This winter, the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team provided us with a perfect example of why denial doesn't work in a crisis. After they suffered an embarrassing loss in Nagano, Japan, several members of the team - all members of the NHL - decided to vent their aggression on the Olympic Village, causing $3,000 worth of damage to their room in their late night revelry. Rather than owning up, the actual perpetrators of the vandalism have remained anonymous while NHL officials try to minimize the damage both to the league image and to the rooms.
Some players went so far as to blame the furniture for not being "made for hockey players" and names have yet to be made public. Meanwhile, the Japanese hosts fumed and IOC officials cringed. Aggravating the situation, many of the players stopped in Hawaii to play golf, so reporters had to wait till the season resumed to continue their search for the culprits, guaranteeing that the story could drag on and continue to diminish the image of the sport and the league.
The communications blunder is so bad, I found myself wondering if maybe I'd gotten it wrong and the players seem to think that such behavior actually enhanced their image.
Meanwhile, CVS and Giant gave us sterling examples of how action speaks louder than words.
When consumers responded negatively to a store policy of releasing customer names to pharmaceutical companies, not only did the companies immediately reverse the policy and apologize, they went so far as to call the affected customers personally.
We just wish all companies were this concerned about their customers' feelings.
Katharine Paine is founder and CEO of The Delahaye Group, an international image consulting firm based in Portsmouth, N.H. If you have a suggestion for an Image Patrol column, you can reach her at 603/431-0111.
CVS:
U.S. Corporate Headquarters: Woonsocket, R.I.
Contact: Joan Cronin, PR Manager
No. of Employees: 90,000
Main PR Firm: In-house
1997 Total Sales: $12.7 billion
GIANT:
Corporate Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Contact: Barry F. Scher, VP of Public Affairs
No. of Employees: 28,500
Main PR Firm: In-house
1997 Total Sales: $4.2 billion