Speaking on ABC regional radio this morning, ‘PR disasters’ author Gerry McCusker made the following observations: Qantas and CEO Alan Joyce were addressing a business imperative, not a brand challenge. Via a skilful PR team, they had probably calculated that the recent PR turbulence wouldn’t outweigh the benefits of staff/operational efficiencies being pursued. McCusker mentioned the A to Z of agenda opportunists (Tony Abbott to Christopher Zinn of consumer group Choice) and a growing social media commentariat who were prolonging the PR pain for the airline, the Gillard government and the unions, too. Gerry concluded by questioning whether the entire concept of reputation was really worth what it once stood for. Indicating that the Qantas share price had gone up since Joyce redrew the battlelines, the PR analyst McCusker suggested that Qantas could win back consumers with marketing and PR initiatives, saying that goodwill now has a (sic) relatively cheap price.
