RECHTSBUITEN (we see you Marc). En die vertrekkende spelers dan? U raadt het al, maar de signalen waren er echt hoor. Hier is natuurlijk geen constante lijn in te ontdekken. Gelukkig geven de twee hiervoor genoemde heren, Marc wat advies. Wees in de huidige tijd niet bezig met jezelf maar het belang van het grotere geheel.  In dit geval dus je supporters. Wees eerlijk Marc en bouw op een open en eerlijke manier aan dat beetje authenticiteit en vertrouwen onder je supporters. Loopt het beleid niet helemaal zoals je wilt, deel het met ons. We zijn immers wel wat teleurstellingen gewend

Over

 Diederik is student aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam, hier volgt hij de master persuasive communication. In zijn vrije tijd is hij een fervent supporter van Ajax.

Tips for campaigning on social media platforms

Nowadays, social media is gaining importance for reaching out to young people. PR professionals have to engage social media presence in their campaigns if they want to target the younger generation. The question is what makes an online campaign effective? What factors lead to high engagement of people and a positive reputation for the organization?

In order to identify the “do’s” and the “don’ts” of social media for a successful campaign I looked at the four case studies Allagui & Breslow (2016) executed as well as the analysis of tweets regarding #AskJameis campaign by Sanderson, Barnes, Williamson, & Kian (2016). The first research identified successful practices, whereas the latter draws attention to the potential threats of starting a campaign online.

The scarecrow campaign

Basically I loved watching the short film made by Chipotle, a Mexican grill restaurant, about a scarecrow because it is a heartbreaking story about producing processed food. Everybody can relate to the message of the topic, because unhealthy food is part of our everyday lives. A game for iPhones was also launched where players could obtain vouchers for the restaurant if they take their friends with them.

The scarecrow

"Dumb Ways to Die" campaign

Another very creative approach to attract young people’s attention to be careful when riding or waiting for the metro taken by the Melbourne metro was to write a song about stupid actions that result in the death of the colorful characters. Some of those actions were very real: I mean who has never tried to get a toast out of a toaster with a fork? The “Dumb Ways to Die” campaign also encouraged people to take pictures with the posters of the characters post them online and sing along with the song running at the metro station.

Characters from "Dumb Ways to Die"

These two campaigns have several steps in common that you can see in the flow chart model of successful campaigning below.

Flow chart model of successful campaigning

Flow chart successful campaining

#AskJameis campaign

Unfortunately, not all campaigns are received positively and like in the case of the Florida State University where a Twitter campaign with Jameis Winston (professional football player) went wrong. The main problem was that people started asking all kinds of stupid questions, that resulted in hijacking the purpose of the campaign.


Do's & Don'ts at one glance:

• Choose topic that people can relate to
• Dare to be creative
• Use emotional, colorful high quality films or catchy, funny songs
• Create message consistent with the company’s values
• Combine online and offline strategies, use as many channels as possible

• Start a campaign without being prepared for the negative outcomes
• Ignore the possible reactions of the audience
• Use online tools for all PR campaigns no matter what the subject and the objectives are

My last piece of advice to you is that if you need inspiration just sit down and observe, observe reality around you, add some creativity, an emotional message and room for people’s engagement… et voilá – your success is almost guaranteed.


Éva, the author, likes to explore the beautiful spots on the earth. She likes meeting her friends and discuss PR related topics with them.

Participation is more important than winning Maurits!

Maurits Hendriks (55), 'chef the mission' of TeamNL at the Olympics, stated after the Games that he was not satisfied with the number of medals his team had obtained. This despite the fact that The Netherlands (so small it’s barely visible on the world map) earned a 11th place in the medal ranking. He could not possibly be satisfied with his own performance either, as he made several more PR blunders during the Olympics, with as absolute lows, the inadequate, or rather non-existent communication by sending away mutineer Yuri van Gelder and a plane full of 'losers'. But is Maurits Hendriks himself really to blame in this matter? I think not.

With the aim of ‘creating a perfect top sports climate' NOC*NSF, the heavily subsidized Dutch sports organization and also the employer of Hendriks, decided beforehand that there would be no substantive responses during the event. Because of this the organization, was totally surprised and incompetent to handle the unforeseen crisis situation, which was caused by an explosion of attention and critique on (social) media. The organization failed by not providing a correct image of what was going on from the start.

The spokespersons of Maurits Hendriks thought to get away with a simple explanation (after a long silence) for the media present in Rio, but have completely overlooked the power of social media. One way this could have been avoided is as NOC*NSF had focused on mediatization. Mediatization? Yes, mediatization.

