Companies have always needed to exercise caution and maintain their public images. But in today’s world of social media and instant communication, it’s even more important. Twitter can blow up overnight over what can seem like minor issues, leading to a full-blown crisis.
In this post, we take a look at some of the top public relations gaffes you’ll want to avoid. Here’s what you need to know.
Rogue Employees Posting Videos Of How You Really Do Business On Social Media
Not all of your employees are your friends. Some actively hate you because of the way you treat them.
Because of this, firms need to be careful. Rogue employees posting videos of how you really do business (behind the marketing veneer) can damage your business tremendously.
Domino’s Pizza knows how this works only too well. A colleague at the fast food giant uploaded a video on YouTube, showing audiences how the joint really prepares its food. It was a disgusting situation and shocked many consumers into going to other brands. From a single video, customer perceptions of Domino’s turned negative and it took them years to get their public image back.
Environmental Devastation
While consumers want products, they also want to buy from firms that protect the environment. If your brand is ransacking the rainforest or dumping orange gunk into the oceans, consumers won’t be best pleased.
BP’s Deep Horizon oil rig disaster is a case in point. The British conglomerate suffered a technical failure that led to the death of 11 workers and thousands of tons of oil and methane pouring into the sea for months afterwards. CNN called it the “worst environmental disaster in history” at the time.
After the disaster, BP had to pay massive clean-up costs. But troubles for the brand went much deeper than that. Even today, it is still battling with what happened and its brand remains scarred.
Ignoring Negative Brand Opinions
Some brands find it tempting to sweep problems online under the rug. If someone posts a negative video about their company, they simply ask the relevant platform to remove it, citing copyright. In most cases, they succeed, but internet users are savvy, and most cotton on to what’s happening pretty quickly.
Take Nestle, for instance. A few years ago, the brand got into a spat with the activist organization, Greenpeace over palm oil in its products.
Greenpeace wasn’t happy with Nestle cutting down rainforests in Borneo, so they came up with an ad telling Nestle to “give orangutans a break” after destroying their habitats.
Nestle didn’t like the video and got in touch with YouTube to complain about alleged copyright infringements. The Google-owned platform removed the video, but not before the damage had been done. Then Nestle made the problem worse by trying to censor comments and prevent discussion of its palm oil operations from going viral.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and problems just got worse for the brand. Therefore, the moral of the story is to deal with complaints upfront and tell your side of the story.
Getting Hacked
In today’s digital age, getting hacked is more common than ever. Criminals are accessing people’s personal information and using it against them. And companies that fail to protect them suffer colossal brand damage.
Something like this happened to Sony in 2013. The Japanese corporate giant was on the cusp of releasing a film about the assassination of the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un when hackers broke into its systems. Initially, the goal had been to prevent the studio from releasing the film. But hackers also gained access to various emails from the studio lead and also details about various upcoming movies.
Strangely, Sony made the decision to cancel the release of the film in the presence of North Korean pressure. This then drew even more criticism from fans and even former U.S. president, Barack Obama.
Assaulting Customers
Most businesses understand that they shouldn’t assault their customers. But there are some that occasionally think about it.
United Airlines is one such company. In 2021, videos emerged of security crews and flight attendants forcibly removing a passenger, kicking and screaming. The person involved had a bloodied face and appeared to be treated badly.
Once the video hit social media, it created an uproar. However, the CEO didn’t respond sarcastically to the incident, calling the passenger belligerent.
The lukewarm apology made people suspicious of the firm and the next week, United’s shares plummeted and investors worried that frequent flyers would dump them for other airlines.
Hurting People
Companies issue product recalls at the drop of a hat because they are often worried about hurting people. They don’t want a highly trained car accident lawyer suing them for millions of dollars.
However, that’s precisely what happens when firms hurt people. Individual and class action lawsuits come their way thick and fast. And sometimes courts demand them to pay sums that are so enormous they exceed their public liability cover.
Bad Jokes
These days, making jokes as a company is a bad idea. Almost anything you say can be misconstrued as genuine bigotry and hatred. You could even find yourself going to court.
The trick here is to recognize that there is no longer any room in our society for humor or levity. Consumers are deadly serious, programmed by the media to be hypervigilant for anything that goes against the drum beat of the mainstream narrative.
You might think your jokes are funny, but only tell them around people you trust. Don’t share them publicly.
Buying Fake Followers
Lastly, you can try buying fake followers, but the chances that it will backfire are high. If customers discover that you’re not really the brand they thought you were, engagement will drop and no one will trust you.
Try to avoid the temptation to simply buy followers and clicks. If you aren’t gaining any traction, look for ways to improve your services or make them more memorable. Don’t take shortcuts as they are incredibly obvious when you do.