Chick-fil-A founder Dan Cathy's comments about gay marriage. "Papa John" Schnatter's comments about Obamacare. And I'm sure there were more I was thinking about at the time.
What fascinated me about the conversation surrounding these situations wasn't the flack they received or even the back tracking that followed not long afterwards. It was the positive attention they received from their supporters.
No matter which side of the aisle you're on in these two examples or any example from this past year, you have to admit that the statements didn't hurt the organizations very much. They're still selling chicken and pizza in mass quantities. And, at the very least, you at least know what they really believe in.
These are just a few of the examples that played into my thinking on how to position Jakel Communications, a new full-service Denver public relations agency. My views on these PR situations start with my organization's values: Honesty, Authenticity, Transparency and Entrepreneurial Spirit. These aren't groundbreaking values by any means for any organization or PR firm.
In fact, most PR firms would advise their clients to follow these values, especially the first three. I applied the first three values to the heads of Chick-fil-A and Papa John's and thought: "They lived by them despite the consequences."
- They were honest -- They didn't dance around the question or outright lie just to be politically correct and avoid losing customers.
- They were authentic -- They didn't give some overly crafted, tip-toe response that most people, especially today's youth, know is spin. They said what they believed.
- They were transparent -- Nobody could accuse them of hiding what they really believed. Would you really have believed Cathy, the founder of a restaurant chain that is closed on Sunday, if he said that he didn't have a position on gay marriage? The opposition would have rolled their eyes and boycotted his restaurant anyway, if they weren't already doing so.
If we as PR practitioners are really trying to change the widely held opinion that we are spinsters who twist and hide the truth, we need to start helping our clients live and speak their values in a manner that resonates with the public, rather than enabling them to hide their beliefs. Yes, there can be a cost in the short term, but there can also be a big gain in the long term. Just ask those in the finance department at Chick-fil-A what the numbers looked like the few weeks following the "PR blunder."
That's just a sliver of the idea that powers Jakel Communications LLC.
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