Anyone who follows sports knows that every year there are some mysterious forces in our universe that seem to draw multi-million dollar athletes toward momentous reputation management gaffes. And anyone that follows the NBA knows that LeBron James’ image and ego has never been slight.

Since high school, James has been thrust into the public spotlight, [...]]]>

Anyone who follows sports knows that every year there are some mysterious forces in our universe that seem to draw multi-million dollar athletes toward momentous reputation management gaffes. And anyone that follows the NBA knows that LeBron James’ image and ego has never been slight.

Since high school, James has been thrust into the public spotlight, and for the most part he has done a good job with controlling his image. Even while wearing his New York Yankees cap to a 2007 MLB playoff game against Ohio’s own Cleveland Indians, James managed to silence the naysayers and remain Cleveland’s “golden boy.” How did he do this? He was a superstar, and most importantly, a mainstay in Ohio — born and raised in nearby Akron and playing for the NBA hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

But upon his contract’s expiration this past summer, all of his panache, credibility, and popularity would plummet to subterranean depths, creating what can be considered an image management crisis.

LeBron James by Keith Allison, on Flickr

When an athlete’s contract expires and they disclose their future plans, they typically announce them via their agent, talent management company, or in a local press conference. Never one to shy away from further boosting his fame, James opted for a first of its kind ESPN-televised special titled “The Decision,” where James told the world he would be leaving Cleveland to play for the Miami Heat.

To say that James’ move was an “image management hiccup” would be an understatement. Not only did he decide to leave Cleveland, he did so in the most public fashion possible. Clevelanders quickly turned on James and considered his move a nationally-televised slap in the face to their city and its citizens. It will be classified as one of the quickest and grandest popularity swings for an athlete in sports history. According to The Q Scores Co., which conducts popularity polls, James is now viewed in a negative light by 39 percent of the general population.

With everyone from young children to Tony Soprano making a pitch to have James join their city’s home team, it seemed James’ ego catapulted into the stratosphere. Perhaps the buzz blinded him from seeing that “The Decision” would be a public relations nightmare. James and his inner circle thought that the time was right to parlay his brand to unparalleled heights in sports. Instead, “The Decision” had the reverse effect.

What should James have done prior to announcing his decision? Image management consulting. James clearly didn’t realize that sports fans would see “The Decision” as an exercise in self-aggrandizement more than anything else. He didn’t anticipate that sports fans would rally behind spurned Clevelanders and use “The Decision” as an opportunity to vilify him. A good public relations expert would have seen these potential flaws in “The Decision” from a mile away.

Public relations experts know that whether it is a celebrity, public company, or nonprofit, one’s reputation is a delicate managerial challenge. One wrong move can result in public criticism, and even the most popular of figures can swing into a negative light.

While there are times where we want our clients to book an appearance on Oprah or run on the front page of the New York Times, we as public relations professionals recognize that this is not always the most prudent and effective means to reach your intended audience. By sticking to the standard operating procedure for an athlete leaving their team, James’ image would most likely not have taken the same kind of devastating hit. “The Decision” reminded all of us that we must keep in mind how a move will be perceived by the harshest of all critics — the public.

Even for those who don’t own a Toyota vehicle, car drivers (and passengers) have been fascinated by Prius’ brake failure problems and resulting recall and federal investigation. Product recalls pose enormous PR and reputation management challenges for communicators. History gives us great examples of crisis communication successes, such as Tylenol recall in 1982, as [...]]]>

Even for those who don’t own a Toyota vehicle, car drivers (and passengers) have been fascinated by Prius’ brake failure problems and resulting recall and federal investigation. Product recalls pose enormous PR and reputation management challenges for communicators. History gives us great examples of crisis communication successes, such as Tylenol recall in 1982, as well as great failures, such as the Enron bankruptcy and scandal in 2001.

Like Rachael mentioned in her recent blog post, social media has changed the way we communicate crises information and resources. However, social media can also effectively manage brand crises for organizations too.

Take Toyota, for example. They turned to social media tools to navigate the hostile waters of frustrated car owners and a concerned public. As highlighted recently in Social Media Insider, Toyota launched Toyota Conversations to aggregate all recall news (internal and external) and the company’s communication channels on to one Web site. The site is powered by TweetMeme, and it’s designed to collect news, videos and images posted on Twitter about Toyota, the company’s official Twitter feed and other important news updates for Toyota car owners.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cloudzilla/ / CC BY 2.0

It is important to note that posts on Toyota Conversations are not moderated by Toyota.  Instead, they allow positive and less flattering posts from Twitter recall conversations to be shared and public. In essence, this Web site serves as a “listening post” for Toyota communicators, helping them stay informed and in tune with what is being said and shared during the crisis.

Transparency is important for successful crisis communication efforts, and using social media tools to aggregate honest conversations (and frustrations) can help organizations recover from crises and allow brands to recover faster over time.

In response to the Social Media Insider post, Denise Morrissey of the Toyota Social Media Team commented:

We consider Toyota Conversations to be a natural extension of our efforts to not only provide information about the recalls but to also listen. The recall page at toyota.com is designed to provide information for consumers. Our newsroom is set up to provide information for both consumers and media. On Facebook, we are hosting a vibrant conversation with over 81,000 folks who’ve taken the time to join our page. We reach out to folks on a daily basis via Twitter regarding their concerns in the hopes we can provide additional information for their use. And we’ve used our YouTube account to post informational videos that have been viewed by tens of thousands of people.

Now we’ve launched Toyota Conversations as both a listening post and an opportunity for interested consumers to continue those conversations. Far from being “noise”, we believe this is a great opportunity for folks to read stories about the recall in one place – at this point, it’s probably the best compendium of recall-related news stories available. And, in addition, there are a multitude of links which point readers to more information in case they have further questions.

Like Denise reiterates, Toyota Conversations is only one part of Toyota’s overall social media strategy. She makes it clear that their social media team’s overall objective is to use these tools to listen to their customers and let their concerns and questions be heard.

Sometimes in crises, just being heard can soothe outrage.  Once a crisis has passed, it can foster positive feelings about an organization. Social media can help organizations listen more closely to their audiences inner thoughts and feelings and take the temperature for how best to respond and move forward. We should all pay attention and take notes.