Public relations lessons: When is bad publicity good for a company? | Study/D Marketing Communications (2023)

FAQs

When bad publicity is good? ›

When bad publicity is incongruent with an established good brand reputation, the results will probably not be favorable. Yet when a company (or individual) has a reputation for being a “bad ass” or a “disruptor” of sorts, negative publicity can help burnish their “disruptive” reputation.

Negative publicity means information which has been made public and that has caused, or is reasonably likely to cause, a decline or deterioration in your reputation or in the reputation of one or more of your products or services.

Negative publicity has been seen to help relatively unknown companies or products quickly gain awareness. Good or bad publicity can take brands from unknown to known, increasing initial sales and search hits. However, bad publicity can ultimately damage a business — often beyond repair.

While prior research have shown only downsides (e.g., decreased sales), the studies demonstrate that negative publicity can increase choice and sales when it increases awareness. While a negative New York Times review hurt book sales for well-known authors, for example, it increased sales for unknown authors.

One of the most notable bad PR examples in 2022 was when a large streaming service deleted thousands of user reviews from its site without explanation or notification to its customers. Customers felt betrayed and outraged, leading to a huge backlash against the company that quickly spread across social media.

Specifically, we argue that negative publicity can increase purchase likelihood and sales by increasing product awareness. Consequently, negative publicity should have differential effects on established versus unknown products. Three studies support this perspective.

Bad publicity can result in a business losing its customers to competition. Due to the presence of stiff competition, it is important for brands to take care of their public perception. They must undertake all possible ways to undermine bad publicity.

Confess. If you're getting bad publicity because you or your business did something wrong, admit the mistake, apologize and offer a plan to fix it. Denial or stonewalling only prolongs the story and encourages people to question your motivation. Ignoring bad publicity won't make it go away.

In general, good PR is about creating a positive image for your company. It's about building relationships with the public and the media, and it's about promoting your brand in a way that makes people want to do business with you. Bad PR, on the other hand, is about creating a negative image for your company.

P.T. Barnum once said, “There's no such thing as bad publicity,” which is almost as good as Oscar Wilde's version, who put it like this: “There's only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

Who said bad publicity is good publicity? ›

The phrase is rumoured to have first been said in the 19^th century by American showman and circus owner Phineas T. Barnum.

Bad publicity can contribute to negative brand association, which can in turn reduce sales over time. Changing attitudes and brand associations can take a great deal of time and can also be costly, as a company might be forced to invest in additional advertising and campaigns to correct negative attitudes.

Publicity adds credibility to the overall communication message. It gives the target audience a reason to talk about the brand and, in turn, increases the effectiveness of word of mouth and viral marketing. Publicity is considered an important promotional tool.

What are some bad marketing strategies? Some bad marketing strategies to avoid at all costs include filler advertising, spamming, cold calling, not doing enough research, and not paying attention to market trends.

The positive associations people once carried turn sour and consumers lose trust in the brand. Bad publicity can also mean brands are in for a rough time financially. Most consumers avoid buying products from companies they don't like and share prices usually go into freefall.

How can a company recover from bad publicity? ›

Public Relations Examples

Individuals and organizations influence their public relations through a myriad of activities. Some of these public relations examples are traditional media advertising campaigns, sponsorships, product placement, social media campaigns, consumer education, and corporate social responsibility.

It's all about feelings, not about corresponding with reality. In these circumstances, a person or organization that is liked or approved by the public is said to have a "good image." A person or organization that is disliked or disapproved of is said to have a "bad image."

Publicity concerns presence in the media. It creates public awareness for a brand. It is promotion, used to attract attention. Public relations involves a whole host of strategies to accomplish an organisation's goals by sending messages to appropriate audiences.

Negative publicity happens when your company or someone in it has misstepped and badly. Sure, you might build some brand awareness with it, but you can bet it's the wrong kind of brand awareness. And the impact can affect employee morale, employee retention, brand loyalty, and even sales.

"There's a sucker born every minute" is a phrase closely associated with P. T. Barnum, an American showman of the mid-19th century, although there is no evidence that he actually said it. Early examples of its use are found among gamblers and confidence tricksters.

If someone or something gets bad press, they are criticized, especially in the newspapers, on television, or on radio. If they get good press, they are praised.

How do you rebuild a company's reputation? ›

First, depending on the facts of a given situation and depending on how it's phrased, a threat of negative publicity or even a threat of merely contacting a media outlet could be extortion. Such threats could even amount to blackmail depending on the facts and the aggressiveness of a prosecutor.

The most important things to remember when responding to negative press are to remain credible by using facts, and to push the positives rather than being defensive. An appropriate post on a company's social media site can often turn negative press into an opportunity for positive attention.

Aside from helping companies gain positive publicity, strong PR allows them to set the narrative in communications with customers, prospects, investors, and current and potential employees.

Control - The biggest potential drawback with publicity is that we don't control the message. So, as a company, trying to sell a product or service, we don't control the message when it comes through publicity. That is, we can't control who transmits it, the message itself (the content or accuracy of the content), etc.

PR helps establish and maintain a good public image and reputation of companies. It also helps to manage any negative publicity that companies may face. PR can be used for various purposes, such as: improving, building, and protecting brand reputation.

Confess. If you're getting bad publicity because you or your business did something wrong, admit the mistake, apologize and offer a plan to fix it. Denial or stonewalling only prolongs the story and encourages people to question your motivation. Ignoring bad publicity won't make it go away.

How can negative publicity be removed? ›

Create Brand name Social Media Pages

This is the most effective method to deal with negative articles in search results. If any negative article is ranking high in the Search Result page for your brand name search, then try to push down the article by creating social media pages for your brand.

Bad publicity can result in a business losing its customers to competition. Due to the presence of stiff competition, it is important for brands to take care of their public perception. They must undertake all possible ways to undermine bad publicity.

P.T. Barnum once said, “There's no such thing as bad publicity,” which is almost as good as Oscar Wilde's version, who put it like this: “There's only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

1 disreputable, ill-famed, notorious. 2 disgraceful, scandalous; nefarious, odious, wicked, shocking, vile, base, heinous, villainous.

Some common synonyms of disrepute are disgrace, dishonor, ignominy, and infamy. While all these words mean "the state or condition of suffering loss of esteem and of enduring reproach," disrepute stresses loss of one's good name or the acquiring of a bad reputation.