Public Relations 101 - Crisis Management

Tonight I was so disappointed to hear about the issues with the Happy Baby dummies, and the company’s response. Now we all make mistakes, it’s not hard for things to go wrong, and even if we don’t believe the product will cause problems, what harm would it do to recall and investigate? I work for a very ethical company and put my faith in the fact we would react quickly and with maximum caution if our products even hinted at being, not quite right. With Happy Baby being an Australian company, like my own workplace, I am even more disappointed that they may compromise the health of a child, the health of their brand, and the health of Australian Made. Hello (not so) Happy Baby, just RECALL the product straight out, isn’t this PR 101? If the likes of Woolworths have taken it off the shelf, I’m sure you’ll be picking up the bill for that anyway, and as for reputation management…. Where do I start? Whatever you have or haven’t done, however “isolated” the two incidents were, your defense doesn’t cut it for the Australian consumer, let alone a mother who is ready to protect her new little wonder that has come into the world at any cost. The Happy Baby website talks about the Australian Safety standard and how the company meets these standards, however I’m pretty sure, like many regulatory guidelines, that these standards are the minimum standard for compliance, and you are more than welcome to exceed these rather than sit back and watch the review for improvement (not an expert opinion of course).
“Dummies currently come under voluntary Australian safety standard (AS2432-1991). This standard is currently under review in order to update and improve the standard to provide optimum product safety, a direction which is supported by Happy Baby® in the interests of maximising the safety of dummies for Australian families.” http://happybaby.com.au/standards.php (accessed: 21/7/2010).
I really don’t want to see this company suffer from poor crisis management plans, I’ll watch closely to see if this could make for a good marketing case study in the future.

Suggestion to talk to your 1,500+ facebook fans/likes asap and get a better read on any reputation movements.

Would you buy a soother from Happy Baby?

Should management support the greening of their organisations?

This months B&T magazine (July 9th 2010) has posed the dilemma from a reader about how to turn management around to support basic environmental principles, rather than a crappy attitude that the individual employee should push through green initiatives at this workplace. This person is questioning his/her own personal concern and is asking “what can I do to change management attitudes, and is it really my look out to be an agent for change is this business?”

Well recently I have decided to champion some change in my own organisation. To be honest it’s quite possible that the greening of the business has already started within individual departments, so I think that would be a great place to start. The key for me is to up skill in this area, so I’m off to an AIM session to see what wisdom I may be able to absorb But to answer the big question of how you make management care; I would love to have an educated opinion and provide some first hand advice, however the most obvious influencer is the bottom line. Money talks to Management, CEOs, boards and share holders. Greener businesses also mean more supportive customers. Adam Joseph talked about the benefits from a consumer perspective earlier this year (Professional Marketing, “Sustainable Marketing & CSR: Just do it”, Adam Joseph, April-June 2010, page 30-31). Over the past ten years, environmentalism has become an increasingly important issue for consumers, Adam Joseph said, “the implications for marketers are wide-ranging and far-reaching:” Sustainability has become evident in the food market (eg, chocolate, coffee), and is emerging quickly within the fashion industry.

The most effective argument however is put forward by The Chartered Institute of Marketing http://www.cim.co.uk/resources/ethics/tbl.aspx who released the Business Case for Sustainability, this includes; (with my well thought out comments in brackets)

1. Compliance with sustainability reduces the risk of public disillusion, boycotts and negative press (saving money)
2. Sustainability helps to stimulate innovation and find new solutions in R&D (making money)
3. It creates a competitive advantage through customers wanting to buy from ethically minded companies (loyal money)
4. It generates cost savings, for example, locally sourcing produce saves transportation costs, creating a culture of reducing usage and wastage lower costs (more profit more money)
5. Companies that reduce their energy bill by 20% could add the same amount to their profit as a 5% rise in sales. (same as above)

So yes lets look out for the environment and promote a win win augment to the big guys. If we can show them they will look good, the business will look good, and the bottom line will look good, how could they possibly not support this?

Do you support an organisation or product because it genuinely cares about being green?

Does charity make you feel good?

Last Sunday I was reading the Body & Soul pull out from the paper and there was this great little piece called Fast ways to feel good. It was 5 basic points in The Wellness File by Marie Rowland http://www.talking-matters.com/talking/Profile.htm that was so common sense, though I’m sure not many of us stop to do. Being charitable is one of those things that I’ve always wanted to do more of, over the years I’ve looked into working for charities (only they didn’t pay enough), I’ve been involved with a group of friends who wanted to start up a project called Two Roads to raise money for infrastructure in Burma (Myanmar). We went so far as a business plan, consulting with World Vision and then we all got too busy and it didn’t bare fruit. When I was younger I volunteered my time at the YMCA, I have spent many years religiously donating blood (but not for the last few) and even attempted philanthropy via my son’s 1st birthday with no presents and raising over $1000 for the Red Kite Organisation. However I don’t feel I have an affiliation with any one cause. Apart from the regular drop off to the second hand stores or one off donation to emergency support like bush fire fund, there’s not much else I’m actively involved in. I have thought long and hard of what else I could do to help the world, including helping out with look good feel better organisation, getting involved in a charity run or getting involved in a mentoring program. standards.gif"> Lets face it wouldn’t we all like to be as generous as Bill Gates, who can’t work much these days because he’s too busy running his philanthropy activities, or New National Broadbank Network CEO Mike Quigley who has donated his $2 million first-year salary to stroke research, after recovering from leukaemia in the early 1990s

When it comes down to it Marie Rowland recommends “Even the smallest of acts, such as offering your seat on a bus can bring an unexpected feeling of pleasure. Helping others helps us feel worthy”

What charitable deed could you do today?