4 October 2024
Let’s shoot this one down right away. There is such a thing as bad publicity. Some things that make the news are so awful, there’s just no coming back from them.
Fortunately, for most people and most businesses, 'bad publicity' generally isn't terminal.
In fact, there are many instances where something that might seem bad publicity at the time can actually turn out to be not so bad over the longer term.
Similarly, from a corporate point of view, you can sometimes turn bad publicity into a positive thing.
What triggered this thought was noticing a new KFC outlet that has recently sprung up in a Tesco car park that I frequently drive past.
It took me back a few years to the beginning of a week in 2018 when KFC stores around the country were forced to close through a lack of chicken supplies. A nightmare for a fast food business. And, at first, the PR was not good. Customers were not happy.
It was what you could call a crisis.
KFC quickly and cleverly responded with a series of newspaper ads featuring an empty chicken bucket with the letters in their famous logo rearranged to read 'FCK', and the body copy offering a fulsome apology for the absence of chicken in their stores.
The response campaign was a hit with their customers and media commentators alike.
People responded favourably to their apology, delivered as it was in a cheeky, humorous way.
It resonated with their core audience.
Supplies were restored and the brand avoided significant damage. If anything KFC's response to the situation enhanced its standing amongst many people.
People make mistakes or misjudgements, everybody accepts that. It’s how you respond that’s important. It’s essential that you understand your audience, don’t try to blag them, demonstrate that you've taken action to put right what went wrong and show a bit of humility.
There are many cases where, sometime after a ‘crisis’ situation has occurred and been dealt with in the right way, the company’s fortunes and/or reputations have improved to a much greater level than they were likely to reach had the crisis not occurred. KFC is arguably a case in point.
[Note of caution: we wouldn’t recommend this as a marketing strategy].
In today’s digital and social media world, responses also need to be made much more quickly than they used to, as negative press can spread much faster, gathering momentum as it goes. While the situation can still be recovered, it might take longer and cost more and the damage done in the meantime might be expensive – reputation-wise, financially or both.
And one final thought. You can get away with making the odd mistake if you generally do the right things. But, if mistakes or mishaps happen too frequently, it starts to define your brand and no amount of PR will change that.
