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Employees undermining the corporate brands (via Facebook) of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic; that’s the subject of the above article from The Economist. http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12566818

As the publication reports: “On October 31st Virgin fired 13 of its cabin crew who had posted derogatory comments about safety standards and passengers on Facebook. On November 3rd, BA began investigating the behaviour of several employees who had described some passengers as “smelly” and “annoying” in Facebook postings. From a Reputation Management viewpoint (a topic I discussed at a Crisis Summit in Sydney this week), it raises three important issues: 1) Today’s corporations need a rigorous Social Media engagement policy. 2) All organisations must regularly educate staff about acceptable use of the internet. 3) Effective online monitoring systems must be engaged to alert orgs as to the conversations taking place about them, in the online space.

 

 

Over at The Guardian, the editor of PR Week is giving the BBC’s PR team a sound thrashing, by jove.

http://www.frocomm.com.au/cc2008/program.php

Wednesday next week, I’m delighted to be giving the opening keynote address at an Issues and Crisis Summit in Sydney. I’ve also be invited as a panelist for a highly-interactive Q&A session. The focus of my keynote will be the new rules of reputation management and exploring the impact of Web2.0 and Social Media on issues and crisis management. Glen Frost has put together another sterling program, and I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing some of you up in Sydney.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24556017-601,00.html

Much embarrassment for Aussie Liberal wing-woman Julie Bishop and publishers, Melbourne University Press, that her essay contribution for a book about the future of the Liberal Party was cribbed from a ten-year old speech by a New Zealand businessman Roger Kerr. A Libs senior Media Adviser Murray Hansen has fallen on his sword/pen admitting it was all his doing/fault. From The Australian Murray says…”he had written the essay and forgotten to send footnotes in time for publication…Asked how footnotes could have given credit for words that are not in quotation marks in Ms Bishop’s essay but blended through, he said: “I knocked it together very quickly. If I’d formatted it and put direct quotes, it would have alerted her much more quickly to the fact that I was taking large chunks out of someone else’s ideas and speech.” Author writes: A major published book; representing an MP; knocked together very quickly!!! In late September, Ms Bishop was accused of plagiarism for lifting material from The Wall Street Journal for a speech.

This unbelievable piece suggests that Scotland is a tough place to practice PR. The UK PM’s wife Sarah Brown (a former PR at Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications), was allegedly involved in a PR photo-op where govt PR minders seemed somewhat over-zealous in protecting their client interests. The messengers threatening scribes with a bullet; there’s a new twist on a theme.

Standing in court the other day, corporate PR Greg Baxter, ex PR Head at James Hardie says he didnt insert the words “fully funded” into a 2001 press release about the firm’s asbestos compensation trust; with an amnesia onset, he’s not sure who did, either. Surely tho, as the head of PR he would’ve been aware of the weight of this statement and the PR/reputational implications of it? Strangely, as Crikey reports, this story hasnt played strongly in News Ltd newspapers where Baxter is now Head of Corp Affairs…aaaahhh, dontcha just love media transparency and ethics?
http://www.watoday.com.au/national/hardies-minutes-fail-to-jog-memory-20081015-50xm.html

Following a long line of public figures who have deployed kids to try and win the sympathy vote in public opinion - think UK’s John ‘Mad Cow’ Gummer and Aussies Matt Brown, Andrew Bartlett and John Hewson - thugby player Greg Bird recently arrived at court dragging his little brother (maybe about 5yrs old?) through a media scrum. His sister also ported their other baby brother to try keeping media snappers at bay. Accused of ‘glassing’ his American girlfriend’s face with a wine glass, Bird’s media advisers (lawyers or PR people we wonder?) clearly felt he needed to soften his image as this sports PR disaster unfolds. Bird’s girlfriend suffered cuts and a fractured eye socket after allegedly being hit in the face with a glass wielded by Bird himself. He denies the assault and blamed a pro-golfer mate.

Ever fond of hoary old sayings this weather, I’ll bastardise another; “character isn’t revealed when things are going well, but how you behave when things are going badly”. Greg from an older PR pro; ditch the entourage and the media manipulation. Face these allegations directly, with integrity and, if appropriate, with contrition. That’s the only way to bring this unseemly PR disaster to a close, and rebuild your much tarnished reputation. 

 

There’s an old saying that runs along the lines of “…behaviour is not the main thing that influences reputation…it’s the only thing.” In trying to create “a siege mentality” within a beleagured English soccer club, Newcastle United, new manager Joe Kinnear swore 52 times at a media conference often directly attacking journalists. What does this do for the club’s reputation, Kinnear’s or those who appointed him? More, how will the prospective new owners feel about Kinnear’s custody of their brand reputation? PR disaster or what?

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=BKdETq7ZGgQ

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