Top 10 Most Popular Crisis PR Cases of 2018, Who Made the List?

2018 was not an easy year for public relations professionals, or rather, it has never been easy for public relations professionals. In the past few days, I have carefully reviewed the past year of 2018 and found ten typical crisis public relations cases. Some were handled well, while some were failures. Basically, they caused some sensation in the circle and even among the whole nation. They are worthy of every public relations person to put in their own case library, learn from the good ones and take the bad ones as a warning.

1. Five-star hotels frequently become popular: What should we do when we are in chaos in the industry?

If we were to say which industry had the most negative comments in 2018, I'm afraid it would be the hotel industry. From the political incorrectness of Marriott Hotel at the beginning of the year to the exposure of hygiene issues such as water cups and bed sheets in five-star hotels in the second half of the year, the crisis broke out even faster than it was handled.

The biggest crisis is the secret of the cups of 14 five-star hotels exposed by "Hua Zong" last month. What is disappointing but not surprising is that the responses given by the 14 hotels involved within what public relations people often call the "golden time for handling crises" were almost all the same. Their lack of attention to the problem seemed disheartening, and some even pushed the problem onto ridiculous excuses such as "the public relations department is off work."

Due to the particularity of the industry itself, the hotel industry has long been in a strong position relative to consumers. In such a chaotic industry, everyone seems to have adhered to the self-hypnosis of "the law does not hold everyone responsible" and "consumers have no other choice but me", resulting in hotel public relations being to some extent ineffective. This is the sadness of the hotel industry and the helplessness of the public relations industry.

Even though the memory of consumers and netizens is short, the crisis always exists. If you are in an industry where "unwritten rules" are no longer a secret, please be prepared at all times and be a public relations person who "never gets off work."

2. Child abuse incident at Ctrip Parent-Child Park: What should I do if my boss asks me to delete the article to control negative comments?

Among the brands that have had a hard time this year, Ctrip must be one. Fake air tickets, leakage of user privacy, bundled sales, child abuse in parent-child kindergartens... negative things come one after another. It can be said that it is facing internal and external troubles and is under pressure from many sides.

I have summarized three special features of the child abuse incident in the parent-child garden:

• This is a crisis that is not related to Ctrip’s main business;
• This was a crisis that fermented from within the staff and escalated into a big mess;
• This is a crisis of a serious nature that involves the entire society.

Unfortunately, in Ctrip’s crisis public relations, we still see “public relations tactics” from the last century, such as avoiding issues, forced deletion of posts, and internal control of negative news. Not only will such tactics not work in this era, they will definitely have side effects.

Our ancestors have told us more than once that "there is nothing impenetrable" and "the truth cannot be hidden". Next time, when your boss asks you to delete the negative content, you might as well tell him the following:

"Why do companies think that everything will be fine if they deal with the source when they encounter negative news? This is not the web 1.0 era." ——Wang Gaofei, CEO of Weibo.

3. Didi Hitch—What to do if a corporate crisis involves human lives?

If we were to find another company that is in a worse situation than Ctrip, it would definitely be Didi. In May, a flight attendant in Zhengzhou was killed by a Didi Hitch driver. Less than 100 days later, a girl in Yueqing, Sichuan was killed again while taking a ride. Two murders, two lives lost, and Didi went from being an indispensable online ride-hailing leader to hell. More rape and robbery cases involving Didi drivers have turned Didi into a public enemy.

Apology statement, million-dollar reward, condolences to the family, removal from shelves for rectification, apology from the founder... Didi used almost every means within a few months, but still could not stop the verbal abuse and complaints from netizens. The blind deletion of the apology Weibo, the arrogance of the customer service system, the distortion of the corporate culture... Didi once stood at the crossroads of life and death.

Didi is not the first company to suffer a loss of life due to a crisis this year. Ziroom, for example, was also at the center of public controversy due to excessive formaldehyde in its rental properties, which led to the crisis of "an Ali employee died of leukemia and lived in Ziroom before his death."

