Tyco Corp. is in serious crisis mode with investigations of gross misconduct by former CEO Dennis Kozlowski and other senior executives. But if the company's online "newsroom"
is any indication, the crisis is being compounded by a dramatic lack of attention to communications.
Before leaving the company himself, Kozlowski was quoted as saying, "I guess we didn't pay enough attention to PR." The ex-CEO's reputation certainly doesn't bode well for any
advice he may have left behind, but if he did have any words of wisdom for current Tyco execs, these were the ones.
A company's corporate site is the first place most journalists go to conduct their research these days. And if it isn't the first place, you can be pretty sure they'll stop by
sometime during the reporting process. Considering how much press attention Tyco is receiving, you would think that communications executives would devote more resources to the
Web site at the very least to save themselves the time of answering the most frequently asked questions. Instead, the "newsroom" is a bare-bones listing of press releases with
little functionality and even fewer resources for the media.
The most sophisticated PR teams understand the significance of the Web in today's business world, and when there's a corporate crisis brewing, they have a previously "dark"
site up and running to address stakeholder concerns and offer media resources within hours of the news. Instead, Tyco is adding fuel to the fire with a corporate press site that
is uninformative, uninteresting and likely leaves reporters more frustrated than enlightened.
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Criteria
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Grade
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Comments
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| Link from Homepage | A | Tyco does succeed here, with a clear link to the online press center in a navigation bar at the top of the homepage. The "News" link is given equal billing with overall company information, investor relations, corporate contact information, and information on products and services - a very promising start. |
| Press Release Archive | A | Tyco's press room does sport an extensive archive of news releases. In fact, it's just about the only thing the press room sports. The releases are organized according to general news and information as well as by product category, and there's an extensive archive going back to 1996. The drawback: Navigation is not intuitive, with the keyword search and year-by-year archive tools buried far beneath the fold on the main "News" page. Frustrated reporters who read the introduction touting "releases and announcements ... available by category, by date or through a keyword search" may not take the time to investigate thoroughly. |
| Contact Information | F | Here's where the real frustration comes in. The next line of the introduction states that "media contact information for the appropriate authorized Tyco spokespersons is also available by category." We were extremely frustrated to discover, however, that no matter which category we checked, there was no explicit media contact information. A right-hand navigation bar titled "Press Contacts" includes a link to "General Information," which includes the address and main line for company headquarters in Bermuda, as well as an email form available to fill out requesting information. This form breaks a cardinal rule for online newsrooms: Always, always provide specific contact information for PR execs, including name, phone number and email address, and never, never ask reporters to fill out a lengthy email form and wait for a response where may never come from what they consider a black hole. The only places on the site that we were able to locate specific press contacts were on certain press releases we took the time to peruse. |
| Timeliness | A | The site was updated with a release dated the same day we checked and seems to be on top of company news. |
| Archive of News Coverage | F | If it's there, we certainly can't find it. Given the kind of coverage Tyco has been receiving of late, we're not surprised there isn't a complete archive of coverage, but positive mentions in reputable media outlets could help the company with other media. |
| Ease of Navigation | C | The site is relatively easy to navigate because there's so little information. However, even given the fact that the newsroom is little more than a collection of press releases, there are some navigation issues, like placing the search function and the archive far below the fold. |
| Search Functions | C | The search function is available, but it only searches press release titles. So, for example, when we searched for "Kozlowski," whom we assume appeared in quite a few press releases over the years, we received only one hit. Reporters would be better served by a keyword search that encompasses the body of the releases as well. |
| Company Information | A | The corporate site includes a wealth of information on the company, including a detailed history that often goes year-by-year. This information is linked to the press site in a prominent left-hand navigation bar location. |
| Financial Information | B | The site does well, here, too, with prominent newsroom links to investor and financial information. These pages comprise plenty of financial information, including earnings releases and coverage of the company's stock. The downfall: All promising links to contact information, whether they're specifically listed as investor contacts or corporate contacts or even marketing communications contacts link back to the same page with the corporate address and phone number for worldwide locations and an email form for any and all stakeholders. |
| Graphics and Other Value-Adds | F | There are no available graphics (that we could find) or other value-adds for reporters. No video or audio clips, no special crisis sites with valuable information on the company's current situation. In fact, the company gives users the impression that it is burying its head in the sand: An extremely well-publicized crisis is acknowledged only in press releases buried in the reams of releases available. One, for example, covers the filing of an 8-K form with the SEC regarding the investigation of Kozlowski. |
| News by Email | C | The site offers news by email, but only in its investor relations section, burying it where reporters might not search. And many reporters would likely prefer to receive more than just financial information from the company. |
| Overall | C | We're giving Tyco a break on this one out of the kindness of our admittedly diminutive journalistic hearts. If the company hasn't devoted enough resources to PR in the past, it's not likely that there would be a sudden burst of attention to PR - and specifically media relations online - in a time of extreme crisis. But our advice to the corporate communications team is to take a good hard look at what's missing in its press site. This site could be a powerful resource for the company, allowing it to control the message with many members of the press. Instead it's being overlooked and is serving simply as an archive of the company's press releases. At the very least, contact information for corporate communications executives or an agency of record needs to be added to a prominent spot on the main press page. Offering journalists only an email form and a main number on your press site is inexcusable. |