Mark Borkowski (@markborkowski) posted an interesting tweet on a bit of a PR crisis for the Aussie Ogilvy team. Now is not the time to gloat because there but for the grace of divinty goes any number of over-enthusiastic PR trainees desperate to gain coverage for their client. We’ve all been there (don’t lie, you know you have!) and I just hope that Lucy keeps her job and gets some positive support from her team.
Yes, the story itself is funny in a kind of I’m-really-glad-it-wasn’t-me sort of way, but what’s more interesting is the comment section underneath where the classic blog communication takes place combining a mixture of criticism and support and, halfway through, the inevitable corporate defence by the organisation concerned. It seems strange that a PR agency which clearly has an understanding of, and desire to engage with, blogs and bloggers is still unable to understand the implications of posting a line of corporate defence in the middle of a discussion.
Smanatha, one of the Ogilvy managers, had already put up a very apologetic and clear defence of the situation which was well reported in the blog. Good for her and fair balance by Eleri Harris. Why did she then feel the need to dive into the ensuing discussion using a corporate tone to once again re-state her case? The result was more brickbats to tell her to stop digging! It seems bizzarre, but when will organisations learn that the best way to be a part of the dialogue is either to step back and observe, or talk using a tone that matches the spirit of the conversation? Taking the corporate line is like watching your Old Man trying to break dance at a wedding!
