PR vs The Spirit Pilots

A recent bNet blog by Brett Snyder does a good job outlining the PR situation surrounding the Spirit pilot strike. Though my personal experience with the strike differs a bit from Mr. Snyder’s opinions - I reflexively sided and identified with the pilots (labor), probably due to my own attitudes as much as the actual media coverage - Synder correctly points out that the pilots have actively ceded the PR advantage to Spirit management, by declining to provide any information. Shame on them!

Nature (and the media, of course) abhors a vacuum, and the Pilots’ union at the center of the strike should have realized that if they weren’t willing to fill that vacuum with commentary, details, and other story-building efforts, and in doing so gain the support of the traveling public, the other side most definitely would.

And that, according to Snyder and my own opinion, is exactly what has happened.

One of the basic tenets of crisis communications is to appear candid and upfront at all times (hello BP?). Another is to try and define the story on favorable terms, and to maintain as much control over the story as possible. At times these can be futile pursuits (see Petroleum, British redux), but the interesting thing is that failure to properly execute these strategies often results in the same outcome as not trying to execute them at all. What a quandary, huh?

Common sense tells us this: a stonewall is interpreted as guilty denial, a ‘no comment’ is an implication of guilt.

It can be argued that this isn’t technically a crisis situation; after all, a strike isn’t at all like an oil spill, or a bankruptcy. It’s true, a labor dispute does not by definition call for a crisis communications strategy. But in a sense the Spirit debacle is more dangerous to both sides from a PR perspective if only because each side is actively trying to pin blame on the other. It’s also worth remembering that this is in fact a crisis for US CONSUMERS, particularly those travelers with cancelled flights and plans due to Spirit’s and the union’s actions. The aggrieved parties -- and anyone else who can sympathize or identify with the affected consumers, which would be, um, everyone -- will also be looking to assign blame.

So in this sense, this is indeed a crisis situation, and demands good crisis communications to mitigate it. Unfortunately for the union, management seems to have heeded this advice sooner, and have seized the advantage.

Once again, shame on them.

Advice To BP That It Didn't Ask For / from MediaPost

Dear BP,

Here's some advice you haven't asked for.

Yours truly,
The PR Industry

That's the column I would have written if I hadn't decided to take another tack. You see, writing a column can be a solitary affair, and exceptionally polarizing when tackling big issues. The impulse to take a position -- the more incendiary the better -- and hammer it home is powerful when composing in a vacuum (I imagine this is how, say, Ann Coulter feels on a regular basis).

But it's an inherently limited process, and yields a limited viewpoint. So with something as topical, heated and broad-reaching as BP's Gulf Oil Spill, I decided to open up the dialogue by inviting other brains to take part in what I consider an important discussion about a substantial PR crisis. Though there are significantly more pressing issues surrounding the spill (ask an Appilachicola oyster or the guy that makes a living farming them), this column will focus solely on BP's handling of the spill from a PR and communications perspective.

I invited PR industry and marcomm experts to share their views on the BP's actions -- good and bad. The interviews printed below were insightful and well-reasoned, but the overall result of my invitation was disappointing. Of the 46 responses I received from PR experts, only these four PR professionals offered meaningful commentary. The rest were either incoherent or self-serving babble -- no wonder BP hasn't solicited any advice from those "experts."

But they would be well served by listening to Brad Burns, Mark Tardiff, Rene Henry, and Dan Baum.

Brad is a principal at Revoltion and a former SVP of Corporate Communicaitons with MCI/Worldcomm; Mark is the Associate Director of College Communications at Unity College; Rene is the author of Communication in a Crisis, and Dan is CEO and Creative Director of DBC PR+New Media. My interview with them begins:

Gentlemen, how do you think BP is handling the current crisis, from a PR perspective?

To read their responses, click here.