We’ve heard it again and again—bad PR is good PR. This means that even with negative publicity, you can still raise awareness about your brand and company. Many companies have done good in converting bad public relations into good PR. By apologizing, reaching out to those affected, and admitting their mistakes, plenty of companies have risen from the ashes after a particularly bad Lakeland public relations.
So, that begs the question: is bad PR considered good PR? Yes and no. No company should deliberately get in the news for bad publicity and try to use that bad reputation to raise awareness about its brand. There is no fool-proof formula to turning things around. While you may take the risk, who’s to say that things will not go worse than it already is?
To say that bad PR is good PR means you have a credible and solid PR strategy to turn things around. For example, someone complained about your products on social media. What’s the right step for your company to take? Is it to deny the plausibility of the complaint happening? Is it to attack the complainant? Or, is it to apologize, get to the bottom of the problem, and reach out to the complainant?
Far too many times, companies are on the defensive. They want to sweep bad publicity under the rug so no one knows the better. But in such a hyper-connected world, is there a way for companies to hide bad reviews and unsuccessful campaigns? Consumers today are more informed. They know when they are being duped, and they know when they are being used.
To turn bad publicity around, your Lakeland public relations team needs to be on top of things. They need to proactively reach out to the complainants to find out the root of the problem. Once they identified the problem, they should work on resolving this all while their PR team is reaching out to any more customers affected by the same problem. When one complaint is raised, that doesn’t mean no other customers are experiencing the same problem. Most of the time, customers will just “let it be” for the sake of not arguing with companies.
However, if you made a reputation for your company as a company that answers to issues and problems, you will encourage your customers to speak up. That’s far better than watching your sales drop without knowing why. By identifying and addressing the problems, you are giving yourself the chance to better your company.
