Honesty & Transparency in PR

Honesty & Transparency in PR is something that I touched on last blog post. I said that when considering crisis communication, all PR should aim to reach company goals while also being honest and transparent, because consumers trust companies that are straight forward and take responsibility.
From what we know about consumers, attitude towards and likability of a product or company is more important than most other selling points (like accessibility, reliability, safety, etc.)

Over the past week I saw such great honesty and transparency in PR communication, responding to and trying to prevent a company crisis, that I couldn't help but use them as an example in this weeks blog post.

Apple denied the FBI's request to create a skeleton key for all iPhone devices.

The people did not hear about this from the news, the FBI, the internet, a mole, or a liar who wanted attention. Consumers heard this straight from Apple in an open letter to all Apple customers, right on their home page.

First off, this letter in general is sort of unusual. Usually we hear from companies in general through their website or spokespeople, PR firms handling a situation, or we see a general press release. Apple decided to send this communication through a personal type letter written by none other than Tim Cook, the Chief Executive Officer at Apple.

This letter means everything, and I will explain why.

http://www.apple.com/

The letter started off with:

"A Message to Our Customers

The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand.

This moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake."

After reading the entire letter, Apple's stance was clear, if we let the FBI have their technology, all consumers phones could be hacked and that is not something that Apple was willing to do.

It was the beginning though, the call for public discussion and truth about the implications of future dangers, proved that we were hearing from a company that cares about its product and users. The details helping customers understand the importance of this proves that Apple doesn't want to hurt or lie to its users. These things are what makes customers trust a company, and loyal to a brand.

Second, the public response back to Apple was incredible. While there were some people who think that Apple could simply help the FBI, most people agreed with the decision to keep all customers safe rather than put them in danger to help take one person down.

This is because, most people just don't want to be lied to. At some point, the FBI and the law might force Apple to make this product, or Apple might cave, but because they are talking about it, being honest, and communicating, people do not feel like there is anything to worry about. People feel taken care of by Apple, simply because Apple got ahead of the game and was transparent, ultimately avoiding a crisis situation had any news broken any other way.

The point is, while Apple could never make every single person happy at once, they made a decision that they thought was best, addressed their customers and explained their position, stood up against one of the scariest organizations to have angry at you, and has not budged on their position since.

You go Apple. You go Tim.

Cook, T. (2016, February 16). Customer Letter - Apple. Retrieved February 19, 2016, from http://www.apple.com/customer-letter/

Crisis Communication

As Public Relations becomes more of a “need” than a “want” in large companies, and large companies have huge amounts at stake, knowing how to handle a communication or company crisis is becoming an important asset (and stand-out point) for PR professionals.

Crisis Communication is when something goes wrong in a company and there is someone there, with a plan, ready to communicate all information effectively and with company goals in mind; in a crisis these goals can be as simple as keeping customers or share holders happy.

So what do you do? There are several things to consider with each case, but most importantly you need to start with a plan of action. If you want someone else’s advice, who has worked in the crisis communication field, I have attached an outline of a 10 Step communication process, written by Johnathon Bernstein of Bernstein Crisis Management. 

However, it is no surprise to me that the instruction I have received about crisis communication, the Bernstein claims to have been teaching for a long time.

http://www.sheroian.com/story/crisis-communication-process/

The first step is being prepared. Know your company, your competition, and your market. Try to stay on top of what issues could go wrong, how you could address those issues, and to whom you could address the issues.
The second step is, when crisis hits answer immediately and honestly, with the goal of keeping up or positively influencing the companies reputation. To do this, you must know who to get in contact with.
The third step is preparing different communications for each group in your communications plan (company board, general staff, stakeholders, customers, social media followers, etc.). Knowing how to communicate with each group individually, on the current situation and future preparations, while not screwing up the company’s rep. in the meantime is no easy task. This is why it is important to be prepared.
My fourth and final step is to continue to stay on top of any investigation, media information or news, consumer opinions on social media, etc.  Continue to be putting out updates, making sure they have all of the information that you can give (people trust a company that is honest, transparent and apologetic rather than one who denies or projects blame.

Setting the Right Goals

In my PR communications course early this week we refreshed on setting the right goals and objectives, and following through with the corresponding strategies and tactics. It was a good thing that we did, because the main focus of my attention during my internship this week was setting and achieving promotional goals.

First, it is important to know the objectives of the company, the history, and the future goals that the company wants to reach. From the company's goals, the PR goals can be achieved.

I spent a little time searching for articles on ways to set the best goals for PR, and one article I found that I really liked, by Mark Renfree, gave "4 Social Listening Tips To Make Sure You Set the Right Goals."

His main points are:

1. Data becomes outdated quickly, and has no value if you do not gain something from it. When collecting data, have a plan for it and do something with it!

2. Listen to social media channels. Don't just listen, but KNOW which outlets to be listening to, and which targets on those outlets. Know how to reach these targets. Each specific target audience and network may call for different things.

3. Have the right people, doing the right things for your company. Know what kind of research you need to be doing, know the right way to interpret it, and finally, know how to and have the best people execute a plan based off of the data.

4. Finally, he warned to make sure you have the appropriate budget, tools, and people to make your operation successful.

I feel that all of these things are important, but there is one thing that I found myself constantly coming back to when trying to make my own PR goals; I needed to make sure I could prove there was concrete evidence that my goals would being reached.

While PR goals should be based off of current and sound research, and should ultimately help the company reach its goals. PR goals should be attainable and measurable.

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-measuring-goals-close-up-shot-caliper-word-image35586659

If I could give one tip that Renfree didn’t, it would be to make sure that every single goal has a way to be measured, tangibly. This way, you know if your efforts are truly working and you have concrete knowledge leading your future campaigns.

If you do not know how to make your goals measurable, I found an awesome article here that might help. 

Goodluck!