There are going to be times in any business, regardless how big or small, when you may find yourself in a position of needing to be very, very careful about how you handle your outgoing communications.
And this is certainly a very good lesson in exactly what not to do.
The backstory.
Unless you live in a cave near the peak of the highest mountain on Vanuatu, with no access to telecommunications or internet whatsoever, you’ll be fully aware by now of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II last week. The whole of the UK, and I’m sure the world, felt a resounding wave of sadness, numbness, shock, and 'weirdness’ as to how it was all making them feel. Even for those that aren’t staunch royalists.
I don’t class myself as an absolute hardcore staunch royalist, but neither am I remotely an anti-monarchist. I’m more royalist than indifferent, if that makes sense - and I certainly wouldn't be one calling for an end to the monarchy in favour of a republic, with a UK president installed. I think that would be very odd.
(But equally I’m also not immune to the obvious dissonance of the extreme wealth with so much poverty in the UK, and indeed the world, and I do still find it hard to rationalise.)
But that aside; I still felt a deep sadness when the Queen died, and also had that (and still do) weird feeling you just can’t shake when it seems the world doesn’t make complete sense any more. As for someone who has been there on the throne for 70 years, to suddenly not be there - it’s a very jarring time. Especially hearing the words ‘God Save The King’ instead of Queen, is incredibly strange to hear. It feels like we’re living in an old reel of Pathé News from decades ago, not the present. But then again we are living in a time, right now, of active, living history; it’s being made right now as we speak. A time of deep change. Something we won’t see again for quite a while.
Needless to say, upon hearing the news, brands around the UK went into overdrive, tweeting out messages of condolence like they were going out of fashion. Nothing wrong with that of course. The majority were very much on point; heartfelt, respectful and well-meaning. Although there were a few wildcards that were slightly more unexpected.
I mean, you can see what the intention is - but the execution? I know it’s a play on words - but seriously? It’s a tad crass.
Who WASN’T waiting for what the British Kebab Awards were going to say? After all, we all know Her Majesty was partial to a nondescript ‘meat’ donner with lashings of chilli sauce at 2am after a night on the tiles.
She never missed an opportunity allegedly to pop in for a steak bake on route to Balmoral. I’ll never look at a luke warm sausage roll in quite the same way again.
Really? Reeeeally? I know you share the same surname and all, but posting an image of the Queen as a weird cyborg model with head-mounted laser canons? I think not.
The less said about this one the better, I think.
What I think I’m trying to say, is that for obvious reasons this is a very challenging time for brands to navigate, knowing what to post - if anything. There’s a fine line, I suppose, with brands thinking that they really should say something, because maybe it would be odd if they didn’t, when everyone else is doing so. Would it make them look bad if they kept silent? Or would it look more respectful just to pause all tweets until after the state funeral perhaps?
I don’t know the answer to this, by the way. It’s only my random musings. But c’mon, is it really vital that the world hears the thoughts of the British Kebab Awards at a pivotal time in UK history?
And I’m still not going to discuss the Ann Summers one…….
(If you’re not from the UK and are unsure what/who Ann Summers are, just google it. But maybe not while you’re at work. Then you’ll understand why I’m not discussing this one further!)
So, talking of PR disasters.
Center Parcs. A national chain of holiday parks that focus on leisure & sports-based activities.
Given the state funeral has been set for Monday 19th September, Center Parcs’ comms team announced on Twitter that they will be closing all of their 5 UK locations on Monday in order for their staff to be able to partake in the historic event, to show respect.
On the face of it, all well and good, so you’d have thought. Most UK businesses, especially in the retail/hospitality industry are doing just the same.
Except Center Parcs are a residential holiday company - people travel for miles and miles to stay at their venues for days, perhaps weeks on end. And they were basically told that for the duration of Monday 19th, including overnight until the Tuesday, everyone would need to leave, and find alternative accommodation for that night, then will be welcomed back the following day.
Well. To say that it created a shitstorm would be an understatement.
It very quickly hit the national press, with thousands of people complaining about how unbelievably impractical that was. Untold amounts of people tweeting them saying they were booked to go with families, young children and babies, having booked 6+ person lodges; with one person’s tweet I found declaring they are travelling 400 miles to stay at one of their locations, so it’s not exactly easy to ‘pop back home’ for the night then travel back to complete their holiday.
It became very obvious very quickly, that Center Parcs had gone into crisis PR mode, as within a matter of hours, they were forced (quite rightly) to backtrack on this announcement, and let people know that they now won’t be forcing anyone that’s currently there in lodges to leave.
This is one of the best responses I’ve seen to their original announcement:
Hurrah! Crisis averte- Oh, hang on, hold my beer.
Whether they’ve got a full PR team that they just weren’t listening to, or whether they’d left Terry the intern who permanently has an aroma of ‘special cigarettes’ about him in charge of their socials, it wasn’t quite clear. Because they weren’t fully settled in creating just one PR disaster. Oh no - they fancied a bit more.
They then announced, almost gleefully with much relief and wiping of brow, that they now won’t be closing the venues on that Monday and overnight, people will be allowed to stay……
“…..But guests will need to remain in their lodges.”
Guess what happened next? (LOL).
Yep, Shitstorm 2.0.
They’d managed to ‘undo’ one PR disaster, whilst simultaneously creating another; making it sound like a mildly relaxing rural hostage situation.
Oh. Oh dear.
By this point I was convinced it was indeed Terry at the helm of the social accounts.
Cue another crisis management Zoom call, and clarifications were then forthcoming. Of course they didn’t mean that…..it was a poor choice of words.
What they actually meant was that yes guests can stay, and are welcome to wander about the parks, but it was just the fact that all facilities will remain closed. So good luck finding a burger unless you’d brought a pound of ground chuck with you in your holiday cooler.
So why didn’t they just say that from the start?? It’s painful, it really is.
In a time of significant historical importance, it’s imperative you get your communications right, and ensure they can’t be misconstrued or misunderstood. ESPECIALLY after they’d already had one PR nightmare already. It beggars belief.
Will this harm their future bookings ongoing after this debacle? Probably not, in truth. They’re a big enough organisation to weather the storm and it’s unlikely (my best guess) to affect their future sales.
But brand reputation? That’s certainly going to stick for a fair while, for sure. Will it make some people rethink holiday plans with them in future? I’m sure it will for a good amount, but just probably not enough for it to significantly affect CP’s bottom line.
Will it make the head honchos at Center Parcs rethink their future comms strategy?
I bloody hope so.
The other way of looking at it is that it was a masterpiece of misdirection from Center Parcs management. In all the drama about lock-ins and escape attempts the underlying story, that many Center Parcs customers were being made to pay for a service that Center Parcs were not going to provide, was unnoticed. Anyone complaining about having to pay for part of a holiday they would never get were painted as disloyal to Her Majesty and who were preventing Center Parc 'colleagues' from being a part of this historic occasion.
Meanwhile, away from the internet smoke and mirrors, busloads of cleaning staff were arriving for their Monday shifts as usual, even while the customers were being ushered off the site. No possibility of participation in a historic occasion for them.