The ubiquitous burger is one of the
most marketed products on the planet. Basically a flattened portion of minced
meat it needs ingenuity to sell as something special. But like any other form
of human activity, marketing and communications is easy to get so very wrong
and there are many examples of burger bull that we can look back on with either
a shudder or a rueful smile.
Some years ago McDonald's did not
fully research their urban slang before making the ad that said: "Double
Cheeseburger? I'd hit it." Nearly everyone but McDonald's understood it to
mean that the new slogan advocated sex with sandwiches, and the ad lives on in
parodies online.
Then there was the Burger King campaign
where the fast food giant spent millions of dollars traveling to Transylvania,
Greenland, and Thailand to find hamburger illiterate people to try their
Whopper in an on-the-spot comparative taste test with the Big Mac. Critics
blasted Burger King, upset that the company didn't acknowledge the hunger that
exists in some of the areas where they filmed, citing Thailand in particular,
where 30% of people would never be able to afford a hamburger.
In many western countries lean,
finely textured ammonia treated beef has been an additive in prepared meat
products for years. Then in March 2012 following a Jamie Oliver programme in
which he dubbed the material “pink slime,” a PR firestorm erupted, which ended
with the near-destruction of the industry.
McDonald’s in the US was forced to
admit it had discontinued the use of ammonia-treated beef in its hamburgers and
in New Zealand the company announced that ammonia treated beef has never been
used in its beef patties here.
This year Europe is convulsed with
stories about adulterated meat products containing horse meat, which is seeing
a fundamental shift in people’s eating habits and gave rise to one of the best
lines currently in circulation ‘I’ve given up eating beef, I’ve now discovered’
(Now Show BBC R4).
In these and many other cases of
bogus or misleading promotion the ultimate payoff is the public backlash. In
some instances this can be so severe that industries, personalities or
practices perish.
In issues management we have a
simple defence against this sort of ‘bad publicity event’. It’s as simple to
define as it is difficult to implement. It’s known as delivering the promise.
You have to do what you say you do. The reward is trust.
No matter how good the PR or
marketing an awareness campaign can only deliver the audience to the
initiator’s door. It’s at that point that the PR professional has no more say
in the matter because then the product or service has to deliver the promise.
The concept has lately been taken up by politicians in New Zealand and abroad
through the phrase `It does exactly what it says on the tin’ filched from a
1990’s ad campaign for Ronseal wood treatment.
It’s meant to demonstrate a
willingness to be transparent, open and uncomplicated and a guarantee of
honesty. From the mouths of politicians under pressure it can sound somewhat
hollow but it is a sign that they recognise an underlying reluctance amongst
audiences to believe in them. They’re in search of trust.
Trust in the brand is what we are
trying to protect and promote on behalf of our clients. You will have noticed
that many of the media releases we initiate on behalf of our clients have a
research base. It’s part of our strong association with the health care and IT
industries where demonstrable proof is a basic tenet. Invariably any claim we
make will have a link to a scientific reference or study. Indeed our latest
story is entirely about research findings at the New Zealand College of Chiropractic
that support the use of spinal manipulation.
But our story is only as good as
each and every one of our clients. It’s why we are careful and particular about
who we work with. It’s what you deliver in the form of the best brand
experience that truly makes the difference. And it’s what you say about your
business either in person or through your own websites and promotion that
matters too. I’ve said it before and will
no doubt keep on hammering on about this, but be considered in all that
you do and say. It only takes one adverse event, be that an action or a
statement, to negate a campaign of good intent.
Peter Boyes
Peter is the managing director of
Boyes PR
