The blame game

Rule number one. It is always your fault. When your name is the one making headlines in the media and derided on Twitter and Facebook, it is your fault, whether you technically did anything or not.

Recent examples abound and the lesson seems to be slow getting through.

From day one BP have tried to shift some of the blame for the Deep Horizon oil spill to the platform operators and even to the well constructions firm. No one cares – it was their fault.

ANZ and NAB last week were quick to blame outsourced debt collection agencies for over zealous collection practices. No one cares – it was their fault.

Virgin Blue’s reservation and check-in system meltdown over the weekend was caused by an “external supplier hardware failure”. No one cares – it was their fault.

Sure – in each case the third party played their role and intellectually we know they should share some of the blame. But the fact is, you can’t take the glory, the good times and the profits, it you aren’t willing to wear the downside too.

So what’s the moral of the story? There are a few:

When your name is on it, it is your fault (even if it isn’t).

When people are stuck in an airport; or millions of barrels of oil is gushing into the gulf coast and destroying livelihoods and ecosystems; or customers are being harassed daily by debt collectors, the only thing on their minds is the disruption to their lives. The pesky details of your business relationships and dealings are just not important to them, your name is the one in front of them so it is your fault.

Understand going in that there is no such thing as a risk free partnership.

Make sure the people you outsource business functions to share your values, or at least impress upon them what your values are and the importance of them when they are interacting with your customers.

If things do go wrong, don’t try and shift blame or make excuses – no one will believe you anyway.

The buck stops here. The saying popularised by U.S. President Harry S. Truman is more than a platitude. Seems like nothing is anyone’s fault these days, there is always someone else to blame when things go wrong. Keep the blame game behind closed doors, wear the responsibility that comes with your brand and your business and own the bad as well as the good.

Your brand is not just about marketing and communications.

It the result of the complex intersection of relationships and delivery that you aren’t always in control of (I don’t go so far as to say that you have no control as seems to be the flavour of the conversation since the advent of social media), however some things are genuinely out of your hands and when that happens it is all down to how you respond.

And that is where the brand rubber meets the road. Great brands know “it’s always their fault” and act accordingly. If you are in doubt refer to the gold standard in managing a brand crisis, the Tylenol recall by Johnson and Johnson. You can read about it here.

See you next week.

Michel Hogan is a Brand Advocate. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia and in the United States, she helps organisations recognise who they are and align that with what they do and say, to build more authentic and sustainable brands. She also publishes the Brand thought leadership blog – Brand Alignment.