PR Resource

Equifax, the credit rating bureau, has a besmirched reputation, and it deserves it. The company lost 143 million names, social security numbers, credit card numbers and personal data through a breach of its system, and it delayed in announcing the hack for five weeks. Privacy advocates exploded in rage over the incident. It didn’t help that company executives sold stock prior to the announcement of the loss. Equifax has put up a web site to deal with the problem but it is poorly designed and hard to use. The CEO has released a video in which he apologizes for the intrusion, but it is hardly enough. It is up to consumers to protect themselves as best they can, and that isn’t easy. It is a PR disaster and the company will need many months to restore its reputation, if it can.

Hillary Clinton is out with a new book that explains how she lost the election. It is too little too late for such an after-action report. It is also too early for the judgment of history in which scholars will sift much, if not all,.of the events that lay beneath the defeat. From a PR perspective, Hillary can come off as a sore loser by having done this. One asks what her objective is by writing so soon after her loss. The general feeling is that she is washed out as a politician. Her time in the national spotlight is over and her ambition to sit behind the desk in the Oval Oval office sunk. Perhaps she feels like justifying her defeat to a person who, so far, is unqualified to hold the Presidency. She is not above settling scores with other candidates — Bernie Sanders — who rejects her description of him. Whatever her motivation, it is odd such a book would come out now.

IBM seems to have committed a PR mistake by making a hoopla before it has performance to match it. The situation is this. IBM advertised and marketed its Watson AI software as an essential aid in cancer detection and treatment. But, recent studies have shown that the system has a long way to go before it can be generally useful to physicians. This is a basic error in the conduct of public relations and marketing. One should publicize the things one has done and not about to do. Now, Watson and its creators have to work hard to make up for lost reputation as a result of making news too early. No one is saying Watson is a failure in treating cancer, but they are making clear that it isn’t a useful tool yet. That is a small consolation, but it doesn’t help the business.

There are times when use of new technology is not good. It is cheating. The Boston Red Sox are finding that out after using Apple watches to steal signs from Yankee catchers. It was a clever scheme, but now Major League Baseball will weigh in to determine the punishment the Red Sox will receive for doing it. Sign stealing is a long practiced craft in baseball, and it is allowable as long as one doesn’t use a technical means for doing it. The Red Sox now have a reputational issue for going high-tech. Their fans might laugh it off, but the rest of the league won’t. Opponents will scrutinize their actions at every game and call foul should the least bit of on-field play seem wrong.

Police have an aura of upholders of the law. When they violate that perception, it is inexcusable. Here is a case of stupidity in which a police detective acted highhandedly and against the law. As a result, he destroyed the trust of the nurse involved, of those observing the incident and of the public at large. He deserves to be fired from the force because he no longer communicates the message of protector to the public. Rather, he is an example of arrogance that comes with power, of exerting one’s will over others for no good reason. The law and law enforcement are dangerous in that regard. Police and prosecutors wrap themselves in righteousness and trample the rights of others. They forget to balance liberty with justice. This does not happen to every member of law enforcement, but incidents like this are a reminder that police can go out of control.

Wells Fargo has determined that its employees had created an additional 1.4 million fraudulent accounts. It has been a year since the scandal broke and there is seemingly no end to it. The bank’s reputation lies in ruins and its recent disclosures are like kicking a dog while it is down. One must ask how the bank was running so amuck and the only possible answer is inattention by its leaders and a breakdown in operations. Wells Fargo was not close to the bank people thought it was. It now has to live down its image for years to come. Every new slip-up at the institution will garner headlines and another assault on its reputation. Banking runs on trust and Wells Fargo violated it fundamentally. Should the company lose customers as a result of this prolonged scandal, that is as it should be. It is too big to go out of business as a result of these disclosures, but it could well shrink, which would be the least punishment it deserves.

Ford Motor and Domino’s pizza have teamed to deliver pizza with a driverless car. It’s a publicity stunt with a purpose. Both companies are trying to learn how consumers will relate to robotic vehicles. In this case, the car will come to the curb and the customer must leave the house, enter digits from one’s phone number and retrieve the pizza from a box in the rear window. At issue is whether customers will accept the added burden rather than having a human deliver the box to the door. The two companies will find out soon enough. Meanwhile the stunt part of the project is garnering Ford and Domino headlines and positioning them at the forefront of driverless technologies. A smart move.

Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, says American CEOs have a moral responsibility to speak out on issues and to support society’s needs. Economic conservatives would counter by stating that the sole role of the CEO is to make money for shareholders. Which is correct, or do the two approaches exist side by side in an uncomfortable alliance? Even a conservative would admit that if a societal issue threatens a company’s bottom line, the CEO should address it. For the most part, though, CEOs stay out of politics and hot button issues, and that is OK. They have enough to do to keep their companies profitable and growing. But, there is good reason for them to address societal issues within the boundaries of their companies. Issues such as diversity and promotion of women and minorities affect operations and company progress. Local community services surrounding hiring and retention are also well within the strict boundaries of corporate profitability. Thus, for example, a CEO should focus on the quality of schools in a plant town so she can be assured of having enough qualified candidates to keep it running. A company can rarely divorce itself from society completely if it wants to succeed. Tim Cook is right about that.

Whole Foods supermarkets, also known as Whole Paycheck because of their high prices, are cutting consumer costs under new ownership. Amazon, the owner, is seeking an image change for the chain and based on wide news reporting, it just might succeed. Amazon can afford to cut prices and go for market share. It can also cross sell in stores, which it is already doing. It will take time for consumers to shift shopping habits but if Whole Foods’ new image of cost consciousness spreads, there is a good chance the chain can change its reputation into a low-cost alternative to regular supermarkets. It might never reach the level of discounters like Trader Joe’s, but it could become a destination for many more weekly grocery shoppers. The PR move of a price change could lead to a positive reputation change.

Houston is drowned and headlines in the media are weather stories and tales of disaster. It is times like this that the public forms enduring impressions of politicians, the police and rescue personnel. What they do and how they respond is burned into memory. It took years for FEMA to regain its reputation after Hurricane Katrina and the botch of the New Orleans response. How FEMA handles Houston and surrounding communities will be under a media and public microscope. Perception will rule more than fact. That is why President Trump will visit the Houston area tomorrow to show the administration’s concern. One hopes he doesn’t mess up this critical engagement as he did recently in Arizona. Because of the volume of water falling on Texas, recovery will be slow and impressions of the effectiveness or lack of it of government will be imprinted on those who have suffered loss. They won’t forget.