PR Resource

When an industry leader admits to fraud, it can reflect on others whether or not they had anything to do with the crime.  That is the case with Volkswagen and its deceptive diesel emissions software.  The entire auto industry in Europe is in a quandary over what to do about the diesel engine.  The problem is not easily fixed.  Automakers will have to strap more equipment to the diesel to remove nitrogen oxide, which is damaging to the lungs.  The diesel, which had been a key to control air pollution, is under a cloud, thanks to Volkswagen’s lie.  Predictably, automakers are furious with the company, as they should be, but anger doesn’t help them.  There is no guarantee now that drivers will continue to choose diesels with expensive air cleaning machinery, but the automakers are forced to try because they have to meet emission standards.  The article notes that Volkswagen took a low-key approach this year to the Geneva auto show.  It needed a dose of humility.

The Pentagon is getting with the times when it comes to sponsoring hackathons of its networks.  The military has recognized that it is better to co-opt hackers rather than clean up the mess after they have invaded its systems.  Corporations have been offering “bug bounties” for some time but the Pentagon’s invitation to hackers is the first time the Federal government is trying it.  Other Federal agencies are watching and could sponsor the same style of hackathon in the future.  It’s smart thinking.  Hackers have already stolen government records, tax documents and other sensitive information.  It is better to close doors they have discovered than to fight them every step of the way.  Hackers are doing the government a favor by breaking in with the government’s blessing.  It’s good PR to work with them rather than against them.

Finally after decades of using different cables to connect computing equipment, there is now one cable for everything.  This is the result of the work of a standards group trying to simplify computing for the public. One wonders why it wasn’t done years ago in an effort to serve consumers who have drawers full of cables from past machines.  Standards work is slow and tedious and requires agreement from competitors for anything to happen.  It is PR at its most basic.  We might not think of standards in the US since we are so used to them.  Our three-prong wall plugs, for example, are an example of standards that Europe still doesn’t have with its multiple voltages and connectors.  Computer users were facing the same fate until the present cable was approved.  It might not seem like much but little things like this make the public’s life easier and in the end that is what much of PR is all about.

Earned media in PR parlance is getting one’s name or message quoted in the press without paying for it.  It turns out in this campaign season there is a genius at doing this and his name is Donald Trump.  In spite of his many inaccuracies and outright fabrications, Trump has kept his name in front of TV and newspapers and social media.  One asks how he has done it, and it seems he makes one outrageous statement after another that begs to be quoted and disproved, but in the process, he goes on to make more before the truth can catch up.  He is a loudmouth of the worst kind and impervious to what the media have to say about him and for that, people are saying he is authentic and “telling it like it is.”  Trump proves that one can fool some of the people all of the time — enough to win the nomination of the Republican party for the White House.  Republicans are deeply frightened of him — and they should be.

In a court of law, perception can overcome science.  What is unsettled in the investigation community becomes a judgement resting on the slimmest pretexts of fact.  Consider this case.  There is no definitive proof that talc-based baby powders cause cancer, but a jury thought so and awarded $72 million to a family whose mother had died of ovarian cancer.  Their attorneys apparently made a convincing case that withstands civil judgement but not the analysis of the scientific community.  Was Johnson & Johnson wrongfully punished?  Apparently so and now the company will have to appeal. If the case had been pursued solely on the basis of science and not of perception, it might never have come to trial.  But, apparently, there was enough circumstantial evidence to proceed.  Correlation is not causation but that apparently didn’t matter.

When a company makes a change that affects customers, it should do so with care and communicate often and clearly why it is doing so.  This is why Starbucks’ shift in its customer awards program might not be going so well.  The company has moved from rewarding frequent customers to rewarding customers who purchase more of its product.  The modification makes sense from the company’s point of view, but customers are miffed.  It is slighting those who make Starbucks their daily stop on the way to work in favor of those who purchase several coffees for members in the office — perhaps once a week.  Starbucks might lose customers as a result, which could dent the bottom line.  It depends on how many use the frequent rewards program.  If the fall-off is significant, it will be a lesson Starbucks shouldn’t forget.

Google has once again engaged in act of great PR.  It is offering to protect news sites from distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks for free.  Google is doing this to protect the flow of information to the public and the most that the company will get out of it is the assurance that voices are heard worldwide whether or not governments or other critics try to silence them.  It is easy for the cynical to say Google has vested interest in maintaining the information flow and it does.  The company, however, is making sure its interests align with the public weal.  This is true public relations.  The company will also gain the respect of the media who use its services and have been victimized by DDOS in the past.  There will come a time when that support will be needed because no company is entirely free of controversy and completely on the side of the angels.  Kudos to Google and its enlightened engineers.

As if Uber didn’t have enough PR problems with governments trying to close it down, the shooting in Kalamazoo focused concern on its driver vetting. Add to that a revolt among its drivers who are trying to build their own application rather than use Uber.  The company is beset by troubles brought on by rapid expansion and arrogance in dealing with cities and states.  It also cut driver returns in a price war that it cannot win.  The more it squeezes its drivers, the fewer of them remain to handle the business.  Uber is not exactly in a free-fall but it isn’t on the right side of perception.  It seems to be a company in difficulty rather than a thriving technology concern.  If so, Uber could go the way of dozens of other technology businesses that burst on the scene then withered.  Chances are its model can be imitated locally to the confusion of users, and there could be over time dozens of Uber-like services offered to the public.  Uber’s brand is in peril and the company doesn’t have much time to turn it around.

The demise of the Bush campaign is a reminder that throwing money at the public doesn’t always work.  There needs to be a persuasive message and appealing message bearer.  In the end Bush had neither of these but he did spend $130 million in the process.  It is not uncommon for companies in crises to undertake ad campaigns to get their side of an issue out.  It rarely works in the end.  If the public is opposed, there is little one can do.  Consider, for example, the BP effort after the oil platform disaster in the Gulf.  The company spent millions trumpeting its concern for the environment but that hasn’t stopped lawsuits and penalties.  Its advertising has been a wasteful exercise.  The Bush campaign was a large organization and money mint, but in the end it meant nothing.  The only people who profited were the consultants and PR firm that represented him.

One way to deal a death blow to a fad is to declare it unsafe.  This is what happened last week to hoverboards, the star transporter of last Christmas season.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission declared them all dangerous, no matter the brand or price point.  None will be allowed to be sold until they get an Underwriter’s Laboratory certification.  One wonders how the product reached these shores without it.  Once a manufacturer does receive the UL mark, it can start again to build and sell the machines, but the unknown is whether anyone will buy them.  They are not easy to use and there are numerous videos of people falling off of them.  They could easily go the way of the Pet Rock — a brief popularity followed by nothing.  If so, it would not be the first or last fad this happened to.  Like the Segway, which was supposed to be the mass transportation vehicle of the future, the hoverboard may recede in public consciousness.