1. Lion Down: Sometimes when the going gets tough, the best strategy is to punt. That’s what the Detroit Lions are doing this week. The team’s Web site has no specific mention I could find of their historic march to an 0-16 record. Instead one of the prominent headlines: “Ticket prices to be reduced or frozen for 2009.” That sounds about right. It can’t be easy being a spin doctor for this disasterous franchise. Another PR approach might be to have some fun with it. Plenty of people will be watching to see if the Lions lose and it would seem an excellent opportunity to lure new fans onto a lonely bandwagon. Wouldn’t you love to say you were with the Lions since the lowest of low? Where can I buy a hat? On a related note, the Yankees are selling bleacher seats to a pre-season exhibition for 25 cents. Opening day for the same seat will surely be $2,500.
2. LinkedOut: I know Linkedin’s all the rage — and I do love it so. But their PR department leaves much to be desired. I’m writing a short piece on using social networking to find a job and haven’t received a return phone call or e-mail to multiple interview requests. I’m sure LinkedIn will trudge on without me, but having an unresponsive PR team always seems to be a red flag. I’ve also heard LinkedIn isn’t very customer-friendly in dealing with concerns/complaints. A few companies seem to continue to thrive despite crappy service. Not many though. Will be interesting to see if LinkedIn holds it together.
3. Stick to the script! I got some interesting insight from a former speechwriter from GM who shared that CEO Rick Wagoner basically choked when he got to Capital Hill. The speechwriter said Wagoner and GM have a well-thought out plan for the future, known as GMNext, built around the upcoming Volt and other fuel-efficient cars. Wagoner had the opportunity to position GM as a forward thinking company ready to innovate. Or at very least he could have planted the seed for GMNext among the lawmakers and general public. Of course, instead the disasterous first visit (make that flight) to Congress sealed the deal that no one wants to hear what Wagoneer and his buddies are selling. Here’s what the speechwriter had to say:
“For some reason, on the way to the Congressional hearing room, Wagoner lost the clear message he had been communicating regarding GM’s competitiveness in technology, fuel efficiency, performance and design — not to mention domestic and global SALES LEADERSHIP — at least until this summer’s gas price crisis, followed by the Sept. 15 credit catastrophe. I suspect too many message cooks entered the kitchen at that point, and Wagoner somehow froze when the reception on The Hill became far more hostile than he expected.”
What would be the best next step? If I were GM I’d get rid of some of the cooks and have Wagoner make a plea directly to the American public. The first line to the script would be something along the lines of, “Hi I’m Rick Wagoner and I’ve made a bunch of mistakes in recent weeks…” and then make a case for why the Big 3 matter to America. This is a classic case of a company — or make that companies — unable to tell a compelling story, or lay out a believable strategy.
