PR FROM THE BEACH

Good behaviour - the X Factor that keeps your licence to operate

Links to media.nzherald.co.nz

There's been a huge furore in the last 24 hours over New Zealand's X Factor, thanks to some ill-considered comments by husband-and-wife judging duo Natalia Kills and Willy Moon. Now, New Zealand On Air has announced it is withdrawing funding from the show, although they suggest they made their mind up about this before the controversy. Both judges will be replaced because of their remarks - and currently face a tirade of abuse themselves on their social accounts - much of it absolutely despicable. Elsewhere, the discussion rages around whether the whole thing was a hoax designed to boost the show's flagging ratings and we are left with a million suit-and-hair memes littering the web. All in all, it's a shambles. So who is to blame?

Len Brown Affair: More 'Go Girls' than 'West Wing'

New Zealand doesn't really do political scandals so the recent revelations surrounding newly elected Auckland Mayor Len Brown have, for some, been quite absorbing. For most, it has been a storm in a rather sordid tea cup despite the significant speculation as to whether the timing, revelations and subsequent debate were a political set up designed to force another election.

From where I sit, it reminded me of the New Zealand series called 'Go Girls', where a group of hapless 20-somethings stagger from one disaster to another. The whole episode had an air of comedy that outweighed the whiff of tragedy that Brown's family must have experienced and demonstrated that if there was a plot afoot, those involved need to be a lot sharper in their scripting if they want be involved in the style of political machinations to be found on the US series West Wing.

From a public relations perspective I was interested in the Brown camp's strategy which was dominated by the old school 'duck, cover and say nothing'. His one mea culpa on John Campbell was something of a shambles while his calls for media to 'respect his family' had a hollow ring given he had himself been sufficiently disrespectful to his family to indulge in his two-year affair.  

I suspect there will be more revelations in the weeks ahead which will need to be dealt with - running for cover will not improve matters at all.

No accident that ACC boss stands out

In marked contrast to the woeful Fonterra performances on mainstream media of late, the new ACC chief executive Scott Pickering did an excellent job on Q&A this week following the latest privacy breaches within his organisation.

Unlike his predecessors, this new CE appeared in control of the situation, was able to explain but not excuse, describe what was being done to redress the situation and outline the way ahead for the organisation.

He was properly briefed, had the facts - as he saw them - to hand  and responded well to interview questions designed to throw him off guard. 

I hope that all the wishes he articulated for ACC and its customers come to fruition as it would mean that the organisation that he described as part of New Zealand's DNA will have regained some of the social capital lost so spectacularly in recent years.

Long may he keep working on listening and re-establishing public trust and let's hope too that some other organisational leaders around the country learn a lesson or two about interviews from this fresh-faced CE.

Thumbs up to Wellington Region Emergency team as shocks continue

Bit of a shout-out to Wellington Region Emergency Management Office this afternoon. A great example of people being organised and communicative long before a crisis hits, WREMOnz should be a case study for all NZ's civil defence organisations and especially the government ministry tasked with national organisation. 

WREMOnz on Facebook has been an excellent source of information for a considerable length of time and, as the clusters of earthquakes continue in the region, a source of reliable, timely and reassuring information for their communities.

Well done to them all - and thanks for doing such a good job.

Fonterra's crisis competency falls whey short

There's been much commentary on the Fonterra botulism scare and the subsequent reputational meltdown since the company broke the news of the contaminated whey just a fortnight ago.

Heads have started to roll - first Gary Romano and now two other managers - and there will probably be other management team members looking for a new job before things settle down. 

What I have found unbelievable is the lack of unpreparedness apparent in New Zealand's biggest company. As the scare unfolded it was evident in every public interaction - and inaction - that nobody at Fonterra had ever thought to plan for a crisis. Whether this was due to arrogance or incompetence we will never know.

Given the Sanlu scandal of 2008, I would have thought that Fonterra (renamed Fonterror during that scare) might have learnt a lesson or two. But it would seem not.  

What we got this time around was a display of complete incompetence, misinformation, misinformation leading to panic, damage to the country's global reputation and the image of all manner of individuals - from the Prime Minister to small scale baby-food manufacturers - running around like headless chickens attempting to correct things but in reality making it all a lot worse.

No company or organisation can deem themselves to be 'above' a crisis. I only hope that the executive team now realises the importance of crisis planning, effective communication and the value of reputation which, to be frank, were things that they seem to have felt beneath their consideration.  I also have some sympathy with Gary Romano who from the outset was let loose on the media without - it would seem - proper preparation or support. Seldom have I seen such a shambolic performance from a such senior player.

Alongside the inquiries into how the contamination occurred, I hope Fonterra is forced to scrutinise its crisis planning and communication - it has little remaining social capital here or abroad and another bungled crisis could mean the end of the road for this farming conglomerate along with New Zealand's ability to export food products to global consumers.

In true Fellowship...

 

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It's been a very busy couple of months with some great personal highlights. As a rule, I tend not to post the personal stuff on here but it was a special moment at the end of May when I was inducted as a Fellow by the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand at the Annual Awards.  I was created a Fellow by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in 2005, so have the honour of being a Fellow on both sides of the world. 

Straight after the PRINZ Conference and Annual Awards,  it was off to Helsinki for the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management AGM. The new board was elected and I'll be serving as GA Secretary for a further two years, under the leadership of Chair Anne Gregory who will be the first woman to lead the GA.  With the next World Public Relations Forum in Madrid in 2014, the newly launched GA Comm Prix Awards gaining momentum and work progressing on the Melbourne Mandate there are exciting - and busy times ahead.

What were they thinking? State Services Commission 'bans' tweeting at press conference

I thought it was a hoax when I first read the tweets from journalists at the State Services Commission press conference today - they had, apparently, been banned from tweeting. Then, later this afternoon, out came the story via the Herald and Newstalk ZB that this had, indeed, been the case.

It is beyond me that those in charge of this press conference could be so impossibly behind the times. Aside from demonstrating a complete lack of understanding as to mainstream media operation, how social networks, particularly Twitter, break and drive the news, not to mention the seismic culture shift of the last ten years, surely common sense would tell you that to 'ban' journalists from doing anything when you've called them together is a bit like the old red rag to a bull?

A few years ago, New Zealand's State Services Commission were actually quite innovative when it came to social and digital policy.  Obviously something has gone wrong - very wrong - for this to have happened today.  I would recommend a refresher course in basic communication management along with a PR101 session for all those involved.

Why Tongariro eruption should ignite New Zealand's infrastructure plans

The beginning of August saw Pacific Fibre close its doors after valiant attempts to finance and construct a second cable to secure New Zealand's connections to all things web. At the moment we have only the Southern Cross cable to keep us going, which to me seems utterly foolhardy - if not reckless. 

Mount Ruapehu Timelapse

Brilliant timelapse photography from Jared Brandon. No comment to make on it - just absolutely worth sharing and watching. Stunning.

Mt Ruapehu Timelapse from Jared Brandon Productions on Vimeo.

 

Air New Zealand talk social media on social media

Couple of good clips from Air New Zealand this week. Firs one below takes a quick  look at their use of social media. The second is Rob Fyfe talking about how the stories, the channels and the way they intersect change approaches and engagement.  It's long, but worth sticking with.

 

Making it personal: The Air New Zealand Brand - wierd wacky or inspired? by Rob Fyfe from Creative New Zealand on Vimeo.