Looking back, Ziroom’s so-called crisis public relations is somewhat similar to the reason why Didi was initially criticized. It did a good job on the surface, but nothing changed at the core.

Corporate crises resulting in deaths will not be limited to Didi and Ziroom. It is no exaggeration to say that any company in any industry has such hidden risks. If we are unfortunate enough to encounter one, what else can we do besides apologizing and making corrections? It is better to reflect on corporate culture from the source. Have the corporate values ​​been distorted under the temptation of capital and interests?

4. Blue Label Dismissal Gate—Teammate becomes enemy, what to do if internal employees leak information?

In March, an article in a self-media outlet that revealed that "Blue Label was harming old employees" quickly went viral and even stole the show from the 315 Gala that day, catching Blue Label, which claims to be the best in Asia, off guard.

Being forced to resign, refusal to pay compensation... these kinds of revelations from internal employees seem to be more difficult to deal with than external crises. After all, your current opponent is your former teammate, and he seems to know everything about you.

By the end of the year, the economic winter seemed to have become a consensus among major companies. In the past two months alone, countless Internet companies have been exposed to large-scale layoffs, including Alibaba, Meituan, Zhihu, Douyin, Douyu... not to mention Mobike and ofo, which have basically gone out of business.

Most of the corporate public relations mentioned here have more or less come out to do some "rumor-busting", but they all look quite pale, and some even get slapped in the face as soon as they speak. When there are layoffs or normal internal adjustments, you should avoid being harsh or rude to former employees and colleagues. When a teammate becomes your enemy, he may pose a greater threat to you than he helps you.

5. Does Starbucks cause cancer? ——How to resolve a rumor-mongering crisis?

Starbucks did not have a smooth year in 2018. On one hand, it faced unsatisfactory financial report data, and on the other hand, it was caught in an accident in the middle of the year. The news that coffee causes cancer has almost dominated the global media, and Starbucks has become the most conspicuous target.

Although it was named by the global media, and people who understand know at a glance that the so-called coffee causing cancer is most likely a rumor, Starbucks' ability to remain calm in the face of danger as a giant company is admirable. This is how it resolved the crisis.

First of all, we made the most reasonable use of the rules and reported all WeChat articles related to "Starbucks causes cancer". Within WeChat, we found Dingxiang Doctor, the most famous doctor in the medical field, to endorse us and criticized and refuted the rumors. This trick seems to be very effective.

On a larger scale, Starbucks immediately sent the media a relevant announcement from the American Coffee Association. Do not express any opinions or attitudes from your own perspective, but instead refute rumors from a professional perspective, and the public and the media will naturally understand.

Next time, if you encounter a rumor-mongering crisis, do you know how to deal with it?

6. Liu Qiangdong’s sexual assault incident: The founder was implicated, how should the public relations department correctly take the blame?

The case of Liu Qiangdong's alleged sexual assault in the United States has finally come to a conclusion, and the court's decision not to prosecute has put a value on the matter. This crisis lingered on JD.com for several months, causing torment for both Liu Qiangdong and JD.com. During the court process, Liu Qiangdong himself and the company's public relations department had to remain silent, which was even more tormenting.

I think what Mr. Li Guowei said makes a lot of sense: In crisis public relations, the most tested thing is the CEO's courage. Courage is always paired with responsibility, whether it is momentary action or comprehensive planning. It takes courage to do something, and it also takes courage to choose not to do something.

Li Guowei's analysis of JD.com's crisis public relations in this incident is also very comprehensive and worth learning.

The more high-profile the founder of your company is, the more likely you are to be hit. These two things are positively correlated.

This year, not only Liu Qiangdong was implicated, but also Baidu's Robin Li. The rumors that Robin Li had a mistress and gave birth to an eldest son are almost turning into a palace fighting drama. The statement from Baidu’s public relations department was clearly intended to dispel the rumor, but it actually helped fuel the rumor.

