Kryptonite still won't take responsibility
Everyone remembers this story...
Well, today, Shel & Robert over at Naked Conversations have posted a lengthy discussion between NC and Kryptonite's 'PR' guru, Donna Tocci.
Sha'! Puh-lease! Tell me this...do you believe a word she says? It sounds like too little too late PR babble to me.
Here are some juicy quotes to ponder (emphasis mine):
"...not being able to rewrite history, we just didn't have the man or woman power to go and answer every forum question or blogger comment - and there were quite a few, as you know. As the weeks went on and I did comment on some inaccuracies, we were blasted for 'not getting it'. Apparently, you aren't supposed to correct bloggers.Being new to the space, admittedly, we backed off a little bit at that time because, we really didn't need to rile up anyone else."
"As you mentioned in your chapter, yes, there were lots of meetings and lots of planning before we announced our full plan. Countless. However, please give this a thought - if we didn't have all of our ducks in a row, announced the plan and then couldn't follow through with that plan for whatever reason (manufacturing, shipping, software) what would have been good about that? Don't you think that would have made the issue even worse? We absolutely did."
"...you understand that controversy 'sells'. Turn on your local news at night. How many good stories do you see? Or is it all about crime, death, accidents, fires etc? I'll bet you don't see stories on too many of the good things that are happening every single day in your community. Same thing on blogs. When they were railing on Kryptonite there were hundreds of comments. When Kryptonite stepped up to the plate, not so much. And that isn't just about Kryptonite, we are but one example. It is, sadly, something that happens all the time. I hardly ever turn on my local news because of this; it's too depressing. World news isn't much better now is it?" [HUH?]"We've watched blogs and forums for awhile, even previous to September [when the Kryptonite crisis occurred], however, it is a much bigger part of my weekly activities since then. Watching and monitoring what is being said is one thing, jumping into it is another. Blogs are a new adventure and there is a learning curve. I visit about 20 blogs daily, just like I go to bicycleretailer.com or bikebiz.com or any other information source. Yours is on that list, by the way. I also go to some of the blog search engines and look for tidbits of information that we might want to monitor." [20 blogs daily? They've been monitoring for almost a year and they still haven't figured this darn blogosphere out?!]
Wow...
3 Comments:
I'm not sure what exactly you want from the woman - blood?
Seriously, she accounts for what the company did in regards to communicating with customers, and they created a trade-in program in a really short amount of time. What else could they do? Post a press release so that people (like you have) could stir up the pot again? I could see issuing a statement on their site to note that everything was cleared up, but perhaps that fell under the same idea - the trade-in links are fairly prominent though.
And if you can think of more than 20 blogs/feeds that are pertinent to locks and their business, I'd love to hear them.
Why only blogs about locks? How about biking enthusiasts (I'm sure there are oodles, including all of the Lance Armstrong related blogs), marketing, business, urban planning (for those bike paths, etc.), etc. etc. I could go on.
Sure, she accounted for what the company did to communicate to customers, but she didn't take any responsibility (or Kryptonite doesn't through her) for the debacle. She's a PR person. She should learn from this. Instead, she sounds like she is just defensive about it.
It's the blogosphere. We're here to take corporations to task (among many other things). There is nothing wrong with stirring up the pot. That's what the 'Power of Us' (http://www.businessweek.com/@@ezyae4YQOnQ@@BoA/magazine/content/05_25/b3938601.htm) economy is all about. There's a conversation going on. If Kryptonite wants to deliberate for months on how to 'enter' it (or, shall I say, command it...unsuccessfully), they aren't speaking in a human voice. That human voice is key to the conversation.
So, yes...I want blood. I want FLESH & BLOOD human being.
Agree with you completely, it's total PR spin although Donna may be as earnest as the next guy (who's probably also a PR guru..)
I am glad most bloggers (of those trackbacking to the blog post) did not fall for it.
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