Mediatization refers to processes in which media logic affects other social institutions, such as government agencies like NOC*NSF, by setting their own aims and rules. In this regard, media are no longer a passive channel of communication, but rather a powerful institution which forcing other actors to adapt to its content, format, and language. Olsson and Eriksson (2016) investigated whether this media logic also applies for social media. According to this empirical research public organizations can protect their organizational image- and reputation by being less formal and authoritarian and more transparent in providing their information through social media use. NOC*NSF was much better able to deal with the situations, if they had considered three factors through social media, instead of being quiet and to respond only when it was too late.

The logic of connectivity

NOC*NSF should be aware their communication is no longer just mass communication but is rather addressed towards people who are already interested. Therefore, they should engage with this group on social media.

The logic of popularity

By being more friendly in tone and building a strong image NOC*NSF can gain popularity, which is much needed getting wide distribution for messages, and support in situations like sending away Yuri van Gelder.

The logic of programmability

Social media platforms ultimately depend on users’ interactivity and participation. NOC*NSF should be very flexible and quick in responding on actuality to become less dependent of the opinion of traditional media.

In conclusion, I think it is important that NOC*NSF can better adapt to the current interactive media landscape. When Maurits Hendriks has a well-oiled PR machine that recognizes the power of social media, the silence can be replaced by a clear voice. Also in communication participation is more important than winning Maurits!

About the author:
Stefan (29) lives in Amsterdam, currently studying the Master Corporate Communication at the University of Amsterdam. Loves travelling, sports, techno, and is really enthusiastic about both internal and external communications of organizations.

Lochte up abroad?

The Olympics usually draw a lot of attention, not only to the games but also to the competing athletes personally. Apparently the public just loves to get to know all about them, including me (yes, I love a bit of gossip). All of this celebrity gossip can bring some embarrassing stories to light. And who doesn't love a good scandal, right? You know, those stories that start out seemingly  innocent, but turn out to be quite ugly as they unfold. Today I would like to discuss one of these stories.

(Source: Flickr, by Carlbob)

Ryan Lochte

The case concerns swimmer and Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte. During this year's Olympics, Lochte claimed he and three of his swimming teammates had been robbed at gunpoint in Rio, while being out celebrating. Yet, Brazilian authorities couldn't find any evidence that supported their robbery story. The media loved it and started speculating about whether Lochte had made up the story or not. Gradually more details became apparent, concerning what exactly had happened and where everything had taken place. In the mean time Lochte kept adjusting details of his version of the story, well, he basically adjusted his whole story.

So, what actually happened?

It turns out they had drunkenly trashed a gas station and had fought with a security guard. After refusing to pay for the damage, they probably made up the complete robbery story. Brazilian authorities got ready to bring in Lochte and his teammates for questioning. It's safe to say that Ryan got very lucky, as he made it back to the U.S.A. just in time not to get 'Lochte up abroad' (I didn't make this up, but it's hilarious). The punishment he eventually received was a ten month suspension from competing in swimming.

                                                                              

Ryan Lochte during the 2012 Olympics (Source: Flickr, by NRC photos)

Ryan... Why?

So, what exactly went wrong here? I don't think you need to be a genius to see that Ryan Lochte acted quite stupidly.  First of all, his drunk behavior was very immature. But in my opinion, with some good PR he could have recovered from that.

Second, he lied about everything  that took place repeatedly. Myers (2016) investigated 'admitting your fault' in PR practice, as it has been a frequently used strategy in court for years. Turns out it might not be a bad idea to just admit you were wrong and apologize right away.

Third, being a famous athlete didn't help him at all in this case, as it gave him a LOT of media coverage. This is what Osborne et. al (2016) only recently investigated. Their research revealed  that the news value of the celebrity athlete contributes to the amount of media attention. Celebrity status, combined with any other news value, influences the amount of articles appearing in newspapers.  

Conclusion: The next time you decide to behave stupidly Ryan, you might not be able to prevent the media from talking about it, but at least don't lie about it! 
By the way readers, if you want to have a good laugh, check out this page.

About the author:
Fré enjoys sports,  travelling, and good food. Being a BSc in Communication science, she has been working in corporate communication and marketing. She is currently a Master student Corporate Communication at the University of Amsterdam.

Paying a lot of money to deny you are a sponsor?

Heineken and the Olympics

After sending away Dutch athlete Yuri van Gelder from the Olympic Games in Rio 2016 because he had a couple of beers days before his Olympic final, a discussion lighted up about the sponsorship of an alcoholic beverage brand of the Olympic Games.

