Coping with Negative Publicity Before it Strikes

It's a fact of life... you can't please all the people all the time.

Every business or individual will go through a time when they face some type of negativity in the marketplace.  It could be disgruntled customers in online forums, a searing newspaper article or a personal attack based on events long past.  The catalyst for the negativity, or the channel by which it is made public, isn't nearly as important as your reaction to diffuse the situation and minimize damage.

I'm on the Board of the Better Business Bureau in Denver, Colorado.  Our BBB office is operated with impeccable professionalism and we enjoyed more media exposure than any other BBB in the country in 2010.  Bottom line, we serve consumers, accredited business, non-accredited businesses and the community with integrity and pride - but we have absolutely no control over the actions of other BBBs around the nation.  A few weeks ago a scathing report came out on a national news show exposing accrediting irregularities, manipulative sales techniques and poor business practices in several other BBBs.  We were very worried about the impact that the negative reporting would have on our relationships locally - even though the issues highlighted were not relevant to us.

Luckily, actions taken long before the troublesome story broke diffused the impact and gave us the ammunition and forum to deal effectively with concerns.  This approach is truly the key to coping with negative publicity.  Defend yourself against negative publicity before you have to.  By the time the story breaks you must already have a framework in place to mitigate the damage or it's too late. 

Here are my suggestions for actions you can undertake today to prepare yourself to deal with a worrisome public event down the road:

Manage your external image consistently and without fail.  Everything today is 'branded'.  Individuals have to manage a public image.  Products have to build a recognizable and respected consumer value.  Service companies have to support a track record of quality, affordability and reliability.  The best defense is a good offense, so make sure that you're doing everything in your power every day to build a positive and accurate public brand image that will stand up to an occasional hit.  Our BBB is well-known along the Front Range area for providing excellent dispute resolution services, fair ratings scales, consumer alerts for scams, and taking swift action against companies that breach marketplace trust.  Strong local awareness offered an insulating barrier of protection against a single negative news story that brought to light the failings of other BBBs.  Our media partners gave us a chance to voice our response and everyone moved on quickly with the assumption that the problems of other BBBs had little relevance to the performance of their well-known and trusted local office.


Sidestep landmines and lodge preemptive strikes whenever possible.  Here's the honest truth... a lot of times we know about a potential public relations nightmare before it comes out, but we take the ostrich approach - sticking our head in the sand and hoping it all goes away.  It usually doesn't go away.  So, if you've experienced a legal challenge, a customer service disaster, or a major failing JUST DEAL WITH IT UP FRONT.  Stand behind your value claims, clarify your intent, and address questions or shortcomings with candor about how you will not allow the problem to occur again.  Have statistics and research to back up your statements.  Take charge of your message and get out in front of the problem before the dialogue spirals out of your control and falls into the hands of your enemies.  Year's ago when Tylenol had to cope with deadly poisoning attacks facilitated through their product distribution chain, they took the right approach... they took control of public information, shared everything they knew, created call centers, conducted media interviews, processed prompt refunds and changed their packaging voluntarily to discourage future attacks without Federal intervention.  As a result, the brand only suffered a temporary setback and maintained the public trust in the big picture.

Never let anyone else take charge of your message or act as a shield.  People hate cowards, and they perceive companies that hide behind PR firms, pretty front men, and uninformed CS reps very negatively.  I'm not saying you shouldn't get outside advice, but seek professional help and then allow no layers to get between you and your audience as you deliver your message.  Don't allow pros trying to shield you from liability by lying or hiding information - even if their intentions are good.  9 times out of 10 that reaction will come back to bite you, and you'll never live the hypocrisy down.  BP would have fared much better in the court of public opinion if they had been more open all the way through the Gulf oil spill crisis.  They first denied oil was even leaking into the Gulf, then they minimized the amount, then they denied the damage to coastal wildlife, plant life and people, and finally they are muddying the waters in managing payouts and lawsuits.  Claims continue to swirl that they are spraying dispersant at night and yet nothing is said to confirm or deny everyone's suspicions.  In an information vacuum people will assume the worst. 

Be prepared for challenges to unpopular or controversial moves.  I'm always amazed when a company does something extreme that will obviously generate controversy and angst, and they seem stunned when there is public outcry.  Who advises these people?  If you know something will be traumatic for the public make sure you deal with the issue immediately and convincingly.  This is a pretty mild example, but when Republic Airways bought Frontier Airlines recently they seemed confused that faithful Frontier customers were concerned about saving the Frontier brand they had grown to love.  Management eventually 'wised up' and made an announcement that they had selected the Frontier brand to operate under, but why the delay and the passenger stress?  Republic had zero brand recognition or loyalty - they were a generic discount carrier.  Frontier's animal planes, adorable commercials and passenger-focused policies were beloved by millions.  Of course they were going to bring operations under the Frontier banner... duh. And they could have leveraged that good decision much earlier on in the merge by simply stating so publicly with much fanfare and celebration.

If you're already embroiled in a PR nightmare you obviously can't employ some of the proactive strategies outlined in this post.  But, if you're just trucking along doing business everyday and hoping to avoid a problem, please take the time and energy to set yourself up for good public interactions in the future - no matter what challenges you may face.