PR nightmares: How to survive them?
Read in Indonesian
In July 2019, Garuda Indonesia faced some flak after a popular Indonesian travel vlogger Rius Vernandes posted a video on YouTube reviewing his experience flying business class with the airline.
Vernandes’ video - which went viral - showed that the airline provided them with a hand-written menu instead of a printed one (the cabin crew explained it was because the menu books were still in the printing process).
While this incident would have been enough to ruffle some of Garuda’s feathers, it was the airline’s response to the video that dragged it into a public relations (PR) crisis. Instead of acknowledging the feedback or issuing an apology, Garuda tried to censor Vernandes by reporting him and his girlfriend to the police for defamation. The airline also issued an internal memo banning in-flight photos. The airline later backtracked on the policy changes.
While Garuda eventually managed to resolve the situation with the vlogger and survive the episode, many companies have had to live with the consequences of a PR crisis for a long time, while some crashed completely.
Image: Handwritten menu reviewed by Rius Vernandes on his YouTube channel
A PR crisis is any sort of bad publicity that affects a business’ ability to operate at peak capacity and can damage its reputation. The negative publicity may result in a loss of trust and pose risks to the health, lives, or safety of staff, clients and other stakeholders.
With the rise of social media, any misstep by a company or a celebrity - or any public figure for that matter - gets amplified and can really quickly turn into a PR nightmare. Social media also gave birth to cancel culture, in which a brand is proclaimed “cancelled” by the Internet. Almost every week over the past year or so, a brand or celebrity was “cancelled” after an outrage on social media, such as Twitter and Instagram.
At first, only certain industries, such as oil, tobacco and airlines, that were more prone to activism, but today, it seems that no industry or individual is immune to it. A PR crisis can also undo years of hard-earned reputation.
Bill Gates spent decades building his flawless reputation and philanthropic image. However, all were shattered when he and his wife Melinda French Gates announced their divorce on 3 May after 27 years of marriage. What ensued was a series of PR nightmares for Gates as news publications started to unearth what had gone wrong in the marriage of one of the world’s most admired couples, including allegations of improper conduct with a female employee.
So what can one do to survive a PR crisis?
“Having [a] similar principle to health, prevention is always better than cure,” said strategic communications and PR practitioner Edwin Chandra.
“First and foremost, the best way to prevent a PR crisis is to have the right understanding that whatever we say or do [will] always have implication and impact. Especially in this highly digital era when information can go at lightning speed and [be] accessible almost to everyone, it is crucial for us to be mindful and thoughtful with what we want to post or tweet on social media,” he said.
However, even with the best prevention strategy, a crisis might creep up due to factors beyond one’s control. “When a crisis happens, quoting Indonesian PR expert Marianne Admardatine on her thought[s] on crisis management, there are 4R steps to take: Readiness, Radar, Response and Recovery,” he added.
Readiness means having a set of procedures prepared to mitigate PR issues and crises, such as having a crisis management team, ensuring clear job distribution and having a good monitoring system.
“Radar means having the appropriate tools to monitor the current development of the issue,” Edwin said. “During [a] crisis, the accuracy and speed of information are crucial to make the right decision. Understanding of using social media monitoring tools supported by conventional media monitoring will help us better gauge the development of the issues as well as formulate and take actions when necessary.”
The next step, response, is about having the ability to gather credible data in a timely manner and crafting a message that is easy to understand, he explained, adding that a crucial element of response is showing empathy and giving a neutral and clear reasoning. “Sometimes, no response is still a response though. It will depend on the scenarios and scale of [the] crisis,” Edwin explained.
After a crisis, a recovery strategy is needed. It is important to manage a PR crisis carefully as every action may have the risk of creating another PR fiasco. “However, if managed really well, it gives an opportunity for the company or public figure to bounce back even stronger and better,” he said.
Edwin cited Indonesian outdoor apparel brand Eiger as an example of a company that recovered swiftly from a PR crisis through good crisis management.
In January, Eiger sent an objection letter to YouTuber Dian Widianarko, requesting him to take down a product review of one of the company’s products. Eiger’s objection letter quickly turned into a PR disaster as the company received public backlash. However, the crisis was quickly averted after its top management, represented by the CEO himself “swiftly asked for assistance from PR expert and posted an apology statement via YouTube and social media,” Edwin said.
“The issue toned down in a matter of days and it has indeed become a good wake-up call and valuable learning experience for brands and PR practitioners to be more mindful with how they respond to criticism,” he added.
The role of social media
The rise of social media can also be a double-edged sword in PR crisis management. A company or a public figure can go viral on social media for all the wrong reasons, but social media can also be used as a tool to communicate effectively with the public to manage crisis.
“As netizens are getting more critical and smart, they demand transparency and quick response when bad things happen in relation to brands, companies, or public figures. That’s why social media plays an effective role in helping brands, companies or public figures be transparent with what’s going on and in showing their clear position and empathy towards the situation,” Edwin said.
Another industry source said that Chrissy Teigen is an example of a public figure who is capitalising her social media presence in crisis management.
Once a social media darling, Teigen received backlash after a series of her offensive past tweets resurfaced in May. She has since dropped out of several projects, and her cookware line was taken off Target and Macy’s website.
Last week, she posted a long apology text on her social media platforms. “She did not respond immediately, she took an acceptable amount of time to gather herself and posted a seemingly honest and impactful apology,” the source said. While the episode is far from over for Teigen, her apology has garnered sympathy, and celebrities such as husband John Legend, friends Jennifer Garner, Yvette Nicole Brown and Zoe Saldana have publicly voiced their support.
“I think at the end of the day people want solutions and positive changes in the face of a crisis, so provide those as much as possible,” the source said.
Seeing the impact that social media platforms can have, Chandra said that PR professionals need to have the right understanding in monitoring issues and information on social media platforms.
“It is also necessary for a company or brand to have a clear guideline for its employees to use their personal social media,” Chandra said. While everyone has a right to use social media the way they want, it is important to understand that any negative content posted by an employee could severely impact the company’s reputation, he explained.
“PR professionals need to work closely with the top management and employee relations team to implement a reasonable internal communication strategy to help remind their employees to utilise their social media for good,” he said.
He also warned that it is not possible for brands to please everyone. In this highly polarised society, where everyone has their own opinions on certain issues, Chandra said that every company and brand needs to stay true to its identity and core values.
“However, it’s also important for the company and brand to be fully aware of the location they are operating and they need to adjust their way of communicating their values accordingly to mitigate any negative impact or risk to happen in the future. A sound judgment and empathy are always needed when we want to convey our message or stance on certain issues,” he said.
