A Year of PR Case Studies

What is a truly good PR case study? Although most people can name a few examples of bad PR, it seems much harder to identify the ones that are doing a good job. A good PR strategy based on tranparant and open communications does not necessarily stand out. Would we really have known about Nestle's facebook page if it wasn't for a few misplaced comments from the PR reps? 

In an effort to paint a more balanced picture, I collected a list of case studies, mostly based on blog posts from the last year. Some are notorious for their failure (Nestle, Eurostar), some are wonderfully inspiring (IKEA, KLM), and some the topic of much debate (Toyota, Alaska Airlines, the Tea Party). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to include as many positive examples as I would have liked. Moreover, the positive examples and surprising campaigns tend to lie more in the realm of advertising than traditional PR. Neverthless, I hope these cases inspire you to think of good PR strategies and fuel the discussion about what makes a good communications strategy in the first place. 

Alaska Airlines

• BusinessInsider.com: After Diaper Incident, Alaska Airlines Has A Major PR Debacle On Its Hand
  “Ironically, Alaska Airlines has the highest rating for customer service on JD Power. But all anyone will remember is: Alaska Airlines Hates Families.”

Apple

• Geek.com: Opinion: Why Apple's PR Sucks.
  "Working in Apple’s PR team is both a dream job and easy money: All you have to do is not return calls from the press and respond with the same “no comment” one-liner to email inquires.
• PR Warrior: Apples Blog Play With Secrecy Strategy 
  "It's a risky strategy and one that only a company like Apple, which consistently exceeds expectations with its products, can get away with."
• Harvard Business Review: The Steve Jobs Theory of Customer Relations
  "What happens when the CEO of a major corporation decides to deal directly with customers? Not large customers, but ordinary ones."
• PR Strategy and Application: Greening Apple and Greenpeace Likes It
  "Instructive churn is when companies learn from stakeholder criticism by internalizing the criticism and making positive changes.  In essence a negative becomes a positive.  Two recent developments highlight Greenpeace and Apple being linking in instructive churn."

BP

• PR Disasters.com: BPs Gulf PR Disaster: Give Them a Break!
  "So I ask you all; where is our balance, our perspective, our compassion to support all concerned in the midst of this horrible environmental catastrophe? Where’s our willingness to give everyone involved (yes, even BP) a break?"
• Slate.com: Oil Slick. How BP Is Handling Its PR Disaster
  "BP faces two crises. The first is stopping the spillage of 200,000 gallons of oil a day in the Gulf of Mexico. The other is convincing people it's trying to stop the spillage of 200,000 gallons of oil a day in the Gulf of Mexico." 
• Time.com: Can BP Ever Rebuild Its Reputation? 
  "BP had a public nightmare on its hands the moment the rig blew up on April 20. Since then, say experts, the company has exacerbated its situation with critical missteps that could affect it for years to come."
  
• PR-Squared.com: BP - From Natural Disaster to PR Disaster
  "If BP whole-heartedly, sincerely and adequately commits itself to the clean-up, and we (fingers crossed) avoid irreparable environmental and economic damage, over the long-term, the company could wind up reaping some good press out of this horrific event."
• Advertising Age: BP Struggles to hit Right Note in Response to Oil Spill
  "If it appears that the company is following Toyota's crisis playbook, Mr. Loeb said people shouldn't be too surprised by that. He said BP, much like Toyota, is a very centralized company, which tends to result in a non-efficient and non-comprehensive decision-making process when a crisis strikes."

Eurostar 

• TechCrunch: As hundreds of Eurostar passengers languish, Eurostar ignores Twitter
  “Baby has run out of diapers. How hard is it to get us these things? We can *see* stores from here… Still outside of Eurotunnel. Another baby has run out of food, the mother is asking for help. Is this a 1st world country?”

Ford Focus

• Becky-Johns.com: PR Pitches Have Changed Completely
  “This week, the company launched public, personalized video pitches to influential industry reporters for the Ford Focus Global Test Drive campaign. They’re fantastic.”

• SocialMediaExplorer.com: Ford One-Ups Itself With Global Focus Launch
  “What Ford is doing is yet another trump card to out-do the last awesome thing they did. With the Fiesta Movement and Facebook-centric launch of the Explorer, Ford created a new way of communicating with its customers and showed the world how to do social media on scale. “

Försäkringskassan - 100 old things for 100 new ideas

Ikea - Facebook Showroom 

Nestle

• prdisasters.com: Five lessons from Nestle’s Facebook PR disaster
  “Nestle’s Facebook tone of voice is all wrong; it’s at times scolding and a bit sarcastic - that doesn’t foster positive Web2.0 PR”
• news.cnet.com: Nestle mess shows sticky side of Facebook pages
  “But this is the first time that we've seen such a massive blow-up in the comments of a Facebook fan page. Right now, the Facebook page is one of the hottest digital marketing tools out there, and brands hearing about the Nestle debacle are also seeing the downsides of operating such a public forum to welcome consumer comments.”
• Facebook.com: Nestle fan page
  At the time of publishign this, the last thread was still: “To repeat: we welcome your comments, but please don't post using an altered version of any of our logos as your profile pic - they will be deleted.”

oneDrop Foundation, Canada

• Bees Awards: OneDrop Foundation, Canada
  "Guy Laliberté, became Canada’s first private astronaut and went into space to raise awareness of water-related issues and build notoriety for One Drop Foundation."

Starbucks

• MDIA 1001:Starbuck's Secret of Success - Without Advertising 
  "The marketing strategy of Starbucks focuses on PR rather than advertising. Emphasis is on people and experience, instead of the one-way hard-sell advertising.
• Pierce Mattie PR: Will Starbuck's PR Strategy Be a Success? 
  "However, as our economy continues to decline they are having to reconsider this position by rebranding themselves as an 'affordable luxury.' "
• Paul Seaman's Online Review: Starbucks' PR Tweets Stink
  "This little example highlights how Twitter’s supposedly personal format is a public trap waiting to snare the unwary. According to Kellaway, Lavatorygate raises three more important questions:" 
• Piaras Kelly PR: There's a lot to learn from Starbucks
  "There’s a lot of buzz around word-of-mouth marketing, but instead of making a great product or service which consumers will instinctively talk about, people seem more inclined to throw money on PR and advertising even if they have nothing to talk about."
• PRimo: Starbucks' Frappuccino vs McDonald's Frappe
  "In the end, the two companies are really only fighting over a small audience that is indecisive. I feel that for the most part Starbucks fans are incredibly loyal regardless of the price because they want the options and the quality of the coffee. " 

Tea Party / Sarah Palin