As a reaction Heineken responded to this critique via Twitter. In their reaction they denied sponsoring the Olympic games even though the Olympic Committee’s website states that Heineken is one of the main sponsor. The company stated that they are just a supplier and not a sponsor. This lighted up the discussion even more.

In this interactive online social media time it is not possible anymore to get away with a reaction like that. People became even more critical and commented a lot on this Tweet. The reactions to this statement especially focused on the fact that people did not really see the difference between sponsoring and facilitating. The statement backfired and Heineken got even more critique instead of controlling the damage done by the discussion in the first place. Instead of directly responding to and controlling everything going on, they kept quiet for quite a while, which didn't do them any good either. Their final response was a statement telling people that they do not sponsor the Olympic Games but they sponsor NOC NSF (the Dutch Olympic Committee). But most harm was already done by that time. 

Sponsoring sports: A Good or a Bad Idea?

Sponsoring sports events can have a lot of benefits for organizations. According to Grohs & Reisinger one of the most important reasons to sponsor sports events is general image improvement for your organization due to the sponsoring. But another important factor in all this is the fit between the brand/organization and the event, say Koo, Quarterman & Flynn in their research. Which was exactly the problem with the Heineken Olympics case. Is a alcoholic beverage brand a good fit with a sports event like this? For the people who have to actually deliver a sports performance, probably not! On the other side, most people who watch sports actually like to enjoy this activity with a beer in their hands, for them it can be seen as a great fit. This last point would have probably been the thought when Heineken started sponsoring the Olympic games and other sports events.  

Think & Respond

So, being a great fit or not, it doesn't change the fact that Heineken should have elaborated their motives for sponsoring this event and should have thought more carefully before responding to the online critique. Especially, because this was not the first time around they were sponsoring a big sports event. You would think that they have had enough time and resources to think of a statement why they do sponsor the Olympic games in the last couple of years. But this did not seem the case when you read their reaction to the online critique. 

Y. Mathot

An individual blogger who is living in Amsterdam, being passionate about PR, Marketing, Sports and living life to the fullest. 

Example blog post from previous years

Be emotional during a crisis 

We all remember the tragic crash of the Germanwings flight in March 2015. The plane was travelling from Barcelona to Düsseldorf and crashed in the French Alps. 144 passengers and six crew members died. First, it was unclear what had caused the crash but eventually it came out that the co-pilot had made the plane crash on purpose. The police found out that his doctor had declared him not to be able to work but the co-pilot had kept this information from Germanwings. Moreover, he received treatment against suicidal tendencies. Read more facts here.

How to deal with this information?
Imagine you were the spokesperson of Germanwings and had to communicate with the public. What would be a right way of communication? Van der Meer and Verhoeven (pay wall) recently found out that “corporate reputation is positively affected by a crisis response in which an organization shows signs of shame or regret about the crisis. As it was discovered, the display of these emotions by spokespersons affects the way the public makes sense of the role of the organization in the crisis.” Therefore, the spokesperson of Germwanings should point out that he, as representing the company, feels shame or regret. This can be through language or non-verbal behaviour, e.g. facial expressions.

How did Germanwings eventually deal with the information? 
Besides press releases, press conferences and social media posts, Germanwings’ CEO, Thomas Winkelmann, also published a video message. It is remarkable that the company does not send any spokesperson, but the CEO himself. This shows that the company gives a high importance to the topic. (In case the video does not work, click here)

Winkelmann expresses his sorrow by using language and his facial expression. He describes the incident as “one of the biggest national tragedies” and a “shocking disaster”. Moreover, he says that Germanwings will provide help for the families “no matter what time of day or night”. The video then ends with the following words: Expressing the same sentence in three languages, which are the languages of most of the victims, is a form of using emotions and showing shame and regret.

Conclusion 
Germanwings communicated in a great way. They let their CEO talk to the public and he showed his emotions and his sorrow. He did not try to deny their responsibility or pretend not to be involved. This is a very good example of how emotions can help during crisis communication. However, I still believe that his emotions are real. Just because emotions can help to deal with a crisis does not imply that those emotions are not authentic. It is actually important that the public believes that the emotions shown by a spokesperson are real.

About the author
N.N. is currently studying the Master track corporate communication at the University of Amsterdam. [...].

Disclaimer
This blog post provides you with an example of how you can write a blog post that meets all criteria. Other formats (with or without cases) may work just as well, or even better. So take it as AN example, but do not be a copy cat. - Pytrik Schafraad