Friday, October 27, 2017

In Puerto Rico, Tesla grabs praise, others apologize

In the rush to turn on Puerto Rico’s power, not everyone is striking the right chord.

Puerto Rico continues to limp along without power after Hurricane Maria knocked out the island’s aging power grid. Many companies have sought to raise money and awareness for the island, with some offering direct aid and support.

Tesla, Elon Musk’s alternative energy company, has returned power to the children’s hospital in San Juan.

NPR reported:

Tesla has used its solar panels and batteries to restore reliable electricity at San Juan's Hospital del Niño (Children's Hospital), in what company founder Elon Musk calls "the first of many solar+battery Tesla projects going live in Puerto Rico."

The project came about after Puerto Rico was hit by two devastating and powerful hurricanes in September, and Musk reached out about Tesla helping.

Tesla’s PR success comes in contrast to the Montana power company tasked with restoring the power grid on the island. The company, named Whitefish, was pressured to apologize following a Twitter feud with the outspoken mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital.

The Hill reported:

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz called Wednesday for the contract to fix the island's hurricane-ravaged electrical grid to be "voided" after it was awarded to the small Montana firm.

The company responded, saying Cruz's comments were "misplaced."

Cruz then questioned what Whitefish Energy is "afraid we will find" if officials think asking for more transparency is "misplaced."

Here’s the tone-deaf response from Whitefish:

Now the company is apologizing for its tweet.

Both Tesla and Whitefish hope to see a profit from their work on the island, but so far Whitefish’s motives and intentions have been called into question, whereas Musk and company have been lauded as generous benefactors.

Though the two cases have key differences, here are five takeaways for PR pros from Tesla’s success and Whitefish’s missteps:

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1. Don’t tweet in anger.

It’s clear that Whitefish was unprepared for the scrutiny it received after landing the Puerto Rico infrastructure contract. After all, before going to Puerto Rico the company had only two employees . With the island’s politicians questioning its credentials and abilities, the company reeled off a Twitter response that, undoubtedly, the bosses wish they could take back.

PR veterans know flinging fire on Twitter is always a bad strategy, especially when you represent an organization that is trying to help a crisis-stricken community. Whitefish would have been better served to let its actions on the island speak for themselves.

2. Make promises you can keep.

When Musk floated the idea that Tesla could help ease Puerto Rico’s energy crisis after Hurricane Maria, he didn’t use his usual lofty rhetoric with promises of a moonshot or a panacea.

Musk said he could help but added that the scale of the project would depend on local leadership. Now he has followed through on his achievable promise.

By keeping the immediate goals of their efforts small and targeted, Tesla has been able to grab positive PR instead of having to explain another failure to launch.

3. Use charitable works to pivot from a negative story.

Tesla has been having trouble with delivering its cars on time to customers, but this good deed has done a lot to repair the brand’s image.

ABC News reported:

Less than three weeks [after initial talks], officials say the hospital is up and running with a solar system that supplies all of its electricity needs.

"I've never seen a team arrive so fast and work so fast. They built this in a week," Rafael Pagán, the hospital's chairman of the board, told Telemundo.

Musk was able to change the narrative of Tesla’s production problems by tweeting that resources were being diverted to help Puerto Rico.

With its Puerto Rico project, Tesla has proved that it can work fast, communicating to investors and customers alike that the company is on track and capable of fixing its production problems.

4. Don’t assume the apology will be enough.

An apology is an essential part of repairing a damaged brand. It must be done, but don’t expect it to convert any critics. Whitefish’s apology for its rash tweet hasn’t silenced the naysayers.

It’s always better to avoid the situation that demands an apology, but if that moment has passed, issue a short mea culpa and move on.

5. Don’t expect a parade for doing your job.

Whitefish’s response to the criticism from San Juan’s mayor revealed the company’s belief that it should be welcomed as a hero come to save the beleaguered island. The PR firm representing Whitefish has tried to portray the energy company as do-gooders willing to risk what other companies were not.

NPR reported:

The company was picked because it was "the only one who was willing to take on the job of restoring power for the people of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria," Margaret Jones of LDWW Group, a public relations firm representing Whitefish, wrote in an email. "When they called and needed help – Whitefish went right to work."

Yet, this narrative has been drowned out by questions of how the tiny company landed such a lucrative contract. As reporters and observers alike have followed the money, Whitefish has looked less like altruists on a mission and more like profiteering carpetbaggers.

Tesla, on the other hand, has yet to settle on the financial terms of its deal.

NPR reported:

As for who is paying for the power system, the head of the hospital tells Nuevo Dia that for now, it's a donation — and that after the energy crisis is over, a deal could make it permanent.

The bottom line? If you are making money off the misfortune of others, you had better be ready to withstand criticism.

What do you think of the Whitefish and Tesla’s PR efforts, PR Daily readers?



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