Teachable Moment: The situation over the weekend involving British Airways (BA) and a legion of travelers and luggage, some stranded for three days or more, is bound to be included in the lesson plans of those teaching PR classes this summer and for months to come. (Teachers could fill an entire course with airline-based case studies gathered during the past few months alone.) The lessons the BA episode offers for brand communicators are many. First: News spreads globally. All you needed was a BBC News app to be aware of the alleged power outage that stranded 75,000 passengers coming in or leaving London airports and is likely to cost the carrier millions in compensation and perhaps even more in reputation. Two: Execution. Yes, BA moved relatively quickly to set up phone lines for stranded passengers to make alternate plans, but it is alleged those lines, some apparently expensive, premium-rate lines, failed to work as advertised, with many callers put on hold interminably or ultimately reaching a recording urging them to remain patient. It was also reported that web sites set up to allow passengers to file delayed baggage claims failed to function correctly. Three: Timing. Having an IT issue is never good news, but having one during a holiday weekend is worse, of course. In its defense, the airline quickly apologized to passengers via social media. The issue, though, was the perceived lack of a personal touch. It took BA chief Alex Cruz three days before he appeared in person to apologize. By that time tensions had risen to such a degree that Cruz was on the defensive big time. The explanation for his absence: He said he was communicating with passengers, via social media (tweets and videos). Perhaps, but a leaked internal memo to employees ordering managers to forego speaking to the media did little to help the image of brand out of control. According to The Financial Times, the Cruz memo read in part: “Guys, either you are part of the team working to fix this or you aren’t ... I would kindly ask you to refrain from live commentary….” Another lesson from that: There ain’t no such animal as internal communications, especially during a crisis. Last, while the precise cause of the IT issue remains hazy as we go to press—there’s yet another lesson—Cruz insisted the failure that led to BA having to cancel nearly three days of flights was unrelated to recent tech staff layoffs, as the unions allege. His job may depend on his being right.
Expansion: Sard Verbinnen opened offices in Houston and Hong Kong. In Houston, Frances Jeter will head the office with Kelly Kimberly as principal. Veteran Silicon Valley exec Ron Low will lead the Hong Kong office with former Wall Street Journal Asia’s finance and deals editor Rick Carew, now a managing director at Sard Verbinen. – The Organization of American Women in PR USA is feting the launch of its NY City chapter June 9 at the Novotel Times Square.
Fond Farewell:One day all PR pros, in small firms and large, will routinely embrace the measurement guidelines encapsulated in the Barcelona Principles. That day can’t arrive too soon for David Rockland, the Ketchum partner and CEO of Ketchum Global Research & Analytics (KGRA), who announced his retirement last week. Known for his 17-year tenure at KGRA and the creation of the Principles, Rockland will become a senior consultant to Ketchum and KGRA chairman for two years following his Aug. 1, 2017, retirement. A longtime colleague of his, Mary Elizabeth Germaine, EVP/global managing director, KGRA, will succeed him as KGRA’s leader, reporting to Ketchum chairman/CEO/partner Rob Flaherty. A longstanding friend of this publication (his most recent column appeared here Apr. 17) and the PR News Measurement Hall of Fame, Dr. Rockland, simply put, is a giant in PR measurement. Despite his many laurels–he’s a former AMEC chairman, former chairman of the IPR Commission on PR Measurement and Evaluation and a member of the PR News Measurement Hall of Fame (class of 2012) – there are few more gracious than this great outdoorsman. We, of course, wish David and his family great happiness on Maryland’s eastern shore and look forward to our continuing collaboration with him.
People: Staples named Michelle Bottomley CMO. She replaces CMO Frank Bifulco, who’d announced his retirement earlier. – Northwestern Mutual added executive officer to the title of Courtney Reynolds, VP, communications/corporate affairs. Aditi Gokhale was named chief marketing officer, a newly created position; Alexa von Tobel was named chief digital officer. Gokhale and von Tobel joined Northwestern when it acquired their startup in 2015. – WEnamed Trevor Jonas VP, digital strategy, in its San Francisco office, a newly created position. He joins from Access Emanate. – White House shakeups are expected this week. First out the door: Communications director Mike Dubke.