When it comes to the company's founder, the public relations department should first maintain consistency in tone and pace with the founder himself. Secondly, when considering refuting rumors and responding, choose appropriate methods and channels, and do not be overly guided by the founder's emotions. Finally, should we post the original text to debunk rumors? It depends on how confident you are in the truth.

7. Dolce & Gabbana’s “insulting China” incident: What to do about political incorrectness?

One of the most sensational crises in the second half of the year was definitely Dolce & Gabbana D&G. An advertisement with incorrect values ​​caused an insult to China, which led to a concentrated boycott from all Chinese people.

Afterwards, Dolce & Gabbana’s “hacking-style” crisis public relations set a new record for IQ. Ultimately, even if the founder’s video apology is published, it will be seen by the public as a show.

Politically incorrect crises like the one at Dolce & Gabbana are not isolated cases. In April, Starbucks was exposed for refusing black customers to use the restroom. Not only did the founder issue an apology letter, but the racial discrimination crisis also forced Starbucks to close 8,000 stores across the United States for relevant employee training.

Politically incorrect crises are almost devastating to companies and have almost no solution for public relations. We can only accept them calmly and reflect deeply.

8. The mysterious “black PR” — What should I do if I’m hacked by a competitor?

For the public relations industry, "black public relations" is one of the unavoidable keywords in 2018. The reason is that Tencent and Toutiao accused each other of black public relations and made this matter a hot topic.

In fact, "black PR" is no longer an industry secret; it is almost public common sense, especially in the Internet industry. Everyone is aware of how many rival companies have done harm to their competitors.

In 2018 alone, well-known Internet companies such as ofo, Pinduoduo, Baidu, Aihuishou, and Toutiao claimed to have encountered "black public relations."

However, for the most mysterious black chain in the public relations circle, an one-stop industrial chain consisting of order-taking, planning, gunmen, news sources, and water armies has been formed, providing "full-range services" of reading, commenting, and forwarding. Its existence has indeed made the industry's atmosphere more corrupt.

As a public relations person, if you cannot keep yourself clean, will you be the next victim of "black public relations"?

9. Mafengwo data fraud: Has the real negative impact of the crisis been underestimated?

Mafengwo has been in the spotlight in 2018. A brainwashing advertisement created by the great Ye Maozhong made a big splash at the World Cup, but it was also left at a loss when it was unexpectedly exposed for data fraud in October.

A pale statement and a weak excuse. The crisis was quickly forgotten by netizens. As I expected, this so-called negative impact on Mafengwo will not be too great, and will not shake Mafengwo's position in the industry.

As a public relations, it was able to successfully cover up the crisis. However, from a deeper perspective of the company, when Mafengwo was surrounded by negative news, it not only accused this of being an organized attack, but also claimed that it would have "little impact on the new round of financing" and that offline activities were not cancelled. This seems to be sending a signal that "such a crisis is nothing to us." Is this really a good thing?

10. Yu Minhong openly discriminates against women - what should we do if the founder’s words and deeds are inappropriate?

Some time ago, Yu Minhong's remarks at the Learning Power Conference were controversial, "The degradation of Chinese women has led to the degradation of the entire country."

Not only was he ridiculed by the public, but his apology was also not recognized. In order to eliminate the impact, Yu Minhong was even "forced" to go to the All-China Women's Federation to sincerely apologize to the vast number of female compatriots. "Yu Minhong-style crises" like this caused by inappropriate words and deeds of founders are not uncommon. Another classic one this year was a remark made by Robin Li at the China High-level Development Forum in March, which caused trouble for himself and Baidu.

As well as the recent inappropriate remarks by Li Guoqing, Chen Nian's scolding of Jay Chou last year, and even the incident where the Peking University president read a typo, these are essentially crises caused by the inappropriate words and deeds of corporate founders/executives.

As an entrepreneur, how to manage your own words and deeds is a science. As a public relations person, how to properly remind leaders to restrain their own words and deeds is also a science.

The above are 10 classic crisis public relations in 2018. I hope you will have other insights after reading them again.

Source: Jun Xiaobao ( junxiaobao2016 )