"PR" can't be a mask for fake change

On Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008, every Starbucks restaurant in the world closed down for three hours.

The dramatic move was made by Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz, who recently came back to the company after a few years’ absence.

The reason for the shutdown? To get back to the company’s roots: re-educating 135,000 employees in its 7,100 locations in the "art of espresso."

Service at the well-known retailer has, many customers said, been lacking. Not helping was the clerks’ new task of making breakfast sandwiches, which some observers say took them away from their core business.

The sandwiches have been cut, and Schultz no doubt drove home the point that service must be Goal Number One at the company during the three-hour shutdown. But from a PR point of view, this will be seen as a great move only if it actually results in better service.

Otherwise, it will be seen as a stunt, and no one will be fooled.

Perceptions will be changed only if the shutdown and retraining result in positive changes that people notice.

It’s not "PR" to hold a retraining session and make it public. It’s whitewashing, and no one will be fooled.

But if this was a sincere effort to change poor service and a fuzzy mission that actually results in change and a clearer mission for the company, then it indeed will be.

I always advice clients never to lie about change, or about the need for them to change.
Customers will see right through it, and any value they may have accrued from acknowledging that need to change - and taking those positive steps - will be lost if it’s seen as mere whitewash.

Real change means taking real steps, and PR cannot be used to simply say changes were made when they were not.

Your customers and clients are too smart for that.

"Our company's not harming the Earth. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone!"

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business. — Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Is your company doing something differently this month to be more environment-friendly?

Are you recycling in a new and innovative way, or recycling something others are NOT? Are you cutting steps in a process that was once wasteful of resources, but now is saving resources (and probably money)? Are you using a recycled material? Are you saving electricity? Water? Other fuels?

If you are, then why don’t I know about it? And more importantly, why don’t your customers… and future customers?

2008 will likely be the year we all become a lot more environmentally friendly, and if you are actually doing something good for the environment, don’t you think someone should know about it?

While it’s not always polite to brag. But when you’re doing something in the business world that’s new, exciting and innovative (and, incidentally, good for the environment, and for your business) it’s simply foolish to not tell others about it.

That’s where Abbott Public Relations comes in.

APR can not only effectively craft a written message telling others about the good things you’re doing on behalf of Nature, we can make sure the right people hear about it. Your customers, but also your potential future customers, need to hear about good news - and the right media channel needs to be chosen, be it news media, internal communications or direct communications with customers or other publics.

Whatever your business, APR can help your Green message get out.

Some Recent PR Disasters in the News

"Craigslist Nanny Found Dead in Trunk"
"They say Katherine Olson was last seen by friends when she went to meet someone about a nanny job posted on Craigslist.org, the Internet bulletin board.

A day later, her body was found in her car at a Minnesota nature preserve. Police declined to say how the 24-year-old was killed.

Authorities say a 19-year-old man who they believe placed the ad is being held pending charges. Authorities did not release his name but said charges could be filed as soon as today"

Lesson: Sometimes your customers can create a PR nightmare using your services.
Remedy: Be ready to deal with it by changing policies, procedures and making sure abuses happen less often, or not at all.

"GAP tops made by child slave labor"
"Tops sewn by children at a factory in India will not be sold in Gap stores, the clothing retailer has said. After a story in the British newspaper the Observer reported a Gap supplier was using children as young as 10 to make shirts, the San Francisco-based retailer, which has 200 of its 2,000 suppliers in India, issued a recall of the shirts and launched an investigation. The article stated the children were working 16 hours a day for no pay and that the workplace was a "derelict industrial unit" with an overflowing toilet."

Lesson: If you think you’re going to get away with something, think again.
Remedy: Come clean, express honest and profound regret, and CHANGE your way of doing business.